Owner: Inside British Columbia URL:http://bc-interior.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 15:00:23 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: The British Columbia interior is sometimes described as "beyond Hope", Hope being the town you drive through when leaving the Lower Mainland. I thought that "The Interior" - loosely-speaking, the part of the province not on the coast - could use more expo Site statistics:Click here
Perspective on the Lodgepole Pine 2006-10-19 22:15:00
Guest article by Dave Neads, director of the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition and of the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society. He is a member of the Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Resource Committee, represents the West Chilcotin Tourism Association regionally and writes a bi-monthly column on conservation issues for the Williams Lake Tribune.
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Survivor
The Lodgepole pine is an amazing tree. You can find it at sea level and on the backside of the coast mountains huddled against boulders at 6500 feet. One species, one adaptation, capable of living in this huge range of habitats.
That is what survival is all about, having the genetic options available to adapt to a huge range of conditions. We are all familiar with the coastal rain forests and the way they are promoted as havens for biodiversity. We're always reading about how many species there are per hectare, how many tonnes of biomass per cubic meter are produced.
The sam Read more:Perspective
The Bull Trout at Risk in BC 2006-10-14 07:46:00 James Murray, in the Salmon Arm Observer, begins a new series on "mismanaging natural resources".As I stood on the banks of the Adams River last week, watching, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say looking for, the sockeye salmon that were supposed to be returning to spawn (who knows for sure what is happening with the sockeye runs), I found myself pondering the plight of yet another fish species.Read onBritish Columbia Species at Risk Read more:Trout
Owner of Country Inn Motel describes the fire experience 2006-10-05 02:28:00 Ted Hlokoff sent me this account. It is followed by a link to the article he and his wife Deana wrote for the Williams Lake Tribune.I am a car collector and had many tools and car parts were lost in the fire. I have much more car stuff that was saved from the fire. Once it was obvious to me that the Motel
fire was out of control I screamed for everyone to run away. Then I went to the Motel garage, threw a few parts into my 92 Stealth R/T Twin Turbo, and drove it out to the street. During the fire I realized that I had forgotten to get the keys to my Shelby Daytona, which was parked in front of the Motel. Interesting what heat can do. The fire burned to the edge of the Nimpo Store's 10,000gl fuel tank, but it was undamaged. The 1,000gl Dell Propane Tank behind the Motel vented a few times, but it ended up undamaged as well. We are thankful that the safety features worked the way they were supposed to preventing a disaster. The Motel was surrounded by trees, which bu Read more:Owner
, Country
, experience
Country Inn Motel in Nimpo Lake burned to the ground 2006-09-30 21:46:00 I am sad to report another loss to fire in the Chilcotin:
Yesterday, the Country
Inn Motel
in Nimpo Lake burned
to the ground
. Fortunately there were no casualties. Apparently the manager of the motel was able to alert all the guests in time to move themselves and their vehicles to a safe place. The owners, had moved to the Inn only a month ago, and lost everything. This is what the site looked like after the fire:
If you have more to add to this information - words or pictures - I'd be happy to post them here. E-mail. You can also add a comment by clicking on Comments at the foot of this post.
Close to the Nimpo Lake float plane base, the Inn was an important part of the local tourist scene and was recommended by such operations as The Nuk Tessli Alpine Experience.
Another decrease in medical service for small-town BC 2006-09-27 19:51:00 Fewer Doctor Visits Approved for Rural, Isolated TownsBy Ethan RibalkinPublished: September 27, 2006TheTyee.ca
A lot of small towns in B.C. rely on the care of visiting family doctors and specialists. It's the only alternative to flying or busing people miles to medical
centres. But this year the B.C. government has lowered the number of approved doctor visits to rural and isolated communities, according to a Health Ministry report obtained by The Tyee.
Read the article
Pictures of the Farwell Canyon bridge fire 2006-09-08 21:45:00 [updated 8:20 pm PST]
Thanks to Dan Laurie, we have some dramatic pictures of the fire that took down the bridge
. (Click on image to see a larger version.)
