At 9:08 AM on the morning of February 9th, 2022, a Squirrel Cove resident phoned the Coast Guard about a fire just north of Refuge Cove, on West Redonda Island. What she thought might be a house engulfed by fire turned out to be a 34 foot wood and fiberglass boat close to the shore.
Continue reading Boat catches fire close to Refuge CoveTag Archives: West Redonda Island
All about registering groundwater wells
With the deadline for registering irrigation, commercial or industrial use wells fast approaching, the Quadra ICAN water security team is concerned that some people may miss out.
According to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development press release, “A water licence is not required for a household well or groundwater used for domestic purposes, such as watering lawns and gardens. Domestic groundwater users are encouraged to register their well for free.”
Kris Wellstein pointed out that water used for home industries like egg stands, market gardens and fruit trees (if the fruit is sold) is classified as commercial.
Continue reading All about registering groundwater wellsRefuge Cove General Store Reopening
The Refuge Cove general store should soon be reopening.
This is the Desolation Sound’s only grocery store in a deep-water harbour and is normally open from June until September.
Continue reading Refuge Cove General Store ReopeningReviewing the scenic impact of logging 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 IslandsTracking BC Timber Sales Progress
The first thing that attracted me was the fine detail. While Global Forest Watch’s online map is full of pertinent detail, it doesn’t look like a satellite map. This is better. Zooming in on Refuge Cove, for example, you can see individual buildings, boats tied up at the wharves, and trees coming right down to the water’s edge. Zooming out to see a larger area, Refuge Cove is set within a block of green. The surrounding area is coloured pinkish- brown, so it can be quickly identified. There are a number of orange blocks east of Refuge Cove. These are the areas that will be logged next. The Wilderness Committee’s new ArcGIS StoryMap is tracking BC Timber Sales extraction of logs from our forests.
Continue reading Tracking BC Timber Sales Progress