Local filmmaker Jennifer Pickford found more than the spiritual paradise of her expectations, when she first visited India in 2008. She subsequently embarked upon the personal pilgrimage, 2,500 kilometres down the Ganges River, chronicled in the documentary ‘Sacred India: Plastic Revolution,’ which comes to Mansons Hall on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.
Continue reading The making of ‘Sacred India’: a personal pilgrimage & investigation of plastic wasteEditor’s note: When the Chum runs were large enough, Cortes Island Streamkeepers harvested the eggs from Chum Salmon returning to Basil Creek and raised them in the Klahoose hatchery in 2020 and 2021. Very few salmon returned in 2022, so 50,000 Chum eggs were brought from the Tla’amin Fish Hatchery in Powell River. The following article illustrates the fact that DFO has been attempting to preserve salmon stocks in many areas.
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Winter sun backlighting their frosted breath, a dozen people trudge gingerly in the icy waters of the Trent River in search of salmon.
Loaded with gear and armed with wooden poles, eyes down and intent, they test each step on slick rocks while navigating the currents swelled by November rains.
Each fall, upwards of 25 volunteers join an expedition to a remote section of the Vancouver Island river to help the Courtenay Fish and Game Protective Association trap spawning coho to take back to its new hatchery at Comox Lake.
Continue reading Salmon skyline takes wild coho conservation to new heightsEditor’s note: Some of the places mentioned in this article, like Mount Washington and the Comox Glacier, are only about 20 km southwest of Cortes Island as the crow flies. Mount Cain is about 100 km west of us. If the snowpack has been decreasing since 2005, is it surprising that we’ve been experiencing droughts during the summer on Cortes and other parts of the Greater Campbell River since 2021?
By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
My dad, far left, and students in a ski retail and repair class he taught at Forbidden Plateau in the early 90s. Submitted photo
When I was a kid, I used to play with the pile of toys at Ski Tak Hut in Courtenay while my dad closed up shop.
Ski Tak Hut has been selling skis and snowboards in Courtenay since 1976. My dad has worked there since before I was born, and when I was a baby he would divide his time seasonally — working as a fishing guide in the summer and at the ski shop in the winter. He became a store partner in 1993 up until his recent retirement, and in a way it became part of the family.
Continue reading Magic mountain, melting snow: Climate uncertainty in the Comox ValleyEditor’s Note: While Cortes and Quadra Islands discuss alternate forms of transportation, it is of interest to see what another community in our broadcast area is doing.
Originally published on qathet Living
BC Transit Powell River
Public service funded by fares, the Province of BC, the City, qathet Regional District, and Tla’amin Nation. Administered by BC Transit.
Advantage: Cheap and consistent. You can go from Saltery Bay to Lund and everywhere in between for $2.25, and to Texada for $8, including the ferry fare. Kids 12 and under travel free. The HandiDART system, also $2.25 a ride, offers door to door service for people with mobility challenges.
Continue reading qathet’s get-around gang: what works, what doesn’tEditor’s note: The subject of marine restoration is of importance and Cortes Currents has FM listeners in the area between Oyster Bay and Fanny Bay.
By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Recent funding boosts will allow the Comox Valley Project Watershed Society to implement an expanded vision for the restoration of marine habitats from Oyster Bay to Fanny Bay.
Project Watershed will receive $1.5 million through the Aquatic Ecosystems Restoration Fund. The funding will be given out over the next four years and will support the restoration and enhancement of local marine systems. The group will work to restore tidal marshes, eelgrass beds, kelp forests and critical salmon habitat.
Alongside this, Project Watershed will be receiving some funding from BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (SRIF), which is set to be announced later this week.
Continue reading New funding expands Project Watershed’s vision for coastal restoration
