Kirkland Lake

When I received my honours degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Guelph this past April I was extremely excited and nervous to (finally) get out of school and start work. However, never did I ever think that my first job out of school would be supervising a youth program for the Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kirkland Lake district. The Ontario Stewardship Rangers, a fantastic youth program aimed at educating a team of four 16/17 year olds on natural resources, the environment and work ethic while working on community work projects, was the job for me - and I was the Team Leader.

Where and what the heck is Kirkland Lake? That was my first question when I heard that I had the job. Turns out that Kayelle (sound it out = K.L.) is 8 hours north of my hometown of Brockville, ON, right near the border between the Boreal forest and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence forest. A little town that lies and says it's 10,000 people large. The town runs on mining, logging and Tim Hortons.

I spent my first 3 weeks in K.L. setting up my living arrangements (a one room cottage at Wilderness Calling Cottages on Round Lake), finding new partners in the community and begging them for work projects for my team this summer, and attending OSR training for team leaders in Sudbury (a week long adventure). I also, for the first time, got to interview and hire my very own staff. My picks landed on 4 characters named Ashton, Corey, Brooke and Stephanie. I couldn't of asked for better company.

My team of highschoolers worked 8:30 to 4:15 everyday on projects ranging from awesome (polar bear habitat) to down right uggggh (moving tires with stagnant water in them during a thunderstorm). The best part about my summer was that I got to see so much of the Kirkland Lake district, got to tour some awesome facilities (like the poop factory, saw mill, fish hatchery and I mentioned the polar bear habitat) and got to work with really amazing people.

My boyfriend, Mr. Christopher Poulsen, joined me in Kirkland Lake about 3.5 weeks into my 11 week contract. He tried to find a job, but then I told him he should just start getting used to having summers off since he's a teacher now (he just graduated in April as well). Instead of work he kept my little cottage neat and tidy (mostly - it's hard to keep up with our little hairball cats), kept me well fed with delicious meals and took a course online for teaching grade 11 and 12. He was a kept man ;)

And what now you ask? We're on our way even more towards the near north - and a lot more west. We're heading to a First Nations Reserve called Slate Falls in North-western Ontario (about 2.5 hours North-ish of Sioux Lookout or 7 hours North-ish of Thunder Bay). Chris has received his first teaching position teaching grade 3-4-5 there. I finished work on August 20th and we were packed and on the road by August 22nd. Stay tuned for more on the road adventures as we head to Slate Falls.

In the meantime - enjoy these photos from my summer:

The Ontario Stewardship Rangers 2010: (left to right) Brooke, Corey, Me (in a weird-ass stance), Ashton & Stephanie. At the Eby Pothole black spruce seed orchard where we trimmed root growth on over 1000 trees, tagged dead trees and removed unwanted competing vegetation.

 

 The team at the poop factory (the sewage treatment plant). It was the most beautiful poop factory EVER - cedar trimming, vaulted ceilings, but we had to wear gloves because poop was EVERYWHERE!

The team at the Kirkland Lake fire department - the tour had nothing to do with natural resources but Corey's dad (second on the left) works there. We're all Junior Fire Rangers now. 

The OSRs stand beside a wood pile they helped move away from a home on the Matachewan First Nations reserve in accordance with the FireSmart program - a fire program aimed at helping communities become safer in the event of a forest fire.

Nanook the polar bear - We worked at the Polar Bear Habitat and Heritage Village in Cochrane, ON clearing out a section of forest for a shaded picnic area. For our efforts we got to meet Nanook and learn about his species.

Standing by some plywood at the Elk Lake Planing Mill in Elk Lake, ON

Showing off a job well done setting up a cougar monitoring area on a local trap line. We wrapped barbed wire around trees to collect DNA when they rub against it. We set up an infrared camera to capture the cougars on film and eventually attracting scents will be applied in the area to attract the beast.

Stephanie showcases her art a la Art Attack (remember Neil B.??) OSR made out of our safety vests. Its a BIG ART ATTACK!