Over the winter of 2023 I championed a free guided snowshoe hike through the Salt-River Meadows. We offered weekly hikes and a specialized event for the Wood Buffalo Frolics Festival, a community run festival that celebrates the coming of spring. I’ve attached the post-event report from the Frolics event!
While working at the WBNP Visitor Center I had the privilege to work on decoration, both inside the Visitor Center and on our seasonal parade floats! We usually decorate the visitor center for Halloween, Christmas, and PRIDE month.
On November 22, 2022 we had an unexpected guest at the WBNP Visitor Center. A lonely muskrat found himself cornered my the entrance to our offices. With the help of our resource conservation team we captured the specimen and released him into a nearby section of forest.
My main 2022 project with Wood Buffalo National Park was the 2022 Pumpkin Party. During the two year hiatus during the pandemic the former “Haunted Cabin” site was torn down and replaced with a more modern facility. The rebranded “Pumpkin Party” event was designed to capture the same energy as our original “Haunted Cabin” event with less touchpoints and risk of Covid contamination. Attached are the posters and a copy of my post-event report.
Check out https://lukekjames.opened.ca/news/ for some articles on the WBNP Pumpkin Party.
Working at Wood Buffalo National Park gave me plenty of opportunity to come face to face with these magnificent creatures. Its quite common to find the Bison grazing on the sides of the highways and lounging in sandpits to avoid the flies. This collection of photos and video were gathered between April 2022 and September 2023.
The main project taken on by the Town Of Fort Smith Visitor Center staff in 2021 was our “Summer Music Nights”, a series of outdoor Music nights in Mission Park. Live Music, Free BBQ, and Karaoke nights were all popular highlights in our series of 2021 Summer Music Nights.
While working at the joint WBNP/TOFS Visitor Center we noticed a family of Bats using the entrance way as a den. Our team monitored the Bats daily to check for signs of “white-nose syndrome” a fungal disease which has caused the rapid decline of Northern Bat populations.
Celebrated Annually on June 21st, Indigenous Peoples Day in Fort Smith consists of a full day of immersive activities put on by the Salt River First Nation, Smith Landing First Nation and the Fort Smith Metis. In my role both with the Town Of Fort Smith and Wood Buffalo National Park I have participated in the facilitation the event. Over the last 4 years I’ve aided in planning activities, food distribution, and on-site resource management during the Indigenous People Day Celebration.
In my work with the Town of Fort Smith I’ve had the privilage of partnering with the Desnedé Farmers’ Market. A local non-profit society that facilitates a local craft and goods sale over weekends in the summer. Run out of Mission Park the Desnedé Farmers’ Market is next to our local community garden. Locals who have signed up for a plot will grow flowers and vegetables to later sell via the market.
As apart of my job with the Fort Smith Visitor Center I facilitated a guided hike from the Visitor Information Center to the base of the “Rapids Of The Drowned”. While the American white pelican don’t nest on these rapids they are often found feeding on Lamprey. As apart of my job I collected photos and video to post on the Town of Fort Smith Instagram.
