The Green Gazette - September/October 2018

6/ Eco-friendly Homes with Mudgirls Natural Building Collective - Mudgirls Natural Building Collective constructs healthy, eco-friendly homes out of natural and recycled materials. - by Jessica Kirby 7/ Ancient Forest Provincial Park: The Universal Boardwalk - The Ancient Forest is in the heart of the Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) zone, or Inland Temperate Rainforest, and is a unique and critical ecosystem that provides habitat for a core group of six mammals that signify a high level of wilderness. - by Nowell Senior 8/ National Forest Week: Contribute to innovation in the living laboratory of Canada - The concept of a living laboratory is considered relatively new, having emerged in the early 2000s via research that was being conducted by Professor William Mitchell at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. - by Natalie A. Swift 10/ World Rivers Day: RSBC’s Fraser River Journey (2018 Sustainable Living Leadership Program) - On September 23, communities all over the planet will celebrate World Rivers Day. The day focuses on highlighting the value of rivers, aiming to increase awareness and encourage river stewardship around the world.

21/ Blue Mind Citizen Science at La Duna Ecology Centre - National Geographic describes citizen science as ―the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge.‖ - by Stephanie J. Rousso 29/ Toosey Old School Wood Products – Building blocks for the future - Something exciting is going on at the former Riske Creek Elementary School. Toosey Old School Wood Products is laying the foundation for a brighter future for local First Nations. - by Sage Birchwater

Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Lisa Bland Senior Editor Jessica Kirby Contributors David Suzuki, LeRae Haynes, Jessica Kirby, Terri Smith, Lisa Bland, Guy Dauncey, Al-Lisa Mckay, Venta Rutkauskas, Sage Birchwater, Van Andruss, Ryan Elizabeth Cope, Oliver Berger, Tera Grady, Nicola Finch, Bill Irwin, Barbara Schellenberg, Debbie Irvine, Katie DeGroot, Patrick Lucas, Natalie A. Swift, Nowell Senior, Stephanie J. Rousso, Vanessa Moberg, Jim Cooperman, Tony Boschmann, Layna Chelsea and Heather Johnson Advertising Lisa Bland Creative Directors Lisa Bland / Rebecca Patenaude Ad Design Jill Schick / Leah Selk Published by Earthwild Consulting Printing Black Press Ltd. Cover Photo: Rafting the Fraser River with Fraser River Rafting Expeditions, August 2018, with hazy skies from BC's forest fires.

Photo: Michael Bednar Photography, www.michaelbednar.com Index Photo: Homebrew Honey Brown Beer, Different Barley and Brewing Equipment in Studio. Copyright: Benoit Daoust, www.123rf.com/ profile_aetb"

www.thegreengazette.ca info@thegreengazette.ca TheGreenGazette is published by Earthwild Consulting.

To subscribe email info@thegreengazette.ca or visit our website at www.thegreengazette.ca © 2018 all rights reserved. Opinions and perspectives expressed in the magazine are those of authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the ownership or management. Reproduction in whole or part without the publisher‘s consent is strictly prohibited.

19/ A Passion for Home Brewing - At the heart of the beer drinking matter is a big choice - buy big, buy small, or brew your own. - by Jessica Kirby

5/ Publisher‘s Letter: Biocultural Diversity - by Lisa Bland 5/ A Spiritual Connection to Salmon - by Al-Lisa Mckay 8/ Skywatch with Bill Irwin 9/ Fraser Watershed Initiative Watershed Restoration Conference 2018 11/ For the Love of the Fraser River Basin and Its Salmon 12/ Williams Lake Pride: Colourful Diversity - by LeRae Haynes 13/ Confessions of a Farmer: The Day the Sun Went Dark - by Terri Smith 13/ Raising Amadeus - by Terri Smith 15/ Recycling in the Cariboo: The War on Contamination - by Tera Grady 16/ Conservation Conversation: The Rs Have It - by Vanessa Moberg and Oliver Berger 16/ No Time Left To Waste - by Oliver Berger 18/ Peaceful Gathering at Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny 18/ Omega 3 Fatty Acids - by Dr Katie DeGroot, ND 19/ A Passion for Home Brewing - by Jessica Kirby 22/ Road Trip Diaries: Observations on waste - Ryan Elizabeth Cope 23/ Trails to Recovery & Resilience - by Patrick Lucas 23/ Celebrating World Animal Day Close to Home - by LeRae Haynes

24/ Will world peace ever be attainable? - by Jim Cooperman 24/ Come Alive! The Ladder of Democracy - by Guy Dauncey 25/ Science Matters: Climate change combines with other factors to fuel wildfires - by David Suzuki 25/ Making Space for Things to Happen - by Layna Chelsea and Heather Johnson 26/ Sharing Life and Land - by Van Andruss 26 / Letters: Clean air vital to Williams Lake - by Sage Birchwater 27/ Barking Spider Mountain Bikes: Hitting the trails on the right set of wheels - by LeRae Haynes 28/ Looking Ahead with Advance Care Planning - by Nicola Finch 31/ Humane treatment from beginning to end - by LeRae Haynes 32/ Opinion: Oilsands - A trade too far - by Tony Boschmann 33/ Reclamation: A Labour of Love - by Venta Rutkauskas 33/ BCCFR Challenges Forestry Industry to Enter 21st Century 35/ Nourishing our Children - by Barbara Schellenberg

By Lisa Bland Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief

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n our rapidly changing world, the concept of biocultural diversity may be the crucial framework through which we need to see the diversity of life and our place in it—helping us see the context in our lives, making sense of the coevolution of humans and the natural world, and strengthening our caring and responsibility towards our biological and cultural inheritance, preserving it into the future.

Luisa Maffi is the co-founder and director of Terralingua, an international organization devoted to sustaining the world‘s biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity through research, education, and policy change. She defines cultural biodiversity as as the interrelationship between language, culture, and biodiversity, coevolving within a complex socio-ecological adaptive system. Maffi suggests that the cultural and biological diversity within a region are intertwined rather than separate from each other and are the result of complex and evolving relationships between humans and the environment.

Throughout time, all people of the earth had – of necessity – an intimate and vitally dependent relationship with the natural environment as their source of air, water, food, medicine, clothing, and shelter. The Earth and its bounty helped human beings meet their physical, psychological, and spiritual needs. As societies evolved they developed complex knowledge about plants, animals, and ecology in their regions, along with unique cultural values and practices expressed through the thousands of different languages found on our planet.

According to the Biocultural Diversity Toolkit: Volume 1, in Terralingua (www.terralingua.org), the interdependence between language, culture, and environment also correlate globally with overlapping areas of high linguistic diversity, biodiversity, and cultural diversity.

Often, biodiversity and culture are considered separate or opposing viewpoints.

Scientific approaches describe the natural world formed by evolutionary process and in a ‗pristine‘ state, unless and until humans encroached upon it. Biological ecosystems are considered independently in conservation work, which dehumanizes landscapes to preserve species, often resulting in conflicts when cultural knowledge is excluded from management activities. Culture is treated as an externality to biological systems rather than a vehicle that has shaped the diversity of species on the landscapes they inhabit.

Ecosystem services (ES), as defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2006, are ―the benefits people obtain from ecosystems,‖ a concept developed to deal with the problems of loss of biodiversity in global policy and management decisions.

ES describes human well-being as relying on nature and biodiversity. In contrast to the relational nature of biocultural diversity, ES describes a passive flow between human demand and ecological supply, emphasizing the economics of commodities that nature

provides. The problem with defining ecosystem values by market terms is that by it ignores a reciprocal interaction between humans and nature. In ES, nature is transformed into capital that is only ―saved‖ by evaluating it in capitalist terms or ―selling nature to save it.‖ The ES logic of supply and demand is still the most dominant in scientific and policy deliberations.

In contrast, biocultural diversity replaces the ES definition with contextual knowledge. A biocultural diversity framework may be described as a sensitizing concept, or, diversity versus productivity, as captured in the following quote by Blumer in his article, ―What is Wrong with Social Theory‖ in American Sociological Review: ―Definitive concepts provide prescriptions of what to see; sensitizing concepts suggest directions along which to look. The hundreds of our concepts – like culture, institutions, social structure, mores, and personality – are not definitive but are sensitizing in nature. Instead, they rest on a general sense of what is relevant.‖ Biocultural diversity describes how the cultural landscapes of Indigenous people and their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) are continuously adapting and evolving. TEK may include food harvesting and processing, living in communities and seasonal camps, trade and exchange, education, and ceremonies, often developed over long periods of time. Many Indigenous cultural landscapes have maintained their biodiversity over generations, reflecting sustainable practices from in depth knowledge and long -term use.

Whether describing the past or the present, biocultural diversity relates directly to meaningful and grounded relationships to the world through a sense of place, access to resources such as food and cultural materials, psychological health, well being, and spiritual need.

As biodiversity loss accelerates and climate changes are felt globally, direct impacts to traditional cultures are measured in terms of how they affect people‘s ability to practise traditional ways of being—the effects the loss of Arctic ice flows have on traditional hunting areas is one example.

Indigenous cultures often feel the impacts long before a crisis is measured in global economic terms.

As many fragile ecosystems disappear, so, too, do the interwoven connections between cultural and biological diversity. In response to the crisis of worldwide biodiversity and cultural loss, at the First International Congress of Ethnobiology in Belém, Brazil, in 1988, the International Society of Ethnobiology recognized Indigenous peoples as stewards of 99 percent of the world‘s genetic resources and acknowledged that the economies, agriculture, and health of Indigenous people depend on these resources. The Declaration of Belém, arising from this meeting, acknowledged the unique ways that Indigenous and traditional peoples perceive, use, and manage their natural resources. It recommended programs for sharing, preserving, and strengthening traditional knowledge, preserving ethnobiological information, supporting traditional healing practices, recognizing the right to compensation for and authority over their resources and the environment, acknowledging human rights including cultural and linguistic identities, and ways to compensate Indigenous peoples

‗Kucwelcken’ Mural at 110 Oliver St. in Williams Lake. Photo: Lisa Bland

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his summer, the Downtown Williams Lake Business Improvem ent Association (WLBIA) put a call out to First Nations youth to apprentice in learning about creating murals with Dwayne Davis Arts. Being of Secmepemc descent, I was chosen and given the honour to contribute my art to the community.

I began praying for a vision that would feed people‘s spirits and bring awareness to the importance of the salmon and our spiritual connection to the natural world.

I felt very strongly that the image needed to embody the feminine aspects of our nature and honour the First People of this territory. ‗Kucwelcken‘ is the Secwepemc word for ‗backbone‘. This felt like a suitable name for the mural as clearly the salmon are

the backbone of the original settlers here and all along the river.

My interpretation of the vision that came through is that all things come from the source (The Creator). Humans are the point of nature‘s balance at this time and all life depends on the survival of a healthy ecosystem. All things are connected and part of the cycle of life.

Spirit is a valuable part of our existence and where I believe this vision comes from.

I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the WLBIA, Davis Arts, and Tom Wong for this wonderful opportunity.

To see the mural, visit 110 Oliver St., on the west side of Dance in Common Dance Studio in Williams Lake.

for their intellectual property and knowledge.

In the decades since the Declaration of Belém, although some progress was made, the world continues to lose its biocultural diversity at an accelerated rate, driven by the same processes causing ecosystem degradation. The loss of cultural knowledge and contextual connection to place has further been absorbed into the modern mindset where cultures once alive and evolving are commoditized and sold on the world stage, promoted via modern technology and communication avenues.

However, biocultural diversity is still maintained in many cultures with longstanding histories such as the Haida people of Haida Gwaii. Cultural keystone species and places are species and cultural landscapes essential to a culture in their transmission of culture and identity through their use and can be used as symbolic and iconic representations to the broader world for recognizing their value and communicating their worth. One of the most prominent cultural keystone species to the Haida is the Western red cedar.

Western red cedar was used widely and in every aspect of the Haida culture, revered as a living being to conserve carefully and appreciate with prayers and songs. Canoes, totems, houses, and storage boxes were, and continue to be, created from cedar logs, and clothing, mats, baskets, and hats were woven from the bark and roots. The Haida selectively managed and enhanced production of the cedar by limiting competing species and creating favourable growing conditions.

Today the Western red cedar forests on Haida Gwaii have been severely impacted by the combination of industrial logging

and introduced species (Sitka black-tailed deer) impacts, affecting the Haida people‘s ability to practise their culture.

The question of how to live in the modern world and preserve ecosystems and biocultural diversity is complicated. Cultures and ecosystems have never faced so many changes in such a short period of time. Historically, human relationships with ecosystems evolved slowly and weren‘t subject to commercial/industrial interference, climate disregulation, and global networks of communication and trade.

In our modern world, biocultural diversity may be viewed nostalgically as a reference point relevant mainly to the past, but a context created through connections of people to place still applies. Actions and behaviour can grow out of meaningful relationships with community and the natural world and can bring relief from isolation.

When biocultural diversity is respected, celebrated, and understood in geographical regions as the ongoing relationship between humans and nature whether for survival, food, spiritual, or social reasons, Indigenous cultures are respected in their home territories.

The sense of belonging that comes through biocultural diversity is an antidote to the impoverishment brought upon humanity by corporatized industrial resource extraction and the commoditization of Earth‘s resources. What if biological and cultural extinction are, in their most basic, an outcome of loneliness and lack of connection?

Regardless of cultural orientation, context and relationships are everything. The places and people we love and depend upon, we protect.

~Submitted by Al-Lisa Mckay of Miss White Spider Arts

By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette

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trong, connected, easy on the planet—these are the qualities of cob houses and of the astonishing group of women who construct them: the Mudgirls Natural Building Collective.‖ These words are straight out of a review of The Mudgirls Manifesto, a compelling and informative book released this year by the all-female work crew that has created beautiful, functional homes on BC‘s west coast since 2007.

Mudgirls Natural Building Collective constructs healthy, eco-friendly homes out of natural and recycled materials as an active act against the parts of conventional construction that cause pollution, wastefulness, massive biodiversity loss, climate change, and growing economic inequality.

Their material of choice is cob, which is made from sand, clay, water, and straw and hardens into a durable, weather-proof building material that can withstand the elements and that can be found in nature, more or less for free. This is an important component of the Mudgirls‘ mission, because the group is about more than alternative housing and natural building. The all-women collective provides a functional model for living in harmony with the Earth and each other by teaching, building, and organizing in a way that defies social inequalities and systems of oppression such as patriarchy, hierarchy, and capitalism. ―The Mudgirls are structured nonhierarchically and practise consensus-based decision-making, challenging top-down, inequitable power structures by practising ways of working together in which all voices are valued and have equal decisionmaking power,‖ says Mudgirl Clare Kenny.―They are challenging the capitalist paradigm of business by keeping their wages lower than market value and by practising bartering systems of exchange.‖ Mudgirls was founded by a close-knit gathering of women who sought real solutions to the systemic problems faced by many Canadians, says Kenny. These women wanted affordable and eco-friendly housing, low-cost childcare options, a workplace culture free of hierarchy and driven by meaningful labour, and equal employment opportunities for women, especially in the male-dominated fields of construction and landscaping.

The group got to work, first acquiring the skills necessary to house themselves and their families and then teaching workshops and delving into private construction projects. They developed an organizational structure rooted in democracy, equality, and feminist values. ―In an era when overcoming societal and environmental issues can seem more daunting than ever before – and when activism is often practised on social media – [Mudgirls represents] the journey of an empowered group of friends and allies who formed a sustainable way of life in accordance with their values and convictions,‖ says Kenny. ―They offer a clarion call for applied activism: only by action and risk-

Photos courtesy of Mudgirls Natural Building Collective

taking did the Mudgirls begin to create real, long-lasting change in their communities— one cob house at a time.‖ Cob building is a form of community building because the materials and techniques are accessible and intuitive, and the process doesn‘t require loud, smelly machinery—it can all be done by foot or hand.

It also doesn‘t require any expert skills or muscular physique—it is possible to sing a song or hold a conversation while stomping mud with a friend or your child. ―Cob is empowering and liberating,‖ says Kenny. ―It puts the possibility of building your own home back into your hands. It opens up the possibility for people who perhaps otherwise had no hope of doing so, to exercise their birthright to be able to provide themselves with shelter.‖ Cob houses are incredibly durable, nontoxic, and breathable. They are handsculpted and meant to be designed around how the occupants live and move, in communication with natural, non-commodified materials, and around seasons and the movement of the sun, rather than around where the appliances need to go.

Sand comprises 60–85% of the cob mixture and should have particles varying in size from raw sugar to pea-sized or bigger, with rough-angled sides so it clicks together. Clay acts as the mixture‘s glue. It

consists of small, platelet-shaped particles (as opposed to grains, like sand or silt) held together by the friction of their surfaces, plus a slight magnetic charge. ―Clay expands when wet and shrinks when dry, which is why you have to limit the amount of this magic material in your cob mix,‖ says Kenny.

The required sand-clay mix could be available anywhere underfoot beneath the topsoil layer where the organic material grows. To test subsoil, take a 16-oz jar, fill it almost halfway with subsoil, and fill the rest with water. Shake it up to break up all the clumps, and then sit it down on a flat surface, paying attention to how long and in what order the particles fall to the bottom. ―Your sand/silt will fall quickly; your clay will take its time settling on top,‖ says Kenny. ―If your water clears in under a minute, there‘s no clay in your sample.

Once you have a feel for the sand-to-clay ratio in your subsoil, you will know how much sand or clay you need to locate and add to your subsoil to amend it to get something more like a 70%ish sand to a 30%ish clay ratio.‖ Of course, the process is not without challenges, especially when designing and building homes for others. ―Building a cob house is like building any house in that the stakes can feel high

when you are building a home for someone to live in with their family, and you don‘t want to mess it up and have to scrap a bunch of hard work because you didn‘t forsee certain things,‖ says Kenny.

For example, because all kinds of natural building are susceptible to weather, it is important to have the natural wall system complete well in advance of the rainy, cold season. ―This gives it a chance to dry out enough to accept a protective coat of plaster, and/or to dry fast enough to avoid any possibility of mold setting in,‖ says Kenny. ―Once they‘ve dried, they can get superficially wet and will naturally breathe and dry out again easily. ―There are ways to protect unplastered walls, but we feel like respecting the seasons instead of needlessly fighting against them is the way to go.‖ The Mudgirls Manifesto shares the collective‘s success story and describes the steps to building one‘s own democratic work culture. Additional materials include how-to instructions for constructing cob houses, a thought-provoking discussion of women-only workplaces, and beloved recipes from the Mudgirls‘ cob kitchens: from energy-boosting bars to home-cooked meals.

L e a r n m o r e a t www.mudgirls.wordpress.com.

Photos (L,M,R) : The Universal Boardwalk winds through forests of the Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) zone. Photos: Lisa Bland

By Nowell Senior

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he Ancient Forest is in the heart of the Interior Cedar Hemlock (ICH) zone, or Inland Temperate Rainforest, and is a unique and critical ecosystem that provides habitat for a core group of six mammals that signify a high level of wilderness. These mammals are lynx, grey wolf, wolverine, mountain caribou, cougar, and grizzly bear.

There are more tree species within the ICH than anywhere else in British Columbia, and arboreal lichen communities, especially the epiphytic cyanolichens assemblages on conifers, are among the richest in the world.

These species depend on forests with old-growth attributes and can disappear if the amount of habitat available to them falls below a critical threshold.

The Ancient Forest is part of one of the few remaining antique stands of cedar within the upper Fraser River Valley and the Robson corridor. These stands include cedar that are well over 1,000 years old.

For all of these reasons and because of a great deal of community involvement, the Ancient Forest became fully protected in 2016, and is now known as the Ancient Forest/Chun T‘oh Whudujut Provincial Park and Protected Area, located 113 km east of Prince George.

The project that follows took place between 2010 and 2013 and was built by the Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club Soci-

ety. The Ramblers have built all the trails at the Ancient Forest and are continuing as stewards of the forest with the goal of maintaining accessibility along with protecting the integrity of the forest.

After completing the Ancient Forest trail, we soon realized that not everyone could enjoy it, and decided to build a fully accessible boardwalk with a picture in our minds of a nice, simple, level, plank pathway with people of all abilities using it to meander through our Ancient Forest.

It is one thing to have a vision such as this, but quite another to make it a reality.

However, with faith and optimism we made plans for a Universal Boardwalk. Fortunately, that optimism was contagious and spread quickly over a wide area.

And so, four years later, after 6,500 hours of volunteer labour, help from 43 sponsors, 200 volunteers, and over $95,000 in contributions, we had a boardwalk.

Along with that initial picture of everyone enjoying the Ancient Forest is another rather lingering picture. It is that of those incredible volunteers who came out and used their healthy, strong bodies to build

something that would be a source of joy for those less fortunate in health and strength.

Since joy and enthusiasm go hand in hand, both walked beside us as we built the boardwalk, and although at times it seemed the road to completion would never end, they stayed with us to the end.

