Welcome back to another cottaging season--lots of good stuff going on in the park and some great additions.

Barry Propp, Maintenance Supervisor, will once again be leading the maintenance crew with a mix of returning staff and students, and some new staff are joining the team. The team will be complete in the latter part of June as the students come on board to help with the busy summer season.

Sandra Wyatt, Park Administrative Supervisor, has a seasoned veteran crew at the entry/campground office ready and able to help with all your entry and camping needs.

Seasonal security officers Josh Dickson and Andrew Kuras will return to help with the enforcement and education side of the summer experience. The park will also have an interpretive program although staff has not been hired. At peak, the full complement of staff is around 20, ready to bring that excellent customer service to the visitors in the park.

Below is a link to the 2023 Water Quality Report for Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park.

The playground committee successfully got the main structure up last fall and is still actively fundraising to install the additional smaller play structures. Cans and bottles are still being collected and monetary donations are being accepted. The committee would like to complete this project as soon as possible. What a great addition to the park and area. There is a trailer at the maintenance yard where cans and bottles can be deposited.

Fixed roof accommodations are almost complete and will be open for business in early June 2023. You can book now at www.mistikresort.com. These are great-looking cabins and something people have been asking for. Good luck to Bill & Cynthia Brinley on their adventure.

The park is adding a few more play structures to the main playground at the beach. These structures will be installed once the weather cooperates and will be a welcome addition to all young families.

There will be a couple of surprises at the beach this year with the addition of palapa structures. These will give people a place to gather and find some relief from the sun.

Cottage lessees may pick up their 2023-24 transferable park specific entry permits from the park office in which their cottage is located beginning May 15. Once cottage lessees have retrieved their permits, they are considered received and no further permits will be re-issued. If additional permits are required, cottage lessees may purchase a 2023-24 transferrable Annual Park Entry Permit from any provincial park office in Saskatchewan. The two issued transferrable Park Specific Entry Permits are associated with the lease and not the person; therefore, when transferring a lease please ensure these park specific passes are also transferred to the new lease owner as additional ones will not be issued.

Please remember vehicles within provincial parks are required to always display a valid entry permit throughout the year.

Anyone picking up Annual Park Entry Permits associated with a cottage property at a provincial park must:

• Be named on the provincial park cottage lease agreement.
• Update contact information with park official.
• Provide personal identification.
• Sign for the permits.

As in previous years, where non-compliance issues remain, Annual Park Entry Permits may be withheld by the Ministry until outstanding non-compliant issues have been resolved. Examples of this are (but not limited to): lease fee arrears, expired lease, pending assignment of lease (sale) or unresolved estate (one lessee deceased). If any of these circumstances apply to you, please contact the park office for assistance. These permits will be held in Regina - the Regina office will advance these assigned permits once compliance has been reached.

The Saskatchewan Senior Annual Transferrable passes will be available at the Park Administration office for pick up.

The Good Spirit Lake Watershed Board has completed the outlet channel upgrade and this structure is fully operational. The Board will assess the water levels as the spring progresses and decide in accordance with their permit on operation of the discharge gates.

When you are renting the recreation hall for an event, you are required to fill out a special event form. If you do not fill the form out, you cannot book the hall. All hall renters require the renting group to have a minimum of $2,000,000 liability insurance and other permits as required (liquor permit) if alcohol is present. If you are having an event in the park, you would be required to fill out the special events permit for an outside event and for the most part liability insurance is standard for the event. Lease operators have been very helpful in running some of these events and working with event planners to help save costs. If you are planning an event, please give yourself enough time to plan what is required. The information is found here (https://www.tourismsaskatchewan.com/en/places-to-go/provincial-parks/do-in-saskparks/special-event) or call the office.

Our park will once again have a roll-off container at the maintenance yard to help cottagers keep their yards free of clutter and debris. The container is in the back of the maintenance yard. This container is not to be used for construction projects. The container should be in place for the May long weekend.

The six-yard bins are for household garbage—please don't put a mattress or your lawn chairs in there. Instead, use the roll off bin. Household garbage is typically what you would put in a garbage bag.

Cardboard is recycled once a month, so please collapse boxes to allow for more cardboard in these bins.

The park will work towards getting the water system up and running for the May long weekend. Barry’s crew never knows what impacts the winter season has on the system, so the park will keep you posted on the progress.

