Tracy Kovalench
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jul 20/98) - The sounds of heavy guitars and loud bass drums surround the Wildbread Bay Camp as the group rises to meet the challenges of a new day on the field.

Donning army pants and Nike logos, they're a unique bunch of researchers hired by the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development to monitor post forest fire effects in the Kohochella Peninsula.

For one week, eight youths between the ages of 14 and 17 relocated from their Lutselk'e homes to the fire-effects camp situated on the magic finger, an inlet of Great Slave's Wildbread Bay.

"It's not an extensive scientific survey," says Shandel Kisell, RWED forest fire technician and camp organizer. "We want to get the community involved as much as possible."

The camp was designed to provide Lutselk'e Dene with first-hand experience in the study of vegetation, water and wildlife after the onslaught of a fire that burned one-third of the caribou range in 1994, says Kisell.

Two elders joined the teens to provide a traditional base to the camp's scientific approach. The camp also employed two camp managers and a cook, all from Lutselk'e.

Under a smoky haze of at least four forest fires burning in the area, the group sectioned off plots in three different areas. They compared plant regeneration in the burn area to that on the edge as well as land that had not been touched by the flames.

Kisell and Chris Lantz, RWED resource technician, instructs the students in plant identification, while elder Albert Bouchre helped them to locate caribou tracks.

"They're coming back," says elder Sarah Abel.

The students also conducted water sampling to check for ash sediments and measured the bay's temperature at different depths around the burn area.

The teens spent their evenings off swimming in the bay, playing cards and making jokes with each other.