Wildlife viewing from a walking perspective

The government is reaching out for direction on a major government initiative. As in the rest of this site, I'll look at this from the point of view of walking.

February 24, 2014. This page is being updated so will be changing a lot over the next while.

It seems a good place to start listing places that would benefit from intepretaton, as well as topics that could be covered— essentially what would make our outdoors experience better in a knowledge sort of way.

Here's the workshop summary document (coming soon).

Background e-mail from Yukon government's Environment Department...

August 22, 2013. Yukon Government's Wildlife Viewing Technical Committee has updated the 1990 Yukon's Wildlife Viewing Strategy and we hope you will share this updated version and the link to the PDF with others in your department or organization. The 2013 strategy invites stakeholders to consider the Goals, Objectives and Strategic Actions identified and to think about possible projects and partnerships you would like to see advanced.

The Wildlife Viewing Technical Committee is planning a one day workshop on November 15 to discuss these and other ideas and initiatives. Further details about this workshop will be provided in early October. If there are wildlife viewing and appreciation topics that you would like to add to the workshop, please send us your suggestions.

A collaborative approach to viewing and appreciating wildlife can support sustainability while protecting residents' concerns and the interests of wildlife, the environment and viewing satisfaction. We welcome any feedback on the 2013 Wildlife Viewing strategy before, during and after the workshop this November.

The updated strategy and more information about wildlife viewing in Yukon can be found at www.env.gov.yk.ca/viewing.

If you would like a hard copy of the updated Wildlife Viewing Strategy, please contact Cindy Loverin @ 393-7133 to arrange delivery.

Sincerely,

Carrie McClelland, Wildlife Viewing Biologist, Department of Environment
Sara Nielsen, Parks Interpretive Planner, Department of Environment
Remy Rodden, Manager Environmental Education and Youth Programs, Department of Environment
Cathryn Paish, Tourism Resource Coordinator, Department of Tourism and Culture
Sally Robinson, Historic Sites Interpretive Planner, Department of Tourism and Culture
Shannon McNevin, Product Development Officer, Department of Tourism and Culture

Appendix B(A) provides critical background information and can be obtained from Carrie McClelland

August 25, 2013. As a small population with a large area of interest it would appear that cooperation within governments is paramount.

Quick observations

• Appendix B/A shows that wildflower interest rates higher than birds. We've seen the huge crowds that show up for mushroom interpretive events.
• There should be a government botanist, one of whose duties is integrating botany and wildlife viewing.
• How can we talk about interpretation without involving geography and geology?
• What role does government have in thinking safety? Bears, challenging topography, mapping are a start of things both residents and visitors have to deal with.
• Trails. When we think environmental damage, walkers are generally not the problem. Trail development seems an opportunity for positive community involvement.
• Squirrels, which we see so often in our back yards and in the greenbelts, are a significant part of the outdoors. We attended a recent wildlife viewing squirrel event and came away astounded by the depth of knowledge local studies has built up. Let's share this!
• We're too small a place to have multiple points of interpretation. The Yukon is a natural history paradise and limiting promotion and interpretation to wildlife, even a broad interpretation like botany and biology seems to miss opportunities.
• Travellers today are better informed. The ever rising populatity of outdoor activities among residents also sets up a large potential audience for being better learned in outdoor lore.
• One of my personal projects is to make a booklet on trees and shrubs in our neighbourhood Paddy's Pond/Ice Lake Park greenspace. This is based on my belief that walking is more interesting if we know what we are seeing. The next stage in this booklet is identifying the damn willows that we have here...Look for questions soon Bruce!
• Whitehorse has a beringia centre but little is made in Whitehorse of what it was like through the Ice Ages and what it was like for First Nation people here as the ice melted and the glacial lakes drained. Likely a fascinating story.

For a bigger idea on wildlife viewing see my walking tourism page. This page is very much in a draft idea stage as I get feedback on it.

I've also used wildlife viewing's trail efforts over the years to create a first draft of a walking in the Yukon page: walking communities. Needs a lot of work but it shows that there is a skeleton of walking already there.