The Cortes Forestry General Partnership is currently focusing on wildfire fuel mitigation strategies.
While none have been large, there were recent fires on West Redonda, Read, Quadra and Sonora Islands.
“It’s highly possible that we can have a fire here,” said General Manager Mark Lombard.
Continue reading Focusing on wildfire fuel mitigation
Originally published on the Discovery Islander
Mosaic Forest Management Corporation is responsible for forestry operations on TimberWest’s Tree Farm Licence 47 on Quadra Island. The letter below was written by Sierra Quadra to Mosaic on October 14, 2021, after the extraordinary “heat dome” of June-July, but before the unusually cold weather of December, and before the “atmospheric rivers” that deluged southwestern BC with record rainfalls, flooding the Fraser Valley and washing out Greater Vancouver’s crucial road and rail links.
Continue reading Quadra Project: Sierra Quadra’s open letter to Mosaic Forest Management CorporationHow our local government works – Part 2 of 5 from the Feb 9 SRD Board Meeting
Electoral Area C is the largest electoral area within the Strathcona Regional District. It spreads out over 10,650 square kilometres: from Quadra throughout the Discovery Islands to some of the Mainland Inlets. The vast majority of people live on Quadra. In the second of five articles arising from the SRD Board meeting of Feb 9th, 2022, Cortes Currents is looking at how the tax dollars from this area were spent in 2021 and a proposed budget for 2022.
Continue reading Where do Discovery Island property tax dollars go?Three quarters of Quadra Island lies outside the fire protection zone. BC Wildfire Service responds to forest fires in this area, but normally do not come on to private property. Last June, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) asked North Island residents if they would like to have the same level of coverage as the south. While roughly half of the respondents said they thought all Quadra residents should have the same level of protection, 64% indicated they were happy with the present system and less than 10% were willing to pay for any additional coverage. The Electoral Areas Services Committee (EASC) instructed SRD staff to draw up a report on how to move forward. Staff suggested forming an advisory group, comprised of representatives from each of the residential areas on the north island. Instead, EASC decided to let the proposal to extend Quadra’s fire protection die.
Continue reading EASC lets proposal to extend Quadra’s fire protection dieWelcome to the first of a special series of Folk U Radio done in partnership with Cortes Currents that takes the Folk University model of slow learning, local knowledge sharing, and neighbours sharing with neighbours and combines it with Cortes Currents commitment to covering the news most relevant to our communities at this time.
As smoke fills the air and people told to close the windows after being told to open them to air out viral loads during the pandemic, the question forefront on many minds is “Are we prepared for what’s coming?”
Continue reading Are you prepared? The role of citizens in creating communities resilient to Wildfire and other Hazards Emergencies