And one more picture. As we neared the end and nailed down the final sections of boards, a 99year-old lady with a walker shuffled between us; she smiled as she passed us, gradually disappearing from sight, determined to reach the end of the boardwalk. Sometime later, she was among us again with an even bigger smile—she had reached her goal through the forest, was delighted by it, and thanked us. That was what we were working for; that smile was our reward, and one that has been repeated many times since.

The globally unique forest that the Universal Boardwalk winds its way through is now known across Canada and the United States as well as around the world and is a precious natural resource of regional pride.

Speaking of pride, I am so proud of the dedication of the Caledonia Ramblers and

all those who have given to the preservation and protection of the Ancient Forest.

The Universal Boardwalk came about through a tremendous amount of community support and from beyond our community, and I thank all for this support. I am going to remember all those who worked together so wonderfully and with such enthusiasm to provide full access to the Ancient Forest. I am also going to treasure the smiles on the faces of those with special needs in our community who I see enjoying the boardwalk and who, in a way, were always with me during those four years building the boardwalk.

Nowell began building a trail the Ancient Forest in 2005 on a part-time basis as a volunteer with the Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club. When he retired from his regular full-time job in 2011, his part-time job at the Ancient Forest became his fulltime volunteer job. In these past 10 years Nowell has made over 550 trips to the Ancient Forest and driven 135,000 kilometres, and, together with the other volunteers, has made his contribution to a collective total of over 18,700 hours during these past 13 years. He is surrounded by the most resourceful, generous, and willing volunteers in the world, all of whom have rubbed off in one way or another, and who have also given a great deal of themselves to the Ancient Forest.

Natalie A. Swift

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midst the thick smoke we experienced this summer, I heard a common sentiment being expressed by residents of this region: we need to do things differently.

This desire for change is an expression of a hunger for innovation, for new ideas and approaches to address the social, economic, and environmental issues we face.

The pursuit of research is one means of generating these ideas.

To support research relevant to forestdependent communities, various institutions have established research forests.

This includes, among others, two national research forests maintained by Natural Resources Canada (the Acadia and Petawawa Research Forests) and four research forests in British Columbia—two affiliated with the University of British Columbia (the Alex Fraser and Malcom Knapp Research Forests) and two affiliated with the University of Northern British Columbia (the John Prince and Aleza Lake Research Forests).

According to Natural Resources Canada, the research forests that they maintain are ―living laboratories‖. By hosting scientific experiments that focus on topics such as forest health, biodiversity, and climate change, these laboratories are valuable sources of knowledge that contribute to improved forest practices and assist in the development of forest policy.

Although cleverly applied by Natural Resources Canada in the characterization of their research forests, the term ―living laboratory‖ is not limited to research in ecological environments. Rather, it is a term that describes interactive spaces where developers and users collaborate to test new concepts in real-life situations.

The Living Laboratory Handbook identifies three phases to innovation in living laboratories – concept design, prototype design, and innovation design – with four stages carried out at each phase and repeated in an iterative process: exploration, co-creation, implementation, and evaluation.

The concept of a living laboratory is considered relatively new, having emerged in the early 2000s via research that was being conducted by Professor William Mitchell at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a faculty member in the

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his article is to cover September/October, but some comment on the current sky situation is in order. I’m writing in August and the observing hasn’t been very good due to smoke. The Mt. Kobau star party and the nearby Table Mountain star party were badly afflicted.

I didn‘t go. Our sky conditions in the rural Cariboo are darker and the smoke might clear if we get a favourable west wind. The higher elevation at Mt Kobau can allow the smoke to settle into the valleys and the overhead skies to clear at night, but the south horizon, where Sagitta-

Left: The author investigating some rosehips. Photo: Hanna Jarrett Above: A Dasiqox Tribal Park sign located adjacent to Teztan Biny (Fish Lake).

Photo: Natalie A. Swift

School of Architecture and Planning he was interested in technology associated with smart cities and homes. To enable monitoring of user responses to innovation, Professor Mitchell proposed moving traditional laboratory research to ―in vivo‖ or ―living‖ settings.

Considering its origins in academic research relevant to urban planning, it is of little surprise that the concept has proven popular within academic institutions and cities. For example, Harvard University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Alberta have all characterized their campuses as living laboratories, with all three institutions linking their ―campus as a living lab‖ concept with sustainability-related activities.

The living laboratory concept has also been integrated into the economic development strategies of local governments. In Alberta, the City of Calgary is leveraging its resources to promote itself as a living laboratory by allowing companies to use city-owned land and property to test augmented reality technology. The City of Summerside on Prince Edward Island has also adopted a living laboratory model, which dedicates city infrastructure, processes, and citizens to create an environment that supports innovators in testing and validating products or services.

Although there are numerous other initiatives that market themselves as

―living laboratories,‖ there are also many initiatives that do not identify with the term, even though they pursue activities in line with the model.

Tribal Parks could be considered one such example, as they involve Indigenous nations collaborating with others to implement and test a relatively new Indigenousled land management concept in a realworld setting. In addition to being an innovative concept, Tribal Parks are also ‗laboratories‘ where research activities are pursued. The knowledge that is generated from the experience of implementing a Tribal Park and pursuing associated research is not only critical to the well-being and development of Indigenous communities, but also the continued improvement of state forest policy and practices.

On a larger scale, one could also argue that the area occupied by Canada could be considered an example of a living laboratory, where various nations are engaged in a perpetually evolving experiment in cultural diversity and sustainability. The results of previous iterations of the experiment suggest that we need to do things differently, that we need to change how we think and act in relation to one another and the land.

Tribal Parks represent an exciting opportunity to contribute to the evolution of this experiment. In the case of Nexwagwezʔan, which is also referred to

rius and the galactic centre are, is very murky.

We have managed to have a couple of groups at the observatory in the past month and people do enjoy themselves, even if the sky is poor. The planets are much less affected by the haze and moon, and Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars have all been visible before midnight.

After all I‘ve said previously about the Mars opposition on July 27, guess what?

Mars has been afflicted with a global dust storm and fine detail has not been easily visible despite the large size (for Mars, that is). The low elevation in our sky hasn‘t

helped. There are signs that the storm is abating, and Mars will still be large enough to get some detail through September.

Well, not to despair. The smoke will clear, those blinding blue LED headlights will become illegal, people will shade their yard lights, children will discover that the sky is the antidote to the screen, and the Cariboo will take its place as one of the better remaining star watching areas on the continent.

The observatory is open to the public here at Bells Lake. We have an attached warm room with heat and a tent/cabin with a woodstove at the site. Having some permanent facilities helps with the cooling nights. The summer stars do linger well into the fall due to the earlier dark.

as the Dasiqox Tribal Park, Tsilhqot‘in leaders have extended an invitation to the public to contribute by providing feedback concerning the ―Community Vision & Management Goals for the Dasiqox Tribal Park‖ document they published earlier this year. Feedback is being accepted until Sunday, September 30 and can be submitted via email at info@dasiqox.org.

This call for submissions aligns well with the end of National Forest Week, which is taking place between September 23 and 29 under the theme ―Research Forests: Canada‘s Living Laboratories‖. The timing and theme of this year‘s National Forest Week presents an excellent opportunity to contribute to an Indigenous-led effort to generate knowledge and pursue innovation that is intended to assist with addressing some of the social, economic, and environmental challenges of concern to forest-dependent communities in this region. So, take some time over the course of National Forest Week to learn about the Dasiqox Tribal Park, participate in the collaborative process of its development, and contribute to innovation in the living laboratory of Canada. I can‘t wait to see the results!

For more information regarding National Forestry Week in British Columbia, visit: bcnfw.ca.

To learn more about the Dasiqox Tribal Park, visit: dasiqox.org.

Natalie A. Swift is a specialist in ecosystem management interested in Canadian identity and forest governance, planning, and management. She is currently a Masters of Science student in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia and a Forester in Training with the Association of BC Forest Professionals.

Reach me at irwin8sound@gmail.com or (250) 620-0596. I don‘t have any stars or comets to my name, however, so it‘s safe to look up at night.

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he Fraser River is the most productive salmon producing watershed on the planet and one of the most biologically diverse in North America. It covers one quarter of British Columbia and has been the unceded, untreatied home to almost 100 Indigenous nations for over 12,000 years.

Despite the watershed’s significance to communities, industry, and cultures, there is an ecological and economic crisis in BC’s interior forests. This summer we have seen this crisis surface again in catastrophic wildfires, with smoke from BC making its way across the continent.

These fires, along with climate change, development, and other ecological impacts, are exacerbating the stresses on salmon and myriad terrestrial and riverine species, such as moose, caribou, and other species at risk, impacting cultural practices, recreational activities, and employment in local communities.

The Fraser Watershed Initiative‘s Watershed Restoration Conference 2018 will be a two-day event at Thompson Rivers University Conference Centre in Kamloops, BC on November 13-14, 2018. The conference will bring together Indigenous leaders, industry experts, government representatives, academics, community officials, and conservationists from British Columbia and across North America who are interested in advancing watershed restoration and reconciliation with Indigenous nations throughout the watershed. The conference has been designed with Indigenous participation and insight to ensure traditional knowledge and Indigenous rights are integrated into all focus areas.

Indigenous people have been guardians of the Fraser Watershed for thousands of

Big Bar, Fraser River.

Photo: Murray Foubister, flickr.com

years, maintaining ecosystem health for generations. Over the past 150 years, Indigenous people within the Fraser Watershed have been alienated from their territories and their traditional role as guardians.

As Bev Sellers, former councillor and chief of the Xat‘sull First Nation states, ―Restoration is reconciliation‖.

Restoration of land and waterways within the Fraser Watershed is necessary for reconciliation. Reconciliation means, in part, the honourable resolution of land claims and the return of vast tracks of the Fraser Watershed to the sovereignty of Indigenous governments. The governments of Canada and British Columbia have committed to advancing reconciliation and pursuing government-to-government land useplanning as a vehicle to advance these negotiations.

Fin Donnelly, MP for Port MoodyCoquitlam and chair of the Rivershed Society of BC, explains, ―The Fraser Watershed

Initiative has a broad and daring goal, to ‗heal and protect‘ the entire Fraser River, its tributaries, and the land, wildlife, and people it supports. We are working toward a future where salmon flourish in rivers, communities have job opportunities that align with their values, and important ecological and cultural spaces are preserved throughout the Fraser Watershed.‖ This will be achieved by bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous decision-makers, local community, and conservation and philanthropic leaders in a dialogue around watershed restoration, collaborative government-to-government landuse planning, fire-hardening of local communities, and conservation of critical habitats and cultural treasures.

Watershed Restoration Conference 2018 is the beginning of an exciting watershedwide initiative that will conserve, protect, and restore the Fraser Watershed.

The conference will include presentations and panel discussions envisioning landscape-scale watershed restoration projects that offer the potential to:  Advance Indigenous reconciliation  Provide short-term employment relief  Develop mid- and long-term sustainable employment strategies  Aid in the recovery of forests and habitats of species at risk, including salmon, steelhead, caribou, etc.  Fire-harden at-risk forest communities  Make a contribution to climate change adaptation and mitigation, and  Enable a future forest industry.

These presentations will be stepping stones to action, as now is the time to heal and protect the mighty Fraser River and its watersheds. ―We all want a healthy community and environment, but we are at a time where the cumulative impacts of our actions are threatening this desire,‖ says Jacinda Mack from the Secwepemc and Naxalk Nations. ―We must come together and take action to protect these lands for future generations.

The Fraser River is our lifeline, as it is for the salmon, eagles, bears, and all the other species we share this land with.‖ Indigenous leaders, industry experts, government representatives, academics, community officials, and conservationists from British Columbia and across North America who are interested in advancing watershed restoration and reconciliation with Indigenous Nations throughout the watershed can register to attend, or learn more at restorationconference2018.com.

―Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense.‖ ~ Mark Angelo

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n September 23, communities all over the planet will celebrate World Rivers Day. The day focuses on highlighting the value of rivers, aiming to increase awareness and encourage river stewardship around the world.

In BC, we are blessed with an abundance of wild rivers, including the Fraser River, which is the longest, free-flowing river in the province, stretching 1,375 km and draining some 234,000 square kilometres. It is the most productive salmon watershed on the planet and the most economically important watershed in Canada.

In 1998, the Fraser River was designated a Canadian Heritage River for its remarkable cultural and natural heritage.

The Fraser River was named after explorer Simon Fraser, and for the past 10,000 years has remained a route of travel and a source of food for Indigenous peoples. Today, the Fraser River Basin faces numerous environmental threats including urban development, contamination from pulp and paper mills, urban and agricultural runoff, resource extraction, and industrial mining. These issues threaten the river‘s salmon and ecology, and the cultural traditions practised along its waters.

The Fraser River begins in the Rocky Mountains within the boundaries of Mount Robson Provincial Park and ends in the Fraser River estuary in the Strait of Georgia in Vancouver.

This summer, on August 2, a group of leaders embarked on a trip of a lifetime down the Fraser River from its headwaters to the sea on the Rivershed Society of BC‘s (RSBC) annual Sustainable Living Leadership Program (SLLP). The SLLP was co-created by RSBC‘s founder and chair, Fin Donnelly, after his second 1,400km swim of the Fraser River in2000, which raised awareness about the issues affecting this vitally important river.

From the journey‘s starting point in the Robson Valley, the SLLP participants paddled, hiked, and rafted for 27 days. During that time, each participant designed a project plan for their sustainability projects, which needed to address an element of Rivershed CPR—conservation, protection, or restoration. These projects are to be implemented in the participants‘ respective communities at the conclusion of their journey. During their river adventure, the SLLP participants engaged in learning and leadership activities, visited places of interest, met community members, engaged in protecting and advocating for areas in the Fraser watershed, presented their project plans to communities along the Fraser, and participated in 11 FraserFEST community dinners.

The SLLP has run 14 times since its inception in 2002, with over 100 graduates who have gone on to work in their communities and lead the way for positive change.

This year‘s participants came to the river with a vision for the future and a passion to be a voice for sustainability. Each shared why their Fraser River and SLLP journey was important to them (see below).

Stay tuned for amore in-depth look at each SLLP participant and their community

The SLLP group in the voyageuar canoe in the Fraser Headwaters. 2018 SLLP participants and facilitators at their graduation ceremony on Jericho Beach at the end of their 27-day journey. Photos: Doug Radies

project in ―Rivershed Stories‖ to be published in the October GreenGazette online edition (thegreengazette.ca) and on RSBC‘s website (rivershed.com).

Meet the 2018 SLLP Participants: Sasha Makhneva: ―I came to SLLP to be a part of a great adventure and meet people interested in sustainability. One of my favourite things about the program has been taking a break from technology. I enjoy waking up in the morning to people as opposed to my phone. I feel that in nature I can slow down and really enjoy birds, plants, bears, insects, and other wildlife.

The river gives me space to clear my mind.

My project will be a documentary about how nature inspired me to be more sustainable. I hope that viewers in my community of Burnaby will be inspired to seek experiences in nature after watching my documentary.‖ Erica Stahl: ―I came on this trip to build relationships: with the river, with the land, with the wonderful people in every community we visit along the Fraser. Also, I‘m a public interest environmental lawyer and it didn‘t make sense to me to only practice that kind of law from behind a desk in Vancouver. I believe public interest lawyers need to be out with the people and places they serve, and this trip allowed me to do this. It‘s important for me to be a voice for the river because I am an advocate and as an environmental lawyer, my work is to speak for beings and ecosystems that can‘t speak for themselves, and to work with the people who are trying to protect them. My project is to create a legal education resource that acts as a guide to the laws that protect surface water, ground water, and riversheds. It will be developed to assist people who want to protect their water from the myriad threats this precious resource faces in BC today.‖ Myka Kollmann: ―Water is the future of life; without it we have nothing. I participated on this trip to grow and ignite my passion for this beautiful river that brings forth life and community. The Sustainable Living Leadership Program with the Rivershed Society of BC is an opportunity to connect with the Fraser River and the multiplicity of communities and ecosystems it supports so I can work to protect and restore it. The SLLP trip was filled with

countless hours of laughter, education, and connections and I am inspired by the participants I travelled with and the communities we visited. I will take this knowledge and continue to use it to grow and learn in my life and community. The Fraser River is a keystone component of the province of BC and is important to protect. It hosts a variety of species from Sockeye salmon to Grizzly bears and is a source of home and economic and spiritual growth. The Fraser River also supports prehistoric giants among us today; Fraser River White Sturgeon are the last species of their kind that exist in the world, surviving in its waters for the past 65 million years. The sturgeon are an amazing example of resilience and adaptability and are an historically important species. The recent decline in their populations has raised concern, and my project will be developing an outdoor education summer camp for youth to learn about and encounter the sturgeon that live in the Fraser River. My project will center around the importance of sturgeon, how to properly handle them, and why we need to protect them with the overall goal of inspiring young people to help protect, conserve, and restore sturgeon and the Fraser River. I plan to work alongside various communities and organizations to make his project possible. If you are interested in learning more or helping to make this project a success, please contact me at mykakollmann@hotmail.com.‖ Samantha Penner: ―I live in the Fraser Delta watershed and I‘m passionate about conserving, protecting, and restoring British Columbia's watersheds and the province‘s ecosystems. This drive led me to the Fish, Wildlife, and Recreation program at BCIT. After school I started work with The Nature Trust of British Columbia (TNTBC) as afield operations technician.

TNTBC is a non-profit organization dedicated to conserving BC‘s biological diversity through the securement and management of ecologically significant lands. My project‘s main goal is to engage and educate community groups and youth in repairing salmon bearing habitat on Vancouver Island through restoration. To implement my SLLP project, I will be working with TNTBC on select conservation lands to enhance the ecological integrity of these areas, while building relationships with local community groups and volunteers.

Using sustainability and restoration as a focus, I will foster stewardship capacity

and build awareness for conservation lands and watershed health while achieving measurable ground-based results in fish and wildlife habitat enhancement. Participating in the SLLP has furthered my growth in this field of work by teaching me about watershed health and sustainable practices, and by improving my leadership skills. The Rivershed Society of BC‘s vision, mission, and goals are complementary to my own, which drove me to this 27day journey on the Fraser River.‖ Ella Parker: ―Last year, as I made the drive from the Yukon, my old home, to Prince George, my new home, I passed by Fraser Lake for the first time. I was filled with an extreme sense of awe and wonder realizing I was in the presence of some of the headwaters of the mighty Fraser River, an icon I associated with BC‘s wild ruggedness, natural richness, and cultural diversity.

After this experience, I jumped at the opportunity to follow the journey of these waters with the SLLP and simultaneously cultivate myself as a steward and researcher of watersheds. My project for the SLLP is to make a movie showcasing a student-based monitoring project of stream health and restoration that is currently being established in School District 91 (Vanderhoof). This program is an incredible example of students working with local organizations and universities to gather information about our waterways for decision makers and instill watershed stewardship at a young age. Hopefully my video can inspire other communities to follow suit. For me, rivers are one of the most interesting phenomena on Earth and one of our greatest gifts.‖ Brandi Wattam: ―I believe in the power of a small group of passionate people to change the world. The Rivershed Society of BC‘s, mission and goal is something I believe in and am proud to support— salmon flourishing in rivers and people flourishing in riversheds. The group‘s mission is to conserve, protect, and restore the health of the Fraser watershed within a generation and to put a leader in every rivershed of the Fraser watershed. All my life I‘ve been a passionate naturalist and am awestruck by the power of Mother Nature.

I‘ve discovered that I do best in experiential learning and since the moment I learned about this program I knew I‘d be a Continued on page 11

Awareness is an upstream battle…

Y Continued from page 10

participant. In our vast and diverse world, it‘s easy to take for granted how our individual voices matter. One voice is a small presence; however, there is power in connecting ideas, added to the force of a small group of passionate and committed people.

Critical mass needs critical connections.

We are blessed to live in a province with diverse geography that produces an abundance of cultivated and wild foods. My dream is to see none go to waste. My project is to connect the abundant backyardtree fruit harvest with volunteers who want to utilize the excess. Using the fruit from existing trees is called gleaning, and my plan is to create a self-sustaining gleaning project in Kamloops. One-third of the harvest will go to the owner of the trees, onethird to the volunteers helping to harvest, and one-third to the gleaning project to sustain the long-term business plan. My aspiration within five years is to have an established social enterprise catering to all regions of BC and supplying them with abundant fruit. I will start with a gleaning project in my neighborhood on Westsyde Road. For more information, suggestions, or support please write me at Beewattam@gmail.com.‖ Riley Brennan:―The Fraser is in my soul. I grew up minutes away from the river‘s banks and spent many days frolicking in its waters. I am honoured to now advocate for the conservation of the Fraser River and to protect my home and the home of so many others. I am working to add the Fraser River to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System Story Map Project with Brock Endean, another SLLP participant, on behalf of the Fraser Basin Council. The story map will showcase videos, photos, and excerpts from the people we meet on the way, the flora and fauna we witness, and the gorgeous landscapes of the Fraser River. The story map will provide an opportunity for people to learn about the natural, cultural, and recreational features of the river and will make the Fraser River accessible for all.‖ Brock Endean: ―My initial intention to participate in SLLP was to help complete a project through my involvement with the Fraser Basin Council. However, after starting research for the project and preparing for the SLLP trip it became clear that my sense of adventure and deep interest in the communities along this major river are what led me here. I was born and raised in

Chase, BC and have a deep appreciation for the rural realities that make our province so unique. The opportunity to participate in the SLLP and connect with the stories of neighbours along the river was something I could not pass up. Rivers are vital to the health of our ecosystem, economy, and selves. The Fraser and its tributaries play a major role in the settlement of Indigenous communities, since time immemorial, and our settler municipalities.

