The Green Gazette - September/October 2017

7/ 2017 Fire Devastation Leaves its Mark 2017 is a year that will not be forgotten for many people who have lost everything—their houses, businesses, and livelihoods. It is a year that marks a deep scar into what we all know as Beautiful British Columbia.

- by Jesaja Class 9/ National Forest Week: A Time to Share Stories This year‘s National Forest Week festivities are scheduled for September 24 to 30 and I encourage the citizens of the many nations that share this land to get involved. - by Natalie A. Swift

10/ Local Brewers Give Back to Cariboo Communities This summer will probably go down in history as one that brought upset and disruption to many people in the region; but also, it will be remembered for its community connections and those who came together to help. Regional brewers Barkerville Brewing and Jackson‘s Social Club and Brewhouse, recognized the importance of giving back to their communities and took action right away.

- by Jessica Kirby 19/ Conservation Conversation: Iconic Rivers Need our Help to Remain Mighty Rivers are an integral part of forests, provide habitat for so many animals, and sadly, many rivers are now considered endangered. - by Jenny Howell

21/ The Fight of our Lives Budding filmmakers in Lilloo et focus o n t he import ance of salmon to their community and culture. During the ten days, the team learned how to use a video camera, edit their footage, and craft a story. They learned from their community leaders and elders about the concerns facing the salmon and the fight to protect them.

- by Jeremy Williams

Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Lisa Bland Senior Editor Jessica Kirby Contributors David Suzuki, LeRae Haynes, Margaret-Anne Enders, Jasmin Schellenberg, Terri Smith, Jessica Kirby, Guy Dauncey, Bill Irwin, Jennifer Clark, Lisa Bland, Venta Rutkauskas, Oliver Berger, Tera Grady, Brandon Hoffman, Simon Zukowski, Fin Donnelly, Jeremy Williams, Al-Lisa McKay, Sage Birchwater, Megan Rempel, Angela Gutzer, Jim Hilton, Lewis Evans, Kristin Lehar, Becki Bravi, Stephanie Bird, Kristin Lehar, Melissa Chaun, Jenny Howell, Jesaja Class, Natalie Swift Advertising Lisa Bland Creative Directors Lisa Bland / Casey Bennett Ad Design Jill Schick, Rebecca Patenaude, Published by Earthwild Consulting Printing Black Press Ltd. Cover: Chilcotin River Dipnetter Copyright : Kent Bernadet, www.kentbernadet.com Index: Kokanee Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in spawning colors Copyright: IrinaK, Shutterstock photo ID: 217445989

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 © 2017 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.

27/ Where have all the Salmon gone? It has been eerily quiet on the Lower Fraser River this year. Not a single fishing boat to be seen. At the time of writing this, the commercial salmon fishery had yet to open this season and likely never will. - by Melissa Chaun

5/ Publisher‘s Letter: Wildfires, Blue Mind - by Lisa Bland 6/ Gratitude - by Jessica Kirby 6/ Red Pepper Soup recipe - submitted by Stephanie Bird 6/ Book Release: Carbon Play 8/ Science Matters: Environment Protection Act - by David Suzuki 8/ The Great Con-Tinuation: Trudeau‘s Wild Salmon Record - by Fin Donnelly 11/ Featured Green Business: Cariboo Handwoven: Colour, Texture, and Art - by LeRae Haynes 11/ Feather from Fish Lake 12/ Confessions of a Farmer: After the Fires - by Terri Smith 13/ Wildfire Warriors - by Jeremy Williams 13/ Opinion: Burning rail ties in Williams Lake all risk no benefit scenario - by Becky Bravi 14/ World Animal Day - by Al-Lisa McKay 15/ Central Cariboo Transfer Station: Share Sheds for the people, by the people - by Tera Grady 16/ Goat River Watershed: Can a Gold Rush Trail save the Salmon? - by Simon Zukowski 16/ Canadian Fresh Water Eco Systems in Peril

17/ Well Sorted in Wells - by Oliver Berger 18/ The Role of Art in Precarious Times - by Venta Rutkauskas 18/ Arts Truly on the Fly - by Brandon Hoffman 22/ Fraserbench Farm: Standing firm during fires - by LeRae Haynes 23/ Rivershed Society of BC: Watershed conservation, protection, and restoration - by Fin Donnelly 23/ The Green River Collective - by Megan Rempel 24/ Healthy Skin Starts from Within - by Kristin Lehar 24/ Raising Amadeus - by Terri Smith 25/ Bravery at its Best - by Margaret-Anne Enders 25/ Skywatch with Bill Irwin 26/ Death: My journey through grief - by Angela Gutzer 26/ Opinion: Can Centralized Wildfire Control be improved in BC? - by Jim Hilton 28/ Power of Art in the Community - by Lewis Evans 30/ Halloween Doesn‘t Have to be Scary for the Planet by Jessica Kirby 31/ Opinion: Don‘t let the smoke cloud your thinking for a clean future - by Sage Birchwater 32/ Building Community - by Guy Dauncey 33/ September/October 2017 Calendar of Events

By Lisa Bland Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief

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ear readers, It has been quite a summer.

We‘ve literally all been through a trial by fire—locally, provincially, and globally. Whether by fire, flood, or hurricane, there is no doubt our world is changing.

As we go to press, the class 5 hurricane Irma has just churned through the Caribbean leaving devastation in its wake and on to Florida, where storm surges and flooding forced the evacuation of thousands. Two weeks ago, hurricane Harvey, now considered the worst and most expensive natural disaster in US history, left an infrastructural nightmare due to flooding in Texas and the Huston area. It appears climate change is knocking on our doors, whether we care, believe, or are prepared.

The fall 2017 issue of TheGreenGazette is undoubtedly about wildfires, what played out this summer, and how we pick up the pieces and move on to a new normal. Across the Cariboo we experienced myriad responses and challenges to the stress of imminent evacuations, threat, or damages to homes and livelihoods. It was a surreal time.

For many days, the sun glowed red in the ghostly white sky, acrid smoke lingered in and out of doors, and the region was suspended in anxiety as smoke billowed on hillsides and fires scorched the forests and encroached into communities. Families and neighbours checked in with one another, pouring over fire data and social media sites for updates, and underwent a rushed process of gathering possessions. I packed and unpacked my car numerous times, boxes and gear spread out on the lawn as ash fell from the sky, sorting business papers, mementoes, cards, photos, and boxes I hadn‘t looked in for years. Despite the anxiety about running out of time, I was surprised how easy it was to make split second decisions about stuff.

For those of us lucky enough to have been spared personal or property damage, the fires were a wake-up call about ideas of security and to the kind of world we are living in. This summer has shown us we can all be climate refugees in a second. As the predictability of our natural systems continues to break down, we may discover the places we‘ve spent our lives investing in may not be permanent. Climate offers no favours to the wealthy or poor.

According to NASA, this year has brought the second hottest globally recorded temperatures, higher than those of 2016 and without the El Niño effect that brings warm ocean water to the surface, temporarily causing average global surface temperatures to rise. Overall, 2014, 2015, and 2016 each broke global surface temperature records set in 2010 and 2005, and MetOffice reported that 2015 and 2016, in analyses of global temperature anomalies, are the two warmest years on record.

On June 29 of this year, MeteoFrance reported the Iranian city of Ahvaz had reached the hottest modern recorded temperature at 54 degrees Celcius, matching Death Valley, California, on June 30, 2013, and Mitribah, Kuwait on July 21, 2016.

(Left) Paddling on Voyageur canoes in English Bay, Vancouver during the Pink Salmon Festival, August 2017.

(Right) The view of the red sun out my window in Williams Lake before our evacuation order. Photos: Lisa Bland (To see the blue and red colour contrast between photos visit www.thegreengaztte.ca and enter article title into search to view online.)

As the climate warms, the atmosphere holds more moisture, leading to more rainfall associated with storms, and as the sea surface temperatures increase, the intensity of hurricanes increases. Frequent and more severe heat waves also mean increased fire activity.

How can anyone prepare? It‘s traumatic when things change abruptly, and emotionally no-one is ready to lose everything. But flowing with change, death, and letting go is a great teacher, as are the lessons of impermanence.

This summer, I met and talked with people on my street more than I had in an entire year, and felt a sense of community in reaching beyond the boundaries of acquaintance. In glimpsing a little of who each person was on the inside, I was strengthened by our common humanity. I visited with relatives I hadn't spent much time with, and finally took time out from being on an endless treadmill. I was reminded that these precious moments being alive and sharing with others are supremely valuable.

After evacuating from the dry, blazing heat of the Cariboo, I was also lucky enough to journey to the river and the ocean, and it‘s here where I glimpsed an inner resilience, renewal, and ability to flow with change. I also learned about the concept of blue mind.

This summer I had planned to participate in a 26-day trip from the headwaters to the mouth of the Fraser River with the Rivershed Society of BC‘s Sustainable Living Leadership Program, but due to fires blocking access, a shortened trip by rafts and canoes was organized from Lillooet to the mouth of the Fraser River, coinciding with FraserFest.

Despite the thick haze blocking the sun and the view of the mountains, as well as a feeling of collective doom while BC burned, the river was a lifeline back to joy. I felt immersed in reality during eight days of sharing stories with people as we rafted down rapids and paddled canoes, sleeping along the banks, swimming and picking berries, being welcomed by First Nations in their communities, making new friends, meeting others advocating for the watershed, and sharing in the collective concern over threats facing the Fraser River including pollution and disturbingly low numbers of returning salmon.

One of my new friends on the journey told me about a book called, Blue Mind, The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do, by Wallace J. Nichols.

The book explains that our blue mind is a natural state enhanced by being on, in, and around water; we instinctively know it, but many have forgotten. Contrasting with our blue mind, says Nichols, are states of being created by modern lifestyles, habits, and

choices including red mind (stressed out, anxious, high-strung, and underproductive) and gray mind (numb, lethargic, unmotivated, and dissatisfied).

Each time I swam the river this summer, I was struck by how much my thinking transformed from ruminating, disconnected judgment, and chatter, to calm, connected, and at peace. It was there on the river, I learned how to think in a way that flows with the imminent changes ahead.

Wishing everyone a happy fall, and a return to a new normal.

By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette

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hanksgiving season is here.

Though the sun still warms the earth, the shift is coming slowly towards cooler mornings, reddening leaves, and comfort inklings like slow cooker meals and hot tea in the evenings. Some people mark this season of gratitude and plenty with Thanksgiving dinner—loved ones gather to enjoy warm, enveloping food and give thanks for one another. Others simply take the harvest, the shorter days, and the season of coziness as time to close in on the darkness, and slow down to ponder and reflect on all we are grateful for throughout the year.

Gratitude: thankful appreciation for what we receive, directly or indirectly, as acknowledgment for the good in our lives.

It is a cause and effect relationship— something wonderful happens and we naturally feel or deliberately conjure feelings of well-being and appreciation. These moments are small, like when we thank another for holding the door or passing the salt, and they are large like when we feel indebted to the person who found our lost pet or retuned the wallet, cash intact. Life is full of obvious, tangible opportunities for gratitude and if we choose to see these we live a fuller and more compassionate life.

There is a social component to gratitude: psychology researchers Fox et. al.

Submitted by Stephanie Bird

If you are lucky enough to have some red peppers in your fall harvest, this is a spectacular soup that will be a highlight of your Thanksgiving feast.

Ingredients 10-20 bell peppers 1 onion 5 leeks 1 cooked sweet potato 1 large parsnip 6 cups chicken broth Roast red bell peppers at 420 degrees F for 20 minutes. Roast whole and until blackened. Remove skins as soon as you can handle them. Retain flesh and discard seeds.

Sautee leeks and onions in butter.

Add sweet potato, parsnip, chicken stock, and peppers. Simmer half an hour. Blend in blender and serve with parmesan cheese and avocado.

label gratitude, ―a social emotion that signals our recognition of the things others have done for us.‖ This attaches some kinds of gratitude to the works of others, and plays the practical function of helping us develop deeper relationships with others. Also commenting on the social realm is theologian Lacewing, who says, ―if we acquire a good through exchange, effort, or achievement, or by right, then we don‘t typically feel gratitude. Gratitude is an emotion we feel in response to receiving something good which is undeserved.‖ This moves into the discussion of entitlement and whether we can truly appreciate something we worked for or feel we deserve and how much ego we attach to our accomplishments or blessings.

Psychiatry researchers Sansone and Sansone define gratitude as, ―the appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to oneself and represents a general state of thankfulness and / or appreciation.‖ This definition doesn‘t limit the subject of gratitude to the positive—it leaves open the possibility that we learn gratitude for that which ails or hinders us. It means we can

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ocky Mountain Books is pleased to announce the upcoming release of Carbon Play: The Candid Observations of a Carbon Pioneer by Robert William Falls, an insider‘s look at the complex, inspiring, and surprisingly entertaining world of international negotiations, technology, and diplomacy relating to the carbon industry, environmental management, and climate mitigation.

You can view a digital advance copy at h t t p s :/ / d ri v e . g o o gl e .c o m / fi l e / d / 0 B PLrWbt5p2yMlhFdm5ERXRBbzg/view Carbon Play follows Robert Falls‘s unique and extraordinary journey in the worlds of academia, politics, and corporate ―big energy.‖ With a career that began in marine biology and fisheries management, Robert became a respected environmental professional dealing with national energy and climate policies, frequently meeting with renowned thinkers such as Freeman Dyson, Arthur C. Clarke, David Suzuki, Patrick Moore, and Al Gore in a quest to deal with the gaping chasms between climate science, political governance, and global energy interests.

From his position at the crossroads of science, the energy industry, the environ-

choose to see adversity as something ―valuable and meaningful‖ and feel grateful for the experience. In this concept lies great potential for getting the most out of gratitude by developing a more positive attitude and a connection to something larger than oneself.

Buddhist philosophy emphasizes cultivating gratitude to directly experience the interconnectedness of all life and life events. ―Practising mindfulness of gratitude consistently leads to a direct experience of being connected to life and the realization that there is a larger context in which your personal story is unfolding,‖ says Phillip Moffit, former CEO and magazine editor turned co-guiding teacher at Spirit Rock Mediation Centre. ―Being relieved of the endless wants and worries of your life‘s drama, even temporarily, is liberating.‖ This isn‘t about avoidance or denial; but rather, it is about mindful acknowledgement that all things and events are connected and part of something larger than ourselves. Cultivating appreciation for one‘s position as part of a larger system of life is bigger and brighter than living in tragedy, and can be a wholesome and humbling experience. Notice, too, that the larger or higher power can be nature, other people, or God—or anything else you connect with and acknowledge as representing power larger than yours alone.

Change can be difficult and changing our thinking can be explicitly terrifying. It leaves us vulnerable and unsure, detached from the familiar. Author and spiritualist Neale Donald Walsch said, ―All human actions are motivated at their deepest level by one of two emotions—fear or love.‖ Developing gratitude for the things in life we didn‘t ask for is a way of connecting

with our fears and helping transcend those to a warmer place. When gratitude for misfortune is not possible, there is always a by product of the event that holds the possibility for gratitude. I can‘t be grateful I lost my job, but I can be grateful for the relationships I built at that place of employment. I may not be able to appreciate my car being stolen, but I could possibly conjure thankfulness there was nothing valuable in it, or that I didn‘t end up in a dangerous position confronting the thief.

Can we achieve gratitude in a quiet, gentle place that doesn‘t require elicit conjuring or deliberate, deep focus? Some of us pray, meditate, or simply nod to the presence of opportunities to be appreciative of our lives and all their parts. Like a muscle, gratitude can be strengthened and made resilient and when it forms the basis of our existence, we soften, breathe deeper, smile more, and relax, even momentarily, in the busiest chaos.

We can never be fully sure of what the bigger picture holds true for us, as is apparent in this story, abridged for length, from Zen Shorts, a children‘s book by Jon J. Muth: A farmer‘s son captured a beautiful, wild horse, and all the neighbours told the farmer how fortunate he was. The farmer said, ―Maybe.‖ The next day the horse threw the son who broke his leg, and all the neighbours said, ―Unlucky!‖ The farmer said, ―Maybe.‖ Soon after the son broke his leg, soldiers came to the village and took away all the able-bodied young men to war—the son was spared because of his injury. ―Lucky!‖ said the neighbours. ―Maybe,‖ said the farmer.

Happy Thanksgiving today and every day and in every way that brings value to your life and warmth to your heart.

mental movement, government policy, and carbon trading, Robert Falls has written 15 entertaining and enlightening stories that will be enjoyed by those with an interest in the environment who seek fresh perspectives and insights not normally found in books dealing with climate change or environmental issues.

About the Author Dr. Robert William Falls, Ph.D., R.P.Bio., co-founded ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc. in 2004 and served as its CEO from 2004 to 2011. Dr. Falls has a strong history in the field of climate change, developing and managing projects in China and domestically for corporate clients. He serves as chairman and a director at ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc. and Era Carbon Offsets Ltd., and is a senior adviser to the GLOBE Foundation of Canada. He founded and chaired the Greenhouse Emissions Management Consortium (Gemco), and the Sustainable Development Council for Canada‘s largest integrated gas company. Since 2004 he has been an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia‘s Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability.

Robert lives in North Vancouver, BC.

Release Date: September 10, 2017 | 9781771602181 | paperback | $22

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his is a small glimpse into what‘s left after the largest wildfires in the history of BC swept across the land, leaving in its wake a vast wasteland of fallen trees, ashes, and pure destruction. These images I captured throughout the Hanceville fire zones don‘t even do justice to standing alone, surrounded by a scorched black forest and landscape as far as the eye can see.

Upper Left: The view as seen from the Hanceville viewpoint, overlooking orange trees scorched by the intense heat and a once-green mountainside across the Chilcotin River, now bare and dark.

Upper Right: A lone deer alongside the Taseko Lake Rd., confused, starved, and chased from its homeland by an inferno of fire and smoke. So many animals have lost their homelands, and are starved with nothing but ash-covered vegetation to eat.

A Photographic Essay By Jesaja Class Middle Right: A truly eerie and haunting image of a dark skeleton-like forest. So quiet, you could hear a pin drop, almost as if frozen in time.

Lower Left: A feller buncher working alongside the Chilcotin Bella Coola Highway, starting a long and tedious process cleaning up and salvaging what‘s left behind.

Lower Right: The aftermath as seen from above, closely resembling a war scene from some abandoned battlefield. Captured in the Hanceville Fire Area with a camera drone.

Jesaja Class is a young and passionate, selftaught photographer from Nemaiah Valley, BC. He doesn't consider himself an expert or a pro but rather a witness to the wonders and beauty of the world we live in, presented to us each and every day, in every moment, and every life. For more info on his work see www.jesajaclass.wixsi.

Science Matters:

By David Suzuki

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overnments change—along with laws, regulations, and priorities. It‘s the nature of democracies. In Canada, we‘ve seen environmental laws implemented, then weakened or overturned, then strengthened and re-instated. But the basic necessities of health, well-being, and life shouldn‘t be subject to the shifting agendas of political parties. That‘s why Canada should recognize the right to a healthy environment in its Constitution—something 110 countries already do.

We‘re a-ways from that, but some promising developments give hope for the possibility that all people in Canada may soon enjoy the right to breathe fresh air, drink clean water, eat healthy foods, and take part in decisions that affect their lives.

In June, the federal Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development – made up of Liberal, Conservative, and NDP members of Parliament – released a report recommending, among other things, that government legally recognize the right to a healthy environment in the Environmental Protection Act.

By Fin Donnelly, MP Port Moody—Coquitlam NDP Critic for Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard

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n 2015, Justin Trudeau was elected on a promise of ―Real Change.‖ His environmental platform was welcomed by many wild salmon advocates who thought we could move beyond ten long years of Harper‘s disastrous environmental policies. Two years later, when we examine Trudeau‘s record, we see how his promises were nothing but hype and cynicism. We are still living under Harper‘s environmental policies, his climate change targets, and his review process that approves major industrial projects jeopardizing our wild salmon. As NDP critic for Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, I have witnessed firsthand the government abandonment of meaningful reform in favour of rebranding Harper-era policies as pragmatic if not ―progressive‖.

Harper’s Fisheries Act The Fisheries Act was one of the strongest legal protections for wild salmon in the country. However, the Harper government gutted the Act in 2012, significantly weakening habitat protection and removing triggers for environmental assessment when fish habitat is compromised. Although the Liberals promised to restore those lost protections, it‘s been almost two years—and we're still waiting.

If government implements the recommendations, it would be the first time the right to a healthy environment has been recognized in Canadian federal law.

