The wildfires are currently raging in northern Canada, comparatively speaking. Do not make any mistake about it, a wildfire can be a frightful and life threatening experience for many people, but it’s not all bad news. The fire disaster in Hawaii was exceptionally horrific this year to be sure, but that raging inferno was not completely due to natural causes, so it seems. The frequency and intensity of forest fires in Northwest Territories and British Columbia are currently looming with potential devastation to property or life; taxing people to the limit creating stress and shock, let alone scrambling with evacuation logistics.

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada is breaking an all-time record for recent history, with 5,765 fires burning 13.7 million hectares (approximately 137,000 square kilometres) as of August 17th―that’s about 3.8 percent of the country’s forests, and 1.3% of total land mass. This is quite alarming to many people, yet as long as there is limited loss of life and damage to property, there is good news on the horizon.

Many of Canada’s forest areas are mature due to years of fire suppression management (and other factors), vast amounts of deadfall wood is not cleared or collected in the many plots of standing trees, insect infestations have affected large tracts of forest, and fire is one of nature’s most powerful forest regeneration dynamics. Again with an attached stipulation of eventuality, all the forests burned this year will grow back more healthy than their condition before the fires. There will be some nutrients decomposing back into the ground and coniferous seeds will pop from cones under the heat of the flames, eventually sprouting into new seedling trees. It is all part of nature’s amazing process in the circle of botanical life.

Canada is a naturally gifted country; the second largest in the world at just under 10 million square kilometres, with about 39% of the land covered in forest, at 2.8 million km2 of boreal forest and 820,000 km2 of other woodlands. This accounts for 9% of the world’s forests―the third largest forest area on the planet behind only Russia and Brazil at 8.1 and 5.9 million km2 respectively. While this year’s wildfire season will smash the previous records (last year about 100,000 km2 of forest burned and all the way back to 1989 with 75,000 km2), this year is not close to the average season as recent as 2020 with only 420 km2 burned. Since 1980 out of the 43 fire seasons in Canada up to this year, the average is approximately 24,000 km2 burned, with 26 seasons at less than 20,000 km2, seven at 20-40,000 km2, four over 40,000 and six over 50,000 (with four of those before 1995).

The sun was slowly falling behind the penthouse suite. The large red apartment building across the wooded ravine blocked the natural sunset; creating an artificial dusk. City pollution swarmed the evening sky in a collage of colours─orange, indigo and green. It was the artistry of the concrete jungle.

A transplanted stand of pine trees landscaped the apartment courtyard, leading to the sparse smattering of natural forest in the ravine. A small creek curled through the ravine and flowed toward rush hour traffic. Spring runoff from the cement reservoir was spilling over the banks of the creek. The water was foaming with stretches of urban whitewater: rapids and dirt.

The atypical sunset scene is the epitome of suburban warfare. The battle is for survival. But it is not the human species confronting the challenges of nature. It is nature attempting to survive urban sprawl. Wilderness is removed from the urban world, but small pockets of natural environment still survive. It is enough to afford us a taste of nature, and dreams of pristine wilderness.

The urban pockets of natural environment are subtle reminders of nature’s domain. We need them to entrench an understanding of the natural balance. In order to preserve and manage our natural resources to ensure survival,  we must become educated.  We must overcome the urban gap. It is as much an attitude problem as an ecological challenge. City dwellers can learn valuable lessons from rural life to overcome the inherent problem of the urban gap. The culture of rural living is a sense of community and a close connection to the land.

Unfortunately, country folk often misunderstand urban culture, representing the rural void. Both cultures have common resources we should be sharing, but are victimized by the urban gap and the rural void: just as the city slicker is chastised for not knowing how to dress properly in winter or cook over an open fire, and the country bumpkin is ridiculed for not knowing how to drive in traffic or dine at a fancy restaurant. The urban gap and rural void are often exemplified by the language we choose. The urban gap calls it biodiversity, or an eco-system. The rural void calls it the woods, or the bush. The urban gap says forest bed; the rural void says the ground. Urbanites will describe an aquatic panorama. Rural folk will call it the lake. Both are valid. Just as we must preserve the natural balance, we must strike a balance in the attitudes of the urban gap and the rural void.

