BioBlitz Week 2024 Recap

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BioBlitz Week is officially over, and we want to thank everyone for coming out to the Boreal Wetland Centre (BWC) and helping make the week an amazing experience! 

At BioBlitz, we had families out to the BWC over four days to participate in events such as Ecologist for a Day, Hydrologist for a Day, and Critter Dipping; which were a great way to get children outside and among nature! Topics covered included the different plants found in upland forests versus wetlands, how hydrology monitoring helps us predict and respond to environmental changes, and the impact aquatic organisms have on wetland health. We found lots of critters including frogs, weevils, mosquito larvae, beetles, and ants.

We also facilitated a talk titled “Connecting with Nature”, led by Two-Spirit Indigenous Researcher & Methodologist Jaylenn Tourangeau. They read through the book “Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow” by Aimée Craft, discussed how we see ourselves in nature, and the role wetlands plays in Indigenous culture.

BioBlitz also dedicates an event for the homeschool community. This year, we ran an experiment focused on water drainage and filtration in the upland forest compared to the wetland. Using gravel, sand, peat, and clay, the homeschool kids could come up with their own hypothesis and run the experiment to see how fast water flows through the different materials.

Overall, it was great to get people out to the BWC for the first time and introduce everyone to the different programming we offer! If anyone is interested in our volunteer opportunities, we are always looking for volunteers for our Hydrology Monitoring Project, where people can come out to the BWC and help track groundwater levels. Please reach out to Kailee Goertzen (k_goertzen@ducks.ca) for more information on our volunteering and future events or check the What’s Onsite? section of our website.

Some fun flora and fauna we found on-site throughout the week:

BWC Spring Recap

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Inside education (throughout the spring): Inside Education delivered educational programing at the Boreal Wetland Centre, utilizing the natural ecosystem and on-site installations to provide real world examples for local school curriculum.

 

Trailhead entrance sign (April): The BWC now has a beautiful entrance sign thanks to the hard work and collaboration of Men’s Shed Grande Prairie.

 

Walk Through the Forest (May 7-9): This 3-day event, organized by GPESES, toured Grade 6 six students through the BWC to learn about sustainable forest management practices, air and watersheds, and invasive species. We welcomed approximately 1,000 students and teachers to the site and had a great time talking about wetlands.

 

Forestry summer student maintenance day (May 14 and 31): Workers from Canfor, Weyerhaeuser, and West Fraser joined BWC staff on site to help with maintenance. Tasks included pulling out old materials, removing sand from past demonstrations, cleaning up signage around site, and cutting a new trail for a future silviculture exhibit.

 

High School Spring Tour (May 16): Hosted by the County of Grande Prairie, this wetland tour was given to high school kids and included presentations by Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Alberta Conservation Association, Matrix Solutions, NAIT Centre for Boreal Research, the Agroforestry and Woodlot Extension Society, and PAZA. Topics covered in these presentations involved soils, forestry, aquatic ecology, wetland vegetation, and more.

 

International Museum Day (May 18): This event was hosted by the Grande Prairie Museum, and included stops at the Boreal Wetland Centre, Philip, J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, and Veteran’s Memorial Gardens & Interpretive Centre. Each location contained special exhibits and activities for participants to enjoy, with a free scheduled bus traveling between sites.

 

Boreal team wetland workshop (May 27-30): Ducks Unlimited Canada staff came from across the province to the BWC for Introduction to Wetlands Training, which involved a wetland and soil classification workshop, hydrology training using on-site water wells, and knowledge exchange between the Boreal Team and Alberta Operations staff.

 

BioBlitz Week (June 17-20): Ducks Unlimited Canada hosted the annual BioBlitz Week at the Boreal Wetland Centre. Families were able to get out in nature and observe the different plants found in the BWC, learn about our hydrology monitoring volunteer opportunities, and discover the impact aquatic organisms have on wetland health. 

 

Junior Forest Rangers maintenance day (July 22): The Junior Forest Ranger team came out to the Boreal Wetland Centre to help with site maintenance. Tasks included removing sand from past demonstrations, removing concern and downed trees, and installation of new interpretive signage at various locations around the site.

Wetland Centre End of Year Recap

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Happy November everyone! 

With the weather cooling down, the Boreal Wetland Centre is wrapping up its onsite activities. We’ve had some great events over the summer and fall including:  

-Air and Watershed Stewardship Division tour (July 25th): The Air and Watershed Stewardship Division from the Government of Alberta (Environment and Protected Areas) toured the Boreal Wetland Centre discussing wetlands and wetland conservation.  