The loss of the bridge will affect many people, not least those involved in area logging. Radio 94X in Prince George reports:
Roy Halls, a local trucker says drivers will now only be able to make one trip a day carrying logs to williams lake from a large section of the South Chilcotin. He says the added trucking distance will increase costs for mills, while drivers will lose out on the additional work from when they hauled two loads a day. Halls says logging was supposed to continue in the affected area this winter, but those plans now need to be re-considered.
Read more:Pictures
, Canyon
More on the Farwell Canyon Bridge fire 2006-09-08 00:47:00 Thanks to Kate for alerting me to this report in the Williams Lake Tribune. Pretty dramatic picture and story too.It appears that there is a connection between the cause of the fire and the mudslide of two years ago: on Sunday night someone started a fire underneath the bridge, using brush that accumulated during the flooding caused by the slide. This quickly got the bridge support posts burning. In this picture, you can see how in 2004 the debris was lifted around the bridge by the rising water:Dan, from Fort Nelson, has "some stunning shots of Farwell Bridge as it was burning", which I'm hoping to get soon. Read more:Canyon
Record low levels in many Interior rivers 2006-10-24 20:24:00 The BC Ministry of Environment's River Forecast Centre reports record (50-100 years) lows for many BC Interior
rivers. These include:
most gauged rivers in the Peace
Fraser River at Hope
Fraser River at Prince George
Thompson River at Spences Bridge
North Thompson River at McLure
Coldwater River
Eagle River (at Malakwa)
Salmon River (at Salmon Arm)
Quesnel River
Bella Coola River
Saloomt River (at Hagensborg)
Tulameen River
Most of the BC interior is approaching freeze-up, with night-time temperatures now falling to below freezing at many of our snow pillow sites. If significant rainfall does not occur in the next three-to-four weeks, precipitation may occur as snow and rivers will remain at their low levels
for the duration of the winter.
The Pacific Northwest is currently experiencing mild El Nino conditions, with a resultant tendency for warmer than normal and drier than normal conditions for the autumn and winter. Read more:Record
Birds from Cariboo deck No.1: Steller's Jay 2006-10-29 16:40:00 This is the first in a series featuring photographs I've taken of birds that visit my Cariboo back yard. It seemed appropriate to start with BC's provincial bird, the
STELLER'S JAY
The Steller's Jay is an occasional visitor but this year has decided to stay a while. It's now around two weeks and he/she is still here, filling up regularly with sunflower seeds, water and a little suet.
More Birds
from A Cariboo Deck
Provide shelter for winter birds: Chickadee 2006-11-17 01:17:00 Those of you who've seen my Backyard Birds page will know of my interest in the feathered flyers. Winter - a tough time for birds - is almost upon us and here's something you can do to help them along: Give Shelter to Wintering BirdsAnd, as No.2 in my Cariboo birds series, here's a common bird that will benefit from your assistance:Birds from a Cariboo DeckNo.2 - Black-capped Chickadee Read more:winter
The Alcan question: aluminum or hydro? 2006-11-25 00:47:00 Konrad Yakabuski in The Globe & Mail takes an in-depth look at the background to this story . . . which started when
In 1950, British Columbia's government gave Alcan
the right to reverse the flow of the Nechako River, flood 125,000 acres of land and displace about 200 members of the Cheslatta nation so that the company could build the 900-megawatt Kemano station. The electricity was meant to supply Alcan's Kitimat aluminum smelter, located some 80 kilometres away and boasting an annual capacity of 277,000 tonnes.