Bridging the gap and filling the void are essential to sharing our common resources. Although the progressive and innovative exist in the suburban landscape, many of the insightful are now found in the countryside escaping the rat race. The chosen lifestyle includes access to urban culture and services, but maintenance of a residence in pleasant, natural surroundings. The rural void has graduated to an honest sensibility, and there is hope of overcoming the urban gap. And that is why it is important to visit nature periodically.

Although wilderness expeditions do not necessarily provoke a true understanding of nature, they will almost certainly nurture an appreciation for the power and the wondrous gifts of Mother Earth. The more we enhance our knowledge and respect of the natural environment, the more likely it is that we can sustain our ecological life support systems. There is hope we will span the urban gap and the rural void if we do not remove ourselves from the natural balance of the planet. And so, get outside and visit nature.

August 19, 2023

We hit the trail in moderate sunshine with a few clouds drifting across the sky, but as luck would dictate on this ritual of mine to welcome spring with some backcountry camping, the clouds soon accumulated and socked us in for the weekend. It wasn’t an ambitious undertaking; just a two-night backpacking trip into the alluring boreal bush of Canada’s Quetico Provincial Park in northwestern Ontario, yet it always recharged my nature loving batteries and stoked me up for another season of camping.

Quetico is an enticing wilderness haven where clear freshwater lakes and rivers sprawl over healthy forest including some magnificent red pine trees hundreds of years old. The park is located about 160 kilometres (96 miles) from Thunder Bay at the west end of Lake Superior over the Grand Portage height of land and extending for 1,800 square miles sharing an international border with Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in United States all the way to the historic Lac la Croix, which drains into Rainy River where fur traders paddled to the confluence with Winnipeg River to navigate an inland route in the 18th Century.

My friend considered sleeping in the hammock that was stretched between two trees, and then decided in favour of the warmth and protection offered by the tent. It was a good decision. We awoke to a white blanket of snow covering our tent, the moss and pine needle forest litter, as well as the sand beach that was exposed only a few hours earlier.

My friend could not believe it; snowed in on a camping trip. I unzipped the tent fly, looked out the screen door and saw the snow cover. I zipped the flap shut and went back to sleep, unfazed and still a bit groggy from the spiked tea. Finally I arose from my slumber, stumbled outside and looked at my friend, who was standing there with a sleeping bag and backpack all loaded and ready to go.

Probably most importantly though, we were able to use all the neat camping gadgets, gear and equipment my friend had purchased for this backpacking into wilderness thing we were doing. And I have to admit, as powerful as the wonders of nature are, suviving on your own with all those cool rigs, ropes and camping gear is half the fun of spending time in wilderness, or at your campsite on the weekend.

This is the August long weekend in Canada known by a few different names provincially. It is traditionally the busiest weekend for camping in the year. The campgrounds will be full of families and friends; the young and the old alike. There are marshmallows and hotdogs to roast, maybe a ghost story or two, hiking trails to be explored, wildlife to watch, lakes to swim and fish to be caught.

So, get outside and go camping, or just get outdoors and enjoy the weather. The weekend should be clear of snow for most of the campgrounds. You don’t want to be left inside the cold, do you?

August 4, 2023

A long time ago, hundreds of years ago in fact, there was a river valley without pavement, roads, concrete bridges, buildings and the sort, in what is now Canada. There in the river valley amongst trees, rocks and sandy shores came a group of mainly men with some women. They were called coureurs des bois, known as wood-runners or bush-lopers to the Europeans who were already living on the new continent in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

The indigenous people lived on the shores of rivers and lakes throughout the vast territory of this land. The coureurs des bois established camps on the ridges of the river valley and then ventured into the interior backcountry using their tools and modern inventions to harvest wood and build permanent structures. The two camps, so to speak, mostly maintained a mutually beneficial relationship, with the indigenous people sharing their drinking water and survival skills, and the newcomers sharing their tools by cutting and splitting trees to supply firewood for heating and cooking.

