National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Jim Van Tine points out a grassy marsh bench sloping into a tranquil pond populated by ducks and ringed by a mix of salmonberry shrubs and alder and cottonwood trees at the heart of the Campbell River estuary. 

The site — Mill Pond in the Baikie Island Reserve — was an industrial wasteland little more than 20 years ago, stuffed full of log booms and surrounded by timber yards, Van Tine said.