The report, based on a year-long review of the act, includes 87 recommendations regarding air- and water-quality standards, toxins in consumer products, protection for vulnerable populations and communities, environmental justice, and the right to a healthy environment. If implemented, these recommendations would deliver farreaching health benefits, so it‘s no surprise many people and organizations from the health and medical sectors, academia, and beyond have endorsed them. Federal environment and health departments and ministers have until October 15 to review and respond to the report.

The government renewed the Environmental Protection Act in 1999 as the primary law governing toxins and pollution.

But it needs further updating and strengthening. Changing conditions, a lack of resources, and poor enforcement have limited its effectiveness. The Toronto Public Library collected more late-book fines in one year than the government has collected from fines imposed through the act in 20 years.

Considering an estimated 7,700 people in Canada die prematurely from causes related to poor air quality and Canada ranks 25th among rich countries on children‘s well-being, in part because of a failure to improve air quality, improving the act is critical. A study by the International

Institute for Sustainable Development shows pollution alone costs Canada more than $39 billion a year.

Acting quickly to implement the recommendations will save lives, prevent illnesses, and reduce associated costs. By requiring safe replacements for toxic substances, it will also bolster the green chemistry industry, one of the world‘s fastestgrowing economic sectors.

It could also set a precedent for including environmental rights in other laws, such as the Canadian Environmental Assessment, Fisheries, Navigable Waters, and National Energy Board acts, which are also under review. This would help ensure higher standards for air, soil, and water quality.

And it could help drive the impetus for a stand-alone environmental bill of rights.

In recognizing environmental rights as human rights, the committee‘s recommendations mark a shift in the way we discuss environmental protection. A stand-alone bill would take the concept further. It would put human and environmental health at the centre of decision-making, and ensure consistency and coherence between different environmental laws. It would help institutionalize environmental rights protection within governing bodies, make the process of implementing environmental rights more transparent, and assist judges in making informed and consistent decisions in cases when those rights are violated.

Ultimately, the right to a healthy environment should be included in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ensure consistency in environmental and health protection between provinces and territories and to make it easier to uphold citizens‘ rights regardless of which federal political party is governing.

The recommendations for improving the Environmental Protection Act are an important stepping stone. They would quickly improve environmental protection in Canada and pave the way for a standalone environmental bill of rights. Our political representatives face many competing interests and priorities, so it‘s critical for us all to let them know we want them to carefully consider and implement the committee‘s recommendations.

You can write your member of parliament, the prime minister, and environment and health ministers, using the David Suzuki Foundation‘s letter-writing platform at action2.davidsuzuki.org/FEBR. Environmental rights are human rights!

Since 2012, Canada‘s New Democrats have called on successive governments to immediately restore the lost habitat protections in the Fisheries Act. While we wait, the Liberal government continues to approve major infrastructure projects across the country that will destroy fish habitat.

These approvals show the need for a restored Fisheries Act. Worse, they continue to make exceptions to the existing act to allow some of the most destructive projects on the planet to move forward. A recent example of this gross abuse of ministerial power is the approval of KSM in British Columbia, which will become the largest open pit mine in North America when it opens. Building the mine will require, for tailings storage, destruction of upper tributaries of the North Treaty and South Teigen Creeks, which flow into the salmon bearing Nass and Bell-Irving Rivers.

Alarmingly, KSM will store more than 27 times the amount of tailings stored at Mount Polley using the same technology that failed three years ago.

ment‘s ―elimination of the Navigable Waters Protection Act‖ and solemnly promised to ―review these changes, restore lost protections, and incorporate more modern safeguards.‖ Voters backed this pledge and helped elect the government. Sadly, it looks like Trudeau is not interested in keeping this promise.

The Liberal-dominated committee reviewing the Act failed to recommend the government restore these critical lost protections for our riversheds. As a result, the Trudeau government has failed to restore the gutted protections that had been in place for decades to protect 31,000 lakes and 2.25 million rivers from mining, pipeline, fish farm, and powerline projects. The Trudeau government‘s Harper-like streak of project approvals is deceitful at best.

minal on critical salmon spawning grounds; he cleared the way for development of the Site C dam; and, approved the massive KSM mine project.

Harper’s Navigable Waters Act When the Conservatives dismantled the Navigable Waters Act, they stripped environmental protection from 98% of our rivers, lakes, and streams. These rivers now have no federal protection, which means an individual or group that depends on a waterway for a fishery must go to court to challenge a development it believes impedes navigation.

During the 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party criticized the Harper govern-

Harper’s Policies, Harper’s Projects Not long after taking office, Justin Trudeau found the former Prime Minister‘s rubber stamp and got busy approving the very same projects the Conservatives approved, or would have approved. He seems to have no recollection of his campaign promise for a complete overhaul of our existing National Energy Board review process or environmental assessment process, or of his explicit promise to reevaluate the deeply flawed Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion review process. Instead, he approved the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, increasing traffic in Burrard Inlet from 8 to 34 tankers per month; approved the construction of the now defunct Pacific North West LNG ter-

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation senior editor Ian Hanington. David Suzuki’s latest book is Just Cool It!: The Climate Crisis and What We Can Do (Greystone Books), co-written with Ian Hanington. Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

Protecting Wild Salmon Open-net salmon farming, sea lice, disease, and marine pollution remain threats for wild salmon in British Columbia. In 2016, I proposed a private members bill that would transition harmful open-net salmon farms to safe, closed containment technology. Despite their commitment to implement the Cohen Commission Recommendations; despite government scientists confirming the presence of dangerous diseases in open-net salmon farms; despite their commitment to use the precautionary principle; and, despite most of BC MPs voting in favour of the bill, the Liberals voted to defeat my bill and continue to endanger wild salmon. I hope the recent salmon farm escape event in Washington State will serve as a wake-up call for this government, to transition this industry to safer technology.

This Prime Minister has failed to deliver on his promises to protect our environment and in doing so has worsened the situation facing the wild salmon fishery.

Given his blatant disregard for his own rhetoric and campaign promises, one must question his motives and intent. Wild salmon are in trouble and if we cannot convince the government to reverse course immediately, it deserves to be replaced.

By Natalie A. Swift

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t is often the unremarkable experiences, those encountered in the pursuit of day-to-day activities, that contribute to the charming nature of the central interior region. Like the sound of an American red squirrel sternly admonishing those who wander into one of the areas it has designated for storing its summer harvest. Or listening to the banter of log-truck drivers over the CB radio and the delightful moment when one expresses that customary and congenial code of the Cariboo-Chilcotin: ―Ohh yea, yew betcha‖ as one affirms to the other while they transport their loads of Lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, or hybrid white Engelmann spruce into town.

And it is the forests from which these logs are sourced that act as examples of the degree to which the local population will extend itself to provide for those who need it. Sciurid and Hominid alike are presented a cornucopia of goods and services from which they eagerly indulge, while their sylvan hosts repeatedly restock to support themselves and others—countless and demanding others. Mountain pine beetle, Spruce budworm, Western gall rust, and wildfire are but a few of the entities that demonstrate a tendency to proliferate across the region when their hosts are particularly accommodating.

The ability to withstand and recover from the challenges presented by esurient

(Left) “Burning Bush” – an image created by the author to thank a friend for their generosity. Image: Natalie A. Swift (Right) The author showing affection for a Douglas-fir seedling. Photo: Janet Breen

occupants is a quality familiar to those who call this place home. Stories of resilience are passed down from generation to generation in the oral histories of Indigenous and settler communities, chronicled in countless books penned by local authors, and illustrated in the verdant seas of seedlings splashing at the feet of slumping timber. The indomitable nature of the region is made visible to audiences further afield via media reports that highlight the tireless efforts of local people to protect what is dear to them: from the evolving fight to save Teztan Biny to the implementation of

an ambitious reforestation program in the wake of the Mountain pine beetle epidemic and the tremendous effort to respond to this year‘s record-setting wildfire season.

Although I find many of the everyday experiences I encounter in the region charming, it‘s the generosity and tenacity exhibited by those who live here that I find remarkable and inspiring. And, to be honest, I need the inspiration these days.

It has been absolutely heart-wrenching to watch this year‘s fire season unfold.

Hearing stories of flames closing in on communities large and small, learning of friends losing their homes, and reflecting on the many years of work that have now gone up in smoke has, at times, paralyzed me with anxiety and grief.

During these difficult times, I have found myself reflecting on the various stories I tell about this place—stories like those I have mentioned in this article. I find these stories comforting, as they remind me that, in the months and years ahead, many of our day-to-day activities will carry on – and, if not, we will adapt – trees will grow back, and local people will continue to work diligently to protect what is close to their hearts. In fact, I‘m counting on all of this, as it is what is necessary to create a rewarding future for those who call this place home. These stories are, for me, an inspiration to work toward that future. ―Canada‘s Forests: Our Stories, Our Future‖ is a befitting theme for this year‘s

National Forest Week—well, at least the ―Our Stories, Our Future‖ part. Unfortunately, the main title, ―Canada‘s Forests,‖ does not reflect the reality that there are many Indigenous nations responsible for the well-being of the forests that extend across this country. Notwithstanding this detail, I am excited about the potential of this year‘s theme.

According to the BC National Forest Week Coalition, the purpose of National Forest Week is to ―… rally the troops, wave the flag, and showcase the high level of professionalism used in managing the forest resources of BC‖. However, I believe this year‘s theme and the events of the past summer implore ―the troops‖ to consider an alternative approach. Instead of being a platform for forestry practitioners, professionals, and academics to tell stories about their work, National Forest Week should be an opportunity for the public to tell their stories—and for ―the troops‖ to listen. Not only is listening to the public‘s thoughts, feelings, and experiences a compassionate response in the wake of crisis, but it is also a necessary step in working together to chart the way forward.

This year‘s National Forest Week festivities are scheduled for September 24 to 30 and I encourage the citizens of the many nations that share this land to get involved. Organize a local event where you tell your stories about the forest and send invitations to the institutions that employ forestry practitioners, professionals, and academics. Or, perhaps, expresses yourself via a letter, song, sketch, short story, poem, play, or painting and submit your work to the local media or BC‘s National Forest Week Facebook page. The stories you tell about this place – no matter whether they are simple or extravagant – hold great power to influence others and transform the future. I can‘t wait to hear what you have to say!

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

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.

By Jessica Kirby

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his summer will probably go down in history as one that brought upset and disruption to many people in the region; but also, it will be remembered for its community connections and those who came together to help. No exception to the crew of those eager to ease the burden for others are regional brewers Barkerville Brewing and Jackson‘s Social Club and Brewhouse, who recognized the importance of giving back to their communities and took action right away.

When the wildfires began, management at Barkerville Brewing in Quesnel knew right away they wanted to do something to help. It is part and parcel to the company‘s unofficial mandate that when they can help, they will. ―At our storefront, we decided for every pint sold we would donate one dollar to the Red Cross,‖ said manager and partowner Justine Pelletier. ―That was something we could do immediately, and it has brought in $1810 to date.‖ The team wanted to do more, but had to keep up with current production and didn‘t have tank space available, so they teamed up with new Prince George brewer Crossroads to create a limited-edition brew. ―Crossroads had a free tank, so we went up together and did a brew together called Community,‖ said Justine Pelletier. ―One hundred per cent of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross.‖ The brew is a dark German lager with a bit of beechwood, which brings a light smoke to the flavour. The name is fitting considering most materials for the brew were donated—Universal Packaging donated the bottles, Summit Print printed the labels no charge, Country Malt donated the malt, and WCG Consulting designed the product labels for free.

With 768 bottles and 11 kegs currently for sale, Barkerville and Crossroads estimate Community sales will bring in around $8,000 for the Red Cross.

The Barkerville team sees its philanthropic work as giving back to its roots.

Although the company‘s products are sold across Canada, the community of Quesnel is its foundation. ―This is our backyard and the locals are who support us,‖ said Pelletier. ―We are their brewery.‖

Jackson’s Social Club and Brewhouse owner, Keith Jackson. Photo: Casey Bennett

This isn‘t the first time Barkerville Brewing has stepped forward to lend a hand—it created Out of the Ashes, a limited edition white rye IPA to assist Jason and Pharis Romero of Horsefly after they lost their business to a fire in 2016, and regularly hosts $1 from each pint sold fundraisers at its storefront to support various local charities.

Out of the Ashes was relaunched in September and the proceeds from this batch will also support the Red Cross or another fire-related cause.

Barkerville Brewing opened in February 2013 after its owner decided to fulfil his dream of running a brewery and chose Quesnel over busier centres like Victoria and Vancouver as the ideal location for a brewery.

Across Canada, its Wandering Camel IPA is its biggest seller, while locally tried and true favourites like the Cariboo Bedrock pale ale and Prospectors pilsner bring customers in again and again.

It‘s the feeling of community and bringing people together that people need most in troubling times, and customers at Jackson‘s Social Club and Brewhouse know exactly what that feeling is like. ―I believe people are very happy that we're here to offer a place to be social, unwind and actually say what is on their minds,‖ said owner Keith Jackson.

Formerly known as Broke N Rode Brewing Co., Jackson‘s opened under a fresh name in spring of 2017 and has brought people together with a welcoming atmosphere and delicious brews ever since.

Jackson‘s Social Club and Brewhouse recently hosted a beer garden in the park for the first annual South Cariboo Summer Festival, which turned into a thank you to local fire fighters, RCMP, and everyone involved in the summer wildfires.

It is also selling wildfire benefit t-shirts for two different causes. ―We just supplied the bar featuring Jackson's Beer to one of our local ranches for their Pasture to Party dinner,‖ said Jackson. ―We are also being featured in our 100 Mile House Wrangler Junior Hockey Team's beer garden this year.‖ Some of Jackson‘s Social Club‘s fan favourites are its Retro Dog Blonde, Bicycle Tree Red, Wrangler IPA, and Giddy Up Brunette, which is made with its house roasted coffee and Jack SMaSH. ―Our beers all have distinct tastes, flavours, and colour,‖ said Jackson, noting the establishment has a five-beer rotating system, with seven currently ready to pour. ―We are the only brewery between our friends at Barkerville Brewing and Kamloops, and we are situated on Highway 97 in a gas station garage built in the 50s,‖ he said. ―We bring some great craft beers to a small town as well as a fun relaxing atmosphere for the locals and tourists.‖ The family-friendly, wheelchair accessible brew house also offers tasty treats made by neighbouring businesses, which further illustrates Jackson‘s commitment to the community. ―I'm doing all I can to make good beer and support my community,‖ he said.

V is it Barkerville Brew ing: www.barkervillebeer.com and Jackson‘s So cial Clu b and Brew ho use www.jacksonssocialclub.com/ online and show support by picking up some delicious brew to share with friends.

Green Business Feature:

By LeRae Haynes

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urning a creative spark into warmth, beauty, and comfort is at the heart of Cariboo Handwoven, where spinner/weaver Jane Perry takes local wool and colourful, quality, soft cotton from Quebec and weaves luxurious wool blankets, soft cotton blankets of all sizes, hand and bath towels, and classy scarves. She‘s also started felting woven pieces to make vests and other things.

She says making handwoven cloth for different purposes has intrigued her for over 35 years. ―I began weaving on a pirta backstrap loom in Finland as a university exchange student,‖ she said. ―Then I graduated to table and floor looms and learned about weave structures, fibres, and colour effects,‖ she explains.

A member of the Williams Lake Spinners, Weavers, and Fibre Artists Guild, Perry is also president of the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society. ―My favourite fibres to weave with are wool and cotton,‖ she said. ―I spin as much high-quality local wool as I can get my hands on, including from the Wengers and Donna Froese, both on Fox Mountain. I took a lot of their fleeces with me in the evacuation,‖ she continues. ―People love the local connection in the finished blankets.‖ When Perry gets local wool for spinning and weaving, it comes ready to go. ―It‘s shorn from the sheep, put in a bag, usually washed, and maybe fluffed up a bit,‖ she said.―Sometimes it‘s been mechanically carded into a continuous, very fat strip called ‗roving,‘ which is very nice to spin.‖ She says when she‘s getting ready to weave, she makes a plan for the project— the warp on the loom has to be planned ahead. That plan, however, can change from blanket to blanket. ―With seven blankets, I‘ll have at least nine or more ideas,‖ she said. ―I may be

(Top) Jane Perry from Cariboo Handwoven. Photo: LeRae Haynes (Top Right) Joan Beck’s pottery on one of Jane’s towels that was designed and woven to complement Joan’s colours. Photo: Jane Perry (Bottom Right) Shetland wool blanket on a favourite birch tree behind Jane’s house. Photo: Jane Perry

weaving a diamond pattern in white handspun wool, and think, for the next blanket I‘ve got to throw in some orange or some nice purples. Or I‘m feeling earthy and say, this next blanket should be in browns and forest greens,‖ she states. ―I‘ll start with a plan and think I know where I‘m going, but this process is also creative and wonderfully spontaneous at times.‖ Weaving is not only creative, it‘s physical. When you‘re weaving 5‘ wide sections, you‘re really moving—big side-to-side movements to catch the shuttle, pull the beater toward you to bring the new thread into the cloth, press down a new treadle, and sling the shuttle back the other way.

Perry‘s items are shipped across Canada, and are sold from her home studio, at businesses throughout Williams Lake and at the Medieval Market.

―It means so much to me, and inspires me, when people see more in my work than I ever imagined, and it is very humbling when something I make is given as a gift,‖ she adds. ―‗Our baby is currently being nursed to sleep in your blanket,‘ one young father said to me. ‗Other than his mother (and maybe me), it‘s probably the most comforting thing in the world to him.‘I was really touched.‖ One thing important to Perry is that in her weaving process she leaves behind as little as possible. The unweaveable last part of the warp, called the thrums, as well as the cardboard cotton cones and core tubes, are given to a local preschool for kids to use for crafts.

She explains that the wildfires and evacuation knocked a lot of wind out of her sails, and that the effects from the season

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ear Friends, We would like to thank you for your support of the Tsilhqot‘in people as we strive to protect our lands, waters, and homes. With your help, we reached over 7,500 signatures in support of protecting Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) and the surrounding lands.

Since 1994, August 9 has been declared by the United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. It is a special day to celebrate and remember our collective efforts to protect the rights of the world's Indigenous population. It is also a day to celebrate our achievements and contributions as Indigenous peoples to the world. 2017 is the 10th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

On July 28 of this year the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) informed John McManus, the COO of Taseko Mines Ltd., that its proposed activities ―may cause an environmental affect…[and] are subject to the prohibitions of the CEAA 2012‖. CEAA sent

Former Xeni Gwe’tin Band Councillor Gilbert Solomon performing a traditional song and prayer for Fish Lake . Photo: Garth Lenz

this advice after receiving a ‗notice of work‘ letter from Taseko describing the planned exploration work to be done at the site.

Sadly, this was not enough to stop Taseko. They plan on continuing work despite the warning from CEAA. We are awaiting a decision on an injunction application that we brought to the

will likely be with people for quite some time.

In a recent blog, she wrote about what to take with her during evacuation. ―Some people focus on memories, others on having what they need for the future. I think I‘m in the middle,‖ she said. ―The actual simplicity of evacuation, though, is really how little we need when we have each other.‖ For more information about Cariboo H a n d w o v e n , v i s i t www.cariboohandwoven.ca. You can follow the link to her blogs from her webpage, email her at cariboojane@shaw.ca, or follow her on Facebook.

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

BC Supreme Court to stop the work. And we will be seeking to overturn the permit on numerous grounds, including as an unjustifiable infringement of our proven Aboriginal rights.

We are asking you to help us continue the fight to protect our lands, waters, and home by uploading a picture or video of yourself holding a feather and demanding that John Horgan do the right thing.

Please use #savefishlake #teztanbiny #waterislife #BCPoli #CDNPoli in your post and challenge three friends to do the same.

If you haven't already please share the petition with your contacts. We are almost at our goal of 10,000 signatures. https://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/save-fishlake-1 Donations to our legal case are also welcome through RAVEN Trust (https:// raventrust.com/case/tsilhqotin-nation/) or directly through PayPal accessible at www.tsilhqotin.ca.

We will be delivering the petition to John Horgan soon.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Together we can save Fish Lake!

Thank you, Tsilhqot'in National Government

By Terri Smith

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he smoke still hangs in the air, giving an eerie orange tinge to the day. We have lived for over a month now in this half-light.

In the distance, the smoke haze has the look of an approaching snowstorm; we would even welcome snow, but everything is still in summer ripeness and the weird whiteness over the distant forest leaves us feeling unsettled and keeps us indoors more than we‘d like. We were lucky here.

Incredibly lucky, for one of the fires that began on the 7th of July was only about 6 km behind our house and was reported to have reached 1,500 hectares.

