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Nine years under our belt---that's the number of consecutive years that we've been doing the workshops in Jasper and at Tekarra Lodge. And it looks like number ten is already permanently etched on the 2004 calendar. That means we will once again be privy to and painting some of the most awesome scenery in Canada, in our very own Jasper National Park.
And lucky we are that there is something left to paint. For a while there this past summer I had the impression that Parks Canada was going to burn the whole place down. It started with a "controlled" or "prescribed" burn and ended with half the park on fire. And an ugly scene it was, especially along Highway 16 above Talbot Lake and along Syncline Ridge and the Rocky River Valley. All summer long the fires smoldered and smoked and choked up the valley, sometimes requiring the closing of the road to traffic. But by autumn things were under control and the worst year for fires in Western Canada had finally come to a close. And hopefully the Parks personnel will put away their matches for a few years and let us enjoy the beauty of this special place. As soon as man interferes with nature, on a grand scale anyway, the results are usually catastrophic. And a lot of wildlife paid the price for man's tinkering in 2003.
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