-Junior Forest Rangers maintenance day (Aug 9th): The Junior Forest Ranger team came out to the Boreal Wetland Centre to help with site maintenance. This included a clean-up the site, brush cutting of the trails, and removal of noxious weeds.  

The Junior Forest Rangers get ready to clean the site

-DUC HAM tour (Aug 16th): The DUC Habitat Asset Management team toured the Boreal Wetland Centre during their two-day team meetings. While touring the site they learned how to identify, classify, and delineate boreal wetlands.  

-Inside Education (Sept 11th-15th): Inside Education delivered educational programing at the Boreal Wetland Centre utilizing the habitat and on-site installations to provide real world examples for local school curriculum. 

-National Forest Week tour (Sept 19th): In recognition of National Forest Week, a week devoted to raising awareness and educating about vital forest habitat, DUC hosted a tour with local professionals from Canfor and Weyerhaeuser teaching attendees about the value of forests, sustainable forest management, silviculture, growth and yield, and the connection between forests and wetlands. 

Weyerhaeuser explains forest growth to attendees

-Homeschool Tea-time Part 2 (Sept 20th): In the summer, the homeschool community took part in a unique experiment, burying tea bags around the Boreal Wetland Centre to test decomposition. The group returned to the Boreal Wetland Centre in September to dig up and weigh the tea bags and analyze our results! 

DUC discusses experiment results with homeschool children

-Boreal Wetland Centre Site Improvements (July-September): The Boreal Wetland Centre received an update in 2023 with several inactive demonstrations being removed. The existing trail was replaced with gravel for easier access and the entrance to the Boreal Wetland Centre was expanded. In addition, entryway posts, a sheltered trailhead sign, several trash cans, a pair of benches, and an outdoor classroom were all installed on site. 

-New Demo Installation: Smash & Sons Contracting donated a new demonstration to the Boreal Wetland Centre. A pipeline topsoil cutter was refurbished and placed near the entrance with signage soon to come! 

Pipeline topsoil cutter

-Wetland Centre of Excellence Launch event (Sept 28th): Back in early 2023, Peace Wapiti Academy joined the Wetland Centre of Excellence program (a national student led initiative of wetland projects, mentorship and community outreach). In September, Peace Wapiti Academy and DUC celebrated the start of the program with roughly 100 students, teachers, County of Grande Prairie officials, and media representatives touring the trails and learning more about the program. 

Peace Wapiti Academy Students celebrate the launch of the Wetland Centre of Excellence

-Inside Education (Oct 2nd-6th): Delivered educational programing at the Boreal Wetland Centre utilizing the habitat and on-site installations to provide real world examples of topics for local schools. Alliance Pipeline also came out on October 3rd to tour the new amenities and participate in Inside Education’s programming.  

-Hammerhead Energy Corduroy Road Restoration Monitoring (October 5th): After a portion of the corduroy road at the Boreal Wetland Centre was restored earlier in the year, monitoring plots were installed on the restored area to collect data and monitor whether restoration was successful.  

Corduroy Road Restoration Monitoring plots

-Wetland Centre Funders Group tour (Oct 24th) and Wetland Centre Advisory Group tour (Nov 2nd): The Boreal Wetland Centre funders, advisory group, and members of Evergreen Park all came out to the Boreal Wetland Centre to tour the site, view the upgrades, and discuss future opportunities for the site.  

During the season our staff and volunteers also collected valuable data in the form of wetland hydrology well levels and phenology board photos. Thank you to everyone who collected datapoints for us this year! 

And still to come, the installation of a gateway entrance sign is well underway at the Boreal Wetland Centre. Men’s Shed is collaborating with DUC to create an entrance to be proud of! 

Men’s Shed starts the trailhead sign

Though our programing slows down in the winter, the Boreal Wetland Centre will be open for anyone to tour. The trails aren’t cleared of snow, but the main trail is often packed down by foot traffic. In addition, if you want to tour the side trails, feel free to bring your snowshoes! 

Wetland Centre Construction Update!

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Happy August!

The Wetland Centre is getting an update in August and September! A week-long construction project was scheduled to start July 24 to 28, 2023, but due to the rain, was moved to the first week of August. The first phase of construction took place between July 31st and August 4th. This phase involved removing several inactive demos and building the pad for our future outdoor classroom!

But most excitingly, this included the upgrade of the Wetland Centre’s main trail! The existing path was replaced with geotextile fabric and gravel for easier access to the heart of the Centre. The front entrance was also expanded to make way for some new amenities!

The work was completed by Smash & Sons Contracting Ltd, who have the Wetland Centre looking better than ever! Stay tuned for more upgrades being completed at the Wetland Centre in Fall 2023, including the installation of garbage cans, benches, trailhead signage, an entrance gateway, and an outdoor classroom!