Since then there has been much water through the turbines:
Things were still humming in the late 1980s, when Alcan won the approval of B.C.'s Social Credit government to build a $1.3-billion addition to Kemano—increasing power capacity by more than half—on the understanding the company would eventually build a much larger smelter to use the electricity and create hundreds of jobs in Kitimat. Sadly, this is where promises began to be broken and Kitimat's once-bri
Two new books on the Bowron Lakes 2006-12-03 02:56:00 BC photographer, Chris Harris, has published nine books. His two most recent bring to us his longtime experience on the Bowron Lakes
.The Bowron Lakes, British Columbia's Wilderness Canoe Circuit - A Lifetime Journey features 150 of his photographs in a generous 10.5" x 10.5" format. The images are augmented by information and archival material outlining the natural and cultural history of the Bowron Lakes.Here is a photographic record of a man's discovery of his self in the deepest wilderness. Out of the physical and emotional challenges of more than 100 trips through the Bowron Lakes and the wilderness around them, alone, in the company of close friends, with large groups of clients, and even on skis in winter, Chris Harris has redefined his relationship to wilderness and photography. The Bowron Lakes: A Lifetime Journey will change yours. Its transformative combination of images and shared thoughts and stories is a gift brought from long exploration and deep reflection and contempl
Wildfire in the Wilderness by Chris Czajkowski 2006-12-09 03:58:00 Alarm about the 2004 Lonesome Lake fire went unnoticed for a while, to the great frustration of locals. It prompted me to start a blog and bring attention to the fire with reports from locals. Some of my friends clients (I design web sites) were in the midst of this drama and their personal accounts were vivid, leading amongst other things, to me getting a call from the CBC asking for information. Once the fire grew in size it had no trouble getting attention. Amongst those in danger was Chris
Czajkowski, pioneer log cabin builder, botanist and wilderness tour guide. She was sending me regular reports which I reproduced in my blog and then on her web site. This year she published her account of this dramatic experience: Wildfire in the Wilderness
The book culminates in a white-knuckle account of the all-too-close Lonesome Lake fire of 2004, from its infancy as a lightning strike reported in nearby Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, to Czajkowski's realization
Kettle Valley farmer tries to stop radio-active mining on his land 2007-01-07 08:56:00 A Rancher's Radioactive Hell
Joe Falkoski says he's being forced by bad laws to allow toxic mining on his land.A special report By Kendyl SalcitoJanuary 4, 2007
Falkoski with barite chunk at prospecting site left barren.
TheTyee.caWhat do you do if you are a rancher told by a company -- and then the courts -- that there is nothing you can do to stop your rangeland from being dug up and further strewn with radiation?
Read on
Read more:Kettle
, Valley
, farmer
, tries
Latest Chilcotin fire update from BC Forest Service 1970-01-01 00:59:59 For current updates:Active Cariboo fires---------------------------- Ministry of Forest
s and Range, BC Forest Service
, Cariboo Fire Centre:FIRE SUPPRESSION CONTINUES IN THE CARIBOOPrecipitation and cooler temperatures have helped to suppress fire activity and reduce the fire danger rating to low to moderate throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre. This weather pattern is expected to continue over the weekend, allowing fire crews continued success with the recent fires.The fire near Wutlus Lake, 60 Km west of Quesnel, is held at just over 8500 hectares is 100% contained. Fire crews will continue working in the fire area to extinguish hot spots and rehabilitate areas affected by the fire. The California Interagency Incident Management Team (CIIMT) is handing over management of the fire to a British Columbian Incident Command Team this weekend. Rocky Opliger, Incident Commander of the CIIMT, would like to express his appreciation for the opportunity to take part in fire suppression efforts in
A very big baby cowbird 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This year brought a lot of heat and an unprecedented hailstorm to my Cariboo backyard. The hail stripped the bushes and trees of a lot of their (protective for the birds) foliage. Perhaps the most unusual happening was the pairing in this picture on the left. The bigger bird followed the Junco around for days, treating it like a parent. I didn't see it again after the hailstorm. The mystery: what is the "baby" bird? And . . . I got the answer - from Tom Godin: "The large bird in the picture is a fully fledged cowbird that was no doubt raised by the junco that it was begging food from. Juvenile and female cowbirds look quite similar." Backyard Birds - 58 BC Interior birds
BC Forest Service: Cariboo fire update 1970-01-01 00:59:59 For current updates: Active Cariboo fires ------------------------------A friend sent me this from the BC ForestService
:INFORMATION BULLETINFor Immediate ReleaseJuly 4th, 2006 Ministry of Forests and RangeBC Forest ServiceCariboo Fire CentreSMOKE FROM WILDFIRES AFFECTING THE CARIBOOWILLIAMS LAKE - Smoke from the various wildfires in the Cariboo is drifting into surrounding communities. Smoke and ash have been reported in most areas of the Cariboo. The recent hot and dry weather has made fire behaviour extremely active.The smoke is mostly a result of 3 fires of note: the fire near Tezla Lake, about 48 kilometres northwest of Anahim Lake, which has grown to over 7000 hectares; the fire near Narcosli Lake, which is now burning at over 3000 hectares; and the fire northeast of Wutlus Lake, about 60 kilometres west of Quesnel, which has reached 3500 hectares.Due to active fire behaviour on the Wutlus Lake fire, the Nazko Highway is closed in both directions from 5.4 km east of Nazko to 3
Alarm for the northern spotted owl 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Alarm bells are ringing loudly as the northern spotted owl population drops to near extinction levels. According to Larry Pynn in the Vancouver Sun:The number of known mating pairs of Canada's rarest bird, the northern spotted owl, has dropped to three from six and the overall population to 17 from 22 since last year, says the Sierra Legal Defence Fund. The organization is urging the B.C. government to act immediately to save the endangered species. "If 17 birds doesn't constitute an imminent threat to survival, nothing does," staff lawyer Devon Page said in an interview. "If they don't step in to save the spotted owl, they won't step in to save any species."
