A youth filmmaking initiative with international reach has its’ office in Mansons Hall, on Cortes Island.
In the second of a series of programs about Reel Youth, Mark Vonesch and Erica Køhn tell the story of how this initiative came into being.
Continue reading The origins of Reel YouthThis story is about how COVID-19 changed summer jobs for one Cortes student, I’m interviewing Natalia Nybida, a Vancouver Island university student, going into her second year. Originally airing on CKTZ 89.5fm, this is an excerpt of the Q+A, with photos.
Continue reading How COVID-19 changed summer jobs for one Cortes studentCampbell River Mirror, Local Journalism Reporter
A riparian restoration along the banks of the Tahsis River is underway after a $900,000 grant by the Coastal Restoration Fund.
On June 15, forestry crews conducted surveys to identify ways to promote long-lived conifers along the river banks. The restoration project aims to plant and accelerate the growth of spruce and cedar trees to repair stream-banks to promote a healthy habitat.
Spearheaded by the Nootka Sound Watershed Society (NSWS) and managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the work will be conducted over three years on six northwest Vancouver Island salmon streams in the region around Tahsis and Zeballos.
Continue reading Fish Habitat Restoration In Northwestern Vancouver Island10 years ago, I began writing a personal blog, titled Out on a Limb: my life with trees. I have fallen out of a few, climbed many, cut them down as a summer Junior Forest Ranger, burned lots in the wood stove to keep the home warm. The Natural History Interpreter, side of me has catalogued thousands of photos which fit into the large file of Forest Ecosystems: lakes and streams, large and small animals, trees and plants. The Cultural Interpreter side of me, has a small library of logging histories, edible and medicinal plants, political books dealing with Wars in the Woods, corporations bribing government officials, environmentalist perspectives on Forests.
Continue reading Forest Or Tree Farm?North Island Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Sweat sticks, clogged with dust. Mosquitoes whine madly. Muscles are knotted, feet burning, a 20-pound sack of tree seedlings rubs a hip with every trudging step, building on a nasty, season-long blister. It’s been nine hours on this mountainside, with every planted tree worth 17 cents.
Step. Dig. Plant. Step. Dig. Plant.
Finally back at the truck, a mask has to be put on a grimy face, and then it’s back with the same three people as yesterday. And the day before. And the 20 days before that. Tomorrow will see it all repeated.
This is tree-planting in the time of COVID-19.
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