With an increasing interest in native plants, the Native Plant
Society of Saskatchewan came into being in 1995. Its mission
statement is: "To increase the understanding and conservation of
native plants through facilitation, communication, research and
education among interested organizations and the public." The
Society's first annual meeting was held in January,
1996.
Much to my surprise, the meeting room was full of people. And
when the call for nominations for the Board of Directors ended, a
total of 19 people had allowed their names to stand! With a
membership of less than 100 people, it seemed to me that this was
an organization with a lot of enthusiasm! The diversity of the
membership also surprised me. Prior to the meeting, I expected to
see many familiar faces -- those of some PFRA, DU and Sask. Ag.
and Food personnel. Those people were all present but so were
many more. I met university professors, farmers, conservation
officers, biologists, business people and energy industry
representatives. The day's agenda reflected the members' diverse
interests.
A representative from Sask. Energy showed slides of five
different sites where Sask. Energy had damaged the environment
during construction work. By fencing the areas and seeding native
grasses, these sites were reclaimed.
Ducks Unlimited use native plants for their habitat work. When
they talk about "sculptured seeding", they mean planting the
appropriate plant species in the appropriate ecological sites
such as putting the marsh species around the pothole, a different
set of species at midslope and the appropriate plants on the
prairie.
Wildcrafting is the collection of native plants or plant parts
for sale to industry and medicine. There is some controversy over
the ethics of such a practise. Some of the members participate in
wildcrafting while others oppose the practise.
PFRA Shelterbelt Centre discussed the various native trees and
shrubs currently being used or studied for use in
shelterbelts.
In Northwestern Saskatchewan, funding from the Green Plan has
enabled rangeland agrologists to study site reclamation of land
affected by gas and oil well activity. Native plants have played
a leading role in this project.
I attended the meeting as a member of the Society and a
representative of the SSCA. I believe the SSCA should take an
active interest in the Society. Perhaps in future projects, the
two organizations could work together as each has a membership
with great knowledge in their respective, yet complementary
areas. As more information is gathered about native plants and
more seed becomes available, native plants may very well play a
much greater role in reclamation and soil conservation.