Summer 2023 Bioblitz at the Wetland Centre

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From June 19th to25th, 2023, Ducks Unlimited Canada hosted the third annual Bioblitz at the Wetland Centre using the iNaturalist app! A Bioblitz is a great way for nature enthusiasts of all ages, experience levels to familiarize themselves with the biodiversity in an area. Each species identified in the specified time period contributes to an improved understanding of the diverse communities present at the Wetland Centre. Stay tuned and check the project page for future bioblitzes and other citizen science events.

 

Over this week, the Wetland Centre was teeming with life; Visitors collected 23 observations, documenting 15 plant and mammal species at the site. The most common observations can be found below.

This year, iNaturalist users e_caldwell, afoizy2, j_pinzon and shrubbymarsh all contributed observations. Thanks to everyone who participated in this citizen science event - every contribution is valuable!

 

One of the wetland species captured was an important wetland species. Also known as buck-bean, This species is typically found in fens and swamps and is a strong indicator of a wetland habitat.

Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) CAPTURED 07/22/23 BY Emilie.

 

Missed the Bioblitz but want to contribute your observations? Join our project here and search for the location ‘The Wetland Centre at Evergreen Park’ when uploading your photos/audio recordings. Stay tuned and check the project page for future Bioblitzes and other citizen science events!

 

Map of all the observations collected during the Bioblitz

A Wetland Centre for Everyone

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Reposted from the original article on the DUC National Boreal Program website written by Chantelle Abma.

On Wednesday October 4th 2022, crowds gathered just outside of Grande Prairie Alberta to learn about the wonderful world of wetlands in their own backyard at the Wetland Centre at Evergreen Park’s first ever Open House. Ducks Unlimited Canada’s National Boreal Program, who manages the site, planned this day to create a way for people from all backgrounds to spend time in a local wetland, learning the characteristics of swamps, fens, bogs, and marshes, as well as walking alongside Indigenous Elder Barbara Goodswimmer from Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation learning the value of plants and their histories, immersing themselves in demonstrations displaying the different ways that industry can operate sustainably on the landscape, learning about community science, and offering feedback on their hopes for the future of the site.

 

Elder Barbara Goodswimmer from Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation leads an interpretive walk highlighting the functional properties of local vegetation.

 

Visitors to the open house were treated to delicious foods from local restaurants provided by Northlink Supply, one of many site sponsors, and hands-on displays with guest speakers from organizations like Junior Forest Rangers, Inside Education, County of Grande Prairie #1, Alberta Native Plant Council and Natural Resources Canada. Participants had the chance to win prizes through scavenger hunts, and get their hands dirty with peat sampling and other tour activities.

 

Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Rick Murray shows local students a peat core sample on a guided tour of the Wetland Centre.

 

“It was such a valuable experience” said Rick Murray, Conservation Programs Specialist for DUC’s Boreal Program, the staff member who oversees the site. “This event was for everyone, we wanted folks from industry to be able to see that we can help display best practices for their operations, we wanted families to see that this place is accessible to them and their children, we wanted Indigenous peoples to feel welcome in this space and know we are listening, and we wanted local government to know that this gem is just outside our door and understand the knowledge and value that it offers. This event achieved all that and more.”

Jaime Pinzon from Natural Resources Canada (in upper right) discusses peatland restoration on a site tour at the Wetland Centre Open House

In addition to displaying the potential for the site to industry, Indigenous groups, the general public, and local government, the event also highlighted the site’s potential (and already occurring) contributions to the scientific and academic communities. Guest speakers highlighted the current monitoring that is happening at the site, and underscored the value of community-based citizen science, which invites everyone to participate in the collection of data and learning in an easy and accessible way by counting birds and plant species, taking photographs, checking measurements and logging the data on their smartphones.

Opening remarks delivered by Kevin Smith, National Manager of Boreal Programs for Ducks Unlimited Canada (far right) at the Wetland Centre Open House

Organizers of the event collected feedback from visitors after they experienced all that the site had to offer, and will now reflect on that feedback, building a plan for the future of the site with those recommendations in mind.

If you would like to learn more about the site or offer comments, please check out borealwetlandcentre.com

 

A crowd on a guided tour at the Wetland Centre Open House in Grande Prairie

 

We are hiring!

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Want to work at the Wetland Centre? Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is hiring a Conservation Programs Specialist II based in Grande Prairie, Alberta. This is a full time 3-year term position, with 50% of the work allocated to Wetland Centre projects/activities. Read the job posting here: https://www.ducks.ca/careers/conservation-programs-specialist-ii-3-yr-term/