Friends of Wabakimi
  • Friends of Wabakimi
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  • wabakimi maps
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    • Wabakimi Provincial Park
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  • CANOEING, PLANNING, OUTFITTER AND OTHER RESOURCES
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  • Phil Cotton Legacy Award
  • OLD FOW Board of Directors

New Business/Sponsor Members

8/6/2020

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​We’re excited to announce our two first Business/Sponsor (OGOKI) members.   Phil Cotton envisioned developing corporate support for FOW. We hope to expand this program to help promote the Wabakimi Area as a world-class canoeing destination.
 
FOW member Tim Eaton is the principal behind Canoeing.com.  This is a major site which reaches a broad audience interested in paddling, canoeing and wilderness exploration.  Currently, FOW President Vern Fish has some four trip reports that can viewed on Canoeing.com, and Board Chair Dave McTeague has one trip from 2019.  
 
FOW Maps on Canoeing.com! We now have a FOLDED Planning Map for sale on Tim’s site, which is termed the “Historic” planning map to differentiate it from the Park’s planning map.  The FOW’s five Wabakimi Canoe Route Volumes are also listed for sale on Canoeing.com.  
 
PaddlePlanner.com is a popular site which provides an interactive planning tool for major canoe areas.  Avid paddlers themselves, Ben and Aurale Strege, and Jay Harris, the principals, are based in Duluth, Minnesota.  Currently, the site is used mostly for BWCA/Quetico, but also Woodland Caribou and a number of other well-known parks.
 
Putting up the new Wabakimi map may take a while, but when done, PaddlePlanner will identify appropriate FOW Map Volumes necessary for lakes/routes in any charted routes. After completing a route, paddlers can upload pictures onto the planning map and share comments about portages and campsites; all useful information for trip planning.
 
With these new OGOKI members,  FOW is establishing partnerships which will help to expose the Wabakimi Area and Friends of Wabakimi to a much wider group of people interested in exploring the Wabakimi Area.
 
Potential Business/Sponsors can join FOW online…or drop us a note at friendsofwabakimi@gmail.com  This is a “bundle” membership, so your entity can have more than one person included as a FOW member.  We’ll be prominently featuring our Business/Sponsor members on this website and in our newsletters.
 
We're happy to explore mutually beneficial arrangements that promote our goals.
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FOW Annual Meeting Video - June 14, 2020

6/23/2020

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virtual Wabakimi -- president's Report -- May 2020

5/12/2020

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This is like paddling along and all of a sudden you’re at a dead stop on top of a submerged rock. 

​Dave McTeague and I arrived in Madison, Wisconsin March 14th all set for Canoecopia (with our booth, map sales and Annual Meeting), only to have it all cancelled at the very last moment. Not to waste an opportunity, we had a grand breakfast at a local dive and talked about where we go from here.

 
At some point in the future, canoers will again paddle into the Wabakimi Area. We want every one to stay safe during this crisis.  In the meantime we're going virtual to stay in touch and share our Wabakimi hopes and dreams. 

Your FOW Board is making progress. Here's what we've done:
  • Started work on a comprehensive Wabakimi Canoe Routes Guidebook
  • Gained a seat on MNRF's Armstrong Forest Advisory Committee
  • Opened a positive dialogue with our Park Superintendent
  • Updated and reprinted our Canoe Route Map Volumes
  • Expanded our Board of Directors
  • Launched this new Website with tons of information
  • Implemented an Online Membership program & Map Store (see blog post below)
  • Published newsletters with trip reports

Look for our next newsletter soon.  We'll cover all these topics in greater depth.  

Virtual Annual Meeting
We'll soon send a notice to our members for our special June 14th Online Annual Meeting.  This will be a one-hour presentation and discussion. 

We're an all volunteer group...so we need your involvement.  Drop us a note at info@wabakimi.org and let us know your thoughts; or post a comment.
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wILD APRICOT oNLINE MEMBERSHIP & MAP STORE

5/12/2020

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Dave McTeague
​Board Chair
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​As of today, the Friends of Wabakimi now has a Wild Apricot online membership system. This automates our new member and renewal system.  It has other interactive features which will support volunteers, involvement, donations and communication going forward. All of the interactive features can be viewed here.
 
Interested persons can easily JOIN US and support our efforts. Existing and past members can renew online. We hope more people will renew for up to three to five years. We now have a Family membership option, with a “bundle administrator” able to add immediate family members.
 
​Members can log in and access their profile.  You'll need to request a password. You can upload Wabakimi trip reports and photos too.

FOW members have access to a membership directory. You can see the other members, whereabouts they are and you can message them directly.  Members can edit their profiles to add or exclude items that others can see. 

After logging in, the map volumes and planning map store will have the reduced member pricing.  But anyone can purchase our maps.
 
There’s a sign-up page for our newsletters and updates. You don’t have to be a member for this…but we hope you will join eventually. You’ll become one of our Contacts…and we’ll stay in touch.
 
Our Wabakimi Forum is coming.   We'd like to have sections for Trip Partners, Canoe Route discussions, Conservation issues, and Member/Contact information. 
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We're still working to integrate the Wild Apricot site into Wabakimi.org.  Let us know if you run into any problems with this.  Email us at info@wabakimi.org

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Canoecopia   (Canceled atthe last minute!)

