News

At a press conference held yesterday in Regina, Saskatchewan Minister of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport, Bill Hutchinson announced the winners of the “Step into the World of Native Prairie” poster contest. The Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan (SK PCAP) hosted this contest aimed at Saskatchewan youth ages 9-17 in an effort to raise awareness of native prairie ecosystems in conjunction with the 13th Annual Native Prairie Appreciation Week (NPAW) which runs June 19-25, 2011. Youth were asked to illustrate how they enjoy native prairie and all three winners managed to accomplish this with flair. First place winners from each of the three age categories attended the press conference and watched as the winning posters were unveiled. The fist winner, Abby Vadeboncoeur is 11 years old and is completing Grade 4 at White City School. She is a voracious reader who enjoys debate club, playing the piano and Ukrainian dancing. Her poster depicts a Western Red Lilly surrounded by native prairie in four different seasons. The second winner, Duncan Willis is 12 years old and is finishing Grade 7 at Argyle School in Regina. His love of native prairie stems from his involvement in the Wild Outdoor Research Team with Regina Public School and as a Junior Naturalist with the Wascana Centre Authority. Besides his love of the outdoors, Duncan is involved in sports, music and loves to attend Rider football games! His poster shows prairie wildlife, tenting and a camera taking a photo of the scene with the wildlife shown in the viewfinder. The third winner, Kaitlyn Fogarty, age 14 and completing Grade 8 at White City School, discovered her love for photography and taking close-ups of flora during a family camping trip. She credits her interest in art to her father who is an artist and art teacher, but she also keeps busy with a variety of sports including basketball, volleyball, badminton, track and ringette. Her poster depicts a colourful prairie sunset with the NPAW theme “Step into the World of Native Prairie” across the bottom. Minister Hutchinson was pleased to see youth displaying enthusiasm for a valuable resource in Saskatchewan. “It’s important for young people to be involved in events such as NPAW. Although we [adults] may be the people who are currently administering programs such as the Prairie Conservation Action Plan, the future of our environment and programs such as this rest with the young people of today.” SK PCAP Manager Michelle Clark feels this contest was very successful. “This is the first year we have held the youth poster contest and judging by the wonderful entries we received this year, we will definitely look into this becoming an annual event.” The lucky winners will chose from four engaging options as their prize including, a day in the field with a biologist at Grasslands National Park or Last Mountain Bird Observatory, a day in the field with a botanist from Nature Saskatchewan to learn how to ID native plants, a week at a Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation Conservation Camp or a day at a local Ranch. Abby Vadeboncoeur, Duncan Willis, Kaitlyn Fogarty