Jenaya Launstein

Wildlife photographer. Bear and Porcupine whisperer. 🐻🦔

I John 4:11

[Yegor Sharangovich replaced Breadman @FierySharky]

Turns out I have another pair of tickets for tonight's #Flames/Leafs game! Retweet to enter to win them! I will pick a winner at around 4pm.

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

Due to X's recent changes to its terms of use regarding AI usage of artists creations without their consent, I will no longer be posting my work on here.

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[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

A handsome mule deer buck I happened upon after work yesterday evening. Loving his unique antler growth!

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

A snowshoe hare from the Yukon! I crawled on my hands and knees for this one so as not to disturb him. I'm insanely happy with how it turned out!

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

I always say "be prepared and have your camera with you at all times". Well...didn't listen to my own advice and that resulted in me seeing a young wolf up close tonight & no chance at pics.

To protect this wolf from being harassed/hunted, I will NOT be sharing the location.

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

@thinkTANKphoto Ooooo! I think I gotta go with the Montana Green! @LaunsteinFamily

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

This might be the darn cutest kitten I've seen. Who could say no to that face?

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

Gave my dog Pongo a photo shoot on Thursday! He had lots of fun!

[Jasper National Park, Parks Canada @JasperNP]

Amidst the ashes, life finds a way
Just like the community of Jasper, Jasper National Park's wildlife will rebound from this crisis.
In the face of flames, the extraordinary instincts of wildlife, like bears and elk, guide them to safety.

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

Everyone should read this.

[David Knight Legg @KnightLegg]

Jasper and climate change

Irek the Liberal MP from Windsor saw the Jasper fire. He - and others - are tweeting to make sure everyone knows how much they believe in climate change.

He quotes Joe Biden, says “hearts break” for Albertans, then adds, ominously: “But let’s also be real with each other: this is the world that climate-denying Conservatism will leave our children”.

They can’t seem to help themselves.

I wanted to ignore, but Irek is an MP, not just another keyboard climate activist, so if he cares about climate and fires here’s how he can hold the govt accountable:

1. Jasper is a *federal* park. ParksCanada has its own fire service. It is totally responsible for all wildfire prep, operations and management to protect the park and the town.

2. The locals have been deeply concerned about dead tree stands and the lax “leave it to nature” green thinking in the ParksCan bureaucracy - a notoriously slow, political, unresponsive maze that struggles to manage core functions from its HQ far away from the largest mountain parks in Gatineau, Quebec.

Thousands of tweet/exchanges as recent as last month highlight local concern over Jasper as a tinderbox managed by a sclerotic bureaucracy at Parks for seven years.

3. Forest mgmt isn’t political. Its engineering. Albertans want competence that protects lives and homes and parks with better infrastructure and planning and processes from a bureaucracy that gets things done. Politics are secondary.

As a result, Irek and people like him that believe climate change facilitates forest fires should use that MP status and conviction to demand answers from ParksCan CEO Ron Hallman and Stephen Guilbeault ASAP:

-Why were there vast tracts of dead and dessicated tree-stands in Jasper that the locals have demanded action on since 2017? This was noted by academics, environmentalists and everyone working in and around Jasper for years. What was done?

- Were global best practices followed on controlled cuts, controlled burns, well-tended fire access roads, funding, operations and mitigation priorities to protect the town?

- How well equipped and prepared was the fire suppression team at Canada’s second most visited national park? What steps were taken to protect the Jasper townsite, specifically.

Parks Canada needs to release all departmental notes and emails on the fire plan for Jasper the past seven years since the pine beetle dead tree crisis.

Because climate change didn’t leave acres of dead trees next to a beautiful mountain town for seven years. The government did.

4. Climate change is not a matter of belief/denial. It’s nature. Its systemic. Tweeting about it publicly when a disaster is underway may feel good, but what you do about it is the only thing that matters.

The Toronto flood was going to happen. Like Irek, the mayor talked about climate change. But she failed to plan for flood infrastructure and updated processes. This drove up costs and damage. The mayor has no power over nature. She controls city planning. Her opinion on the climate is irrelevant, her job was to mitigate risk.

The Jasper fire was going to happen. The parks all have routine fires and it’s part of nature. What isn’t supposed to happen is that we lose a mountain town a federal bureaucracy is tasked to protect.

The costs of a politically correct bureaucratic failure are too high. You can’t just say “climate”. There has to be accountability.

Jasper is a stunning, almost magical place. I played and hiked there. I loved it as a kid and took a long break there next to the lake with friends as an adult. It’s one of those rare places you can stare into the stars at night with skies that go on forever.

Watching it burn is terrible. I’m especially heartbroken for friends and other Jasper residents who lost so much more than just a beautiful park this week.

Canada can do better than this.

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

@BadWeatherKyle That's the damn biggest mouse I ever did see

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

"Drums In The Deep"

Yesterday after work, I was walking to my Jeep when I noticed this handsome Ruffed Grouse perched on a log, drumming for his lady friends.

I got a bit closer, laid on my stomach, and photographed him for a while. This is my favourite image from the bunch!

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

@LaunsteinFamily Thanks dad!

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

It's time for another one of my ✨ rare landscape photos ✨ 😂 As most of you know, I don't do landscape photography, but the way the clouds were rolling over the trees after an afternoon rain had me reaching for my camera.

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

@LaunsteinFamily Thanks dad!

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

This Red-naped Sapsucker put on quite the show for me while I was out exploring a couple days ago. Love these guys ❤️

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

That's quite the jungle gym you got there little fella!

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

@KellyHrudey Thank you!! 😊

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

@KellyHrudey Where can I get this? It's awesome!

[Jenaya Launstein @JenayaLaunstein]

A rock ptarmigan surveying its surroundings in the Yukon tundra.

I figured y'all might want a break from bears.