Cathedral Village Forest Project preparing to plant thousands of trees this spring

The group plans to plant 7,311 trees in Les Sherman Park — one for each person who lives in the Cathedral neighbourhood

Published Mar 10, 2024 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 2 minute read

From left, Cathedral Village Forest Project members Chris Sale, Estella Sale, Phil Jeffreys, Karen Wilkie, Elizabeth Verrall, Trevor Herriot and Norman Henderson in Les Sherman Park in Regina on March 8, 2024. Photo by KAYLE NEIS /Regina Leader-Post

As spring approaches, plans are underway to plant one tree for each person who lives in the Cathedral neighbourhood of Regina through the Cathedral Village Forest Project.

Chris Sale, Cathedral Village Forest Project lead and Cathedral Village Community Association board member, first presented the idea of planting a forest to the board in the fall of 2021. They plan to plant 7,311 trees in Les Sherman Park — one for each resident of the Cathedral neighbourhood, according to the 2021 census.

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“That seemed like a simple, meaningful goal,” Sale said. “It aligns very much with the City of Regina’s official community plan goal of ensuring that we have an urban forest made up of at least one tree per resident on public property.”

While the Cathedral area already has many trees, Sale saw the Cathedral Village Forest Project as a way to help the city meet its goal while creating a unique recreation element in the neighbourhood.

The project began with a community meeting attended by 35 people in January 2023, with subsequent meetings since then to work out the details.

“We have a lot of people who are interested in actually being part of the project and doing the work, getting the trees in the ground, so it’s a good sized group of people who are passionate about this,” Sale said, adding they are moving forward on the logistics of planting thousands of trees using volunteer labour.

The irrigation system that will water the trees as they grow for the first three to five years is currently being designed, and they hope to begin planting by the end of May or in early June. The group will hold meetings ahead of the first planting event to work out the details on the layout of the trees, shrubs, pathways, fencing and signage.

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Sale said the group has been successful in receiving grants from Tree Canada and SaskPower, and they currently have some “irons in the fire” for other grants as well.

“If those come through we’ll also be having another planting day in the fall,” he said.

Sale said SaskPower approved their request for 4,400 trees and 1,100 shrubs, and he will find out what types of trees and shrubs they will receive in the coming weeks.

“I think it depends on the number of requests they’ve had and how well the growing season has been for them.”

The group’s community fundraising efforts have also been successful, with nearly $10,000 raised from community members and organizations.

“Big and small, there’s been so much interest and so much support for this project.”

Sale encourages those who are interested in the project to go to the Cathedral Village website or find them on social media.

[email protected]

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