Riding Mountain National Park

Townsite Newsletter

• From the desk of Dale Wallis, Townsite Manager and Realty Manager
• Amphitheatre
• Water Stewardship
• Spruce Budworm Update for the Clear Lake Area – Spring 2012
• Deadwood Wednesdays for Leased Cottage Lots
• Storm Drain Marking Program
• Emerson Drive Concert
• Townsite Washroom Cleanup
• Flood Update 2011
• Muskrat Creek Fire
• Centennial Year Wrap-up
• Clear Lake Cleanup
• 2011 Special Events

From the desk of Dale Wallis, Townsite and Realty Manager

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year as Townsite and Realty Manager for Riding Mountain National Park. I was very fortunate to have met and worked with many residents, business owners, elected and volunteer community representatives. I appreciated the patience and support shown to me during this ‘honeymoon’ year.

© Parks Canada

Looking ahead to the 2012 season we anticipate continued progress in the evolution of our community. Friend’s of Riding Mountain are launching their new Busking Program, bringing street entertainment to our community. We look forward to the opening of the new Amphitheatre site and the range of opportunities at that venue. And to our annual events calendar with many returning and new events planned for 2012. We will be working with the business community on marketing programs and expansion opportunities and welcoming more first time owners to Wasagaming. In the CLCA we will be busy with the Comprehensive Review exploring long term plans for this unique and special community.

The following newsletter presents topics of interest to residents and visitors to Wasagaming. If you have questions or would like additional information please feel free to call or write.

Dale Wallis, Townsite and Realty Manager

Top of Page

Amphitheatre

We wish to welcome our visitors and event producers to come and enjoy our new amphitheatre this summer. This landscaped site is already being used for winter activities such as the Jackrabbit Ski Program and tobogganing. It is a uniquely beautiful location in the heart of Wasagaming directly along the pedestrian route to the Wasagaming Campground. An ideal location to hold public or ticketed events, the amphitheatre is designed to accommodate between 200 and 7,500 people at a time; and, when not in use for special events, it will provide another attractive greenspace for the public to enjoy.

The amphitheatre will create opportunities to attract more visitors and increase the number of activities summer residents and visitors can enjoy. RMNP is currently accepting proposals to utilize the amphitheatre for community and visitor minded activities. For further information please call 204-848-7275, or email rmnp.info@pc.gc.ca.

Top of Page

Water Stewardship

Clear Lake and South Lake
© Parks Canada

We are pleased to announce that the new Wastewater Treatment Facility is completed and fully operational. With the completion of this facility we have taken great strides forward to ensure the future health of our local environment and the Clear Lake watershed. The new facility achieves effluent treatment standards that comply with current legislation through the use of three stabilization ponds incorporating UV, alum and aeration treatments.

Continuing water quality studies from Clear Lake have shown dramatic improvements through the development of this new facility. With our recent agreements with the RM of Park to treat wastewater from the northern edge of the municipality we expect further reductions in nutrient loading. The completion of two contaminated site remediation projects, commitments for riparian zone enhancement along input creeks and future projects for storm water, erosion and runoff management will further improve our stewardship of the watershed.

Top of Page

Spruce Budworm Update for the Clear Lake Area – Spring 2012

SBW monitoring began in 2006 and one of our key measures is a moth count conducted in July each year. We put out a series of 24 traps, from Whitewater to Whirlpool Lakes, and then count the moths captured over a 3-week period. The following table shows the monitoring results to date.

© Parks Canada

As you can see, the counts have been way down the past 2 summers (2010 and 2011). This may indicate a general decline in Spruce Budworm population numbers in the region. Manitoba Conservation, Forestry Branch, is predicting “light” defoliation for RMNP in 2012. However, Park staff will continue to monitor the situation and will provide you with further updates in the future.

For more information call Wybo Vanderschuit, Ecosystem Scientist, at 848-7246
 

Top of Page

Deadwood Wednesdays for Leased Cottage Lots

Do you have branches or dead wood that should be hauled away from your property? This debris can be a hazard assisting fires to burn hotter and spread more easily. Once again this year the Wasagaming Vegetation Management Committee has arranged for three FireSmart lot cleanup days. This clean up is only for natural woody material that can be burned.

