Mark Vonesch is very passionate about Cortes Island and his activities as Regional Director. If this were a video, rather than a radio broadcast, you would see this it in his facial expressions. There is a hint of this passion in the words he chose and the tone of his voice.
Cortes Currents asked him for a recap of this past year and what to expect going forward into 2024.
Continue reading Mark Vonesch’s First Year In Office: Things ‘Accomplished’ and ‘In Process’
Editor’s note: A model for addressing wildfire risk, seems similar to what the SRD is doing on Cortes.
By Jordan Copp, Coast Reporter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
With more than 400 active wildfires currently burning in B.C., the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) is implementing a new resiliency plan in the event of a major fire in its tenure area.
Sunshine Coast Community Forest has established a Wildfire Resiliency Plan in partnership with Frontera Forest Solutions, SCCF announced last month.
Continue reading Here’s how Sunshine Coast Community Forest is reducing its wildfire risk
Every year, the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) give the Jo Ann Green Award to a Cortes Islander who has made a significant contribution to the environmental wellbeing of the community. Bruce Ellingsen is this year’s recipient.
“Jo Ann Green was an exemplary environmentalist who came to Cortes in 1969, and she immediately became involved in social environmental activities on the island,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI.
Continue reading Bruce Ellingsen: 2022 recipient of the Jo Ann Green Award
A $50 million a year business seeks increased logging restrictions in the Outer Discovery Islands.
Ralph Kellar, ad hoc chair of the Discovery Islands Marine Tourism Group, cites studies showing that marine tourism brings just as much money as logging into the local economy.
Continue reading Tourism Sector seeks increased logging restrictions in the Outer Discovery Islands
The BC Government is currently reviewing the scenic impact of logging in the Outer Discovery Islands. They are determining the level of viewshed protection for scenic corridors important to the $50 million-a-year marine tourism industry, local residents, and recreational users. All of the crown lands on Cortes, Read, Maurelle, Raza, Stuart, and the Redonda Islands are being given new Visual Quality Objective designations.
Continue reading Reviewing the scenic impact of logging in the Outer Discovery Islands