And then many more newcomers came into the river valley from across the ocean over the next several years. They paddled their large canoes up the mighty river, and then also sailing to the north shores of Arctic waters they navigated inland on wild freshwater tributaries into dense taiga and boreal forests. These subsequent waves of industrious people began to trade goods they brought across the ocean for furs and food harvested by the indigenous people from animals, including the popular beaver pelts and pemmican made from bison meat and berries to last through the winter. They also employed the knowledgeable native skills of tracking, orienteering and navigating to trek across the bold and wild terrain of the continental interior, with the different nations of people congenially assisting the traders and prospering from the exchange of goods for their services, so to speak.

The two camps of people lived in reasonable harmony. Although it was a rugged lifestyle to be sure, both camps celebrated successful seasons of trading water for firewood, fur for blankets, and food for tools. They shared campfires at large gatherings, smoked tobacco together and ate fresh food from the land like fish, caribou and bison. The newcomers admired the indigenous people’s knowledge of nature and their ability to survive the conditions of unforgiving geography with its sometimes extreme climate. The indigenous people were impressed with the newcomers’ modern manufactured inventions and respected their determined drive exploring new regions on the continent to trade for more goods and improve their standard of living.

Gradually, as the trading routes pushed inland up the river to the Great Lakes basin and from the north into the interior of the vast western regions, the new arrivals became more organized, graduating from private enterprising individuals to formal companies and government representatives known as voyageurs, explorers and business agents. The indigenous people watched as the different groups of immigrants fiercely competed for resources, progressively fighting against each other and battling for territory in ongoing wars. The indigenous people sometimes formed alliances with the European descendants to benefit from the business enterprises and enhance their lifestyles, but the landscape was beginning to transform from cooperation, comfort and prosperity to conflict, pain and suffering.

This progression continued for several more years until one group of newcomers defeated the other and agreed upon a division of territory on the continent. The Treaty of Paris between Britain, France and Spain at the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War in 1763 established the Colony of Canada. The British Royal Proclamation of the same year also recognized the various First Nations of North America and proclaimed them title to the land until ceded in formal treaties, establishing an extremely large region in the process west of the Appalachian Mountains up to the Great Lakes and north, known as “Indian Territory.” Meanwhile, 13 New England states flourished east of the Appalachians and declared independence in 1776 with eyes on the western regions of the continent to expand their nation state.

However, some of the indigenous people did not recognize the new claims to territory and they started to fight against the colonizers for their right to the land. Some, although not all of the ethnic Europeans, came to pursue the indigenous people across the territories, even ridiculed them and called them slanderous names. Some, although not all of the original North American nations, replied to these less desirable traits and engaged in warfare, sought vengeance against the conquering imperialists and also called them derogatory names.

Unfortunately for the indigenous nations, the focus of exploration on the continent turned from mutually beneficial business enterprise to settlement of permanent communities for the purpose of establishing organized countries, as the newcomers had done on their homelands centuries before. This led to many disputes as the explorers settled the frontier without sharing many of the rich resources available from the land; at times forcing people to relocate and denying them some of their basic rights and freedoms. Quite a few people of varied heritage died over the course of armed feuding and inadequate living conditions.

It has been a long, sorted and often sad history of two camps, but there are bright spots along the way. Many indigenous communities are mistreated by government or dysfunctional within their own governance, leading to poor living conditions, protests and now an incredibly complex spectrum of reconciliation. Yet there are success stories exemplified by several educated, healthy and spiritually strong indigenous communities that have risen and prospered from all the ashes of turmoil over the last few hundred years, and in some circumstances fostered practical and productive partnerships with other levels of jurisdiction.

