Bear spray workshop for outdoor enthusiasts

We are coordinating a workshop in collaboration with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District WildSafeBC Community Program for Lac Le Jeune residents to learn how to use bear spray effectively.

The workshop will be held on Thursday, September 13th, 4:00 - 6:00pm. Topics to address include:
- what bear spray is
- how and what to purchase
- proper storage when at home or travelling
- proper deployment of the spray (allowing everyone to deploy inert bear spray for practice)

There will be a nominal fee based on the number of participants. It is payable on the day of the workshop. The cost of each can of inert training bear spray for a group of 4 people to practice with is $25.

Anyone under 16 must be accompanied by a guardian and must show respectful maturity when using inert bear spray.

By completing this registration form you are stating that you are interested and available at this date and time. If there are any changes to your circumstances please email sylvia.currie at gmail dot com.

You will be contacted closer to the workshop date with further information about venue and what to expect.

 

Annual General Meeting

LAC LE JEUNE

CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Sunday, September 9, 2018

11:00 – 12:30

Provincial Park 

Day Area Shelter

Refreshments and snacks for the whole family

Hope to see you there!

Changes to our mailing addresses

Canada Post is discontinuing the use of postal box numbers. Instead, we will be using our street (aka 911) addresses. Letters were distributed in July outlining the changes.

Remember to pick up your new mailbox keys beginning Monday, August 20th.

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LLJCA AGM + 2018 Info Sheet

This is the updated one-pager to outline what the Lac Le Jeune Conservation Association is all about. Have a look, pass it along to your new neighbours, and be sure to come to the Annual General Meeting!

When: September 9, 2018 @ 11:00
Where: Lac Le Jeune Provincial Park day area shelter


 

The toads are crossing the road!

The western toad migration has begun! These little guys cross Lac Le Jeune Road every summer around this time in a 1-kilometre stretch of road near the Michell Ranch.

You can help out these little toads by taking the Coquihalla on your trips to Kamloops during these few days of migration. They are so small many people don’t even notice them on the road.

sydney Rae

Learn to Fish program

Reminder! There are more Learn to Fish opportunities this summer for your kids, age 5 - 15.

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Our Lake - Status Report

The following is a status report from Hugh Burton

Andrew Mac Math and I have done the first two lake profiles for May and June. (see attachments) It is my intention to continue doing a profile at least once per month till ice on or it gets too darn cold to continue.

 It is not an onerous or difficult task, so if anyone wants to volunteer an hour or so I would really appreciate it. Give me a call: 250-314-6760 or send an email to this address. It takes two people to do it safely, so if you have someone who you could partner up with I would be happy to provide a demo on the procedure. 

The best results are obtained by ensuring that the profiles are taken within a few days either side of ones done in previous years. This means that the next one is due between the 16^th and 20^th of July. 

Comments: Refer to the data sheets below for values.

On the whole our lake is doing not too badly for a lake that is in the middle of its life and whose watershed has undergone significant changes over the past 30 to 40 years – expansion of residential and park areas, increase in paved roads with commensurate increase in vehicular traffic and most recently the pine beetle infestation. 

Whether you have been boating or fishing or just using the lake water for the household, you will have noticed that, over the past two years the lake water has become quite brown in colour and the sediment concentration has increased considerably. I know that I have had to change my filters almost twice as often over this time frame.

Both of these conditions reduce the transparency of the water Note the difference in the secchi depth between June 17/17 and June 18/18  - 5.7m vs  3.9m. (Secchi depth is a measure of the transparency of the water).

There are a number of factors that have come together to produce these conditions. 

First: A significant percentage of the watershed is still recovering from the pine beetle infestation. Debris from the logging is now decaying providing an increase in organic material and.

Second: The vegetation replacing the pine forest is predominantly deciduous poplar,aspen, alder and willow, all of which produce leaf litter that as it decays adds to the organic loading in the form of tannins (hence the brown colour).  

Third: The pine tree removal has led to an increase in exposed ground leading to greater than normal erosion, which has been magnified by two years of heavier than normal snow load followed by relatively high runoff. 

Forth: The beaver activity at the outlet is maintaining a high water level throughout the year which causes a reduction in the flow through and resultant slow clearing of the lake. Variation in lake, water level is essential to a healthy aquatic environment. 

Higher than normal water levels cause incorporation of shore areas that at normal levels would be dry. This may also lead to an increase in conductive salts and sediment through erosive wave action and leaching. Note the elevated numbers under specific conductance columns.

Long term high water levels also increase the organic material loading by eventually killing vegetation in the affected areas. This decays over time, which may, if severe enough, lead to an undesirably high organic content and reduced O₂ levels during the winter resulting in possible fish kill. (this is not a problem at this point in our lake). 

Ideally, the water levels should vary throughout the year. Temporary high water levels will increase the nutrients essential to the support of the food chain and therefore to a healthier lake. Changes in water level are also necessary for the health of the wet lands that are so important in purifying water and providing bio-habitat.

Obviously there is a delicate balance that must be maintained among these factors if optimal conditions are to prevail.

The changes we are seeing will definitely affect our aquatic environment in the short term but they are probably not so much detrimental as they are annoying. However, they do demonstrate the need for careful monitoring and maintenance of our watershed.

Data Sheets (click image for a larger view)

Joey needs a home

UPDATE: Joey has been adopted! 

Joey is a friendly 1 year old short hair brown tabby. He loves to play but is happy to relax on his own as well. He is very smart and was even taught to do cat agility with the students! Joey needs to be in a home with no other cats where he has space to roam and explore. He can be very gentle but also can play quite rough at times so therefore would prefer a home with older children that respect his space. 

If you’re interested in adopting Joey please email Thompson Rivers University Animal Heath Technology: tgeiger@tru.ca or swalczak@tru.ca

Category 2 open fire bans in place -- includes fireworks

From the BC Wildfire Services:

It’s almost the Canada Day long weekend, and we know many people are making plans to celebrate – which may mean using fireworks. But did you know that firework bans have been implemented alongside Category 2 and 3 open fire bans?

Current Category 2 open fire bans are in place in the Cariboo, Kamloops, and Coastal Fire Centres (excluding the Haida Gwaii Natural Resource District and the Fog Zone). The Cariboo, Kamloops, and Southeast Fire Centres additionally have Category 3 open fire bans at this time.

Setting off fireworks is considered to be a high-risk activity, since they can easily ignite forest fuels and start a wildfire.

Click on image for a larger view

Mobile Library Comes to Lac Le Jeune!

The new Mobile Library came to Lac Le Jeune today!

Photo by Corinne Schock

Tracy Upton passed along this message from Jenny Abramzik, TNRD library head of outreach services:

We're a full service library- we offer patrons wifi and use of tablets, and thousands of books, DVDs, magazines, audiobooks and video games for all ages. Patrons can request items from anywhere in the system and we'll put it on the Mobile Library for them. 

We'll be visiting Lac Le Jeune every third Friday from 11:00-noon, starting June 1st. 

Please get in touch if you have any further questions: jabramzik@tnrd.ca 250-376-3526

Also, thanks to Coleen Krawchuk, we have a regular inflow of books donated by the TNRD Library system for placement in our Little Free Libraries.

Further information:

• TNRD Mobile Library Schedule and Stops (PDF)
• Bookmobile Turns a New Page - Kamloops This Week
• Search/request a book

Look for the Mobile Library by the community mailboxes from 11:00 - 12:00  June 1, June 22, July 13, August 3, August 24, September 21, and October 12.

Happy reading!