Our SWF has a history of fund raising for Habitat Trust. Money received in our Moose Jaw central office for Habitat Trust is used to purchase critical wildlife habitat land from farmers who offer their lands for sale.
There have been occasions when a vital parcel of land has been identified - say a burrowing owl nesting area or even an unbroken short grass prairie parcel (very rare today). In these cases the SWF will approach the landowner and negotiate a sale to ensure a critical piece does not end up under the bulldozer.
These lands are then managed by the central office of the SWF. A huge burden to the organization is we continue to pay municipal taxes on them even though we have pointed out to government their value as bio-diverse gems for future generations.
These are some of the individuals who worked tirelessly on a public information campaign and directed lobbying efforts for this project. These activities were directed towards all City Councillors, the mayor and numerous City employees. Keith LePoudre - DUC MFO SPFO, Neil McGregor - Pres Saskatoon WF, Bob Rogers Saskatoon Wildlife Federation Conservation Director and DUC volunteer, Minnie, Elmer and Agnes Hyde the original landowners, Ron Hicks, Ron Zdan - DUC, Derrick Toovey - DUC volunteer and former provincial chairperson. Missing - Bob Santo. The Hydes sold this land to the City of Saskatoon in 1964.
The Hyde Project
Back in 2000 the city engineering plan to construct a drainage system of the five sloughs east and south of the developing Briarwood subdivision was presented.
Together with Ducks Unlimited the executive (mainly Bob Rogers) looked at the plan and discussed the fact that it looked to be mostly about a big drainage ditch to maximize suburban construction opportunity. Ducks Unlimited staff pointed out that the large central slough (Hyde) was an excellent candidate for a restoration project and could be a showcase urban marsh interpretative site , unmatched in the country if done properly.
We (DU and Bob Rogers SWF) presented a brief to City Council on the opportunity this offered and the engineering plan was shelved by City Council. (Yeah!!! Bureaucracy can be stopped.)
The city then hired A.E. Environmental Design Consultants to study the area and develop a plan to restore the marsh area.
DU and our SWF were designated as stake-holders. We (Bob Rogers) attended 2 years of planning sessions and gave our input (continues to this day).
Meanwhile back in 2002 the SWF executive and membership voted to donate $100,000 ($10,000 per year for 10 years) to the restoration. We send our money to the national DU board as they then will match any private donations. WIN! WIN!
In 2004 at our SWF convention our branch received a Bronze Sponsor award from the national board of DU for a contribution of $100,000 towards wetland restoration.
We continue to donate funds to Habitat Trust when possible ($4,000 this year) but our focus has been on the annual $10,000 to the Hyde project.
We (Executive and members) feel that this project will give the Saskatoon branch vital PR recognition in the city and perhaps nationally even internationally once the project is complete.
The underlying rational for this local emphasis is that to date our branch has donated $120,000 plus to the Habitat Trust Fund and it disappears into general land habitat purchase. We receive no recognition.