2/29/2020

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See us at
Canoecopia 2020
March 13-15, Madison, WI. 
https://www.paddlers.com/canoecopia/page.asp?pgid=1001

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Friends of Wabakimi will be there all three days with our lobby display and a supply for sale of our 36”x35” Wabakimi Canoe Routes Planning Map, as well as our five Wabakimi Canoe Route Map Volumes. 
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We’ll answer questions about how to plan your Wabakimi Canoe trip and how we can promote this as a world class canoeing area while protecting and conserving the resource. 
A first draft of our Wabakimi Canoe Routes Guidebook will be there to review. This will be the first comprehensive Wabakimi area guide.
 
We’re planning a get together Sat. evening. So check in with us at our table.
 
The FOW Annual meeting with be held Sunday morning, 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. (Enter the adjacent Clarion Hotel via the front lobby where you will be directed to the Voyageur Room.)  Members in good stand can vote; but all interested person may attend.  Vern Fish will present his President’s report on our progress.  
 
Please connect with us at this event!  Please considering joining us! 
 
Two FOW board members are presenting seminars: Vern Fish and Mary Jean Blaisdell!

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canoecopia Presentation  (Possibly rescheduled for a future online Webinar)

2/27/2020

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Vern Fish will talk about the Greenmantle River, a Wabakimi gem. ​
1:30 p.m. on Saturday, in the Killarney Room.

This will be a one hour presentation at Canoecopia, which is March 13-15 . This wild little river may lack girth and length but it is long on adventure and isolation. Hidden in the far northwest corner of Wabakimi Provincial Park, the Greenmantle River provides access to a huge swath of protected wilderness. The reward is an opportunity to explore a remote boreal forest and possibly catch an elusive brook trout
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Canoecopia Presentation (Another Presentation for a future time!)

2/24/2020

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​“Solo Tripping, One Step at a Time”
Mary Jean Blaisdell
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Also at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, in the Voyageur Room

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Have you been thinking of taking a wilderness trip alone or with others and haven’t done so yet? In this presentation, Mary will take you on her personal journey of completing a 6-night solo in the Boundary Waters by taking one step at a time and planning for success. By setting small goals to achieve each trip and identifying and resolving apprehensions along the way, she upped her game a little at a time
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Interview with Shannon Lawr, Wabakimi Park Superintendent

1/14/2020

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Recently FOW board chair Dave McTeague talked with Shannon Lawr to gain insights into Ontario Parks' management of Wabakimi Provincial Park. Shannon has been Park Superintendent since 2014 and has been with Ontario Parks for 15 years. He previously worked as a canoe and kayak guide in the Killarney area and has training in park management and eco-tourism.

FOW: What are the park superintendant and other staff duties/functions?

​Shannon: Every day seems to be different. My responsibility lies with delivering operational objectives for protected areas, supervisor/manager for our park staff, operational safety of our staff, and balancing our budget. Our staff consists of an Assistant Superintendant (42 weeks); biologist (42 weeks); and operations technicians. Our biologist does long term monitoring such as
our lichen sample study plots to better understand forest age and structure, monitors our wildlife cameras and conducts environmental assessment for work permits required for any structural work for outposts/lodges.



Read More
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Wabakimi Provincial Park News

1/1/2020

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Wabakimi: the land of the grey ghosts

Article by Shannon Walshe, biologist at 
Wabakimi Provincial Park.
 
Peering out from among the trees, I am certain these curious animals watched us as we paddled by.   We know they exist, but they’re so seldom seen that they’re referred to as “the grey ghosts.”   Wabakimi Provincial Park is home to the elusive creature known as the Woodland Caribou, at the southernmost edge of their range. See full article:
http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/wabakimi-caribou/
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20 years of Wabakimi canoe rangers  
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For the last 20 years, Wabakimi Provincial Park has employed two to four team members through a partnership agreement with a local First Nation community.  See full article:  http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/wabakimi-canoe-rangers/
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Ontario Parks Blog…
There’s lot of interesting stores.  http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/winter-at-presquile/
 

Reserve your Wabakimi Provincial Park
Backcountry camping permit here: https://reservations.ontarioparks.com/
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info@wabakimi.org
Friends of Wabakimi
1060 Riverdale Road
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7J 1N2
©2020  Friends of Wabakimi  All Rights Reserved
  • Friends of Wabakimi
    • About FoW
    • Join Us!
    • Membership Interactive Site
    • FOW Board of Directors
    • Business/Sponsors
    • 2023 Annual Meeting Member Info
  • News
    • Donate! Planning Map Project
    • Wabakimi Rendezvous - Sept. 8-11, 2022
    • News & Updates
    • Current Newsletter
    • Webinars and Videos
    • 2023 Trip Program
    • Conservation News >
      • Phil's Article
    • 2022 Photo & Video Contest
  • wabakimi maps
  • Trip Report Forum
  • Wabakimi and Beyond
    • Wabakimi Provincial Park
    • Beyond Wabakimi
  • The Wabakimi Project
  • CANOEING, PLANNING, OUTFITTER AND OTHER RESOURCES
  • Where We've Been
  • FOW on Facebook!
  • Phil Cotton Legacy Award
  • OLD FOW Board of Directors