Archive for the 'News' Category
Wolf & Carnivore Conference
Ivor Elrifi's wolf in Rye, New York.
After 49 superb Spirit Way concrete wolf statues were painted and placed across Manitoba, the 50th wolf will soon roam at Paint Lake Provincial Park this summer. Announcements about the artist and art will be made soon.
The 51st Spirit Way wolf was transported on a low deck truck by Gardewine North. It traveled all the way to Rye, New York, to live at the home of Ivor Elrifi. Along the long route, the howling wolf attracted much attention as many passer-by people took photos and waved at the driver.
Ivor lived in Thompson in the 1970s as a teenager. His family later moved and eventually Ivor made his way to the USA where he now works as a patent lawyer. Ivor has a fondness for his young days living in a small city in the wilderness. Wolf packs roamed the boreal forest around Thompson then as they do now. Having a colourful howling wolf statue on his residential property will be a great reminder of those early years. And probably a great conversation piece in the neighbourhood!
We will have a photo of Ivor’s finished statue later this summer.
The first 49 wolves are part of a Manitoba wide GPS Wolf Hunt. Did you buy your GPS Passport in Winnipeg, Thompson or Churchill to participate in this geocache travel adventure? See the retail outlets listed here…
http://www.thompsonspiritway.ca/take-the-walk/wolves-along-the-way/
Click on “A GPS Hunt”.
Now the wolves are going international! As time goes on, there may be others in Minneapolis and Mexico… we are working on it. It would truly become a Wolves Without Borders campaign throughout North America.
If you would like the next Spirit Way wolf, please contact us through the website. See more details here…
http://www.thompsonspiritway.ca/take-the-walk/wolves-along-the-way/
Click on “A GPS Hunt” and Contact Us.
What started out as an empty field five years ago has become one of the most picturesque tourist sites in Thompson. Not only are people dropping by daily to photograph and enjoy the panorama of the Burntwood River and float plane base, numerous wedding parties have had their photos taken under the restored Norseman floatplane. The volunteers of the Spirit Way committee, Aviation Group and Lions Club have been continually upgrading the site and turning it into a landscaped park. Improved lighting, more landscaping, more benches, litter containers, flagpoles, etc are still on the shopping list as the groups raise money to purchase and add additional features.
Recently the access road has been paved, which has made the site that much more clean and attractive. No more washboard and gravel! The paving component cost $41,000 and was paid for by the Lions Club and the City of Thompson ($10,000). It is remarkable that volunteers are raising money to pave public access roads for the benefit of the community. A formal ribbon cutting ceremony will be held soon.
If you haven’t visited the Tribute to Northern Aviation site and Thompson Lions Club Park lately, please do so and enjoy the view and area. You may even catch a floatplane taking off or landing on the Burntwood River which is always cool!
AND please, help us keep the area clean. Most people use the litter bins, but unfortunately not all. Pick up any garbage and if you see someone litter, give them a polite scolding!
Wolves—we may love or fear them—but some young people just want to understand them. Children at three schools in the United States, Mexico and Canada will work together on a “Wolves without Borders” project to learn about wolves in all three regions starting in March, 2011. One of the groups includes elementary students in École Riverside School in Thompson, Manitoba, Canada.
“The wolf is a species essential in all three countries, but misunderstood and threatened in many regions worldwide,” according to Linda Markus, School District of Mystery Lake, Thompson. “This collaborative project will support the participation of North American youth in the conservation of their regions and allow them to understand the global aspect and influence of their actions.”
The “Wolves without Borders” idea began to percolate at a Carnivore Conference in Denver, Colorado in November 2009 when 3 people met to share their ideas and interest in wolves in their own countries. Mary Ortiz, Executive Director of IWC, USA, Volker Beckmann of Spirit Way Inc., Canada, and Juan Carlos Bravo of Naturalia, Mexico realized good ideas have no boundaries and neither should wolves. Bringing students together in a virtual project across North America offered fascinating benefits for all.
The young students in three countries live in the temperate pine-oak forests of the Sky Islands Complex surrounded by the hot, northern state of Sonora, Mexico, in the deciduous and conifer forests of Minnesota, and in Manitoba with its cold winters, boreal forests and 100,000 lakes. Although the students are separated by thousands of miles, different languages and cultures, they are excited about the opportunity to learn to work together on a common theme of wolves.