The lake level should be in a better position than it was at this time last year. Based on incoming flows and rains, it is impossible to predict what that level will be, but there are permit guidelines to help with the decision on its operations. Stay tuned!

Permits are required for foreshore structures being placed in the water that are tied to the shore, so any dock system installed in the water requires a permit. If you had a permit in 2022, you will automatically be invoiced in 2023. The park will perform an inspection in 2023 to ensure compliance. When you receive your invoice, confirm charges on that invoice are current and accurate. Call the office if you need any further clarification.

Maintenance staff will be on a regular schedule starting May 20 when the park will be staffed on weekends, so the yard will be open. The hours of operation are typically 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and once the summer schedule takes effect, hours extend to 9 p.m. If you have any requirement for any services outside of work hours, please contact Barry at the maintenance yard.

All cottagers should be on the five-year plan for sewage holding tank testing, so the next round of testing is in 2025-2030. There are 153 cottages, so the testing will either be 50 cottages a year over a three-year period, or 30 cottages a year over a five-year period. Regardless, once on the schedule, your test will be required every five years.

Several inquiries about the vacant lot at 80 Poplar Place in the Donald Gunn Subdivision have been received. The Ministry is currently offering an opportunity to obtain a lease on this lot through the Request For Bids (RFB) process. The RFB will remain open until June 30, 2023 at 2 p.m. and information may be accessed at Provincial Park Cottage Land Lease and Development Opportunity.

The park will continue addressing the non-compliance issues around development off the cottage lease. Several inspections were completed in 2022, and cottagers were very cooperative in addressing the issues and bringing their lot into compliance. The development guidelines are very clear on what is allowed.

Tree removal, along with grass cutting, is not permitted off the lease unless it is part of the access to the lake and limited to the guidelines that are in place. The park is working with our Landscape Protection Unit and the Ministry of Environment to help educate and enforce non-compliance in these areas.

Building permits are required whenever you are changing the footprint of the lease or if there are building code requirements as it relates to decks, railings and if you are doing any landscaping and drainage projects. If you are unsure, check with the park. It is also always good practice to submit a building permit.

Cottagers need to be reminded that firewood located in the firewood complex or any of the campsites is not for cottage use. This firewood is a tamarack variety and does have a numbered confetti tracking on the wood. If you are looking for firewood, Dwight Ruf at Sun Shadows campground has wood for sale and the park will continue to supply tree lengths at the sewage lagoon site for cottagers to process.

The maintenance yard does NOT accept any fridges or stoves. These appliances need to be taken to a metal depot; there is a drop area at Smith Steel in Yorkton. The park is looking to secure an additional bin for the maintenance yard where white metal (barbecues, metal chairs, bikes, etc.) can be deposited. If this cannot be accessed, these articles are to be placed in the 30-yard dumpster.

Tree permits are required any time you are requesting a tree to be removed. If the tree is on parkland and you feel it may be hazardous, please contact the park for an inspection.

The current administration building, and recreation hall facility is on the books for an upgrade. The planning process is underway, so over the next couple of years the park hopes to have an upgraded administrative office.

The park is looking to upgrade the exterior of the entry gate. This is the first building the visitors see when entering the park, so it needs some upgrades.

Signage has been improved for the great backcountry trails system at Good Spirt Lake Provincial Park along with promotion of the catwalk at the dune. Both are excellent interpretive experiences that so many people do not know about - I encourage you to check them out if you haven't already!

The park is installing solar lights on some trails this season as a trial. If successful, some of the trails with high use may see an upgrade.

There are some additional upgrades to our facilities, the Camp-Easy program, and park infrastructure.

Donations can be made online or in-park to specific areas of the park system customers feel passionate about. Your donation can directly help enhance and preserve our provincial parks long into the future. The generosity of your donation will help fund innovations and new experiences while supporting education and stewardship, making you a part of the history and the future of Saskatchewan Provincial Parks. To learn more and donate, visit saskparks.com/donate

Please ensure the Park office has your most recent email address and contact information as all correspondence from the park will be communicated via email.

From all the staff here at Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park, we wish you a very fun, exciting cottage experience and continue to search for creative and innovative improvements to our park. If there is something you would like to see, add, change; please let us know and we can have a discussion.

Please refer to www.saskatchewan.ca/cottaging for additional cottage information.

Here's to a busy summer season!