Flanked by a labyrinth of kennels and surrounded by a chorus of canine calls, Jordee Reid wades into a lush, narrow corridor, its tall grass kneeling to the hot July sun.

The path is one she knows well SA国际影视传媒� itSA国际影视传媒檚 just around the corner from the doghouses she would crawl into as a young girl on her familySA国际影视传媒檚 Curry Drive lot SA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒渄og mush central,SA国际影视传媒� as she calls it.

SA国际影视传媒淭he sense of place here is very strong,SA国际影视传媒� says Reid.

She points to the west. Where her gaze ends, and where the grassy passage fades out of sight, Kam Lake begins.
Its waters are still and calm. But inland, among a potpourri of sun-kissed and sunken snowmobiles, overgrown alleys, rusting vehicles and towering machinery, Kam Lake is anything but stagnant.

Times are changing.

Once worlds apart from the City of Yellowknife, the former fringe outlier SA国际影视传媒� home to a mishmash of dog mushers, industrial and commercial operators and business-owner residences SA国际影视传媒� is now in the crosshairs of creeping residential sprawl.

As the city revamps its zoning bylaws SA国际影视传媒� banning new kennels and adopting mixed zoning SA国际影视传媒� and the areaSA国际影视传媒檚 valuable land becomes increasingly attractive to high-income home buyers putting millions of dollars into lakefront houses, Kam Lake, once a full-fledged industrial park, is caught at a crossroads between its roots and the encroaching development it faces.

ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a convergence that has led to conflicts.
Reid, who was recently elected president of the Yellowknife Dog Trotters Association, isnSA国际影视传媒檛 just pointing at Kam Lake, the backdrop to her home, sheSA国际影视传媒檚 revealing a series of extensive dog sledding trails, cultivated and maintained by generations of sledders season after season. But, as she describes the network of trails, ReidSA国际影视传媒檚 words are measured with trepidation. In the midst of ongoing negotiations with the city, the Dog TrottersSA国际影视传媒� kennels and dogs could be moved out of Kam Lake, away from the trails theySA国际影视传媒檝e raced along and helped preserve.
SA国际影视传媒淭his is one of the big reasons we want to stay here,SA国际影视传媒� Reid says, her eyes fixed on the horizon. SA国际影视传媒淲hen somethingSA国际影视传媒檚 so interwoven into your culture and your identity, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 just what you do.SA国际影视传媒�

Dodging explusion

Unlike other kennel owners in Kam Lake, who have been grandfathered in zoning amendments, the association doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 own the land its lot sits on SA国际影视传媒� the city does. The collective, which pays an annual lease to the city, faced expulsion from the lakefront site in November. The idea was that the dogs would be relocated to the newly-formed Engle Business District SA国际影视传媒� an area that restricts caretaker quarters.

Since the Kam Lake industrial park took shape, small caretaker suites, usually attached or built close to businesses, have been a mainstay, and a necessity. Many business owners, and especially kennel operators, required caretaker quarters to protect their livelihoods from thieves and animal predators.

After Reid and fellow members of the Trotters made impassioned pleas at city hall SA国际影视传媒� arguing that the close proximity between caretakers and dogs they oversee was too integral to be broken SA国际影视传媒� the city granted a two-year lease.

As negotiations continue, Reid and the Dog Trotters are asking to purchase their current leased lot, and want the city to explore new lands SA国际影视传媒� within city limits with access to municipal services SA国际影视传媒� where dogs and their owners can coexist freely.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a huge part of your identity when youSA国际影视传媒檙e raised as a dog musher,SA国际影视传媒� says Reid, petting one of the dozen dogs that swarm her as she enters a pen. Adding that a loss of dog mushing tradition and culture in Kam Lake would take away a SA国际影视传媒渂ig pieceSA国际影视传媒� of who she is, Reid doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 want to be relocated by city again.

In 1978, as the face of Old Town changed amid shifting city plans, YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 dog mushers, who originally settled along Niven Lake, were SA国际影视传媒減olitely motivatedSA国际影视传媒� to relocate to Kam Lake, as historian Ryan Silke puts it.

They moved into a neighborhood that had, seven years earlier, advertised its first 10 for-sale lots in the then-new Kam Lake Industrial Park - created by the realization of city planners that the town needed an industrial zone removed from YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 budding boom. After signing the lease with the city, the trotters were told theySA国际影视传媒檇 never have to move again.

Kam Lake, named after an ambiguous 1935 gold claim near a body of water, saw little development until the 1970s SA国际影视传媒� apart from the construction of Kam Lake Road and the erection of a radio tower in the 1940s SA国际影视传媒� but the area was no stranger to industrial and agricultural use.

In the late 1950s, Bevan's Dairy Farm operated where the Multiplex stands today, with cows being led to the waters of Kam Lake to drink. Due to arsenic contaminated water, cold weather SA国际影视传媒� or both SA国际影视传媒� the cows died, and so did the agricultural endeavour.

It wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 until advertised lots began to fill up with industrial business owners and kennel owners that the hodgepodge of residents, and the land they worked and lived on, earned its frontier image.
Goats, horses and even pigs SA国际影视传媒� named Oink and Doink and owned by Alex Debogorski SA国际影视传媒� roamed Kam Lake. Their animals' owners SA国际影视传媒� hard-working blue-collar residents who were allowed limited sized caretaker suites to protect their businesses SA国际影视传媒� coexisted in colourful harmony.