“The International Wolf Center’s staff is excited to participate in the Wolves without Borders project. This cross-cultural learning opportunity aligns perfectly with the organization’s mission,” stated Jerritt Johnston, Director of Education. “Having the chance to collaborate with organizations in both Canada and Mexico will offer students in the Babbitt-Embarrass, Minnesota schools a tremendous experience. They will have the chance to learn about wolves, but just as importantly, they will interact with students with wonderfully diverse life experiences.
“In Minnesota, USA, wolf populations are growing and making a remarkable comeback. With that growth, comes increasing wolf-human interactions and the need for education about this controversial and charismatic animal. The International Wolf Center, a non-profit educational organization established in 1985, advances the survival of wolf populations around the world by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.”
The students will work in conjunction with Naturalia A.C., a civil association in Mexico that creates, develops initiatives to help conserve and restore endangered wildlife, flora and ecosystems. The Wolves without Borders project recognizes that biodiversity, and ecological processes know no political boundaries.
The Mexican students are from Agua Prieta Sonora, a border city near Douglas, Arizona. At their school, Colegio MartiniE, they study with teacher Claudia Caballero and with Naturalia´s Environmental Educator, Francisco J Garcia Durazo. The school, a privately owned bilingual education institute, will bring 25 students ages 11 and 12 to the project. Agua Prieta, is one of the closest populations to the release area for the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program of the Mexican Federal Government. Naturalia works to educate residents of the northern region of Sonora on wolves and their importance in interactions with other elements of the ecosystem.
In Mexico, wolves have been exterminated from the natural landscape. Only a few hundred remain in captivity. Soon a few wolves of the Mexican wolf, a subspecies of the gray wolf, will be released back into the hot, northern state of Sonora, where temperatures can reach 120˚ F in the summer. Some area residents want them returned to their natural environment, while others do not. The cultural and educational programming of Wolves without Borders will help staff meet the long term goals of helping the public to understand and coexist with predators.
The project will involve students in Thompson, Manitoba, Canada, a small wilderness city that honors the wolf. Thompson is surrounded by boreal forest, lakes, rivers, and thousands of wolves, making it the Wolf Capital of Canada. Residents experience little human-wolf conflict, since the area does not support ranching or farming. The local Cree aboriginal people have lived with and trapped wolves for hundreds of years and respect this predator and its family.
Yet, other influences are at work as new roads, mines and huge hydro-power dams with transmission lines come into play. How will wolves continue to fit into this pristine environment? How will wolves acclimate with human intrusion in decades to come? How will moose population, caribou herds and even polar bears be affected as they interact with gray wolves? In Northern Manitoba, students have much to learn, and possibly much to teach the world in sustainable wolf management.
So, what is real versus fiction about wolves? This is a question many people have wondered for generations. During the Wolves Without Borders project, the three groups of students will address this question. They will explore two distinct perspectives about wolves within each country - the mythological and factual. The findings will then be compared with fellow learners across the continent.
Native storytelling from each country will give a historical and cultural perspective on how wolves have been viewed by people in the past. Students will then embark throughout their local community to interview people about their current thoughts on wolves. Partnering with the International Wolf Center, students will learn basic wolf ecology through videoconferencing programs. With the help from local research biologists who have shared data, students will plot the locations from wild wolves tracked by radio telemetry in their area. Learners will apply their new knowledge from the wolf ecology programs by analyzing and interpreting the locations to learn factual information about wolves for yet another view on the species.
As each student learns, they will also be communicating their ideas with a buddy from each of the different countries on a web-based program - www.wolveswithoutborders.posterous.com. Here any viewer can see how they are getting to meet each other, sharing their day to day experiences, posting pictures and videos, and engaging in discussions about their wolf findings. Over the next few months, after comparing and contrasting both the factual and mythological views on wolves from their own perspective, students will then share their information in a presentation viewed through Skype technology with each of the different countries to see what is truly real about wolves in other locations. This exercise will provide the students a wonderful exchange of friendships, cultural experiences and honest discussion about wolves and their place in the world.
A final media release will be issued when project is complete in early June, 2011. It is anticipated that another three country project at the high school level will occur next year as these schools, separated by thousands of miles, develop closer and stronger relationships.
