Tag Archives: Campbell River

Environment, Indigenous Nations

Cortes Islanders Support Standing Rock

By Roy L Hales

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The Standing Rock Sioux’s struggle to halt the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, a half mile north of their reservation, has gained international recognition. The Guardian’s coverage began on April 2, with a story of 200 Native Americans who “took to horseback” in a mounted protest. In August, Reuters reported on the tribe’s attempt to obtain an injunction against construction. As of this morning, Democracy Now has posted 154 stories. That’s just the media. Many North American communities have held demonstrations. Two events, in a relatively remote part of British Columbia, illustrate the extent to which Cortes Islanders Support Standing Rock.

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Finances, Forests

Potentially Embarrassing Questions About BC’s Stumpage Rates

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By Roy L Hales

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During a recent interview, Campbell River film maker Damien Gillis said “there would be a great deal of outrage” if the public knew the degree to which we subsidize logging old growth forests. These subsidies come in the form of lower stumpage fees for the remote areas where most of our surviving ancient forests still persist.  Gillis also informed me this is a central issue in the United States’ softwood dispute with Canada. After the interview, I drew up a series of potentially embarrassing questions about BC’s stumpage rates.

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Forests

Inside One Of British Columbia’s Disappearing Old Growth Rainforests

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Most of us have seen historical photographs of the great forests that once stood in British Columbia. Though his family has worked in the forestry sector for a century, Damien Gillis’ first view of a forest like this came during a six-day-trek into the Incomappleux Valley. The award winning Campbell River documentary film maker (Fractured Land, Oil in Eden) says, “it was like nothing I’ve seen before, just the way the ecosystem is really a cycle of life, death and rebirth right before your eyes.” Some of the trees he saw had been saplings around the time of the Roman Empire. The resulting documentary, Primeval: Enter the Incomappleux offers viewers a rare glimpse inside one of BC’s disappearing old growth rainforests.

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Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Ian Roberts’ Response To Anti-Salmon Farm Critics

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In 2002, the number of pink salmon returning to the Broughton Archipelago was only 3% of normal.  Alexandra Morton subsequently co-authored a study reporting that 68 – 98 % of the fish tested in this area had the sea louse “L. salmonis.”[1.] A University of Toronto study links the 2015 sea lice epidemic to fish farms in the same area. The article that follows is based on Marine Harvest Canada’s (MHC) Ian Roberts’ response to anti-salmon farm critics.

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Rivers & Oceans

Good News About BC’s Fishing Runs

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Aside from the incredible run of 2010, reports of the Fraser River’s sockeye salmon tend to be glum. I believe there is only one Cortes Island based fisherman still working the Johnston strait and recently learned this is the second year he did not receive an opening to fish sockeye.[1] Though the culprits were last year’s drought and a culvert, most of the chum returning to Basil Creek in 2015 were killed before they could spawn. These were just a few of the stories that prompted me to seek out evidences of the impending demise of what was previously one of our province’s leading industries. Instead, I found good news about BC’s fishing runs.

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