Tag Archives: University of Victoria

Rivers & Oceans

Rays of hope for kelp and climate in south Salish Sea

Editor’s note: Bull kelp grows from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to Santa Barbara County in California. There is a lot of it around Vancouver Island, and in the waters off both Cortes and Quadra Islands.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s not all doom and gloom for the rich underwater kelp forests in the southern Salish Sea struggling to weather increasingly warm oceans. 

Some pockets of bull kelp vital for sea life off southern Vancouver Island and B.C.’s Gulf Islands are proving to be resilient to rising sea temperatures and marine heat waves, a new University of Victoria study has found. 

Continue reading Rays of hope for kelp and climate in south Salish Sea →
Weather

‘Here we are talking about drought in February’

Editor’s note: When the rains finally started in October 2022, Cortes Island had received very little precipitation for 97 days. That was the first year Basil Creek came close to drying up and only about 10 Chum were able to swim upstream to spawn. The creek almost disappeared during the 2023 drought and some of Cortes Island’s shallow wells stopped recharging. On Quadra Island, I-CAN’s water security team responded to the drought by launching a project to gather data on the island’s ‘water budget,’ wetlands and wells, so they can be better prepared for the future. With Vancouver Island’s snowpacks currently 70% below normal, we may need a wetter than normal spring and summer to avert another drought in 2024.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Water security groups in B.C. are rallying to face another summer wracked by drought and wildfire after the province revealed the snowpack is 40 per cent lower than normal. And they are urging the provincial government to do the same. 

Extremely low snow levels across most of B.C., ongoing drought in certain areas of the province and unusually warm weather are increasing the risk of widespread drought and wildfire this spring and summer, according to the BC River Forecast Centre’s snow bulletin released Thursday. 

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Forests, Indigenous Nations

Klahoose First Nation Acquires Extensive Logging Tenure from Interfor

In late 2023, Klahoose First Nation completed a “landmark deal” to purchase a total tenure of 181,036 cubic metres of allowable annual cut (AAC), on forest lands located on the Sunshine Coast in the Nation’s traditional territory. This makes KFN the largest logging tenure holder within the Nation’s traditional landbase.

Klahoose already owned tenure of 115,000 cubic metres AAC, so this purchase brings their total allowable cut to 296 thousand cubic metres per year, or over 140 million board feet. Chief Steven Brown told reporters that “Klahoose Nation is a forestry nation. We see a bright future for forestry, and it is time for us to manage the resources in our territory so the benefits come to our members,”

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Indigenous Nations History

SFU researcher explores Haida Gwaii’s unique archeological history

Editor’s note: This research could throw some light on how the First Nations reached the Discovery Islands, where the earliest archaeological finds are currently from about 11,000 years ago at Yeatman Bay on Quadra Island. In an interview with Cortes Currents, an archaeologist from the Hakai Institute said he did not have any early dates for Cortes but “It really comes down to where people have done the research.”

By Seth Forward, Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Groundbreaking research on Haida Gwaii could lend more clarity to unanswered questions about how the First Peoples of the Americas arrived after the last ice age. 

By testing marine core samples off the coast of Moresby Island, researchers from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the University of Victoria (UVic) are attempting to understand the ancient paleo-landscape of the archipelago. 

Continue reading SFU researcher explores Haida Gwaii’s unique archeological history →
Energy

‘Hard to believe it’s real’: B.C.’s energy regulator repeatedly gave Coastal GasLink a pass on alleged environmental infractions

Editor’s note: Another account of how government regulators are not equipped to do their job and the resulting lack of oversight may be putting the public at risk.

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

When officials from the BC Energy Regulator travelled to Wet’suwet’en territory in September 2022, they were planning a routine inspection of a fish-bearing stream.

Two years had passed since Coastal GasLink completed installation of a section of pipeline through the stream, a tributary of Tchesinkut Creek, near the community of Burns Lake in northwest B.C.

They discovered Coastal GasLink had never finished restoring the waterway and, for two years, pipeline construction had been impacting fish habitat. It was a mess. 

Continue reading ‘Hard to believe it’s real’: B.C.’s energy regulator repeatedly gave Coastal GasLink a pass on alleged environmental infractions →