• CONTACT INFORMATION:
THOMPSON, MANITOBA, CANADA:
Volker Beckmann, Project Coordinator, Spirit Way Inc.
Ph. (204) 778 7434
vbeckmann@mts.net
www.thompsonspiritway.ca
Linda Markus, Literacy Support, School District of Mystery Lake
Ph. (204) 677 6147
lmarkus@mysterynet.mb.ca
Principal Rob Fisher, École Riverside School, School District of Mystery Lake
Ph 204-677-6115
rfisher@mysterynet.mb.ca
BABBITT-EMBARRASS & ELY, MINNESOTA, USA:
Tara Johnson, Program Specialist, International Wolf Center
Ph. (218) 365 – 4695 ext. 33
www.wolf.org
AGUA PRIETA, SONORA, MEXICO:
Francisco J Garcia Durazo, Educación Ambiental, Naturalia A.C.
Ph. 52 (633) 338 6380, Cel: (633) 112 0233
www.naturalia.org.mx
• RELATED WEBSITE LINKS:
www.wolf.org
www.naturalia.org.mx
December 1, 2010
The Wolves without Borders initiative is an exciting opportunity for our Ecole Riverside school Grade 6 students to study wolves in a local and international context. Representatives from Spirit Way Inc. and the School District of Mystery Lake met to discuss how this project will be carried out at Riverside School.
A Wolves Without Borders International 3-way conference call has taken place with us in Thompson, Helga Caballero Quiroz of Naturalia Mexico, and Jerritt Johnston of International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota to discuss the parameters. We hope to launch the project in January, 2011. The project will be outlined on this website in the next few weeks.
I have contacted the province of Manitoba Department of Education “Instructional Resources Unit” and acquired a collection of wolf themed books and audio supports. I have located additional resources through the MFNERC’s (Manitoba First Nations Educational Resource Centre) library. A novel study using the book “Julie of the Wolves” , written by Jean Craighead George, is scheduled to begin soon in one grade 6 class.
I am preparing to share the details of this initiative with Heather Hunter, consultant with MERN (Manitoba Education Research Network). I have also contacted members of the science department and administration at R D Parker Collegiate in order to create another Wolf project at the high school level. At the regular meeting of the high school science department, faculty welcomed the powerpoint presentation by Spirit Way representative, Volker Beckmann. Components of the grade 10 program align perfectly with this initiative.
The possibilities of student collaboration and interaction across three countries are very exciting!
Linda Markus
Literacy Support
School District of Mystery Lake
Thompson, Manitoba
MARCH 27, 2010
The Spirit Way group was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Spirit Way attraction was a finalist in the Manitoba Tourism Award for MARKETING EXCELLENCE. The gala Awards ceremonies are hosted by Travel Manitoba and held in Winnipeg each year. The Awards date is May 26, 2010.
Spirit Way has primarly been developed by many volunteer groups in Thompson, Manitoba. This attraction did not exist five years ago! Being recognized in the same category as two of Manitoba’s major tourism attractions and initiatives who have access to huge budgets ( by comparison) and professional marketers and full time staff, is an accomplishment in itself. Whether Spirit Way could win the award is doubtful, but to our credit much thought and unique positioning has been undertaken in Thompson to get to this point.
The original nomination recognized these factors for Spirit Way:
MARKETING ACTIVITIES:
- From Wolves to Whales campaign was launched at The Forks in summer of 2008 by displaying 10 large decorated concrete wolf statues
- The Spirit Way GPS Wolf Hunt was launched for geocachers to find 49 wolf statues in Winnipeg (11), Thompson (35), and Churchill (3)
- Launch of new website – www.thompsonspiritway.ca -
- Thompson public was solicited to report live wolf sightings in the area.
METHODS:
- Magazine articles and writers’ tour were sponsored.
- Wolves to Whales contest was hosted and promoted by Calm Air in Canadian “Beaver” magazine.
- With Travel Manitoba’s assistance, a German tour photographer visited Spirit Way in 2009, as well as writers from Society of American Travel Writers in 2008.
- Partnered with Destination Churchill on joint ad campaigns – Wolves to Whales.
- Advertising was done in Travel Manitoba and Manitoba publications.
