Yukon Parks

The Christmas Bird Count is a holiday tradition stretching back over a century. All are welcome to join these free events bird knowledge not required! Contact the count compiler to register.

Exploring parks in winter is a fine way to spend your time. Bring bear spray. ..........

Ni'iinlii Njik (Fishing Branch) Territorial Park is in northern Yukon. Grizzly bears and chum salmon are two prominent wildlife species in the park. Fisheries technician Marina Milligan was working in the park recently check out her bear video and story below. https://yukon.ca//parks-and-protected-areas/niiinlii-njik- .... Within the Porcupine River watershed the major spawning grounds for Canadian-origin chum salmon are located at Fishing Branch River. Since the 1970s Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nations have operated a seasonal fish counting weir on Fishing Branch River. This weir (fish fence) stretches across the entire river, and funnels upstream migrating chum salmon through a small gap where they are counted by technicians. Chum salmon counts are tallied daily to support chum salmon management in US and Canada. Naturally occurring populations of salmon are considered to be one of the top indicators of the cultural and ecological integrity of the Fishing Branch area. Sometimes after spawning, salmon carcasses wash down onto the weir. Grizzly bears frequently visit the weir to claim those carcasses for an easy meal. In 2020, I set up a game camera on the weir to spy on the bears. The results include these videos of a mother with three cubs of the year. We saw these bears every other day for a few weeks. The mother was comfortable crossing the weir to search for salmon but the cubs would wait patiently on shore for her to return, ideally with a fish. By the end of my visit only the boldest of the cubs had followed mom across.

Jim Hawkings is the unofficial winter Trail Angel of the trail network at Wolf Creek Campground. For years Jim has been stomping out kilometres of snowed-in trails on his snowshoes, then burning the track in on his fat bike. Anyone who’s walked, skied, rode, snowshoed or crawled along these trails in winter has benefited from Jim’s countless hours of volunteer labour. Here’s to you, Jim. Thanks! P.S. Even angels get tired after record-breaking snowfalls. Grab your snowshoes and help Jim out!

Today we ploughed a lot of snow at Wolf Creek Campground the parking area is now accessible for day-use! Safely enjoy the snowy trails this weekend practice the Safe 6 (it's a covid thing): https://yukon.ca/en/practisesafe6/home https://yukon.ca//outdoor-recreati/camping/site/wolf-creek