Fairy Hill South

Fairy Hill, Saskatchewan (Photo by Cherie Westmoreland)

Fairy Hill South in Saskatchewan is not just about the future of wild spaces and uncommon wildlife species; it's also about partnerships and people.

Now, Fairy Hill South is another of the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) special places in Saskatchewan.

A vista of beauty

Fairy Hill is just a 20-minute drive north of Regina on Highway #6. This expanse of native grasslands, woodlands, river and flood plains continues as home for aquatic and terrestrial species and a haven for visitors wishing to enjoy this area.

Conserving this area is significant

NCC's conservation work here means this area will be managed in its natural state. These 1,300 acres (540 hectares) of valleys, hillside and bottomland are protected forever through our purchase of the property from its conservation-minded landowner, Dorothy Schuurmans.

Gaillardia (Photo by Shaylee Booty, Sebastian Fallen Feather Photography)

Notable species

Rare species found at Fairy Hill include loggerhead shrike, northern leopard frog, bigmouth buffalo fish and Sprague's pipit. This area is also well-used as a staging area for ducks and geese and a stopover for many and varied shorebird species.

Partners

There are proud partners involved in this project. Various private and individual contributors have dedicated funds toward the purchase of this property. Environment Canada, through its Natural Areas Conservation Program, and the Province of Saskatchewan, through its Fish and Wildlife Development Fund, have also substantially contributed to this purchase.

"Core to this purchase — and other Nature Conservancy of Canada land purchases like this — is our strength of partnership and our ability to work together for greater good, conserving the ecological significance of these lands," says Carmen Leibel, regional vice president in the Saskatchewan Region of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.