Art of a Forest

The Calgary Junior Forest Warden Society (CJFWS, JFW) is a long-established volunteer group of parents and children dedicated to Forestry, Ecology, Outdoor Skills, Leadership. There are currently eight Calgary and Area Clubs with more within the Alberta Junior Forest Warden Association (AJFWA) provincial area and across Canada. Parents are encouraged to share their knowledge, provide resources and learn alongside their child. A love and respect of the natural environment is fostered while growing responsible leaders of the community.

Conrad Taylor, a former Junior Forest Warden (JFW), and Reg Rempel, Habitat Manager of the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area (ASCCA), saw an opportunity for a partnership between JFW and the ASCCA. The desire was to return the Forest to land logged in the 1940s and since used to graze cattle. This project will help restore the Pine Creek watershed. As a Conservation Area, this land will remain protected and preserved, not subject to development.

• With funding support of AJFWA, 81,500 seedlings have been planted since 2013.
• A combination of Lodgepole Pine, White Spruce and Douglas Fir have been planted.
• This diversity of species will help to establish a more fire resistant forest.
• The elk have returned to bed down among our 9 year old seedlings.
• The song birds are returning and spreading seeds to improve the diversity of the plants.
• Forbes and shrubs are out-competing the grasses.
• The constitution of the soil has changed.
• In 2020, a New Forest was started.
• A nearby nursery delivered seedlings grown from local seeds.
• Our seedling survival rate is better than professional planters, yet very dependent on the quality of the seedlings, the amount of rain that falls during the growing season, and the harshness of the winter.

A forest takes years to plan and establish. Our efforts are making an impact on the ASCCA. We are growing a forest!

Junior Forest Wardens is a youth group for families. They enjoy educational outdoor activities with like-minded families while learning about respectful use of the land. Every spring JFW plant seedlings all over Canada at locations designated by the Government. Sites were rarely revisited and the big picture impact was hard to see for parents and Wardens.

In 2012, a former JFW member, Conrad Taylor, started working at the ASCCA. He met Habitat Manager Reg Rempel who had a lofty desire to reforest land logged in the 1940s. An opportunity presented for the JFW and the Conservation Area to come together to recreate a Forest. Michelle Abbott, daughter of Ann Cross, was approached with the concept of families joining together on the Conservation land to plant seedlings. She was immediately supportive of the project and with Conrad, Reg and JFW Sandra Taylor began the ASCCA JFW Tree Planting Programme, now in its 10th year. Ann and Sandy would have been pleased as this project fits within the Guiding Principles of the Conservation Area. Seedlings are being planted. This forest will restore the watershed and provide habitat for wildlife while showing young Wardens the immense impact their yearly efforts will have.

                                                                        
JFW Tree Planting at ASCCA

The Junior Forest Wardens is an outdoor youth program with an emphasis on the family and the experience.
The program has four foundations:

                                                                          Forestry       Ecology       Outdoor Skills       Leadership

Families are given the opportunity to learn about the outdoors while participating in outdoor activities such as camping, backpacking, mountaineering, tree planting, community engagement and more. Young people aged 6-18 can register with a local club where they will enjoy age specific programming. Parents are encouraged to share their knowledge, provide resources and learn alongside their child. A love and respect of the natural environment is fostered while growing responsible leaders of the community.

For more information about current clubs, starting a club or about JFW, please contact the Alberta Junior Forest Wardens at www.AJFWA.ca.

           With thanks to Anna Aldridge/ASCCA and Jodi Henderson/JFW for creating this page – for telling the story of the
               remarkable ASCCA/JFW Tree Planting Programme.  Michelle Abbott