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BC NATURE – 2011ANNUAL REPORT

Annual General Meeting – Kelowna - May 11 - 13, 2012Presidents Report……………………………………………………....................................................2Treasurer’s Report……………………………………………………...................................................3Office Manager’s Report………………………………………….........................................................3Education Report………………………………………………….........................................................4Conservation Report……………………………………………...........................................................4

Regional Reports Lower Mainland.........................................................................................................................8 Kootenays....................................................................................................................................8 Northern B.C...............................................................................................................................9 Thompson-Okanagan-Shuswap..............................................................................................10 Vancouver Island.......................................................................................................................12Project Reports Important Bird Areas (IBA’s)...................................................................................................13 Wildlife Tree Stewardship (WITS)..........................................................................................13Reports of BC Nature Representatives Agriculture Wildlife Advisory Committee............................................................................15 BC Breeding Atlas Report.........................................................................................................15 Coalition for Licensing and Registration of ORV’s...............................................................16 Invasive Species Council of British Columbia.......................................................................16 Nechako White Sturgeon Recover Initiative..........................................................................17 Outdoor Recreation Council.....................................................................................................18 Public Conservation Assistance Fund.....................................................................................18 South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program........................................................19 Wetland Stewardship Partnership...........................................................................................20Other Reports Field Camps.................................................................................................................................21 BC Naturalist’s Foundation.......................................................................................................21 Young Naturalist’s Club of British Columbia..........................................................................22

Resolutions...............................................................................................................................................24Executive Committee, Members Clubs and Club Directors.............................................................28Financial Statements December 31, 2011.............................................................................................29Thanks to Donors....................................................................................................................................38

Cover Photograph - Montage of the following PhotographsUli Schmidt - “Westside Road Encounter” Bighorn sheep resting beside Westside Road Uli Schmidt - Balsamroot sunflowers in Kalamoir Park (westside of Okanagan Lake) Roland Gebauer - vista of Okanagan Lake from the top of Knox Mt. in Kelowna Roland Gebauer - “Bitteroot Bouquet” taken in Glenmore Highlands, Kelowna Les Gyug - Kalamoir Park on the westside of Okanagan Lake

Thank you to all those that contributed photographs throughout this report.

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President’s ReportJohn Neville

As the 2012 AGM fast approaches in Kelowna, I am reminded of the growing history and traditions of BC Nature. The Central Okanagan Naturalist Club is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, culminating in

the AGM weekend. In April 2011, they started a year of celebration with the Sunflower Festival. I know some other clubs are closing in on special anniversaries; so please let us know, so that we can all celebrate with you. The first chapter of BC Nature’s history has been completed and we will make it available to everyone on the new website.

In October, Daphne Solecki asked if the members of your Executive would adopt a strong philosophical state-ment binding BC Nature with our Young Naturalists’ Club of BC and one that we could present to the Club Direc-tors’ meeting for approval. This is the Policy Statement: BC Nature Support for Young Naturalists’ Club of BC1. BC Nature recognizes the Young Naturalists’ Club of BC as the youth arm of BC Nature and engages to support and strengthen the YNC by all mutually agreed methods.2. BC Nature will appoint an Executive Committee member as liaison to YNC to ensure good communication and invites YNC to do the same.3. BC Nature recognizes YNC financially with a line item in the budget. BCN will strive to support YNC financially by contributing $2,700 per year to cover the rental of office space in the Parks Heritage Centre.4. BC Nature encourages its member clubs to assist their local YNC in whatever ways possible.

I’d like to thank Daphne for taking the initiative to bind our organizations closer together. Your Executive has appointed Bev Ramey as liaison with the Young Naturalists Club. I hope this spirit of cooperation will foster the development of more YNCs across the province. I’d also like to congratulate Daphne for being named one of this year’s recipients of the B.C. Community Achievement Awards, presented by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation. BC Nature would like to thank you Daphne for your commitment and dedication to the naturalist community.

Gaming Grants are again available to non-profit organizations such as ours. BC Nature successfully obtained $10,000 Education grant towards the printing cost of our magazine.

