Tag Archives: Gnat Trail

Three Decades of Stewardship: FOCI’s Ongoing Legacy in Cortes Island Parks

For over 30 years, Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) has played a vital role in preserving and maintaining the natural beauty of Cortes Island’s parks. From humble beginnings to an established organization with year-round maintenance operations, FOCI’s legacy is woven into the very trails, beaches, and forests it cares for.

“There is just a wonderful collection of fantastic places that we’ve protected on this island, and I think we should celebrate that,” exclaimed Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI. “The parks are there for people to enjoy and learn about nature. They’re very popular on Cortes.”

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FOCI: Maintaining Cortes Island’s Regional parks

“A lot of the places people want to go and visit are either down a beach access or they are a park. We’ve got large areas of unfragmented forest in Ha’thayim or Von Donop Park. Mansons Landing Provincial Park is a really bio-diverse lagoon full of marine life. Those parks together make up quite a big parcel of land that’s set aside for conservation and for nature to thrive.  There’s no development pressure, that’s really important. We have those permanent resources protected, and obviously there’s a lot of really interesting ecosystems in them too,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI).

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The launch of Cortes CPR (Climate Plan for Resilience)

The official launch of Cortes CPR (Climate Plan for Resilience) took place just days ago.  (They were talking about it last January.)

“We’ve put out our new Facebook page and an introductory letter to the community in the Tideline. We’re really trying to get the ball going because we’ve done a lot of preliminary research and organizing behind the scenes,  but now we want to get it out that we are working on this plan,” said spokesperson Ashley Zarbatany.

“We’re looking to partner with different organizations. We’re going to be reaching out to stakeholders and rights holders and we are also looking for volunteers for our data collections team.”

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Preparing for sea level rise on Cortes and Quadra Islands

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) is applying for a grant to assess the potential extent of sea level rise on Cortes and Quadra Islands

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SRD Soon To Reopen Remaining Regional Parks & Facilities

In response to the COVID pandemic, on April 8, the Government of British Columbia closed all provincial parks – but most regional parks within the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) remained open. Now, as the provincial government is opening parks up throughout British Columbia, the SRD is working on its own plan to reopen remaining regional parks & facilities for public use. 

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