Plan to build pipeline from Alberta oilsands to BC Port of Kitimat 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Plans are in the works for an oil pipeline from the Alberta
oilsands to the BC port of Kitimat. To many this sounds wonderful: jobs for locals, profits for the companies involved and taxes for the BC and Alberta governments. To many, however, the nature and scope of the project is a disaster - in process and in consequence.If the plan goes ahead, the Gateway pipeline will be the largest petroleum pipeline project undertaken in North America in more than 50 years; at a cost of over $4 billion, it will be among the largest private infrastructure investments in B.C. history. Planned to begin construction in 2008, . . . that pipeline will employ 5000 full-time workers for two years, generating $25 million in taxes each year between B.C. and Alberta. In B.C. alone, the underground pipeline will be engineered to cross at least 1000 streams, rivers and lakes, each necessitating a separate file by Transport Canada.Read: Massive Gateway project faces serious legal obstacles. A special report
Running out of water 1970-01-01 00:59:59 A quarter of us, many in rural areas but many more in the suburbs of the Lower Mainland, on Vancouver Island, in the Okanagan and elsewhere, depend on wells for tap water
. Business and industries in those areas do the same. With each passing year, we're pumping more from the buried lakes and slow-moving underground streams known as aquifers. So says Chris Wood in Pumping Blind and I think we'd better pay attention. If you use a well, how has it performed over time? Do you know the level of your water table? Is it rising, falling, staying the same? As for the big picture - how many wells in this province pumping how much water? etc. - it seems that nobody knows.It's not a pleasant picture but you might as well find out about it now. It will only be worse if you wait. You will not be alone: there are many reader comments at the end of the article. If you feel so inclined, some back here and let me know (via the Comments section below) what you think about it all.
Concerted opposition to Fairmont Hotsprings East Kootenay development 1970-01-01 00:59:59 One Community's Firm 'No' to Tourist BoomTheTyee.ca Looking across Columbia Lake to Lot 48, the small cleared section in the distance. Photo A. Bergles.On Columbia Lake, Fairmont
Hot Springs Resort has big plans - and creative opponents.By Adrian Bergles. Published: August 29, 2006-----------------------------------------------------At the headwaters of the mighty Columbia River, a battle is being waged over some of the last untouched land in the area.Read all about it.
