Quetico Provincial Park is a world-famous destination for backcountry canoeing, with over 2,000 lakes and 460,000 ha of remote wilderness. You can explore the heart of the park for two days or two weeks.
So when a beloved dog disappeared, the Kareken family searched for two days before finally assuming the worst and returning home — devastated — to North Carolina.
But on July 14, 2016, park staff received a call from a local outfitter.
Welcome to our “5 Questions” series! We chat with park staff around the province to give you an inside look at what it’s like to work at Ontario Parks.
Rachel Windsor has worked in Ontario Parks for six years. She started as a summer maintenance student for two seasons, then moved over to the park store at Presqu’ile Provincial Park. She trained under the park store manager for a season before taking over that role the following year.
Since 2015, Rachel has been acting in the Ops Tech role, taking the lead on the maintenance team and making sure park operations run smoothly.
Welcome to our “5 Questions” series! We chat with park staff around the province to give you an inside look at what it’s like to work at Ontario Parks.
Jason Lorbetskie has worked as a backcountry ranger in Algonquin Provincial Park for over 17 years. He is currently a Group Leader for Operations South, where his job duties include supervising other rangers, maintaining trails and campsites, and assisting with all facets of the backcountry program.
Today’s post comes from Laura Sagermann, a Natural Heritage Education leader from Bon Echo Provincial Park.
Across Ontario, our provincial parks protect a wide range of diverse ecosystems and habitats from human impact, urban development and other environmental threats.
However, this protected land is not immune to invasive species. These are non-native species that have been introduced (either purposely or accidentally) and have negative effects on a region.
At Bon Echo, the latest invasive species to be found is the insect-fungus combination responsible for beech bark disease. Continue reading Downed trees become habitat for eastern red-backed salamanders
Welcome to our “5 Questions” series! We chat with park staff around the province to give you an inside look at what it’s like to work at Ontario Parks.
Laurie Dulmage is now in her 16th season as the Park Clerk at Rideau River Provincial Park. She answered five questions from Marketing and Communications summer student Mitch Jackson about her career with Ontario Parks.
We’ve been offering interpretive programs to visitors for nearly a three quarters of a century. In 2015 alone, more than 393,000 visitors from across the province tuned into our programming.
Our calendar is brimming with hundreds of different programs this summer — spanning stargazing to nature hikes to historical reenactments.
Which one will you choose?
Continue reading Ontario Parks’ interpretive programming: 70 years and still going strong
Happy World Turtle Day! Today’s post comes from Shannon McGaffey, our Assistant Park Biologist at Algonquin Provincial Park.
Earlier this month, a crew of seven park staff – rangers, maintenance workers, administration staff and biologists – spent the entire day installing turtle fencing along the side of the busy Highway 60 in Algonquin.
When campers return to their favorite campsites this year, they may be greeted with a different scene than they remember.
That favorite tree that used to shade your campsite and provide a relaxing location to sit and read a book? Now gone, replaced by a stump with small plants growing around the base.
The loss of trees from storm damage, fire or other catastrophes provides an opportunity for a remarkable ecological process to ensue – forest succession.
Continue reading A changing landscape: how nature influences the way our parks look
Did you tune in to Algonquin Provincial Park‘s #IceOutFlight 2016 last week?
Our teammates at Algonquin took to the air, and live-tweeted ice-out conditions at the park.
Here’s a bird’s-eye view of several popular Algonquin lakes, trails and landmarks:
In today’s post, Brad Steinberg, our Natural Heritage Education & Learning Coordinator, shares the story of how he (kinda) proposed to a Blanding’s turtle.
It was September 30, the last day of trout season in Algonquin Provincial Park. I was trudging out a portage with a canoe over my head when I saw it: a big, beautiful Blanding’s turtle, perched right on the edge of the old roadway.
Continue reading The turtle who swam off with my wedding ring
