Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Wild Cortes will be giving a peak of the theme for the upcoming season this Monday, Feb 20, between 1:00 and 3:00.

Curator Donna Collins explained, “It’s a bit of a preview that's going to be a family day activity. We will be taking the families out into the forest, measuring trees to find a mother tree. Then we'll also be digging to pull up some of the mitochondrial networks and looking at them here underneath the stereoscopes. After that, participants will be actually creating their own mitochondrial network that will link to their own tree root. They will be building this themselves. Finally, we will be mimicking the connections that all of these mitochondrial networks and trees make, by making the connections with string and connecting people.”

“The series that we've been working on has been climate crisis, and we've started out with what our apex predators need to survive and just information basically about them, how we need to learn to live with them, what we need to do to protect ourselves and the predators.”

“We did climate crisis, the cascade effect. We used an apex prey animal, the deer, to explain what kind of life circumstances they need. So their habitat, what's good for them, and then give the people information about how the world is changing and what that does to the deer populations.”

“This year we will again, be doing climate crisis, but now we're dealing with trees. We are looking into ways that the trees talk amongst themselves, and what they can do to help reinvigorate the forest and to maintain the forest that we already have.”

“The current exhibit will come down on the 1st of April and the new exhibit will be gradually installed.”

CC: So when is the grand opening?

DC: I invite everybody to attend on the 22nd of April, which is Earth Day.

CC: Can you tell me any highlights?

DC: The Mother Tree. Typically mother trees are about 500 years old, but anything in the hundreds would be probably considered a mother tree. I have a list of diameters of trees: for Douglas Fir, and for Cedar. You can see the average, or approximate, age of the trees by measuring the diameter.

I have a whole table that people can have so that they can measure their own trees and see how they're doing and where their babies are and how they protect them.

CC: On this preview that's coming up on Monday, are people going to be seeing any mother trees? And do you have any estimate ages?

DC: “I haven't gone out and looked at the specific trees yet. We know where we're going to be.”

“We did some exploration of tree ages at the Cortes Island School, and they have a Cedar tree there that is over 400 years old. The kids measured almost every tree in the schoolyard and we had some very old Douglas Fir. Some of them were 150 and 200 year old trees. Unfortunately there's so much hard surface there - compacted soil, roads, asphalt and all of that - so they haven't been able to generate too much in the way of new seedlings. I just called them empty nesters.”

Loni Taylor/ CKTZ News - The Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA) is creating a new night market scene at Mansons Hall. “Hidden Treasures” will begin this weekend, with local vendors selling musical instruments, tools, art, records and vintage clothing.

Rick Bockner is a local woodworker, musician, and healer. He will be selling many handmade items and materials related to woodworking, as well as a collection of copper. He spoke about how the new market event inspired him.

“Rather than 'hidden treasures' it might have been 'buried treasures,'" he said. "My shop is too small to hold all this stuff, so I think it's time to pass it on to some skilled younger hands or people that appreciate some nice stuff.”

Bockner said that the nighttime setting the event makes the intention of the event social as well as practical.

The first “Hidden Treasures” event will be hosted on Saturday Feb. 18 from 5-9 p.m. Rebecca Thacker is a volunteer board member for the SCCA and confirmed there are plans for the event to become regular. She also mentioned that the community event is free, there will be surprise musical guests and there is Indian cuisine for sale.

Anastasia Avvakumova/ Cortes Currents - Twigroot Botanicals is a young business, steadily building a reputation for high-quality body care products that began with a garden.

”I wanted to do something different because there is so much skincare out there,” said Cortes Island-based owner and formulator Tamlyn Collingwood. “My preference is to only use herbs that can grow in our climate and in particular, in my garden here.”

Some of the plants have been with her for over 25 years, moving from garden to garden over the years. She calls these her mother plants; among them are mugwort, vervain, rose, mint and bergamot.

Collingwood studied Traditional Chinese Medicine and applied her knowledge to topical remedies in her massage practice. She was originally inspired to create a skincare line out of her concern for what washes off people’s skin into the pristine lakes on the island. The Twigroot Botanicals website says, “We wanted a product line that would be safe for our earth and waters, cruelty free and of the highest quality.”