BC land-owners vulnerable to prospecting miners 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It appears that mining rights to much of BC's land has been bought up - thanks, at least in part, to the provincial government's online staking system. According to Kendyl Salcito in The Tyee, this system:allows anyone with internet access and $25 to acquire a miner's license and then, at $0.17 an acre, buy mineral rights to land. It doesn't matter whether that land belongs to a neighbour, the Crown, or the "miner" himself. Once you own the mineral rights, you are free to "explore" your claims, wander the property, "poke at a few rocks," in the words of MP Tom Christensen. And once you decide to start drilling and digging, even the landowner's dwelling and buildings are at risk. Read more:prospecting
, miners
CFJC-TV - serving Kamloops and much of the BC Central Interior - to drop CBC programming 1970-01-01 00:59:59 If you live in or around the following areas, this change affects you: Kamloops, Chase, Clinton, Merritt, 100 Mile House (and 108 Mile Ranch), Nicola, Pritchard and Quesnel.This change seemed to come more or less out of the blue, aside from the occasional TV ad saying they are going"independent". For the record, here's the CRTC ruling that gave them permission to do this.A friend e-mailed this query to CFJC:Will CFJC have any CBC content after February 27th? Hockey night in Canada or National News? From CFJC's reply:As of February 27th, CFJC-TV will no longer carry any CBC programming. The full CBC schedule will be available on your local cable outlet or on either StarChoice or Bell Expressvue satellite systems. - Dave Somerton, CFJC-TV, Feb. 15, 2006His response:Frankly, its absolutely shameful that South Cariboo residents without access to cable (such as ourselves) or unable to afford a satellite T.V. system (such as our family) will no longer have access to our national b Read more:Central
, Interior
Farwell Canyon Bridge burnt down 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Photo: Chris HarrisPhoto: Stanton NewmanI hear the Farwell Canyon
bridge burnt
down on Saturday night. Police and fire services were there through the night. Apparently there is a long way round alternate route.Anyone out there know more about this and/or have pictures?(If you're interested, I have pictures of the flood that occurred there in 2004)
Help Save Monarch Butterflies 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Photographer made this available under a Creative Commons LicenseOn this side of the continent, we have the western Monarch
and it seems that both eastern and western varieties are under threat because of massive loss of habitat brought on by modern farming methods, especially the use of Roundup Ready corn and soybeans.So, the call is out for individuals anywhere in the monarch range to provide what they can by way of "way stations" for these exceptional migrators.Some Insects of the BC Interior: Text and pictures.
Don't bring apples - and the apple maggot - home with you. 2007-03-17 04:51:00 If we who who live in the Interior and visit the Lower Mainland and points south, are very careful, we can play a part in delaying the arrival of the apple maggot in the Okanagan. The simple request of vulnerable apple farmers in the Okanagan valley and other interior BC apple-growing areas is: Don't bring back any apples. This delay will, at least, give growers a little time to prepare. The little beast is already established in the Lower Mainland amongst the apples and crab apples. According to a Ministry of Agriculture entomologist, quoted in an article in the Vancouver Sun,The southern Interior of B.C. is the only apple-growing region in North America that is currently free of apple maggots . . . It made its way [across North America] from the eastern U.S., where it originated. Once the insect establishes itself in the Okanagan, countries that import Okanagan fruit could impose trade restrictions.
Canadian Architect magazine praises new Osoyoos museum 2007-03-30 05:05:00 For some time I've been hearing and reading about this beautiful new museum in Osoyoos. The Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre is set on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve and is part of a larger resort destination being developed for the band. I came a across this substantial and generously-illustrated introduction to the museum in CanadianArchitect
.
Earth Day 2007 2007-04-21 23:20:00 As the birds come north . . . . . . celebrating the day, the birds and the air we breathe. Photo: April 21. Birds over the Cariboo. Photo Jeffrey Newman. More British Columbia birds Read more:Earth
, Earth Day
Birds from a Cariboo Deck No.3 - Varied Thrush 2007-04-29 06:19:00 It's been a while but spring has sprung and definitely time to feature another bird seen from my back deck. This time the honour falls to the Varied Thrush who this spring arrived in unprecedented numbers and stayed longer than ever (there are still a couple around). It's the males who arrive first so I will feature a male varied thrush here:More Birds
from A Cariboo Deck
Birds from a Cariboo Deck No.4 - Dark-eyed Junco 2007-05-07 07:15:00 Once the Varied Thrush invasion subsided, the Dark-eyed Juncos started arriving in numbers. These birds enliven our back yard with their cheerful twitting and the little flashes of white as they fly around.More Birds
from A Cariboo DeckI've just heard from our neighbour that he is planning to take down most of his trees - essentially the continuation of our bit of forest.Part of our forest at duskThis will of course have a direct impact on the fauna and flora on his property and, I suspect, a smaller but significant impact on the life on our little acre. It was only a few weeks ago that I photographed a couple of deer on his land.
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