Corman Park is about to be a whole lot greener!

Ranch Ehrlo has teamed up with SaskPower’s Our Treehouse to You, located at the Shand Greenhouse in Estevan, for a new initiative.

The greenhouse will be donating 1,800 seedlings to the Ranch to plant a shelterbelt at the Corman Park campus, and the rest will be planted adjacent to our Path to Reconciliation at the Pilot Butte campus.

The trees we will be receiving are shrub willows, trembling aspen, and white spruce.

Chris Shynkaruk, manager of property management, said, “We have been discussing for quite some time about issues that are caused by the wind at Corman Park campus and the lack of vegetation.”

In the summer of 2022, Sarah Ovens, May House program manager, provided him with information regarding the Shand Greenhouse shelterbelt program. 

“I applied on the premise that once established, these trees will provide protection to the structures, and potentially reduce energy costs, but will also reduce the blowing snow and dust, providing better air quality for those living and working at Corman Park,” he explained. 

Shelley Heidinger, consultant for the Shand Greenhouse agreed, “Creating a shelterbelt not only helps to slow down or stop the wind we have here on the prairies, but it also reduces power and heating costs, and creates a catchment area where snow will accumulate to add moisture to the soil.”

She said the program has been going since 1991, and they typically distribute 500,000 seedlings per year to people and organizations in Saskatchewan.

The Ranch will receive its seedlings in the second week of May.