Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 14, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba nato seeks a new enemy /b4 slice of life older Folk have straight Story is Winnipeg free press editor. Bruce Owen / 697-7523 Mother of Choice the decision to adopt children was not a difficult one for a local couple despite the fact that both were in wheelchairs a see family Page b3 pulling their weight she fell in love with inuit sled dogs As a school girl in Post War France Reading the adventures of Arctic explorers. Now she a living in Manitoba and trying to preserve the animals. A see Story. Page b2 Ray Fetterly spent a fabulous 24 years protecting wildlife fighting fires and being shot at by poachers Joe Bryk i Winnipeg free press by bin Redekop nine Days into his new Job As conservation officer while on horseback patrolling Riding Mountain National Park for poachers Ray Fetterly found one. He wished he Hadnot. Winter had begun and there was a foot of Snow on the ground. The poacher refused to Back Down and aimed his Rifle at the unarmed Fetterly. Then he told him to turn around slowly. And fired. It was 1952. Fetterly was just 23. It was his first stint As a conservation officer. Natural resources had provided him with three horses and a log Cabin in the Woods. He had no companion no electricity no Telephone or two Way radio no automobile no amusement. All he had was his unwavering ambition to be a Forest Ranger. The Winter wind would blow through the Cabin Walls where the chink Between the logs had crumbled away and the nearest Neighbour was to Kilometres away. At the guns retort Fetterly and his horse galloped through the underbrush along the mountains Southern slope and never stopped to look Back. In his 24-year career Fetterly would be held at gunpoint seven times by poachers. One time poachers marched him a mile through the Bush holding a Rifle in his Back. He helped fight 500 Forest fires and was once chased by a Wall of fire that pelted him with flaming Spruce Needles. He built five fire towers and virtually lived in one before air surveillance replaced the structures in the 1970s. He trapped approximately 900 problem bears. A a in be had a fabulous life a a he says. A i knew every Rabbit path in the there Are about 135 conservation officers in the province and next month Manitoban will once again get reacquainted with them As we visit our Parks and Waterways and forests. What sets Fetterly apart is he put a human face on the profession with three self published books about his life As Manitoba conservation officer and other Unsung heroes of Manitoba a Backwoods like Bush pilots wildlife biologists and Hydro linemen. None of the books Are new a the first appeared in 1992 a but to come across one is a discovery. Fetterly is not a professional writer and there Are quite a few typos. But his yarns Are top notch and the writing never gets in the Way of the Story. Stories a Ranger alone is about that first year Fetterly spent in Riding Mountain. You can read about the time Timber wolves surrounded him and his horse one Midnight As he Rode Back to his Cabin from the nearest farmhouse. Having Miles to go before you sleep takes on a different meaning. Guardians of the Forest is about his career As conservation officer and includes the incredible task of trying to retrieve the dead Frozen body of a trapper who a died of a heart attack in the Middle of wilderness. Mighty men of the Forest May top them All a compilation of 39 men of Manitoba a wilderness including names like Jim Johnson of Northway aviation and Cliff Brook of Rennie who fellow officers say would live in his truck for three Days if it meant catching a poacher. Some other stories include i the a a wild wildlife biologist who was straddling a Tranquili Zed Moose one Day when the animal suddenly stood up and bolted into the Woods. Riding the animal was such a thrill that he would repeat the exercise Many times Over during his career. I the All night trek by two natural resource officers one of them Cliff Brook Over River and Canadian shield to fetch a Blind boy from a Remote wilderness Camp. Donator eyes had become available but had to be transplanted within 24 hours. The description of trying to Lead the Blind boy on a wilderness Portage by Moonlight is harrowing. But they made it and the operation was a miraculous Success. It Cost Fetterly $37,000 to produce his books 8,000 copies in All. He a just starting to break even now but it Wasny to done to turn a profit. A i always Felt it would be tragic if some of these stories from the wilderness got lost a says Fetterly 70, who now lives in Selkirk. He enjoys writing but found it Tough going at a Ranger alone ii Imor 1�?~riml experiences of r noun Prii Worden mighty men Quot a Forest Ray Fetterly a always Felt it would be tragic if some of these experiences of a conservation officer stories from the wilderness got lost. A Ray v Fetterly author of a Ranger alone Ray v. Fetterly author of a Ranger along a guardians of the wilderness times. A some of the paragraphs i wrote As Many As 20 like All conservation officers Fetterly loved his office a the great outdoors. A never since i was a kid i considered Trees to be company. I always loved the sights and sounds and smells of the yet he seems to have about equal enmity for poachers and environmentalists some of whom he thinks have lost touch with reality. A some people think its mass destruction to Cut Down a Forest but that Forest will regrow in to years. It opens up the Forest and allows Young seedling to get moisture and sunlight and grow and rejuvenates the he notes that Palliser furniture has begun harvesting poplars in Southeastern Manitoba near Stead where there never was harvesting before. Poplars Start to rot at about 30 years of age so now the Trees Are being made use of allowing for regrowth. As for the loss of animal habitat he says a a there san awful lot of Forest in the country yet for wildlife and there will be for Many any 16-year-old kid Reading one of his books might know instantly what they want to do with their lives be a conservation officer. They May be in Luck. Alberta and Saskatchewan have gone on hiring binges the past couple of years. And in Manitoba the next four years will see the biggest turnover of conservation officers in recent memory. At least 35 officers will reach retirement age in four years about 25 per cent of the 135 on staff. Jobs will also open up As staff Transfer to other agencies to Federal conservation and other provinces. There Are la training schools for natural resource officers in Canada including Keewatin Community College in the Pas. Its a two year course but the College in Lethbridge has recently become a three year course and that will Likely be the requirement of the future. Most graduates have to spend several years doing seasonal work like assisting Park staff and fighting Forest fires before they can get on full time. That a not like in Fetterly a Day when he walked in off a farm and his ability to ride horses and his experience helping his father in the Bush got him hired. Safety a we used to hire firefighters out of the pub Quot he adds. A now they have to have much of firefighting training is about safety around helicopters a which can slice your head off with their Tail they did no to have helicopters when Fetterly started and the men would have to walk up to 20 Kilometres through Bush just to reach a fire. Neither were they paid overtime even when you fought fires around the clock a he once fought a fire North of Lac Dubonnet for 32 straight Days a or searched for Hunters or children lost in the Woods. A i can remember my overtime hours totalling 40 Days one year. But try collecting you might As Well yell into the another career Hazard for conservation officers is a frequent change of address. Life can be difficult for spouses and children because officers Are often reassigned to different locations. Fetterly lived in Riding Mountain big White Shell Lake Rennie Winnipeg Mafeking Cowan Lac Dubonnet Stead Gypsumville and Back to Lac Dubonnet during his career. Or sometimes townspeople would give his wife and children the cold shoulder after he arrested a Friend or relative for poaching. One time it was a teachers brother who proceeded to make life rough on Fetterly a kids. Still Fetterly says the divorce rate is Low among conservation officers. Another thing that a stayed the same about the Job is the fact they still patrol Riding Mountain from the Saddle of a horse. A horseback is the Best Way to go a says Fetterly. A a you re up High so you can see everything and you done to need a Trail and you done to disturb the ;