Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

TTHEK'EHDELI/JEAN MARIE RIVER
A multi-year research project is underway in Jean Marie River to address the residents' concerns about how landscape changes created by thawing permafrost will impact their lifestyle and everyday activities.

Fabrice Calmels, right, a permafrost research associate with the Northern Climate ExChange at Yukon College, and Noel Hardisty of Jean Marie River collect a permafrost core sample and create a borehole to put ground temperature instrumentation in while Margaret Ireland watches on Aug. 28. The sampling is part of the second year of the permafrost study being conducted by Jean Marie River First Nation and partnering researchers. - photo courtesy of Cyrielle Laurent

Jean Marie River First Nation has partnered with Cyrielle Laurent, a geographic information system manager with Edmonton-based Watertight Solutions Ltd. and Fabrice Calmels, a permafrost research associate with the Northern Climate ExChange at Yukon College, to conduct a permafrost study. The study, which is now in its second year, is being directed by the First Nation.

During a traditional knowledge study with elders the First Nation conducted in 2005-06, it became apparent the elders are very concerned about the changing climate, said Margaret Ireland, Jean Marie River First Nation's resource management co-ordinator.

This led the First Nation to apply for funding from Health Canada, partner with researchers and conduct a baseline vulnerability assessment in 2010-11 on potential impacts of climate change on the health and wellness of the community. Residents had concerns about food security, access to safe drinking water, extreme weather and safe travel, Ireland said.

"One of the things people were very concerned about was permafrost," she said.

People are seeing changes happening on the land and recently those changes seem to be happening faster and are becoming more noticeable, said Ireland

"It's getting very hard to go into the bush," she said.

Thawing permafrost is creating ponds and causing trees to fall over, which is making traditional trails impassable.

The first year of the permafrost study focused on identifying and mapping areas of permafrost that are sensitive to climate change. The study area encompassed the community and its facilities, as well as two kilometres on either side of the length of the community's access road and a short connecting portion of Highway 1.

Of the 200 square kilometres studied, approximately 25 per cent of the area was found to have permafrost that was potentially sensitive to thawing. No permafrost was found in the community and very few areas were found along the road, said Calmels.

Permafrost is any type of earth material that is frozen consecutively for two or more years. When permafrost thaws, the ground can collapse and ponds can form.

"It creates big problems,"said Laurent.

This year, the study area was increased to approximately 2,000 square kilometres, encompassing an area of land traditionally used for hunting and gathering between the Mackenzie River and Highway 1. Concerns about the effects degrading permafrost will have on country foods and food security were incorporated into the study.

Permafrost in the Jean Marie River area is found mostly in the form of mounds or plateaus in areas of muskeg. The plateaus have lichen, brush and trees that make them very attractive to animals including moose and caribou, said Calmels.

As the permafrost thaws and ponds form, the landscape is not longer as good for those animals, he said.

"(Community members) know it is changing, so they are concerned for the future," Laurent said.

As part of the study, maps of the location of big and small game, as well as fish and wild fowl, were compared to the newly-created maps of potentially-sensitive permafrost. The study is attempting to comprehend how landscape changes resulting from thawing permafrost will impact the lifestyle and everyday activities of residents of Jean Marie River. This is the first study to address this problem, Calmels said.

The data that is gathered will give credibility to the community's concerns, he said.

The study has also included a strong community outreach program to involve community members in the research.

This year, five youths and other community members were in the field while a borehole was drilled to create one of the three sites for a permafrost monitoring network the community now owns. Each hole contains a temperature logger that will record permafrost temperatures at different depths throughout the year.

Students at Louie Norwegian School were taken to check one of the monitoring stations on Sept. 3.

"Every time we come here, we always learn something from them and they learn something from us," Laurent said.

Laurent, Calmels and Ireland all hope the study will continue. The community has been happy with the collaboration, Ireland said.

"Sometimes, the things we find, I get excited about," she said using the permafrost cores from the boreholes as an example.

Ireland would like to see the study expand to McGill and Deep Lakes, two lakes traditionally used by the community. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has provided more than $100,000 in funding for each of the two years of the study. Health Canada also provided funding this year.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.