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Hecate Strait glass sponge reefs are protected
March 2, 2017
Reefs, unique to the westcoast, thought to be extinct since the Jurassic period, are now a Marine Protected Area. Will glass sponge reefs further south, in the Salish Sea, get similar protection?
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Vancouver Island marine debris clean up
Octobr 6, 2016
Environmentalists came together this year to remove more than 40 tonnes of garbage, recyclables and Japanese tsunami debris from the beaches of Vancouver Island. The operation included a barge and a helicopter working together to cart away bags of litter collected over the spring and summer.
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Agreement to protect BC’s coastal forest
February 11, 2016
After twenty years of effort, the Great Bear Rainforest has a conservation agreement. Patrick Brown looks at the history of the agreement.
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Conservation groups plan a provincial fund to buy new parks
January 28, 2016
Sixteen BC conservation groups have a plan to get BC more parks. A dedicated acquisition fund could help provide endangered lands with environmental and recreational protection. ‘Finding the Money to Buy and Protect Natural Lands’ shows how—and why a fund should be created.
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Let’s Get to “Yes” on a National Marine Conservation Area
October 29, 2015
The Salish Sea is an important ecosystem and the lifeblood of our island communities. MLA Gary Holman makes a call to protect it with a National Marine Conservation Area.
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Rapid melt of Comox Glacier, 2013-2015
October 15, 2015
September photos for three different years (front page) show that the Comox Glacier is melting rapidly. Ralph Shaw says, climate change is becoming a greater and greater crisis on a global level, but we need action on a national and local level.
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BC government approves old-growth logging in Walbran Valley
October 1, 2015
The BC Government has approved a logging permit for a section of the Walbran Valley, but opposition to the old-growth logging is already growing.
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‘Bio Blitz’ on Saturna
August 6, 2015
Over 150 volunteers and 40 top-notch scientists worked together to track down the island’s wildlife within a 24-hour period of time. Can it be duplicated on other islands?
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Logging company Teal Jones edges closer to Castle Grove
July 9, 2015
Teal Jones has revealed plans to log an unprotected section of the Walbran Valley, in an old growth forest that was ground zero for the ‘War in the Woods’ protests of 20 years ago.
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Glass sponge reefs in Georgia Strait to be protected
June 25, 2015
New protective legislation has been put into place around glass sponge reefs in the Strait of Georgia. Conservationists are now hoping for a National Marine Conservation Area.
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Milkweed is a monarch’s best defence
May 28, 2015
Iconic monarch butterfly populations are falling because of the decline of milkweed, the caterpillars’ sole food source. David Suzuki takes a look at what we can do.
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Snuffy Comes Ashore
May 14, 2015
Hornby Islanders got a spectacle when a male elephant seal dragged himself onto Big Trib beach for a nap. William Thomas tells us about this incredible species.
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Learning (and teaching) in nature
March 19, 2015
David Suzuki discusses the benefits of learning in nature, both for children and for their teachers.
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Eelgrass bed mapping complete
March 5, 2015
Mapping of eelgrass beds in Canada’s Salish Sea has been completed and is available online to help conservation and protection of this vital habitat.
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BC government plans to kill 184 wolves
February 5, 2015
The BC government is planning an aerial hunting wolf cull in a controversial attempt to protect declining caribou populations. But are wolves the main cause of caribou decline; is this decision ethically or scientifically sound?
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Climate change and Comox Glacier
November 27, 2014
September 2013 and 2014 photos of the Comox Glacier show a dramatic change.
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Vanishing Beauty
October 16, 2014
Mike Yip talks about butterflies on the coast; where we can still find them and how to help prevent the serious decline in species and numbers.
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Sea stars still disappearing by the thousands
September 4, 2014
Sea stars continue to disappear from the west coast ocean as the effects of the unknown ‘wasting syndrome’ cause the populations to plummet.
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Western Purple Martins
August 21, 2014
Herbie Rochet tells us about a Georgia Basin Western program and what is being done to re-establish this Species of Special Concern.
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Western Bluebirds Re-establishing on Vancouver Island
April 17, 2014
Three years into a project to restore the Western Bluebird to Vancouver Island, project partners are thrilled to find BC-bred birds as far north as Nanaimo.