The Deadwood Wednesday dates for 2012 are: June 27, July 25, and August 22. Call 848-7102 to book a time for the park truck to stop at your lot (no later than the Monday prior to pick up). Please deliver your debris to the roadside at the appropriate time, and help with loading if you can.

Top of Page

Storm Drain Marking Program

© Parks Canada

In June, 2011 students from Onanole Elementary and Erickson Collegiate became citizen scientists for the day by marking storm drains in the Townsite with a blue Northern Pike logo to remind all visitors, staff, cottage and business owners that the storm drains are for water only.

The provincial science curriculum includes a unit on rivers and lakes. These junior high students got to learn first-hand about their local watershed, discovering that anything washing into the storm drains in the Townsite – fertilizers, pesticides, soap, paint, solvents, or cigarette butts - ends up in Clear Lake.

Knowing these substances are harmful to plants and fish motivated the kids to take action to protect the lake. They made stencils out of recycled cardboard. Then the teams of eco-heroes hit the streets and painted the logos next to storm drains throughout the Townsite.

“This program exists in a number of communities across Canada,” said RMNP’s Citizen Science Coordinator Christian Tremblay, “We chose the Northern Pike as our logo because it is native to Clear Lake and easily recognizable.”
The paint is environmentally-friendly and non-permanent. The logos will have to be repainted in a few years, providing future educational opportunities for students and visitors.

For more information about how to become involved in the storm drain marking program, call 204-848-7275 or email rmnp.info@pc.gc.ca.

Top of Page

Emerson Drive Concert

On Aug. 20, Emerson Drive, nominated for Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA) Group of the Year, played a free concert at Clear Lake as part of Parks Canada’s Centennial Celebrations. More than 7,000 concert goers were in attendance for an evening of great music including opening acts Keith & Renée as well as Trio Bembe. Building on the success of last year’s Doc Walker concert, the scenic venue on the shore of Clear Lake has turned out to be ideal for events of this scale.

© Parks Canada

Top of Page

Townsite Washroom Cleanup

© Parks Canada

Remediation of the Townsite Washroom Parking Lot located southwest of the Visitor Centre took place in February and March, 2011.

To make sure the site did not impact human health or the environment, 3,300 cubic metres of contaminated soil were removed and hauled to a licensed treatment facility for proper disposal. Clean fill was brought in to fill the excavated area.

The Townsite Washroom parking lot was the site of a gas station from 1935 to 1974. The soil was contaminated with gasoline from that operation. Tests indicated that the contamination was contained to the parking lot area.

Parks Canada is a leader in environmental protection. The Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) exists to fund the remediation of contaminated sites that are a legacy of past practices by the federal government.

Top of Page

Flood Update 2011

It was a busy and important year for the highways and roads inside of RMNP. In the spring of 2011 the Park was hit by the worst flooding it has seen in the last thirty-five years. Infrastructure throughout the Park was affected. Highway 19 washed out several times and many culverts failed. The area most affected was at Km 49 on Highway 10. This location experienced a slide large enough to warrant the closure of Highway 10 to heavy truck traffic.

© Parks Canada

Amid the hardships of the spring some good news did arrive, as RMNP received all the flood compensation it had requested. In the fall and winter of 2011, a portion of the budgeted funds was spent accordingly to address infrastructure damaged by the flooding. In addition, the Park has been approved for additional funding in 2012/ 2013 to fix Km 49 on Highway 10. The geotechnical investigation, which included drilling for soil samples, occurred in early winter. The plan is that the engineering and design will be done for the spring so that construction can start in the summer of 2012.

Top of Page

Muskrat Creek Fire

High winds and temperatures ignited a wildfire in the Muskrat Creek area of RMNP. The fire covered 2000 hectares in the southeast end of the park (note: park is 300,000 hectares) and stretched 14 km from north to south.

Four fire crews from other parks, along with Parks Canada’s incident command team, were brought in from across the country to assist RMNP fire specialists.