“The skin is our largest organ in our body. It absorbs everything. So can we make something that's healthy for people as well as for the environment?” she added.

Twigroot Botanicals now has a core line of face creams and serums, rounded out by body butters and balms, and the more recent addition of bath products. A mineral, chemical-free sunscreen is due out this summer.

Besides the Friday Market, the products can be found on her website, at the Cortes Natural Food Co-op and perhaps soon a store in Campbell River. However, it’s important to Collingwood to keep her operation small-scale in order to preserve “the quality and the personal touch that goes into every product that I make.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - “ If we achieve this, which I believe we're going to do, this is a model for other communities. We look at places like Salt Spring and even Quadra Island and places in northern BC where they have lost their lakes. The Process is called eutrophication. When the lakes just become too rich in nitrogen and they become swamps. It's not just our issue, it's everybody's issue and if we show a way to improve the nutrient flow into the lake while adding these extra homes, that's a model for the whole world,” said Rex Weyler, one of the scientists monitoring Hague and Gunflint Lakes.

He was talking about the potential impacts of what would soon be called Rainbow Ridge.

Weyler was also looking back to the lake’s algae bloom, and fish die off, in 2014. They were caused by the flow of nutrients from properties and streams along the shore.

Five years have passed since that interview, but it seems possible that this affordable building project may achieve its goal of decreasing the flow of nutrients into the lake.

Sandra Wood, Executive Director of the Cortes Housing Society, explained, “The thing that helps to stop algae blooms is basically keeping phosphorus out of the lake. Anybody who's living in the watershed, in the Mansons Landing core, can help. Specifically anything they can do to make sure that phosphorus is not leaving their property, entering the watershed and entering the lake, will help to protect the lake from algae blooms. Hopefully over time as people's septic systems get renovated, or as new high-tech septic systems get installed, that will help in improve the water quality as far as the runoff that's going down downstream into the lakes.”

“We have positive news about the soil on the Rainbow Ridge property. Brian French, the soil scientist that we hired, collected samples on our property and specifically around where the waste water system will be as far as the septic fields will be located. He discovered that our soil naturally is very high in iron and aluminum. Those are two naturally occurring minerals that actually attract phosphorus and bind phosphorus to the soil particles. It will not be in the water column as far as being transported in across the property during downpours or in the winter when the water table's really high on the island. Phosphorus coming out of our septic system will be trapped and held in the soil on the property and will not be flowing downstream in the watershed.”

“The other thing that it helped us confirm is that everything we're planning to do as far as stormwater management in bioswales, ditches and in our holding pond - All of that will help us to settle any sediments that are coming off of our property Especially if there are atmospheric events like atmospheric rivers and torrential downpours, that will probably happen more as climate change continues. Those suspended particles of soil will have a chance to filter out, to settle out in our stormwater system instead of being flushed into the lake. We're giving the nitrogen that is naturally occurring in the soil a chance to be absorbed by the plants and the trees that are on our property.”

“Bottom line: All of the things that we're planning to do, are going to help protect the lakes from any contamination and we're really pleased to report that.”

“Friends of Cortes Island or FOCI has been doing an ongoing water testing program in the lakes, gathering those samples and then consulting with Lake experts, limnologists. and other people who have expertise in that field.”

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Since late 2021, a small group of Cortes residents has met regularly to discuss climate change and its impacts on our region. On February 4th, 2023, the “WTF Friday” event featured environmental scientist Ruth Waldick; Dr Waldick gave a presentation on climate change, fire risk, and forestry practise.

We may have no control over the weather, but we do have some control over soil moisture, fuel loads and ignition risk.

— Ruth Waldick, Transition Salt Spring

Her presentation covered two main themes: the increase in fire risk created by traditional logging practises in BC, and methods of forest restoration — accessible to private landowners as well as crown land managers — that can reduce the risk of dangerous wildfires in our area.

Cusheon Lake, Salt Spring Island, Wikimedia Commons

Dr Waldick brings her expertise in weather risk assessment and ecosystem analysis to Transition Salt Spring (TSS), a local chapter of the Transition movement. Among their many projects is the reduction of wildfire risk on Salt Spring Island — a concern that most rural BC residents share.

