Invasive Plants in Yukon

Yukon now has over 20 invasive plants on our watchlist. Please report new sightings of the following plants. These invasive plants move in on new habitats where they never existed before. They threaten biodiversity by displacing native plants and animals.

https://www.yukoninvasives.com/index.php/en/invasive-species/plants

Please go to the above link to see how to identify these invasive plants.

Conservation in the 21st Century April 24, 2018

Coming to the Yukon Arts Centre April 24th!  Friends of McIntyre Creek, Porter Creek Community Association and Wildlife Conservation Society will present Harvey Locke. His topic will be: Conservation in the 21 st Century from Whitehorse to Yellowstone: Nature Needs Half.

Watermain Work McIntyre Creek to Whistlebend

Over the 2017 summer, work has been done on the main trail area that follows the power line from the traffic circle on Mountain View to the trail entrance to the Pine Street trail access.  I have not hiked the area very much because of all the large machinery, and work being done there, but I believe as of September 25th, the work appears to be completed. 

I am posting a few pictures of the progress, including a photo that shows the beginning of the proposed paved trail from McIntyre Creek to Pine Street.

The water main at the Pine Street access trail

The cleared area, with some left over logs

Fire hydrant & what appears to be an access point

Piles of dirt brought in after pipe laid

The reseeded area

The beginning of paved trail to Pine Street (left by road sign)

Eco Forum at Beringia Center October 27, 2016

Unfortunately, there were many competing events on this date, and attendance was lower than expected, but those that were able to attend, found the event informative and interesting.  As always, the wonderful treats provided by Celeste Sundquist-Bendall were excellent, and thoroughly enjoyed by the attendees.

Snacks provided by Celeste Sundquist-Bendall

Jeff Marynowsky (r) -  Gayle Moffit (l) signing up for membership

Chris Rider - CPAWS  - Moderator

Thanks to Chris Rider from CPAWS for stepping up at the last minute as moderator when our planned moderator fell ill.

Jeff Bond

  Jeff Bond gave a talk on the effects of glacial melt on the Slims River, demonstrating how the flows of the waterways can be affected by warming.
.

Jeff Bond speaking on glacier melt

 Tye Heffner's slide show and talk about the various sites in the McIntyre Creek area, that have had  archaelogical digs, and the items found.  Many of these were conducted prior to development in the areas to ensure that these artifacts could be preserved, and the use of the area by the original peoples could be documented.

Tye Heffner speaking on Archaeology in McIntyre Creek area

Artifacts found along McIntyre Creek archaeology digs

 Dorothy Bradley told the audience that the Friends of McIntyre Creek hoped to have the area along McIntyre Creek from the Yukon River to the mountain set aside as a park, where it could be used in a responsible way by groups with various interests, such as hiking, dog walking, cross country skiing, as well as developing viewing areas for wildlife and birds, and recreational areas, including picnic and viewing benches.

Dorothy Bradley - President of FOMC -
speaking on proposed McIntyre Creek park

Proposed McIntyre Park area

 Norman Adamson gave a very interesting talk on the way of life of the first nations people who used this area for their way of life.  He pointed out that everything they needed for life, had to be hunted, gathered, and created by their own hands, as they did not have vehicles to jump into  nor Malls to go to for food or clothing.  They used everything from the animals they hunted, and the dogs they used as transportation were valued and cared for, as they were necessary for their way of life.

Norman Adamson speaking on previous way of life
of First Nations  in McIntyre Creek areas

Michael Bendall taking questions from audience

Dorothy Bradley

Speakers gifts

Celeste Sundquist-Bendall, a member of the FOMC board has been instrumental in ensuring that tasty treats and snacks are provided at the various functions.  Her efforts and contributions  to the success of the events are very much appreciated by all who come out to the events.

Snacks provided by Celeste Sundquist-Bendall (r)

Norman Adamson 

After the talks, Norm Adamson gave a demonstration of the gopher trap that was used as part of their hunting tools.  He explained how it was made, the materials used, and how it was set up to capture the gophers.  

Norman Adamson demonstrating gopher trap used by First Nations

In all it was a very interesting and educational evening.  It was just unfortunate that with the upcoming Yukon political election, among other things, the competing events prevented many people from attending and enjoying this event.

Paola, Lois Craig, Gerry & Mary Whitley

Eco Forum October 27, 2016

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