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Only $85,000 to go, Brooks Point appeal goes province-wide
Oct 10, 2013
Pender Islands’ conservancy has pulled out the stops to secure a waterfront parcel which connects two points, already parkland. The Canada-wide appeal is timely as BC groups, government and non-government, are coalescing to form a united effort to preserve the at-risk coastal Douglas fir zone, which the park represents.
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Galiano’s land for re-creating and learning
Aug 15, 2013
Galiano Conservancy and partners has raised funds to buy a linking piece of land creating a corridor of preserved land from Bodega Ridge to the Trincomali Nature Reserve.
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Whale of a tale on Saturna
May 23, 2013
Attitudes to whales have certainly changed since the fate of Moby Doll in 1964. Saturna’s Moby Doll Symposium will gather leading scientists to tell us what we’ve learned.
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Clayoquot Sound on the edge: preserving Canada’s west coast
May 23, 2013
Wilderness Committee’s engaging 4-page centerfold. Photos, maps, and information make a great read about one of BC's best loved places. How do we keep this treasure intact?
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First Hornby covenant preserves island ecosystem
November 29, 2012
In creating an Islands Trust Fund covenant on private land, a 65% property tax reduction is not the only reward.
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National park expansion on three islands finally complete
November 1, 2012
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is expanding with new protected lands on Pender, Saturna and Prevost Islands.
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TLC seeks input on priorities
October 18, 2012 | Sara Miles
With restructured financial plans in place and membership support, The Land Conservancy of BC is looking ahead; the public is invited to help shape the future at its AGM on November 3 in Victoria.
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Southern Strait marine conservation area: finding balance between people and planet
August 23, 2012
What boundaries will best protect the unique biodiversity of the Southern Strait of Georgia? What impact will a marine protected area have on the people who ply these waters? A new CPAWS campaign encourages comment on these and other aspects of the plan to establish a National Marine Conservation Area in the Salish Sea.
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Orca death mystery - sonar or explosion?
April 5, 2012 | Patrick Brown
First suspected to be a Canadian navy fatality, whale death now thought to be due to US navy operations.
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Update on Nanaimo estuary protection
April 5, 2012 | Sara Miles
Will the estuary be included in an expanded National Marine Conservation Area?
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Tagging plan threatens southern resident Orcas
February 23, 2012 | Misty MacDuffee & Chris Genovali
Already stressed and endangered killer whales will suffer more from a US satellite tagging program, says Raincoast Conservation Foundation. It points to a very successful wolf research program to advocate for non-invasive study methods.
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In Praise of Vultures
February 9, 2012 | Dave Manning
Soon to be seen in our skies, turkey vultures are little appreciated, in spite of all they do for our environment.
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Galiano Restorative Learning Centre a step closer
February 9, 2012 | Helen Hall
Galiano’s Conservancy membership is united to fundraise to secure a site for a new hands-on restorative ecology centre.
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Milestone in protection of Salish Sea waters
November 3, 2011
Proposed boundaries of a new national marine conservation reserve are agreed - 1,400 square kilometres in the Southern Strait of Georgia from Cordova Bay to Gabriola Passage. Next are consultations, feasibility studies, federal/provincial negotiations, and, finally, agreement. At least it's underway.
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Can donors match Brooks Point Angel?
June 30, 2011
An anonymous donor has offered to match future donations up to a maximum of $50,000 for the Pender Islands Conservancy Association’s campaign to complete Brooks Point Regional Park.
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Opposition to artificial reef
June 30, 2011
The Islands Trust has written to provincial Environment Minister Terry Lake objecting to the possible sinking of the decommissioned Canadian navy destroyer Annapolis in Gambier Island’s Halkett Bay.
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Confessions of a woodlot wife
Aug 19, 2010
Jill Brocklehurst lets us in on some of the secrets of woodlots and their operators. More creative than you thought.
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Munk Debate Analysis
December 17, 2009
Munk debate with Elizabeth May, George Monbiot, Bjorn Lomborg, and Lord Nigel Lawson brings out the issues and varied opinions about climate change.
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Psychoclimate
December 17, 2009
Why do we deny climate change - the bigger picture.
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Monbiot-read the hacked emails
December 3, 2009
Commentary examines finding the truth amongst the propaganda in the climate change debate.
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The Georgia Basin-crossing borders, like the environment
July 16, 2009
Collaborative, cross-border organization Georgia Basin Action Plan sponsors projects outlined in its five year report.
