Wood Buffalo National Park – Parks Canada
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.
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.