Working with Riley Brennan, a colleague on the Fraser Basin Council Youth Advisory Committee, we are collecting pictures, videos, stories, and facts about the cultural, natural, and recreational features along the Fraser, as part of the Canadian Heritage River Systems Story Map Initiative. Our overall goal is to inspire people to experience more of the Fraser rivershed, and the story map can be used as travel and learning resources for those visiting the river and surrounding areas. After the story map is created, a further goal is to reach out to teachers within the rivershed to integrate the map into classrooms.‖ Lisa Bland: ―In 1995, I paddled on a voyageur canoe between Prince George and Quesnel during Fin Donnelly‘s first swim of the Fraser River, and ever since I wanted to make that journey. I became a member of the Quesnel River Watershed Alliance in Williams Lake in 1994 after seeing what a small group of committed people could do to advocate for wilderness.

I‘ve worked in conservation advocacy and biological and ecological research since, and it‘s important to me to speak for the ecologically endangered places and species in our province. The beauty I have experienced in wild, natural places inspires my current work as the publisher of TheGreenGazette. The SLLP river journey has been an amazing way to connect with the timelessness of nature and take a break from relentless work and schedules. It was also an incredible way to experience people living in context with the river, be connected to and inspired by SLLP participants, and meet many caring communities along the way. My project is to create a series of Rivershed Stories in partnership with the Rivershed Society of BC for publishing online on TheGreenGazette and Rivershed Society of BCs website, as well as a special print edition for the Rivershed Society of BC promoting the people working to advocate for, protect, conserve, and restore the Fraser River.‖

ou probably read one story each day about the decline in wild salmon, the possibility of salmon and sturgeon becoming extinct, the pollution that is toxifying our Fraser River Basin, or the wildfires burning across British Columbia. ―The decisions we make today will be remembered, the impacts felt by generations to come,‖ says Fin Donnelly, chair of the Rivershed Society of British Columbia (RSBC) and founder of FraserFEST, about climate change.

The Rivershed Society of BC isn‘t sitting idle, reading the stories in the news.

Its members have been developing programs and projects for the last 22 years with the aim of reconnecting organizations and individuals with their riversheds, nature, and communities while offering a first -hand look into climate change to understand the changes and what they can do to raise awareness.

Their largest project – a festival packed with educational river experiences and community outreach activities – was FraserFEST, an annual event which happened for the 5th time on August 5 to 26, 2018.

The festival included 11 community dinners in communities along the Fraser River, seven raft trips in the Fraser Canyon, seven sold out days of guided paddling trips on the Lower Fraser River, five guided cycling trips in the Lower Fraser region, six eco tours and one Fraser River swim. Participants learned about the Fraser‘s history and culture, issues threatening its health, solutions for change, and how to take action. The public also joined the journey for a day and rafted Hell‘s Gate.

Another program RSBC has offered for 15 years is their Sustainable Living Leadership Program (SLLP). This year, from August 2 until August 28, nine participants travelled 1,400 kms down the Fraser River, from the headwaters to the sea, by canoe, raft, shuttle van, and on foot. They travelled through ten of BC‘s 14 biogeoclimatic zones, studying watersheds, salmon, resource management, and how to lower one‘s ecological footprint. They discussed what it means to live sustainably, and how to apply Watershed CPR (conservation, protection and restoration). Evenings were spent camping under the stars along the banks of the river, while days were spent learning about stewardship and designing their own sustainability project to implement in their communities on their return.

Some of the organizations joining the rafting or paddling on the SLLP and FraserFEST journeyed to reconnect to the Fraser River. These included organizations whose life work focuses on salmon and or rivers, like the Pacific Salmon Foundation, Indigenous Environmental Network, West Coast Environmental Law, and the Fraser Basin Council. They sponsored paddling teams, and two of Fraser Basin‘s youth joined the SLLP journey. Funding or joining the journey by raft or canoe were many other organizations like Patagonia, Real Estate Foundation of BC, City of New

Westminster, FortisBC, and others, all recognizing the importance of creating awareness of the health of our salmon and rivers.

During last year‘s FraserFEST, RSBC filmed a young woman, Keely WegetWhitney, swim across a section of the Fraser River producing the film, For The Love of Salmon, as part of RSBC‘s collection of Rivershed Stories. Keely‘s 60-kilometre Fraser River swim spanned from Lillooet to the Stein River. She was unsure if she would complete the swim, and furthermore, if the swim would even have an impact. Her strength lay in the determination of bringing even a small drop of awareness to climate change and the environmental impacts that are having devastating effects on the salmon and our rivers today. ―I just feel that if I, a young Indigenous Stl'atl'imx mother, cares, people will consider that and ask themselves, ‗Why don‘t I care?

What can I do to create change?‘,‖ she says. As she battles the strong current and her own self-doubt, Keely encourages us all to come together to make change. The film has now been recognized for three awards including: Pinnacle Award: Short Film, Elevation Indie Film Awards, Dublin Ireland; Audience Choice Award for Best BC Film, Moonrise Film Festival, Wells BC; Special Jury Award; Cinemuskoka, Muskoka, Ont. and consists of stunning aerial cinematography by Jan Vozenilek, Copper Sky Productions.

Keely‘s swim and film have impacted viewers to take notice of environmental issues and work toward change. On August 19, during FraserFEST 2018, Keely swam the Fraser River again, and in some sections was accompanied by Fin Donnelly, also member of parliament and the critic for Fisheries, Oceans, and the Coast Guard.

Donnelly has swum the full length of the Fraser River twice.

So, when was the last time you took action against climate change? Need some inspiration? Well, get out and experience the Fraser River, go see a screening of the film, For the Love of Salmon, or have your group screen it on BC River's Day, and read more Rivershed Stories like Keely‘s, at rivershed.com/stories. Interested in screening the film for your BC River‘s Day event? Please email info@rivershed.com with your request.

By LeRae Haynes

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ducation, awareness, respect, and acceptance are at the heart of the newly-formed Williams Lake Pride, a group formed in November 2017 to support the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) community.

Group founder Willa Julius says part of the reason she created it is because when she was young there wasn‘t anything like it here. ―I thought I‘d love to have this group here today as an option for those who could use this great support,‖ she states.

The group started small and casual, and got good feedback from the beginning. A nursing student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, Julius asked one of her instructors, the president of Kamloops Pride, about how to start one in Williams Lake. ―We talked about how receptive people are to change, how slow we‘d need to go, and how we can get support from the wider community, "she says. ―It‘s grown so much. The general consensus is that yes, we do need this in Williams Lake.‖ Williams Lake Pride meets once a month and is open to the public. There are older adults, young adults, and youth: allies from all genders and sexuality. ―If you don‘t want to talk about your story, you don‘t have to,‖ Julius says. ―This works for people who may want to stay quiet about this. ―We want to offer an environment of safety. In the beginning we weren‘t sure how the whole community would react, so we got involved with established community events, such as the Williams Lake Stampede parade and the street party.‖ Before the parade, the group met for a tie-dye night, making garments to wear on the float, with a general theme of colourfulness. Afterwards, for the street party, they made little bracelets with the public, and the response was great—very positive. ―This has always been there,‖ she says. ―I‘m very happy that in this time people feel safer to express themselves. It gives you the ability to be yourself and contributes to good mental health. We‘re so blessed to be here in Canada, to be able to express a part of ourselves that makes people happier, and that brings peace.‖ She said when you can‘t be yourself, you‘re holding something back that‘s a big part of who you are. ―In my experience,

The 2018 Williams Lake Stampede Parade welcomed an exuberant float from Willliams Lake Pride - a crowd favourite. Photo: W.S. Photography

that can cause substantial health problems,‖ she says. ―I‘ve known people who have been hospitalized for mental health crises. If family and friends don‘t accept you for who you are, despite getting support from other places, it can be a really big deal. ―As a nurse, we read up on statistics regarding mental health surrounding people who are part of the LGBT community—they can have more mental health deficits. A recent study showed that trans youth without the support of family and friends are twice as likely to attempt suicide.‖ She says if someone is part of this community, family support is the single biggest contributor toward mental health. ―This also includes close friends and extended family,‖ she says. ―When that support is refused, it‘s like a big part of you is rejected.‖ Steps have been taken to offer this support in high schools. Williams Lake Secondary had several gay/straight alliance youth -based clubs where allies can come together and talk, says Julius.―Events were created in the school and in the general community. I‘m glad we have Pink Shirt Day: bullying is a big part of the LGBT community. ―What helped me the most was having that place of support while I was in university,‖ she says.―I joined a lot of communities, especially on campus. It‘s a place where you find your own people. It‘s very liberating to find people who understand

where you are, and can say, ‗I‘ve been there too.‘‖ Sean Sheridan is 14 years old. He identifies as trans-male demi-sexual and is a member of Williams Lake Pride. He says the group is a positive experience for him. ―It‘s a place where people get what I‘m saying, a place where I can be more open and calm down, and a place where people understand me,‖ he says. ―I‘m lucky: I have family support and support at school. My friends say, ‗We don‘t really understand you, but we accept you.' The only thing I know for sure is that I‘m not straight. I think that if you really question what you are, you‘re probably somewhere on the spectrum. I identify as

‗demi-sexual,‘ and form a connection first based on personality before deciding if there is sexual attraction.‖ He states that he‘s been ‗out‘ for nearly five years and adds that all this is difficult to cope with, combined with all the other changes that come with being a teenager. ―It‘s exciting being in on the beginning of this group—being part of it,‖ he says.―Things are really happening, and I feel like I‘m doing something. ―I want us to be accepted for who we are by the larger community. Being religious and being straight shouldn‘t mean that you can be disrespectful. I‘m glad this group got started. It‘s good to see the education component growing as we go along.‖ Julius adds that she is also very fortunate to have parents who have always been supportive of everything she‘s done. ―My family is awesome,‖ she says. ―When Williams Lake Pride was just getting started, hearing and seeing people support us so wholeheartedly makes me so proud of my home town. The group did a presentation to City Council to have a rainbow crosswalk painted in Williams Lake, and when it went through, they were able to raise the funds, thanks to generous local businesses. ―This ties in so well with the downtown branding,‖ she says.― Diversity, colourful culture: it‘s time.‖ LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of music with kids.

By Terri Smith

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hope that wherever you are as you are reading this in the not-toodistant future, there are clear or rainy skies and that you can breathe easily. We are moving out of yet another difficult fire summer. It's hard not to be affected. I think it is probably good to recognize that.

Moments after sitting down to write this article, quite suddenly, the sky went dark at 2:30 in the afternoon in mid-August. All the solar lights around the garden came on, for it was as dark as night outside. I went out to check on the animals. It was eerie. I couldn‘t get the Lord Byron poem, ―Darkness‖ out of my head. It begins, ―I had a dream, which was not all a dream / The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars /Did wander darkling in the eternal space /Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth /Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air /Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day...‖ I had tears in my eyes as I checked on everyone. When I got down on the ground at animal level, though, it wasn‘t quite as smoky, and the animals didn‘t seem nearly as worried as I felt. My dog, Kasha, and I did a slow walk around the gardens and closed both greenhouses. Inside the greenhouses the air was better thanks to all those plants producing oxygen in a small space.

Along with the creepy, red darkness, the temperature had dropped to below 10 degrees, and I wanted to try to keep them warm as well as keep them as small havens from the smoke.

The dark-as-night only lasted about half an hour, and soon lightened to the sickly yellow light that has sadly become the new normal. During the moments in the darkness of day, I reflected on all of the things I take for granted and all the things I am grateful for.

I forget to be thankful for the sunshine and blue sky until they are gone. I forget to be thankful when it rains. I forget to be thankful when I don‘t have to think about breathing. I forget to be thankful for the

By Terri Smith

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madeus is doing quite well, thanks for asking! (I assume you’re curious or you wouldn’t be reading this.) I dread his passing for so many reasons, but one of them is that I’m going to have to answer so many, ―How’s Amadeus?‖ questions in a way that will make people sad. Even writing about the fact that he won’t be around forever always seems to provoke a lot of sympathy and at least a few people who are pretty sure he’s already died even though he is still very much alive.

So, before I write much more: yes, Amadeus is alive and well! But everyone out there knows how this story will end, right? The end will be the same no matter how it happens, and here is what the end looks like (spoiler alert): he dies. When?

Who knows? It might be tomorrow; it might be 24 years from now (gasp), and I‘m not sure which would be worse. It is the thing I dread, and yet it will also be the thing that sets me free.

The day the sun went dark, 2:30 p.m. in Quesnel, BC. Photo: Terri Smith

fresh food from my garden and the clean water I drink. I forget to be thankful for our lovely solar-powered house that is useless without the sun.

I‘m not forgetting now. I am so grateful for all these things. I am so grateful that we live where we do. There are three hills rising steeply behind our house that are covered in a beautiful and lush, mixed forest.

The air is fresher because of all this greenery. I am grateful for every green thing right now and trying not to be afraid or wonder how long it would take for this lush green-ness to die were the sky to stay dark for longer. I am grateful for the love and support of the community of people I am a part of here in the Cariboo. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of these people who offer each other comfort and shelter and love in difficult times.

We are all a part of the same system here on Earth. We must care for the whole if we want our part to thrive as well. This can indeed be overwhelming, but part of caring for the whole is caring for our little part. The small choices we make in our daily lives can add up fast for good or for ill. What small changes can you make today that will help the Earth of tomorrow?

But really, it‘s not good enough anymore, is it? What are we doing to our home, this planet? Can we stop? We don't need so much of what we think we need. I

What a terrible thing to say, to even think, yet there it is. I am tied to this goat by love. But this means that I can‘t go anywhere for more than a night without someone to look after him, and only a few people really understand him and can care for him as he needs caring for. He's just not like other goats or even dogs, and he‘s kind of a jerk to most people when I‘m not around. I never thought all those years ago when I brought a shivering, pathetic, little, spindly, ball of goat into the house to warm up that my life was about to take a very odd detour that would affect so much for so long. In short, I did not expect to be defined by a goat. I am Terri Smith, Mother of Goat, almost before I am anything else. It makes me laugh, though, and I have no regrets. I would not/could not have done things any different; it‘s just not in my nature. I save small, helpless things. I don‘t mean to get attached to every troubled little being that comes my way, and it causes me all sorts of heartache, but it‘s what I do.

Everyone who has a pet they love dearly knows this pain. Animals don‘t usu-

wish I had any answers at all. We need large-scale change, and, sadly, I think we need it to happen ten years ago. We need corporations to not be in control and to have accountability. The word and idea of ―protectionism‖ needs to be replaced with ―caring for our community.‖ The best answers I have found for how we as a society can change were in Naomi Klein‘s book from 2017 called, No is Not Enough, where she and other high-profile Canadians put forth their ideas in something called The Leap Manifesto (https://leapmanifesto.org/ en/the-leap-manifesto/). I got excited when I read about this and looked it up online, but it seems there hasn‘t really been much going on with it since 2017. But do have a look, because they are proposing a better Canada and a better world and the idea that we can take care of the planet and also have jobs. Cleaning up the mess we‘ve made could indeed be a full-time job for most people on the planet.

I don‘t know if any of the changes that need to happen are happening quick enough. I only hope that the sky going out is a big enough reminder that we need to stop. We need to reassess. We need to think about what truly matters, because what matters most is not how much money you make, how great your newest whatever is, or how perfect your lawn grows. What matters most in our lives is the people. Are

your friends and family healthy and happy?

Will there be a planet that can sustain healthy life for the children of today and tomorrow?

This is depressing, and depressing doesn‘t sell. If you‘re still reading this, I‘m proud of you, because I grew tired and wandered away at least three times while writing it. I don‘t know how we can fix what we‘ve broken. I wish I did. I do know, however, that the changes that must happen, must happen from within each person.

I‘ve run out of the energy I used to have to fight back against this broken system. It may well be a lack of oxygen. I will just do my small part and try to influence by example. Our little farm is growing; I have wonderful humans all around me; and even as the world falls apart, there is still so much love and laughter in my life. I am lucky because the circumstances in which I find myself mean that I don‘t need a lot to survive, or thrive, but my part is to recognize my luck, feel gratitude for it, and help whomever and wherever I can.

I refuse to believe it‘s too late.

Terri Smith is a non-certified organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo. She is passionate about writing, art, goats, and feeding good food to good people. She believes in following your heart, living your dreams, and taking care of the planet.

Amadeus in the early morning light.

Photo: Terri Smith

ally live as long as we do. They are lessons to us in letting go. Some days I get prematurely broken-hearted when I look at my animals and think about the time when they‘ll no longer be here. But then I remember that they are here now, and while they are here I will appreciate them as much as I can and love them wholeheartedly and hope that when the end does arrive for any of them, it is quick and they do not suffer.

One more time now, before I start getting sympathy cards: Amadeus is alive and well! And of the two of us, only I am troubled or even aware of the fact that he won‘t be here forever.

Terri Smith is a non-certified organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo. She is passionate about writing, art, goats, and feeding good food to good people. She believes in following your heart, living your dreams, and taking care of the planet.

By Tera Grady

T

hroughout the Cariboo, there are various recycling services in place including curbside recycling and recycling depots.

With China’s strict policy on recyclables, the war on contamination in recyclable material is very important for recycling in BC. So, how do contamination rates compare through the recycling services in the Cariboo Regional District (CRD)?

In the City of Quesnel, the curbside recycling service is directly provided by Recycle BC, the organization responsible for residential packaging and paper recycling in BC. In Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, and the 108 Mile Ranch, the associated local governments are responsible for curbside recycling services but collect the recyclables on behalf of Recycle BC. Quesnel curbside recyclables are less contaminated when compared to curbside recyclables collected in Williams Lake, District of 100 Mile House, and the 108 Mile Ranch. The difference is that in Quesnel, blue boxes are used at the curb rather than large wheeled totes. In Quesnel the recycling collection truck driver manually picks up each blue box and empties the contents into the paper or plastic side of the split truck. When the driver sees glass, foam packaging, plastic bags, or other items that are not included in curbside collection, they are left at the curb. In the other CRD locations mentioned above, the large wheeled totes are emptied into the recycling collection truck by an automated arm. This system allows for much more contamination to enter the recyclables.

There are arguments for and against both blue boxes and wheeled totes, but, if residents who have curbside recycling were informed and attentive about how to recycle, it would not matter which system was used.

The situation is much different when it comes to recycling depots, though. Quesnel has some of the last non-controlled recycling drop-off locations in British Columbia and the contamination rates are too high to easily market the recyclables, which is the responsibility of the City of Quesnel‘s recycling contractor.

All other recycling depots in the CRD are controlled sites with attendants who assist and teach residents about what is accepted at the site and how to sort their recyclables. Management (transportation, processing, and marketing) of recyclables from these controlled depots is the responsibility of Recycle BC, not local governments. The materials from these depots are not totally free of contamination, but they are significantly better than from noncontrolled sites.

In January 2018, China reduced the level of contamination they accept with recyclables. China will only import the cleanest recyclable material, which makes marketing the contaminated paper and

plastic recyclable materials from Quesnel‘s current depots extremely challenging and costly. Recycle BC is still able to market their recyclables as their contractor Green

By Nature owns and operates a plastic container recovery facility in the Lower Mainland, and Recycle BC has been able to branch out to other international mixed paper markets. Recycle BC will not take on responsibility of the recyclables generated from the current City of Quesnel depots, as they are not controlled and contain too much contamination.

There will likely be changes coming to the City of Quesnel recycling depots, as they cannot continue the way they are for much longer. The best outcome would be for Recycle BC to take on responsibility for recyclables generated from Quesnel depots. This would require consolidating the depots into one secure location and providing oversite with an attendant.

Regardless of what type of recycling system is in place, the bottom line is all types of contamination lower the quality of recyclables as a commodity. Help us continue to be able to recycle by reducing the contamination in your recycling.

Are you guilty of contamination?

There are three main types of contamination in recyclables: 1. Materials that are not accepted, like bags of garbage, clothing, garden hoses, strapping, shoes, wood items, ceramics, etc.

2. Accepted items that have been put in the wrong collection container. Glass is the most problematic in this type of contamination.

3. Recyclables that are not packaging and paper. Some examples include electronics, batteries, tires, used oil containers, hazardous waste, and propane cylinders.

Learn more by following us on Facebook at facebook.com/caribooregion, visiting us online at cariboord.ca, or looking for our Waste Wise articles in your local paper. For more information on the Waste Wise Program, call (250) 398-7929. You can also find more details on Waste Wise activities and events at ccconserv.org.

By Vanessa Moberg (& Oliver Berger)

A

h, plagiarism. I love it. I'm kidding, of course. (I also love irony.)