Something that gave me pause and which I found heartening was that when we packed up the van in case we had to leave, we realized how little was truly important.

Besides Mark and my animals, my favourite thing is my garden and I couldn‘t take that.

I began mulching everywhere I could and watering heavily every few days just in case, and every day I was grateful for the fresh vegetables and hoped we could stay.

It was nature who saved us in the end, really. The forest between us and the top of Green Mountain where the lightening first struck is still a mixed forest. Green deciduous trees don‘t burn nearly as well as the vast hectares of pine monoculture that much of our forest has become.

We have mismanaged our forests for far too long, and now we are paying the price.

Much has been written on the subject already, and I hope our practices will change faster, because this isn‘t the end of summers like this; it may only be the beginning. The problems that led to this summer are myriad; the problems that arose during this fire season are as well. I‘m not going to go into them here. One of my favourite articles that appeared on social media talks about changing the one-size-fits-all approach to fire response and I think this is a topic that needs serious consideration. It can be found at: https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/07/20/ Wildfires-Should-BC-Help-Homeowners/ Another important step individuals can take is to put pressure on government to stop the spraying of deciduous trees when blocks are replanted. Diversity in our forests is badly needed.

Check o ut : h t t p s:/ / www.change.org/o/stop_the_spray_bc to sign the petition.

I hope that we will not forget this summer as we move into fall and winter. I hope we can work on taking good care of ourselves and each other so that in times of

It just looks like a lovely sunset, but it isn't. Plumes of smoke rising above our house from the Green Mountain fire just 6 km away. Photo: Terri Smith

stress we can act with compassion and not with bitterness and anger. I have seen much of both this summer. Remember to eat well, to drink enough water, to get exercise. Remember to have fun and to get enough sleep. This may seem unrelated to the fires, but if each of us works on ourselves and our own well-being, we are more likely to be compassionate and understanding of others, and this is important in times of high stress.

In the garden, care for your soil. If you have to evacuate, good soil will hold water longer than poor soil. You can begin right now to help your garden next year. Cut down long grass around your house and yard and start a compost pile in a shady location. Rake leaves and add them to the pile under heavier compost items like a layer of soil or all of the dead plants you have harvested out. Preparing the garden for spring by pulling out the dead plants and then mulching and/or composting helps to ease into the next year‘s season, and also cleans up what could otherwise possibly become dry tinder next season. You may want to consider automatic timers for watering. There are many types of timers available, even battery-operated ones for if the power goes out.

This summer has been overwhelming.

The fires have brought up a plethora of emotions for most of us, and even those who are not directly affected are feeling it.

On social media tensions run high and while it feels like there are too many examples of people snapping at each other quicker than usual, there is also an incredible outpouring of love and compassion.

The following is one of my journal entries from July 14, a week after the fires began: An important thing we are learning right now is that our systems are failing us, and we are still okay. Not only okay, but able to take care of ourselves and each other best with a spirit of co-operation rather than competition. What we are seeing is the failure of capitalism. This is what happens when corporations put profits before people and place. We didn’t take care of the land so the land will not be able to take care of us. But when our systems failed

what took care of us was us. When it came to it, we all realized what was truly important. And when we all had to look around and take stock we realized how little of what we thought was important really mattered.

We also realized that when we had nothing to fall back on we still had each other.

Communities can take care of each other.

Corporations cannot.

I felt hope in that first week that this would be a wake-up call, and I long for this hope to not be in vain. The trouble is that even imminent danger becomes tedious if it goes on for too long. People are not wired to deal with long-term threats. We have great fight-or-flight instincts, but not a lot of foresight as a species.

They say that only when pushed to the brink does humanity evolve. Well, this is the brink. We must wake up to what we have been doing to the planet. We can still create meaningful work for people as we attempt to fix what we have broken. I hope we are learning, and I hope we learn fast enough. We must adapt. We must stop pretending that we can put the economy first above everything. Profit cannot come before the health of the planet, its plants, its animals, and its silly yet wonderful humans.

If it continues to do so we will die. So let‘s adapt instead.

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.

Chief Joe Alphonse of Tletinqox fought an evacuation order and rallied his community to stand and fight fires to protect their community. Photo: Jeremy Williams

By Jeremy Williams

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ravelling to the Chilcotin Plateau on July 16, I was devastated to see first hand so much of the forests destroyed by fire in the Tsilhqot‘in territory. I have made 18 expeditions to the area over the last five years, documenting the struggle to protect this magical place and the title and rights of the Tsilhqot‘in people.

By Becky Bravi

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ast year I made an appeal to the Environmental Appeal Board opposing the permit to allow Atlantic Power (AP) to burn up to 50 per cent creosote and PCP soaked rail ties in its fuel mix.

As we move to post-evacuation alert status in Williams Lake I realize I am even more opposed to Atlantic Power burning rail ties in our town. I‘m grateful we didn‘t have to worry about a yard full of rail ties or a pile of highly flammable and toxic creosote soaked chips catching fire this year. But beyond that, I have a growing sense of disappointment in the provincial government, which, under the Christy Clark administration, approved a plan that allowed this idea to move forward despite the risks to our community.

The decision is a poor one on many fronts. In terms of human/environmental health and safety, stockpiling and burning creosote and PCP laden rail ties in Williams Lake is an all risk and no benefit scenario. AP was designed as a cogeneration facility to burn forest derived wood waste not toxic chemicals.

But it‘s also a lousy resource management decision. AP claims it will run out of available fiber by 2020 and we keep hearing about the coming short fall in timber supply. But a fiber shortage isn‘t the issue.

The timber short fall has been calculated for saw log volumes only. It does not account for any of the other fiber profiles, such as pulp wood or what we currently term waste wood or hog fuel. These types of wood supply are available across the region in large quantities and we have even planned for their use. Williams Lake has

I was put in a sense of awe, a sense of sheer vulnerability in the face of such a massive force, as the fires consumed mountainsides before my eyes, sending smoke into the stratosphere… with no end in sight.

But what impressed me most was the tenacity of the Tsilhqot‘in people, who defied an evacuation order from the Province and stood their ground to fight the fire and protect their homes.

industries (including AP, saw mills, and a pellet plant) that can utilize a range of fiber types.

We have all the fiber required to supply AP‘s needs. Shifting climate and the subsequent forest health issues have resulted in us being surrounded by forests full of waste and pulp fiber that puts us at an everincreasing risk of wildfire. We need AP and others to utilize this fiber as we fire proof our communities and rehabilitate our forests. This is part of our future forest economy, our bread and butter, and yes, AP has a role.

So, the real problem is not a fiber availability one. The real problem is AP needs access to fiber guaranteed to them for the term of their electricity purchase agreement at a set price so they can make their business case. Acquiring a permit to burn rail ties was AP‘s business solution but ultimately it has become our dilemma.

We have an opportunity to ask our newly elected provincial government to amend the mistake of their predecessors.

Rather than accepting fast and easy fixes that come with added burdens, we deserve management solutions that protect and even increase the health and welfare of our communities. Let‘s shout it from the rooftops. Call your local MLA or the newly appointed Minister of Environment to reverse this decision.

Becki Bravi is resident of Williams Lake and the owner of Terraforma Environmental Ltd. She is a Registered Professional Biologist and has a M.Sc. in Forest Sciences from UBC. She has worked in land management and reforestation in the Cariboo Region for almost 20 years.

―You don‘t come into this territory and this group of people and dictate to us,‖ said said Chief Alphonse, Chief of Tl‘etinqox and Chair of the Tsilhqot‘in National Government. ―We‘ve fought fire generation after generation after generation. ―We want to stand up and we want to do this ourselves… and for that you‘re going to send RCMP in here and threaten us?‖ Alphonse refers to a constable who threatened to take the children away through the BC Ministry of Children and Families. Now, if you know anything about the history of residential schools, you‘ll understand why this was not received well. ―Am I putting my community members at risk here? No,‖ said Alphonse. ―We have some of the most trained firefighters you‘re going to find anywhere.‖ I heard the story of the push back from the Tsilhqot‘in against the evacuation order and as usual, the corporate media portrayed them in a bad light and motivated me to dig deeper, see for myself, and help tell the whole story.

When I arrived at Tl‘etinqox, I learned there were 185 trained Tsilhqot‘in firefighters, heavy machinery, strategies, and people power. The community was working together around the clock, feeding the hungry, and collaborating with crews from across Canada.

D

ear Editor, ―Love is the only rational answer to the problem of human existence.‖ – Erich

Fromm Is love the only satisfactory answer?

Love may not be the absolutely perfect answer, but Kamloops uses its ability to find an appropriate answer.

The Sandman ―evacuee‖ Center showed a development of love to a level that really matters.

I am a BC fire evacuee from Williams Lake. Where human need was recognized, essential social services was, and is, given unconditionally.

The challenge was hugely exhausting for responders with capacity to love one‘s neighbour. In Kamloops, I witnessed human beings helping: unified with caring compassion, with purpose, patience, toler-

On the way to the fire-line.

Photo submitted by Jennifer Clark

Alphonse explained the situation: ―We‘re protecting our homes. You know, if these houses go down, we don‘t have insurance for them.‖ Most Canadians don‘t realize that houses on reservation are not owned by individuals and cannot be insured under Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC); that is why they are not insured.

The Hanceville fire later became 200,000 hectares—the second largest in BC‘s recorded history.

Sadly, there is no end in sight and the fires may smolder until the first snows finally smother them. ―Today, when you guys go out on that fire, and you fight that fire, you‘re protecting our community, you‘re protecting our women, you‘re protecting our children and our elders,‖ Chief Joe Alphonse said to his community. ―That‘s what warriors do.

That‘s the definition of a warrior.‖ Jeremy Williams co-produced a film with David Lavallee called Wildfire Warriors, (https://vimeo.com/229026738) which tells the story of Tl’etinqox and the ongoing fight against the forest fires. You can follow Jeremy Williams online at : https://www.facebook.com/ RiverVoicesProductions/ or visit his website http://RiverVoices.ca.

ance, kindness, understanding, empathy, and real help.

Thank you to those in Kamloops for your loving response. ―If we are to survive, even our emotions must be harmonized with this greatest of all problems and purposes and goals—to continue our personal life, and to continue the life of mankind on the planet which we inhabit, in cooperation with our fellow man.‖ – Alfred Adler Could it be, ―love‖ harmonized with the greatest of all problems, climate chaos from man-made climate change, that will make human survival on this planet possible?

Thank you all for the friends among us, for the love between us.

Herb Nakada Williams Lake, BC

J

ennifer Clark wishes everyone in the Cariboo and beyond all the best from the fire-line.

Her column, ―In Love With Stuff‖ will return in the next issue of TheGreenGazette with a contemplation about emotional baggage and letting go of our existential stuff, and doing the work we need to do to keep our mental state clear and not too complicated.

In the meantime, stay safe and be healthy, friends!

Here is a glimpse into a couple funny animal moments I shared on social media about my time in the shelter: Day#2 at the animal shelter: Jebb, a half plucked giant turkey, began following me around the grounds most of the morning. I thought he was stalking me as my only experiences with turkeys involved being chased when I was little.

While I was crouching down to chat with some pups in a kennel, Jebb was ever so slowly side stepping towards me. Finally, he was standing directly behind my back, squarely breathing down the back of my neck. I stayed calm and did not make any sudden moves. While I was pondering my subtle escape, a co- worker said, ―Oh, Jebb really wants your attention. He loves hugs.‖ So, I slowly turned around, looked into his regal face, and he leaned in to be snuggled. There I was, cuddled up with a semi-bald turkey named Jebb. I fell in love.

You just don‘t know what a day will bring.

Day #3 at the animal shelter: This morning there was evidence of a prison cell riot in the cat ward. Blankets in the litter boxes and food scattered across the cages, they were a mess. There were new cat nip containers placed in the cages and I think that was the reason behind the uprising. Jebb the love turkey marched stoically like a London guard back and forth just outside the cat zone. I could see he was waiting for me and I was going to give him a snuggle once done cleaning up

By Al-Lisa McKay Baby Cedar Waxwings that fell out of a tree and were taken to the bird sanctuary.

Photo: Al-Lisa McKay

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or the 84th year running, World Animal Day is being celebrated on October 4.

It started in 1931 in Florence Italy; its aim was to bring attention to endangered or threatened species. The date was chosen because it is the Feast Day of the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi.

It is a time to celebrate and appreciate our relationship with animals and the ways in which they enrich our lives. It is also an important opportunity to speak out to ensure the humane treatment of animals and to advocate for the protection of their habitats.

Each year the event continues to grow; the movement has grown to an estimated 1,000 events in 100 countries.

Groups, organizations, and individuals around the world have organized events that range from blessing animals and sponsored walks, to veterinary treatment camps and conferences.

With this day fast approaching after a summer of smoke and wild fire, the animals who also needed to evacuate their homes come through our thoughts.

Humans have the radio, internet, organizations, maps, and telephones to pin point and re-route us to safety in dire environmental situations, but how do the animals know where, when, and how to get to safety and which path to take?

When the flames begin, animals don‘t just sit there and wait to be overcome.

Birds will fly away. Mammals will run.

Amphibians and other small creatures will burrow into the ground, hide out in logs, or take cover under rocks. And other animals, including large ones like elk, as a last-ditch effort, will take refuge in streams and lakes.

A baby bird I named Cricket, fell out of a tree and I brought him to the bird sanctuary.

Photo: Al-Lisa McKay

Some predators see the fleeing species as an opportunity for snacking. Bears, raccoons, and raptors, for instance, have been seen hunting animals trying to escape the flames. (Read ―Under Fire‖ in National Geographic magazine.)

Nature takes her course and her animals and insects follow their inner compass, wisdom, and instinct for survival.

I felt the need to be a part of the animals‘ lives who had been evacuated and placed into the Quesnel stockyards.

The volunteers there worked around the clock to give their utmost care for all the evacuated animals. I hoped to offer a little reprieve to their busy plight.

the cat anarchy aftermath. I was almost done and then I hear someone yell, ―George, get back in your cage!‖ The turkey got ushered away hissing and huffing all the way. What a surprise trying to hug George would have been. I had no idea Jebb had an evil twin named George. I think he had a sinister plan for me once I left the cat ward because when I later walked past his cage he puffed up, hissed, and resumed his back and forth London guard marching.

Phew! Close one. ―Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a universal sense of responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also, human to all other forms of life.‖ – The Dalai Lama For more information and curriculum ideas about World Animal Day visit: http://www.four-paws.us/get-involved/be-a -part-of-world-animal-day/ Al-Lisa McKay, operates Miss White Spider Arts from Williams Lake BC. Miss White Spider Arts is a fine arts business offering workshops, travelling theatre, paintings, portraits, puppets, dolls, music, dance, sculpture, installation art, murals, and other fine arts. See Facebook: Miss White Spider Arts or website: www.misswhitespider.com

By Tera Grady

I

f you frequent the Central Cariboo Transfer Station on Frizzi Road in Williams Lake, you will know that the site houses a couple of Share Sheds for residents to drop off and pick up items free of charge. Loved by many, these Share Sheds are a great way to encourage waste diversion, re-use, repurposing, and recycling.

Over the years, these two Share Sheds have seen a number of different management styles, and we have just entered into another phase. As the site supervisor likes to put it, ―they are the Share Sheds for the people, by the people,‖ meaning that site staff are no longer actively ―policing‖ the use of the sheds. The Share Sheds do not generate any revenue for the site and they are not stores, so tax dollars pay for their operation. Many Share Sheds or re-use centers in other jurisdictions charge for items and some even charge for drop-off. We would like to keep these sheds free, but that means users need to do their part.

You can help in many ways. For instance, lend a hand to tidy up as you browse, or make sure you drop items off inside the Share Sheds, rather than outside.

Recycle electronics and small appliances at Mica Ventures located at 405 Mackenzie Avenue (formerly BeeLine) as they are not accepted at the Share Sheds.

If you have electronics, appliances, or mattresses that are still in good condition, please consider finding them a home with neighbours, friends, or family, as we cannot accept them at the Share Sheds. We cannot accept mattresses because of the chance of bed bugs. Large appliances are

chance of bed bugs. Large appliances are too large to handle at the site but you can drop them off at Williams Lake Scrap Metal on Frizzi Road. Additionally, electronics pile up so quickly that we are constantly transporting them away for recycling.

Drop off small scrap metal items in a bin onsite for recycling; these items generally do not belong in the Share Sheds. Drop off small knick-knacks in boxes to keep them contained and place clothing in clear bags, if possible.

Did you know that the Share Sheds receive so much clothing that we donate most of it directly directly to Big Brothers and Big Sisters? They can sell the clothing by the pound to Value Village in Kamloops to raise funds for their program.

Further, with the return home of evacuees to Williams Lake and area, there has been a significant influx of items dropped off at the Share Sheds, especially clothing.

We would like to encourage residents to consider donating some of their items to thrift and second hand stores in the area.

By donating to these businesses, residents are supporting local jobs and providing funds for charitable organizations who provide essential services to those in need.

Join the Cariboo Regional District in 2017 by resolving to become waste wise and make a difference.

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 Alyson Campbell, Early Years Program Coordinator, Women’s Contact Society

I

f you‘re like me, fall is a bittersweet time of year—the changing colour of the leaves, while beautiful, signify an end to summer fun.

As the days grow shorter and the air grows crisper it is tempting pack up and head indoors with your children, but fall in the Cariboo presents a unique time for outdoor adventures. Here are some of my favourite ideas:  Take a drive out to Quesnel Forks and imagine what it would have been like to be a pioneer  Visit Soda Creek Sweet Corn and have your children pick corn for dinner  Wander through the Cariboo Corn Maze in Quesnel—be sure to check the schedule if you wish to avoid the haunted maze  Explore Scout Island—the fall leaves make for a beautiful walk

Create a nature scavenger hunt for your children  Learn about composting and more at the Potato House  Take a stroll along the River Valley Trail  Play Mini Golf at Bell-E-Acres  Collect leaves to use for arts and crafts  Take a picnic to the Old Schoolhouse in 150 Mile House. Play at the playground there.  Rake leaves into a big pile and let the kids jump and play in them  Go to the farmers‘ market and buy apples to use in baking  Visit the Fall Fair in Quesnel September 16 at Alex Fraser Park Don‘t forget to check www.wlchild.ca for up to date information about events and programs for Williams Lake. 

By Simon Zukowski

T

he Fraser River is home to perhaps the world's largest salmon run. Yet fewer salmon have been returning to the Fraser in recent years and the runs have been fluctuating more wildly.

The trend is not in salmons‘ favour. Fish are sensitive to temperature changes and as the Fraser heats up due to climate change the salmon are suddenly finding themselves in hot water. Habitat loss and pollution, whether from agriculture, industrial run-off, or stream diversion are playing a role as well, as are salmon farms, where parasites can multiply quickly in crowded pens and contaminate passing wild salmon.

A conservation group from the Robson Valley, the Fraser Headwaters Alliance (FHA), is trying to give the salmon a fighting chance. Since the 1990s, the group has been working to protect the Goat River watershed—one of the last, large, pristine watersheds that feed the Fraser River. As a spawning ground for Chinook salmon and Bull trout, the Goat is vitally important to the health of the Fraser.

The FHA would like to establish a protected area in the Goat River watershed. To build support, they‘re working to bring more people in contact with the area. In the late 1990s, they restored a historic gold rush trail that runs along the Goat River. Originally commissioned in 1886 by the Cariboo‘s Gold Commissioner, John Bowron, the Goat River Trail follows one of the few low-elevation passes through the Cariboo Mountains to connect the Bowron Lake plateau to the Fraser. The original expedition‘s crew included historic gold rush figures George Isaac and Kenneth Macleod, for whom Isaac Lake and Macleod Creek were named. At its busiest, 40 prospectors mined along the Goat for gold.

The first-ever nationwide assessment of Canada‘s freshwater resources found significant evidence of disruption to watersheds across the country as a result of human activities. The results, released in early September, lay bare the need for an ongoing, standardized national freshwater monitoring and reporting system to make evidence-based decisions about this valuable resource.

The four-year Watershed Reports research, conducted by WWF-Canada into this vital resource upon which people and wildlife depend, found significant disturbances from hydropower dams, agricultural runoff, pulp and paper processing, fragmentation, urbanization, pipeline incidents, oil and gas development, and other activities.

At the same time, massive data deficiencies for health indicators prevent an informed understanding of the impact of these human activities on watersheds.

In an increasingly thirsty world, freshwater scarcity is a mounting concern. Despite the fact 20 per cent of the world‘s freshwater is in Canada, data about its health aren‘t collected or shared on a national basis. Data deficiency is an issue in 15 of Canada‘s 25 watersheds, which are made up of 167 sub-watersheds.

