Better pics for BLESS

BLESS is looking forward to helping the world see Big Lake better, all thanks to a recent grant from the St. Albert Community Foundation.

The grant of $2,000 is earmarked for programming, which will help the group shuffle their funds around to get a new webcam.

“We need a new camera,” stated Miles Constable, spokesperson for the Big Lake Environmental Support Society.

The organization’s current webcam has lived far longer than experts had predicted but it’s the software inside the system that is giving people the most grief. Internet security protocols have changed dramatically over the last several years of the camera’s use and the webcam is now considered obsolete.

Constable explained that the manufacturer wouldn’t be updating the software any longer. Although the webcam does work for viewers if they put a lot of effort into installing different drivers, “basically 99 per cent of the people aren’t going to do that … so we’re out of luck.”

A new camera unit would cost close to $2,000 and would be set up inside a protective housing with a dedicated security system. He said that manufacturer of the new camera was surprised that BLESS was able to get six years’ of use out of the batteries of the old one and that the camera still works.

It was originally envisioned to be a remote view of the lake and its environment for people who couldn’t get there themselves such as school groups.

Just like the old one, the new webcam will be used for observing the lake and the wildlife. People can view scenes from the webcam through the organization’s website at www.bless.ab.ca. Click on ‘Big Lake Web Camera’.

The grant is intended to support staffing of the Summer Nature Centre, a program that is approximately a decade old and runs from mid-June to the end of August each year. Because the $2,000 must be used for that, BLESS can free up $2,000 that it raised through a casino to buy the webcam.

A second- or third-year post-secondary student in biology or environmental sciences usually staffs the summer program. It is considered to be pretty successful for the group, and has seen attendance grow over the last five or six years.

BLESS is also working to improve signage to access trails and viewing points for Big Lake, the Red Willow Park and the viewing platform. It’s also hoping to work with the city to develop new walking trails through the park and it hopes to improve their native species nursery with an upgrade to the water line. Another project intends to reintroduce native seeds to help eradicate an area affected by a noxious thistle.