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Batholiths project reborn on land
July 16, 2009
Mapping of volcanic rock intrusions in the Coast Range is now taking place on land. Echoes of blasts along a 400 kilometre line will be recorded by seismometres, giving a 'map' hundreds of kilometres under the Earth's surface.
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Navy trumps whales in US Supreme Court
November 27, 2008
On November 12, the US Supreme Court reversed decisions by federal courts which would have restricted the US Navy's use of sonar off the California coast.
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Canada off the hook for violating Kyoto
November 27, 2008
On October 21, Canada's Federal Court ruled that violations of the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act (KPIA), a federal law that requires Canada to take specific action to meet binding international commitments to fight climate change, cannot be challenged through the courts.
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Gulf Islands Park gets a boost from taxpayers
Sept 18, 2008
The federal government has committed another $20 million to GINPR for land acquisition. Where it will be spend is not yet known.
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Tax shifting a politically convenient start to carbon reduction.
Aug 21, 2008
Governments have a limited range of alternatives when faced with long-term problems of the magnitude of the effects of climate change. Persuasion and voluntary actions have limited effectiveness, particularly where there may be significant economic impacts.
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High Arctic Summer ~ Salt Spring’s Climate Change Action Group
May 1, 2008
What will this summer bring for the Arctic as we tilt toward the sun? Summer 2007 was a grim year. On September 16 last year, the Polar ice cap was reduced to an historic low.
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Percy Schmeiser turns the tables on Monsanto
April 3, 2008
On March 19, in an out-of-court settlement, Percy Schmeiser settled his lawsuit with Monsanto. Monsanto has agreed to pay the clean-up costs of the Roundup Ready canola that contaminated Schmeiser’s fields.
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New Denver says ‘no’ to cell phones
March 20, 2008
Cell phones have been controversial in New Denver for some time. Village administration held the poll to determine residents’ wishes are on this controversial technology. The Village of New Denver will proceed with a formal appeal to the federal government agency Industry Canada, based on the poll results.
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Encounter With The Humpbacks
March 6, 2008 | Pene Hollingworth
Antarctica, a land of ice and snow, is reputed to be one of the world’s last greatest adventures. For me it was also my last continent to visit. I now could truly claim to be a world traveller. It turned out to be a spectacular way to round out my explorations.
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TILMA a major hurdle to BC’s climate action plans
February 21, 2008 | Commentary by Marc Lee and Caelie Frampton
Premier Gordon Campbell has positioned BC as a global leader on climate change, but his interest in harmonizing provincial standards through the BC-Alberta Trade, Investment andLabour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) could prove to be a thorn in the government’s side. Fighting climate change will necessarily involve a lot of regulation, while TILMA is fundamentally a deregulatory initiative.
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Give the Gift of Reindeer
December 13, 2007 | Book Review by Christa Grace-Warrick
It only took five months of skiing and hiking 1,500 kilometres through the Arctic living with the caribou to create the story (and the footage).
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Ever been attacked by an octopus?
November 29, 2007 | Derek Holzapfel
My big divelight’s batteries died, and I continued to dive with the camera spotting lights (very dim). Down at 70ft I saw a dark shadow emerge from rocks several feet away.
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‘On the Cariboo Trial’ Example of a Campaign to Save A Species
November 1, 2007 | Wildsight
The Mountain Caribou Project’s campaign to protect mountain caribou began six years ago. Since then many thousands of people have been involved in the fight to see this amazing animal receive the habitat protection it needs to survive. Here are some of the long campaign’s highlights as listed by Wildsight a BC NGO that works to protect biodiversity and sustainability.
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Vancouver Island’s marmot — not out of the woods
July 26, 2007 | Ingmar Lee
Wild-born Vancouver Island marmots are now totally extinct, having passed away into oblivion, without obituary, several years ago..
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Fifty Years of Rootstock
July 26, 2007 | Harry Burton
Traas Nursery was the only grower in Canada producing rootstock for the fruit industry.
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Death of Colleen McCrory
July 12, 2007
British Columbians mourn the loss of one of BC’s most distinguished environmentalists, Colleen McCrory. Over her lifetime, Colleen demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to the well-being of BC’s wilderness and the future of this province.
