Trail Updates - August 17, 2016

Some of you may be aware that there has been work done on the section of trail leading from the bridge by the Blue Pumphouse, to the power line just before Pine Street.  I took a photo on August 9, when trucks were busy hauling gravel, and machines were packing it all down.

Looking towards Pine from the bridge

Today on my hike, I was surprised to see that the trail had been completed, paved, and it looked like the work had stopped on the rest of the trail going towards Pine.  There is a large width of unpaved, but packed trail beside the paved portion.  The paved portion has been raised quite high to compensate for the low parts that used to be lakes in the spring.  There are no barriers for vehicles yet, so hope they get put up before cars and trucks start using the bridge again.  I did see some places in the pavement, that looked like some pole might be inserted, but time will tell.

Viewing paved trail towards the powerline road

Just off the bridge looking up the paved trail.

 The area to the left of the paved trail is very wide, and I don't know what the purpose was to male it as wide as it is.

Walking the trail up to the power line

Looking towards the bridge from power line road

The fence blocking access to the creek seems to get more broken all the time.  It is sad people can't leave things alone, and feel the need to destroy them.

Fencing broken down

I was happy to see an eagle on the eagle tree today, for the first time in a long while.  I had seen a couple of ducks on  one of my previous hikes, but there were none to be seen today, perhaps having moved on, or having become lunch for the eagle.

But if you haven't been out for a hike recently on the McIntyre Creek trails, you should check out the new paved area, and see what you think.

July 16, 2016 Weed Pull

On July 16 we are repeating the sweetclover pull along Fish Lake road. This has been a great success last year and we hope to get as many YISC members out as possible! All hands are welcome. Bring work gloves and sturdy boots! Meet at 10am at the gazebo up the Fish Lake Road. Friends of McIntyre Creek invite all participants to a BBQ at noon.

For more information CLICK HERE

June 12th McIntyre Creek Salmon Incubation Facility BBQ/Open House

The McIntyre Creek Salmon Incubation Facility are going to be hosting a BBQ/ open house on June 12th and are trying to get the word out to as many people as they can. All YCS members and friends of McIntyre Creek are welcome to come as well!


The details for the event include the following:

WHEN: Sunday, June 12th from 11 am to 4 pm.


WHERE: McIntyre Creek Salmon Incubation Facility (Located on Mountainview Drive in between Range Road and the Whistlebend roundabout)


**Parking located along Mountainview Drive or a special parking area for elders or people needing extra assistance will be available.


WHAT:A BBQ and open house to provide an opportunity for the community to come down and check out the McIntyre Creek Chinook Salmon Incubation Facility!


They will be offering guided tours, a BBQ lunch, fun activities for kids and a great chance to get outside and learn about the life cycle of Chinook salmon and their biology! This is a perfect opportunity for anyone to come check us out and see what they do at the McIntyre Creek Salmon Incubation Facility as well as get up close and personal with some of the Chinook salmon at the facility!

Annual General Meeting - May 17, 2016 - Everyone is welcome!

Everyone is welcome. 

Want to Be Happy? Live Near a Park

1 MINUTE READ
Want To Be Happy? Live Near A Park
New research finds that the effect of green space on personal well-being is more than you might guess.
 

BEN SCHILLER 05.15.13 10:00 AM
As urban planners debate the merits of, say, a new shopping center versus maintaining the local park, they might consider this: over time, parks—and other green spaces—make people feel better about themselves.

Or, at least, that is the takeaway from a long-term study of 12,000 people in the U.K. Researchers at the University of Exeter used survey data measuring both life satisfaction and mental distress, then matched that to a map ranking 32,482 areas for their greenness. They found that people living in greener areas were consistently more satisfied, and experienced less distress.

Be very careful before building on public green spaces
The work builds on previous studies that also found a green space-mental health link, but had selection issues. Researchers couldn’t say whether it was the green space that made people happier, or whether happy people moved to greener areas. The new work gets around that by following the same people over an 18-year period.

Lead author Mat White says at an individual level the effect isn’t huge, statistically. But it is significant in comparative terms. For example, according to the research, living near a green space has a third of the positive mental effect as getting married, and a tenth of the impact of getting a job when you don’t have one.

Moreover, the effect of green space could be cumulatively large, if you look at the wider population. Getting married might improve two people’s sense of well-being, but a park could improve a whole city’s, potentially. "These small differences can add up if they affect many people," he says.

For that reason, White suggests planners take mental health into account. "Health outcomes are only one thing in the mix. But I’d say be very careful before building on public green spaces, or cutting budgets to maintain existing ones."

More Photos from the Helicopter cleanup on McIntyre Creek

Garbage REmoval Project

December 15, 2015 was a day with a great sense of accomplishment for the Friends of McIntyre Creek.

 Two years ago a Whitehorse resident dumped some large household articles over the cliff
at a very well used wildlife viewing site.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek’s mandate is to monitor and preserve the integrity of the
Creek. We therefore took action to deal with this careless dumping of waste, which was not only an
eyesore, but a real threat of toxic contamination to the fauna and flora of the Creek.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek approached Heli Dynamics to see if they would work
with us to air lift this garbage to a place that the City of Whitehorse could manage the
disposal.

 Heli Dynamics quoted us  a fair price for the job and we were thereby able to approach
The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Trust  for sponsorship  for the charter of the
helicopter.  With this sponsorship,  we were able to involve the City and Yukon
Government, and made the decision to wait until the ground froze, enabling us to gather the
garbage  into a net for retrieval.

On December 15th,  three nets full of  garbage were lifted by helicopter from the valley
floor and placed in a turnaround big enough for the City’s truck and loader to load and remove the items.

The Friends of McIntyre Creek wish to thank the following people and groups who assisted with this Project:

- Ta’an Kwach’an Council and their wildlife technician Phil Emerson, who gathered the garbage into the net.

- The President of the Whitehorse Disc Golf  Association, Ryan Norquay,  who worked along side of Phil ,also donating his time and energy to gather the garbage  into the nets.

-  Heli Dynamics for the assistance they provided to lift the 3 nets full to a  better place.

-  Marc Boulerince from City of Whitehorse Parks Department for  his help in getting the dump truck and loader and being by for extra hands when needed.

This cleanup was accomplished with the help of many hands, and we cannot express enough thanks to everyone who assisted.

We will continue to monitor all areas for garbage dumping and abuse to the water shed.

As well, we continually monitor  the health and status of our wetlands and streams
through our official Wetland Keepers program and  Stream Keepers program.

Please help us to keep this area in its untainted, natural state for all to enjoy.



The Friends of McIntyre Creek.