Merran’s

Summer Report

After being on a study exchange program ending on June 26th, I had no idea what I was going to do for work during the next few months before returning back to school in Quebec. All I knew was that if it were possible I really wanted to spend the summer in Haines Junction (where my mother had moved four years earlier from Whitehorse) getting to know the area and community.

Fortunately, the opportunity to work with Executive Director Sue Desjardins and the Alsek Renewable Resource Council as their summer student fell perfectly into place. On July 6th I began my employment with the council and within the first hour I was sitting in on my first Bison Management Conference Call. From the very first day I was already learning about bison harvest recommendations, different options for hunting periods and the different viewpoints of the many people involved.

The following few days were spent with Sue wandering around Haines Junction as she introduced me to various people; ranging from people working for the Forestry Department, Conservation Officers, Regional Biologists, Champagne Aishihik Administration and Parks Canada employees, etc. These introductions were beneficial in terms of letting people know I was available to help with any projects they may have and also just to get acquainted with members of the community. Furthermore, I spent the week reading up on what the council does and what it takes part in.

Nearing the end of the first week I had the opportunity to help Calista Morrison and Erin Dowd work on Calista’s honors forestry and vegetation research around the community. On the plots we recorded berry abundances and foliage coverage.

Luckily, the next week I had the chance to get to know six of the youth from the community as well as Mike Evans (CAFN Youth Coordinator). Together, along with Jane Vincent, we canoed down the DezadeashRiver to the confluence with the KaskawulshRiver. During the trip, we spent a lot of time hiking and exploring as well as trying to sail back upstream with a watermelon. It was incredible to see the magic that lay behind the front ranges and to see the most golden grizzly bear that I have ever seen.

As the summer continued, I spent a week with Lorne LeRoque, one of my former co-workers and his Yukon Youth Conservation Corps crew, performing a sheperdia pull around the town in an attempt to try and reduce human/bear conflict in and around the community. Amidst indulging myself with soap-berry’s, Sue and I threw a little community bbq to thank the Y2C2 crew.

Later that same week, Sue and I put together a presentation about what the council has been involved with this past year and made our way out to Klukshu for the Champagne Aishihik General Assembly. Klukshu is such a beautiful place and I really enjoyed spending time there and getting to know some of the people that also live within the ChampagneAishihikTraditionalTerritory.

Nearing the end of July, I was able to spend further time out on the land working with Charlie Krebs, Alice Kennedy, Michelle Oakley and Liz Hofer’s summer student Kathy Sutherland. Collectively, we gathered portions of this years Community Ecological Monitoring Project (CEMP) data. Amongst plots scattered between the St. Elias trail head and Donjek, we assembled information regarding berries, mushrooms and spruce cones.

After spending the hottest week in the Territory out and around the Arctic Institute collecting data, I ventured into Whitehorse for the 3rd Yukon Youth Forum on Climate Change at the Vista Outdoor Learning Center on the Klondike Highway. There a keen group of 24 Yukon youth shared their thoughts about climate change and came up with messages they wished to share with other fellow youth.

Before I knew it, the summer was spiraling into August and I finally had the opportunity to spend some time with Sue and in the office. We also did some ground based monitoring on the Auriol trail together. I also had the chance to help prepare for a council meeting and sit in/observe how they unfold.

Mid-August I wondered into Whitehorse to help Environment Yukon and biologist Ramona Maraj and Kelsey Russell with some marten dissections. Hidden in a back lab room, Kelsey and took out each marten’s bacculum/ovaries, stomach, teeth and liver for DNA analysis.

From Whitehorse I then flew up to Inuvik, NWT for one of the best weeks of the summer. There I joined 60 other participants divided for the most part equally between Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and “down south” for the 1st ever Northern Young Leaders Summit on Climate Change. The summit lasted for 5 days and encompassed approximately 40 facilitators and presenters from around the country. It included a mock United Nations exercise on climate change, a speech by Sheila Walt-Coultier, a speech by author Mike Byers and Elder Charlie Snowshoe and many presentations regarding the Mackenzie Delta break-up, traditional knowledge, climate change policy, photovoltaics, the Arctic Council, carbon offsetting and IPY projects. Overall, the experience to Inuvik was very memorable and an important step towards creating a voice for Northern youth.

Lastly, the summer came to an end with a wonderful week helping Carmen Wong and Parks Canada with a forestry project around KluaneNational Park. My last week was spent up in the Slims Valley, Kathleen Lake and Mush/Bates Lake road collecting data regarding soil analysis, foliage cover, vegetation, coarse woody debris and trees. The study encompasses the effects that the spruce bark beetle and another beetle are having on the trees and forests of Kluane and it was interesting for me to see the extremes and differences between the plots.

Finally, I come to the end of a great summer and have to thank Sue for her guidance and life lessons as well as for supporting me in everything I choose to partake in. I learned a tone this summer and met a wide range of very influential people and thoroughly enjoyed all the experiences. I only wish the summer were another month or two longer and I strongly recommend other Haines Junction youth to work as a summer student with the Alsek RRC in the future!!!