My colleague Oliver has been working on a fun new Waste Wise brochure for our organization, and as a result, he and his roommates have been playing around with ―The Three Rs‖. You might have heard a fourth or fifth R being bounced around, but we decided we want more!

So, while this brochure is still in draft stages, I‘ve decided to reproduce some of Oliver‘s work. (He‘s currently rafting the Fraser River with the Sustainable Living Leadership Program. I have no way to obtain his permission. Enter magnificent plagiarism!)

Reduce. It‘s the first of the original three Rs, and in our opinion it‘s at the heart of conservation. The very best thing you can do for Mother Earth is to not consume something in the first place. Stop waste before it even starts.  Reduce your consumerism.  Reduce the amount of garbage you create.  Reduce your impact on the planet by using self-propelled transportation and recreation vehicles like bikes, kayaks, and skis.  Reduce your food waste through judicious grocery shopping, saving leftovers, and, of course, composting.

Reuse. For the creative types, there seems to be an unlimited number of ways to reuse

By Oliver Berger

―I

recycle everything.‖ Honestly, when I hear this statement I cringe. I am sure my fellow waste educators would also agree.

Most people tell me these words with optimistic pride, boasting how little garbage they create, reassuring me that their recycling bag is always full to the brim, sometimes even overflowing. That‘s fantastic, you might think … or is it?

Because of the experience I have sifting through curbside recycling bins, my mind immediately wanders into visualizing what might be inside their bins. Did they rinse out their peanut butter jar? Did they throw batteries, glass, or Styrofoam in there as well? Is there a garden hose inside the bin, intertwining items together like a tree root?

I hope they did not put wood waste or compost in there, too! Is it literally everything and the kitchen sink?

The notion that anything you throw into your curbside recycling will eventually work its way through the proper avenues to get recycled accordingly is a facade.

Often when items are too tightly packed together or just down-right disgusting, they will end up in the garbage. For instance, if a jug full of used engine oil

things. (For the rest of us, there‘s Pinterest.) Here are some of Oliver‘s ideas for incorporating ―reuse‖ into your life:  Reuse wood from a demo to build your next birdhouse.  Reuse old clothing as rags.  Reuse ―single-use‖ plastic containers for your leftovers or use them to store and organize items in your home.  Reuse someone else‘s words. (Sorry, Oliver!)

Recycle. This is the one you hear us talking about all the time, mostly because the many different categories can make it seem complicated and confusing. We‘re always here to answer questions, though, and so is the RCBC Recycling Hotline at 1-800-6674321.  Recycle everything you can – and you can now recycle a lot – including most types of packaging, electronic goods, light bulbs, even Brita filters, if you send them back to the company. Make it a family challenge to get to the smallest bag of garbage possible, with the rest going to recycling. Organization is key!

Having a recycling station in your shed or garage with designated bins for each category of recycling definitely helps.

And now the exciting part… some new Rs! Refuse  Refuse to spend your money on things you don‘t need.  Refuse to support companies that sell non-earth-friendly products.  Refuse to buy brand new products.  Refuse to buy packaging that is not recyclable.  Refuse the plastic straw.  Refuse to-go packing that is Styrofoam.

Repair  Repair before buying new.  Repair appliances locally instead of purchasing new from abroad.  Repair your favourite clothing by learning how to sew.  Repair your shoes—we have many experts in town who can help.

Refurbish  Refurbish a sofa with new material.  Refurbish that old chair into a beautiful plant potter.

Repaint (bonus R) that lovely dresser of yours and bring it back to life. Spice it up with some retro knobs from the Share Shed.

Review  Review products before purchasing.  Review the material of your packaging before buying the product.  Review what you buy to see where you can change your habits bit by bit.  Review products before purchasing them the same way you review the ingredients in your food.

Repurpose  Repurpose that old milk jug into a scoop for your cat litter.  Repurpose those cardboard boxes into storage containers.  Repurpose a lanyard into an herb drying string. (Good one, Oliver!)

There is alot of information to absorb to do all this correctly, especially when you have to drive all over town to make it happen. Do not get me wrong: I would love to see a system in place where you could bring all your items to one location and it would all get sorted properly. However, this is not currently the case.

A materials recovery facility (MRF) is where all your curbside and mixed recycling items end up for sorting. Contamination is a serious issue and costs these facilities time (aka money) to weed out unrecyclaOliver Berger describing what items are recyclable ble items. Every couple of hours, the and what items are garbage. Photo: Doug Radies entire sorting system shuts down completely to untangle all the plastic film ends up spilling while a pile of recyclables caught within the machinery. Rope and gets bailed together, that entire bail will be strapping are also an issue here. destined for the landfill.

Considering there is not a lot of profit Curbside recycling programs only col- margin in the recycling business, it is imlect specific items to be recycled. Usually portant to make sure we do our part accuthese items are paper, cardboard, tins cans, rately. Otherwise, we might lose recycling and hard plastic containers. programs all together.

There is also that sense of ―doing our Items like glass, Styrofoam, any plastic films, batteries, electronics, scrap metals, part for the environment‖ when we put our light bulbs, pesticides, paint, antifreeze, leftovers into the blue recycling bin instead engine oil, oil containers, wood waste, of the black landfill bin. We have to retextiles, and compost need to be brought to member creating more ―stuff‖ to throw the appropriate drop-off locations to be away is not the answer. As far as I am condealt with accordingly.



Repurpose a single sock into a wine bottle holder.

Renew an old t-shirt into a new headband.

Regift  Regift; it‘s not that bad.  Regift those candles that you don‘t really want.  Regift a gift basket to a friend in need.  Regift clothing you have outgrown and donate the items so the gift of giving continues.

Rethink  Rethink how you package your groceries.  Rethink products that you don‘t believe in.  Rethink your buying habits and spending priorities.  Rethink the possibilities!

Recover  Recover your chip bags into a bio-fuel at your local depot.  Recover that plastic bag in your recycling bin to use again.

Remember  Remember your reusable coffee mug in the morning.  Remember your containers when you go out to eat for leftovers.  Remember all these awesome new Rs! Rejoice  Rejoice at the amazing job you are doing.  Rejoice because reducing your impact makes a difference.  Rejoice because no one likes a whiner.  Rejoice that you don‘t have to spend a lot of money to have great things.

Repeat Repeat Oliver Berger is the Chief Green Officer at the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society and Vanessa Moberg is the Coordinator. Vanessa writes all the pay cheques.

Oliver will forgive her.

cerned, recycling should be one of the last options for our waste.

I would rather hear stories of people reusing their yogurt container or glass jars to store dry goods. I really enjoy repurposed art made out of scrap metal like old forks or cheese graters. The best is seeing someone wearing their favourite t-shirt or jacket to the bitter, hole-ridden, barelyhanging-on end.

Remember not everything is recyclable.

Some types of packaging and especially non-packaging items are just plain old garbage. Refuse is still my favourite ―R‖. If you are unsure of what is recyclable, find out first. Contact your local regional district for the latest information. Download Recyclepedia, an APP created by the Recycling Council of British Columbia, or better yet call them at 1-800-667-4321 and tell them I said hello.

It‘s not somebody else's job to deal with the leftovers you created … it‘s yours.

Take responsibility for your waste.

Oliver has a 35-year degree in life, starting out in the Spokin Lake area, spending adolescence in Williams Lake, and then venturing throughout the world on a quest of always learning new things. His priorities include dedication to and education about waste management.

These Cariboo locations are cutting down on their waste by composting or donating their food scraps:

These locations and business are helping the strawless campaign in the Cariboo by only serving straws upon request:

Contact the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society to jump on board.

Who are we missing? Give us a call and show us how your business is helping tackle the worldwide waste problem.

Or ‌tell us how you would like to learn how to help.

Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society ccentre@ccconserv.org 250-398-7929 (Tues/Wed) @rattailtrails

ŝ

ẑ

T

he Tŝilhqot’in community of Xeni Gwet’in is assembling for a peaceful gathering and harvesting camp at Teẑtan Biny (Fish Lake) and Yanah Biny (Little Fish Lake), a place of profound cultural and spiritual significance for the Tŝilhqot’in people. This peaceful gathering and camp has the full support of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation.

For over a decade the Tŝilhqot‘in have been fighting the development of an openpit mine in this area, which is separate and distinct from the lands the Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged Tŝilhqot‘in title to in 2014. It is located in the proposed Dasiqox Tribal Park area and proven Aboriginal Rights area. ―We welcome everyone up to Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny that wishes to gather peacefully in this sacred area,‖ says Nits‘ilʔin (Chief) Joe Alphonse, tribal chairman, Tŝilhqot‘in National Government.

On August 23, 2018, the BC Supreme Court upheld a permit authorizing Taseko Mines Limited (TML) to undertake an extensive drilling program at Teẑtan Biny and the surrounding area. The Tŝilhqot‘in Nation has appealed this decision and will be seeking an injunction to prohibit the drilling activity.

The drilling permit approves 76 kilometres of new or modified road and trail, 122 drill holes, 367 excavated test pits, and 20 kilometres of seismic lines throughout Teẑtan Biny, Yanah Biny, and Nabas. The Government of Canada rejected TML‘s New Prosperity mine proposal in 2014, and

Photo of Teztan Biny.

Photo: Tsilhqot’in National Government

the mine cannot legally be built as matters stand. Two independent federal panels have confirmed the area is of unique and special importance to the Tŝilhqot‘in.

At the same time, Tŝilhqot‘in members from all six communities of the Tŝilhqot‘in Nation are gathering in unity at Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny to exercise their Aboriginal rights and engage in the cultural and ceremonial practices that have actively connected them to these lands and waters for centuries.

The Tŝilhqot‘in Nation asserts that the drilling permit should never have been approved on the final day of power for the former BC Liberal government in July 2017, to support a mine proposal that the federal government has twice rejected. ―The provincial government should never have issued permits for a drilling program at Teẑtan Biny for a mine that cannot be built,‖ says Alphonse. ―We feel the courts and the government haven‘t

ple cooking options. Depending upon the amount of fish used, this recipe makes between 4 and 8 servings (approx. 1 serving per ½ pound fish). And depending on salmon species used, each serving should contain between 1.5 and 5.25 grams of EPA and DHA.

By Dr Katie DeGroot, ND

A

t some point, you may have heard that fats are bad for you.

But have you ever heard of omega 3 fatty acids, a kind of fat that is actually good for you?

Omega 3 fatty acids are a type of fat that is critical to optimal health and wellbeing. Just like any other vitamin or mineral, omega 3 fatty acids are an essential part of a balanced diet, as our body can only obtain them from the foods we eat or the supplements we take.

Within the broad category of omega 3 fatty acids, there are three major sub-types: alpha linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

ALA is considered the most basic of all omega 3 fatty acids. It is predominantly found in high-fat plant-based foods such as nuts and seeds. Gram for gram, the highest amounts of ALA are found in chia seeds, flax seeds, walnuts, and pecans. Depending upon your age and gender, Canadian experts recommended consuming between 1.1 and 1.6 grams of ALA per day. In the body, ALA plays a role in maintaining skin health and influencing the processes of inflammation. ALA can also be converted to the other two types of omega 3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. Comparative to ALA, EPA and DHA are considered ―higher level‖ omega 3 fatty acids—they are produced from ALA and have more specific roles in the body. Both

taken into account the significance of the Aboriginal rights and title of our people.‖ The Nation is moving forward with an appeal in the BC Court of Appeal, while also seeking an injunction to stop the drilling program, says Alphonse. ―We cannot allow TML to destroy our home, or who we are—our way of life.‖ ―Teẑtan Biny, and the greater Nabas area, is significant to the Tŝilhqot‘in,‖ says Nits‘ilʔin (Chief) Russell Myers Ross, vice -Chair, Tŝilhqot‘in National Government. ―It is our home. Our families grew up here among our ancestors. Our eldest stories and trails come from this area. Burial and archaeology sites are scattered throughout the area. We continue to return to hunt and fish annually. It is a place of peace and tranquility.‖ ―Having gone through two comprehensive Canadian Environmental Assessments where Taseko Mines Ltd failed twice, it is outrageous that we are entertaining drilling

EPA and DHA act to reduce inflammation and promote and maintain brain, heart, skin, and joint health.

While the human body can convert ALA to EPA and DHA, it is a slow process—only 4 to 8 percent of consumed ALA is converted to EPA or DHA. Therefore experts suggest the best way to obtain EPA and DHA is to consume foods already high in EPA and DHA—primarily seafood and fish. Gram for gram, some of the foods highest in EPA and DHA are anchovies, caviar, herring, mackerel, mussels, oysters, salmon, sardines, and trout. Given the essential nature of omega 3 fatty acids, experts recommend consuming between 0.3 and 0.45 grams of EPA and DHA per day, or 1.5 to 3.15 grams of EPA and DHA per week.

For the Sauce: Ingredients 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 4 Tablespoons olive oil 2 Tablespoons butter 2 Tablespoons mustard (yellow works just fine, but use Dijon if you‘re feeling fancy) 4 small or 2 large garlic cloves, minced, or ½ tsp garlic powder or 2 tsp garlic flakes ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper ¼ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons dried basil or 2 Tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped 2 teaspoons dried dill or 2 Tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped 1 Tablespoon capers, drained Method In a small sauce or fry pan, combine all ingredients listed above. On medium heat, stir well and bring to a boil. Then turn to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase or decrease the amount of sauce made to personal preference and taste—if you like a strong flavoured sauce, serve as above on 2 lbs of fish. Or if you like a lighter flavour, prepare sauce as above for 4 lbs fish or half the sauce recipe and cook with 2 lbs fish.

Capered Citrus Salmon This is a very simple yet tasty salmon dish with adjustable ingredients and multi-

For the Salmon: Ingredients 2 to 4 pounds fresh salmon filets

Grilled wild sockeye salmon.

Image : Taz www.flickr.com

exploration for a proposal that has been rejected,‖ says Myers Ross. ―Federal and provincial laws and political action is failing Indigenous peoples and the movement towards reconciliation, consent, and the acceptance of our authority in our own lands has to change. As Tŝilhqot‘in, we can only encourage our citizens to assemble and to exercise our culture in the face of injustice.‖ Nits‘ilʔin (Chief) Jimmy Lulua, Xeni Gwet‘in First Nations Government, says the group held an emergency meeting of the Xeni Gwet‘in elders, members, and youth to discuss this issue. At the end, each and every person who attended at the full band hall approved a peaceful gathering at Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny, to practice the Nation's rights, to harvest food, and to hold ceremonies. ―This drilling program is an attack on our identity, who we are as Tŝilhqot‘in people,‖ says Lulua. ―We would never show this disrespect to others. We would never go to their homes and dig up their resting places or their sacred grounds. It is the highest disrespect to our people. We plan to come together in a good way, in a peaceful way, and gather strength from this special place and our way of life.‖ Show your support for Indigenous-led conservation and make your voice heard.

To pledge your support for Nexwagwezʔan - Dasiqox Tribal Park please sign the online pledge emailing elected representatives at: http://dasiqox.org/support-us/take-action/? sp_ref=441213146.392.190661.f.0.2 Donate through: www.tsilhqotin.ca.

Cooking Option 1: Poaching Pour sauce into a thick-bottomed pot capable of holding fillets with only a minimal amount of overlap. Heat sauce until just boiling, and then add fillets skin-side down (sauce should just cover the meat).

Cover pot with lid and cook on low to medium low heat, adjusting temperature as needed to ensure a slow simmer but prevent a rapid boil. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until fish is cooked.

Cooking Option 2: Grilling Place fillets skin-down on a barbequesafe pan or wrap fillets in tinfoil. Pour sauce over fillets, place fish on barbeque and close lid. Grill at around 350 degrees F for 10 to 15 minutes or until fully cooked.

Cooking Option 3: Oven Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place fish in an oven-proof dish (skin-side down), pour sauce over top, cover with lid, and bake until cooked—between 15 to 20 minutes, depending upon your oven.

When fully cooked (by any method above), fish should be flaky and light pink throughout, and the skin should be easy to separate. Serve on a bed of rice or other grain or starchy food. Recipe adapted from Portland’s Palate.

Dr. Katie DeGroot is a naturopathic doctor who also holds a Master’s of Science in Nutrition. She works at Integrated Elements Wellness Clinic in both Williams Lake and 100 Mile House, and is currently accepting new patients at both clinic locations.

Weighing barley in the process of home brewing. Photo Copyright : Václav Mach, 123rf.com

By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor, TheGreenGazette

I

’ll tell you a little something about beer: it’s not what you think. It’s actually better. If you aren’t a fan of the golden, bubbly nectar of awesome, well, I forgive you. But, I’ll bet you didn’t know beer boosts brain health—studies show a 20 percent decline in the risk of mental decline in people who drink beer. Beer-drinkers enjoy a 40 per cent lower risk of kidney stones; 20 to 40 per cent less risk of heart disease, and lower cancer risk, especially in dark beer drinkers, thanks to antioxidants and flavonoids. If that isn’t enough to inspire you, don’t forget it tastes delicious and has a 5,000-year-old history of bringing people together for social and relaxation purposes.

At the heart of the beer drinking matter is a big choice—buy big, buy small, or brew your own. If you‘re contemplating which of the first two options is best, I implore you to check out this article in TheGreenGazette http:// www.thegreengazette.ca/whats-brewing-inbc/ for myriad reasons smaller is better. If you are thinking about taking a swing at home brewing, read on.

Of course, the most important benefit to brewing your own beers is total control and understanding of what goes in the brew.

Because you can control your batches and volume, you don‘t need an elaborate cock-

tail of preservative chemicals—in fact, once you get the hang of home brewing you‘ll feel like a rock star if you can keep it on the shelf or in the cellar for more than a month, thus forever negating the need for preservatives.

Yeast has some wonderful vitamin B goodness you won‘t want to pass up, but that is usually removed by the filtering process in large commercial breweries.

Although fresh, homemade beer offers nutritional benefits from the grain content, this also tends to be lower the larger the brewer, making big batch brews less nutritious.

When you make your own, your kitchen (or brew lab, if you‘re super keen) is your oyster, a fresh palette for experimenting with flavours and ingredients. Everything down to the sugar can be top quality and pristine from chemicals when you are completely in control of the process. Did you know you can include super foods in the grain portion of your mix and create something delicious and body-boosting? The possibilities are almost endless.

And although moderation is the key to safely enjoying any form of alcohol, it is worthy of mention that the second-best way to defend yourself against the dreaded hangover is to brew your own, since the higher yeast content and vitamin B naturally reduce the effects of hangovers.

Then there is the act of brewing. Like cooking, mixing, creating, experimenting, succeeding, failing, and learning are therapeutic. There is a sense of satisfaction in

accomplishing a nice brew and a deep gratitude in being able to share something handmade with friends. All of this adds up to immense passion and care in the brewing process, which improves overall health and happiness.

Ready to get started on the home brewing experience? The best thing to do is have someone show you—brewing is an art and a science and the internet is sometimes fantastic and sometimes tragic when it comes to directions. In the absence of a trusted mentor, there are several books on the subject that loyal home brewers swear by.

Once you have your method sorted, there are some pro-tips to keep in mind that will keep your brews looking and tasting amazing. Don‘t forget the best ingredients, however, are trust, patience, and a little love.

Plan ahead. You should have a good idea of what type of beer you are after and the correct way to make that vision a reality. I mentioned books, and there are also brewing journals and websites (verify your sources!) offering some great tips. There is even software you can by to help plan the style, colour, notes, and flavour of your favourite brews. Check out http:// beersmith.com/ to get started.

Most importantly, use quality, fresh ingredients. Liquid yeast, hops, dry malt, liquid malt, and crushed grains have a limited shelf life—choose these for the liveliest tastes and the most control over your final product.

Keep it clean—sterile, actually. Your mind may be a mess of ideas, but your work area must be clean and tidy and everything that touches your brew after the cooling process begins must be thoroughly

sanitized. Bacteria are most likely to latch on in the period right after the beer cools and before the yeast begins to ferment.

Wort is the is the liquid extracted from the mashing process. It contains the sugars that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol, and crucial amino acids to provide nitrogen to the yeast as well as more complex proteins contributing to beer head retention and flavor.

Several tips for great home brew hinge on how you treat your wort. First of all, boil the wort for 60 to 90 minutes – the actual time will depend on the lightness of your brew – and boil your entire wort batch to maximize the benefits of the longer boil.

This sterilizes it, vaporizes various undesirable components, releases bittering oils, and prepares the proteins and tannins for fallout during cooling. Speaking of which, cool it quickly. Doing so increases the fallout of those proteins and tannins, which can harm your beer.

Control your fermenting temperature and use glass or steel fermenters, as they are much easier to clean and provide a 100 percent effective oxygen barrier. Plastic fermenters can and do break down around the top of the bucket and can leak. To improve fermenting, consider using a yeast starter, rather than pitching from a package or tube. While both methods are effective, using the starter will ensure a quicker start and a more reliable flavour.