Perhaps we could all respect each other and go back to the time when some smart and sensible people met each other and calmly talked over their situation. They decided, as long as they were living on the same land, they would reach a consensus in the middle of the road, so to speak, providing compromises on both sides to accommodate survival for everyone.

They decided the indigenous people would haul drinking water halfway up the ridge of the river bank. The new explorers would cut firewood with their tools and carry it halfway down the ridge. They selected a flat ledge in the river valley and called it the common ground. There they met and exchanged the necessities of survival, and later goods and resources.

You would think there must be sensible people who can find common ground without exaggerating demands and accentuating prejudice, while finally being honest with each other. It seems the constitutional nation state wants drinking water; representing a productive, healthy and prosperous quality of life. Indigenous people seem to want firewood; depicting self-determined communities with cultural values, respect for the land, spiritual and medical health, including decent education and economic opportunities.

The great outdoors; one of my favourite subjects. So, what’s so great about the outdoors? Why would someone devote an entire blog to nothing other than dirt, grass, rocks, a few trees and maybe some water here and there?

It’s obvious, isn’t it? Miracles of nature, powerful forces at play, beauty and splendour, amazing sights and sounds, and all things just like these, right? Well, regardless, now is the season that many people get outdoors and enjoy the summer months, at least here in the northern hemisphere.

But first of all, think about the term “outdoors” and all the activities we have derived from this notion. We humans once upon a time dwelled in caves and even burrowed in dens underground, and there wasn’t a door to be found anywhere. We might have said “outside,” as in outside of our caves and dens, referring to nature’s landscape where we humans were not protected by a cover of rock in the side of a mountain, or roots and dirt tucked beside an enormous tree in the forest. There really wasn’t any outdoors and the normal existence of our lives was spent outside, which is all we knew, because we didn’t have any structures built with doors to enter and go inside.

Yet, if you step outdoors and there is only a minimal amount of pavement, then quite possibly there is something inspiring beyond the sidewalks and parking lots. Canada consists of some special places outdoors: sparkling ocean coasts, magnificent mountains, alluring prairies, bold rocky wilderness and soothing freshwater lakes we call the Canadian Shield and boreal forest. And just on the outskirts of our growing urban communities mainly in the southern portions of our country along the border with United States, we have pockets of natural settings among cityscapes of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River seaway with their mixed woodlands and fertile lowlands.

An ocean coast offers sand beach tides, crashing waves and impressive vistas, the northern backcountry is a patchwork of lakes, rivers, lots of trees and rocks along with some meadows and marshy bogs, while the mountains comprise gaping valleys and majestic peaks, and even the subtle prairie grasslands and rolling hills nurture hidden coulees and lush ravines. All these things inspire me, but do they make the outdoors great?

We call it camping, not only using tents and sleeping bags, but also portable homes on the back of trucks complete with kitchens, bathrooms and fortification from harsh elements like thunderstorms. Sometimes I think it gets a little too carried away with entertainment theatres inside a camper trailer, but it does allow us to experience the natural balance of the planet close-up and personal, as long as we do go outside of the mobile home once we get to the campground.

There are other things we do while camping, only adding to the greatness of the outdoors, such as sun tanning and swimming, hiking and sometimes rock or mountain climbing, paddling in the water on a board or in a small boat, even chuting rapids on rafting, canoeing or kayaking expeditions. These water sports can be refreshing, exciting and addictive, making the outdoors great and greater.

We also employ mechanical inventions in the spirit of thrill and adventure, enjoying recreational and competitive sports like boat cruising and racing, water skiing, tubing, sailing in boats of many different sizes and sailboarding too. These “toys” of summer add to the enjoyment of outdoor activities, but none of this would be possible without the gifts of dear old Mother Nature in the great outdoors.