The available data resulted in the following conclusions:

Left: A view from the trail towards Wolverine Mt. and Isaac Lake. Right: Newly installed Kiosk at the Littlefield Creek Trailhead, near Bowron Lake Provincial Park. From left to right: Al Birnie, Simon Zukowski, and Roy Howard (president of the Fraser Headwaters Alliance).

Map of the Goat River Trail and the proposed protected area.

Map design by Taylor Bachrach, for Fraser Headwaters Alliance.

The Goat River Trail continued to see heavy use through the early part of the 1900s—including as a supply route for bringing bootleg liquor to railway construction camps along the Fraser. In this way, the trail may have facilitated its own demise, as the completed railway displaced it as the supply route of choice between the Robson Valley and the Cariboo.

In 1933, Cliff and Ruth Kopas became the trail‘s first ‗ecotourists‘ when they traversed the trail on horseback as part of a honeymoon pack trip from near Calgary to Bella Coola. Their recollections of the trail are retold in Cliff‘s fascinating book, Packhorses to the Pacific.

Today, the upper Goat River valley remains little changed from John Bowron‘s

Climate change already affects every sub-watershed in Canada.

Habitat loss due to agriculture, urbanization, and forestry is significant in most subwatersheds.

Pollution from agricultural runoff, wastewater treatment, mining, pipeline spills, oil and gas development, and other activities is high or very high in more than one-third of sub-watersheds.

For most sub-watersheds, water quality data isn‘t collected or made available. Of the 67 sub-watersheds for which data is available, 42 have poor or merely fair water quality.

Fragmentation is a disruptive factor in Canadian watersheds. Data on this indicator is available in 142 of 167 sub-watersheds.

Of those, 61 (out of 142) are either highly or very highly fragmented.

About the report The conclusions stem from parallel health and threat assessments conducted to understand which human activities are disturbing sub-watersheds and the impact those stressors are having on freshwater health. The framework was vetted by leading experts and academics, who helped refine the methodology in accordance with current analysis techniques.

The health assessment measured water flow, water quality, benthic invertebrates, and fish. These indicators represent key elements of the freshwater ecosystems commonly monitored in most Canadian jurisdictions.

The threat assessment measured pollution, habitat loss, fragmentation, water use, invasive species, alterations to water flow, and climate change. These indicators were selected in accordance with current literature on threats to freshwater systems. ―With these health and threats assessments, we were able to learn that across the country, we are putting significant stress on our watersheds—whether through pollution, lowered water flows, overuse, habitat loss or fragmentation, invasive species, or climate change,‖ said Elizabeth Hendriks, WWF-Canada vice-president of freshwater conservation. ―But because the corresponding data on health metrics isn‘t being collected for a

Depth of data deficiency Almost two-thirds (110 of 167) of subwatersheds are lacking the data necessary to paint a baseline picture of watershed health.

For the most part, the deficiencies involve fish and benthic invertebrates (the flies, aquatic worms, snails, leeches, and other small organisms that are an important link in the aquatic food chain) Only 11 sub-watersheds out of 167 have data for all 11 health and threat metrics.

day. Part of BC‘s rare inland rainforest, it contains pristine old growth, which supports populations of grizzly bears, moose, and mountain caribou. Though the trail has been improved, hints of its history are still evident in the old blazes and decaying cabins that remain along its length.

The trail‘s fascinating past coupled with the spectacular wilderness beauty of the Cariboo mountains make the Goat an unforgettable experience for hikers.

This past August, FHA volunteers brushed out an overgrown section of the nearly 50km upper Goat River Trail, making it passable for hikers for the first time in years.

Hang in there, salmon. Help is on the way!

Simon Zukowski is a volunteer with Fraser Headwaters Alliance. He lives in Prince George and is hiking the full length of the trail for the first time this September.

majority of watersheds, no one can conclusively say to what extent these disturbances are harming the health of this crucial resource. That‘s a shocking oversight that we can‘t afford to ignore.‖ David Miller, president and CEO of WWF-Canada said, ―Canadians should be alarmed that only 67 of 167 sub-watersheds have data on water quality, and 42 of those fail to get good marks. WWF-Canada‘s analysis shows we need to be seriously concerned about the health of our freshwater, and makes clear we can‘t afford to continue a patchwork approach to monitoring. ―We must restore the health of watersheds where we know there are problems and ensure a Canada-wide freshwater monitoring system is implemented,‖ said Miller. ―The ability to make informed decisions about how we use and protect freshwater ecosystems is essential to our long-term health and to wildlife.‖ Canadians can read the Watershed Reports findings, and explore their own watershed in more depth at watershedreports.wwf.ca.

WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife, and people thrive together.

Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca.

By Oliver Berger

A

rts Wells 2017 was the only music festival that actually ran this year in the Cariboo Region due to ‗you know what‘. Boasting over 100 acts in over 10 different venues situated all throughout the colourful community, this is one music festival that is hard to miss.

This year I was fortunate to partake in the events as well as another activity I enjoy doing: waste management.

In collaboration with the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society, Mary Forbes and I went up with a waste station she built and we planted ourselves right on the main drag across from the community hall. Talk about exposure.

Educating the public about waste diversion, we accepted everything from papers to cans, glass to compost and even completed the station with a handy Share Shelf. Those of you familiar with Share Sheds will understand this concept. The Armed with a picker, Oliver is ready to educate about only item we did not accept was waste at Arts Wells 2017. Photo: Mary Forbes garbage.

The organizers of Arts Wells used all the existing garbage cans in and Oh how I love the irony. around town, coupled with recycling bins In total, The Potato House Project reand tin cans to butt out your smokes. They ceived almost 350 lbs/160 kg of food waste also co-ordinated a group of festival volun- combined with hand-ripped paper packagteers giving them some highly waste- ing, a great carbon additive. The feedstock experienced leaders and the title: The is now piled, watered, and ready to be Green Team. turned into beautiful black gold which will The Green Team had a sorting tent set be showcased at next year‘s waste station. up where they sifted through all incoming I redirected approximately 15 lbs/6.8 kg of garbage and recyclables. Simply put, it was cigarette butts from the landfill. A cube amazing. van rolled off the site stacked full of reA small truck scooted around town all fundable beverage containers that will go weekend emptying the garbage cans, recy- to donation. And to finish it off beautifully, cling bins, and butt cans. They also took the recycling depot in Wells set up by the care of most of the vendor and food truck Cariboo Regional District accepted some leftovers as well as emptied some of the of the recyclables from the public. bins at our waste station.

As you can imagine, dealing with all We were an army of waste enthusiasts the leftovers from hundreds of humans, rolling around the festival, all doing our especially while they are enjoying life on part to take care of the waste that some another level, can be overwhelming. We people just don‘t seem to realize they cre- send a huge shout out to The Green Team ate. and all those who spent time in between With our minds combined we found music and dancing to bend over and pick destinations for all of the accumulated up trash, or sort through mucky food-waste waste. As the compost bins in Wells were -mixed recyclables, and consistently doalready over-burdened, Mary and I decided nate time and muscles to rearrange matter to take the compost from the festival and that is out of place. Thank you. bring it back to The Potato House. I took it upon myself to bring all the ciggy butts Oliver has a 35-year degree in life, startfrom the weekend back to my good friend ing out in the Spokin Lake area, spending Megan in Coquitlam who can send them adolescence in Williams Lake, and then away for recycling. Another lady in our venturing throughout the world on a quest group from Vancouver had an avenue for of always learning new things. His prioriall those non-stretchy, crinkly, chip-baggy ties include dedication to and education types of plastic that we cannot recycle about waste management. here. I remember at one point while I was helping in the sort tent, the only items that were actually going into the garbage were *** the ‗compostable‘ or ‗biodegradable‘ plastic-type food packaging.

By Venta Rutkauskas

I

t was Nina Simone who said, ―How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?‖ This question has come to mind frequently in recent weeks, for the times demand that we speak out about injustice and stand up for a vision of tolerance, if not compassion and inclusivity. In a summer engulfed by flames, rising bigotry, and ongoing inequalities for Indigenous communities (think missing and murdered women and girls, education, and social service) it is more and more difficult to remain silent.

Challenges against dominant ideals within a society have often emerged from artists. It is through these courageous creators that I search for a way to respond and make meaning of what is happening in the world around. These individuals have taken in the struggle of their times, delved deep into themselves, and devised work pointed at changing the status quo.

The gift of art is this: art has a transformational and alchemical ability to alter an audience, inspire change, and serve as empathy technology. It‘s the tool that provides an audience a way in to another perspective. Empathy technology allows us to better understand our own experiences or the artist‘s, even a whole culture‘s viewpoint. Each artist can open a gateway to a secret world, exposing a love affair with subjects, forms, and ideas the audience may never have considered individually— moments where we are moved, even altered, by an interaction with someone‘s creation colour or lived experiences.

By Brandon Hoffman, Artistic Director, Arts on the Fly

J

uly 8, the day after the fires first broke out in Williams Lake, the biggest thing on my mind was the fate of Arts on the Fly Festival, slated for the following weekend. I went through the motions like everybody else: putting together my evacuation pack, turning off the gas, filling the tub and sinks, but it all felt kind of silly and overcautious. Like, sure it's a good idea to do these little tasks just in case, but a personal defeat that could actually happen is the cancellation of this festival I've been organizing for the past year.

Then I heard the first close-call story of a friend almost losing their house, and our little festival seemed like the least important thing in the world. Of course, we had to cancel.

There were two things that caught me by surprise in the weeks to come. The first was the perpetual interplay between anxiety, grief, joy, and guilt. In the flickering moments when I did find reprieve from the chaos, a strange kind of euphoric joy would settle in, followed by guilt. It was like my brain chemistry decided I wasn't

Canadian singer, Tanya Tagaq. Photo courtesy of www.tanyatagaq.com

Radical ideas can flare and light a fire under a whole nation. Racial tension during the American Civil Rights Movement sparked a deluge of art and activism. For Nina Simone, the time came where it was no longer an option to keep her activism and her music separate. Her famous song, ―Mississippi, goddam,‖ became a civil rights anthem. Written about the death of four young women bombed in a church in Birmingham, Alabama and the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers in Mississippi, the song was a turning point in Simone‘s career. Lyrics demanding equal-

deserving of any happiness whatsoever, when those I know and love are still scrambling to keep their lives in order. A healthy dose of distraction helped with that (mostly in the form of road trips and concerts).

The second thing I wasn't expecting was the lengths average humans will go to for their friends, family, and even for total strangers. It was quite amazing seeing social media used to its full potential, helping people come together under stress. The ugly underbelly of Facebook definitely showed itself a few times, but the positive effects vastly overshadowed the negative.

After standing by as long as we possibly could, we emailed our artists and volunteers to officially cancel the festival.

Almost immediately, Lydia Hol, a Vancouver performer who was slated to play the festival, included me in an email thread that had been going for a few days. I was worried that the festival society might tank if we had a line-up of artists demanding payment, but these fears were immediately thrown out the window. Lydia, as well as Steve Beddall from the Wooden Horsemen, Jasper Sloan Yip, and the lovely Jasmine Liddell of Vancouver's Wise Hall, had already started organizing a benefit concert in our honour. Clearly, this was grounds for a road trip to Vancouver.

ity and calling out injustice vociferously, bluntly, alarmed and angered many in the south. They banned the song in several southern states; records were returned from radio stations, broken in half, never to be played. Some say Simone‘s career never recovered from her leap into activism. Yet how could she not respond to such acts of racial violence?

Simone‘s compatriot, writer James Baldwin, also tore down the stereotypes of black Americans, while deeply exploring the role and responsibility of the dominant white man in upholding racism and inequality. In an essay titled ―The Creative Process,‖ Baldwin charged artists with a great responsibility to hunt for truths like these, unseen by the mainstream audience. ―Go within,‖ he says, ―to unveil and illuminate darkness so that others may also see.‖ For all of Baldwin‘s strong language around race, love is at the core of his message. The creative process serves ―to make the world a more humane dwelling place.‖ He adds, ―If we understand ourselves better, we would damage ourselves less.‖ The courage to dive in to the shadowy realms of self and society characterizes many of the best-known artist-activists of the current day. Prolific street artist Banksy‘s murals and installations grapple with the injustices of poverty, immigration and refugees, and those who wield political power. His subversive images appear in charged locations around the world, including the Israeli West Bank barrier. Always controversial, sometimes beautiful, Banksy‘s art provokes thought and dialogue within a mainstream culture of complacency and consumerism.

Few voices are as fierce as Inuk composer and performer Tanya Tagaq‘s. Many have described her performances as an exorcism for the Earth, and her fourth studio album, Retribution, makes a direct link between women‘s rights and the treatment of the Earth and her resources. Tagaq refuses to mollify her message to make it more approachable; rather, she vibrates with the channeled rage of the victims of violence. It is impossible not to take notice and awaken to the complexity and healing that must emerge from true reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. White artists also have a role to play in furthering the ideas of reconciliation. Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire‘s project, Secret Path, tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, the 12-year-old boy who died trying to escape residential school in 1966.Downie‘s ability to raise awareness within Canada‘s cultural mainstream has brought him gratitude from Indigenous artists and leaders alike. Learn the truth, and then share it.

When art is a practice of self-reflection intensified with social justice issues, craft matures into a powerful tool that engages the audience and provokes dialogue. The convictions and courage of these artists ask that we also look inward and ask: How will I respond?

Venta Rutkauskas is the co-ordinator for the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake (CACWL). She is an advocate and lover of the arts, and has taught drama and written plays for young children. She is also passionate about the healing arts. See www.williamslakecommunityartscouncil.co m to learn more about CACWL and local artists.

Musicians playing John Fogerty's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" at the benefit concert for Arts on the Fly in East Vancouver’s Wise Hall. Photo: Ana Alfieri.

After an evening of amazing music, great friends, singing, laughing, dancing, and crying, over 300 people came down to East Vancouver's Wise Hall, raising around $3,000.

Last week the festival society met for the first time since the outbreak, and we came to a decision about how to use the money. Two-thirds will be used to help offset some of the unrecoupable costs that come along with cancelling a festival, and one-third will be passed along to the Horsefly Community Club and the Horsefly Volunteer Fire Department.

The whole Arts on the Fly team would like to extend a huge thank you to the lovely and inspired humans who put this benefit together for us, and, of course, to

everybody that planned on coming out to the fest. Refunds are available now. If you purchased tickets online, check your junk mail for a message from Brown Paper Tickets and follow the instructions. If you purchased tickets from The Bean Counter or Clarke's General Store, stop by the Central Cariboo Arts Centre Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. to receive your refund. If you can't claim your refund before September 11, email info@artsonthefly.com to make arrangements or your ticket cost will be considered a donation toward the 2018 festival.

Welp. See you at Arts on the Fly 2018!

By Jenny Howell, Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society

S

itting down to write this, I looked at a list of potential topics based on upcoming fall calendar events. Should I pick National Forest Week to focus on? Or maybe World Animal Day, International Habitat Day, or Endangered Species Day? Close to the bottom of the list was BC Rivers Day. There it was: water—my subject. It always comes back to water. This ties all the topics together since rivers are an integral part of forests, provide habitat for so many animals, and sadly, many rivers are now considered endangered. This summer of fires has also shown us all the consequences of low snow packs, low rivers, and drought, far too close to home.

A quick Google search brings up the world‘s most threatened rivers. You‘ll know them all; they are rivers of novels, songs, and movies. The Danube, the Nile, the Yangtze, the Rio Grande, the Ganges— a few clicks will give you the rest. These are rivers affected by dams, overfishing, over extraction, invasive species, and of course, climate change. The Colorado isn‘t on this top ten list, but the last 160 km have dried up and it very rarely makes it to the ocean anymore; instead there are miles and miles of parched earth where the river used to be.

That‘s the rest of the world, though, and we‘re here in Canada, where wilderness, space, and water are virtually endless, we often think, somewhat smugly. Those issues are only in crowded industrial nations, and surely not here at home where we celebrate and protect our environment, offering refuge to thousands of tourists looking for that pure, clean wilderness experience they can no longer find at home… right?

My next search took me to a World Wildlife Fund report on threatened Canadian rivers, where the sad reality is our rivers have problems, too. Another long list with the South Saskatchewan at the top, and going on to include the Athabasca, the St. Lawrence, the Grand, the Saint John, the Ottawa River, the Nipigon, the

Grade 3/4 students from Peta-Sue Silver’s class at Nesika Elementary at the Williams Lake River conducting water quality testing. Photo by Jenny Howell

Skeena, the Mackenzie, and the Fraser. As in the rest of the world, they are all are threatened by the same things: expanding industrial, agricultural, and urban use, along with increased dams for hydropower projects, and climate change hovering over everything by affecting and changing general precipitation, snowpack, flooding patterns, and overall hydrology.

The Fraser is our river. That‘s where the water running off our lawns, the melting snow on the roads, and the shower water going down our drains will eventually go, assuming they don‘t evapo r at e fir st .

Those river H2Os start on land and head downhill until they eventually become part of the river and then the ocean.

They act like little magnets, bonding to most things they come across, which is why water is a universal solvent and – incidentally – why life itself exists as this allows for complex chemical reactions at the cellular level. As H2O molecules travel,

bonded to hair products or lawn fertilizer or road salts, these, too, become part of the river. The Fraser drains a quarter of BC and produces more salmon than any other river on Earth, but it is showing real signs of strain as demands increase both directly on the river and on the tributaries that feed into it. A report for the 2009 Cohen Co m m is s io n by McDonald Environmental Sciences Ltd found that Fraser River sockeye are exposed to a chemical soup of 200 contaminants, many of which have toxic effects on fish. The commission commented that ‗water quality conditions have degraded over the past two decades‘. While many factors affecting the Fraser are beyond our immediate control, requiring first the will and next the coordination between multiple layers of government, there are still ways to help. According to the Rivershed Society of BC, a 2010 survey of BC residents found that 72% strongly supported the protection of

nature, wildlife, and species like salmon, even if it slows economic development.

Understanding that a river starts on land is a first step. Thinking about what goes on the ground and down drains is one of the best ways you can personally help protect rivers. Local sewage systems rely on bacterial breakdown before returning treated water to the Fraser, which works well for organic compounds but is not effective for most chemical products. Avoid using these whenever possible and if unavoidable, dispose of appropriately. Pharmaceuticals can (and should) be returned to pharmacies for disposal, and many automotive stores now have recycling programs for coolant, oils, and other automotive fluids. Retailers that sell printer ink and toner cartridges often accept the empty cartridges for recycling. Paint, flammable liquids, pesticides, antifreeze, and gasoline are generally accepted by the major municipal or regional transfer stations (such as those in Prince George and Williams Lake) or they can direct you to the appropriate location. Most municipal and regional websites have downloadable product stewardship guides on their websites; or, you can download the free smartphone app from the Recycling Council of British Columbia called BC Recyclepedia. This app provides recycling options for over 70 materials or products across the province.

The easiest approach is always to choose biodegradable products, avoiding chemical cleaners and other products whenever possible.

Blood tests on healthy adults consistently find hundreds of chemicals, pesticides, and pollutants linked to potential health issues such as cancer, nervous system damage, and hormonal defects. We are all part of one big ecosystem, so by keeping our rivers clean we can help keep our bodies clean, too.

For more information on Water Wise or Waste Wise and any of our school and community programs, contact the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society at sustain@ccconserv.org or visit the website at www.cconserv.org.

Jenny worked as a veterinarian for the first half of her career and then took an opportunity to teach kids at Gavin Lake, where she lives with her family. This led to a new career with the Conservation Society, developing and teaching the Water Wise education program.

(Left) Keely Weget-Whitney practised swimming in Seton Lake leading up to her 64 km journey down the Fraser River.

(Right) Sarah Napoleon (L) and Marie Scotchman (R) interview Chief Michelle Edwards for their film about the importance of salmon to the St'at'imc Nation. Photos: Jeremy Williams

By Jeremy Williams

O

ver ten days in August, I had the honour and pleasure of facilitating a crash course in documentary filmmaking workshop, which helped train four young women 16–28 years old from T‘it‘q‘et, one of the ten St‘at‘imc communities in Lillooet.