Think long term. While it is fine to start with a kit, if brewing beer is your passion, it pays to think long-term when you buy your permanent gear. Go for the big pot, the more functional chiller, and the glass fermenters. You will save money, time, and trips to the supply store in the long run.

Cheers!

(Left): View from the dunes near La Duna Ecology Centre. Photo: Lisa Bland (Middle): Coastal dunes and cacti near La Duna. Photo courtesy of Gabriela Flores (Right) Citizen scientists at La Duna exploring low tide biodiversity. Photo: Stephanie J. Rousso

By Stephanie J. Rousso

S

ixteen years of education can get you a bachelor’s degree in biology or a related field. Upon graduation, the two primary choice paths are joining the scientific workforce or continuing onto a master’s degree or PhD. Yet, all the $200 textbooks and the dreamiest of dream jobs offer little in terms of mindfulness and wellness. The increasing popularity of citizen science has engaged more people in an active role in conservation biology, thus carrying mindfulness and wellness into the forefront of science. But what exactly is a citizen scientist?

National Geographic describes citizen science as ―the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge.‖ The benefits of citizen science to nature conservation are well documented. Smartphone cameras and GoPros are powerful tools for tackling many of the challenges faced in the field of conservation biology. For example, public sightings of endangered species can advance natural resource management and environmental protection. No doubt photos of wildlife and plants from the masses provides indispensable means of combining ecological research and natural history observation.

While this is great news, very few articles focus on the benefit to the participant—you.

The more we know about the wildlife and plants we encounter, the more mindful and connected we are in nature. This effectively helps reduce the stress-induced cortisol hormone levels in our brains while contributing to conservation biology. Then we can reach a heightened wellness level especially when we integrate good nutrition, exercise such as nature yoga, and meditation.

At La Duna Ecology Center, located at the southern portion of the Baja Peninsula, Mexico, mindfulness and wellness are intertwined with citizen science volunteers.

La Duna started out as a ranch built consciously behind the coastal dunes to protect the pristine shores of La Paz Bay. When the goats and chickens were moved off the property, Gabriela Flores, the owner of Rancho La Duna converted her land into an ecology center for yoga and artist retreats complete with ranch-style outdoor cooking classes. Now, there are eight ecocabins constructed with natural materials of adobe, palm leaves, and trumpet vine.

The latter is noted to have antibiotic properties and there are many other native desert plant species that offer wellness through natural medicinal benefits. These cabins, separated by desert vegetation of evergreen cactus, mesquite trees, and creosote bush, encircle a main palapa. The palapa is a round open space with a handmade palm-thatched roof.

If the juvenile owls that roost under the palapa had a citizen science program, it would highlight the cumulative time that humans sleep in the hammocks that line the palapa and the number of downward facing dogs they observe in the spring.

Only steps away from the palapa is the outdoor kitchen where Señora Malena, a grandmother who grew up and raised her family next door without electricity and running water, prepares amazing gourmet meals for citizen scientists and yogis. The circle design helps the positive energy flow through the campus. Yet, the highlight of La Duna is where the stone-lined path takes visitors to the breathtaking views of the La Paz Bay and Gulf of California.

Atop the rolling, wind-swept coastal dunes, dolphins and sea lions break the surface at dawn. When the tide is low enough to form semi-enclosed tide pools, mystical octopus, sea stars, and invertebrates that reflect all the colours of the chakras are exposed.

This is where visitors to La Duna engage their ―Blue Mind‖ which, according to author and scientist Wallace J. Nichols, refers to ―the surprising science that shows how being near, in, on, or under water can make you happier, healthier, (and) more connected.‖ A Mexican non-profit, Alianza Keloni, which means Turtle Alliance, is creating programs that merge citizen science with the presence, mindfulness, and wellness

that La Duna offers. Visitors contribute to biodiversity conservation by volunteering with local wildlife biologists and university students. Volunteers receive a brief introduction to species identification and methods then head out in pairs or groups to register invertebrates, birds, reptiles, small mammals, and seaweed.

Every morning at La Duna, visitors make their way to the coastal dunes for guided or self-induced meditation as the sun illuminates a new day over the bay.

Then they begin registering all the wildlife tracks from the night before and the pollinators feasting on tiny coastal desert flowers. Volunteers don‘t just write notes about the species they see; they also engage their intuition and listen to the messages different species send to us. This part is written down in a nature journal each volunteer keeps everyday while at La Duna. Volunteers take home this journal as their personal instruction manual for nature as medicine for the mind, body, and soul. At dinner, as stories from the day unfold, and groups share the spiritual meanings of the species that draw their individual attention.

In this way, we holistically reach neuroconservation, a term created by Nichols to explain how we promote conservation by engaging our mind through neuroscience.

Contact us to be a Blue Mindful Citizen Scientist at Stephanie@AlianzaKeloni.org Stephanie J. Rousso is a wildlife biologist specializing in habitat use and spatial ecology of migratory species. Originally from the US, for over eight years now she has lived full time in Baja, Mexico.

D

r. Wallace J. Nichols, innovator, scientist, movement-makers, and marine biologist, enlightened the world with the Blue Mind concept, which describes the scientific connection between emotional, social, and intellectual well-being and humans’ proximity to water. Also an explorer, author, and lecturer, Nichols tells an engaging story – new to the world, but based in longstanding science – of the vast cognitive, emotional, psychological, social, physical, and spiritual benefits that we can all derive from healthy waters and oceans throughout our lives.

Why are we drawn to the ocean each summer? Why does being near water set our minds and bodies at ease? Nichols‘ theory suggests remarkable truth about the benefits of being in, on, under, or simply near water, and backs his claims with the latest neuroscience and firsthand accounts from top athletes, leading scientists, military veterans, and gifted artists. According to Blue Mind, proximity to water can improve performance, increase calm, diminish anxiety, and increase professional success. Blue Mind illustrates the crucial importance of our connection to water and provides a paradigm shifting "blueprint" for a better life on this Blue Marble we call home.

For more information, please visit http://www.wallacejnichols.org.

By Ryan Elizabeth Cope

A

t the end of August, my partner Jan Vozenilik (a Kelownabased cinematographer) and I were hop-scotching down the mighty Fraser River with two river rafts containing participants of the SLLP, or Sustainable Living Leadership Program, with the Rivershed Society of BC. They started the journey in early August, voyaging from the headwaters of the Fraser near Mount Robson, following the river's path to where it meets the Pacific Ocean at Jericho Beach in Vancouver. This is an annual trip put on by the Rivershed Society of BC to raise awareness about the Fraser River, and to bring people together in community and work on projects for a more sustainable future. Our involvement was to help film portions of their trip and as we followed along in their journey for the section between Yale and Agassiz, BC, we elected to forego hotels in favor of our Boler, dubbed "Tomato" by Sue, coowner of Fraser River Rafting Expeditions, an outfit that supported the SLLP in their journey down the river. We’re keeping the name!

Living out of a little camper allowed us to find and visit hidden, off-the-beatenpath spots along our route. We were fortunate to be the only people at these spots but despite this, we still found evidence that humans were there before us: plastic bottles, cans, old flip-flops, etc. The funny thing is that not too long ago, in the relatively recent past at least, humans were still leaving behind bits and bobs … but it was of a different quality of material.

Perfect example: while at Alexandra Bridge (Yale, BC) we ran into two young ladies road-tripping through BC en route to Alaska. One of them was wearing a shirt that read Don‘t Be Trashy and that sparked a conversation about waste and how annoying it was for us to see and have to pick up other people‘s trash in the great outdoors (because, of course, as environmentalists, we just can‘t leave errant trash alone!). The other woman mentioned her love of hiking mountains, discovering old, abandoned mine sites, and seeing what miners of yore have left behind. We all agreed that their leftovers were more intriguing to us than any plastic bottle ever will be, and this I found so fascinating!

Why is that?

Left: Author, Ryan Elizabeth Cope, with a bag full of trash.

Photo: Jan Vozenilik Above: Glass “groundscores” Photo: Ryan Elizabeth Cope

Way back when, trash was comprised mostly of metals, wood, glass, and cloth ... and there was way less of it, making each piece sort of special. Think about it: how often do you come across a perfectly intact plastic bottle in the forest, on the beach, in a tree … and feel compelled to keep it, or to take photos of it because of its stark but beautiful contrast with its surroundings?

Pretty much never, I would imagine. Plastic bottles are ubiquitous. So are candy bar wrappers, plastic bags, spoons, and straws.

They are less special and they‘re an eyesore to boot. But come across a perfectly intact and ancient glass jar half buried in forest leaf litter, or an old, rusty railroad spike along an equally rusty railway, or a tiny glass medicine bottle bobbing along in a river, and you might feel compelled to pick it up, potentially tuck it away as a treasure discovered, and marvel at the life this item must have had. What is the story behind that jar, spike, bottle? Because these items are few and far between, we‘re more curious about them. They impact us in a way that single-use, ever-present plastic waste never will.

One of the SLLP participants, a wastemanagement specialist (and GreenGazette columnist) named Oliver Berger, has a name for these discoveries, the ones we covet and wonder about. They‘re called ―groundscores‖ and, thankfully, along our journey we had a few of them. A jar and a

medicine bottle were two of them. We‘ve also picked up countless plastic bottles, caps, wrappers, fishing line, and coffee cups. As I look at our growing pile of waste, I find it amusing that though all of it is ―trash,‖ I'm disgusted by the pile of plastic and enamored with the glass items.

Many postulate that we‘ve created a new geological ―Age‖ in the same way there was a Triassic Period and Ice Age. This one will become known as the ―Anthropocene‖ and when future generations dig up our fossils, they will find, littered all around us, the plastics that hold no value, are everywhere, and never break

down. I wonder, then, if future generations will come across an ancient plastic bottle in their version of a wild forest and think of it as a ―groundscore?‖ For their sake, let‘s hope not.

The purpose of this story is to illustrate just how little value we place on our trash these days and how this ultimately is not helping us get out of our predicament.

How do we instill in each human the feeling that they should care for places they enjoy, to preserve them for themselves and others? A nice vision for the future is to imagine a forest devoid of our impact, where humans see waste for what it is and stop using wild places as their trash heap.

I think it starts with the understanding that there is something worth protecting out there: if we put children and adults alike into a forest, onto a beach, or shove them out to sea and show them how powerful of a place it is, they might feel differently about wrecking it. We‘ll create a world in which there are more awesome groundscores and fewer trashy messes.

Ryan Elizabeth Cope is a Kelowna, BCbased advocate for plastic-less, healthful living. She has lived and worked in several places on the coasts of both the Atlantic and the Pacific, from Hawaii to Maine. She blogs at Seven in the Ocean (https:// sevenintheocean.com/) where she marries her love of food with her disdain for plastic -wrapped garbage. When not ranting ad nauseum about plastic, she can be found playing with her chickens, or concocting fresh juices in her kitchen.

By Patrick Lucas

T

he trail cuts down through a thin grove of burnt and blackened birch and poplar trees that remain standing from the wildfires that burned through the Cariboo Chilcotin Region in 2017. Spindly, leaning, ready to fall, their bark black and shriveled like skin peeling off in sheets, exposing the rotten dead wood. My friend Thomas Schoen and I are leading a group of youth from the Xat’sull First Nation on a mountain bike ride down the Soda Creek trails located above Highway 97 and the Xat’sull Heritage Village just north of Williams Lake. The trail beneath our tires is dust and ash. It’s easy to see the destruction and feel a knot in your stomach and wonder if the land can heal, but there is new growth, alder and shrubs pushing up in bright greens, reds, and yellows, exposing the resilience of the forest.

For the previous three years Thomas and myself, as part of First Journey Trails and the Aboriginal Youth Mountain Bike Program (AYMBP), have partnered with the Xat‘sull First Nation to develop a 30km network of single track nature trails.

Our goal was to provide opportunities for their people to get outdoors and to attract tourists to the community. By all counts it‘s been a success. Numerous youth have gotten jobs and training, people are out walking and hiking, and riders are coming from all over the province. The community is proud of their youth and the trails they built. However, the biggest impacts would be revealed by the wildfires.

During the summer of 2017, like so many people throughout the province I watched in horror as the fires spread across the region claiming homes, lives, and livelihoods. The fires impacted the Xat‘sull

By LeRae Haynes

G

iving animals the best life possible is at the heart of a caring young family in Williams Lake. Kathleen, Sophia, and their four-month-old baby have rescued and opened their home to five cats named Sampson, Rebekah, Ellie, Absence, and Mylo, a dog named Sadie, Aki the orange corn snake, Esther the gecko, and Navi the baby corn snake. ―I got Ellie, our black cat, as a tiny runt being fostered by a dog; when we met, she chose me,‖ said Kathleen, long-time animal lover. ―When I wanted to take on another cat, I wanted another black one. They are often considered throwaway animals, and get left in shelters the longest,‖ she added. ―They‘re the ones left behind, abused, and most often put down.‖ ―People don‘t want them because they‘re black. We want them because they are—because they deserve a good home.‖ The family has five cats now. ―We‘d go to the shelter to hang out with cats, and the ones we adopted chose us. Some of them we rescued—like one of ours whose mom was killed by a dog, and who we bottlefed,‖ she said. ―My dad needed a home for his older cat and we took him in, too.‖

particularly hard, threatening homes and infrastructure, and forcing the evacuation of the community for more than a month. I was also worried about the trails we had built. Would they be lost? What would it mean for the community and the people who used them?

As the fires subsided and the smoke cleared I received a call from Thomas, ―The trails are still there!‖ His excitement and relief crackled through the phone. ―The forest is burned, ash everywhere, but the trails are still there.‖ Indeed, across the Cariboo Region, only three trails in total were lost.

But the most important discovery came when we finally reconnected with our friends in Xat‘sull. ―No one got sick,‖ was the first thing an elder told me. ―With Above: Xat'sull rider on Soda Creek our people walking, running, and Trails. Right: Pre-ride instruction clinic cycling, when the fires came we with Xat'sull riders at the Xat'sull Heriwere healthy and ready.‖ The tage Village. Photos: Thomas Schoen trails had enhanced the capacity of the community to respond to the crisis, with the skills, stamina, and discipline reand, displaced to centres in Prince George quired to join the fire crews and fight to where conditions of poor health, trauma, protect their communities.

When the community returned, they and stress can compromise immunity leading to medical complications, sickness, and held a dinner and party to celebrate the mortality, no one had fallen ill. ―Now we‘re trails and their community members‘ safe all home safe and we can recover and move return. They walked and cycled the trail in on,‖ the elder stated with the defiant re- a show of strength and solidarity.

The trails had emerged as a source of solve that captures the spirit of people and strength and resilience. communities across the region.

Inspired by these stories, the AYMBP Other benefits of the trails continued to emerge. A number of the young men and formed a partnership with the Canadian women who had received training and Red Cross, providing trail building training worked on the trail crews managed to se- workshops to First Nations across the recure employment as part of the regional fire gion. response. Trail building had provided them

She said she could not live without animals in her life. ―They are our family members. When I come home the dog and cats are so glad to see me. When I‘ve had a bad day, they get it. Abby will follow me around until I pick her up,‖ she continued. ―Another cat will flop on my feet while I‘m cooking—makes me laugh and puts me in a good mood.‖ The young couple‘s fourmonth-old son loves being around the family pets, especially the cats. ―Our animals love him,‖ Kathleen said. ―When he‘s lying on his back under his Tummy Time Mat, our cat Sampson will come and lie on his back beside the baby and roll around, too.‖ She explained that prejudices people often have about cats are that they stink, they‘re dirty, and they‘re messy. ―A good owner means a good pet,‖ she said. ―There aren‘t bad cats; there is bad training and there are bad habits. Animals absolutely enrich a household when they‘re looked after properly.‖ She said this is something that matters deeply in their household. ―Our animals eat healthy good food and use good litter and have vet visits,‖ she said.―There are costs involved but what they bring to our lives is totally worth it. ―Another choice we made for our cats‘ well being is keeping them as indoor cats.

Putting your cats outdoors shortens their lifespans from five to seven years. There

Arriving at the bottom of the trail, the youth laughing and hollering with joy behind us, Thomas and I watch as they grab their tools and head back out on to the trails for an afternoon of building. Even with the smoke and haze in the hills around us, I feel a sense of hope that we‘ve found a small way that we can build a pathway to recovery and resilience.

Patrick Lucas is a mountain biker, writer, storyteller, community planner, and the founder of the Aboriginal Youth Mountain Bike Program. When he's not stuck at his computer he can be found wandering the trails throughout BC.

Sampson, Ellie, Absence, Mylo, and Rebekah. Photo submitted by Kathleen

are more pests, there are dogs, wildlife, traffic, and people who poison them with antifreeze or shoot them with pellet guns. ―This is what we believe in and is a choice for us,‖ she added.―Cats are not disposable animals: our cats love us, and we love them back.‖ She said they want their baby to grow up believing that animals are family, to know how to approach a strange dog, to train pets properly. ―I think knowing how to navigate a family with animals teaches responsibility, compassion, and how to deal with loss,‖ she explained. ―We can learn a lot from animals—they‘re full of forgive-

ness and resilience. I think they‘re a lot smarter than we know, especially about emotions,‖ she said. ―We need to treat animals the way we want to be treated; they‘re for life.‖ World Animal Day is a good time to reassess how we treat animals, said Kathleen. ―They bring so much to our lives, and we need to make sure their lives are the best they can be.‖ LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of music with kids.

By Jim Cooperman

F

ifty-one years ago in Oakland California, I joined with other anti-war activists to block buses full of inductees heading to the Induction Centre. With a loud speaker atop my old panel truck, I cruised the streets of Berkeley, announcing the action and driving protestors to the site.

When a phalanx of police came down the street bashing heads with their batons, I escaped to avoid injury and arrest.

It was a full week of protests, and I helped organize one day of peaceful picketing after giving a speech at the famous Sproul Hall Plaza on the university campus.

On the final day, there were 10,000 protesters in the streets and the buses were held back for hours until the National Guard arrived to push us out.

Two years later, with my deferment gone after graduating, I had to return to the Induction Centre for a pre-induction physical. Using a pencil that I had hid in my underwear, I wrote on my papers, ―Get out of Vietnam.‖ Seeing my illegal scrawl, the doctor sent me to the commander‘s office. I confronted the officer, asking him, ―Where is your conscience? How can you send men off to kill and be killed in an illegal war?‖ He replied that he was helping protect our freedoms and that next time I was summoned, it would be for induction. He was never able to fulfill that threat, as two weeks later I crossed the border into Canada.

Over the succeeding years I transformed from an anti-war activist and budding sleep science researcher to a back-to-the-lander eking out a sustainable lifestyle in the Shuswap hills. But my political ideals remained and after 20 years, my focus shifted to opposing another war, the war against our planet. For the next decades, that effort would result in many confrontations with loggers, foresters, developers, and fossil fuel promoters. There were also many successes, including the protection of over 25,000 hectares of new parks in the Shuswap.

Fast-forward to the 2015 federal election results, and many of us were giddy over Stephen Harper‘s demise and the election of Justin Trudeau, who we thought would usher in a new era of environmental sustainability. I also thought there was an opportunity for some de-militarization, as perhaps the new Trudeau government could be persuaded to pull back from Canada‘s military commitments.

I wrote an editorial for the Ottawa Citizen in early 2017 entitled, ―Canada deserves a peace dividend.‖ At that time Canada‘s annual military budget was $19 billion and the country was poised to spend many billions of dollars more on new warships and fighter jets. Imagine if the federal government was brave enough to withstand international pressure from its allies and instead of wasting billions of dollars on war machines, it pulled back and focused instead on true peace.

Redirecting proposed funds for military hardware would help develop new infrastructure, build low-income housing, and provide more public transit. There would be money to allow students to graduate without enormous debts, to provide clean water for First Nations, to support scientific research and monitoring, to create new parks, to better manage fish stocks, to improve health

By Guy Dauncey Image: World Peace One, www.worldpeace one.com via Wikimedia Commons

care, and to support the transition to a carbon-free energy supply.

In addition to redirecting funding from expensive war machines to improving society, Canada could change the role of the military. We face an increasingly unstable world due to the impacts of climate change, with more frequent and violent storms. Soldiers will need to be trained to provide emergency response as we experience more wildfires, more floods, and more damaging weather events. As well, soldiers trained to respond will be better able to assist citizens impacted in other counties.

Today, the current federal government does not look much different than previous governments. The military budget has increased to $25 billion and is projected to grow to $32 billion. As in the US, the military-industrial complex remains very much in control. Having nothing to do with protecting our freedoms, the never-ending wars continue unabated. The real victors are the war profiteers, as military actions only result in the need for more weapons, thus further enriching the already wealthy.

Our smoke-filled summers are just a reminder of that other war that continues unrelenting, the war against the environment. Sure, we can march, protest, sign petitions, and vote green, but in the end it is likely that greed will prevail and all but the very rich will suffer the consequences.

So, what is the best road ahead for those of us who yearn for peace and environmental sanity? Our best choice for action is to concentrate on making a difference where we live. Bioregionalism is the preferred option, as everyone‘s home place is where their voices will be best heard and their actions are most likely to succeed.

