Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation’s Habitat Trust Fund receives huge land donation

The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation’s Habitat Trust Fund has received one of its largest parcels of land yet. Donated by long-time farmer and rancher Edgar Thorsen and his wife, Doreen, the 300-hectare property is located northwest of Preeceville.

The SWF finalized the donation details this past October after nearly two years of discussions, and officially added the property to its Habitat Trust Fund lands, now totalling 31,565 hectares.

“It was a long process,” says the SWF’s director of habitat lands, Darren Newberry, who toured the property in a side-by-side a few times with Thorsen. “It isn’t me having one meeting and a phone call. I spoke to Edgar 20 to 30 times.” Since the land had been in Thorsen’s family his entire life, Newberry says, he wanted to ensure it was left in good hands. In particular, he wanted to leave the property to a conservation group before he retired.

“It was very important to him that the land be left for wildlife in perpetuity and not developed or cultivated,” Newberry says of Thorsen, who is now in his eighties, but still working. That desire fits well with the Habitat Trust Fund’s goal to protect and conserve habitat for wildlife. “The wildlife legacy that we leave for our children should surpass that which we have inherited,” Newberry notes.

The Thorsen property is a great addition to the fund because it is so diverse, with some unique features. The Assiniboine River flows through it, for example, and there are a couple of other natural waterbodies. It also has native prairie, rolling hills and spruce forest, providing ideal habitat for moose, elk, mule deer and whitetails, as well as upland birds and waterfowl. Says Newberry: “You have habitat for a whole range of different wildlife.”

Learn more about the SWF’s programs and positions at www.swf.sk.ca.