Four months to change a career
Braydi Rice in Darkwoods, BC (Photo by NCC)
I didn’t grow up in the city. I had the chance to grow up in what some would consider one of the most diverse places in Canada: the Rocky Mountains. I spent most of the summer as a child at the lake, a five-minute walk from my house. As a...
A conservation overture: Finding music in nature
Paul Bezooyen (Photo by Garland Colson)
For folk songwriter and performing artist Paul Bezooyen, nature demonstrates balance, harmony and the inter-relatedness of everything. Nothing is more or less important than another thing. Nature doesn’t "try to be"... it just "is." He...
Volunteers lending a hand to protect the Quamichan wetlands
Water sampling at Quamichan wetlands
Wetlands are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth and it takes teamwork to care for them. The Quamichan wetlands on BC's Vancouver Islands are a great example of what can happen when we join forces to protect these special...
Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...Why cutting down trees is sometimes a good thing
Christmas tree cutting event at Marion Creek Benchlands, BC (Photo by Stephanie Van Kemp)
Under the backdrop of the spectacular Purcell Mountains, the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) Canadian Rockies office hosted their first-ever Christmas tree cutting event on the Marion Creek Benchlands property in southeastern British...
OPINION: Not-for-profits must earn their social license
Alpine plants on Darkwoods, British Columbia (Photo by Bruce Kirkby)
With much in the news these days about the troubles facing a prominent BC land trust, it is no surprise that people are raising questions about what the future might hold for other conservation areas and heritage sites, and for land trusts in...
Of bugs and slugs: Pint-sized citizen scientist discovers a strange blue slug, far from home
Blue-grey taildropper (Photo courtesy of Habitat Acquisition Trust)
My seven-year-old son Malcolm was excited about going on the Slug & Snail Walk at Chase Woods. He loves hiking, and I hadn’t the heart to tell him that there likely wouldn’t be a lot of actual hiking on this field trip. Slugs and...
My day in the field with Barb and Thomas
Sage and Sparrow Conservation Area, BC (Photo by NCC)
On that crisp, sunny autumn day, Barb Pryce and I were on a mission. The trembling aspen leaves had turned golden since I had last visited the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC’s) 3,120-acre (1,262-hectare) Sage and Sparrow Conservation...
Journey to Canada’s Middle Earth: My first trip to Darkwoods
Ladies of NCC's BC Region: Linda Hannah, Trish Blackstock, Hillary Page and Nancy Newhouse. (Photo by NCC)
My bonus this fall was my first trip ever to Darkwoods with the ladies of CanRock: not a rock band at all, but instead the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Canadian Rockies Program (Nancy Newhouse, Hillary Page and Regional...
