This story appears in The Star June 11th on Pg. A3
A lake view like no other
Submarine gives fascinating tour on nature reserve Unique look at beauty, fragility
of lake's ecosystem
JOSEPH HALL
STAFF REPORTER
WEST GUILFORD Ont. Along the shores of tiny MacDonald Lake, the birches and maples of the province's Carolinian forest brush up against the southern flanks of the boreal pines and hemlocks to the north.
Into this classic Group of Seven setting, abutting the bottom end of Algonquin Park, Peter Schleifenbaum has just inserted a bit of 007 flair a gleaming new submarine.
Adding to an already exotic stable of tourist attractions at his 24,000-hectare Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve, Schleifenbaum will now be offering rides on a six-seater submersible that would with the installation of a couple of missile launchers be a fitting prop in any James Bond movie.
"Why a submarine? Why not?" says the German-born forester, whose tourist business is geared largely to support the sustainable logging operation he runs.
"There are a number of unique things that people can do and see here that they would be very hard-pressed to find anywhere else."
These unique attractions include dog-sledding excursions, an observatory and planetarium complex, a wolf enclosure and most spectacularly a half-kilometre-long boardwalk, strung 20 metres above the ground, through the canopy of a white pine forest.
Strangely, it was this swaying "canopy tour" which gives a bird's eye view of the forest that gave rise to the submarine scheme about three years ago, Schleifenbaum says.
"The idea was, we take people 70 feet up in the air, now we'll take them 70 feet down, below the surface of MacDonald Lake," says Schleifenbaum, who will begin excursions in the $200,000 (U.S.) sub this month.
Schleifenbaum says his new craft, about the size of a minivan, will be the only submarine operating out of a fresh water lake in North America "and probably the world."
But like all of the reserve's attractions mountain bike trails, camping, snowmobiling and fishing the submarine is being billed as an instructional window into the natural workings of an Ontario forest environment.
In particular, Schleifenbaum says, the battery-powered sub will help visitors see, up close, the complex and faltering ecosystem that lies below MacDonald Lake's dark gray surface.
"We look at the water, it looks dead. Every lake looks the same," he says.
"How do we attract people and talk about water and explain water in a new way? The sub can do that. It can tell the story of this lake."
The ecological story of MacDonald Lake is one that's being progressively altered by the unintentional introduction of new fish and crayfish species into the waters. In particular, rock bass and spiny water fleas, which came in as bait or bilge water, are slowly overtaking the genetically unique lake trout that breed in area waters.
Known locally as Haliburton Gold, the indigenous species has likely been isolated in MacDonald Lake and nearby watersheds for some 100,000 years.
Changes in available plankton nutrients caused by the new aquatic species is fundamentally shifting the lake's ecosystem and placing the otherwise hardy trout in jeopardy.
But slipping below the water's surface in Schleifenbaum's sub this week, the view of this submerged life cycle was obscured by a hazy sky that muted the sunlight.
Aside from a few sopping bottom logs and a strange rock fall that resembled an Inuit inukshuk marker, the concave view through the sub's thick, acrylic portals was largely of green, swirling murk.
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`The idea was, we take people 70 feet up in the air, now we'll take them 70 feet down, below the surface of MacDonald Lake'
Peter Schleifenbaum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunlight levels and seasonal water conditions make views from the sub variable.
Still the 90-minute ride will provide an undeniably exciting assault on the ears for most passengers.
As it meanders downward along the bottom of the lake, the five-tonne sub produces creaking, gurgling, hissing and thumping sounds of Das Boot proportions.
"Those are normal. This is all normal," says Andee Pelan, one of seven reserve guides now being trained 40 hours instruction, 20 hours at the helm to pilot the sub.
"That hissing, for example, that's air being pumped into the interior to compensate for the water pressure outside," says Pelan. The pressure, which builds to three atmospheres inside the sub as it bottoms out at about 70 feet, can dent a metal thermos, crush plastic water bottles and even pop out pieces of camera equipment.
That's three times the atmospheric pressure normally felt at the surface.
And visiting the lake's lower reaches requires near constant yawning or plugged nose blowing to push eardrums back into place.
Built by British Columbia's International VentureCraft Corp. and manoeuvred by 10 computer-assisted thrusters, the sub's interior temperatures can also quickly match those of the surrounding water. And with pressurized air mixing in with visible, chilled breath, the sub's cramped interior lighting will glow though an eerie fog.
It's definitely not a trip for the claustrophobic.
A ride in the submarine will cost $130, while a guided walk in the canopy costs $85 for adults.
All the proceeds from Schleifenbaum's tourist ventures go toward preserving the reserve's extensive forest properties.
The forest itself is not sitting idle, however, with traditional hunting, fishing, trapping and even logging taking place alongside the tourist activities.
But Schleifenbaum, whose main business is still in timber products, says his reserve proves humans can harvest a forest's wealth without fundamentally hurting its natural equilibrium.
"We believe that forest resources are really the only sustainable resource we have on this planet," he says.
"If you manage them properly, trees are sustainable. They will be here in perpetuity."
Rejecting most modern logging techniques in particular clear-cutting Schleifenbaum's lumberjacks cut down only select, expendable trees and use horses to remove much of the felled timber.
"This is not just for romantic purposes. Horses can work both environmentally and economically," he says.
For the upcoming summer, however, most of the reserve's 50 employees will likely be doing a lot of submarine watching on the side.
"It's pretty exciting," says pilot Dave Bishop. "I mean, how many people can say `oh, I was in a submarine today'."
