By Bhagyashree Chatterjee, The Squamish Chief, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
What do Premier David Eby’s latest mandate letters for ministers mean for Indigenous peoples?
These letters, all dated Jan. 16, shape the government’s priorities, and this term, they focus on “reconciliation, economic growth, and community well-being.”
Continue reading What B.C. Premier Eby’s mandate letters mean for Indigenous peoples
The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) referred concerns with old forest management on Quadra Island to the Natural Resources and First Nations Relations Committees for recommendation.
In August, the Forest Practices Board released a report stating that three Forestry companies were out of compliance with ‘some aspect of forestry legislation.’ ‘TimberWest does not employ a strategy to ensure that the appropriate amount of mature forests will become old (p 16).’ Okisollo Resources Ltd ‘did not follow its wildlife tree retention strategy when it harvested cutblocks 19-01 and 19-02’ (p 22). Younger Brothers Holdings ‘harvested trees from an area where its Woodlot License Plan said harvesting was to be avoided (p 23).
Continue reading Concerns About Old Growth Management On Quadra Island Referred to SRD CommitteesEditor’s note: When the rains finally started in October 2022, Cortes Island had received very little precipitation for 97 days. That was the first year Basil Creek came close to drying up and only about 10 Chum were able to swim upstream to spawn. The creek almost disappeared during the 2023 drought and some of Cortes Island’s shallow wells stopped recharging. On Quadra Island, I-CAN’s water security team responded to the drought by launching a project to gather data on the island’s ‘water budget,’ wetlands and wells, so they can be better prepared for the future. With Vancouver Island’s snowpacks currently 70% below normal, we may need a wetter than normal spring and summer to avert another drought in 2024.
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Water security groups in B.C. are rallying to face another summer wracked by drought and wildfire after the province revealed the snowpack is 40 per cent lower than normal. And they are urging the provincial government to do the same.
Extremely low snow levels across most of B.C., ongoing drought in certain areas of the province and unusually warm weather are increasing the risk of widespread drought and wildfire this spring and summer, according to the BC River Forecast Centre’s snow bulletin released Thursday.
Continue reading ‘Here we are talking about drought in February’
A provincial biologist visited Cortes Island over the weekend. Emily Upham-Mills is an ecosystems biologist with the Ministry of Water, Lands and Natural Resource Stewardship and an important member of the team working with the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) on the Western Screech Owl Project.
Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI, explained, “Emily very kindly came up on the weekend to talk to the community. This project is really important for FOCI. We’re doing really interesting scientific work and that data is going back both provincially and federally. It puts us in the spotlight with this particular species. It’s a project that’s running for three years. We’re in the second year of trying to discover whether there are Western Screech Owls on Cortes Island.”
Continue reading Provincial Biologist visits Cortes Island; Second Western Screech Owl discovered
The audio portion of this story starts with a chorus of croaking frog voices, rising up from a wetland. After a few seconds, the distant call of an owl is introduced.
Autumn Barrett-Morgan first learned about soundscapes when she was studying bird identification in college, but it really come alive after she became a Monitoring Technician with the Friends of Cortes Island Society.
“In the past two or three years, I started really diving into the soundscape on the Dillon Creek Wetland Restoration Project. I found it really important in birding, because not all birds are visible or make themselves visible and that left me not knowing who I’m listening to. So it got me really inspired to dive into observing the soundscape through studying the bird calls once I got back home.”
Continue reading Autumn Barrett-Morgan: Soundscapes