Fishing can also be practised in every season. Ice fishing in Canada is quite common, but does require some planning and proper techniques to stay warm in winter. Many Canadians are just as active in the great outdoors during colder months, enjoying other recreational pursuits we have invented. Winter camping requires a great deal of preparation and can be exhilarating, yet is probably better suited to the hearty souls among us.

There are a variety of other activities popular in Canadian winters. We ski, skate and snowshoe outside, to provide our bodies with physical exertion (we call it exercise), and of course to enjoy the great outdoors. We construct ski huts and large mountain chalets to augment the pleasure of these activities, even though we do go indoors and partake in some food or beverages. We sometimes jump on these other inventions called snow machines, which don’t have any doors so we are definitely outside, and we tour around the countryside, sometimes engage in racing, and often use these snowmobiles for transportation to ice fishing holes.

There is as well, in this northern country of Canada, a sport we invented over a hundred years ago. We call it hockey and we now play it year-round often inside arenas, but we still play it on frozen ponds outside, the way it was done in the beginning.

These are but a few of the things we do in the true north strong and free great outdoors of Canada―summer, fall, winter and spring. So, now that the warmer weather is well upon us in the north, feel free to step out the door and relish the wonderful gifts of nature outside.

July 22, 2023

The elements of nature have once again reared their might and force to show us mere mortals who is boss. Although industrial practices may be making weather more severe than Earth’s very recent climatic history, we humans are constantly reminded that some forces of nature can never be controlled. Only days prior to publication of this commentary, thunderstorm systems moving through river basin valleys manifested into tornadoes that touched down in Canada’s capital city Ottawa, as well as an area near Montreal, Quebec.

Raging with a force only Mother Nature can boast, the wind tossed shrubs, shingles and blue boxes like they were toys in a playpen. But then the funnel of chaos began to descend from the sky. This wind was mean and threatening, leaving destruction in the wake of its path. It knocked down trees and tossed trunks across streets, bent tree stands out of shape in the countryside surrounding suburbs, mangled backyard sheds and pulled apart roofs of homes and buildings.

It certainly was a horrific storm, if not an imposing display of natural energy with destructive capabilities. The green sheen of thunderstorm cells glossed the sky as the gales of wind ripped through the city and rural areas alike. The tornado peak of the storm system was mercifully brief and quickly diminished, yet the brutal downpour of rainfall continued for a good portion of the day.

Eventually the rain also subsided and soon enough the storm had passed through the immediate area, continuing on a journey until finally losing the impetus of its damaging force. But do not make any mistake about it, while the storm occupied the confines of these neighbourhoods and communities it ravaged the landscape with the powerful presence it commanded.

Slowly residents ventured outside to assess the damage. Many households were greeted by fallen trees and battered structures, but perhaps they were lucky the damage was not as severe as the ferocity of the storm, at least comparatively speaking for this particular weather event. Furthermore, they are fortunate there was not any loss of life associated with these tornadoes. Those living in the Ottawa and St. Lawrence valleys do experience the wrath of nature in a variety of ways, but they are also fortunate they’re not located on the coast of an ocean, where such storms often graduate into hurricanes or cyclones and seriously threaten life as well as property on a continuing basis.

However, Canadians have been accustomed to extreme weather for a long time. This enhances the stereotype that Canadians are tough and adapted to severe weather conditions, but they have earned this reputation by surviving the elements, such as frozen cold winters in most of the country with the risk of hypothermia and frostbite from exposure, a fair share of thunderstorms in summer months sometimes leading to flooding and property damage, or followed by lightning strikes resulting in wildfires, and don’t forget all those black flies and mosquitoes that hatch every year to feed all the migrating birds.

And so, although not as bad as some other weather events, it seems if Canadians are susceptible to any potential natural disaster, it is the destruction that evolves from thunderstorms and their related outcomes. Fortunately these storms are usually fairly short in duration. Unfortunately they bring the rain that contributes to the breeding of all those nasty flies and mosquitoes.

And so, on goes the battle to survive Mother Nature.

July 17, 2023