Public Safety is always Parks Canada’s top priority. As a precaution, an evacuation alert was put in place by the Rural Municipality of Clanwilliam to eight adjacent landowners. Fortunately, at no time did anyone have to leave their homes.

All roads and trails that were closed during the fire have now been reopened.

© Parks Canada

Background:
High winds and temperatures caused a prescribed burn to reignite a wildfire in the Muskrat Creek area. Fire specialists ignited a 14 hectare prescribed fire unit on September 23, 2011. On the evening of October 5, though previous monitoring had indicated no fire activity in the unit, strong winds and unusually warm, dry weather fanned the fire back to life.

For more information about the role of fire in the RMNP ecosystem, visit: http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mb/riding/ne/muskrat_creek.aspx

Top of Page

Centennial Year Wrap-up

As we look back on 2011 we shall remember proudly Parks Canada’s Centennial Year, celebrating 100 years as the world’s first national park service. And what a year it was!

© Parks Canada

Many national initiatives were a part of our local celebrations right here in Riding Mountain National Park. From the arrival of Parks Canada’s frisky new mascot, Parka, the clever Xplorers Program and Canada’s New Campfire Song by Sarah Harmer, to the Emerson Drive outdoor concert on the shore of Clear Lake, and the recognition of our outstanding volunteers from Friends of the Park and the Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve, these special products and events contributed to creating some very fond memories.

Other unique Centennial souvenirs produced to mark this occasion, include a Centennial silver dollar collector coin, a commemorative Loonie, a Canada Post tribute stamp and two books: Canada’s National Parks: A Celebration and a National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of Canada.

We hope you were able to be a part of this Centennial year, too! Should you wish to review other special events that took place in RMNP and across Canada, be sure to visit http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mb/riding/ne.aspx
and http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/progs/celebrations/index.aspx.

Top of Page

Local Students Clean up Clear Lake Clear Lake Cleanup Nets More Than Half a Tonne of Garbage

On September 21, 2011, students and teachers joined staff from RMNP to pick up more than 650 kg of garbage from the shoreline as part of the second annual Clear Lake Cleanup. This initiative was a joint effort between RMNP and the schools to make a difference for the environment on a local level. In all, more than 200 participants from Erickson Collegiate, Erickson Elementary and Onanole Elementary Schools worked to tidy up after a summer that saw 300,000 visitors come to the park.

Teams of students and staff scoured the shoreline from Camp Wannakumbac, to the Boat Cove, the Main Beach, past the golf course and the North Shore, then on to the Aspen picnic area. This year twice as many students participated and produced twice the results of last year’s cleanup. A wide variety of garbage and recyclables was collected. Some of the more interesting finds included a plastic children’s slide, a CD case full of CDs, an unopened bottle of liquor, fireworks, and many pairs of underwear (mostly men’s – fellas, what’s up with that?!).

The objective of the cleanup was not simply to remove the mess from the lake. Park management wants to learn from the litter. By studying what is found and where it comes from, improvements can be made to the availability of garbage and recycling facilities, and about how best to educate the public about protecting the environment.

“These students can be very proud in that they have made a difference,” commented Paul Tarleton, the Resource Conservation Manager for RMNP. “With the many thousands of visitors who come to enjoy the park, I guess we have to expect a few lapses in judgment. Sometimes, although it may be hard to believe, people don't always understand the consequences of their actions - the fox that can't breathe or eat because it has a chip bag stuck on its head, the bear that's in the same condition because it has its head in a jar, the fish that dies because it has ingested a couple of cigarette butts, the gull that is slowly starving because it has a plastic beer can holder wrapped around its neck.”

Cleanup teams sorted and recorded each item that was picked up into several categories including food packaging, cigarette related trash, clothing, and boating and fishing related items. The data will be compiled and analyzed both in RMNP and at the national level as part of the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, a research and restoration initiative that takes place every year at this time. Last year, across the country, more than 98,000 kg of garbage was removed from 1200 sites along 2200 km of shoreline by 8,000 participants.

Top of Page

2012 Special Events Calendar