wildlife refuge

Caribou
by

Caribou

Good morning Brave hearts

This beautiful new day of discovery is yours.
The open land lays before us and the movement of wildlife stirs in the distance. We take our cameras and creep forward. What is this sight?
Out here in the protected alpine, where few deer and elk will roam, is another animal. Caribou! Taking a stand for wildlife protection gifts us with the sighting of these rare mountain animals. The remnants of a last herd of animals which used to sustain their populations in the remote areas of Jasper National Park.
Here in the mountains is a unique species of woodland caribou that survive only in the highest alpine areas. Lofty alpine meadows, bursting with colourful flowers, high, snow covered peaks, chilly mountain streams and lakes. An area less frequently visited by humans, but home still to the variety of wildlife that entices us here. A chance for a view of the animals remote and rare, brings us out of our world and into the great open spaces of the great wild.
The great wild!
The adventure begins early, the hike is long. Hours of walking along well travelled routes for the opportunity to explore the magnificent wild. The alpine meadows burst with flower, the colours of the earth and the magnificent scenery make us smile. A sighting would be nice.
The elusive woodland caribou who’s numbers are drastically falling in this area, is our photographic joy.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/plan/maligne/ie-ei.aspx

The alpine, in it’s own right, is a place of awesome splendor. The majestic mountain peaks, the array of colour and variety of terrain.
Our constant chatter alerts the ever present bears, who watch from their own safety as passersby invade their home. This is where the grizzly bear lives and hunts and the ever present predator reminds us, never hike alone. The trail is busy, so the chance of a sighting declines as numbers of people improve the chance that the bears will wander off to more peaceful areas. We stay on the trails. No chance encounters, no surprises, no sign of bears today.
No sign of caribou either. The elusive animal is farther back, farther from the trail, farther from human encounters.
This land, as large as it seems to be, is helping to protect some of our nations declining wildlife species. Exactly why the woodland caribou is in decline is not precisely known. The decline seems rapid and with herds as small as these, their own recovery is in peril.
Save us mankind! Calls the great wild and caribou recovery projects persist. The tracts of land set aside for wildlife conservation are being invaded, almighty human and the disturbance upsets shy, sensitive species. In reality, they are all sensitive species, needing care and protection.
The great wild and it’s wild inhabitants are a gift. Come almighty human, to save our national treasures. This UNESCO heritage site is one of those gifts.

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written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 17,2013

by

The Dawn of Time

Good morning Bravehearts.
In the beginning, the world was lush with vegetation and wildlife. In the beginning, the far north was the place to be. In the beginning, above the Arctic Circle, was a paradise of habitat for plant and animal and human. In the beginning, before the last glaciers receded, while Canada was under a layer of ice and snow, the far north was home to many residents. It still is.
Come to the beginning, to Vuntut National Park, Yukon Territory, to the dawn of mankind in the Canada.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/yt/vuntut/index.aspx

Here, in this vast and remote wilderness lies the key to prehistory mankind. An unusual ecosystem, high up in the Arctic, with relatively warm climate, berries, birds, animals, fish. Food in abundance and weather temperate enough for survival. Low annual snowfall lightly covers the winter ground, sub zero temperatures to -35C. An oasis of lakes, marsh, pond, vegetation. This large protected area is where the story begins. Here in the mighty north.
Praises mankind, to your thousands of years of human habitation in the far north. Your story will be told.

http://www.taiga.net/wetlands/oldcrow/oc_gen.html

The peoples are the Vuntut Gwitchen, the settlers and survivors of a world of constant change. They came to a land of plenty and stayed for the life that the land provides. A life of hunting and gathering, trapping, boating. A life of relative ease with food in abundance. Sports, fishing. The endless beauty of the Earth, the endless beauty of the sky.
With so much provided there’s time to think and time to play, time to imagine and time to work. Time to investigate and explore. Time to build a nation, a culture, a language, dwellings a home. With glaciers receding there’s an opportunity to travel south, but they stayed. Stay in your own vast oasis of relative warmth and adventure. Of food and prosperity.
The great Earth provided an immense land of abundance and opportunity. The land of and the lands surrounding Vuntut National Park.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
November 3, 2013