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Wednesday, June 01, 1988

GOING UPRIVER: Interpretive Programs

GOING UPRIVER consisted of three main interpretive components: the CHRS exhibit, the CROSSCURRENTS concert series, and the freshwater ecology program WATERWATCH, as well as two training workshops. This chapter describes each component, and also includes an essay on the role of "outsiders" in environmental education.

THE CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVERS SYSTEM AND THE CHRS EXHIBIT

"5O Canada! Where pines and maples grow,
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow...

Canada is a land of rivers. Ice-blue streams sculpt the highlands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton. Rushing cataracts thunder over the Niagara escarpment. Silver ribbons thread the forests with the traces of voyageurs. Broad fertile valleys nurture wheatfields and prairie flowers. Mighty torrents carve the Yukon tundra into highways for goldseekers and salmon. Rivers run deep in our consciousness, and we harness them to light our houses and run our factories.

We have channelled, controlled, diverted and developed many of North America's rivers, often without full thought to the consequences. In recent years, both Canadians and Americans have begun to realize that this priceless natural and cultural heritage can be permanently lost.

The Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS) is a co-operative program of the Government of Canada and, to date, eight provinces -- Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan -- and the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The objectives of the CHRS are to give national recognition to the important rivers of Canada and to ensure long-term management that will conserve their natural, historical and recreational values for the enjoyment of Canadians now and in the future.

The main activities of the CHRS are the nomination and designation of Heritage Rivers, provision of funding and technical assistance with systems (provincial-level), and background (individual river) studies and management plans, and public information. This last is accomplished primarily through a touring exhibit which made its début at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

This exhibit, which provided the focus for the 1988 GOING UPRIVER tour, is a series of silver and blue fiberglass panels (7' high x 10' deep x 20' wide) displaying full-color enlarged photographs (up to 24" x 36") of Canadian Heritage Rivers, the award-winners from a recent national river photography contest. A video unit offers an 8-minute continuous loop of CHRS public service announcements, featuring some spectacular footage of Bill Mason, the Nahanni River Gorge, whitewater kayaking and wild birds in flight. The display is complete with a map stand and visitors' book; a freestanding prism-shaped kiosk with top-mounted track lighting; and a freestanding literature rack holding CHRS brochures, pamphlets, fact sheets, and a Frances Ann Hopkins poster of the voyageurs, the CHRS symbol. GOING UPRIVER distributed 5000 of these posters along with other informational materials en route.

For further description of the exhibit tour, please see VISITOR RESPONSE on page 24...
We received 816 signatures in the visitors' book, approximately 16% of our estimated visitation. Signatures are not an accurate measure of visitation; our totals were obtained by averaging hourly counts and from total visitation estimated by our site hosts. Signatures do suggest, however, that the exhibit reached both local and international audiences.

COUNTRIES

Australia
Belgium
Costa Rica
China
CzechoslovakiaDenmark
El Salvador
England
Finland
France (11)
Germany (4)
Guatemala
Honduras
Israel
Italy
Pakistan
Panama
Venezuela
Yugoslavia
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TABLE 1. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF EXHIBIT VISITORS
STATE/PROVINCE TOTAL
New Brunswick 89 (11%)*
Quebec 117 (14%)
Ontario 142 (17%)
Ohio 87 (10%)
Wisconsin 181 (22%)
Other U.S. 90 (11%)
Other Canada 34 (4%)
International (19 countries) 40 (5%)
Unidentified 36 (4%)
* = % of total signatures
!INTERPRETIVE PROGRAMS

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