Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 16/99) - The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) wants to know what Yellowknifers see when they walk through the city's natural areas.

The nature of Yellowknife, is a summer long CPAWS program that will take residents on an exploratory trip through the various ecosystems found in the Tin Can Hill/Rat Lake Area of town.

Program organizer, Gillian McKee, hopes that local residents will take the time to see just what kind of life is out there within Yellowknife's natural areas.

"This is part of an overall project to raise the awareness from the local community of Yellowknife's natural areas so that people can begin talking about why they are important to the community," McKee said.

"We want to emphasise wildlife environments within the city because they are so accessible and affordable to enjoy. This is something that people of all ages can do. You can go for a walk in your own backyard and develop an appreciation for the natural world."

Bob Bromley, who took part as a guide June 8, in the second of five trips to the Tin Can hill/Rat Lake area this summer -- exploring the vicinity's wetlands -- was optimistic that the program would generate a lot of interest from the community.

"We had an excellent turn-out for this event," Bromley said "and we had good range of ages show up for this walk."

"One of the things people learned from the nature walk, was that there is a lot of interest in it. A lot of people had the interest but not the knowledge and, that is what we wanted to see arise out of this trip. I see many of these nature walkers as unlit candles and that we are lighting the candles of knowledge."

Aspects of the nature walk included looking at some of the wildlife -- birds, mammals, amphibians and insects -- one can typically find in an urban wetlands area like Rat Lake. Bromley was also accompanied by guide, Vicky Johnston, who informed nature walkers of the kinds of plant life that might exist there.

Johnston, who is also a bird biologist with Environment Canada, explained why leading guided nature walks was important to her.

"I enjoy leading nature walks because I can share the knowledge, especially with the plants," Johnston said. "If you know what you are looking for it is far more enjoyable."

There was one particular bird that nature walkers were particularly hopeful that might make an appearance that evening.

"We've had sightings of the yellowheaded blackbird in the area," Bromley said. "That is rare because we are well beyond their usual range."

The walk also included a search for the common, yet elusive sorel rail, which lives in the dense cattails along the shoreline and for the one resident muskrat that lives in the lake.

Jamie Bastedo, author of the book Blue Lake and Rocky Shore, also took in the walk.

"The thing makes this area important is its accessability," Bastedo said. "Which is different than most urban areas down south. Yellowknife is an urban island surrounded by a sea of wilderness."

"Most of the world is different that way," he added. "The danger is that people, the city and the government will take that for granted."

CPAWS is encouraging nature walkers to take part in the identification process of animal and plant life encountered along the trail.

"We're giving out maps to anybody that comes down for the walk," McKee said. "That way everybody can map out any wildlife or fauna that comes their way on the trail."

Other events CPAWS will be putting on this summer, include Solstice weekend June 17 to June 21, where people are invited to visit their favourite local natural area and answer questions left in message tubes along the way. Community Mapping day, June 27 in the Ceremonial Circle at City Hall, invites artists and all others to make a creative map of their favourite area. McKee is hoping to display the maps at the museum and other locations this fall.