| Trail-blazing family creates Pembina Valley provincial park Winnipeg Free Press Monday, June 16 2003 By Bill Redekop PEMBINA VALLEY PROVINCIAL PARK - Some neighbours thought Henry Martens was crazy. His three kids suspected he might not be playing with a full deck. Even wife Elma wondered at times if her husband was all right. "There was a lot of sweat and tears," she said. "He did the sweating and I did the tears." Now the Martens have been rewarded. The 180 hectares of Pembina Valley the family nurtured and tended for a quarter century, including 12 kilometres of trails they cut through bush, was designated a provincial park last year. "We try to protect different natural spaces throughout Manitoba," said Gordon Jones, provincial director of parks and natural areas. The only difficulty now for the Martens family is to stop describing the park as "their" land, a correction they often make. However, taking pride is still allowed. Like when Elma Martens does a little jog across the parking lot to check the license of a vehicle parked there. California plates! Thumbs up! "Every time we see a carload go by, it's a tremendous blessing," said Henry. The Martens live near the park entrance. "It's a reward. That's what it's all about." They have seen license plates from across Canada in "their" park, as well as plates from states like New Jersey, Virginia, and Indiana. Which isn't bad for a little park tucked away in the Pembina Valley near Windygates, the border crossing to the United States, 160 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg. Creating a park was the plan from the outset for the Martens, who are avid hikers. They bought up parcels of uncultivated land from area farmers--land that would fit like a jigsaw puzzle into a contiguous whole. They bought from five different land owners. The parcels cost up to $20,000 each. There were also lawyer fees and surveying costs. In addition, the Martens had to buy land to make a kilometre-long road into the site. "Often people are suspicious when you offer to buy land. Are you starting some religious cult or something? I heard that more than once, in a half-joking way," said Henry, 60. "What's motivated us and kept us going is we felt someone ought to develop a place in Pembina Valley that was protected and at the same time was open to the public," said Henry. The Martens family spent their summers cutting brush, and sweating and swatting bugs, to forge trails and lookouts. They started cutting trails with grass shears. "I'd wonder, am I really crazy or what?" said Henry. Looking back, no. "I don't consider it a hardship. I consider it a privilege," said Henry. "I felt lucky to have a job that afforded me the means and time, with summers off, to do this." Both Henry and Elma are teachers at nearby Pembina Hutterite Colony. They tried to interest non-profit and church groups and private investors to help create a park, to no avail. "They were all a little skeptical," said Henry. Government also turned them down. The Nature Conservancy of Canada, a charity designed to preserve ecologically significant areas--local directors include James A. Richardson and Sheldon Bowles--got the ball rolling when it threw financial support behind the project. The province joined soon after. The province and nature conservancy split the land's purchase price of $110,000. That's about what it cost the Martens family to buy, not including the labour it put into the park. The conservancy then handed the land over to the province to maintain. As a park, it now has a washrooms, a gravel parking lot, some highway signage, an outdoor eating area, and benches. The province also grooms the trails. The Pembina River was once 400 feet deep and over three kilometres wide, according to current dimensions of this part of the valley. On a recent hike, indigenous flora in bloom included blue-eyed grass, white yarrow, purple vetch, columbine and Canada anemone. While identifying plants, a Towhee flew up and Elma found the nest and Towhee chicks with mouths working furiously. The dominant trees are the burr oak, green ash, some birch and Manitoba maple. There's also American hazel and beaked hazel brush, and saskatoons, pincherries, and chokecherries. The park is on a migration route of the red-tailed hawk, so the province has made the raptor the park's symbol. Pembina Valley Provincial Park is south of Morden. Take provincial highway #3 west of Morden, then turn south on PR 31. At PR 201, turn east and signs will take you to the park. PHOTO PHIL HOSSACK/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS |