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Dear Wabakimi friends,
Friends of Wabakimi is launching our “Woodland Caribou Survey Project” in 2024. This will be the first of a four-year survey effort to collect data on boreal caribou in the Wabakimi area. Please consider this for a year end charitable donation. While Wabakimi Provincial Park provides anchor habitat for woodland caribou, this wide-ranging species may use the ideal boreal habitat of surrounding five Crown Land Forests and other reserves. These Crown lands are subject to forest harvest, road-building and other human impacts that may cause habitat fragmentation or disturbance. The Project goal is to equip and guide community scientists to collect data on the potential presence of woodland caribou, with a focus on calving sites, in remote locations of the Wabakimi area. The hope is that this data may provide important information to conservation professionals, scientists, and policy makers to impact conservation strategies in the future. Our immediate goal is to provide funding for a Project Manager for six months in 2024 to lead this effort. We need $15,000 CAD to ensure the success of our initial first year. Vern Fish, President, FOW Our goal is to raise $15,000 CAD for this 2024 project!
Please Donate Now! Large or small it’s all needed and appreciated. Please contribute according to the following table:
Checks may also be sent to: Friends of Wabakimi, c/0 1060 Riverdale Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7J 1N2 or c/o 3488 Kingswood Place,Waterloo, Iowa 50701 Donors can receive a Canadian charitable donation tax receipt by contributing by mail to: Ontario Parks, 300 Water Street, 6th Floor South, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 3C7 * To make a contribution by credit card over the phone call 705-313-2462, 9-4 EST weekdays. *Specify FOW/Wabakimi Pr0vincial Park projects to be credited towards this FOW/WPP project. (Eligible Canadian donors receive a tax receipt for every donation over $25.) Online Donations for Ontario Parks (and charitable donation tax receipt) can be made online through Canada Helps. *Specify FOW/Wabakimi Pr0vincial Park projects to be credited towards this FOW/WPP project. And please let us know at [email protected] so we can add this to our running total! 
Next Steps: The Wabakimi Stewardship Initiative
Going forward the FOW (and hopefully others) will support stewardship activities to protect, restore and enhance the ecosystems within Wabakimi Provincial Park. This will help Wabakimi meet the following Ontario Parks objectives: 1. Protection of natural and cultural features 2. Provision of ecologically sustainable outdoor recreation 3. Natural and cultural heritage education 4. Fostering research |
Dec. 10 Update: We exceeded our Fall 2023 Park Project goal! Legacy Debris Removal and Park Ranger Added Capacity We raised $11,355. Huge Thanks to all our Donors!
Special thanks to Jason Long/Coffee Imports Inc. for putting us over the top! It is estimated that....an average herd of Woodland Caribou require 900,000 ha of undisturbed wilderness, which is about the size of Wabakimi Provincial Park (850,000 ha). One of the main reasons Wabakimi was formed was to protect the caribou and its habitat from potential development. This size was a minimum requirement to sustain caribou.” Shannon Walshe, Park Biologist, Ontario Parks Blog
FOW/Wabakimi Provincial Park Projects!
Fall 2023: Legacy Debris Removal/Park Ranger Added Capacity Successully raised $11,280/$8234 U.S. We've funded a large Otter float plane trip with its large capacity to haul unsightful debris out of Shabuskwia Lake and added 36 ranger working days to their spring and summer 2024 operating season for portage maintenance after the 2023 fires. Fall 2o22: We raised $9372/$7,028 U.S. to purchase eleven new bird song meters for use by the Park's biologist and rangers; in support of Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas project. Those meters went into the field summer 2023 and thankfully survived the fires. Here's a detailed report of how those are used. Fall 2021: We raised $8,413 CAD for our joint project with W.P.P. to install the new Armstrong kiosk. This will enhance the backcountry experience for visitors to Wabakimi Provincial Park and includes the "Wabakimi" painting and art print produced by Kevin Belmore. Fall 2020: We raised $7,917 CAD/$6,347 U.S. for the debris removal project completed summer 2021! Here's a Detailed Report. Only a small part of Ontario Park’s budget comes from provincial taxes. Most of the funds to maintain, manage and protect Wabakimi Provincial Park come from day-use and camping fees, rentals, partnerships and donations. Our Friends donations make a difference! Park Rangers: Portage Clearing and Legacy Debris
Park rangers maintain canoe routes in the park and have worked diligently to clear portages and are active in other duties related to inventory and monitoring in the park. Over the years these crews have documented the debris left on the landscape from a variety of sources in the park. Abandoned items such as damaged equipment or boats that have accumulated on portages and lakeside areas are unsightly and can have a negative impact on the environment or on visitor experience. However, since these crews are travelling by canoe, they have been limited to documenting these sites because removal was not an option at the time. The park has maintained a database which documents more than 100 items and 44 locations where items have been flagged for removal. 
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