But with the recent rise of two new subdivisions that hug Grace Lake, and the still-in-progress residential development behind North Slave Correctional Complex, some newcomers have taken issue with the sights, sounds and smells of Kam Lake.

But Reid, along with her husband Cai, makes efforts to curb noise from her kennels. She doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 hold ill will against the SA国际影视传媒渟elect fewSA国际影视传媒� who want to see their dogs booted from Kam Lake. In fact, says she welcomes residential development in the area.

SA国际影视传媒淩esidences would make Kam Lake more unique, to have sled dogs in the whole mix of things. The city has to grow and we donSA国际影视传媒檛 want to impede that. WeSA国际影视传媒檙e happy to see the city growing into new places and new areas SA国际影视传媒� nice to the see Yellowknife booming.SA国际影视传媒�

Reid says she simply doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 want to be pushed to the fringes yet again.

SA国际影视传媒淜am Lake is our home and it should always stay our home.SA国际影视传媒�

Despite noise and smell complaints raised at city hall, atop the hill on Grace Lake Boulevard SA国际影视传媒� a street dotted with lumber, moving trucks, million-dollar homes, trampolines and hockey sticks SA国际影视传媒� formal disputes with neighbours below are few and far between.

SA国际影视传媒淭he dogs were here before us,SA国际影视传媒� says John, owner of a sprawling lakefront home.

John, who didnSA国际影视传媒檛 wish to give his last name, can sometimes hear the dogs, depending which way the winding blows. But he doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 mind.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think the dogs running out on the lake is pretty cool,SA国际影视传媒� he says. SA国际影视传媒淎s far as coming through the industrial park, we knew what we were getting into when we bought the place.SA国际影视传媒�

If more people had that mentality, says Reid, the kennels could stay put.

Sarah Minogue, another subdivision resident doors down from John, says itSA国际影视传媒檚 clear the mushers need Kam Lake, but worries about children skating on the frozen lake below when dogs rush across the ice.

SA国际影视传媒淲e donSA国际影视传媒檛 want to interfere with the dogs,SA国际影视传媒� she says. SA国际影视传媒淭here should be a plan to organize that, because they have an elaborate trail structure SA国际影视传媒� and it would be a shame if they had to restart that.SA国际影视传媒�

'I have one big problem'

Back in Kam LakeSA国际影视传媒檚 industrial area, plans, or lack thereof, are the topic of conversation for longstanding residents when it comes to new residential development.

Debogorski, the aforementioned pig owner and longtime resident who waited in line for 28 hours to purchase two lots in the Kam Lake in 1981, isnSA国际影视传媒檛 bothered by the collision of new and old worlds. Instead, his qualms are with encroaching bureaucracy and regulation.

SA国际影视传媒淎s far as rezoning, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 fine. But I have one big problem,SA国际影视传媒� says Debogorski, standing on his Curry Drive lot SA国际影视传媒� a trove of collected cars, boats, and pretty much everything you can imagine. SA国际影视传媒淭heySA国际影视传媒檙e trying to push us out to Engle Business District and we canSA国际影视传媒檛 have caretaker quarters, and thatSA国际影视传媒檚 the problem.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淲hose town is this? ItSA国际影视传媒檚 not the citySA国际影视传媒檚 town,SA国际影视传媒� says Debogorski.

Debogorski says the citySA国际影视传媒檚 permitting of caretaker quarters during Kam LakeSA国际影视传媒檚 infancy allowed him to afford a business while raising 11 children. If he was forced to live away from his business, Debogorski says his business wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 have been financially feasible.

ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 why, he says, he sympathizes with the dog mushers, who rely on the suites the most.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 very difficult for them to move and keep doing what theySA国际影视传媒檙e doing. It might sound simple to some, but it takes a certain person, just like junkyards. Certain people were born with the genetics to recycle and repurpose and they have a yard full of batteries and cars and they bring them together to try to make a living SA国际影视传媒�SA国际影视传媒�

On the citySA国际影视传媒檚 end, Coun. Shauna Morgan, who spoke out against a SA国际影视传媒減attern SA国际影视传媒� of relocating and pushing mushers further and further away,SA国际影视传媒� during negotiations in November, told Yellowknifer sheSA国际影视传媒檚 not sure how a happy medium can be struck in Kam Lake.

SA国际影视传媒淚t has to be discovered through good faith and negotiations and consultations with the neighbourhood,SA国际影视传媒� she says. SA国际影视传媒淭he future of Kam Lake should not be up to me or (city) council alone to envision or decide. Council needs to support robust consultations during the general plan revision so that a common vision can emerge from those who live in and use that neighbourhood the most.SA国际影视传媒�

Morgan says council hasnSA国际影视传媒檛 received an update this year on negotiations with the association, but says the city is in the SA国际影视传媒減rocess of redoing our general plan (community plan), which will look at how best to balance and fit various land uses around the city, and this will include extensive consultation with each neighbourhood. Dog kennels have been identified by council and administration as an important use that we need to find room for and plan carefully.SA国际影视传媒�

With relocation looming for the TrottersSA国际影视传媒� kennels in Kam Lake, Reid and her husband are in limbo SA国际影视传媒� hesitating to invest further in the property when the could soon be pushed out.

In the meantime, the kennels, and the importance they hold for Reid, arenSA国际影视传媒檛 going anywhere.

SA国际影视传媒淒og mushing has a place in the overall culture of Yellowknife and so we should be treated that way in the sense that this is our home and we donSA国际影视传媒檛 want to move,SA国际影视传媒� Reid says. SA国际影视传媒淪o we shouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 be made to.SA国际影视传媒