Going back to last August, your Executive agreed with its Communications Committee to set aside $10,000 for the purpose of establishing a New Website. This project has slowly evolved and Pro.NET Communications bid to create the website was approved. We will debut our new look of our new site to the Club Directors at the AGM. This is part of the ongoing process to provide more facilities for our members and improve our communications across the province. You will also be interested to know that our e-news “Natures’ Voice” is now reaching more than 2000 of our members directly. Other members are receiving the “Natures’ Voice” via their Club Director.

We would like to congratulate the clubs that received the Club Support Grants for 2012• Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club-Wildlife Viewing Brochure for Children $392.52• Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club -New AMNC Brochure $500• Burke Mountain Naturalists-19th Annual Treefest Celebration Riverview Lands $1000• Comox Valley Naturalists Society-Wetland Restoration Project 2012 $2000• Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society-Little Campbell River Forest Park Interpretive Signage and Restoration

Project Phase ll $1350• Pender Harbour and District Wildlife Society-Iris Griffith Interpretive Centre Nature School Program

$3000• Salt Spring Trail & Nature Club-Improvement of Jack Foster Trail $500This is truly an awesome list! I think the clubs are doing a wonderful job across the province. As our logos appear on the signs and publications of more and more Club Support Grant Projects, IBA’s etc. you can take great pride in your contribution to each and every one of them.

At the March Executive meeting we approved the bid of the Abbotsford-Mission Club to host our Annual General Meeting 2013. Congratulations! If your club and community would like the stimulation of hosting BC Naturalists for the FGM 2013, are willing to put in the hard work and receive the benefits, please contact us soon.

I’d like to say a special thank you to all the members of the Executive, the people that work on our committees, the people who represent us on other bodies, our Club Directors, and the Executive members of all our Clubs for the incredible amount of work that is achieved. They are all working for us at British Columbia’s minimal wage! Your time and dedication are truly valued. I would like to express my particular thanks this year to two of our members: • Rosemary Fox is the Chair of our Conservation Committee • Bob Dyer is the retiring President of the BC Naturalists Foundation ◊

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Treasurers’ Report 2011David Tsang

The year end 2011 financial review and statements are included with this report. The most significant changes from prior year and to budget include:

1. Decrease in revenue from camps, to $731 due to their cancellation. However, associated costs were also de-creased and mitigated the loss.2. Increase in accounting costs due to extra work being done for the 2010 statements, by $1,800. The remaining $3,000 relates to the review for the 2011 statements and no extra work is expected.3. Decrease in project admin fees to $11,906, due to receiving fewer grants. 4. An increase in travel and accommodation expenses to $24,978, which was offset by an increase in executive and director donations to $18,437.5. An increase in Annual and Fall general meetings revenue, due to the increase in attendance.

In all, despite a general decrease in donations and revenues, close management of office and magazine produc-tion expenses helped keep costs down, leading to our better-than-expected year-end surplus.

At the beginning of 2011, we had $68,957 in operating funds. A transfer totalling $61,724 were made to these Internally Restricted funds:1. $5,024 to Rene Savenye Scholarship Fund2. $5,000 to the Club Support Fund 3. $10,000 to the Contingency Fund4. $5,000 to the Education Fund5. $8,000 to the Important Bird Areas Fund6. $2,700 to the Young Naturalist’s Club7. $2,000 to the Breeding Bird Atlas Fund8. $10,000 to the Special Project Director Fund9. $10,000 to the Website Upgrade10. $4,000 to WiTS

As you can see, we have a busy year ahead of us!

The 2012 Operating Budget has been approved with a surplus of $5,256. The only significant changes in oper-ating over prior years include:

1. Two camps are planned, therefore associated costs and revenues have been adjusted accordingly.2. Project administration fees are very hard to predict early in the year, since not all funding has been guaran-teed. To date, project admin revenues are expected to be $2,906, but may well increase. Only confirmed grants have been included in the calculation of admin fees.3. Internet costs have been separated from telephone costs.

As an organization, we have managed to weather an economic downturn quite successfully, however, it is important that we continue to work on our programs to ensure we can continue to grow and raise our profile within our communities. Thanks are also due to the many members who donate generously to our Annual Appeal, thereby providing a very important contribution to our operations. ◊

Office ReportBetty Davison

2012 is shaping up to be a very busy year. For the first time ever, our Spring BCnature magazine sported a new colour cover. This was made possible by going out to quote for our printing requirements and after being

offered a substantial price savings, we switched printers. Our new printing costs enabled us to afford our new colour cover and we are finally using 100% recyled paper on the inner content (our previous best was 40% recy-cled) Even with the colour cover, we are still able to maintain a small savings on our quarterly print costs. We are looking at a few more changes to our magazine appearance (including a more ledgible font!), we hope you enjoy the new look and some of the upcoming changes - so stay tuned and please do drop us a line and give us your comments.

