Tag Archives: FOCI

Cost of Climate Change

Our Fair Share: Climate Crisis Workshop on Cortes Island

“A ccording to NASA, if we look back 800,000 years, we can see that carbon dioxide concentration fluctuated between roughly 180 and  280 parts per million and just in the geological blink of an eye, we have sent that  parts per million up to just about 400. So we’re getting very close to a doubling of CO2 relative to where it has been for a long time.” 

That quote was Max Thaysen, from the Climate Action Network, explaining one of the slides  (top of page) shown at ‘Our Fair Share,’ an interactive online climate solutions workshop held in Mansons Hall on Thursday, October 3, 2024. 

The event was hosted by the Climate Action Committee. 

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Politics

A Cortes Island view: the local election campaign on September 30

338Canada’s latest projection for North Island Riding, taken on September 30, shows the Conservative party of BC having just taken the lead in the popular vote. Nineteen days from the election, they may currently be supported by 47% of the electorate as opposed to 42% for the NDP. The media website uses data from recent polls and the riding’s history. They have covered 13 general elections and, so far, 338Canada claims to have successfully identified the winner in 1,657 electoral districts 89.9% of the time. That said, this is essentially a ‘point in time’ analysis and yesterday showed these two parties virtually tied.

 “We know this is going to be a really close election, so we’re rolling up our sleeves and we’re not taking anything for granted,” said Michele Babchuk, the NDP candidate and current MLA for our riding. 

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Animals

Final Report on FOCI’s Western Screech Owl Project

The final report on the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) Western Screech Owl Project will be unveiled at Mansons Hall on Friday. The two biologists who were hired to write it will be giving an hour long talk that starts at 7 PM. 

“Western Screech Owls are a beautiful little owl. They used to be one of the most common owls in coastal BC, but they’ve declined hugely in the last 20 years,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI.  

“They’re a species that need attention. In the last three years we’ve been running a project on Cortes, Read, Maurelle and Sonora Islands to look for Screech Owls and to do what we can to help conserve them.  We started the project in 2021.  In the spring of 2022, we conducted our first audio surveys, mainly on Cortes Island. Then in 2023, we expanded our surveys onto Read, Maurelle and Sonora Islands. We did pick up Screech Owls in the north of Cortes and one on Read Island. We also went out put up nest boxes around all the islands to try and provide nesting habitats for the owls.”

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Cost of Climate Change, Environment

Turning Down the Heat

By Maureen Williams and the Climate Action Network

In early July of 2024, a small group of Cortes Islanders, supported by Friends Of Cortes Island (FOCI), screened the film “How to Boil a Frog” for the community. The film is about the five-pronged problem life on Earth is currently facing — overpopulation, a war on nature, wealth disparity, peak oil, and climate change—and offers five actions that can help—boycott Exxon, change your “life” bulb (reduce consumption), a change of heart, one kid per couple, and kick some ass. This article is the first in a series focused on each of these five solutions from the film, and more. You can learn more about the film and the filmmaker, Jon Cooksey, here and here. You can even watch the film, here.

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Environment

FOCI: Continuity & Change

The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) has a new President, is getting prepared to launch out in new directions and is also trying to raise $30,000 by the end of the month. The first two of those announcements may be interrelated, the third definitely is not. It is a result of two large contracts coming to an end, more on that later. First, Mike Moore has been one of FOCI’s members for decades and is now taking on a more active leadership role.

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