A lake view like no other
Submarine gives fascinating tour on nature reserve Unique look at beauty, fragility
of lake's ecosystem
JOSEPH HALL
STAFF REPORTER
WEST GUILFORD Ont. Along the shores of tiny MacDonald Lake, the birches and maples of the province's Carolinian forest brush up against the southern flanks of the boreal pines and hemlocks to the north.
Into this classic Group of Seven setting, abutting the bottom end of Algonquin Park, Peter Schleifenbaum has just inserted a bit of 007 flair a gleaming new submarine.
Adding to an already exotic stable of tourist attractions at his 24,000-hectare Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve, Schleifenbaum will now be offering rides on a six-seater submersible that would with the installation of a couple of missile launchers be a fitting prop in any James Bond movie.
"Why a submarine? Why not?" says the German-born forester, whose tourist business is geared largely to support the sustainable logging operation he runs.
"There are a number of unique things that people can do and see here that they would be very hard-pressed to find anywhere else."
These unique attractions include dog-sledding excursions, an observatory and planetarium complex, a wolf enclosure and most spectacularly a half-kilometre-long boardwalk, strung 20 metres above the ground, through the canopy of a white pine forest.
Strangely, it was this swaying "canopy tour" which gives a bird's eye view of the forest that gave rise to the submarine scheme about three years ago, Schleifenbaum says.
"The idea was, we take people 70 feet up in the air, now we'll take them 70 feet down, below the surface of MacDonald Lake," says Schleifenbaum, who will begin excursions in the $200,000 (U.S.) sub this month.
Schleifenbaum says his new craft, about the size of a minivan, will be the only submarine operating out of a fresh water lake in North America "and probably the world."
But like all of the reserve's attractions mountain bike trails, camping, snowmobiling and fishing the submarine is being billed as an instructional window into the natural workings of an Ontario forest environment.
In particular, Schleifenbaum says, the battery-powered sub will help visitors see, up close, the complex and faltering ecosystem that lies below MacDonald Lake's dark gray surface.
"We look at the water, it looks dead. Every lake looks the same," he says.
"How do we attract people and talk about water and explain water in a new way? The sub can do that. It can tell the story of this lake."
The ecological story of MacDonald Lake is one that's being progressively altered by the unintentional introduction of new fish and crayfish species into the waters. In particular, rock bass and spiny water fleas, which came in as bait or bilge water, are slowly overtaking the genetically unique lake trout that breed in area waters.
Known locally as Haliburton Gold, the indigenous species has likely been isolated in MacDonald Lake and nearby watersheds for some 100,000 years.
Changes in available plankton nutrients caused by the new aquatic species is fundamentally shifting the lake's ecosystem and placing the otherwise hardy trout in jeopardy.
But slipping below the water's surface in Schleifenbaum's sub this week, the view of this submerged life cycle was obscured by a hazy sky that muted the sunlight.
Aside from a few sopping bottom logs and a strange rock fall that resembled an Inuit inukshuk marker, the concave view through the sub's thick, acrylic portals was largely of green, swirling murk.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`The idea was, we take people 70 feet up in the air, now we'll take them 70 feet down, below the surface of MacDonald Lake'
Peter Schleifenbaum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunlight levels and seasonal water conditions make views from the sub variable.
Still the 90-minute ride will provide an undeniably exciting assault on the ears for most passengers.
As it meanders downward along the bottom of the lake, the five-tonne sub produces creaking, gurgling, hissing and thumping sounds of Das Boot proportions.
"Those are normal. This is all normal," says Andee Pelan, one of seven reserve guides now being trained 40 hours instruction, 20 hours at the helm to pilot the sub.
"That hissing, for example, that's air being pumped into the interior to compensate for the water pressure outside," says Pelan. The pressure, which builds to three atmospheres inside the sub as it bottoms out at about 70 feet, can dent a metal thermos, crush plastic water bottles and even pop out pieces of camera equipment.
That's three times the atmospheric pressure normally felt at the surface.
And visiting the lake's lower reaches requires near constant yawning or plugged nose blowing to push eardrums back into place.
Built by British Columbia's International VentureCraft Corp. and manoeuvred by 10 computer-assisted thrusters, the sub's interior temperatures can also quickly match those of the surrounding water. And with pressurized air mixing in with visible, chilled breath, the sub's cramped interior lighting will glow though an eerie fog.
It's definitely not a trip for the claustrophobic.
A ride in the submarine will cost $130, while a guided walk in the canopy costs $85 for adults.
All the proceeds from Schleifenbaum's tourist ventures go toward preserving the reserve's extensive forest properties.
The forest itself is not sitting idle, however, with traditional hunting, fishing, trapping and even logging taking place alongside the tourist activities.
But Schleifenbaum, whose main business is still in timber products, says his reserve proves humans can harvest a forest's wealth without fundamentally hurting its natural equilibrium.
"We believe that forest resources are really the only sustainable resource we have on this planet," he says.
"If you manage them properly, trees are sustainable. They will be here in perpetuity."
Rejecting most modern logging techniques in particular clear-cutting Schleifenbaum's lumberjacks cut down only select, expendable trees and use horses to remove much of the felled timber.
"This is not just for romantic purposes. Horses can work both environmentally and economically," he says.
For the upcoming summer, however, most of the reserve's 50 employees will likely be doing a lot of submarine watching on the side.
"It's pretty exciting," says pilot Dave Bishop. "I mean, how many people can say `oh, I was in a submarine today'."
