LAMBAC Newsletter

Manitowaning-“I’m still kind of getting my feet wet,” says Seija Deschenes of her new role as project coordinator of the ambitious and widely envied Manitoulin Streams initiative.

Come spring, as rehabilitation work begins again in earnest at several high-priority sites along the Manitou River, her feet may become almost permanently soaked.

For now, Ms. Deschenes, who hails from Sudbury but has lived in Little Current for the past four years, is only figuratively damp as she wades through files, maps and funding applications in her Manitowaning office.  The Township of Assiginack is acting as host of the river stewardship program this year, and the new coordinator is quartered in a corner of the (presumably watertight) municipal building.

“Right now I’m familiarizing myself with everything and working on a lot of funding proposals, as well as getting organized for the spring,” says Ms. Deschenes.  “It’s a big learning curve, but it’s exciting, too, to get things rolling.”

Each year the Manitoulin Streams program dedicates resources and manpower to a few of the 100-plus sites originally identified for rehabilitation on the Manitou River and Blue Jay Creek, depending on landowner co-operation, funding and volunteer help available.  This summer, the organization has pinpointed four or five new sites, all on the Manitou River, where it plans to undertake rehab projects, says Ms. Deschenes.

The biology grad assumed her new position on January 15, taking over from previous project coordinator Sean Barfoot.  But whereas her predecessor was hired on a one-year basis, Manitoulin Streams has been able to engage Ms. Deschenes for a three-year contract.

The not-for-profit organization notes, in a press release, that having Ms. Deschenes on board for a three-year term “will give Manitoulin Streams the progressive edge and consistency needed to move forward with watershed restoration initiatives on the Blue Jay Creek and Manitou River.”

Ms. Deschenes comes to the job with impressive credentials.  For the past three years, she has worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Espanola conducting a fisheries community assessment and assisting in the introduction of muskellunge to the Spanish River.  Prior to that, “I worked with the Co-operative Freshwater Ecology Unit in Sudbury, which is a joint venture between Laurentian University, the MNR and the Ministry of the Environment.”  She has an honours degree in biology and did fisheries-related research and rehabilitation work on Killarney’s acidified lakes with Laurentian biology professor John Gunn.

The fish biologist relishes her new role with Manitoulin Streams, which is setting an example for other areas of what can be accomplished through co-operation and ingenuity.  “It’s a community-based project and it’s currently the largest (of its kind) in northern Ontario,” she notes.  “It provides really good economic benefits and can be a model for the rest of the province.  So yeah, it’s pretty exciting.”

At the moment, the focus of the organization is still on the Blue Jay Creek and Manitou River, as many of the sites first identified as requiring attention on these cold-water streams remain to be tackled, but Ms. Deschenes says “we’re planning to expand our mandate to include other cold-water streams on Manitoulin like the Mindemoya River, Kagawong River and Bass Lake Creek.  We’re starting to look at that, but it’s still in its infancy.”

Other future plans include involving school groups in tours of the rehabilitated sites and encouraging academic study of the work that is being conducted.  “Eventually, we’d like to do some monitoring of the sites, and see what the effects are,” says Ms. Deschenes.  “We could get some university or college students involved, and someone might want to do their Master’s degree on it.  It could be fisheries related, or focus on fur-bearing animals or invertebrates.  It would be a great learning device.”

In the meantime, Ms. Deschenes is still learning the ins and outs of the organization, and memorizing all the twists and turns of the streams that are slated for rehabilitation work.  But she’s already well attuned to the general assignment.

“The main thing,” she says, “is getting the ecosystem back-the wildlife, the water quality.  And making sure they’re not degraded anymore.”