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Patrolling Around the Park Every other day, there is a group of dedicated young volunteers in red T-shirts who meet at a trailer marked "Catching the Spirit 2002" headquarters ready to take on a new day of patrolling around Pacific Spirit Regional Park. This group of volunteers is the extension eyes and ears of the park staff. Every other day this past week, I showed up at our program trailer at 1 pm, ready to go patrolling. Some volunteers prefer to go on their bikes, while others walked. We always go out in pairs and bring along a cellular phone for emergencies, map, notepad, and a first aid kit. Pacific Spirit is actually a safe park but because of its large size, it is still necessary to send out a number of groups to go patrolling around frequently. Most part of our job is to go around the various trails in the park and note down unusual or hazardous things around the park. Things that we would note are things such as a fallen tree or a beginning of an illegal trail, all done in order to ensure the safety of the park users and the enjoyment of their experience here at Pacific Spirit. So far, I have gone patrolling on foot three times. Nothing unusual or major had come up and I mostly just note down things like a trail that needs to be re-surfaced, a trail that needs to be marked, or a temporary closed down trail of which other Spirit Rangers patrolling need to be aware. The first day that I went out, I went alone because there was no one to go patrolling with me. It was a bit spooky, especially in the coniferous sections of the Park. Not letting my imagination run wild, I reminded myself that the Park is really rather safe and point out to myself the various native species that I know of as to assure myself that I am not walking in some foreign forest. I have been to the Park many times, but never by myself. I had a map, but I was still quite lost and walked around in circles. By the end of the trip, it was a good thing that I learned how to read the map. My fright of dogs was also proved of no help to me around this park. The Park is managed under GVRD's Dog Management Program and dogs are allowed unleashed on most of the trails. After getting lost several times, I came to recognize several intersections and even some names of well-travelled trails. My second and third patrolling experiences were much better. Each time I went with a different volunteer. If the pair got along, patrolling is a good way of meeting and knowing new people. During the 5 hour patrolling shift, one really does get to know the other well. There are quite a number of park users, and everyone is in the Park for a slightly different reason. We always greet them with a friendly smile or "hi" and frequently, we get the same kind of friendly attitude in return. When I go patrolling, I take my job seriously. At first, I would have my eyes wide open, one hand holding tight my pen, and another over the notepad which was tugged in snug in my jeans pocket �C always ready for action. All the while, I was ready to pick up and run if I ever saw something usually scary hiding behind the trees. It must have looked rather comical. After awhile, I relaxed and took a good look around me, at the various familiar shrubs and trees. In different areas of the Park, one may find different types of plants. As a general observation, in open areas where there is lots of sunlight, we can see short shrubs and deciduous trees (broad-leaved). In areas where the power lines run through the park, such as on Heron and Imperial, we can see a variety of deciduous trees. Shrubs such as salmonberry and salal are widely visible and further in, at the edge of the forest, we can see deciduous trees such as red elder. Under the canopies of coniferous trees (needle-leaved), in the forests, deciduous trees cannot grow well because the coniferous trees that grow so tall soon shade over the deciduous trees. Deciduous trees need lots of sun to produce the nutrients that they need in order to grow. Examples of coniferous forests can be seen when you walk along Iron Knee or Council, in the center parts of the Park. In the beginning stages of a developing forest, deciduous trees grow in plain fields, where they can get plenty of exposure to the sun. While the deciduous trees grow, sometimes the coniferous trees have a chance to get their seeds in the soil they start to grown too. After a few hundred years, deciduous trees start to die, and now the forest becomes the ground of the conifers. Thus, when you see a well-developed coniferous forest, you can probably tell that this forest had been around for more than just a few hundreds of years. Taking a bike ride or walk around the Park is good exercise and a learning experience for the Park/ botany experienced and the inexperienced. The important thing is to experience the Park with all of your senses. Allow yourself to relax and take in the various stimuli that come your way. My body really ached after I first patrolled, but now I feel myself getting stronger. This is a kind of self-training as well as an opportunity to help the park staff and community. I encourage all that has a few hours in the afternoon to come out and join our Spirit Ranger program. |
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