In her address to the WTF group on Cortes, Dr Waldick discussed forests and forestry, fire risk, common misconceptions, and paths towards better practise. She is part of a TSS project to maintain and monitor a “test forest,” trying out different methods of remediation and restorative silviculture; she discusses their methodology and what they hope to discover or achieve.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -  “When you talk about fuel, most people think about fuel for a vehicle or fuel for something like that, but fuel for a forest fire is wood on the ground or standing wood? the idea is to reduce the fuel load to reduce the severity of a fire. As it approaches that location, the fire will slow down and most likely drop to the ground because we've opened up canopy. The danger trees have been removed and the debris on the ground's been removed. So it would be a lot easier for firefighters to make a stand,” explained Tor Ellingsen of Reef Point falling.

He was talking about the recently completed Cortes Island Recycling Centre wildfire mitigation project.

Ellingsen was born and raised on Cortes. His parents were Bruce and Ginny Ellingsen.

His wife, Kate Mclean, is from Quadra Island. They have two employees, one from Quadra and the other living on Cortes.

“My wife has 17 years wildfire fighting experience with the provincial government. She started as just a regular firefighter and by the time she decided to quit, she was an administrator. She was still a firefighter, but she was in charge of a fire,” explained Ellingsen.

“I've been an industry follower, hand faller for 20 plus years. Nowadays you have to be a limited company. You have to cover your own workers' compensation, cover yourself to work in the woods. I think I founded Reef Point Falling in 2011.”

“I decided, after marrying my wife, that I wanted to slow down and not work as much as I had just falling trees. So Kate and I started this company a little over a year ago, keeping the same name because it simplifies things for WCB rates and liability insurance and all the things we need to do a project like this.”

“We're actually going to start a new company. We're just waiting for a name clarification, whether the name we want is available or not for a new limited company because Reef Point Falling we feel isn't the best name for wildfire mitigation company.”

Shuan Koopman, the District’s Protective Services Coordinator,

emailed this was the Strathcona Regional District’s (SRD) first fuel management program on Cortes Island.

“This 4 hectare project was fully funded under the 2021 FireSmart Economic Recovery grant.”

It was also one of four parcels that Koopman and Mark Lombard, General Manager of the Cortes Forestry General Partnership, identified as top priorities for fuel tratment. There was sufficient marketable timber in Anvil Lake and Carrington/Coulter Bay projects, but the recycling depot was one of two projects in Squirrel Cove that were not commercially viable.

In an interview last year, Lombard said, “There's not enough merchantable timber in there to pay for them. So those ones we're going to get funding for, to do those treatments. We won't be able to sell any logs from those, but we'll make any logs available as firewood.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Since late 2021, a small group of Cortes residents has met regularly to discuss climate change and its impacts on our region. On February 4th, 2023, the "WTF Friday" event featured environmental scientist Ruth Waldick; Dr Waldick gave a presentation on climate change, fire risk, and forestry practise.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - At their February 8 meeting, The SRD Board voted to continue examining the feasibility of a transit service from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

It has been a year since staff was first instructed to pursue the matter.

Senior Manager Thomas Yates explained, “We've got two alternatives recommended for the board's consideration. Option A is to look at one or more of the service levels that we've identified in the report, and they range from everything from twice a day to once a month in terms of the frequency of service. Option B would be, of course, that we drop this whole matter and not look into it further.”

Screenshot of Senior Manager Thomas Yates and Chair Mark Baker taken from video of the Nov 23, 2023 Board Meeting

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Someone has been defacing pro-COVID vaccine adds inside copies of the Campbell River Mirror distributed on Cortes Island.

When Tom Bohart picked up a copy of the Wednesday, February 1 edition at Mansons Landing, he discovered someone had been writing on page A 26. There was a picture of Dr Titus Wong saying, said ‘There are people who are vulnerable. Help protect them from serious illness by getting a booster.’ The anonymous critic wrote, in bold felt penned letters, “Lies + propaganda! They cause harm + death.” As a final touch, Dr Wong’s face was Xed out.

Returning out of curiosity the next day, Bohart found a similar defacement in the first paper he checked.