- Spirit Way posters, souvenirs, silver dollar wolf coins, etc. are sold.
- Media conference held at The Forks in Winnipeg at Wolves to Whales campaign.
- Facebook group Friends of Spirit Way was started.
- A major new website was launched.
- GPS Wolf Hunt Passports are sold in 3 cities. Geocachers must get their passport stamped in each city to be valid.
- Partnered with Manitoba Geocaching Association to promote GPS Wolf Hunt
VALUE OF CAMPAIGN:
- Wolves to Whales campaign began at The Forks in Winnipeg in 2008 and expanded into Churchill with Thompson being the core. The campaign is planned to move into Minneapolis and Mexico and involve three countries in a “Wolves Without Borders” theme.
- Campaign has changed Thompson’s image of a “tough northern mining town” image in many quarters outside of the mining and industrial sectors.
- Campaign has created a large amount of community pride
- Spirit Way has fostered a greater appreciation for Aboriginal art and culture
- The Spirit Way GPS Wolf Hunt requires participants to travel the complete province to complete their geocache experience
RESULTS ACHIEVED:
- Increased tourist visits and inquiries at Heritage North Museum Visitor Info Centre
- Website hits have been growing monthly. November, 2009 stats showed 950 hits and 10,300 visits for the month. 53% of hits are coming from outside of Canada.
- Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C. invited Spirit Way Inc. to attend the biannual Carnivore Conference in Denver, Colorado in November, 2009 to tell Thompson’s story how Spirit Way has become an economic development success story.
- Defenders highlighted the Thompson story in an online newsletter to 450,000 members…
http://action.defenders.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=45161.0&printer_friendly=1
- Geocachers participated by purchasing 224 GPS Wolf Hunt booklets
- High praise comments from geocachers who completed the GPS Wolf Hunt
- Media articles, interviews, or photos on Spirit Way were covered in: Roots North, Voyageur, West, Currents, Great Manitoba Getaways, World Mural Book, Manitoba Business, Brandon Sun, Canwest Weekly, Travel Bug, Retired Teachers, Defenders eNews, CJOB, CBC, Destination Manitoba.
- National Research Council, MDS, Rolls Royce, and Province of Manitoba held a ceremony in April, 2009 to announce the development of a $30 million jet engine test facility. They requested to hold the ceremony at the Spirit Way Aviation Tribute site.
- Vandalism on Spirit Way statues or points of interest have been minimal. When the odd graffiti happens, Thompsonites have phoned their City Hall the same day to report it so the graffiti can be removed. This is evidence of community pride.
- It has been reported that there are people/tourists taking photos of themselves in front of the Bateman wolf mural almost every day in the summer.
- Numerous outside agencies have expressed interest and support to work with Spirit Way and Thompson on tourism initiatives.
- Spirit Way chosen as one of 6 Manitoba FAM visits by international travel buyers during Rendezvous Canada travel show in May, 2010
Dateline: September 12, 2009
On September 11, 2009 the most unique statue and tribute of its kind in North America was dedicated to the special firefighters of northern Manitoba. September 11 is a memorable day in North America because in 2001 a tragic event happened in New York that killed 343 firefighters as they rushed in to help people in the burning World Trade Centre towers. That day will never be forgotten.
The beautiful statue in Thompson represents the exceptional skill sets found in the North from municipal and forest firefighters, water bomber pilots and helitac crews. And Vale Inco’s volunteer mine rescue people who can go down 4000 ft to fight fires. This region can claim that we can fight fires from a mile above the ground to a mile below.
The statue was created by Clayt Lennox of Winnipeg and took over 2 years to fundraise and finalize. It is solid concrete with a liquid bronze coating. It sits in a wonderful setting overlooking Ravine Park on one side and downtown Thompson on the other. It is located between the Bailey Bridge and MacLean Park, both Spirit Way points of interest. Four Spirit Way wolf statues are nearby howling their respect of fire fighters.
Dateline: August 1, 2009
Your mission, if you accept it, is to find 49 Spirit Way Wolves across Manitoba. You must record them in your GPS Wolf Hunt Passport to be recognized as a GPS Master Wolf Tracker!
