Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Providence (Oct 25/02) - Edward Landry has found that a job as a Renewable Resources officer is his preferred line of work.

Landry, who moved into his position as a trainee in February, ran a tourism/resident bison hunt operation for the past few years and has also worked with biologists, assisting with bison and lynx studies and bison calf counts.

"I've got quite a bit of field work with everything around the Providence area," Landry said.

"I really enjoyed working out in the bush. Some stuff you see really blows you away. You really get hooked on it."

So when he was hired in his current capacity, working with wildlife came naturally. It was the computers that initially left him scratching his head, he admitted.

"It's opened new areas in my mind that I didn't know existed," he said, laughing. He has to file a report after receiving a wildlife complaint.

Landry's familiarity with local wildlife has been an asset. He is periodically called upon, even during evenings or weekends, to deal with black bears roaming near the community, beavers damming local waterways and, most often, bison roaming into town.

He said he is careful not to startle the bison by making loud noises such as clapping, which could cause them to stampede. Instead, he calmly walks toward them, herding them away from where they are not wanted.

During his patrols, Landry's also on the lookout for injured animals, he noted.

He spent part of the summer supervising a crew of senior students that carried out a forest fire fuel sampling program in the Fort Providence and Kakisa areas.

With winter coming on, he said he's looking forward to snowmobile patrols, as he will no longer be working at the Ekati diamond mine or on oil and gas rigs, where he spent short stints in the past.

He will also be attending more workshops that relate to other aspects of his job such as fuel spill reports. In addition to the computer training, he has already been instructed in enforcing wildlife regulations and boating safety.

"I'm just learning as I'm going," said Landry, who added that he has also been picking up tips from Evelyn Krutko, a level two Renewable Resources officer in Fort Providence.