This week, he took a paper from the Squirrel Cove General Store. Opening to page A4, Bohart looked at the add where Dr. Danièle Behn Smith stated, ‘the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks. That’s why my children are vaccinated’ The anonymous scribbler had defaced this copy too, drawing an X across the doctor’s face and writing, ’Propaganda + Lies.’

In both cases the comments were made with a felt pen and a large ‘X’ was left on the face of the doctor endorsing vaccinations.

Mission accomplished, the anonymous grafitti protester left their handiwork for neighbours to pick up. Aside from the satisfaction of having not been caught, it is not known what the perpetrator hoped to accomplish.

Bohart sent scans of both defaced adds to Cortes Currents.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID was responsible for 6.8 million deaths. 1.1 million of these were in the United States. In Canada, which took a more precautionary approach, there were 50,629.

The British Columbia COVID-19 Dashboard states that, as of Feb 4, 2023, 656 of those deaths were on Vancouver Island. Six of them occured in the preceding week.

It has been more than two years since the only known COVID related death on Cortes Island.

There are people who dispute these facts.

The authors of a peer-reviewed report from the Royal Society of Canada are among them. They suggest that as a result of limited testing and poor cause of death data, the number of COVID related deaths during the early days of the pandemic could be twice as high as reported.

Another study, released by the Council of Canadian Academies, suggests that during the first nine months after vaccinations became available, 2,800 Canadians may have lost their lives because of misinformation spread by the anti-vax movement. An estimated 2.35 million Canadians were not vaccinated because they believed COVID-19 was either a hoax, or reports were exaggerated.

The tide has changed. More than 85% of British Columbia is fully vaccinated and close to 95% have received at least one dose.

Finding their voices marginalized, some anti-vax protesters have resorted to vandalism.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Close to a third of the households on Cortes Island and a quarter of those on Quadra pay more than they can afford for rent or mortgages. The most visible segment of Campbell River’s house challenged population are the 130 people who do not own or rent a home, but according to the 2021 census data another 3,450 are ‘spending 30% or more of income on shelter costs.’ The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) is applying for a $150,000 Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) grant to develop a plan for reducing poverty throughout the District.

Mayor Julie Colborne of Zeballos brought the motion forward at the Wednesday, February 8 board meeting, and it was seconded by Mark Vonesch, Regional Director of Cortes Island.

Renee LaBoucane, SRD Manager of Strategic Initiatives, explained, “The intention of a regional poverty reduction strategy would be to develop greater cohesion in planning to reduce poverty throughout the region. A strategy could be developed collaboratively with member municipalities, key community partners, Indigenous organizations, business and people with lived experience. A strategy would build upon existing data and projects such as the regional housing needs assessment, regional or rural housing surveys, the transportation study, and followed up with significant engagement and collaboration from all areas and sectors within our communities. It would develop a roadmap and actionable short and long-term activities to reduce poverty and work towards creating a region where people have sufficient income.”

“Stream one of the UBCM Poverty Reduction Program provides funding to develop plans and assessments. These plans are a prerequisite to access phase two of the funding, which is designed to implement projects.”

“All costs for the development of a plan would be covered 100% through the grant. A regional district may access up to $150,000 of grant funding, whereas a single municipality is limited to $25,000. The application would be completed in partnership with interested municipalities and organizations. Applications are due March 17th.”

The only expressed concerns about this motion seemed to focus on potential entanglements.

Gerald Whalley,Regional Director of Area A, asked, “Will there be any future costs to the electoral areas and the municipalities to support this program?”

LaBoucane replied, “I think that would depend on the outcome of the plan and what it looked like. There is funding for implementation for phase two of this particular program. So they would access the funds through that. As well, it opens the door for other grants that might be available to implement projects.”

“My only concern is that after the grant money dries up, are we still committed and obligated to continue on funding something ourselves?” said Whalley.

At that point Chief Administration Officer David Leitch interjected, “No, we're not obligated to do anything.”

Campbell River Director Ron Kerr wanted to make sure, “Once the plan is developed, would any future grant applications still come back to the Board?”

“Correct,” said Leitch.

The motion to apply for a $150,000 grant to develop a plan for reducing poverty in the SRD passed with no opposing votes.

Image credit: Sleeping on the couch - Photo by Michael Mandiberg via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)