A new recreational area has been announced for the southwest.

The Wideview Complex, just over 3000 acres of native grasslands, will be the province's newest conservation area. Located between the east and west blocks of Grasslands National Park, it will be used for both cattle ranching and public use.

"it will be an opporutny to continue to support ranching culture in those communities by having grazing occur on the property. It also provides an opportunity for people to visit the property and observe the naitve plants and animals that live there,"Jennifer McKillop, Director of Conservation, with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), Saskatchewan region said. "We’re really excited about this property. It’s really important for us to contribute to the conservation of native prairie in Saskatchewan, given that we only really only have around 20 percent of that naitive praire in this province."

The conservation area was originally ranch land purchased over time by the NCC who were interested in preserving the grasslands, called the 'world's most endangered ecosystem'.

"We were approached some years ago by a local rancher who had an interest in selling the property to us so it could be maintained as a conservation site," she said. "Over a number of years, we purchased a number of parcels of the Wideview Ranch. Once the project was completed, we developed a property management plan which includes continuing to graze the area, local ranchers will be able to graze the property because we need to have grazing in order to maintain the biodiversity of the grass and maintain the species that live there. It also adds to the conservation network of very important lands and species that live in southern Saskatchewan."

The land was purchased with a joint contributution from the Federal Government, the Provincial Government, private and corporate donors. Both the Provincial and Federal Governments contributed $1 million each. While the property doesn't have the designation of National or Provincial park, it still wil be open for the public to use.

"(The land) would contribute to both Saskatchewan and Canada's targets for conservation for the international commitments that have been made, but it desn’t have status as a Provincial or Federal park. It is private land owned by NCC with public access,"she said. 

There are no events scheudled for the opening of the complex, but McKillop says plans may be in the works to develop a guided trail in the area. In the meantime, everyone is welcome to visit.

"It’s a place where people can come for generations to experience saskatchewan’s rich, natural beauty and hopefully a place that people will come out and visit," she said.