During the ten days, the team – Lakota James, Sarah Napoleon, Tabitha Leach, and Marie Scotchman – learned how to use a video camera, edit their footage, and craft a story. They learned from their community leaders and elders about the concerns facing the salmon and the fight to protect them. ―We are in the fight for our lives, to feed our families, to retain our language, to bring back our language, and our culture,‖ says T‘it‘q‘etKukwpi7 / Tribal Chief Shelley Leech in the film, entitled Sts̓úqwaz̓ (salmon). ―That mine breach is the biggest catastrophe that Canada has ever seen,‖ says T‘it‘q‘etKukwpi7 / Chief Kevin Whitney. ―There is a law case pending right now that the St‘at‘imc have entered into. We have a

lawsuit against the Mt. Polley mine… to hold them accountable.‖ I have seen the impacts to the Fraser River first hand as I have spent months floating down the Fraser River over the last 15 years on several expeditions with the Rivershed Society of BC, which takes youth down the Fraser River every year on their Sustainable Living Leadership Program, a 26-day life-changing adventure.

I have been producing films in partnership with indigenous communities across BC since 2000, and I have produced several independent films focused on the Fraser River including Downstream, (coproduced with the Wilderness Committee) (https://vimeo.com/156357147) which reveals the dire situation with mining pollution in the Fraser River. This goes beyond the 24 million litres of effluent spilled into the watershed at the Mt. Polley mine disaster in 2014 to include 5 billion litres of untreated effluent released into the Fraser River annually by Taseko Mines Ltd. at the Gibraltar mine near Marguerite, north of Williams Lake. ―We really need to know that journey and respect the journey that those fish go on because you start taking them away and we will start losing our way of life,‖ says

Chief Michelle Edwards of Sekw‘el‘was and Qaqy‘ten.

The film crew in T‘it‘qet learned of the historical abundance their elders experienced, the cultural significance of the salmon, and how they are a keystone species that support countless plants and animals above and below the surface, from the sea to the headwaters of the Fraser River.

The team was very passionate, which made learning easy and kept the energy up through the technical challenges associated with filmmaking. Through long, hot, and smoky days, the filmmakers conducted interviews, created a storyboard, and captured some beautiful footage including the Salmon in the Canyon event and Keely Weget-Whitney‘s swim from Lillooet to Lytton with the Rivershed Society of BC as part of FraserFEST (celebrate your watershed). ―I‘m going to be swimming from Lillooet to the Stein Valley and I am going to be swimming for the salmon,‖ said WegetWhitney, in her interview. ―These salmon, they‘re dying and that‘s not ok. I‘m not ok with that, and that is why I am doing this swim because I have a lot of love for these salmon.‖

According the Kukwpi7, Perry Redan, who spent decades conducting research as Chief and advocate for the salmon, there was roughly 100 million salmon in the Fraser River a century ago. Now, there is a plethora of threats facing the salmon including warm waters from deforestation, mine effluent, sewage pollution, industrial fishing, diseases from fish farms along the migration route of the smolts as they make their way to the sea, and of course, the changing climate.

Indeed, we are at a critical moment in time when it comes to the conservation of salmon in the Fraser River. People need to know what‘s at stake, what the solutions are, and to take action. With these young filmmakers helping to spread the word, I have hope we can turn things around and help the salmon, help the Fraser River, and work together for a healthy world with abundant runs of salmon returning to spawn.

You can view the film Sts̓úqwaz̓ here: https://vimeo.com/230882526 Jeremy Williams produces films and spends at least a month each year sharing skills to empower young filmmakers in remote communities.

By LeRae Haynes

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ildfires have definitely had an impact on local farmers and ranchers, including Lynda Archibald and Charlie Brous from Fraserbench Farm, located halfway between Soda Creek and McAllister. They grow and sell produce and products from their orchard and garden, and are members of the Cariboo Growers Market.

Although they have harvested onions, garlic, raspberries, peas, and some potatoes, some things are delayed in ripening and some may not produce at all. ―There‘s been a real delay in the garden because of the lack of sunlight due to smoke in the air,‖ said Archibald. ―It‘s been warm, but no light. Everything was so dim and I think that‘s what set the ripening process back. Things like zucchini and other squash ceased to form fruit with no sunlight.‖ The freezer is stuffed with raspberries harvested during the wildfires. ―We couldn‘t sell them because we were stranded out here,‖ she said. ―Luckily the power stayed on.‖ She said they saw smoke to the northwest at 4:30 p.m. on July 7. ―We heard a couple of thunder claps, and some lightning went through,‖ she added. ―Then we started hearing about fires popping up around Hanceville and Stone Reserve.‖ The day before, Vern Winger from Water Tec was at Fraserbench helping test a new sprinkler.―Charlie had just finished installing a water irrigation system in the field, and Vern brought out a mini sprinkler,‖ she continued. ―We were able to use that during the next few weeks to sprinkle across the north side of the property.‖ The Mountain House fire kept multiplying, and she said they heard about fires at Fox Mountain, Wildwood, the airport, and Soda Creek. ―We also kept hearing hassles that ranchers were having in getting out to see if their cattle were okay,‖ she said. ―When the Soda Creek fire broke out, we had people calling us to make sure we were safe. We didn‘t feel in any imminent danger; we realized the fire was at the trestle, 10km away.‖ ―The last train went through here on July 8, and after that it was really quiet,‖ she explained. ―Neighbours looked out for each other. Our neighbours at Mackin Creek across from us watched the ridge behind us and we watched the ridge behind them.‖

Harvest has arrived at Fraserbench Farm for Lynda Archibald and Charlie Brous Photo: LeRae Haynes

By July 12, it was incredibly smoky at Fraserbench. ―We were picking raspberries and it was very hot. My normal picking crew couldn‘t make because of the fires. A friend came to help Charlie and me, and we got them all picked and frozen, along with the peas,‖ she stated.

She said their evacuation order came in on July 17. ―Communication about what was happening was very difficult. We found the MODIS maps the best to try to keep track of the picture of what was going on. ―We had signed up for CRD notices, but the initial evacuation alert that came in by phone had such terrible audio, we couldn‘t understand a single word. ―By the time the evacuation order came in we were locked down—unable to leave the area and return. We made the decision to stay. We seemed to be able to live with the smoke; it was not causing us problems. And we had a plan.‖ Plan A was to take their loaded-up RV to Dunlevey Ranch down the road, and park it in the middle of a green hayfield. ―The rest of the neighbourhood was going to do the same. They would have made a wall of sprinkler water near their airstrip,‖ she said, adding that plan B was to take the RV and head north. ―We used the new sprinkler system to water the north side of the property. Charlie installed sprinkler guns on the fence, all around to the south, hooking them into the new irrigation system, which is powered by electricity,‖ she continued.

―One of the problems Charlie had was getting parts to develop the fire fighting water system. He needed some parts, and could have ordered them – the phone worked – but there was no way of physically getting them.‖ She said in some ways, life continued on as normal. ―Because of the heat, watering the orchard and garden was a continuous job with limited water that meant we could only do so much at a time. We had to move it; it kept us busy,‖ she noted. ―Charlie was kept very busy with his fire fighting prep.‖ Another thing that continued as normal was the contract Archibald has with Thompson Rivers University, maintaining online course content for the Sustainable Ranching Program. ―Even though the school was closed, I continued to do that, and student accessed their courses from afar,‖ she said. ―Everything went week to week and day to day.‖ She said at Fraserbench they kept up a vigilant awareness—always looking at the hillsides and the weather, listening for the phone and checking the internet, MODIS maps, and emails.

There was a worry about what they were going to do with all the garden produce they were harvesting, but with no Growers Market, they did a lot of pickling. ―The only thing we started to run out of was fresh dairy; everything else was sufficient,‖ she said. ―On July 20, the sky turned

black and dismal, and it poured 22ml of rain in 15 minutes with no lightning.‖ Overall, communication regarding the wildfires could have been a lot better, she added. ―Facebook helped. MODIS maps and the phone helped. But better factual communication would have been better. When the fires were so obvious, I see keeping the public out of areas. But once the orders were softened, it was very unclear where you were allowed to go, unless you stumbled across a roadblock. Lots of time was wasted driving around trying to get from point A to point B,‖ she continued. ―What bothered us were the stories where you knew there was some truth, third hand, from the grapevine about ranchers not being allowed to go out onto their range and open gates to free animals that might be fleeing.‖ Another real concern is Cariboo Growers Market‘s survival, according to Archibald, who is the treasurer. She said the loss of a month‘s income is a real financial hardship.

Brous said a huge thank you goes out to the businesses that brought in fire fighting equipment to help, adding that residents in outlying areas didn‘t hear about it until later, and that it would have been impossible to get into town to pick it up. ―If you choose to stay home during an evacuation, you must accept the fact that you‘re totally on your own, and you have no right to complain if you don‘t receive your $600,‖ said Archibald. ―If you choose to stay, you cannot expect help, whether it‘s medical, food, or money.‖ ―Now that the fires have lessened, I think it would be a good idea to get neighbourhoods together and debrief— discuss what happened and talk about things that people did, suffered, or experienced.

But first hand only. These small groups would record the meetings and choose a spokesperson,‖ she added. ―That spokesperson would meet with their CRD director, with their first-hand, recorded information, and then it would be up to that director to collate the information and take it to the CRD. ―If the CRD would take those suggestions and publish the information, making sure the public is aware, it would help weed out rumours and gossip.‖ LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of lots of music with kids.

By Fin Donnelly

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hat a summer—and it‘s still going. The wildfires displaced tens of thousands of people and animals, and disrupted many planned activities, which included forcing the cancellation of the Rivershed Society of BC‘s (RSBC) 26-day Sustainable Living Leadership Program, a trip down the entire Fraser River by canoe, raft, shuttle van, and foot. The fires also affected FraserFEST2017 but fortunately, most of the planned activities managed to go ahead.

The Fraser River is the largest salmonbearing river in the world, and its basin – comprising 34 intricately linked and interdependent riversheds –drains more than a quarter of British Columbia (21 million hectares). The Fraser River Basin is the socio-economic life-line of BC, and the heart and soul of the province, with a current population of over 1.2 million people, and a strong First Nations history going back thousands of years.

The Fraser River‘s health is under serious threat from a growing population and the overall declining health of rivershed ecosystems. However, all is not lost. Each of us is connected to our riversheds and the decisions we make daily can help make our rivers and their riversheds healthy again. It will take a concerted effort from the various levels of government, businesses, and schools, right down to the individual level, all committed to reducing our collective eco -footprint.

FraserFEST 2017 drew attention to these serious issues and focused on solutions that increase water conservation and sustain wild salmon populations in the Fra-

By Megan Rempel

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was unsure of what to expect when I signed up to volunteer at Shambhala Music Festival this year. The only thing I knew for sure was that there was an environmental outreach team that encouraged the festival goers to respect the land in all ways possible—and I wanted in. What I saw during my four days on the ranch proved how effective outreach can be in positively changing the culture of a group.

In early years of the festival, waste management was a huge issue for the clean-up volunteers. Cigarette butts and garbage covered the farm land as well as the banks of the river that runs through the festival grounds. In 2010, the Salmo River was dyed green by an individual tending the festival. This eye-opening event caused the birth of the Green River Collective.

The main responsibilities of the GRC are to keep body products out of the river, clean up trash on the river banks, and hand out pocket ashtrays to smokers. I have never seen a team perform such effective out-

Keely Weget-Whitney and Fin Donnelly before Keely embarks on her 64 km. Fraser Canyon swim from Lillooet to Lytton in 5 1/2 hrs. Photo: Jeremy Williams

ser River Basin, while increasing watershed health and community well-being.

FraserFEST 2017 celebrated our watersheds with a series of Fraser River adventures, including three Fraser Canyon raft trips (from Lillooet to Yale, including Hell‘s Gate), eight paddle trips and four guided cycle trips along the Lower Fraser River (from Hope to Vancouver), one paddle trip on English Bay (in Vancouver), three eco-tours (Abbotsford, Coquitlam, and New Westminster), one Fraser Canyon swim (from Lillooet to the Stein River), and eight wild salmon dinners (from Lillooet to Vancouver), where participants learned the Fraser‘s story—its history, culture, threats, and solutions.

Starting in 2014 in several Fraser River communities, FraserFEST grew this year to include 12 Fraser River communities, and if the fires hadn‘t prevented it, Quesnel, Soda Creek, and Williams Lake would have also participated.

FraserFEST has two main goals: to improve watershed awareness of those who live, work, and play within one of the world‘s greatest remaining salmon systems—the Fraser River Basin; and to increase the number of watershed and wild

salmon advocates in BC who will commit to Watershed CPR (conservation, protection, and restoration).

During many FraserFEST activities, there were discussions about the projected record low Fraser River sockeye salmon return, the impacts of climate change and open net pen fish farms, warmer waters, pollution, and habitat loss. Both the provincial and federal governments need to seriously step up their commitment to wild salmon and water conservation if the salmon are to have a chance to survive into the next century.

Whether it‘s restoring environmental protections at the federal level (e.g. the Fisheries Act, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, and the Navigable Waters Protection Act); increasing funding to better implement the Wild Salmon Policy; or enhancing the Water Sustainability Act at the provincial level; laws and regulations need strengthening and improving if we are going to see an improvement in salmon survival and water conservation.

A concerted effort is needed in the Fraser River Basin. At RSBC, we‘re calling on all levels of government to implement Wa-

Fin Donnelly is the chair & founder of the Rivershed Society of BC. The RSBC’s vision is salmon flourishing in rivers, people flourishing in riversheds. Our mission is to conserve, protect, and restore BC’s riversheds within a generation. Our two main programs are FraserFEST and the Sustainable Living Leadership Program.

and other events, the amount of waste left behind would drastically decrease. I learned while working with this awesome team at Shambhala that the key to changing culture is education and positive reinforcement. So, let‘s get on this together and stop cigarette butt litter in BC!

(Left) Megan Rempel holding a Pocket Ashtray.

(Right) The Pocket Ashtray.

Images: Submitted

by Megan Rempel

reach. The culture is so established that people poured into the GRC camp looking for pocket ashtrays, determined to dispose of their cigarette butt waste properly. This year it was especially prominent because of the human caused fire that burned 12 km down the Salmo River during the festival.

Forest fires in BC this year have captured the public‘s attention and people want to

tershed CPR of all watersheds within the Fraser‘s vast river basin.

We need an initiative the size and scale of the Great Bear Rainforest if we want to give our salmon a chance to survive, and keep our waters clean and cool.

FraserFEST 2017 involved a dedicated network of outfitters, government organizations, First Nations, and community partners, including the cities of Vancouver, Coquitlam, and New Westminster, the Districts of Langley and Hope, Sekw‘el‘was, Kwikwetlem, Musqueam, Cheam and Kwantlen Nations, the Pacific Salmon Foundation, the Lillooet Naturalists Society, and many others.

We are indebted to all the sponsors who made FraserFEST 2017 possible: Tides Canada, Sitka Foundation, Western Mining Association Network, Pacific Salmon Foundation, New Pathways to Gold Society, the City of New Westminster, the Real Estate Foundation of BC, Creative Transportation Solutions, Hard Rock Vancouver Casino, River Rock Casino Resort, UFCWU, Move Up Together, the David Suzuki Foundation, West Coast Environmental Law Association, the City of Coquitlam, and Western Canoe Kayak.

Let‘s remember the importance of our rivers, lakes, and creeks and the ecosystems they support as we get ready for World Rivers Day on Sunday, September 24. This will be the day the world celebrates our rivers— let‘s give them something to celebrate.

Please commit to Watershed CPR. To take the RSBC‘s Watershed Pledge visit www.rivershed.com/watershedpledge and make that commitment today. Our rivers, salmon,and future generations need you.

The GRC’s 7 Ways to Show Love for the Salmo River Ranch 1. Keep your glitter out of the river.

2. Say nope to soap.

3. Drop beats not butts.

4. Use the toilets … not the river.

5. If you see litter, pick it up.

6. Respect wildlife.

7. Spread the word. help with prevention; they just need the means to do it. The pocket ashtray gives individuals a convenient way to dispose of cigarette waste without having to worry about butting out or smell.

I believe groups like the Green River Collective should be present at every outdoor event. If environmental outreach programs became a normal part of all festival

Megan grew up in the city of Port Coquitlam, but spent many days in the wilderness of BC. She is passionate about creative expression, the outdoors, and sustainable projects. Her goal is to become an environmental project manager who connects people in the community to bring green initiatives to life. Visit Megan's blog at www.realearthinc.wordpress.com.

By Kristin Lehar

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he skin, like many other organs of the human body, performs several crucial roles in keeping the body functioning in balance including excreting wastes, synthesizing hormones (vitamin D), regulating heat, and protecting the body from the elements. It is our largest organ with a delicate pH and a unique micro-biome and, as the most visible of our organs, we do what we can to make it look its best and feel its healthiest—but often these measures result in troublesome consequences, many of which are not immediately obvious.

We have embraced conventional skin care products and other cosmetics, most of which we often regard as necessary for radiant health and integrate as part of our daily self-care regimes. This is thanks to brilliant advertising and sensory appeal the multi-million-dollar cosmetics industry employs. We have embraced this way of beauty and self-care and as a result have exposed ourselves and those around us to certain substances that are wreaking havoc on our bodies and the environment while doing very little to promote truly healthy skin and hair.

Unfortunately, the cosmetic industry is largely unregulated. Last year, Environmental Commissioner Julie Gelfand released a report addressing hazardous chemicals in everyday products and in it noted, ―Health Canada does not regularly test for prohibited or restricted ingredients in cosmetics and cannot assure consumers that these products comply with the Food and Drugs Act and are safe.‖ This is like the situation in the United States, where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only bans 11 ingredients in cosmetics while hundreds are banned in Europe.

By Terri Smith

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madeus has fared well during this fire season. We were lucky that for the first few weeks, in spite of the Green Mountain fire being way too close for comfort, the topography of our area is such that we didn‘t really have much smoke here at first. We are rather sheltered in a low valley and with wind direction being in our favour, we could breathe easily for longer than many in the Cariboo. It wasn‘t until so many fires burned for so long that the smoke closed in thick around us.

I worried for Amadeus, of course. It‘s what I do. He is my kid, and goats are known to develop respiratory problems quite easily. But, as usual since he became an adult and stopped trying to die all the time, it has been Amadeus who has helped me more than the other way round.

He makes me laugh and he brings me comfort.

I think the smoke has affected his mood, though it can be difficult to say with pets how much they are actually affected by an external event and how much is really them picking up on the anxiety of their human. Either way, when the smoke

Copyright: 123rf.com/profile_zoomteam 123RF Stock Photo

If you have ever glanced at any of the ingredient lists on a shampoo or moisturizer label you may have noticed they can be quite lengthy and extensive. According to an article by author and environmental scientist David Suzuki, ―US researchers report that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, and hormone disruptors.‖ Many of the substances found in cosmetics are actually absorbed through the skin and make their way into the bloodstream. This is how nicotine skin patches and hormone creams work. Furthermore, several products include penetration enhancers thus facilitating the absorption of these harmful substances. This is problematic when it comes to products we use everyday, like deodorants, lotions, and face creams, because the chemicals in them

first rolled in Amadeus became grumpy.

He head-butted me, he head-butted the cat, and attempted to head-butt the dog, but she was grumpy, too, and quickly put him in his place with a growl and a snap. He has a look about him when he‘s upset. It is a look I‘m pretty sure only his grandma and I pick up on. Something about his stance or the set of his ears shows me he is unhappy. Though if I take a picture of him happy and another picture of him unhappy and put them side-by-side, it is difficult to discern any difference at all. Let‘s just say he has an aura of grumpiness about him at such times, and so, to save the kneecaps of strangers, I keep him away from others until such time as his aura becomes more pleasant. So until the smoke clears, he must be content with my company alone.

To illustrate, here are two pictures of him both taken a few days ago on one of our less smoky days. In one he is happy; in the other he is grumpy. Can you tell which is which? Here, the external event that made him grumpy is obvious. He was eating leaves from the apple tree and somehow got an apple stuck between his horns, which displeased him greatly and amused us quite a bit. In the other he is contentedly chewing his cud whilst contemplating

begin to accumulate in tissues. Researchers at the University of Reading in the UK carried out tests on samples of 20 different human breast tumours, all of which were found to contain traces of parabens— commonly used preservatives in deodorants and moisturizers that have been found to mimic estrogen hormones in the body aka endocrine disruptors. This is not to say that these substances cause cancer, but can be accumulated within the body.

The reality is, there is no research on any one of these questionable ingredients or on combinations of them, to confirm they are safe for long-term daily use. We essentially are the long-term study and we will see the results of the choices we make now further down the road.

How are we to take care of our skin if nearly all our products are laced with these questionable ingredients? A wise rule to follow is to put nothing on your beautiful skin that you would not put into your mouth. This not only prevents chemicals from entering your body, but from entering our water systems and the environment.