No, this is not a hunting trip! It’s a geocache adventure that stretches from Winnipeg to Thompson to Churchill. It requires someone, who owns a handheld GPS unit and loves to geocache, to track down 49 wolf statues by using GPS coordinates. The statues are 5500 lbs. of concrete and are 7.5 feet tall. Each one has been sponsored by by a business, agency ,or individual and painted by a Manitoba artist.
All this began in Thompson, Manitoba in 2004 when a volunteer committee started the Spirit Way project. Spirit Way is a 2 km walking path from the south end of Thompson to the north end. Along the route are unique 16 points of interest that have won awards for Spirit Way and made it one of the Top 20 Places to Visit in Manitoba by Travel Manitoba. A few of the fascinating and interesting points of interest that showcase Thompson and Northern Manitoba are the world’s largest lighted mural and the only mural of a Robert Bateman painting, a restored Norseman bush plane being held in mid-air, and the start of Canada’s largest rockface sculpture. The attractions make for great memories and even greater photographs for visitors and residents alike.
The wolf statues were born in 2006 when 24 were sponsored and painted by Northern artists. Each is a stunning example of public art and each is different from to reflect the tastes of the sponsor and the style of the artist. Many tell a wonderful story. In 2007, more statues were poured, painted, and moved. Some stayed at the Forks in Winnipeg for a few months before coming to a howling rest at their final home. Today, there are 49 wolves spread across a 1000 miles in Manitoba making them one common element binding our province from the south to the north.
What is needed to play (or hunt) is a GPS unit and a Spirit Way GPS Wolf Hunt Passport. Then each wolf is found by using the coordinates listed in the passport. The geocacher writes down the proper title of each wolf. Once the person finds them all in each city, they must get their passport rubber stamped by an official. After all 3 stamps are obtained, the final step is to register online and wait to receive a special GPS Master Wolf Tracker Certificate. The person’s name will also be listed on the website as a Master Wolf Tracker.
The result is a fun, travel adventure across Manitoba starting in the prairie and flood plain of the south, heading to the rugged boreal forest, lakes and rivers of the North, and ending at the tundra and Hudson Bay. You will receive tremendous satisfaction when you have find all the Spirit Way wolves, and you will be recognized for it in a special way.
More details, Passport locations, Master Wolf Tracker registrations, and listings of Master Trackers are all shown on the Spirit Way website – www.thompsonspiritway.ca.
Give it a try. Enjoy yourself. Have a howling great adventure across our big, beautiful province. And come back soon.
Manitoba Tourism Award – Product Development 2008
More information coming
June, 2008
Prairie Design Award for Spirit Way
Display Structures
Manitoba Tourism Award – Partnership 2007
More information coming
Spirit of the Earth Award – 2007
Sponsored by Manitoba Hydro
The 10-storey wolf mural, which was painted on the Highland Tower in Thompson, Manitoba, is an exact reproduction of Robert Bateman’s wolf sketch, which was drawn in 1990. Bateman, a Canadian artist and internationally acclaimed wildlife painter, is best known for realism style paintings that reflect our natural world, wildlife, nature and the environment.
Any of Robert Bateman’s work including the Thompson mural cannot be duplicated or plagiarized. This restriction also applies to artwork painted on any of Spirit Way wolf statues that are located in Winnipeg, Thompson and Churchill. Each statue has a metal name plate that indicates the sponsor, artist, title and states it is a “Spirit Way Wolf”.
Permission to duplicate or photograph the mural or any Spirit Way wolf statue for the purposes of generating revenue or unauthorized uses must be obtained from Spirit Way Inc., a Thompson non-profit organization, that initiated the mural and statue project. Spirit Way Inc. has been granted unlimited rights for reproduction and has written agreements for such with all artists.
No charges or infringements will be laid if a photograph of the mural or wolf statues are reproduced for personal use for a scrapbook or souvenir photo. However, reproductions such as postcards, posters, brochures, decals, T-shirts, or similar items for the purpose of earning income, must be approved by Spirit Way Inc., and/or in some cases with the original painter, Robert Bateman. The Spirit Way Board of Directors will review each request which must be made in writing. Any infractions will initiate a cease and desist order or legal proceedings may be pursued. The Board will monitor all public reproduction carefully to protect the ownership rights of Spirit Way Inc., Robert Bateman, and the many artists that painted a Spirit Way wolf.