All posts by Rochelle Baker

Rochelle Baker is a staff reporter with Canada’s National Observer, thanks thanks to a grant from the Local Journalism Initiative of the Government of Canada. She previously worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in BC’s Lower Mainland for over 7 years.
Forests

Conservation cash vital to securing B.C.’s old-growth deferrals

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A new conservation foundation is working to provide Indigenous and other land-based communities with funds to protect endangered ecosystems and build economic alternatives to the logging of at-risk old-growth forests.

It’s unjust and impractical to expect communities that rely on revenue from activities such as forestry, ranching or resource extraction to bear the financial burden of shifting their local economy on their own to protect areas for the benefit of all, said Ken Wu, chair of the recently established Nature-Based Solutions Foundation (NBSF).

Continue reading Conservation cash vital to securing B.C.’s old-growth deferrals →
Transportation

Coast communities riding out ferry service disruptions due to COVID-19 staffing crunch

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

After a recent rash of service disruptions due to wild weather, coastal communities relying on BC Ferries as an essential service are going to face more interruptions to their lifeline in the coming months. 

Absenteeism due to the Omicron variant, an ongoing labour shortage, and the impending loss of staff who oppose the company’s vaccination mandate are likely to lead to additional service disruptions, particularly on the smaller inter-island routes, said BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall on Monday. 

Continue reading Coast communities riding out ferry service disruptions due to COVID-19 staffing crunch →
Rivers & Oceans

Alaskan commercial fishery ‘plundering’ threatened B.C. salmon

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Commercial fish harvesters in southeast Alaska are netting significant amounts of threatened B.C. salmon even though the bulk of Canada’s Pacific fleet is stranded on shore to conserve plummeting stocks, a new study suggests.

Some of B.C.’s largest salmon runs navigate the waters of the Alaskan Panhandle just north of B.C. as they return to Canadian rivers to spawn, said Greg Taylor, fisheries expert and one of the authors of a new technical report for the Watershed Watch Salmon Society and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust.

Continue reading Alaskan commercial fishery ‘plundering’ threatened B.C. salmon →
Environment

Vancouver Island prepares to slip and slide after snow dump

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Colleen McDougall feels like she hasn’t slept since Christmas.

The Quadra Island resident works with a local company responsible for clearing snow from many of the public parking lots in the community.

Thursday she was shovelling pathways for the local bank after another storm hit the Vancouver Island region overnight, dumping at least a foot of snow.

Continue reading Vancouver Island prepares to slip and slide after snow dump →
Animals, Weather

Hummingbirds have humans eating out of their hands during cold snap

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

This morning, my 79-year-old dad was out in the winter dark shovelling a path through a half foot of fresh snow to ensure his hummingbird feeders were full of fresh, sugary liquid by dawn’s first light.

And it wasn’t the first time.

He’s one of a legion of residents across southwestern B.C. and Vancouver Island on a crusade to ensure resident Anna’s hummingbirds don’t perish in the unusually cold weather gripping the region the past few weeks.

Continue reading Hummingbirds have humans eating out of their hands during cold snap →