Skin and hair care products claim to nourish your skin with plant extracts, antioxidants, and nourishing oils and butters. Yes, they may contain traces of actual avocado and aloe extracts but they come with all the unwanted chemicals, as well. So, if avocado is so beneficial for the skin, why not simply puree half an avocado, add some skin-loving essential oils, and pamper your face with a mask containing all the good stuff and none of the bad? Why not moisturize with pure coconut oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, olive oil, or shea butter?

Why not cleanse with antioxidant-rich, micro-biome friendly honey?

Enhancing the appearance of the skin from the outside is the focus when concerned with skin health but the nutrients that build and nourish your skin are the

nutrients that also build and nourish the rest of your body and they come from what we put into our bodies. Thus, true skin health is rooted from within—a diet high in refined grains, refined sugars, and unhealthful fats or even void of fats will work against you on your quest for that radiantly youthful skin glow (and those luscious locks!) Conversely, drinking plenty of water everyday and eating real, whole foods of all colors will get you far on this quest.

Conventional, even proclaimed organic and natural products contain harmful substances that have the potential to be absorbed through the skin deeper into bodily tissues. Once we realize we‘ve normalized slathering untested, potentially carcinogenic, and hormone disruptive substances over one of our most beautiful organs, it is hard to continue doing so. It feels amazing to take a big step away from conventional laboratory made skin-care products and grace your skin and hair with the powerful nutrients of food. It is empowering to say the least.

My favourite source of pure essential oils and beauty care products, ethically sourced and globally responsible, is the Living Libations store online at the web address below. I haven‘t come across a purer source in my search for clean produ c t s .

F i n d t h e m a t www.livinglibations.com/default/.

Kristin is a holistic nutritionist whose main goal is to live a simple and awesome life.

She loves to inspire others to realize the power of the body and its amazing capabilities to restore and maintain health, and to realize we each have the power to bring our bodies back into well-being. Having love for and being connected to the language of the body is the first step on the path to a thriving life and planet.

Grumpy Amadeus and happy Amadeus, can you tell the difference?

Photos: Terri Smith

his importance in the universe (okay, I made that last part up). See the difference? Can you sense his aura of displeasure? No? Well, to tell the truth I can‘t see any difference either, but the bruise on my kneecap can attest to his grumpiness.

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 Margaret-Anne Enders

―

Stay safe‖. In the midst of this summer‘s wild fires, evacuations, and escaping from heavy smoke, that simple phrase became a standard Cariboo farewell. It certainly was my go-to in ending every phone call, email, text, or visit. It was said with urging, with concern, with fear, and with hope that safety would indeed prevail.

And in most cases, it did. There was no loss of human life, and while some returned home to devastation, the majority were able to return to life as normal. Except that normal doesn‘t exist anymore, at least not yet. Many people are still experiencing the roller coaster of emotion that comes with the loss, even temporarily, of a sense of safety. While the evacuation alerts have been lifted in town, wild fires still rage in the Chilcotin, and the sense of danger has not passed.

This deep down threat to safety arouses so many emotions: intense sadness, anger, and emerging into light, intense desire for connection. The generosity that has erupted throughout the province is overwhelming. Food, accommodation, shelter for animals, random acts of kindness. The best of the human spirit has been called up and gives rise to a profound hope in my very core that we will not go back to normal. That this spirit of sharing and care and concern will help to mold us into a community with a deeper sense of connection.

The big challenge is how to translate the immediate generosity into this lasting connection. While people are wanting to give, they are also working to get their homes and gardens in order after a time of being away. They are preparing for kids going back to school and for meetings, clubs, and activities in September. Those of us who do canning are busy putting food away for the winter. In addition, people are embroiled in the emotional process of re-

W

ith fall around the corner at last, the smoke has abated, at least out near Horsefly. I have taken my astro gear from the camper, where it was pending evacuation, and reinstalled it in the Bells Lake observatory.

Last night the moon was a slender crescent, probably regaling in the fact that it trumped the sun only four days ago. We saw the partial eclipse on August 21 from our deck with specially filtered telescopes.

The white light view showed the sun‘s surface, somewhat unspectacularly, black and white, except for the incredible fine detail in the sunspots. The highly filtered solar scope shows a very narrow section of the sun‘s light in the orange/red where a bright line appears in the spectrum.

When electrons are highly excited, they are constantly changing energy levels, absorbing and re-emitting photons. The transitions are very exact, and give rise to the bright line in the sun‘s emission.

It‘s here that we see the turbulent solar atmosphere and the flares and prominences that rise from the sun‘s surface as well as all the turmoil around the spots. During an

“Resilience.” Original drawing by Lacey Ranger

covery from this event. That can result in exhaustion and lack of energy or initiative, making it hard to get things back into order. It is all part of the emotional sorting out that needs to happen.

Despite the challenges, we see people setting up Go Fund Me campaigns, collecting money for fire victims, and offering generously of their food and goods. It is truly wonderful and inspirational to see so many digging deep into their pocketbooks and helping out their neighbours. Giving of money and goods is necessary to help people rebuild homes and recover lost income.

It is vital for those on the receiving end and also feels good for those who give in this way.

I just hope that it doesn‘t stop there.

Giving of money and goods is easy. One can feel like they have been helpful without a whole lot of time and energy, which as noted might be hard to come by. The limiting factor in this kind of giving is that it tends to be one-way and often short-

lived. There is rarely space or opportunity for developing relationships. And I think it is the development of new relationships that will be the key in whether our community returns to the status quo or moves in the direction of being more connected. In short, this giving is safe. It doesn‘t require much of our emotional selves. We can give and feel good without having to break out of our bubble of ―normal‖. And right now, we really want that normal.

Amidst the backdrop of our own crisis are the shocking displays of white supremacy down south. The anger and trauma of those events has reverberated even in our own community. As a white woman, it is tempting to sit with a sense of relief that this is not going on in our country. True, it is a very extreme situation, but Canada is not immune to racism, hatred, and bigotry.

In our own area, acts of racism are experienced by Indigenous and people of colour on a daily basis. So just when we are desperately longing for safety, we are faced

eclipse, a dragon is supposed to take a big bite out of the sun, so you can think of the spots as teeth marks if you want.

The sun is a busy place and I wouldn‘t plan my next vacation there.

Back in the observatory, my first chore is to find the north star and align the telescope‘s polar axis to it so it can track the star‘s motions. The stars move 15 degrees an hour, which is about the length of the Big dipper‘s handle. Over the course of a couple of hours the sky changes significantly, so at the start of an observing session you might want to catch the stars in the south west, before they set.

After a quick alignment of my finder scope, which is a small telescope that rides on the bigger one but has a much wider field of view to aid in locating objects, I checked out the Wild duck cluster in the tail of Aquila, the eagle.

At low magnifications, it appears as a hazy patch, easily visible in binoculars. At higher magnifications, the detail pops out, and the cluster appears in its jewel-like glory. Although there was a considerable technical effort expended to get here, the first impression is aesthetic. The colours,

and brightnesses and positions, which we see as figures, are pretty much like listening to music, especially Bach, where the above qualities are replaced with timing, loudness, and timbre.

I quickly checked the Coat hanger, an asterism that looks just like one, to see if it fits the field of my new low power eyepiece. It‘s still kind of too big and looks better in the finder.

It is starting to get chilly, but the warm room at the observatory, which is attached to the observing deck, has heat in it, so I go in to check my charts and remove any dew from the eyepieces.

I locate M 15, a globular cluster a short distance from the feet of Pegasus the winged horse. It‘s another kind of star cluster, much more densely packed than the Wild Duck or M 11 as it‘s known. (Not a secret spy agency, I‘m afraid, so you won‘t be able to impress your friends.)

It‘s getting late and I have things to do tomorrow so I want to see if the Pleiades or the Seven sisters have risen. They look like a miniature big dipper, riding on the shoulders of Taurus the bull. Seeing them rise is a sign that fall is on the way. Tennyson had something to say about them as well, but I‘m sure you will trust in the accuracy of Skywatch.

with this kind of societal complexity. And looking at some of these issues in our own community and in our own lives does not feel safe. It is unsettling and messy and humbling. The reality of the situation is, however, that for true safety in a community, the sense of safety must be palpable to everyone. The more it is available to all, the safer we all will feel.

I wonder if we can bravely move forward by giving more than just our money and our goods. Perhaps we can give time— to host block parties, to get to know our neighbours, to make a point of finding common ground with those who might hold different opinions than we do. Perhaps we can get to know people from other cultures, both Indigenous and international, and take the time to learn how they see our community, what helps them thrive, and what gets in their way. Perhaps we could collectively join the efforts of those who tackle some of the larger social issues in our town, such as affordable housing. If we open ourselves up in this way, we are more likely to understand and give what is really needed, not what we think others may need. This may feel like a step outside of our comfort zones and not safe at all. But the window for radical generosity is open, right now, and, as this summer has shown, we are a brave people.

In her work with the multicultural program at Cariboo Mental Health Association, as well as in her life as a parent, partner, faithful seeker, left-leaning Christian, paddler, and gardener, Margaret-Anne Enders is thrilled to catch glimpses of the Divine in both the ordinary and the extraordinary.

To find out more about the Women’s Spirituality Circle, call (250) 305-4426 or visit www.womenspiritualitycircle.wordpress.com or on Facebook at Women’s Spirituality Circle in Williams Lake.

I t hink I am going to get my big boy out t omorrow my 12" reflector definitely gets me stars although the field

night— telescope. It closer to the is more limited.

As I‘m leaving, I see Fomalhaut rising in the south east—a sure sign of fall.

The harvest moon is coming up as well.

The ecliptic is the path through the Zodiac that the sun, moon, and planets take. In fall it makes a shallow angle to the east horizon so when the moon is full it rises only 20 minutes later each successive night and appears to hang around for a while, making it a noticeable event. In spring, you don‘t think of the full moon as much because it rises about an hour and 20 minutes later each night.

At least we are not thinking about fires all the time now. Feel free to contact me at irwin8sound@gmail.com.

By Angela Gutzer

―

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.‖ —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin This quote brought much solace to me as I entered the world of grief. It helped me elevate myself above the restriction and pain the human condition contains, and free myself from the constricted chains of ego isolation in the chaos of grief to the inner truth of spirit.

I had grown accustomed to physical truth. Go to school, get a degree, get a job, build a home, pay debts, and remain in the physical. Of course, there was a little spirit guide within me screaming its head off trying to grab my attention. ―Push it down,‖ was my mantra. Through little crevices the voice arose to be heard, then squashed back through the tight spaces from which it came. This small voice within continually grew as life‘s twists and turns continued relentlessly until my shell of self was cracked open and the voice became a flood within me. My dear love Chloe taught me to listen. My mantra changed.

Chloe was a beautiful golden retriever—my first furry love outside of the family home. She was hopelessly gentle, loving, and forgiving. A true angel indeed.

She simultaneously opened and broke my heart with her passing. The question of ―Why?‖ arose. This question of ―Why?― led me incrementally towards my new passion. Death.

Death. The word people fear. The ending of life, or so I thought. What if death is a beginning or a continuation? What if death only symbolizes a change in our physical realm and not spirit? By Chloe‘s passing I delved into death. My sister emphasized the blessings that came through

By Jim Hilton

W

hen I started working in the forest service in 1974 (in what was then known as the Caribou Forest Region) there were forest districts (Ranger Districts) in Tatla Lake, Alexis Creek, Riske Creek, Williams Lake, Horsefly, Likely, 100 Mile, Clinton, and Quesnel (east and west) and, if I recall correctly, a field office in Anahim Lake.

In offices like Tatla Lake and Alexis Creek most of the work was involved with Range (permit administration with the local ranchers), some timber administration, and lots of fire fighting in the summer when conditions were hot.

Summer students were often hired for work in a wide variety of disciplines including fire fighting. When there was a fire flap, fire crews would move throughout the region to help out and all staff at the district and field offices might get involved in a busy fire year. In some cases, the regional staff got involved, especially if they had fire fighting experience. Shortly after I retired in 2002 more centralization had taken place in the Forest Service with

(L) Angela and her mother snuggling on the shores of lake Nemeiben. Photo: Christina Gutzer. (R) Angela’s dog Chloe, “poocher smoochers." Photo Submitted by Angela Gutzer

death. I could not see them. ―Why?‖ reared its ugly head so repetitively that I couldn‘t see the truth. ―Why?‖ slowly became ―Because it is so‖. ―Why?‖ became ―Look deeper; keep searching‖.

As a veterinarian I was honoured to be close to death. People would compassionately say, ―this must be so hard for you‖. It was difficult, I agree. But the difficulty was not in the death of the beloved furry family member itself—it was in the emotional realm. The place people go with death. The inability to see death as a necessary part of life. The view of death as a negative process. I would cry as human members of the pets' families cried, and I would take those emotions with me as I drove home. I would hug my critters even tighter, and walk them even longer to escape my grief for those departed souls. But yet, I knew they were in a good place. I felt as if their souls were light and free from

disease. They were happy, yet I was sad seeing their families so distraught. Another ―Why?‖ Why would we be so heartbroken at the lack of physical presence while they are there free spirited and having fun? Why would our hearts be broken when perhaps we should be celebrating their lives and how free they are?

Many people have told me miraculous stories of the afterlives of their beloved furry family members. A dream in which they appeared, or a bark to protect loved ones in the physical plane of reality.

All of these stories, the animals, and my journey has led me to learn more. I am now enrolled in the Contemplative End of Life course offered through Institute of Traditional Medicine. A term to describe the the art of serving the dead and dying is ―thanadoula‖ (thanatos=greek word for death, doula=servant). Hence the title ―death doula‖ for a person utilizing these

many districts, field offices, and regions closed.

Centralization has been used by many organizations as a cost saving practice and will likely continue in times of reduced revenues. As in all reorganization attempts there are some drawbacks, especially in the more remote communities. One of the main drawbacks is a breakdown in connections between the local population and government staff in all disciplines and especially with fire fighting activities.

Prior to the 2017 fire season, it is interesting to look at 2010, which was an especially busy fire season for the Cariboo region when hot, dry conditions, along with a lightning storm at the end of July, caused 130 confirmed fires in the Cariboo and 381 confirmed fires throughout the province.

The Cariboo Fire Center (at the Williams Lake airport) consisted of 12 initial attack crews (three-person) and four unit crews (20-person) with the unit crews being divided up (usually five-person crews) into smaller units to increase initial attack capability. At the provincial level (all fires centers combined) there were 132 initial attack crews and 28 unit crews, which proved insufficient to deal with all 381 confirmed

fires in the two-day period. As a result, some fires were left to burn until resources became available and the situation was made worse in mid-August when a cold front with high winds caused enormous growth of the fires.

The result was the development of four major fire ―complexes‖ in a sparsely populated area but there was still a need to evacuate 700 people with many more on alert. To my knowledge this was the first time an evacuation of this size took place in the Cariboo Region so it is understandable that there was some criticism of how the evacuation was handled by the Cariboo Regional District.

There was also considerable concern about how the fires could get to the stage they did. While residents had some sympathy with the fire center staff, pointing out the combination of unusual weather events and high fuel types and unheard of number of lightning strikes, residents felt there should have been more adequate contingency planning to deal with this type of situation.

Now, in 2017, locals are probably thinking about the past when fire control was viewed as everyone's responsibility

skills. The course runs over a six-month period and takes place in Calgary. The course material is diverse ranging from palliative music therapy, cultural views on death, palliative massage, meditation and self care, biological symptoms of death, rituals and ceremonies for the end of life, creating care plans for the end of life, childhood loss, and grief counselling. I will be finished the course in October but will not receive my certification until next year as the wildfires prevented my presence for one of the weekends.

At the time of enrolment in this course my mother was facing death as she was diagnosed with cancer. It was quite a meaningful decision. After a year of chemotherapy and prayer she passed through the thin veil into spirit March 18, 2017. All I can hear is beautiful music from the other side. All I can feel is love. She is closer to me than she was in the physical.

I have been able to delve into my grief through the course. In the first weekend we created a shrine and placed objects connecting us to our beloveds. I brought a divine goddess shaped rose quartz. I placed the quartz over my mother‘s heart in her final hours of life. I placed it there to allow full love to flow through as she slowly entered spirit. What a gift to be in the presence of fellow participants sharing in their grief as you allow them to see yours.

I hope to share more of my experiences and knowledge of the course in upcoming articles.

Remember people: All is love Remember people: Live life as if you were to die Remember people: Dying is beautiful!

Angela is a veterinarian currently working as a locum. Creating her own schedule has allowed her the space and time to invest in the contemplative end of life (death doula) course in which she is currently enrolled.

and, if warranted, they could be called upon to fight fire. It was common practice to have members of the local community identified, trained, and on call to take action as required (e.g. Forest Warden program). In addition, forest industry staff with qualified individuals could also be called upon.

Fire center staff felt the lack of immediate resources was the root cause for many fires getting out of control but locals questioned this. Many felt there was no shortage but a slowness of recognizing and using existing physical and human resources. Locals believed there were resources over a full spectrum of fire fighting activity that could have been available almost immediately if they would have been called upon.

With climate change likely to make fire conditions worse, maybe it is time to rethink the decentralization of activities like fire fighting and take advantage of local knowledge and resources.

Jim Hilton is a retired registered professional forester and has lived in the Williams Lake area since 1974.

By Melissa Chaun

I

t has been eerily quiet on the Lower Fraser River this year. Not a single fishing boat to be seen. At the time of writing this, the commercial salmon fishery had yet to open this season and likely never will. There are simply not enough salmon. Even the Musqueam Indian Band, hosting the final wild salmon feast celebration for the Rivershed Society of BCs (RSBC's) FraserFEST event on August 12, were unsure until the day before whether the menu could feature wild salmon.

Yes, it‘s that bad.

Fish farms, sea lice, over-fishing, habitat destruction, climate change (warmer ocean temperatures, low stream flows), and ocean acidification are some of the concerns identified by scientists and conservation groups like RSBC that are working for the longterm survival of these keynote species.

There is also a lesser-discussed issue – genetically modified (GM) salmon – that could pose an additional threat in the future.

As reported in TheGreenGazette article, ―GMO Salmon‖ by Erin Hitchcock in September 2015 (www.thegreengazette.ca/gmo -salmon), AquaBounty has created GM Atlantic salmon eggs, containing spliced genes from Chinook and the eel-like pout, capable of producing salmon that can grow twice as quickly.

And just when we think it can‘t get worse, a Canadian-owned fish farm in Washington State‘s San Juan Islands capsized on August 20, sending more than 50 per cent of its 305,000 captive Atlantic salmon into the ocean. As reported in The Seattle Times, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific (Cook Aquaculture) is the largest producer of Atlantic salmon in North America and operates fish farms in Chile, Spain, Scotland, Atlantic Canada, and Maine. (Many of these countries, including Norway, have documented aquaculture-related viruses and their threat to wild salmon stocks.) The New Brunswick-based global seafood giant knew its newly acquired Cypress Island fish farm was in dire need of upgrades and yet chose to wait until after harvest to address the problem.

First Nations up and down the West Coast have been sounding the alarm for decades. Most recently, the Heiltsuk First Nation moved to occupy a Marine Harvest fish farm near Alert Bay, followed by the Musgamagw Dzawada‘enuxw First Nation.

On August 27, members of the Shishalh Nation reported three Atlantic salmon in their Sabine Channel nets near Sechelt. Although not marked, these fish likely came from the Cooke spill, 80 nautical miles away. Two of the fish were females, full of eggs.

Then there‘s Mount Polley. August 4 marked the third anniversary of the disastrous Imperial Metals‘ tailings pond failure.

To date, our provincial government has failed to levy a single fine against the company for contaminating the Quesnel Lake ecosystem with its toxic mining wastes.

Furthermore, Mount Polley has been allowed to continue operations and before Christy Clark left office, her government quietly granted Imperial Metals another mining permit.

Finally, there‘s our federal government‘s failure to implement the 75 Cohen

1. Avoid farmed salmon. Do not purchase or consume aquacultured Atlantic salmon. There are numerous documented human and environmental health effects, as clearly shared by the Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance (www.wsda.ca). If your favourite sushi place has farmed salmon on the menu, engage the manager/owner to no longer feature this product.

2. Encourage your mayor and council to declare your municipality a ‗Wild Salmon Only Zone.‘

(Top) Adams River salmon run 2010.

Photo: Flikr.com KSI Photography (Left) Sockeye salmon, Adams River 2006.

