Close encounters of the wild kind
A black bear located where I normally like to see them: far away. (Photo by Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson)
This summer, I spent a good chunk of my field trips to the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) fescue prairie preserves being bear-anoid. Although I saw several black bears last year, they were all solitary and a fair distance away....
Conversations
Dr. Lee Foote
I, like many nature-oriented people, had an epiphany when I had children. I began to see the future differently, to remember the flow of experiences of discovery into which children slip in and out. Educating kids about nature is a rich...
Why our pedestrian trails are more important than ever
Trail building with the cubs (Photo by Bill Wilson)
I believe that pedestrian hiking trails are more important for the welfare of our communities than ever before. I’d like to elaborate on why this is so. I’d also like to express why it so very important for more volunteers to support...
How do I love the prairie? Let me count the ways
All the ticks at the Elk Glen preserve lined up on Diana's knee for one of her famous airplane rides.(Photo by Diana Bizecki Robson)
Once again I will be spending a few weeks out at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s fescue prairie preserves south of Riding Mountain National Park, studying plant-pollinator interactions. The beginning of June marked my first trip of the...
Conservation across borders
Transborder Land Protection Fund map (Photo by Open Space Institute)
With Canada Day just behind us and the coming of Fourth of July in our midst, Vice-president of Conservation Grants and Loans for the Open Space Institute, Jennifer Melville, recently got together with the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC')...
Endangered species = Endangered tourism
Photographic birds in Red Deer, AB (Photo by ehCanadaTravel.com)
In countless Canadian communities across this great country of ours tourism would suffer significant economic loss if wildlife were no longer part of the environment. Looking for examples? There are plenty out there: Whale watching and...
Flowers of the Happy Valley Forest
One of the most beautiful of Happy Valley blooms is the fringed gentian flower. (Photo by Dr. Henry Barnett)
The trees, flowers, ferns, birds and other animals of the Happy Valley Forest have been observed and catalogued over the past 60 years - altogether 200 species of plants have been identified growing on the floor of this forest located on the...
Liberating the Happy Valley Forest from invaders
Happy Valley Forest, ON (Photo by Miguel Hortiguela)
It was a covert ground-assault by a small group of dedicated resisters, led by Thomas Unrau of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, on an invader to the perhaps not-so-Happy Valley. I'd signed up to participate in a valiant effort to thwart the...
Beyond the boardwalk at the Garry oak preserve
BC Garry Oak (Photo by Tim Ennis NCC)
I’ve been wanting to visit the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC's) Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve since we moved here, but as an endangered ecosystem it’s not open to the general public. We’d wandered the (short) boardwalk...
A glimpse into a hidden refuge for nature: Volunteering at Severn Woodlands Nature Reserve
Volunteers at Severn Woodlands Nature Reserve, ON (Photo by Nicole Evelyn Senyi)
“Are you sure this is the right road?” I ask as I pull onto a heavily rutted dirt road that winds through thick forest. “I think so,” responds my passenger, Pia Kaukoranta, major gifts coordinator for the Nature...
