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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-07-24, Page 8Girls Take seven young girls from aaadary schools all over Ontario. Add one leader interest- ed in enviroemental studies. Mx ting at ax orientation pro- . And what do you get? A WOW of "Junior Conservation- ists". TThat's exactly. what this re has, corp. 4�tiJFif.n sof the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. The group of eight are working on a suer project involving the. Lakelet area. Their p flminary Il work was done from an old house. owned by the Wawa Valley Bataan Area located - west of Belgrave. This past tthe girls have caniiped at the Girl Grids' camp near Lakdet Lake to do the water sampling and maPPiolg- What are "Junior Conserva- tionists'"? The original prograro started in the early ¥is wider a government pant. ft only * lowed young men between the ages of Maud 18 yrs to apply at coni rvation ... fir* but gir/S haye been allowed fiatu the pull 'forthree years Doc MOW the his by males, an an almost. .. . ratio, the in- filtiatiee of females, and their good work have erased any Prejtarice that may have existed. The girls, iarfacts said they didn't think it was at all male-oriented. Theboys in the ? "They loved us!" the girls answer. The program's main purpose is to stimulate young people's interest in conservation and resource management activities, not only in planning studies, but also n carrying out the field sues and drawing conclusions from the data collected. Partici- pants are paid five dollars per day on a six-day week basis, but most of the students would gladly join the program just for lbe experience. "I'd do it leer nothing," one of the girls 44 `ms's y " FROM THE START The program for this WOW of eight officially started cc Jump with an orientation program at the Dorset Natural ResoUreea Centre. There the applicants grit to know each other and a little'' what the summer wduld hold far them. It was six days of lectunes by professional geologists, archeologists and kfinistryof Natural Resourc seminars on environmental is- sins; s- sn ; and mini -studies in the various skills named for the job. Debates on major ,servation problems were also a major part of the program. From Dorset the girds travelled EILEEN O'NEILL of Toronto found that cooking was one of her many duties when she joined the junior conservationists working in Lakelet this summer. Eileen is one of eight girls working on the program with the Maitland Valley Con- servation Authority. THIS IS A DEPTH -SOUNDER, Maira explained, dangling the very ingenious apparatus invented by leader Barb to measure the depth of the lake at Lakelet. The girls are part of a junior conservationist program working on a summer project in the Lakelet area. o the 11 sPent inalliPlg /X% =We information .ee Go individual grOupt formed at this point, and the -entireot a an bta10 arid Orb) attended all a s -it e together. At the unity of Guelph the entire Wittifirwt e3Itesed to the j` for the summer. The five group leaderspre edtheirprograms and explained theimplications mplieati of the work set before them by the. vansvati+oci authorities. Each student was, then asked to sthoose a project for participa- tion. On July 8, our group of eight arrived here to work with the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. THE GIRLS THEMSELVES Seven . of the girls are sec- ondary school students with a high degree of interest in .the natural sciences. They all say they were very attracted to the project as defined by group leader, Barb Anderson. Barb is from Deep River, On- tario, and worked last year for the Metro -Toronto ate_ She eacplains that she had a choice, of five areas of work this summer and chase the MVCA project because of her major in- terest: man and reavation. A bachelor of arts degree in biology and environmental studies from the University of Waterloo sup- plements her interests. Denise Manchee is from Toron- to and cites marine biology as her major interest. She is a science - oriented person and has just finished grade 12. Denise was sponsored by a group called, "Pollution Probe" for whom she did odd jobs throughout last year. She said she had planned to get into the program last year but was too late to apply. "So I'm here this year." Eileen O'Neill ' is also from Toronto but she's with , the "Junior Conservationists' " pro- gram because she was too old to get into the jrmioi forest ranger program. Wildlife management is her major interest, and she says she wants to become a forestry technician... She. was sponsored by a geography teach- er from her school. Maine McIlraith of Rexdale wad so eager to work this summer she applied for three separate programs. Luckily for the group, she eventually ended up in the "Junior Conservation- ists". onservation-ists". Sponsored by the "Outer's Club" at her school, Maire wants to become an outdoor education teacher, "hopefully in the rural areas", she says. Carol Buchanan is from Acton and first heard of the program at school. She is sponsored by the outdoor education group that forms part of the science depart- ment at the school. She has also become president of the group since then. Her interests centre on biology -related subjects but she enjoys forestry studies also. Kathie Ord of Elora was sponsored by her teachers at the Central Wellington District High School, but she was, in a sense, recruited