Every year, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) allots Cortes Island $25,000 to be distributed to Cortes Island organizations as Grants-in-Aid. While the final decision is made by the SRD Board, the process begins locally. This year Regional Director Noba Anderson has committed to making her recommendation based on the input of Cortes not-for-profit organizations. She asked that they go beyond thinking in terms of the grant and put forward proposals that are of a “bigger minded gutsy nature.” Nine Cortes organizations subsequently submitted 20 project proposals. The most ambitious, six proposals costing a total of $362,936, came from the Friends of Cortes Island Society (FOCI). This is clearly far beyond Grants in Aid and the May 12th Cortes Virtual Community meeting was devoted to a discussion of FOCI’s larger picture vision.
Continue reading May 12th Cortes Virtual Meeting: FOCI’s Larger Picture VisionTag Archives: Sabina Leader Mense
Who Speaks For Brother Wolf?
Originally broadcast in Season One of the Deep Roots Initiative, Cortes Radio, CKTZ, 89.5 FM
Western culture paints wolves with a dark brush as evil characters in myths and fairytales, but perhaps that’s because they’re more like us than we care to admit. Natalia Auger Nybida takes a deep look at the essential role wolves play in our ecosystem.
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Whaletown Commons Became a Park
There was a celebration on Cortes Island a little more than a week ago. Close to a hundred people came out in the rain to munch on some of the goodies and listen to some of the community’s elders. After more than a quarter of a century, Whaletown Commons became a park.
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Cortes Island Ancient Forest #3: Delight Lake Watershed
Originally published on Heartwood, Field Notes
One of the challenges that communities such as Cortes Island face when negotiating with logging companies on behalf of the forests is that they are often not even sharing the same language.
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Cortes Island Ancient Forest #2: The Carrington Bay Children’s Forest
Originally published on Heartwood, Field Notes
There is very little common ground between Island Timberlands’ methods and how the community would like forestry to be done on Cortes – but as this is private managed forestland, there’s not a whole lot they can legally do about it.
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