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The office is now busy working on our new website with the developers. We hope to launch our new dramatic and dynamic look to you at the AGM with a full launch in June. This new look will include more information to our members on conservation and education than what our existing site was able to offer. We are also looking for more involvement from our membership. You do not need to know anything about the web as we will train you in it all. We are hoping to get a person from every area (5)to be involved with upkeep and maintenance on our site to stay current - drop us an email to become part of the Communications team. We thank David Lassman for his years of service and hope he will stay on to assist us in our website changes.

It has been a pleasure to meet many of you at the AGM and FGM these past few years and to be of service to you in the office. I look forward to meeting a few more of you at this years AGM and FGM and am always ready at the end of the phone line or email query to answer your many varied questions! ◊

Education ReportJoan Snyder

Please refer to the Fall 2012 Magazine for updates.

Conservation ReportRosemary Fox and the Conservation Committee members

BC Nature’s conservation mandate is summed up in its motto, “to know nature and keep it worth knowing.” Global demand for BC’s natural resources, new technologies for extracting them profitably and easier access

to the back country are contributing to a massive assault on the natural environment. Furthermore, in its 2012 budget the federal government announced major cuts in government agencies and budgets relating to conserva-tion and environmental protection. If we want our children and grand children to have the opportunities to know and enjoy nature as we have had, we have to work harder than ever to keep it worth knowing. So it’s not surpris-ing that the Conservation Committee and all the nature clubs and individuals working on conservation outside of the Committee are busier than ever. As a practical matter, however, we can only do what we can humanly do. There follows a brief summary of conservation issues addressed by BC Nature over the past year.

BC Butterfly Atlas - In the Fall of 2011, BC Nature gave its support for the second year in a row to Patrick Lil-ley and Nick Page of Raincoast Applied Ecology for their B.C. Butterfly Atlas project. The purpose of the proj-ect is to promote the conservation of butterflies and to increase knowledge of the distribution and abundance of butterflies throughout BC by developing a citizen-based butterfly monitoring program and atlas (similar to the BC Breeding Bird Atlas).

Endangered Species - Endangered species are of great concern to BC Nature. Each year there are more of them. Over much of the past year we lacked the capacity to deal with endangered species following a serious accident to our specialist in that field. However, in November 2011 we were able to recruit Trevor Jones of Van-couver to the Conservation Committee, to focus primarily on endangered species issues. Besides an interest in endangered species, on which he developed a data base for his own use a few years ago, Trevor brings exten-sive volunteer experience on a wide range of natural resources issues, starting with the campaign to protect the Stein Valley when he did the first economic analysis of logging versus protecting proposed parks for the Federation of Mountain Clubs of B.C. in 1983.

To date, the two endangered species in which BC Nature has been consistently involved for a number of years is the Mountain Caribou Recovery Project and the Nechako White Sturgeon, thanks to all those involved who has worked tirelessly to save these species. Joan Wood represents BC Nature on the Nechako Environmental Enhancement Fund Management Committee and Joan Snyder represents BC Nature on the Mountain Caribou Recovery Project. Please see June Woods’ report - Page 17.

Forestry - BC Nature has not been very active on forestry issues over the past year. However, thanks to Trevor Jones, in February we were able to support the Western Canada Wilderness Committee and other groups in opposing the application by Iisaak Forest Resources for log zone permits for Flores Island in Clayoquot Sound. As of mid-April, a response had not been received from BC’s Minister of Forests, Steve Thomson, to our letter (which can be found in the conservation section of our website, www.bcnature.ca).