Whether one‘s focus is on tackling poverty, growing food, supporting arts and culture, improving recreational opportunities, improving the sustainable economy, or helping educate young people, the best place to get results is where one lives.

We can have successes locally and help make our communities more resilient in the face of impending calamities. Unifying our communities and making them stronger will also help in the long run. When the crunch comes our first line of defense will be how well we can co-operate as neighbours and friends to deal with the impacts.

Above all, we need to spend more time to enjoy what we have before it is gone.

Rather than despair, we need to re-connect to our roots and concentrate on making our lives as rich and meaningful as possible. As well, we need more music, more dancing, more socializing, more gardening, and more time spent doing what we love most. Peace everyone.

Author of Everything Shuswap - A Geographic Handbook, Jim Cooperman has lived in the Shuswap for 49 years, where he and his wife Kathi enjoy life on their 40 acres above the lake. This article was originally published in Shuswap Market News.

Follow Jim's writings on his blog at shuswappassion.ca.

D

emocracy is a recent social invention. Most people don’t like it when the societies they live in are blatantly unfair, with privileges and glory for the rich and hard labour and exploitation for the poor.

In consequence, starting a thousand years ago, people have gradually pried power out of the hands of the ruling elites and replaced it with democracy.

The process is incomplete, however. I‘d like to suggest 30 steps on the ladder of democracy. In BC, seven steps have yet to be taken. In America, depending on where you live, between 11 and 15 steps have yet to be taken. Thanks to the campaign finance legislation passed in 2017 by the NDP/ Green Party Alliance, the corrupting influence of money has been stripped from provincial politics.

The chance to take the next step up the ladder comes before us this fall, with the opportunity to correct the flaws of first-past -the-post by adding air proportional voting.

First-past-the-post stinks. It carries the foul odor that comes from voting for a candidate you don‘t really support for the sake of preventing another candidate who you dislike even more from being elected. It corrupts the political soul.

Using this system of voting, in Ontario, Doug Ford‘s Conservatives just survived a massive defeat. Fifty-eight percent of Ontarians voted against Ford, and yet his party now governs Ontario. How can that be? In 2015, Britain‘s Conservative Party suffered a similar humiliating defeat when 63 percent of people voted against them. And yet, they too were able to forma government. In British Columbia, only four out of 32 elections since 1900 have been won by the party that won the support of most voters. Only four.

This system of voting dates back to the days in Britain when there were only two parties, and only two percent of the people were allowed to vote. One set of aristocrats supported the Whigs; the others supported the Tories.

This fall, by mail-in ballot starting October 22 and to be received by November 30, we will have the opportunity to come alive and advance up the ladder by voting on two questions: 1. Which should British Columbia use for provincial elections? The current firstpast-the-post voting system, or a proportional representation voting system?

2. If British Columbia adopts a proportional representation voting system, which of the following voting systems do you prefer? a) Dual Member Proportional: Most ridings, except in the most rural areas, double in size, and each will have two MLAs. In each riding, you vote for the party you support. Each party proposes two candidates. The first MLA is elected using firstpast-the-post. The second is elected considering local and provincial results, ensuring that the number of MLAs in the Legislature mirrors the support people gave to each party. Parties that receive less than five percent of the vote must wait until they can gather more support. b) Mixed Member Proportional: Ridings increase in size, and the province is divided into regions. In each riding each party presents a list of candidates. Those who win become MLAs, using first-past-the

-post. Regional MLAs are chosen to ensure fair proportionality, as above. Parties that receive less than five percent must wait, as above. c) Rural-Urban Proportional Representation: In rural areas, MLAs are chosen using the mixed member proportional system described above. In urban and semiurban areas, they are chosen using a single transferable vote where voters rank the candidates in their order of preference.

So, there you have it. To learn more, visit Fair Vote Canada BC (www.fairvote.ca/pr4bc). To learn from those who do not want to advance up the ladder of democracy, see www.nobcprorep.ca.

Guy Dauncey is author of Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible, a novel set in the year 2030. (Brilliant! – David Suzuki). He lives on Vancouver Island. www.thepracticalutopian.ca.

Thirty Steps on the Ladder of Democracy 1. A parliament is established 2. Votes for privileged land owners 3. Votes for all landowning men 4. Political parties allowed 5. Votes for all men 6. Removal of corruption and bribery 7. Fair distribution of constituencies 8. Secret ballot 9. Votes for all women 10. Votes for racial, religious, and Indigenous minorities 11. A clear pro-democracy c constitution 12 Reduction in powers of non-elected chambers 13. Reasonable salaries for MPs 14. Free public education 15. A free press, freedom of speech 16. Independent non-party electoral officers 17. Independent non-party electoral boundary officers 18. Removal of military from the democratic process 19. Strong participatory democracies at city hall level 20. Power spread beyond the elected ruler’s office 21. All barriers to voting removed 22. Regular constituency town hall meetings 23. Strict campaign finance rules, removing money from politics 24. Fair proportional transfer able voting, five percent threshold 25. Fair, free social media stripped of fake news 26. Public financing for parties that achieve five percent of the vote 27. Automatic voter preregistration at age 16 28. Votes for 16year olds 29. Mandatory voting or voting tax-credits 30. Swiss-style public referenda

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Science Matters: By David Suzuki

S

cientists, journalists, environmentalists, and others who draw the connection between increasing wildfires and global warming often face a backlash. It’s not climate change; it’s lightning, careless smokers or campers, poor forestry management, industrial activity or sparks from vehicles, bad government…

One doesn‘t negate the other. Wildfires have many causes, and more than one factor is fuelling increases in the number and intensity of fires worldwide. But hotter, drier weather increases the risk.

Forestry practices and urban development are among the contributors to wildfires. Even preventing fires can increase risk, as low-intensity natural fires clear out undergrowth, often leaving larger trees standing. Suppressing wildfires means more undergrowth, dead trees, and other vegetation build up, creating fuel for even larger fires. Smaller trees can spread flames to the forest canopy.

After clear-cut logging or fires, companies often plant single species close together, eliminating trees like aspen and birch, which are less fire-prone and create shade and moisture. Some commonly planted species, such as lodgepole pine, are also susceptible to pine beetle attacks.

University of British Columbia scientist Lori Daniels told Vancouver Is Awesome that a forest full of mixed species and mixed densities of those species is more

By Layna Chelsea and Heather Johnson

O

n July 12, 2018, Esk’et hosted Clayton Gauthier, Cree/ Dakelh artist from Prince George, who facilitated the Canvas Art Project to share his teachings with selected community members. The four-day workshop took place in the community of Alkali Lake. Gauthier’s art portfolio consists of drawings, paintings, carvings, drum making, rattle making, logos, mirror etching, tattoos, and digital art. He apprenticed under artist Peter George, Wet’suwet’en master carver, and has had training opportunities, including a two-year program with the En’owkin Centre and the National Aboriginal Professional Artists Training, both of which have expanded his professional growth.

He is a respected artist who is open to sharing his story and he encourages others on their creative journey. We were honored to have him in our community and happy to share our local history and teachings with him, as well.

resistant to intense fires and provides more nutrients and less fuel to the ecosystem.

But some researchers argue that because fire suppression resources and technologies and logging practices haven‘t changed much over the decades, while wildfires have rapidly increased in number and intensity, climate change is likely the primary factor.

Even the mountain pine beetle outbreaks that have devastated BC forests are a result of both management practices and climate change. Cold winters once killed off many of them, but warmer winters and earlier spring weather allowed them to survive and thrive.

Forestry must be re-evaluated in light of the increasing awareness not only of its role in wildfires but of the way forests function. Peter Wohlleben‘s The Hidden Life of Trees and the book I wrote with Wayne Grady, Tree: A Life Story, examine emerging science regarding the complexity and interconnectedness of healthy forest ecosystems. Forests are far more than stands of timber, uniformly planted to maximize profits.

It‘s important to improve the way we manage and utilize forest resources, but we also must consider the major role climate change plays in wildfires. As the world warms, precipitation patterns change, winters are drier in many areas, snowmelt occurs earlier, and forests dry out. The fire season is growing rapidly in many parts of the world, including the US and Canada – by as much as 80 days over three decades in the Rocky Mountains – and significantly more area burns every year.

Regardless of the direct causes, climate change is making things worse. A recent Portland State University study found a warmer world even increases the risk of

After the workshop, Esk‘et had planned an Art Gala in the Esk‘et Café to showcase the local talent of the selected artists who were given the opportunity to learn from Gauthier, including Esk‘etemc artists Jahpa Belleau, Leona Belleau, Annmarie Johnson, Olivia Johnson, Jacinta Sampson, and Linda Sampson—each of whom have background in the arts. It was a very special event for the community and support for the artists was evident.

The Art Gala was an opportunity for Esk‘etemc community members to appreciate the art created during the Canvas Art Project. It was also a chance for the artists to see the impact their talent had on others, and we had a full house. Not only did the artists share their work, many of them also shared their background story and spoke with the attendees. The support from Esk‘etemc was felt by each artist and many have been working on new projects since the show to continue their creative journey.

Esk‘etemc was able to facilitate the Canvas Art Project and the Art Gala with the generous support of the CCACS Project Grant made available to non-profit organizations or community groups through the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society. The grant supports and helps develop new arts and culture initiatives within Williams Lake and the Central Cariboo (CRD Areas D, E, and F).

Red sunset through burnt trees after a forest fire.

Photo: www.123r f.com/ profile_mrdo omits'

lightning-ignited fires. ―We think that by having warmer oceans and warmer temperatures in general, we‘re going to see higher evaporation and heat transfer, and thus higher frequency of convective storms that in turn results in more lightningignited fires,‖ said study co-author Andrés Holz.

With drier conditions, longer burning seasons, and more fuel on the forest floor, lightning, a discarded cigarette, or a runaway campfire is more likely to cause an out-of-control wildfire.

The consequences are devastating.

Death and compromised health from smoke and particulate matter; home and property damage, especially as urban areas encroach further into wildlands; erosion and flooding as trees no longer hold soils and hillsides in place; contaminated drinking water; increasing insect infestations; destruction of important carbon sinks like the boreal forest ... And as forests burn, they emit greenhouse gases, heating the world even more.

All of this is incredibly expensive. Canada and the US spend billions every year to fight fires, and those costs are rising. Destroyed or damaged property, resource losses, and health-care costs related to fires are increasing, as well. Loss of wildlife and habitat is also a serious concern.

We can do a lot to prevent fires: avoid campfires and other burning when risks are high, improve forestry practices, better manage buffers between urban and forested areas, maybe even let some smaller fires burn.

But until we address climate change, we‘re likely to see more smoke-clogged skies and devastated forests.

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. This article was written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Senior Editor Ian Hanington.

Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

Canvas Art Project - Art Gala group L to R: Leona Belleau, Jahpa Belleau, Clayton Gauthier, Jacinta Sampson, Linda Sampson, and AnnMarie Johnson. Photo: Heather Johnson

Esk‘etemc Employment Assistance and Economic Development Manager Bettina Johnson played a key role in the application process by putting together a project that would ensure local talent could receive recognition from within the community in providing an opportunity for artists to share their work in a new manner. After seeing the talent behind the finished projects, selected art produced by the Esk‘etemc artists is being made available as art prints for sale. Heather Johnson is the creative projects/marketing director and she is expected to build upon the work started in the community by creating op-

portunities for growth and bringing attention to the community of Esk‘etemc.

Learn more at www.facebook.com/ claytongauthierartist/ and www.esketemc.ca/ Heather Johnson and Layna Chelsea are life-long best friends who have worked together for the first time on a recently released book Celebration & CeremonyEsk‘etemc Declaration of Title and Rights (available for purchase at http:// www.blurb.ca/b/8629441 ). Now that they know where their talents lie, they continue to support each other’s opportunities for growth in their own creative journeys.

By Van Andruss In the April/May issue of TheGreenGazette, I wrote an idealistic article titled, ―Calling for a Re-birth of the Social Imagination.‖ The story below is a follow up of that article in an effort to provide at least one simple example of what I had in mind.

T

hey were young people, eight of them, except for one older fellow in his 50s, and they were hustling back and forth from the house to the old Ford passenger van, toting boxes of books, lengths of metal pipe for the woodstove, and a big cooler stuffed with food to see them through the weekend. There was laughter, jokes, the excitement of departure. The plan was to leave the city hours ago, but there was much to do and they would not reach the commune until after dark. It didn’t really matter. It was normal to be late.

Only five could fit into the ―Blue Van‖ that was backed into the driveway, its double doors opened wide. Soon the available storage space was filled. No. One last item: a wooden chair for the kitchen table, jammed in upside down.

This was a period of transition. The back-to-the-land settlers had pooled their money – it was mostly Marie‘s money inherited from her Uncle David – and they‘d bought an enchanted piece of land dotted with Ponderosa pines and Douglas firs beside a rushing river in the dry Interior. They could hardly wait to make the move permanent, but there were leftover obligations to be met. It would be at least another year before they could leave the city for good.

You might wonder how they‘d reached this point. What led up to this getaway?

O

n August 13, 2018, the XeniGwet’in First Nation government conducted a River Ceremony on Tŝilhqox (Chilko River) at the 26th Annual Brittany Gathering on Aboriginal title lands. Xeni Chief and Council, Tŝilhqot’in Leadership, Elders, and the public gathered to listen to speeches, drumming, and prayer to honour the sacred resources sustained by this area, including water, Ts’eman (salmon), fish, and wildlife.

Water has always been a sacred resource for the Tŝilhqot‘in people. During the ceremony, participants walked down to the river, washing their hands and face to connect with the waterway and the life it supports.

Draft boating guidelines and bear viewing guidelines were also on display, seeking to protect key fish, wildlife, and habitat areas while allowing economic development and recreational activities to occur.

Both draft guideline documents were open to feedback by government, industry, and the public until August 30, 2018.

Chief Jimmy Lulua, XeniGwet‘in First Nations government, says water sustains us as human beings and is the sacred connection between us and the life that it supports. ―The Tŝilhqox brings us life not just by the water, but by supporting the Ts‘eman that

Snug tipis for bedrooms beside the river.

Photo: Van Andruss

Four students at Simon Fraser University had met in Phillip‘s anthropology seminar. They became friends and developed a habit of gathering at Phillip and Jan‘s house on Friday nights for potlucks and lengthy conversation in the living room around the fireplace. Other students, attracted by this hub of interest, were invited or dropped by to slouch on worn-out stuffed chairs and a long bedraggled couch.

The subject of anthropology taught them that humans had lived in small societies – cultures – for thousands of years before empires came along to invade their homelands. They saw that the present massive form of society was a recent creation, lacking the thorough integration of true cultures.

Contemporary people were suffering from

make the journey from the ocean, providing sustenance to countless ecosystems along the way,‖ he says. ―Honouring and protecting the river habitat in this area is critical to the survival of us as Tŝilhqot‘in people.‖ He adds that ensuring the health and safety of its people, fish, and wildlife has always been top priority for XeniGwet‘in, with ancestors providing reminders of the Tŝilhqot‘in laws of the land. ―The draft guidelines provide us with an opportunity to engage with land users in a way that puts the environment first, protecting it for future generations,‖ says Chief Lulua. ―Working to put regulatory measures in place within the land and waterways is a mechanism we are using to ensure our duty as stewards of the land is upheld.‖ On June 26, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada declared Aboriginal title to the area known as the Aboriginal title land, or Declared Title Area, where the Tŝilhqot‘in were granted full ownership, benefit, and control of the area.

For more information please visit XeniGwet’in First Nation government at www.xenigwetin.net and view draft bear viewing and boating guidelines at http:// www.tsilhqotin.ca/Tsilhqotin-Rights-Title/ Declared-Title-Area.

incoherence, from fragmentation in their everyday lives. Especially in the current technological society, familiar places had been overwhelmed by ―development,‖ their scattered pieces refitted into the paradigm of the Machine. Even if they were not conscious of it, people yearned for the loss of wholeness that cultures had once provided.

Community and culture were leading ideas in the conversation circle. Over time, the possibility arose of forming themselves, with their own persons, into the seed of a new culture. Not a spontaneous culture, like ancient tribal form – an impossibility – but an invented culture.

Sifting through the details of their experience, they pictured the world of commerce and industry as a train going nowhere, rattling along without wisdom or purpose. They wanted off. They resolved to start their lives anew and they could see nothing to prevent them from doing so.

It was obvious the enterprise had to start small, at the level of an extended family, which they called their ―chosen family.‖ They would create for themselves a domestic situation within which to cultivate their ideal. They started by moving into the old prospector‘s cabin that already existed on the property. Two rooms—a kitchen and a living room. A wood stove was already installed.

The cabin would be their common space. For bedrooms and privacy, there was a wooded flat about a quarter kilometre upriver. Here they would put up tipis and find themselves beyond the sound of traffic on the gravel road that ran by the gate.

Canvas had been sewn for two tipis. On this trip they planned to cut suitable jack pines for poles. They believed that people who saw the beauty of their settlement would join them. They were already getting in touch with a commune outside of Quesnel.

A grand lodge could be built on the broad flat high above the river, a site al-

ready cleared by a former homestead during the gold rush era. They were granted irrigation rights on a nearby creek tumbling out of the mountains, and they had fenced off a small stony plot that would be their first garden. Using cast-off canvas, they set up a sweat lodge beside the river and nothing gave them more pleasure than playing out that earth-centred ceremony, leaping into the cold water and afterwards circling naked around the fire. Now that practical affairs were in order, all they had to do was get along!

Phillip had tried to form a small, independent society 20 years earlier. He knew that the greatest challenge was adjusting to each other‘s long-standing habits. Their differences would cause friction. Several things were in their favour. Working together consciously, they had reached agreement around a single worldview, which they called, affectionately, the View. Whenever they got out of touch, they could gather around this set of ideas to recall what they believed and what they stood for.

They were an unusually philosophical bunch. Calling themselves a ―hearth group‖ commune, they believed they could handle their problems through discussion. To be better equipped, however, Marie and Edna had taken courses in facilitation and conflict resolution (which turned out to be indispensable).

So now, after the flurry of packing up, the travellers hugged their friends, said their good-byes, and piled into the Blue Van. Phillip and Jan sat in the front, Jan in the driver‘s seat. The engine started with a roar, the gears clanked, and they were off, while in the back seat, Max rolled a joint to celebrate their journey, bound for the New Beginning.

By Sage Birchwater

The local citizens‘ group Rail Ties Be Wise feels that importing, processing, and burning rail ties in Williams Lake puts our whole community in harm‘s way.

The smoke from wildfires is a choking reminder of just how vital clean air really is.

Dioxins and furans piggybacking and hitchhiking into our bodies on the backs of smoke particulates is a sinister scenario we can and should avoid.

If you want to learn more about what this group is doing or want to join the initiative to prevent rail tie burning in Williams Lake, log onto RailTiesBeWise.com. Click on the link to send a letter to Energy Minister Michelle Mungall urging BC Hydro not to purchase energy generated from burning railway ties.

You can also sign the LeadNow online petition to the Energy Minister: https:// you.leadnow.ca/petitions/don-t-burn-railties-for-energy, or sign postcards found at various businesses in Williams Lake that will be hand-delivered to Minister Mungall.

Editor, Thick smoke clogging the airshed of Williams Lake for the second summer in a row drives home the realization how precious clean fresh air is to our health and happiness.

It is difficult enough tolerating smoke from distant wildfires, but what if Atlantic Power was burning railway ties at the same time? How many citizens would want to take even one breath of air that also contains dioxins and furans from burning millions of rail ties in Williams Lake every year?

That‘s the dilemma facing our community as government regulators consider an appeal by a group of local citizens opposing a permit granted to Atlantic Power Corporation of Boston, Massachusetts permitting them to burn up to 50 per cent of the biofuel in its Williams Lake Energy Plant as railway ties.

If you think dust, potholes, and crime make Williams Lake an undesirable place to live, just consider what poison air and a contaminated environment will do for our popularity.

How many professionals, retirees, and families with young children will want to live here?

Van is editor of the magazine Lived Experience. He enjoys the bioregional life and community in historic Moha outside of Lillooet, BC.

Sage Birchwater, Williams Lake

By LeRae Haynes

B

arking Spider Mountain Bike offers a range of mountain bikes, paddleboards, and skis, along with gear and clothing designed for any adventure. Owner Scott Gordon goes above and beyond with advice, suggestions, encouragement, and inspiration.

Every category of mountain biking requires a bike built for specific conditions, and Gordon has been helping get people on the right bike for 18 years.

Whether it‘s downhill, cross-country, enduro, road riding, or anything in between, Barking Spider can put you on the right bike that takes you where you want to go.

Scott Gordon at Barking Spider Mountain Bikes talks about the joy of people-powered wilderness adventures. Photo: Lisa Bland

Gordon said he‘s seen changes and improvements in bike technology over the years, noting that bikes change very rapidly—from basic construction to component technology. ―Years ago, bikes were made of steel, followed by aluminum, and now carbon fibre,‖ he said. ―Another change is in tire sizes. A mountain bike used to have 26‖ tires—now they come in 27.5‖ and 29‖. ―A bigger wheel rolls faster and means a smoother ride, better braking, and better traction.‖ For people who don‘t want to miss a bike ride because it‘s winter, a unique way to enjoy the Cariboo outdoors in the colder months is on a fat tire bike from Barking Spider. ―It distributes the load over a wider area, uses low air pressure, and you can also get the tires studded,‖ he said, adding that fat tire bikes are huge in places like Kamloops and Prince George, where they have groups of 20-50 people building trails and riding all winter.

