Climate
Landscape
Soil
Vegetation
Wildlife
Human Use

Climate: Total annual precipitation (mm) 450 Annual snowfall (cm) 183 Water deficit (mm) 439 Mean July temperature (C) +16.0 Mean January temperature (C) -12.1 As a result of the high elevation, the climate is sub-humid and cool. In relation to the rest of Saskatchewan this area has relatively mild, short winters and cool summers. The hills receive more precipitation than the surrounding prairies and are cooler, but experience an occasional chinook. Landscape: The area is a flat-topped plateau, dissected into three blocks by two river valleys. The land is low and rolling in "The Gap" between the west and centre blocks. Solid bedrock exposures of the very porous Cypress Hills Conglomerate form dramatic cliffs in the west block. Loose cobblestones are found elsewhere. GPS: 49d 35.58m N, 109d 55.26m W, 3948 feet 02 August 96, 12:30 pm, Fuji Velvia 50, F11 1/4s Battle Creek in the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Look at the aboriginal sweat lodge behind you. GPS: 49d 38.79m N, 109d 50.88m W, 4444 feet 02 August 96, 2:45 pm, Fuji Velvia 50, F15 1/10-45s Conglomerate Cliffs in the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Look closely behind you, there is a medicine wheel. Soil: Soils are grassland and forest types. Vegetation: Slopes of the plateau provide most of the forest habitat, with lodgepole pine, white spruce and aspen growing in pure or mixed stands. White spruce and some balsam poplar are common along ravines. Fescue grass is the dominant vegetation found on level uplands, while trembling aspen occupies the dry uplands. Many mountain species of plants occur here. Wetland vegetation occurs in the streams, ponds, lakes and marshes. Wildlife: Mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, western rattlesnake, coyote, rabbits and ground squirrels are common in the region. Moose, elk, and the threatened "Baird's sparrow" occur here as do the long-tailed weasel, marten, mink, badger, bobcat and beaver. Trumpeter swans nest along lakes in the Cypress Hills Region. This is the only place in Saskatchewan where Townsend's solitaires and Townsend's warblers nest. Human Use: Livestock grazing and ranching are the dominant land uses of the region. And where there is livestock there are predators. Check out the coyote sound at the top. Other main land uses are recreation, hunting and limited forest harvesting.