Tag Archives: Turtle Island

Three Decades of Stewardship: FOCI’s Ongoing Legacy in Cortes Island Parks

For over 30 years, Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) has played a vital role in preserving and maintaining the natural beauty of Cortes Island’s parks. From humble beginnings to an established organization with year-round maintenance operations, FOCI’s legacy is woven into the very trails, beaches, and forests it cares for.

“There is just a wonderful collection of fantastic places that we’ve protected on this island, and I think we should celebrate that,” exclaimed Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI. “The parks are there for people to enjoy and learn about nature. They’re very popular on Cortes.”

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First Nations leaders push for energy wealth and ownership at Canadian Hydrogen Convention

By Jeremy Appel,  Alberta Native News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

Less than a week before Billy Morin was elected as the Conservative MP for Edmonton Northwest in the Canadian federal election, the former elected chief of Enoch Cree Nation moderated a panel on Indigenous opportunities in hydrogen.

The Canadian Hydrogen Convention was held on April 23 and 24 at the Edmonton Convention Centre, with the second day including the panel, “Indigenous Partnerships for a Clean Energy Future.”

Grand Chief Greg Desjarlais of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, Salish Elements chairman and co-founder Reuben George, and Xaxli’p (Fountain First Nation) executive director Andrew Mercer spoke on the Morin-moderated panel.

Salish Elements, an Indigenous-run company that produces green hydrogen—meaning hydrogen that is made with water, rather than natural gas—signed a May 2024 agreement to build a 25-megawatt hydrogen production facility on the Xaxli’p reserve in Lillooet, British Columbia.

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