Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents- The first of three interviews with Kelly Fretwell of the Hakai Institute: Sea star Wasting disease. Includes audio from the opening of the Hakai Institute video "Sunflower Sea Stars Now Critically Endangered"

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The BC Government is currently reviewing the scenic impact of logging in the Outer Discovery Islands. They are determining the level of viewshed protection for scenic corridors important to the $50 million-a-year marine tourism industry, local residents, and recreational users. All of the crown lands on Cortes, Read, Maurelle, Raza, Stuart, and the Redonda Islands are being given new Visual Quality Objective designations.

Photo credit: Working in the Woods by Hans Peter Meyer via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The BC Government is currently reviewing the scenic impact of logging in the Outer Discovery Islands. They are determining the level of viewshed protection for scenic corridors important to the $50 million-a-year marine tourism industry, local residents, and recreational users. All of the crown lands on Cortes, Read, Maurelle, Raza, Stuart, and the Redonda Islands are being given new Visual Quality Objective designations.

Photo credit: Working in the Woods by Hans Peter Meyer via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - additional audio from interview with Tanya Henck and Jim Foster.

Photo credit: Domestic violence hurts by ghetto_guera29 via Flickr (CC BY Sa, 2.0 License)

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - additional audio from interview with Tanya Henck and Jim Foster.

Photo credit: Domestic violence hurts by ghetto_guera29 via Flickr (CC BY Sa, 2.0 License)

De Clarke / Cortes Currents - In March 2021 I had the opportunity to interview Tanya Henck and James Foster about the work they are both doing in support of women on Cortes Island. This article presents some highlights from that interview. (For a more complete story, listen to the radio version.)

Tanya is the founder and coordinator of the Cortes Island Women's Resource Centre; readers/listeners may remember her from a previous interview in April of 2020. At that time, official acknowledgement of the Covid-19 pandemic was just ramping up. Almost a year later -- and what a year! -- I asked Tanya how her work had been affected by the pandemic? Did the Centre have to shut down?

“The Women’s Centre is still being used every day,” she said.

Listen to the podcast.

Photo credit: Mother and child sleeping on couch by taylormackenzie via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

De Clarke / Cortes Currents - In March 2021 I had the opportunity to interview Tanya Henck and James Foster about the work they are both doing in support of women on Cortes Island. This article presents some highlights from that interview. (For a more complete story, listen to the radio version.)

Tanya is the founder and coordinator of the Cortes Island Women's Resource Centre; readers/listeners may remember her from a previous interview in April of 2020. At that time, official acknowledgement of the Covid-19 pandemic was just ramping up. Almost a year later -- and what a year! -- I asked Tanya how her work had been affected by the pandemic? Did the Centre have to shut down?

“The Women’s Centre is still being used every day,” she said.

Listen to the podcast.

Photo credit: Mother and child sleeping on couch by taylormackenzie via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District is seeking a grant for a superior tanker shuttle service on Cortes Island.

So I asked SRD Protective services Coordinator Shaun Koopman, what difference would that make?

He explained that it would both help the fire department and, most likely, lower Cortes Island home insurance rates.

Photo credit: A water tank on Hornby Island - courtesy Shaun Koopman, SRD

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District is seeking a grant for a superior tanker shuttle service on Cortes Island.

So I asked SRD Protective services Coordinator Shaun Koopman, what difference would that make?

He explained that it would both help the fire department and, most likely, lower Cortes Island home insurance rates.

Photo credit: A water tank on Hornby Island - courtesy Shaun Koopman, SRD

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - SRD Protective services Coordinator Shaun Koopman gave an update on the progress of a grant to access the danger of sea level rise on Cortes and Quadra Islands.

“We will find out if we get that around the end of May,” he said.

Lidar data is a key element of flood mapping, and there isn’t any available for Cortes Island right now.

Koopman explained, “So about $40,000 would be spent getting Lidar data for Cortes. Another $40,000 to $50,000 would be spent analyzing the Lidar data for Cortes and Quadra and developing a map that shows sea level rise over time.”

The big ticket items of that grant would be having a consultant look at the vulnerability to storm surge, or waves coming in.

“One of the biggest we would want to take away from this process would be shelf ready recommendations on what the Regional District could do to mitigate the impacts of coastal flooding, whether that be storm surge or sea level rise on those islands, explained Koopman.

Is a foreshore embankment needed?

What about a sea break?

Does the ecosystem need to be restored? (example: would planting $20,000 worth of trees protect the foreshore from erosion?)

“We could quickly take the recomendations at around to a further stream of funding, with community consultation of course – we’re not skipping that.” added Koopman.

LIDAR of H.J. Andrews Forest by Oregon State University via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)