Hi all -
I thought I would provide you with a brief update from Jeff about his trip up to Northern Quebec this week (he tried to write something before heading up but packing and last-minute details got in the way!). This short update via phone messages he left:
Early Sunday morning Jeff began the long drive from his home in Maine to Quebec City in Quebec. The trip lasted about 5 hours but he mentioned the mostly wooded scenery throughout the northern parts of Maine is quite scenic, so hopefully this made the long drive more enjoyable!
He arrived Sunday evening in Quebec City where he met up with our friends and colleagues Mat Jacobson of the Pew Environment Group's International Boreal Conservation Campaign and Chris Beck of the Canadian Boreal Initiative. The three then hopped on a small plane to head up to a very rural region of Northern Quebec on the George River - a long, pristine river that drains a good chunk of Northern Quebec into the Arctic Ocean.
George River in Northern Quebec
Credit: Atlas of Canada via WikiMedia Commons
The flight took around 7 hours and required several fueling stops. I recieved a brief message from him via satellite phone more recently saying they had arrived safely and had a gorgeous trip flying over the Boreal Forest in Quebec. Unfortunately it sounded like he got sick at some point in the travels so we're hoping it doesn't last too long and he can enjoy the remainder of the trip!
The area they flew into was beautiful, he mentioned. It's very far north and mostly consists of tundra and small shrub-like plants (fewer trees). The part of the river they are staying is called Indian House Lake, a wide part of the river that is to date untouched by roads and development. They will be staying in a traditional Innu camp - for thousands of years the Innu have made temporary camps in this region during the summer for the great caribou hunting as well as amazing fishing. He said some of their traditional teepees were already set up by the time they landed!
In typical Jeff fashion, birds were already on his mind shortly after they landed. He mentioned he had already seen some Red Polls, White-crowned Sparrows, and Northern ________s (reception cut out at that point...feel free to take a guess as to what the last bird was in the comments section). I'm sure he'll have plenty more bird sightings to report on upon his return home!
Jeff is up there for the remainder of the week to attend a week-long meeting/seminary about Quebec's Northern Boreal region. Specifically, the group of government officials, aboriginal officials, industry representatives, scientists (like Jeff), and environmental leaders will be engaging in a week-long discussion about how best to protect half of Quebec's Northern Boreal Forest - a comittment the Quebec government made in 2008. Successfully implementing such an ambitious conservation plan has proved to be challenging, but they remain devoted to this worthy cause and the meeting is expected to help bring all of the different parties and perspectives in one place to work on common goals.
Let's hope the meetings go well and some good results come out of them - there is a lot at stake in Northern Quebec. Let's also hope Jeff gets some nice weather and sees lots of birds!
David
