Tag Archives: Bruce Ellingsen

Forests

Suzanne Simard speaks at the 2023 Cortes Community Forest AGM

The Mother Tree Project began in one Lower Mainland and nine Interior forests. They recently expanded their research on the coast, where Dr Suzanne Simard says the forests are richest in terms of biodiversity. A team came to Cortes Island at the invitation of the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative, and students from the Cortes Island Academy will be taking part in a research propject later this year. Dr Simard described the Mother Tree Project’s work on Cortes, and responded to questions, at the Community Forest’s 2023 AGM.

This is an abridged transcript taken from the ZOOM audio. 

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Forests, History

Early Logging on Cortes Island and Vicinity: Local History with Lynne Jordan

Lynne Jordan has contributed to historical booklets available at the Cortes Island Museum and is currently researching the history of early logging activity in Whaletown.

In the course of an extensive 3-part interview, Lynne draws on original documents, archives, and oral histories to paint a picture of early settler loggers on Cortes — their equipment, their floating camps, the economy in which some prospered and some failed.

The logging community was always a really mixed bag… Much of the logging was done by hand. Some of it using horses.

Logging was not a good way to get rich.

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Disaster

Challenges: The 2023 Cortes Island Firefighting Association AGM

An overwhelming majority of the 50 or so people that turned out (in person or via ZOOM) to the Cortes Island Firefighting Association (CIFFA) AGM on Thursday, Mar 30, were supportive of the fire department. 

CIFFA has a contract to provide fire fighting services, with the Strathcona Regional District (SRD).

A number of attendees questioned the Strathcona Regional District’s current idea of setting up of a regional system, with a Fire Chief in Campbell River.  

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Forests

Ellingsen Woods search for a value added market

“When I came to Cortes, I imagined just making boards is a great thing to do. I’ve had a number of years to assess and reassess that reality. It’s possible as a one man operation for me to do okay at that, but it’s a subsistence business not a business model. It’s not a business plan,” explained Aaron Ellingsen.

His company, Ellingsen Woods, is about to go through a relaunch. 

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Forests

Fuel mitigation around the Cortes Recycling Centre

 “When you talk about fuel, most people think about fuel for a vehicle or fuel for something like that, but fuel for a forest fire  is wood on the ground or standing wood? The idea  is to reduce the fuel load to reduce the severity of a fire. As it approaches that location, the fire will slow down and most likely drop to the ground because we’ve opened up the canopy. The danger trees have been removed and the debris on the ground’s been removed. So it would be a lot easier for firefighters to make a stand,” explained Tor Ellingsen of Reef Point Falling.

He was talking about the recently completed Cortes Island Recycling Centre Wildfire Mitigation Project.

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