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Regulations needed for prevention of ship pollution
May 17, 2007
It has come to our attention, and disbelief, that the Conservative government is soon to approve Transport Canada’s new ‘Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Bill C-30),’ despite the numerous retrograde provisions and implications related to cruise ship vessels.
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Gypsy moth control on Salt Spring
May 17, 2007
The provincial government has announced that it will spray a small, targeted area on Salt Spring Island.
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New lichen species discovered in BC
May 3, 2007
For many years scientists have been ringing alarm bells that the clearing of tropical rainforest is destroying species of plants and animals that have not yet been discovered.
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Sewage infraction charges approved
April 5, 2007
On March 22, a Provincial Court Judge approved the charge laid against the GVRD and Province of BC for alleged pollution offences at the Iona sewage treatment plant.
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Victoria area sewage considered
April 5, 2007
The Capital Regional District has released the final four in a series of eight discussion papers regarding sewage treatment.
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Garry oak ecosystem restoration and butterfly recovery
April 5, 2007 | Nicole Kroeker
Parks Canada is actively working towards the recovery of several rare and endangered butterfly and plant species associated with Garry oak ecosystems.
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Ten year celebration for BC’s land trusts
March 22, 2007
Since 1997, over 32 land trusts have formed across BC, working as charitable non-profit organizations to protect BC’s diverse natural and cultural heritage.
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NSERC won’t join batholiths project
March 22, 2007
The Natural Science and Engineering Research Council has withdrawn funding and will not participate in the proposed batholiths project on BC’s North Coast.
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Orcas gone south
February 22, 2007
On January 24, 2007 a pod of endangered Pacific Northwest orca whales was sighted along the coast of California just off San Francisco.
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Tax Green House Gas Emissions — No Caps, No Trades
February 22, 2007 |Commentary by Patrick Brown
A number of Canada’s large industrial and electrical generation operations are major producers of greenhouse gases(GHG). Over the years since the Kyoto accord was signed, the expansion of these operations, particularly in resource extraction, has contributed significantly to the growth of the nation’s GHG emissions, resulting in Canada moving farther from its targets rather than closer to them.
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Editorial: ‘Net Zero’
February 22, 2007
It seems that this newspaper has been publishing articles about global climate change for as long as we can remember. We’re delighted at the way our governments have suddenly caught up to us, and our readers.
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The Great Chinese Carbon Credit Scam
February 8, 2007 | Commentary by Patrick Brown
One of the strategies that was proposed by the previous Canadian government (so Canada could appear to meet its Kyoto greenhouse gas reduction targets) was the purchase of GHG credits which are generated by ‘green’ projects in developing countries. We’ve previously suggested that this scheme was vulnerable to misuse (see ‘The Carbon Credit Myth’ in Island Tides’ June 15, 2006 edition). A fascinating example has just come to light.
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Greenhouse Gases 101
January 11, 2007
Al Gore’s movie 'An Inconvenient Truth' has re-energized the twenty year debate about ‘global warming’—better termed ‘climate change.’ The clear, detailed information in the movie provides a better understanding of the issues surrounding the science—and the politics.
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Sierra Club map reveals how sea level rise will flood BC’s capital
January 11, 2007
In December, the Sierra Club of BC released a map showing how a predicted sea level rise of 6 to 25 metres will eliminate significant parts of BC’s Capital Regional District.
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Bowen Islanders donate nature reserve to Trust Fund
January 11, 2007
Bowen Island residents Neil Boyd and Isabel Otter have donated 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of forested land to the Islands Trust Fund as part of a neighbourhood rezoning and subdivision process. The land was donated as an ecological gift.
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Comment deadline extended for Batholiths Project
November 16, 2006 | Patrick Brown
Public comment on the environmental effects of the batholiths research project will now be accepted by NSERC up to December 31, 2006. This extension appears to be a result of public concern about the effects on fish and marine mammals of seismic work along BC’s Inside Passage.
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California whales seeking colder water to feed
October 5, 2006
In early September, passengers aboard a small plane flying over Queen Charlotte Strait between Haida Gwaii and Port Hardy were astonished to see a large school of humpbacked whales. They were even more astonished to see five or six blue whales, each fifty to sixty feet long.
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Editorial: Not So Nice
October 5, 2006
Readers of ‘California’s whales seeking colder water to feed’ (page 1) could easily get the idea that global warming could have rather pleasant effects on the Gulf Islands—in fact on all that thin strip of territory along the 49th parallel where most Canadians live. And in the sense that winters might be warmer and drier this may be so for the next few years.