He said they‘re working on getting fat tire bike riding set up at Bull Mountain. ―If the snow conditions aren‘t great for skiing, you can ride a bike,‖ he said.

Getting people on the right bike is a high priority for Gordon, who said sometimes people come into the store to buy a bike and they‘re not exactly sure what kind they need. He takes the time to make sure they do. ―We‘ll get you on the right bike,‖ he said. ―If the bike on the floor is wrong for you, I won‘t sell it to you. You have to have the right bike that will work for what you want to do. ―I ask them what kind of riding do they want to do, do they want to carry stuff on their bikes, where they want to ride, and, if they‘re joining friends, what bikes do they use?‖ No matter the activity, Gordon is confident he can find the right bike for each customer. ―I can get you on a commuter bike, a gravel bike, a racing bike, or endurance bike: whatever will work best for you,‖ he said.

Gordon recently helped a customer with a fresh hip replacement get set up with a stationary bike rack to get into some training while he heals.

Barking Spider has three weekly local rides, hosted the Peddle by the Puddle, and has been a prize sponsor and participant for Tour de Cariboo. ―In 2016 I did the Tour de North Cops for Cancer ride. I was the mechanic and rode the whole trip from Prince George to Prince Rupert,‖ he said. ―It was fantastic.‖ He also participates in biking events around the province, including the BC

Bike Race and Single Track 6.

When it comes to the love of mountain biking, he added that preserving the environment is second nature and that you can‘t ride if you lose the wilderness.

He said he prefers trail riding – both uphill and downhill peddling – to leave a smaller carbon footprint and for the health and fitness of it. ―I love outdoor activities that are people-powered: without a motor,‖ he said. ―Mountain biking such a great family sport; it‘s great to get kids out riding once you know the lay of the land and good trails to start kids on. Fox Mountain trails are well-established, and you can choose hilly or flat, choose your distance—a great place for beginners of all ages to get a good start. ―Who doesn‘t like to ride a bike? It‘s good for you and you can go places and see more. ―Look where we live,‖ he said. ―You can be outdoors in every season enjoying the wilderness. You can‘t get better than this.‖ For more information about Barking Spider Mountain Bike, visit 1024 Broadway Avenue S, phone (250) 392-5177, visit www.barkingspidermountainbike.com and find the shop on Facebook.

1024 Broadway Ave S LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of music with kids.

By Nicola Finch

Y

ou plan your meals and your garden, you plan your vacations, and now is the time to plan for your care when you can’t speak for yourself.

It happens to us all. Death is the end we all share. It can come anticipated, even gently, as the natural end of a long life or it can come suddenly, unexpectedly, or after a long illness.

We die. It‘s a really good idea to know what we want the aftermath to look like: do you want to be cremated or buried? Do you envision a traditional funeral or a celebration of life? Have you written your will and left your loved ones special remembrances? Have you said your goodbyes?

Have you written down your wishes? This is the stuff of dying.

Advance care planning is not about dying. It‘s about how you want to live until you die. Advance care planning is deciding what healthcare treatments you would agree to, or refuse, if you became incapable of speaking for yourself.

However the end comes, we of the dominant culture in North America tend to be unprepared. Most of us would rather not ‗see the doctor‘, let alone imagine ourselves facing a critical injury or end of life scenario.

We do not know if or when we might be in a critical condition, leaving medical professionals and loved ones making healthcare decisions for us. We can‘t predict or plan the time or the manner of our

death, but should we end up in medical care due to accident or illness, most of the decisions about our care are ours to make in advance. And we need to write them down and share them with the people we love and with our doctors.

Doctors are there to save lives. Families often have a hard time saying no to life prolonging treatments. Do you know what you want? Some of the most difficult questions to face are the ‗what ifs‘ around life prolonging medical interventions. Have you thought about the possibility of being kept alive artificially on life support? You may choose to be kept alive no matter the circumstances, or you may prefer to allow yourself a natural death while being provided with comfort and care.

These are difficult questions but imagine someone you love having to make these decisions for you when you are in a critical situation. We save our loved ones

the anguish and guilt of making the wrong choice and we give doctors the information they need, when they need it.

Advance care planning is about making a plan for your future health care while you‘re still able to make health care decisions for yourself. If you are well and healthy, now is the time. Don't wait till you find yourself unable to speak your mind.

Consider the possibility that you may be in a serious accident or you‘ve received a diagnosis of a serious illness. So long as you can say yes or no to a course of treatment you will be asked directly, but if you are unable to speak or make decisions, your advance care plan will speak for you.

You can review, change, or tear up an advance care plan anytime. It‘s your choice.

The BC Ministry of Health provides the excellent guide and workbook called ―My Voice: Expressing My Wishes for Future Health Care Treatment". It is available online www.health.gov.bc.ca/library/ publications/year/2013/MyVoice AdvanceCarePlanningGuide.pdf and in hard copy from Crown Publications, Queen‘s Printer for British Columbia www.crownpub.bc.ca/Product/ Details/7610003494_S. The first part of the guide explains what advance care planning is and how to do it, and the second part is a workbook with tear-out pages to make a personalized advance care plan, including optional representation agreement and advance directive forms, which can be completed without having to visit a lawyer or notary public.

That‘s the meat of the matter. The links will take you to the guide, and from there it is a matter of taking the time to give some serious thought to potentially life altering decisions. Talk with the people you love.

Share your values and wishes for medical treatment as you consider the ‗what ifs‘.

These written plans and directives are only in force when you cannot speak for yourself. If you are old enough to have a driver‘s license, you are old enough to make an advance care plan. Get together with a family member or close friend and talk it through. Use the guide. It‘s free online. Connect with us in Williams Lake at Cariboo Community Deathcaring Network where we celebrate life and talk about death.

Sources: www.health.gov.bc.ca w w w . i n t e r i o r h e a l t h . c a www.bccancer.bc.ca.

Nicola Finch lives off-grid in a remote area west of Williams Lake. She and her husband are co-owners of Touch Wood Rings. They offer custom handcrafted wooden rings including wooden memorial rings inlaid with the ashes of a loved one.

Nicola’s passion is holistic end-of-life care, from the work of death doulas to Green burials. She is a founding member of the Cariboo Community Deathcaring Network. Contact nicola@deathtalk.ca or find her on Facebook @greenburialbc, @touchwoodrings, and @CCDCNetwork.

L Photo: Back Row, L to R: Morgan Tenale, Kelsey Johnny, Gilbert Johnny, Jesse Johnny, Ron Edwards, Tyrel Isnardy, Verne Solomon, and Garrett Chelsea.

Front Row, L to R: Craig Kennedy, Neil Tenale, Riley Rosette, Gary Stump, Hank Johnny, Jordan Williams, Leo Quilt, and Dylan Dick.

R Photo: Jordan Williams operates the resaw to create lumber out of left over slabs. Photos: Sage Birchwater

By Sage Birchwater

S

omething exciting is going on at the former Riske Creek Elementary School. Toosey Old School Wood Products is laying the foundation for a brighter future for local First Nations.

Riske Creek Elementary School on Stack Valley Road was constructed in 1976 and ran for 30 years before the school district shut it down in 2006. Toosey First Nation (also known as Tsilhqot‘in People at Tl‘esqox) kept it going for a year as a primary school but after that the building was boarded up and stood empty for seven years.

Then, in 2014, Toosey forest manager Craig Kennedy had an idea.

Why not renovate the old school, which was slated for demolition, and teach carpentry skills to Toosey band members at the same time? He approached the school district and they gave Toosey a 30-year lease on the building.

Kennedy submitted a funding proposal to Cariboo Chilcotin Aboriginal Training Employment Centre (CCATEC) and received enough training dollars for a sixmonth project. Six youth (ages 18 to 24) were partnered with lead carpenter Dennis Tulloch to learn renovating skills in carpentry, electrical, sanding, painting, roofing, plumbing, and more.

That was four years ago. Now the old school is a beehive of activity. ―Since 2014 we‘ve been renovating and changing things inside the building as we come up with new and exciting ideas,‖ Kennedy says.

One of the first renos was transforming the library into a fully equipped carpentry shop. This became ground zero for the renovation project.

Other training programs followed: heavy equipment operating, first aid courses, wildfire suppression, and sawmill and log yard training.

Renovations continued with one classroom being converted into a mechanics shop. Dorm rooms were created in another part of the school to accommodate people taking classes.

For the past year an assisted living course for health care workers has been running at the old school. The program is funded by the Tsilhqot‘in National Government health department and is being delivered by Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT).

In 2016, Kennedy purchased their first small sawmill, a Peterson Swing saw, and they started cutting lumber for their own needs. ―Our vision was to cut lumber from our own logs and build homes in our community,‖ he says.

They built two 500-square-foot, 16-by20-foot cabins with lofts as prototypes for housing. ―We brought in Rod Krimmer and Mike Tudor to teach the dovetail cornering, and we cut all the timbers here,‖ Kennedy continues.―The two cabins on site are our show homes.‖ Today they have four small sawmills— two band saws and two swing saws that can process 13,000 board feet of lumber per shift. They also have an edger, a resaw, a planer, and a kiln drier. ―We consume one truckload of logs each day,‖ says Kennedy.

The logs come from the 41,000-hectare Chilcotin Military Reserve just up Stack Valley Road from the old school. Toosey and Esket (Alkali Lake First Nation) formed a joint-venture to manage all forest related activities on the military reserve.

They call their company Cariboo Aboriginal Forestry Enterprises or CAFE for short.

Kennedy is the general manager of Toosey Old School Wood Products and oversees 28 employees that include site manager Brian Fuller, quality control manager Darryl Finchham, and office manager Lady Tinor. ―We have four sawyers, four tailors (supporting the sawyers), two edger operators, a resaw operator, heavy equipment operators, lumber graders, a dryer operator, a planer operator, and two admin assistants,‖ he says. ―We have a fully equipped carpentry shop with a journeyman carpenter and helper, and a full mechanic bay with a Red Seal journeyman mechanic (Phil Brown) and a helper.‖ He says the core business at the moment is building bridge panels and selling lumber. They build four bridge panels a day and move the crew around, so the workers can run everything.

They recently purchased two firewood processors to supply the local communities with fuel. Last year they provided firewood to Toosey and Esket. Wood waste from the sawmilling operation is chipped and sold to Esket for their community heating system. ―We are a member of COFI (Council of Forest Industries) with five certified lumber graders,‖ Kennedy says. ―Our business model is to build houses in First Nations

communities, and we expect to be doing that in spring 2019.‖ The plan is to bring in other First Nations communities and train them on sawmilling and construction as well as building homes and providing the business structure to do it. ―So, we‘re open for business,‖ Kennedy says. ―We have a 15-year forest licence and an agreement with Tolko to help us manage the forest.‖ Kennedy says it‘s all about working with good people you trust, networking, and integrity.

Toosey Chief Frances Laceese is optimistic. He says one of the biggest outcomes of the Old School operation is the self-reliance it cultures in members of his community. ―They like working with their hands,‖ he says. ―They‘ll be building houses and everything that‘s inside. There‘s lots of different skills they can learn and develop.‖ Sage Birchwater moved to the CaribooChilcotin in 1973. He spends his time freelancing, authoring books, and with Caterina, hanging out with their dog and cat, gardening, & being part of the rich cultural life of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast.

By LeRae Haynes

E

nsuring a humane, respectful end to an animal’s life is just as important as giving them a healthy life, according to the growing number of people who believe a healthy animal means healthy meat.

Springhouse farmer Debbie Irvine is one of many producers who raise animals for meat and have chosen Kam Lake View Meats in Cherry Creek, BC for that very reason.

Ron Keely, owner operator, has been a butcher for 27 years. He bought the facility in Cherry Creek and added on 5,000 square feet, two cutting rooms, and a retail area.

It‘s a busy year-round enterprise with 15 employees, selling beef, lamb, pork, and bison, and attracting customers from places like Pemberton, Horsefly, Likely, and the Okanagan. The company also makes dog food.

Kam Lake View Meats processes animals already sold to different outfits. ―We process the meat, such as jerky, sausage, and steaks, and package it with their own labels,‖ says Keely.

An office for the government inspector is present on every kill day. The company is A.W.A. (Animal Welfare Association) approved and held to high standards.

The environment is conducive to calm and comfort, with natural soft bedding, a good roof over the animals‘ heads, and roomy pens with high, solid walls. You can walk by the stalls and the animals don‘t get spooked. In fact, care of the animals begins even before they arrive.

Keely says he used to receive highly stressed animals, mostly from 4-H sales. ―They went to the sale, were kept in a hot barn, and were very stressed,‖ he says. ―Then they were prodded onto a double decker liner and brought to our plant. ―In that condition the meat loses blood sugar for a while, and the meat goes black.

It‘s called a ‗dark cutter‘ and it can actually ruin the meat.‖ About eight years ago, Keely stopped accepting animals straight from 4-H sales, all piled in a truck together. He started asking that owners bring their animals to him individually a week after the sale, so they were less stressed. As a result, he rarely finds a dark cutter.

Keely likes to get the animals the day before, giving them time to settle in and calm down. To him, a successful kill means no sign of trauma, taking place as fast as possible. ―People care more about where their food comes from now, and appreciate being able to find quality, local meat from animals treated with care,‖ he says. ―We have a lot of long-time customers and work hard to provide product they need. ―If your customers trust you, even if you make the occasional mistake they know you‘re going to make it right. People like to know where their meat comes from, beginning to end, and they‘ll come farther to get it because of that.‖ Debbie Irvine from Springhouse Gardens near Williams Lake has been handraising steers for meat since 2012 and says Kam Lake View is the natural choice for processing her animals. ―I like his philosophy of how animals should be treated and appreciate that his

Ron Keely from Kam Lake View Meats and Debbie Irvine from Springhouse Gardens believe passionately that animals treated humanely make better meat. Photo: LeRae Haynes

staff have been with him for many years,‖ she explains.―That tells me it‘s a well-run, unpretentious business and that appeals to me.‖ She began her steer raising enterprise with two animals. ―This all got started because we have a large acreage and wanted a good source of meat for ourselves,‖ she says. ―We learned so much that first year. Cattle are a prey animal and are easily frightened, as well as very curious. They all have different personalities.‖ She had been around horses in her life, not cows. ―Because I have some knowledge of natural horsemanship, I was able to view cattle with the same principles,‖ she says. ―One of my biggest concerns is the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter.

I know that cattle are easily frightened, and that taking them out of their natural environment, such as to a slaughter house, can be very stressful for them. I wanted to help my animals with that, by having them used to people around them. Often, when cattle are just out on the range, they‘re easily spooked by people.‖ With that in mind, Irvine makes a point of having her steers used to her, to the point where she can hand-feed them and give them a good scratch. When they see her out in the field, they don‘t run away— they generally come up to her.

Another thing she learned is grain is not a natural food for beef—it disrupts their digestive system. ―It puts undo stress on the organs, especially the liver,‖ she says. ―Animals that have been heavily grained need to be slaughtered before two years of age because their livers are so toxic.‖ Author Julius Ruechel explains in his book, Grass-Fed Cattle – How to Produce and Market Natural Beef that because cattle are not equipped to deal with a highgrain diet on a regular basis, their bodies cannot cope with the natural digestive toxins and high acidity of grain digestion. ―In feedlot animals on extremely highgrain diets, the resulting stress over the long term is so high that their livers shut

down, causing them to die sometime after their second birthday if they are not slaughtered before,‖ he says.

Irvine‘s steers are fed hay, and for treats they get hay cubes. They get grass in the summer and hay when grass isn‘t abundant in the winter. ―They drink water from a trough from our well,‖ she says. ―They drink what we drink, and in the winter they have a de-icer in their water troughs and a shelter with lots of bedding available for them, well protected from the wind. In milder weather they have shelter, as well as several growths of aspens on the property.‖ There are absolutely no additives, hormones, pesticides, or GMOs in her beef because there is no grain. There are also no animal by-products and no feed medications.

She explains that people who eat a lot of carbohydrates from grains tend to have health issues: high levels of inflammation, arthritis, diabetes, and digestive issues, and the same holds for beef that are grain-fed. ―Because the cow‘s liver is the detoxifying organ of the body, when it cannot properly remove toxins from the blood, these toxins circulate through the body and deposit them in the meat,‖ she says.

Grass-fed beef is also free of glyphosate residues—glyphosate is the active ingredient of many Round-Up Ready crops such as corn, canola, and soybeans, to name a few. Corn and soy are commonly used in the diet for grain-fed beef and unless organic there is a high probability that they are Round Up Ready. There is more and more evidence emerging of the harmful effects of glyphosate such as cancer, neural tube defects, mood disorders, and autism. For more information visit https://www.westonaprice.org and type in glyphosate into the search box.

It isn‘t just what isn‘t in the meat: it‘s also what is. ―Grass-fed beef converts grasses and other pasture plants to meat that will have the vitamins and minerals that these forages contain,‖ says Irvine.

According to Jo Robinson, author with Pasture to Plate, ―When you add up the score card between grass-fed and grain-fed beef, grass-fed beef wins hands down. The more naturally raised meat has less overall fat; fewer calories; more omega-3 fatty acids; a healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids; more CLA; more vitamin E; and more beta-carotene.‖ Animals on pasture are moving, unlike their feedlot counterparts, which basically just stand and eat, says Irvine, who adds that pasture animals have a better metabolism and their circulation is better, and that also makes for better meat.

When Irvine first gets her calves they‘re about six months old. Right away she makes a point of connecting with them several times a day to get used to her. ―I quickly win them over when they find out I carry hay cubes in my jacket pocket,‖ she says. ―In the herd there are some braver than others. The ones who hang back are watching, and as they see the braver ones getting hay cubes and head scratches, they come forward because they want to know what their buddies are enjoying so much.‖ Raising her steers with such a caring heart, it makes sense that she wants humane treatment for them from beginning to end. ―In slaughter, the animals are handled compassionately at Ron‘s,‖ she said. ―This means everything to me.‖ LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of music with kids.

By Tony Boschmann

T

here’s always a trade-off, something we’re giving up for the benefit of something else.

To build houses we need to cut down trees. To produce electricity, we need to dam rivers. To drive cars and move stuff around the planet and for 6,000 other essential products like surfboards, diapers, deodorant, lipstick, and Aspirin, we need oil.

For Canadians there‘s an added tradeoff for the 1.2 million barrels of oil produced each day in the oilsand mines in northeastern Alberta. The single process to liberate this unique oil product from the sand and clay of the oilsands, the Clark hot water process (CHWP), requires a significant volume of fresh water.

From day one in 1967, the demand for fresh water from, and disposal of resulting waste water back into, the Athabasca River (AR), have been operational necessities and are prescribed in water licenses. For example, between 1980-1983 Suncor Energy reported that they used 100 per cent of their fresh water withdrawal limit or 59.8 million m3 to produce nearly 20 million barrels of oil. Said another way, each barrel of oil required >17 barrels of fresh water from the AR. More importantly, over the same years and license, Suncor reported they discharged 50 million m3, or 15 barrels of nontreated process-affected water (PAW) back into the river for every barrel of oil.

Their license allowed the 80 per cent return flow of PAW and that‘s what they did.

Current oil production from the five oilsand mines is 1.2 million barrels per day. The 18-fold increase is a boon for the economy, but also represents a huge environmental problem if they haven‘t resolved the operational water demands for the CHWP. Although there‘s little in the public record indicating a monumental turnaround, it was inferred, as the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) reported in 2018 that the oilsands mines ―recycle 80 percent of their waste water from tailings ponds‖.

They didn‘t say how, but one could reasonably assume that the industry reused the water over and over again, rather than dumping the huge increase in toxic fluids into the river.

Was recycle possible from tailings ponds? These lake-sized plateaus of waste mining sand, their oily water contents, and their bird-deterrent explosions were impossible to hide. They were big and obvious and because of their material make up and proximity to the Athabasca River, the question arose: how could these unlined sand behemoths thwart the gravitational flow of water and be the source of 80 percent of the industry‘s operational water use?

It was a question that dogged us over the last seven years and drove us to sneak around their tailings facilities collecting water samples and other evidence to verify their recycle and non-leakage claims. We also took boats and Ski-Doos on the river and collected over 200 surface and ground-

water samples. We measured the results against clues collected during countless hours searching government, industry, and scientific records. In the end, our exercise yielded numerous interesting clues.

They were recycling from tailings ponds alright, but there was just one problem. Their version of recycling was like tossing raw cardboard back into the forest.

All the evidence pointed to waste water draining through the porous geology and back into the river.

Our 200 water samples discovered process-affected groundwater upward flowing through massive 6,000- to 12,000square-meter discharge vents at the bottom of the AR adjacent to six tailings ponds.