for the job by the Ministry of Natural . Resources. "They sent me a letter and an ap- plication form. I filled it out and here I am." Kathie says she's "not too sure" what she's going to get into later. "Put down micro- biology," she added, "it sounds good.' s Christine Bass is from Missis- sauga and canoe into the program through the Girl Guides of Canada. She says her interests lie along the biology line, but has no concrete plans yet. Terry Armstrong of Oakville is another Girl Guide enthusiast. Her first news of the program came from much closer to home, however: her father is a teacher and he got her an application form. Terry says she is interested in science and everything related LAKELET STUDY The girls themselves are as varied as their backgrounds, but that 'seems to be no problem. To one meeting the group for the first time. they seem as cohesive and friendly a team as any. In fact, it't very hard to believe that they met each other for the first time just several weeks ago. They work together well. and that says leader Barb, is impor- tant, because the task before there is not easy. The area of study covers ap- proximately 4.75 square miles in Howick Township. surrounding Lakelet Lake. It is divided into two basic sectors: the lake itself `and the adjacent bog lake; and all the remaaining area. Studies of the lake area include an assessment of the water qua- lity, flora and fauna inventories, a description of mit recrea- tional uses and a report on the s THERE IS NO LACK el things to do, tie g,iri s f ; just ars enaesgh time to do it ail. The girls are part cf the jur,: arLserafatIonitt program w,- ' cfsog In Isakessi strrrsi»ter Re2axEng acrevities with guitars arm a songfest is one of the favorite for guitarists Carol and Chris; front, Denise, Terry and Barb; back, Eileen, Kathie and Maire. e-; of the ,arm( be sec - mafiosi and .wrldbfe ntsmage- meats The wend Sector IQ, at/hu Rte inuniaried for Bora =drama predominationsand will be de- fined in tam of swesent atm- Nona, agricultural and forestry Vis: To tante the job. the girls eirvided the project into its appro- priate p o'ppm components. %bile one twosome engages in water sampling. another is completing a history of the area through in- terviews with local residents. TNIio of the gds might be out in- tterviewing campsite managers to determthe the state of the lake as far as tip is concerned, wee two more will be mapping vegetation and identifying plant life. Topography, wildlife and weather studies are also part of the job. With the preliminary part of the programa completed, the girls now enter igen the funtshig stages.. AIV the collected data must be organized, reviewed and assessed to form a completed re- port from which recommenda- tions can be made on manage- mentyt�erimiques for maintaining the area in an "optimal" state. These conclusions willthen •�bewin- putted into considerations of future development plans in the Lakelet area by the Maitland Valley Conserv atm Authority and the -cid of Natural Rana. The ms's report completed toward the middle of August- -Ram Alt'THE FARM Although the job is and 'very time-consuming, one can't work all the time. The girls enjoy occasional trips into sur- rounding t ins and villages and spend some time relaxing in the sun and - A canoe trip is also bung planned. Evens/lipase the favorite time, because work is suspended for a while, the guars are brought out and the old farrnhoualse is oiled with the scuds of singing and laughter. The gds aren't leaving yet, but they have already com- posed a song of f areal. The original composition, another joint . project undertaken in the spirit of fun, perhaps best explains the friendly atmosphere in the group, and, better than anyone else can, relates some of their trials, tribulations and fun memories of the simnimer. And so: 'The House of the Setting Sun": "There is a house in Wawanosh, They call the Setting Sun, And it's been the ruin of seven Poor girls. And God, we know: we're them. enc Ow mother was i ', She *eve al east sad weft* Thatcarp s 'a been t times, But riow ms's cometore { That bouw, she was something And X99 worked quite ram; The toilet, she did overflow . And dribbleddews below, The flies, they drove us And we swatted to and fro; We must have killed at att�1llon, And more came in the doh. Ibe sink was clogged for many a day, , And even "Maim" didn'twork; The fridge, she leaked all over the floor, And the hinge was off the*door. The furniture is second-rate, It's purple and olive-green; The floors are old linoleum, Impossible ,to clean. They say the house is haunted, The wheelchair sits out front, We bear strange noises in the night And hide beneath our bunks. The summer, it's aloe over, Our work here has been dine. We say good-bye to all our friends And the "House of the Setting Sim". CHRIS AND EILEEN take turns mapping for their project on the Lakelet area. The girls are junior conservationists with the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority and, along with six other girls, are working on a summer project involving studies of the Lakelet area. WHAT IS -I f? That's what these girls are trying to find out as they pore over exhibits and through plant encyclopedias. The three girls are part of a junior conservationists' group operating out of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. The group of eight is work- ing on a project involving the Lakelet area.