Tag Archives: FOCI Projects

Food, Food Security

Farming for the climate future

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tamara McPhail’s morning chore never changes, but the infinite variety of sounds and seasons makes milking cows every day unique. 

On this spring morning, Zinnia and her new calf Equinox are restless and nagging — bellowing, bleating and raring to get outside into the fields. 

Other mornings, they greet McPhail with gentle grunts and low moos as she enters the barn as if relishing the connection they’ll have with her. 

“I’m really attached to the livestock system,” says McPhail, who along with her partner Adam Schick, has been part of a team stewarding the land at Linnaea Farm on Cortes Island, B.C., closing on 25 years. 

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Transportation

The Cortes Island ‘Room for Rider’ Initiative

 Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) is launching a new transportation initiative

“We’re really excited to be launching this new ‘Room for Rider’ initiative. It’s a mirror tag that people can hang in their rear view mirror to let people know that they’re willing to give people a ride across Quadra,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI.  

Continue reading The Cortes Island ‘Room for Rider’ Initiative →
Waste

2023 Cortes Island Beach Clean-up

Eleven volunteers turned out for the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) annual Beach-Clean-up on Saturday, June 17. 

“Most of what we collected today is styrofoam, which is used for floats. That’s obviously washed up on the beach, which is great to get off because it breaks up. We got a whole truckload full of styrofoam. We’ve also picked up a lot of the little black plastic trays they use on the oyster farms, tires with styrofoam in them, a few buoys and then just some sort of trash, but mainly styrofoam,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI

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Cost of Climate Change

Extreme heat in May 2023

Does it feel hot out here? It is.

On May 14, 2023, Campbell River, British Columbia experienced an extreme temperature of 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit). This temperature is quite remarkable for mid-May, as it is well above the historical average high for the area during this time of year.

Climate change is caused primarily by the extreme emissions of a minority of super-emitters, corporations that support their consumption – all permitted by lawmakers. We have a rapidly closing window to limit these emissions to prevent catastrophic changes to our spaceship earth.

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Business, Community, Housing, Tourism

Kate Maddigan, CCEDA’s new Economic Development Officer

The Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) recently hired Kate Maddigan as its new Economic Development Officer (EDO). 

Colin Funk, the President of CCEDA, explained, “I have known Kate pretty much the entire time I’ve been on Cortes, I think I’m coming up to my 10th summer here. I’ve been on a few boards with her when I was active with Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI). We live pretty close together in the south end of the island. So like many, we bump into each other at the store or on the trails and such.”

Cortes Currents asked Maddigan about some of the work she has done in the community.

Continue reading Kate Maddigan, CCEDA’s new Economic Development Officer →