While looking inland, we discovered tailings dykes and ponds were built precisely atop geology conducive to rapid and largescale groundwater drainage. For example, the Wood Creek Sand Channel was 4 km wide and 12 km long and comprised of gravel and sand to a depth of 50 meters.

We learned this construction choice and drainage decision was a fundamental engineering principle to avoid catastrophic failure of the fragile sand-constructed dykes. We also learned this strategy was born out of necessity in the late 1990s when the industry wanted to quadruple oil production but had no room left on their water license to withdraw or discharge. At the time it was thought the brief journey through the geology and diffusion into the river was deemed a satisfactory treatment with no adverse effect.

This was not an exercise in PAW containment in the tailings ponds; it was the exact opposite.

Every license, government approval, AER directive, tailings definition, engineering decision, and construction choice was about returning as much PAW back to its ―proximate source‖ as safely and efficiently as possible. Fresh water demand and waste water complications of CHWP have not changed from the 1980s. What has changed is their ingenious mimicry of natural ground water flow. Like a neverending torrential rain cloud permanently parked above every tailings pond, the flow of PAW imitates how rain normally recharges local groundwater at the topographic high. Then, following the natural driving force of gravity through the porous geology, the PAW is discharged at the topographic low into the Athabasca River.

There is no web of pipes to transport PAW back for reuse and no expensive chemical or mechanical treatment systems to remove impurities fatal to the CHWP. It seemed too bizarre to believe, yet more clues leapt from the official pages as we examined how they reported the new numbers. No longer reported was gross withdrawal and return flow. In their stead was a net calculation where they subtracted one from the other to achieve consumed water. (In 1980s terms 17-15=2 consumed barrels of water). Consumed water was the undrained yogurt-like ―fluid tailings‖ trapped in the tailings ponds. The math showed the evidence when in 2012 Suncor reported the same water volumes of fluid tailings and fresh water withdrawal of 26

Google Earth image of Pond 8A, 8B, and water (ground and surface) sampling waypoints in the Athabasca and on the Suncor site.

Photo credit: Google Earth, submitted by Tony Boschmann million m3. There was no accounting of the 300 million m3 of fresh water required to produce 97 million barrels of oil, and most concerning, the 274 million m3 of PAW return flow.

In 2006, a family physician discovered very rare cancers in his patients in the downriver community of Fort Chipewyan.

Impartial researchers and traditional land users continually report deformities in wildlife and fish similar to those found near the Exxon Valdez and BP Gulf oil spills. There are numerous indications of adverse environmental and human health effects, which is in direct contrast to the reported findings of a long line of failed regional government and industry funded monitoring programs such as RAMP, JOSM, and AEMERA, which repeatedly state no impacts.

Alberta sold its environmental soul to the oilsands machine. The government relinquished environmental authority to the AER in 2013, an agency funded 100 percent by the oil industry. Even Premier Notley‘s initial criticism of the AER‘s ability to protect the environment – ―You can‘t do that job when your overarching mandate is to promote energy development‖ – belied her ignorance of the oilsands. The federal government wasn‘t any better—lest we forget the changes to federal environmental

laws, the attack on environmental organizations, and the silencing of federal scientists by Prime Minister Harper. Both governments have knowledge of this unusual waste water strategy – a clear contravention of the Fisheries Act and other legislation – yet refuse to act due to the economic importance.

In the big picture does it matter what Alberta does in its own backyard? If they want to destroy a river and jeopardize downstream communities for profits that‘s their choice. But now the bitumen contagion threatens British Columbia. Should this atypical dense hydrocarbon spill, no fleet of boats, army of volunteers, or inventory of oil booms can protect what you value most. After the water trade-offs in the oilsands, do you think there is any more concern for your rivers or coastal waters?

We‘re staring down the gun barrel of a hydrocarbon-induced climate crisis and we invest our futures in this. It doesn‘t inspire much hope.

For more information or supporting details, please email the author at tony.boschmann@hotmail.ca.

Tony Boschmann has been an environmental investigator for 22 years, is semiretired, and lives in Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Gabriel Holmes stands where Hazeltine Creek enters Quesnel Lake. The past four years have seen him establish plant communities along the length of the tailings breach footprint.

Photo: Venta Rutkauskas

By Venta Rutkauskas

T

oday, I write to remember August 4, 2014 and the mining disaster that took place in my backyard. I write in honour of the beautiful and sacred Quesnel Lake watershed, its Indigenous peoples, and the community of humans, plants, and animals that call it home. I reflect on the four years passed. Life changed dramatically for my family. Here is a small part of our story. It is, at its heart, a love story. Love of a land, love of a family, and the love a man can put into his work.

As word of the disaster spread, my longtime partner-in-crime, Gabriel Holmes, our daughter Najma, and I were enjoying the afterglow of my cousin‘s beautiful California wedding, visiting with our extended family. Slowly, waves of social media and news reports hit us, and the severity and scope of the breach grew. Our spirits sank, and we prepared for the journey back to BC. Hearts broken, we arrived at our home

M

embers of the BC Coalition for Forestry Reform (BCCFR) were heartened by the positive and realistic recommendations proposed in Mark Haddock’s final report on professional reliance. The report was commissioned by the BC government, and released to the public June 28. The report’s complex title, ―The Final Report of the Review of Professional Reliance in Natural Resource DecisionMaking,‖ couldn’t hide the simplicity of its findings: BC’s forest industry must change.

The report contains extensive and frequently harsh criticism of today‘s forestry regulation and the resulting harvest practices being employed by the forest industry.

This was no surprise to BCCFR‘s spokesperson, Debbie Demare, who says, ―As BC‘s forests dwindle, logging is going deeper and deeper into community watersheds, previously untouched recreation and tourism areas, and environmentally sensitive areas that even the industry admits they would never have considered harvesting

near Likely, BC a few days later, in time to attend a ceremony held in honour of Quesnel Lake. A day after that, Gabriel returned to work, and he didn‘t stop for months.

Gabriel has lived in and around Likely all his life. He is intimate with the ecosystems here, having played and camped in them as a boy, then planting trees and working in silviculture in the region when he joined the work force. In 2012, as the birth of our first child approached, Gabriel decided a steadier job might benefit our little family, and he joined the environmental department at Mount Polley.

Gabriel mourned the damage done to the lake and environment he cherished. He holds a deep reverence for this place. ―I remember thinking, this [breach] is a worstcase scenario for a mine site,‖ he recalls. ―It felt devastating, actually.‖ It wasn‘t an easy choice working for the company responsible for one of the worst mining disasters in Canadian history. Nevertheless, he did. He worked hard for the place he loved.

even five years ago. The report‘s message is clear. The economic and social costs to rural BC are growing as BC‘s timber supply dwindles. But the industry hasn‘t adapted to these new realities.‖ The public submissions that contributed to the report‘s findings often contained heart-wrenching stories of environmental destruction, small rural communities forced to invest millions of dollars to clean up water coming from previously healthy community watersheds, and an outdoor recreation and tourism industry losing revenue and growth due to overly aggressive clear cutting.

That is why the BC Coalition for Forestry Reform (BCCFR) is calling on the provincial government to immediately implement the recommended changes to forestry regulation and governance. ―If the forest industry‘s leadership won‘t enter the 21st century we have to inspire them to do so,‖ says Demare. ―That is why the BCCFR urges the provincial government to immediately implement the recommended changes to forestry regulation and

―The site seemed crazy,‖ Gabriel remembers of those first months. ―I had a firsthand view of the force of that tailings spill, carving out canyons, ripping out forests. And the worst mud you‘ve ever seen.‖ An intensive monitoring program began, with Gabriel and others in the environmental department at Mount Polley joining the BC Ministry scientists and specialists contracted by the mine. They needed to characterize the water and the tailings and understand what was happening to the surrounding ecosystems. Concurrently, heavy machinery plugged up the dam and began to construct a large, nearly 9 km engineered channel (channel armouring) where the path of Hazeltine Creek had been. The channel‘s structure stabilized the site and prevented further erosion and turbidity entering Quesnel Lake. Its design would lay the foundation for the rehabilitation of the creek habitat in the future.

Over the years, I have passed through Lower Hazeltine, via the Ditch Road, to survey the damage, to pray, to explore.

Each time, I see the dedication Gabriel has put into the site. After the intense monitoring period in 2014 and early 2015, Gabriel was able to focus more on ongoing rehabilitation of the terrestrial landscapes. This included upland areas, shoreline habitat, plant communities, denning and perching habitat, and the lower floodplain along the 9 km stretch of Hazeltine Creek.

The Habitat Objectives Working Group, which included representatives from Mount Polley, its contractors, local Indigenous bands, and Ministry representatives, set out guidelines and outlined priorities for fish habitat, water quality, velocity and slope, channel size, and the effects on the surrounding environment. In the process, the company removed massive amounts of tailings, sometimes almost 4 m deep, down to native soils from most of the disturbed areas, and re-contoured the landscape, which included mounding and ripping, both of which mitigate erosion. Gabriel had been implementing grass and tree planting programs every spring and autumn, while natural ingress of local species had also begun.

Eventually, in 2016, the company was able to commence creek bed remediation in the first reaches of Hazeltine Creek adjacent to the tailings dam.

In May of this year, I toured this area with Gabriel and our daughter, as the company had recently opened 2.6 km of rehabilitated creek to the resident fish populations of Polley Lake. I had heard so much from Gabriel about his work, but I was nervous to see the place that had once been thick forest. My daughter, who is almost six now, ran through the floodplain with her dad, amazed and delighted by spawning trout and long-nose suckers that amassed in each pool. Toads, eagles, squirrels, osprey, and several perching birds were present, while several areas of the landscape had regreened with sedges, cattails, and small shrubs. ―There were more fish than I expected,‖ Gabriel remarked. ―Every pool had hundreds of fish in it.‖ Monitoring of the thousands of spawning fish and their fry show that there is an abundance of healthy fish entering the ecosystem, some fry already heading back to Polley Lake to rear. The place was teeming with life. The months since that time, I‘ve shared my impressions with several individuals, honouring Gabriel for the dedication and effort he‘s contributed to this landscape. I want people to know that there is someone knowledgeable and compassionate in the ranks devoted to seeing this through. ―The site is a work in progress,‖ Gabriel admits. ―Succession is evident all over, especially in the areas we‘ve focused on. There is a natural resiliency built into every ecosystem, and if we can harness this impulse to resilience, the sites will continue to re-grow. I‘m pretty pleased with where the situation is right now,‖ Gabriel adds.

I know there are still many unanswered concerns around this subject. If you are curious about the work on Mount Polley‘s reclamation program, I encourage you to take a tour of the site, ask questions, and explore the information available online.

This is such a complex situation, truly devastating and unique. It‘s for the love of this place that I share my experiences with you.

governance. The future of BC‘s economy and forests are at stake.‖ The BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI) had a different response to the report‘s findings. COFI‘s membership list is a who‘s who of the BC forest industry. COFI declares they are ―the voice of the BC forest industry.‖ After 2,200 feedback forms from the public, 102 extensive submissions from stakeholders, 1,800 surveys from qualified professionals, a 135-page report with 123 specific recommendations for change, COFI states in a news release: ―Mr. Haddock‘s report misses the opportunity to focus on meaningful improvements to the governance of professional associations, drifting well beyond his terms of reference to propose unjustified changes to the forestry regulatory regime unrelated to professional reliance.‖ Demare says COFI‘s ―unjustified changes‖ stance is neither realistic nor appropriate. ―The final report makes it very clear that the forest industry is stuck in the past,‖ she says.―A past when forests were plentiful,

BC‘s rural economy was largely resource dependant, and the climate was more benign—when reducing wildfire risk had no role in the business of harvest planning, and people turned a blind eye to environment destruction in favour of short-term economics.‖ BCCFR agrees that forestry is still an important part of BC‘s rural economy. But the forest industry has been shedding jobs for years, replaced by the new economic drivers for rural BC: tourism, commercial outdoor recreation, agriculture and wineries, high tech, and all the supporting services these rapidly growing industries create.

The BC Coalition for Forestry Reform is a grassroots alliance of BC communities advocating for culturally and economically sustainable forestry practices. It advocates for forest management based on long-term, landscape level planning, a mandatory shared decision-making process with local communities, careful incorporation of public needs and values, and full recognition of forests‘ non-timber values including water, wildlife, tourism, and recreation. Learn more at https://bccfr.org/.

Venta Rutkauskas is a writer and healer who has made her home in the beautiful Cariboo for over a decade. Her work involves the Arts and the ways nature intersects with soul.

Your Green Shopping Directory

Distribution Details

Green Locations TheGreenGazette can be found in print at the fine locations below, as well as online at www.thegreengazette.ca or by subscription .

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Bean Counter Bistro & Coffee Bar, (250) 305-2326 180B 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake Organic Coffee, Fair Trade, Local Foods

The Gecko Tree (250) 398-8983 54 N. MacKenzie Ave. Williams Lake Serving healthy, local foods

Big Bear Ranch (250) 620-3353 Steffi, Florian, and Rainer Krumsiek Grass fed & grass finished beef and lamb, pasture raised heritage pork. Animal Welfare Approved. www.bigbearranch.com

The Hobbit House (250) 392-7599 71 First Ave. South, Williams Lake Juice Bar, Natural Products, Essential Oils, Teas, Crystals, Gemstones, and more.

Canadian Tire (250) 392-3303 1050 South Lakeside Dr., Williams Lake Recycling Initiatives, Renewable Energy Solutions, and Organic Cleaning Products.

KiNiKiNiK Restaurant, Gift shop, Store & Accommodations (250) 394-6000 Redstone BC. Serving all organic meals with Demeter certified organic Pasture to Plate meats. kinikinik@pasturetoplate.ca

Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society (250) 398-7929 Unit 102-197 2nd Ave. North, Williams Lake Programs include Water Wise, Waste Wise, Sustainable Living, and Watershed Health. ccentre@ccconserv.org, www.ccconserv.org

New Paradigm Teas (250) 267-3468 Four Nourishing blends of locally, organically grown and wildcrafted herbal teas. newparadigmteas@gmail.com

Cariboo Growers Coop (778) 412-2667 3rd & Oliver St., Williams Lake. 100% Natural & Organic Foods, Non-Profit Farmer’s Coop

Potato House Sustainable Community Society (250) 855-8443 The Potato House Project is a friendly bastion of doing, sharing, learning and playing.

Springhouse Gardens and Grass Fed-Finished Beef Debbie Irvine B.Sc. (Agr.) RHN (250) 392-9418 Organically grown market garden veggies; Grass fed/ finished beef - no hormones, no GMOs. springhousedebbie@gmail.com

Scout Island Nature Centre & Williams Lake Field Naturalists (250) 398-8532 Nature on the city’s doorstep. Bird sanctuary, trails, Nature House, natural history programs for kids. www.scoutislandnaturecentre.ca www.williamslakefieldnaturalists.ca

earthRight Solar 1 (877) 925-2929 3rd & Borland, Williams Lake Renewable Energy Solutions, Eco-Friendly Products, Composting Toilets Flying Coyote Ranch (250) 296-4755 Ingrid Kallman and Troy Forcier Grass-fed Angus beef. No shots, no hormones, organic fertilizer. By the quarter or side, hamburger.

Sta-Well Health Foods (250) 392-7022 79D 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake Organic Foods, Water Distillers, Natural Medicines, Emergency Freeze Dried Foods.

Touch Wood Rings and Touch Wood Memorial Rings Custom handcrafted wooden rings since 2002. nicola@touchwoodrings.com www.touchwoodrings.com www.memorialrings.ca

100 Mile House Donex Visitors Centre Chartreuse Moose Higher Ground Nat. Foods KFC Nuthatch Books Rise & Grind Coffee House Safeway Save-On-Foods A&W 108 Mile House 108 Mile Mall 108 Mile Supermarket 150 Mile House 150 Mile Mall Husky Station Marshall‘s 150 Mile Store Alexis Creek Alexis Creek General Store Anahim Lake Anahim Lake Trading Mclean Trading Bella Coola Coast Mountain Lodge Kopas Store Valley Inn & Restaurant Big Lake Big Lake General Store Clinton Clinton Coffee House Dog Creek Mount View Handy Mart Red Dog Pub/Liquor Store Hanceville Lee‘s Corner Store Horsefly Clarke‘s General Store Post Office Horsefly Hardware Horsefly Service Station LacLaHache Race Trac Gas Lac La Hache Bakery Red Crow Cafe

Williams Lake Food Policy Council (250) 302-5010 Building a strong local food economy and promoting a healthy and sustainable community. www.facebook.com/WLFPC foodpolicycouncil@hotmail.com

McLeese Lake Deep Creek Service Station The Oasis Motel Cafe

Windy Creek Farm (250) 296-3256 Miocene, BC Grass Fed Beef. No hormones, antibiotics or vaccines. www.grassfedbeefbc.ca

Prince George Books and Co. University of Northern BC College of New Caledonia

Nimpo Lake Nimpo Lake General Store

Quesnel The Green Tree Barkerville Brewing Bliss Cafe Booster Juice Carryall Books Holistic Health Care Clinic Karin‘s European Deli Granville‘s Coffee Shop Quesnel Bakery Quiznos Safeway Save On Foods Tourism Info Center Redstone Kinikinik

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By Barbara Schellenberg

―O

ut of sight, out of mind‖ ... Perhaps because we do not see the air around us we do not consider the important role air quality plays in our daily health and energy levels.

Since we do spend a great deal of time indoors, in our own homes, that is the best place to focus on air quality. It is also the easiest place to have some real control over the air you breathe.

The capacity to supply adequate oxygen to the brain, our body's most ‗expensive‘ organ, is the end goal of so much of what we strive for with healthy diet and exercise; making sure there is a good supply of oxygen in the air we breathe is, of course, very helpful, as well.

Improving air quality in the home may seem like an investment at first, but over the months it requires little maintenance and can have a huge impact on your health, giving you more mileage out of the quality food you are buying.

Here is a step-by-step guide to improving the air quality in your home: 1. De-clutter and dust: Keeping surfaces and floors clean and dust free reduces the workload on your body. When you breath dusty air, your body literally acts as a filter; reduce stress simply by keeping up on dusting.

2. Reduce toxic plastics and fragrances: Plastic is in a continual stage of breaking down. It does this by constantly offgassing. Eliminating as many unnecessary plastic and rubber items as possible will help reduce indoor air pollution. Fragrances in most commercial laundry detergents and scented products inhibit deep breathing since our bodies do what they can to reduce intake of toxic chemicals; if those chemicals are floating around in the air you breath, your body will naturally respond by reducing your air intake to a minimum. This affects your energy levels and your overall health and longevity.

3. Add a humidifier to your home: Adding a little moisture to the air in your home will help reduce dust and increases the breathability of the air. For about $50 on Amazon you can find very beautiful light-up humidifiers that double as essential oil diffusers. Remember when buying essential oils to make sure they are not synthetic fragrances.

You can have fun with essential oils, too, using them therapeutically in the humidifier to influence the energy in your home. Because essential oils smell good,

they actually induce deeper breathing, making us take in more oxygen even when we are sedentary.

4. House plants: My favourite part of indoor air improvement. Using living nature to improve the air quality in your home is probably the most powerful thing you can do for your home. Just like you, your plants need to have good air to thrive, so all the above steps are also important for setting the stage for successful oxygen farming in your home. You may require a little research to determine which plants are right for your home depending on light available and space. A snake plant about two feet in diameter will generate enough daily oxygen for one adult. Imagine the impact this can have on your indoor environment.

When you do get houseplants, make sure to invest a little time into the proper care of them. Do this with your kids and they will learn a lot, too. Since the plants are living things they require near daily attention and they will reward you for it by producing oxygen for your family. Misting the plants daily with water and giving them at least a monthly shower to remove dust from their leaves will help them produce more efficiently.

5. Consider an air filter: A quality carbon filter for the air in your home can take your health to the next level. They are a bit of an investment, a good one being around $800, but your whole family will benefit from the reduced pollution in the air. Not only will

they remove dust and hair from pets and other sources, but also mold spores and the toxic gasses released by plastics.

Improving the quality of the air you breath will help you get more out of the food you eat and all the other things you do for your health.

RECIPES: Invigorating Morning Wake Up Call: Add 10 drops each oregano, rosemary, and peppermint essential oils to your humidifier. Set it on high in the bathroom and the steam generated from morning showers will help distribute the fragrance throughout the home. Encouraging deep breathing naturally wakes the sleepy body with a rush of oxygen, setting the stage for a happy, productive day.

Relaxing Evening Wind Down: To your humidifier add 20 drops lavender essential oil and 10 drops lemon or orange essential oil. Set the humidifier on high to increase distribution in the home.

The lavender pairs nicely with citrus and calms the nervous system. Again, the natural fragrances in the air will encourage deeper breathing even when you are asleep. Your houseplants also release the bulk of their oxygen at night, so if you are breathing deeper you will be getting more restorative oxygen into your body.

For past ―Nourishing our Children‖ newsletters visit www.thegreengazette.ca.