Photo: Charlotte Kinzie www.flickr.com/photos/ckinzie/270702782/ (Bottom) Dead salmon on the Harrison River. Photo: Melissa Chaun

Inquiry recommendations on BC/Fraser River salmon recovery, despite spending over 37 (not the reported 26) million dollars of taxpayer‘s money to report on the crisis back in 2012.

Last month, our friends at Watershed Watch Salmon Society released their MidSeason BC Salmon Update. A key finding is that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), in the face of accumulating evidence of poor coast-wide returns and escapements, is keeping (ocean) fisheries open, knowing many populations are being overfished.

On the contrary, Alaska‘s Department of Fish & Game issued an emergency order on August 7, closing all Southeast Alaska‘s recreational and commercial fisheries targeting chinook to protect chinook returning to BC, Washington, and Oregon. The emergency order read: ―Southeast Alaska and British Columbia stocks are experiencing historically low production; many of the affected stocks will not meet escapement goals or management objectives in 2017.

The… data… cannot be ignored when conservation of wild stocks is the foundation of the Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fisheries Policy and the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

Therefore, it is imperative that Alaska offer relief now for these stocks, with a focus on protecting future production.‖ The DFO has failed to take similar direct coast-wide action to protect BC‘s wild

chinook salmon, despite First Nations‘ ongoing legal action. Moreover, last year, the DFO monitored fewer BC salmon streams than at any other time in the department‘s history since WWII. However, we can all do something to protect wild salmon and ensure they make it back to their spawning grounds. Now, more than ever, they need our support. Please consider the following list of actions to the right, and add your voice to make sure that wild salmon continue their journey home.

Melissa Chaun of Port Moody is an ecologist with a passion for all things sustainable. She is events co-ordinator with the Rivershed Society of BC, volunteers on various city committees, and co-ordinates the monthly meetings for Tri-City Greendrinks.

Note: Portions of this article appeared in Melissa Chaun's Sept 7, 2017 column in Tri City News, ―Living Green: Where are all of British Columbia‘s salmon?‖ (http:// www.tricitynews.com/lifestyles/livinggreen-where-are-all-of-british-columbia-ssalmon-1.22517327). Republished with permission from the author.

3. Support Dr. Alexandra Morton and the Sea Shepherd Society‘s Operation Virus Hunter II campaign to eradicate open net fish farms from BC waters (www.seashepherd.org/virus-hunter/about/ operation-virus-hunter.html).

4. Write to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Dominic LeBlanc, and copy your MP. Implore them to put a stop to the overfishing of BC‘s wild salmon. Ask that DFO‘s Conservation & Protection Division have the resources and political will to effectively monitor and enforce compliance with commercial fishing regulations.

5. Join West Coast Environmental Law in protecting our waterways by writing a letter to your local media. In 2016, the government announced a review of federal environmental laws, including the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Navigation Protection Act (NPA). Originally known as the Navigable Waters Protection Act, the NPA excludes 99 per cent of Canada‘s waterways from protection. This is a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to re-strengthen the laws that protect our land, air, and water and ensure they help Canada address climate change. Tell your local newspaper the Navigation Protection Act must: a) ensure full legal protection for navigable waters; b) protect the public‘s right to navigate waterways; and, c) restore environmental assessments for waterways (www.getnparight.eco/wcel/).

6. Join Amnesty International‘s action calling for a public inquiry into BC‘s mining laws in the wake of Mount Polley.

Consider financially supporting the Concerned Citizens of Quesnel Lake‘s GoFundMe campaign to take legal action regarding Mount Polley (www.ccql.ca).

7. Lend your voice to the Rivershed Society of BC efforts to conserve, protect, and restore the world-famous salmonproducing Fraser River–take RSBC‘s Watershed Pledge at http://rivershed.com/ watershedpledge/.

By Lewis Evans

W

hat does art mean to you—if anything? Is it merely decoration, an emotional response to a memory, an illustration of something familiar, something creative you simply like but you don‘t know why, an investment, a space-filler, or something else entirely?

Whatever you may think, you are probably not thinking that art can fuel economic prosperity for your community, put it firmly on the map in innovative and exciting ways, and facilitate incomegeneration for a whole host of local businesses. But that‘s what it can do. Here‘s how it has done just that in other communities.

Let‘s start with a well-known example.

In 1986, Bilbao, an industrial city in northern Spain, was in decline. Basque separatists were wreaking havoc and the city was in crisis. Bilbao was a former manufacturing centre, but its factories were closed and its port run down. That‘s when the city‘s leadership took an incredibly bold step and decided to build an exciting future for the community. They hired renowned architect Frank Gehry, and spent US$86 million on a stunning art gallery that opened to worldwide acclaim in 1997, and another US$36 million on world-class art. People flocked to Bilbao and the city recouped the cost of the building within three years.

Within five years of completion, the city had made an estimated US$168 million and enough tax income to create over 4,000 new jobs. Bilbao is now firmly on the world stage, its Guggenheim Museum eclipsing established galleries in more prominent cities in Spain and the rest of Europe and serving as a powerful, inspirational catalyst for culture in the community.

There are many other examples of how the power of art in community has been demonstrated to great effect. However, it‘s not all about big money and elite groups.

Different communities have found their own ways to promote art and the community to different extents. Locally, take Wells as a great example of a small community fuelled by art and the incredible energy of the likes of Julie Fowler at Island Mountain Arts …which brings me to the key points that make any such project a success.

Visionary leadership, a great idea, passion, relevance, and suitability For John Christie and his wife Audrey Mildmay, it started with a passion for opera, way back in 1934. Since then, the family has ensured consistent growth by employing inspirational directors to the point where the Glyndebourne Festival reaches about 150,000 people a year with 120 live opera performances. Not bad for something that was started in a country home in the middle

(Left) “What burns beneath,” original artwork by Lewis Evans. (Right) Artist Lewis Evans in his studio. Photos submitted by Lewis Evans

of the Sussex countryside in the UK. The location is ideal for those who want to get out of London‘s congestion to experience the arts in a beautiful setting, and the local community benefits through the provision of jobs and Glyndebourne‘s £16 million boost to the local economy.

For Jude Kuznierz, The Beaumont in Vancouver started as a warren of studio spaces where artists could work, and grew into a vibrant non-profit organization that contributes hugely to the local community with arts membership, studios, a venue, gallery, and regular events.

Each of the examples I have mentioned were successful because they evolved from a clear understanding of the key factors as well as the communities they benefitted.

Finding the right fit I‘m not saying that the Bilbao example is typical or could even be emulated. Every community needs to dig deep to find the formula that will work. The ‗why‘ needs to be asked first. What could be the ‗big idea‘? What is suitable for and relevant to this community? Then it‘s all about leadership, because it's not good enough to simply survey the community and measure responses. What is needed is keen observation that leads to a clear understanding so that creative, imaginative, magical leaps can be made that create a connection between today's unarticulated dissatisfaction and tomorrow's unimaginable but indispensable, rich cultural life and thriving economy.

Why not Williams Lake?

I‘m new to the Williams Lake area and, in looking at this place with fresh eyes, I see a city with huge potential in the arts. It is in a beautiful location, at the junction of key highways through BC. It has an estab-

lished art community and a big reputation for the Stampede. And, like any city, it has its socio-economic challenges.

Just as Julie Fowler asked, ―Why not Wells?‖ when she saw how Banff had developed its incredible arts facility at the Banff Centre, I ask: Why not Williams Lake? Whether it‘s a desire to be a player on the international, national, or provincial stage, why not start to explore? It is said that if you are not creating, you are dying or, at least, just consuming. I want to live a creative life. How about you?

Lewis Evans is taking part in the Art Walk and Sale in Williams lake from 8 – 30 September. He is exhibiting at BMO Bank of Montreal, 35 South 2nd Avenue.

Later in the year he plans to run some life drawing, art, brand development, and online presence Continuing Studies courses at Thompson Rivers University.

See https://lewisevans.net for details.

Lewis exhibits internationally and helps artistic communities promote their work through his marketing communications consultancy. He works with ‘a beginner’s mind,’ his art being a personal journey rather than a development of technique.

His first novel, Hominine, is a critically acclaimed thriller, available at Open Book, in Williams Lake). https://lewisevans.net https://cogenicamedia.com.

S

piral Health is kicking off the first annual Discover Wellness Health Fair & Market in Williams Lake. It will be held Saturday, October 14, 2017 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in The Gibraltar Room at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.

The health fair is about ―Inspiring a Healthy You!‖ It has been a successful event in Quesnel for the past three years showcasing over 30 health and wellness businesses in the community including health food stores, nutritional supplement companies, fitness and yoga studios, various modalities of healing practitioners, delicious healthy food, and more. Informational and educational presentations are offered, as well. ―Holistic health is about using a variety of modalities for healing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle,‖ says Jennifer Reed, RHN and health fair co-ordinator. ―We are so fortunate to have many wonderful and professional individuals in Quesnel dedicated to motivating and supporting others to embark on their own journey toward wellness.

The Quesnel health fair has helped create more awareness of who and what we have available to us. ―When I started distributing my magazine, Discover Wellness, in Williams Lake I was excited to connect with the diverse health and wellness community in our neighbouring city. Everyone has been so

welcoming and supportive. It inspired me to host a health fair in Williams Lake with the same goal in mind: creating more awareness of what your community has to offer.‖ We‘re excited to have Smashin‘ Smoothies for our food vendor and, believe it or not, beer tasting from Barkerville Brewing Co. Yes, Cariboo brewed beer with simple ingredients can be part of your health and wellness journey. With over 30 booths to visit there will be something for everyone.

John Danylowich, B.Sc. and CEO of Nuumarra will be our keynote speaker on behalf of Purica and Sta Well Health Foods. John will introduce Prevent & Prevail—two powerful additions to Purica‘s suite of immune products that are a result of 12 years‘ extensive research including over 2000 clinical trials. This will be an excellent lecture to sit in on. It will take place at 1 p.m.

The full presentation schedule will be posted on Facebook closer to the event: w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / discoverwellnessquesnel/.

We‘re anticipating an excellent turnout and the first 50 visitors will receive a free swag bag. There‘s an admission fee of $5 for adults and children 12 and under are free. There is no additional fee to listen to the lectures. You will want to come down and check out what the beautiful community of Williams Lake offers.

By Jessica Kirby

H

alloween has changed course over the years from an Earth worshipping event focused around the harvest, to a darker, banished-by-the-church abomination, to a well-known childfocused commercial event celebrated around the world.

Part of moving away from a natural, harvest-focused holiday to a commercial holiday is that the Earth tends to take on more of a burden. Think about cheaply made, single-use items like decorations made of plastic or tin, one-size costumes of flimsy material, and accessories like pipes or eye glasses made dress-up ready and destined for the landfill. People want affordable, effortless options that help them live their dress-up fantasies to the fullest, but on a time-crunched schedule.

But here‘s the thing: 170 million Americans celebrate Halloween; 51% of them decorate their yards, 49% dress in a costume, and 15% costume their pets. In fact, Halloween is an $8 billion industry in the US and Canadian statistics are similar.

If 85% of this material is thrown away (and it is) that creates a frightening mountain of trash, encouraged by the disposable nature of Halloween items.

It is time to make change.

Decorations are the coolest—if you collect arts and crafts materials all year long, it isn‘t a financial stretch to make some awesome props for the big day.

Cardboard boxes or slabs of Styrofoam make excellent tombstones. Netting and fabric can transform a yard into a cobweb haven. Old bed sheets and newspaper can be formed into ghostly figures. The trick is to plan and collect materials. And, of course, recycle these items for the next year.

We all love a great Halloween party, so party on but think about asking people to bring their own reusable cups and bowls. It feels out of the ordinary since we are accustomed to providing every little thing when we entertain, but I have done this for five year‘s worth of kid birthdays, Solstice beer tastings, and Christmas receptions and people love the chance to make a big different with just a little effort.

Treats are tricky (see what I did there?) because they produce a lot of waste and aren‘t exactly nutritionally supreme. For a few years, I got away with buying my kids‘

Most Earthfriendly Halloween Treats When it comes to trick-or-treat goodies we have choices and now more than ever, we can choose what is best for the Earth. Check out these minimally packaged or recyclable container treats for a Halloween that is scary for everyone except the planet.

Illustrations: Microsoft Publisher Clip Art

treats from them for $20 and all was well in the world, nutritionally speaking. They are older now and it is a matter of common sense and moderation. Common sensewise, they keep the chocolate, chips, and pop and ignore the rest because they know enough about how sugar and dyes make them moody. They also use moderation in only having a piece or two a day. Sustainability speaking, it is possible to buy treats made locally and with minimal or recyclable packaging. Or, skip the trick or treating all together and have a super fun, food moderated party at home.

I can‘t emphasize enough how rewarding and spectacular it is to make your own costumes. Yes, it takes time and again one must plan and collect old clothes or fabrics throughout the year to have the right materials, but it is so worthwhile. Besides saving a tonne of cash, creating something that will last year after year, and recycling old textiles, you are making a solid investment into your own health and relationships.

In her article in Psychology Today, Dr. Carrie Baron, MD discusses the psychological benefits of creating things by hand.

She refers to Dr. Kelly Lambert‘s study, which explored the relationship between hand use, current cultural habits, and mood, and discovered hands-on work ―satisfies our primal need to make things and could also be an antidote for our cultural malaise.‖ She concluded that increased reliance on electronic devices and buying most of what we need rather than creating it has deprived humankind of certain physical processes that provide pleasure, meaning, and pride.

―Making things promotes psychological well-being,‖ says Baron. ―Process is important for happiness because when we make, repair, or create things we feel vital and effective. It isn‘t as much about reaching one‘s potential as doing something interesting–less about ambition and more about living. When we are dissolved in a deeply absorbing task we lose selfconsciousness and pass the time in a contented state.‖ The benefits of crafting are particularly meaningful for children, says author Richard Rende, PhD. ―The research speaks to a deeper understanding of the critically important impact [of crafting] on social, cognitive, and emotional development,‖ he says.―Without this creative time, our new data suggests that children could be missing important benefits that are directly related to school prep and long-term success in subjects like math, reading and writing.‖ But that doesn‘t mean parent or other big person involvement isn‘t important— studies report increased self-esteem, feelings of well-being, and memory function among children who craft with their parents or another caregiver. Families who engage in hands-on work together are more likely to remain connected into adulthood, communicate more effectively, and be more in-tuned with one another‘s body language.

So, what are you waiting for? Halloween doesn‘t have to be scary on the environment and can lend some year-long, sustainable, multiple-use awesomeness to your life and relationships.

Canned beverages: Try healthier options like Blue Sky or San Pellegrino; packaging is 100% recyclable.

Cardboard boxes: Smarties, Gobstoppers, Nerds, and other popular candies come in cardboard, which is 100% recyclable.

Foil: The foil from a Hersey‘s Kiss, for example, and the little wisp of paper in it are both recyclable.

Change: When in doubt, hand over the cash. A big bowl of pennies and other spare change is a great alternative to candy.

Recycle BC: This is the overseer of product stewardship programs and can tell you if your community is one in which a private company will accept mixed materials (candy wrappers).

Upcycle: If waste is unavoidable, check out this brilliant blog on ways to upcycle candy wrappers into cool fashion accesso r ies: h t t p s : / / craftingagreenworld.com/2015/05/22/20candy-wrapper-crafts/

By Sage Birchwater

C

lean air is a gift we have to stand up for and protect. It‘s not something we can take for granted.

For those of us involved in the Rail Ties Be Wise campaign, the horrendous wildfire season of 2017 has steeled our resolve to protect our air quality. For long stretches of time during the fires, air quality in Williams Lake soared to over 40 on a scale of one to ten.

We observed firsthand how smoke gets trapped in the valley and builds up because of temperature inversions that don‘t allow proper flushing.

The smoke-choked air quality was bad enough, but what if that lingering smoke also contained dioxins and furans from burning rail ties?

The Rail Ties Be Wise committee is adamant that Williams Lake not become the rail tie burning capital of Western Canada. The proposal by Atlantic Power Corporation of Boston to import and burn up to four million rail ties per year in its Williams Lake biomass-fuelled energy plant is simply not acceptable.

Satellite images show how smoke from Cariboo-Chilcotin forest fires filled the valleys that make up the topographic landscape of the province, then flowed down these valleys to the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Toxic air created in Williams Lake would follow that same pattern.

I feel more strongly than ever that if Atlantic Power Corporation wants to keep its Williams Lake energy plant solvent, it must do so by burning uncontaminated wood waste produced by the logging and sawmilling industry, not by burning toxic rail ties.

It is easy to see the charm of fuelling the power plant with rail ties for Atlantic Power‘s bottom line. Having a higher octane fuel delivered to your door with possible monetary incentives thrown into the mix would be very difficult to refuse. It is also easy to understand the dilemma of railway companies faced with an everincreasing stockpile of used, decadent rail ties piled alongside train tracks from Winnipeg to Vancouver.

N

orthern Exposure returns to Wells, BC from October 12– 15. It‘s your annual opportunity to learn and share ideas with your peers, as well as experts in the field of rural arts, culture, and festival organizing. Wells is at the core of the Cariboo. It comes alive once again for arts and culture administrators, creative not-for profits, event organizers, musicians, artists, media, and music lovers.

By day, Northern Exposure presents an invaluable opportunity to meet new collaborators and learn from the best from around province. This year the conference program presents ideas on an array of topics including disaster planning and emergency preparedness, Indigenous engagement, and the important role the arts plays in reconciliation. This event will also cover

Image: Microsoft Publisher Clip Art

For the citizens of Williams Lake, giving the company permission to burn 50 per cent of its 600,000-tonne annual biomass fuel capacity as rail ties is unacceptable.

This would impose an intolerable risk to the community‘s health. It would make Williams Lake an undesirable place to live, work, play, and retire. It would be a ticking time bomb waiting for trouble to happen.

The smoke choking the valley reminds us of this.

There are a couple of arguments put forward by proponents of the bid to burn rail ties that I refute.

1) Proponents say the equipment at the Williams Lake energy plant is top of the line and is so efficient that very little poisonous material would be emitted into the environment.

2) They also argue that government regulators classify rail ties as non-toxic waste.

On the first point, we all remember what happened at Mount Polley on August 4, 2014. That‘s when one of the worst mining disasters in Canadian history spilled millions of tonnes of mining effluent and toxins into Quesnel Lake, previously one of the cleanest bodies of fresh water in Canada. This happened under the watchful eye of the BC government, who because of economic constraints and cutbacks, didn‘t have enough feet on the ground to do a proper job of monitoring the Mount Polley tailings facility. The fox managing the hen house fell asleep on the job.

topics such as marketing, social media, community engagement, technology, as well as touring and release strategies.

At night, the town glows with per fo r mance s, an opportunity for nine breakthrough bands from across the pr o vi nc e to showcase their artistic talents, providing excellent networking opportunities that allow artists to share ideas and forge new professional relationships. Northern Expo-

For the burning of rail ties and the management of smoke and ash in the Williams Lake valley, we are being asked to trust this same government oversight. What happens when the equipment in the energy plant wears out or becomes less efficient?

It is already 25 years old. Is that same wily fox going to be watching?

What happens to the mountainous ash storage facility on the edge of the Williams Lake river valley escarpment? It is already a concern with mostly ―clean‖ ash from the energy plant boiler poised to erode into the Fraser River drainage. What if this ash contained dioxins and furans from burning rail ties?

A friend took film footage of the ash pile recently buffeted by a windstorm. Despite efforts to methodically cover the ash with dirt and gravel, her film documents significant amounts of ash being dispersed by the wind.

And then there is water erosion caused by the occasional deluge of rainfall that impacts our region from time to time. Last spring rivulets of ash were seen streaming down the side of the ash mountain heading for Williams Lake river valley and the Fraser system. Add unfriendly toxins to this cocktail and catastrophe looms.

On the second point of rail ties being classified as non-toxic fuel, this is scientific buffoonery. Weasel words, smoke and mirrors, flawed reasoning, political gymnastics. Officially classifying rail ties as non-toxic fuel doesn‘t mean they are any less egregious. It just means there is a problem with the regulatory and classification system. Give us a break. You still don‘t want to breathe the smoke from burning rail ties and you certainly don‘t want to spread the ash residue on your garden. That‘s because they are toxic.

With the aftermath of the worst wildfire season in living memory, our lungs feel heavy from breathing so much smoke.

Questions arise: what if this smoke was laced with toxic particulate matter from burning rail ties? What if there were stockpiles of rail ties in Williams Lake for consumption by the energy plant and wildfires overran the city and caught the ties on fire?

This was an immediate thought of many Rail Ties Be Wise committee members.

