Tag Archives: Bruce Ellingsen

Forests, Politics

BC’s Chief Forester Tells the SRD the State of BC’s Forests, or not

2 Comments

Shane Berg, BC’s Chief Forester, has a message he is taking to trading partners around the world. On Thursday, October 2, 2025, he made a presentation to the Strathcona Regional District’s Natural Resources Committee. 

In today’s broadcast there are select clips from that presentation, including reactions from the committee. Also Bruce Ellingsen, one of the founding directors of the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative and a local thought leader on forestry matters, gave his opinion about the presentation and what he believes it lacks. 

Berg claims that the amount of old growth forests is increasing. According to Ellingsen what is not clear is that he is talking about the 80% of relatively small old growth trees growing in less productive areas, not the ‘big tree old growth’ that the environmental community is concerned about.  

Continue reading BC’s Chief Forester Tells the SRD the State of BC’s Forests, or not →
Forests

Wildfire Risk Reduction in Squirrel Cove area

There’s a wildfire risk reduction underway in the Community Forest  near Squirrel Cove.

“This is something that we’ve been working on since 2018.  It was identified as a priority in the 2020 Community Wildfire Protection Plan.  We received funding for a prescription, then we got funding to do an archaeological assessment, as required by law in the Tla’amin First Nation and then this year we obtained funding through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC to carry out the treatment..  I’m just really excited to see it happening because when you see an overgrown plantation like this,  it feels really good to be able to reinvest in the land base to leave a better forest for the future generation and reduce the wildfire risk in this neighbourhood,” explained to Mark Lombard, General Manager of the Cortes Forestry General Partnership.

Continue reading Wildfire Risk Reduction in Squirrel Cove area →
History, Housing, Indigenous Nations History

From The Ground Up: The Story Of Cortes Island Dwellings

A new exhibition in the Cortes Island Museum looks at the island’s housing from pre-colonial times up until the present. ‘From the Ground Up: Cortes Island Dwellings And Their Histories’ combines photographs and artifacts from the museum’s collections, stories and images from the community and a display from the Cortes Housing Society. Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Museum, took Cortes Currents on a tour of the exhibit. 

Continue reading From The Ground Up: The Story Of Cortes Island Dwellings →
Forests, Politics

A Cortes Island Resident’s Contributions to the 2023 NDP Convention

Cortes Island resident Bruce Ellingsen was both a delegate to the recent NDP Convention in Victoria, and the original author of resolution #42 written for the segment called ‘Building a Sustainable Economy for All and Fighting the Climate Crisis.’ Unfortunately, he didn’t get to read it that afternoon.   

“We ended up only getting through 10 of the 69 resolutions, with the presentation to the floor and the debate for pros and cons to any of them,” he told Cortes Currents.

Bruce has a suggestion that would increase the number of resolutions that can be heard, and the delegate’s enthusiasm for citizen democracy, which appears later. 

Continue reading A Cortes Island Resident’s Contributions to the 2023 NDP Convention →
Clothing, History

Peeking into Cortes Island’s past through vintage clothing

On Wednesday, July 19, the Cortes Island Museum offered visitors a rare opportunity to see some of the clothing and accessories from its collections.

The event was organized by Lilly Allen, this summer’s intern, who was inspired by the dress that Margaret Smith wore when she married John Manson in the late 1890’s.

Continue reading Peeking into Cortes Island’s past through vintage clothing →