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Environmental groups call for hearings on coal-fired power plants
September 21, 2006
Current BC guidelines would allow coal-fired plants, in Princeton and Tumbler Ridge, to emit more pollution than the proposed Sumas II gas-fired power plant in Washington State.
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US court to hear Canadian views on endangered Orcas
September 7, 2006
The US Federal Court ruled on August 18 that it will grant Canadian environmental groups the right to intervene in a lawsuit brought by industry groups.
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Salt Spring grandmother goes north to to view the climate crisis for herself
July 13, 2006
‘I want our neighbours in the North to know that we care about what is happening to their homeland and their way of life,’ says Cutting, who will travel to Inuvik in her Honda Civic Hybrid and then fly to Tuktoyaktuk and Old Crow.
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Public education essential for marine conservation areas
June 15, 2006 | Trysh Ashby-Rolls
Visitors must follow the guidelines in marine life protection areas or face eviction.
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The Carbon Credit Myth
June 15, 2006 | Patrick Brown
It’s clear by now that there’s no way Canada can meet its Kyoto commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) production to 6% less than 1990 levels by 2012.
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Three lightstations transferred to Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
June 1, 2006
‘These lightstation properties have important ecological values, and their addition to Gulf Islands National Park Reserve also brings to our visitors the opportunity to learn about the history of marine navigation on the pacific coast.’
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Parks Canada and Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group sign agreement
June 1, 2006
A formal consultation agreement that establishes a framework for the First Nations of the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group and the superintendent of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada to undertake cooperative planning, management and consultation for the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve was signed on May 20.
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Ecosystem Mapping in the Southern Gulf Islands
May 18, 2006 | Todd Golumbia, Park Ecologist
Our office has been overwhelmed with support for this project. However, we also became aware that there were some misunderstandings about the project in terms of its scope and intent.
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Gulf Islands National Park Reserve News
May 4, 2006 | Helene Chabot, Cam Sanjivi, Rundi Koppang
On May 2, CRD Regional Parks and its partners, The Land Conservancy of British Columbia, acquired a piece of property on Galiano Island identified as Matthews Point 3.
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Galiano’s Matthews Point park links to Bluff Park with new purchase
May 4, 2006
On May 2, CRD Regional Parks and its partners, The Land Conservancy of British Columbia, acquired a piece of property on Galiano Island identified as Matthews Point 3.
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Kyoto programs to be cut
April 20, 2006
Cuts planned by the federal government to climate change programs will hurt energy conservation and renewable energy projects in BC, according to the GSX-Concerned Citizens Coalition.
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More of BC’s rare sponge reefs get protection
April 20, 2006
Fisheries and Oceans Canada has altered the boundaries of groundfish trawl closures in Hecate Strait in order to protect ancient living glass sponge reefs.
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CPAWS and scientists call for protection of rare glass sponge reefs
April 6, 2006
Calls for legal protection of the 9,000-year-old glass sponge reefs in Hecate Strait are being renewed as research shows the reefs are important for the survival of threatened rockfish populations off BC’s coast.
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Orcas now listed as endangered species in United States
February 23, 2006
As of February 16, Washington State’s orca whale population is getting more protection under the Endangered Species Act.
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It’s not pollution as long as you keep doing it?
February 23, 2006
An ambiguous situation over Capital Regional District’s sewage outfall into the ocean has NGOs shaking their heads. Sierra Legal Defence Fund, the Georgia Strait Alliance and the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation are expressing frustration over the response recently received from the BC Ministry of Environment (MOE).
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Condors and Marmots
February 23, 2006 | Doug Carrick
The California condor is a giant vulture, weighing up to 25lbs. With a wing span of nine-and-a-half feet, it is capable of soaring to an altitude of 15,000 feet. The condor population, however, had declined drastically and by the year 1940 it was down to 100. By 1967, it was down to 50 and by 1987, down to 9.
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More Alaska oil could pass Gulf Island shores
December 2005 | Patrick Brown
Public comment on the environmental effects of the batholiths research project will now be accepted by NSERC up to December 31, 2006. This extension appears to be a result of public concern about the effects on fish and marine mammals of seismic work along BC’s Inside Passage.
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