Well-known local conservationists Gary and Joanie McGuffin continue to earn recognition for their work.
They have made their living as exceptional nature photographers, writers, documentary producers, public speakers and wilderness guides.
Joanie was honoured in February as one of 12 Freshwater Heroes by Freshwater Future, a Canada-U.S. group that advocates for clean, affordable and accessible drinking water in the Great Lakes.
“It's always wonderful to work for something that you love,” Joanie told SooToday.
The McGuffins established the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy with fellow conservationist Ruth O’Gawa in 2006.
The conservancy is an international Sault Ste. Marie-based non-profit organization that acts as a steward for the Lake Superior Water Trail and maintains several land trust preserves.
The conservancy is supported through memberships, donations, and volunteers.
Joanie is the conservancy’s executive director.
Having seen polluted waters in the past, the McGuffins are pleased to see Lake Superior cleaner than it was.
“Lake Superior is the cleanest of the Great Lakes,” Joanie said.
“You've now got more people coming to the lake and paddling safely around it. The more people we can get out on the lake in a safe, enjoyable experience in watercraft, the more they'll love the lake, they'll appreciate it, and they will speak up for it,” Gary said.
Though the couple are longtime Goulais River residents, they came from urban southern Ontario before resettling in this area.
Joanie was born in Thornhill, near Toronto, while Gary was born in London, Ont.
As a child, Joanie joined her parents on summer trips along Lake Superior’s north shore.
“We saw the peace and tranquility, the wildlife, the corridors that the rivers and valleys formed. We would escape to these places and paddle our canoes and take our binoculars. It was a really important part of growing up,” Joanie said.
Gary was exposed to nature through vacations with his parents in Temagami.
“That's where I would go right after school ended for the summer. My mom and dad were into fishing, and canoeing was the way to get to where they were going to fish. I grew up hunting, skiing, snowshoeing and canoeing,” he said.
Gary and Joanie met as students in Seneca College’s Outdoor Recreation Technology program in the 1970s. They married in 1983. Their experiences in the outdoors as children and formal education led them to embark on a life of outdoor adventures.
Beginning in 1981, they made several wilderness expeditions.
They backpacked across the Appalachian Trail, canoed across Canada, cycled across the country, and paddled across the Lake Superior shoreline.
Through their travels the McGuffins developed a love for the Lake Superior shoreline and its natural beauty.
They have called the Goulais River area home since the 1990s.
“We call it the sunshine coast of Ontario. We like the way the light falls across the lake and onto the land. We love that light,” Gary said.
Their 1995 book Superior: Journeys on an Inland Sea became a best-seller in Canada and the United States.
In 2008, the McGuffins and well-known Sault artist Michael Burtch travelled along Lake Superior’s North Shore exploring the sites where The Group of Seven painted, sharing their experiences in an award-winning 2015 documentary film Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven.
The McGuffins have had environmental success throughout their careers.
In 2013, the McGuffins and the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy helped keep the Gargantua Islands, off the coast of Lake Superior Provincial Park, from being sold to private owners. They are now known as the Gargantua Islands Preserve.
Among their other activities, they currently enjoy taking people for canoe tours on the St. Marys River in the summer months.
The couple has won many awards for their conservation work including:
- The 2002 Premier's Award for achievement in environmental stewardship and education
- 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award, Seneca College
- 2003 Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal for their work in the field of environment and conservation
- 2006 Induction in the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame
- 2009 and 2010 Best Travel Photography, Ontario Tourism
- 2009 Tourism Sault Ste. Marie, Tourism Award of Excellence
Sault College offers the Gary and Joanie McGuffin Conservation Leadership Award, matched by the Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund, to recognize an Adventure Recreation and Parks Technician program student who best exhibits class leadership, community involvement/volunteerism and contribution to wellness of community and its environment.
The McGuffins have taken all their awards and recognition modestly.
“We're not trying to champion ourselves. We like being encouragers and inspirers,” Joanie said.
“We just do what we do and keep on doing it the best we can,” Gary said.
Untamed Things, a collection of Gary’s photography, will be on display during the month of May at Toronto's Twist Gallery.
“It's a reason for being. I was raised by my mom and dad to appreciate everything around you, to share it and stand up for it,” Gary said of his work as a conservationist.
“What more represents our connections as human beings than water?
"It’s important to care for it. And we have a really deep love for the land and being out there together. There's nothing we love better than having a paddle in our hands and paddling a canoe. It's been really lovely, really gratifying and we're proud to be part of northern Ontario,” Joanie said.
More information on the work of Gary and Joanie McGuffin and their adventures can be found on their website.
More information on the Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy can be found here.