There are many unknowns, and many questions.

sure will strengthen and connect creative networks in rural communities and promote the continued success and sustainability of the arts and music industry in BC. Until September 12, Northern Exposure is taking submissions for local artists to perform at the conference, and applicants are encouraged to apply via the website. Artists will be provided small honorariums to help with travel, accommodations, and meals.

Conference registration includes a welcome reception and showcases on Thursday night as well as full-day conference pass to all sessions on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Bursary rates are available for those with financial need. Head to support-imarts.com for ticket and event

How will the wildfires of 2017 impact the Williams Lake timber supply? How will this massive amount of burned timber affect the volume of saw logs available to the lumber industry? What impact will this have on the availability of sawmill waste and logging waste available to the energy plant?

These are questions that need to be wrestled with as the provincial government ponders Atlantic Power Corporation‘s request to burn railway ties.

Our Rail Ties Be Wise committee feels the company doesn‘t have the social licence to burn toxic material in its Williams Lake energy plant. The facility was designed and sanctioned by the community to burn uncontaminated wood waste produced by local sawmills. Let‘s keep it that way.

The jury is out on whether incinerating discarded rail ties is the best way to dispose of them.

If burning old rail ties must occur then it should take place in a geographic location away from an urban population where the topographical folds in the earth don‘t trap toxic smoke for days and weeks at a time.

Swan Hills Alberta is a toxic waste disposal site chosen for that very reason.

The facility there has a social licence to process poisonous material. The air flushes freely dispersing the effluent.

Atlantic Power Corporation should do the right thing. As a good corporate citizen, it should voluntarily give up its application to burn rail ties in its Williams Lake power plant, and not jeopardize the health and future of the community.

The British Columbia government and BC Hydro need to work with the company to allow this to happen.

Despite the horrendous wildfire season, resource industry experts are convinced there is plenty of non-toxic wood waste in the Cariboo-Chilcotin to support the energy plant for decades to come.

Rail ties for bio-fuel are not needed and not wanted in Williams Lake.

NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily the opinion of other RTBW members, or TheGreenGazette.

By Guy Dauncey

Urban Community Garden located in the heart of downtown Vancouver, BC.

I

magine you are struggling to get by on a low income. For some, it doesn‘t need much imagining.

Now imagine that as well as not having much money, you live in a community where there is very little affordable housing, no subsidized daycare, no safe bike lanes, and only sporadic public transit.

There are no urban farms or community allotments where you can grow food, no farmers' markets, and no community kitchens—just the food bank to help when your monthly cheque runs out. Imagine, too, that it‘s a community without any attractive parks or green spaces, no pleasant urban gathering spaces, and very few community non-profits and initiatives where you can contribute and make a difference in the world, however small.

This is double-dose poverty—it‘s personal poverty sandwiched inside community poverty. As a result, as well as struggling financially, you are probably going to struggle with loneliness, isolation, and depression. On bad days, you may feel completely defeated by life.

Now imagine you are the same person on the same fixed low income, but this time you live in a community that has affordable housing co-operatives and subsidized daycare. There‘s good public transit and safe bike lanes, making it easy to get around. You can grow food for yourself in a community allotment, buy local organic food at the farmer‘s' market, and enjoy cooking with friends in a weekly community kitchen.

In addition, thanks to the efforts of local people over the past 20 years, the community has lovely parks and walking trails, and great urban gathering spaces where people meet and pass the time of day.

Now take things a step further, and imagine that your community has a welldeveloped sharing economy, with a neighbourhood tool library and a weekly gift economy circle where people share their needs and help each other in exchange. Imagine the credit union runs a

Photo: www.pxhere.com/ en/photo/281888

debt management circle to help people climb out of debt, a business start-up program, and a micro-lending circle. Imagine that local businesses network and cooperate, and there‘s an active movement to build a new co-operative economy, including financial and legal support for starting consumer and worker co-ops.

To top things off, let‘s add three more things. First, everyone in the country receives an unconditional Citizen‘s Income, enabling people on welfare to earn extra money without it being deduct ed from their cheques.

Second, every business and bank has adopted a social purpose to serve the common good as well as generate income for the owner. And thirdly, the whole community is committed to environmental stewardship and building a circular economy, with solar energy and zero waste.

And – I nearly forgot! – your community has a host of active community groups and non-profits, and great schools and public libraries. And post-secondary education is free, financed not by a loan but by a subsequent three per cent charge on your income.

Imagine living first in one community, then the other. The difference is not about

personal wealth—it‘s about community wealth. In the second community you can live in affordable housing, have affordable daycare, travel more affordably, grow food affordably, earn extra income without it being deducted from your Citizens Income, and participate in a host of community activities, meeting people and building a network of friends and supports.

For many years, life has been about putting poverty behind us by working hard, hoping to buy a comfortable home and accumulate personal wealth.

Our modern economy has been built on the belief that the pursuit of personal self-interest would lift all boats and create a better world for everyone, thanks to the mysterious ways of the market. Any costs suffered along the way, including the erosion and loss of nature, were dismissed as externalities, not important to the central operation of the economy.

But something is changing deep within our hearts. We observe the housing crisis, the climate crisis, the accumulation of plastic in the world‘s oceans, the loss of forests, and the massive inequality between the rich and the rest, fuelling anger and distrust in government. I don‘t have data for North America, but in Germany, 88 per

cent of respondents to a survey expressed a desire for a new economic order. In Austria, the desire was 90 per cent, and I suspect it may be the same in Canada. Somewhere deep within, we know nature is not inexhaustible, humans are not disposable, communities should not be left to wither and die, and consumerism is not something to be admired. We know we need something new.

All across the world this new economy is busy being born, with new approaches to business and banking, new approaches to nature, and new forms of co-operative ownership. And at the core of our future communities, as people work to make it happen, there will be community wealth, celebrated and enjoyed by everyone.

As the years go by we will notice that we are abandoning consumerism, and the accumulation of stuff. We will cease consuming and start restoring. We will discover that, compared to personal wealth, community wealth benefits all, and at the end of the day, it is more resilient. Our children will look back on all our stuff and they will say, ―Grandpa, grandma, however did you accumulate so much of it?‖ And something deep will begin to heal.

Guy Dauncey is author of the novel Journey to the Future: A Better World Is Possible. www.journeytothefuture.ca. He lives near Ladysmith, on Vancouver Island.

September 1 – 30: Station House Gallery, Korene Kidd: Expectations of Character Dorothy, Alice, and Anne. Mon – Sat: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. 1 Mackenzie Ave North, Williams Lake. (250) 392-6113.

September 8 – 30: Downtown Williams Lake ArtWalk and Sale. (250) 398-8826.

September 15, 22 & 29: Williams Lake Farmers‘ Market. Boitanio Park 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

September 15: Williams Lake Film Club –The Eagle Huntress. Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex Gibraltar Room, 7 p.m., back doors open at 6:30 p.m. www.facebook.com/williamslakefilmclub/.

September 15 – 17: Save the Salmon Pow Wow. Xatsull Heritage Village. (250) 9892323. www.calendar.powwows.com/ events/xatsull-save-salmon-traditional-pow -wow/.

September 29 – 30: Retreat with Elaine Jackson, ―Healing our Inner Teacher‖. For details and to register: https:// g e nd u nd r u bp a. o r g/ a bo ut / w e e ke nd seminars-and-retreats or call (250) 6200565.

September 29: Williams Lake Film Club –Blade Runner, the classic Final Cut, Gibraltar Room, Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex, Williams Lake, 7 p.m., back d o o r s o p e n a t 6 : 3 0 p.m.www.facebook.com/ williamslakefilmclub/.

September 29 – October 1: Healing Pathway Phase One Workshop St. Andrew‘s United Church Williams Lake. (250) 3986745 to register.

September 30: Early Child Development Network Three Year Old Roundup. Gibraltar Room, Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex, Williams Lake. 10 a.m. – 1p.m.

September 18: The first fall meeting of Williams Lake and Area KidSport chapter.

New committee members welcome. New World Coffee and Tea, Williams Lake. 7 a.m. Contact Deb Radolla (250) 392-2769.

September 30: Quesnel River Research Centre 2017 Open House. Research Presentation on environmental impacts of Mt. Polley tailings release into Quesnel Lake.

10 a.m., Likely BC. www.unbc.ca/qrrc

September 20: Cariboo-Chilcotin Elder College membership sign-up and registration. St. Andrew‘s United Church, Willia ms Lake. 1 to 2:30 p.m. www.wleldercollege.com.

October 1: Sunday Drop-In resumes, lead by visiting teacher Elaine Jackson. Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Centre, Williams Lake.10a.m. – 12 p.m. (778) 412-7780. www.gendundrupa.org.

September 23 – 24: South Cariboo Garlic Festival. Lac La Hache. 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. www.garlicfestival.ca.

October 5: Williams Lake Garden Club last yearly meeting. Guest speaker Mary Forbes on Composting and Annual General Meeting. Central Cariboo Arts Centre, Williams Lake. 7 p.m. Contact Deb or Pat Radolla (250) 392-2769.

September 25 - Oct. 2: Visiting Teacher Elaine Jackson. Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Centre, Williams Lake. (778) 412-7780. www.gendundrupa.org.

September 27: Cariboo-Chilcotin Elder College membership sign-up and registration. 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Seniors‘ Activity Centre, Williams Lake. www.wleldercollege.com.

September 28: Public Talk and Slide Show – Williams Lake Library, ―Why Buddhism?‖ by Elaine Jackson.7p.m. Presented by Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Centre, Williams Lake.

(778) 412-7780. www.gendundrupa.org.

October 5 – 28: Station House Gallery Presents Cariboo Piecemakers – A Common Thread. Mon – Sat: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. 1 Mackenzie Ave North, Williams Lake.

(250) 392-6113.

October 6: Williams Lake Film Club –The Russians Are Coming, a classic comedy.

Central Cariboo Arts Centre, Williams L a k e . 7 p . m. w w w . fa c e bo o k . co m/ williamslakefilmclub/.

October 14: Fall market at Kinikinik Restaurant and Store, 9391 Highway 20, Red-

stone, BC. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (250) 3946000.

October 14: First annual Discover Wellness Health Fair & Market in Williams Lake with Spiral Health. Gibraltar Room, Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.10a.m. – 4p.m. www.facebook.com/ discoverwellnessquesnel/.

October 15: Stephen Palmer Concert. St. Andrew‘s United Church, Williams Lake.

Tickets $15. 2 p.m. www.spmusic.ca.

October 20: Williams Lake Film Club – A Man Called Ove, Sweden, Central Cariboo Arts Centre, Williams Lake. 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/williamslakefilmclub/.

October 28: Early Years Conference. 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., $40 registration. (250) 3924118.

October 13 – 15: 3rd Annual Northern Exposure Conference, Wells, BC. Call Island Mountain Arts at 1-800-442-2787 or email info@imarts.com.

November 3: Williams Lake Film Club – White God, Hungary, Central Cariboo Arts Centre, Williams Lake 7 p.m. www.facebook.com/williamslakefilmclub/.

Williams Lake Wanderers We leave Sam Ketcham Complex at 9 a.m. Come at 8:45 a.m. to get organized.

We begin outings from t her e o n T u e sd a ys , Wednesdays, and Thursdays, so you can fill out a membership form and pay your $10 annual fee if you wish to become a member. Once you‘re a member, you will receive emails with schedule and schedule changes. Schedules and updates are also on Facebook.

September Schedule Wednesday, September 13 – Anderson Road bike (Dog Creek Rd.) Thursday, September 14 – Yellow Lake walk (off Mission Road) Tuesday, September 19 – Borland Creek walk (150 Mile) Wednesday, September 20 – Range Road & area bike (Airport Road) Thursday, September 21 – Gun-a-noot area hike (Dog Creek Road) Tuesday, September 26 – Dick‘s Trail hike (off Dog Creek Road) Wednesday, September 27 – Howard Lake kayak/canoe – extended day (Canim Lake area) Thursday, September 28– Climbing Walls bike (off Esler Road) All activities are subject to change according to weather conditions, so keep an eye on your email/Facebook daily.

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 .

“ Bean Counter Bistro & Coffee Bar, (250) 305-2326 180B 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake Organic Coffee, Fair Trade, 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 Canadian Tire, (250) 392-3303 1050 South Lakeside Dr., Williams Lake Recycling Initiatives, Renewable Energy Solutions, Organic Cleaning Products: Blue Planet, Green Works, Method, Nature Clean, Seventh Generation Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society, (250) 398-7929 Unit 102-197 2nd Ave. North, Williams Lake ccentre@ccconserv.org, www.ccconserv.org Working within the community to promote a healthy environment as the basis of a strong economy and vibrant society. Programs include Water Wise, Waste Wise, Sustainable Living, and Watershed Health.

Cariboo Growers Coop, (778) 412-2667 3rd & Oliver St., Williams Lake. 100% Natural & Organic Foods, Non-Profit Farmer’s Coop Cleanway Supply, 1 (800) 663-5181 275 South MacKenzie Ave., Williams Lake Organic Cleaning Products Debbie Irvine B.Sc. (Agr.) RHN Registered Holistic Nutritionist (250) 392-9418 or springhousedebbie@thelakebc.ca SPRINGHOUSE GARDENS - Organically grown market garden veggies; Grass fed/finished beef - no hormones, no GMOs. Enquiries welcome. 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 .

The Gecko Tree, (250) 398-8983 54 N. MacKenzie Ave. Williams Lake Serving healthy, local foods New Paradigm Teas (250) 267-3468 newparadigmteas@gmail.com Four Nourishing blends of locally, organically grown and wildcrafted herbal teas.

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

Potato House Sustainable Community Society (250) 855-8443 In an age of apathy and a sense that change is all talk and no action, The Potato House Project is a friendly bastion of doing, sharing, learning and playing. Call and find out ways to get involved.

Scout Island Nature Centre & Williams Lake Field Naturalists, (250) 398-8532 www.scoutislandnaturecentre.ca www.williamslakefieldnaturalists.ca 1305A Borland Rd, Williams Lake, Nature on the city’s doorstep. Bird sanctuary, trails, Nature House, natural history programs for children..

Smashin’ Smoothies, (778) 412-2112 102-41, 7th Ave North, Williams Lake Juice, Smoothies & Espresso Bar Fresh, Organic, Whole Food.

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

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

Windy Creek Farm, (250) 296-3256 Miocene, BC Grass Fed Beef. No hormones, antibiotics or vaccines. www.grassfedbeefbc.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 McLeese Lake Deep Creek Service Station The Oasis Motel Cafe Nimpo Lake Nimpo Lake General Store Prince George Books and Co. University of Northern BC College of New Caledonia 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

Contact us today to list your Green Business - info@thegreengazette.ca or lisa@thegreengazette.ca

Williams Lake Adorn Naturally

A&W All-ways Travel Amanda Enterprises Barking Spider Mtn. Bikes Bean Counter Bistro Beaver Valley Feeds Blocks R Us Body Connection by Joe CanWest Propane Cariboo Growers Co-op Cariboo Ski Community Futures Concrete Fitness Conservation Society CJ‘s Restaurant CRD Library Creative Scissor Dairy Queen Dog & Suds earthRight 4 Sure Bistro Friendship Centre Greyhound Bus Stop Handi-Mart Joey‘s Grill KFC Halls Organics Integrated Elements Clinic The Hobbit House Husky Restaurant Karamia‘s Donairs Kornak & Hamm Pharmacy The Laughing Loon The Legion Margetts Meats McDonalds Mt. Timothy Ski Area New World Coffee Oliver‘s Bar & Grill South 2nd Deli Red Shred‘s Bike & Board Shed Rona Home Centre Safeway Save-on-Foods SBL Liquor Store Scout Island Nature Center Senior Citizens Center Shopper‘s Drug Mart Spa Bella Station House Gallery Sta-Well Health Foods Subway Taylor Made Cakes The Gecko Tree The Open Book Tim Hortons Tourism Info Center Trattoria Pasta Shoppe Thompson Rivers Univ.

Tsilhqot'in National Gov`t Walmart WL Acupuncture Clinic Williams Lake Physio WL Seniors Village WL Veterinary Hospital Williams Lake Water Factory *please note that we are in the process of revamping our distribution process to better serve our clients. If TheGreenGazette is not being displayed at any of the above locations please contact us so that we may rectify the situation.

By Jasmin Schellenberg HEALTHY SNACKS AND WHY Keep school lunches cool and your kids healthy with these mint-lime frozen bottles: Ingredients 1 L home-made Kombucha tea Juice of four fresh limes A handful of fresh mint leaves Method Morning: Combine the Kombucha with lime juice and mint leaves in a jar and leave out until evening.

Evening: Strain the Kombucha to take out the mint leaves. Divide the Kombucha into plastic drink containers, leaving at least an inch of space. Close the tops and put upright in the freezer overnight.

To use: In the morning put one bottle of frozen Kombucha in each child‘s lunch bag. It will keep their lunch fresh and they are much more likely to drink up the probiotic, vitamin-rich beverage when it is icy cold.

Benefits: Kombucha naturally provides us with probiotics, which are great for the immune system. Back to school can mean higher exposure to foreign bacteria; keeping kids immune systems strong is one of the best ways you can support them in their education. Feeling healthy and full of energy is essential to encourage learning.

Enjoy!

NUTRIENT DENSE MEAL Cabbage rolls (serves 4) Ingredients 1 medium head cabbage 1 to 1-1/4 pounds ground beef 1 cup cooked rice 1 small onion, chopped 1 egg, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1 can (16 ounces) tomato sauce 2 teaspoons brown sugar 1/4 cup water 1 tablespoon lemon juice or applecider vinegar

Method Remove core from cabbage. Steam 12 large outer leaves until limp. Drain well.

In a bowl, combine ground beef, rice, onion, egg, and seasonings; mix well. Put about 1/3 cup meat mixture on each cabbage leaf. Fold in sides, starting at an unfolded edge, and roll up leaf completely to enclose filling. Repeat with remaining leaves and filling. Place rolls in a large skillet or slow cooker.

Combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, water, and lemon juice or vinegar; pour over cabbage rolls. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, spooning sauce over rolls occasionally during cooking.

Great to eat as is or add a green salad or bread.

Enjoy!

Tip: double the recipe and have snacks for the kids‘ lunches or when they get home. Add extra flavor by fermenting the cabbage leaves for three days prior making the rolls.

MYTHS UNVEILED Kombucha and its benefits It is a fizzy fermented tea beverage with many benefits. More than 2,000 years ago, this probiotic drink was served in China and Russia. Give your children a chance to get used to Kombucha; it truly is a wonder drink.

Boost your immune system. Kombucha is loaded with antioxidants, probiotics, yeasts, and enzymes, and has detoxifying properties that will fight the bad bacteria resulting in a healthy, happy immune system.

Kombucha is great to clear up skin problems.

It has anti-aging properties and helps keep grey hair away.

The antioxidants in Kombucha can help cleanse the liver and prevent cancer.

Kombucha is loaded with vitamins B and C, both are essential for optimum health.

V it a m i n B he lp s e ase stress levels,

curb sugar cravings, and help memory functions.

It helps with digestion by breaking down food for better nutrient absorption, promoting a healthy gut flora and maintaining a healthy PH level. Kombucha helps people with Irritable Bowl Syndrome, Crohn‘s, Celiac disease, and Candida overgrowth.

Kombucha has butyric acid, which is known to have antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties, and is known to strengthen the walls of your gut, kill parasites, and protect against yeast infections.

It‘s an interesting substance that promotes overall digestive health from the inside out.

Another amazing fact about Kombucha is that it contains naturally occurring glucosamine, which means this drink can help keep your joints healthy and moving correctly and even prevent against arthritis.

Kombucha has only 30 calories per cup.

Also, use as a facemask or add to your bath; your skin will love you for it.

All you really need is a large gallon glass jar, 4 teaspoons of green and 2 teaspoons of black tea, 1 cup sugar, 3 liters of water, a piece of cloth to cover, a rubber band, a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), and 1 cup of Kombucha juice. Heat up water (not boiling). Place tea in and let cool until room temperature, sieve out tealeaves, add sugar, juice, and SCOBY, and cover. Leave at room temperature for seven days. Transfer into jugs or mason jars, cover tightly, and put in fridge. Reuse SCOBY for next batch.

Never use metal when handling the culture.

Get your SCOBY at Kinikinik Redstone free of charge for all of September.

A WALK THROUGH YOUR PANTRY: GET RID OF: All commercial sodas. They are high in sugar and put your children on an emotional roller coaster.

REPLACE WITH: Homemade or store bought Kombucha, helping balancing the mood, boosting energy, and helping with digestion and immune systems.

Brought to you by Jasmin Schellenberg Inspired by and resourced from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

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