The Souris River Watershed District (SWRSD) expects to see more people using their shelter belt program.

Manager Dean Brooker says supply issues were a problem over the past year or two but he’s anticipating a much better year for securing saplings in 2023. “It shouldn’t be a problem. During covid it was a problem access seedling and I guess people were bored and planting more trees and ones like fruit trees they became hard to find.”

"We have a pretty good source in North Dakota as well as some in Canada so we should be okay this year,” said Brooker.

 

Souris River Watershed District has a shelter belt program for yard and fields.

“We can sign landowners up for 10 years. They can get incentive payments for planting the shelter belt depending on the size. A mile long shelter belt might one or two acres total so we can provide them with some yearly incentives along with the establishment costs.”

SRWSD would pay 75 per cent and the landowner 25 per cent. Dean Brooker says there’s no question shelter belts are a valuable tool for landowners. “One of the big benefits now is reducing winds speed and capturing snow. They also provide those corridors for wildlife in the area to move around.