DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - Ongoing concerns in Fort Providence over increased numbers of sports fishers has led Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation to take action.

Bradley Thom, left, of Fort Providence cores a tree to determine its age during the Canadian Boreal Community FireSmart Ecology Camp while Dallas Phillips, a geographic information systems technician with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, watches. - photo courtesy of Jim Snider

From June 6 to 9, four students in the second year of the Keepers Program as well as five students from Fort Providence and Kakisa participated in the Canadian Boreal Community FireSmart Ecology Camp. The camp was a joint initiative by Deh Gah School and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR).

The purpose of the camp was to give students an understanding of how fire affects the environment in the North, said Wes Steed, the FireSmart co-ordinator with ENR.

Forest fires are a part of life in the North and they are a natural part of the forest cycle, he said.

"The forest has to recycle and it requires fire to do it," Steed said.

At the Canadian Boreal Communities FireSmart site, located approximately 40 kilometres north of Fort Providence, students began by learning about tree identification, measuring trees and coring them in order to determine their age. The third day of the camp was devoted to forest fires.

Under the instruction of Steed and Larry Nixon, the wildfire risk management co-ordinator with ENR, the group learned about fire behaviour and how fire travels in the bush depending on the types of fuel available and tree spacing. Danny Beaulieu, a renewable resources officer, talked about traditional knowledge and forest fires while members of the local fire crews demonstrated some of the equipment they use to fight fires.

The lessons then branched out into what the students can do to protect their own homes and communities from wildfires.

"We've chosen to live here so we have to protect ourselves," Steed said.

Single-day information sessions have been held in the past but this was the first time in Fort Providence that students have participated in a multi-day camp focused on ecology and forest fires. The students absorbed the information and were able to use it when questioned, Steed said.

"They've been learning a ton," he said.

Jeannine Minoza, 16, of Fort Providence said the camp was her first in-depth introduction to wildfires and ecology.

"It's fascinating," she said.

"It's something new every day."

Minoza's new knowledge includes how to core a tree so it can be aged without having to cut it down. The core looks like a drinking straw made of wood, she said. She also learned that in open locations, poplar trees excrete a resin on their south side that can be used to establish direction.

One of Minoza's favourite parts of the camp was the helicopter ride. Students were tasked with looking for cabins and other structures that would be at risk in the case of a forest fire. The buildings will be added to the territorial government's list that will be taken into account when plans to attack forest fires are made.

The helicopter flight was also memorable for Grayson Somers, 14, who'd never been in a helicopter before. Somers located one cabin but it had a caved-in roof.

During the camp Somers said he also learned how to light a fire so it won't spread.

"It's fun and interesting and I learned a lot," he said.

The Keepers Program that five of the students were part of is a three-year program designed to promote cultural and environmental stewardship among students. Students focus on the North in their first year, Canada in the second and internationally in the third.

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