Originally published in the Bird’s Eye
The Quadra Island Health Society (QIHS) and the Quadra Island Foundation (QIF) have joined forces to launch a community fundraising campaign aimed at securing a new physician for the Quadra Island Medical Clinic (QIMC).
Continue reading The Quadra Way: When It Matters, We Do It Together
The 2026 New Forest Act Roadshow will be coming to our area next month. The Sentinel Educational Foundation and Watershed Sentinel magazine are the sponsors of the Vancouver Island leg of its tour. Jennifer Houghton, Campaign Director of the New Forest Act Proposal, will be speaking at the Campbell River United Church at 7:00 on Thursday, June 11, and Quadra Island Community Centre at 7:00 on Saturday, June 13.
Jennifer Houghton: ”Right now we’re seeing a decline in timber supply, mill closures, degraded lands, degraded watersheds, rising disaster costs, and less stable communities. The current system isn’t even protecting the future of forestry itself. Ecosystem decline is a serious problem across BC, and the whole structure of forestry needs to be replaced. That’s why we’ve developed a legislative proposal to restructure all forestry in BC.”
Continue reading Coming Soon: The 2026 New Forest Act RoadshowBy Regional Director Mark Vonesch
As many of you are aware, 2385425 Alberta Ltd. (Island United) has applied to increase the size of the tenure of their quarry on Cortes Island from 1.25ha to 5.16ha.
Applications have been submitted to the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals to increase the footprint, approve washing as a permitted activity, introduce a concrete plant, and increase the annual extraction rate to a maximum of 39,999 tonnes per year (up from approximately 5,000 tonnes per year).
These applications impact public land and our community and there is now opportunity for us, the public, to provide input into the decision.
The community orchard at the Rainbow Ridge affordable housing complex officially launched with a tree-planting ceremony on Earth Day. In this morning’s interview, permaculture designer Witney Vanderleest discusses her role in the project, the process of planting the first 35 trees, and what the community can expect to see as the site evolves.
Continue reading The Evolving Permaculture Design at Rainbow Ridge
By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A small quarry on Cortes Island, BC, could soon grow to more than four times its current size and local streamkeepers say the province may be considering the expansion without a full picture of nearby creeks, wetlands and fish habitat.
Island United, a local construction company, runs the Cortes Pit — a rock and gravel quarry in Whaletown. The company is asking the province to greenlight its plans to expand the quarry from 1.25 hectares to 5.16 hectares, add gravel washing and a concrete plant and extract about 40,000 tonnes of rock and gravel each year.
In a formal objection, Cortes Island Streamkeepers, a local volunteer group that monitors and restores island streams, is asking the province to pause the application while it works to set the record straight on what it calls “misleading information” about nearby streams and fish presence.
Continue reading Local volunteers challenge the expansion of a BC quarry near fish-bearing creeks