Fraser Delta - Anne Murray watches out for the Fraser Delta on our behalf. Agricultural land in the Fraser River delta continues to be lost to industrial and urban development. Already, the South Fraser Perimeter

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Road has covered high quality agricultural land, which used to be habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds and rap-tors. The new highway being built to service the expanded DeltaPort at Roberts Bank, has also destroyed habitat in the lagg zone of Burns Bog. Expanded rail lines and yards, container storage and other facilities in connection with the port are also planned. In addition, Port MetroVancouver has announced that it is applying to develop Terminal 2, which would double the size of the existing port. The proponents managed to avoid a Cumulative Environmental Assessment for the Third Berth Project, by claiming that Terminal 2 was not being proposed. As soon as the Third Berth was completed, they are moving to expand further. Numerous land pur-chases are being made along the route of the rail and highway right of way, with the expectation that much of the remaining farmland will become industrial land. In addition to the industrial development associated with the Roberts Bank port, work has started on extensive developments on former farmland on the Tsawwassen First Nation land. While the Tsawwassen plan to keep their salt marsh shoreline as an environmental reserve, a large number of housing developments, shopping malls and industrial uses are planned for other areas of their land. These are currently in the planning stage and can be viewed on their website: http://www.tsawwas-senfirstnation.com/ . In South Delta, the Southlands is once again the subject of controversy, as discussion regarding its future as farmland continues. The landowner wants to develop it for a mix of housing and community agriculture. The latest threat to the Delta is the potential acquisition of 226 hectares of prime agricultural land in South Delta currently in the ALR by an industrial consortium for port development. This could in essence signal the end of the Fraser Delta, its farmland and its amazing bird life.

Fracking - We continue to be most concerned about the extensive fracking for shale gas that the BC govern-ment is permitting in northeast B.C. In 2011 we called on the Premier to halt this activity until more is known about the impact it is having on groundwater and the wilderness and ecosystems of the boreal forest in that area. The provincial government continues to maintain that fracking is adequately managed under existing regulations governing the oil and gas industry. We and many other environmental organizations strongly dis-agree with the government’s position. For good information on the fracking issue, we recommend the Cana-dian Council for Policy Alternatives, whose website is www.ccpa.ca.

Mining Issues - BC Nature is supporting the Kamloops Naturalists Club and Conservation Committee mem-ber Frances Vyse, and the Williams Lake Naturalists and Executive Committee member Fred McMechan, who are involved in two controversial mine reviews in BC.

The Kamloops Naturalists Club along with the Grasslands Conservation Council and Kamloops Fish & Game Club, have received $19,000 to complete two studies on potential impacts of the Ajax Mine on grasslands, species of concern, and hydrology, to assist their interventions in the Environmental Assessment of the Ajax Mine, which in addition would actually intrude within the city boundaries of Kamloops.

The current Environmental Assessment of the Prosperity Mine proposal near Williams Lake is a repeat of the previous EA which resulted in approval of the proposal by the provincial government and rejection by the federal government. The Prosperity Mine would impact on valuable grizzly bear habitat, and destroy Fish Lake and its drainage area which is highly valued for cultural reasons by the Tsilhqot’in National Government and Xeni Gwet’in First Nation. Nature Canada, who have launched a “Stop Wasting our Lakes” campaign, is working with BC Nature on the issue of stopping Canadian mining companies from being allowed to use lakes as dump-ing areas for mine tailings. Please refer to the website for information and for support, www.stopwastingourlakes.ca.

Natural Resources Roads Act - In December, BC Nature submitted detailed comments, drafted by Frances Vyse for the Conservation Committee, on the Province’s draft Natural Resource Roads Act Project. As the let-ter states at the outset,

Our primary interest in responding to this proposed Act is to ensure that the natural values of our province are not compromised further. The proliferation of resource roads in all corners of British Columbia has led to impacts on the special natural values we hold dear, especially in areas where off-road vehicles obtain un-controlled access. The issue of resource roads has been on-going for our members across the province and we welcome the effort to create an overall piece of legislation that brings those concerns to the fore. However we have many concerns with the present draft document and hope you will take our concerns into consideration in developing your program. The full letter can be viewed in the Conservation Section of BC Nature’s website, www.bcnature.ca.

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Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker port proposal - The past year has been a busy one as BC Nature and Nature Canada, joint intervenors in Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Project environmental assessment, prepare for the formal hearings on this controversial application to build a pipeline to transport raw bitumen from the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat for export to Asia from a new supertanker oil port to be built there, at the head of the Douglas Channel. The assessment process has been proceeding according to a schedule with strict dead-lines for each phase. In the Fall of 2011 there were deadlines for two sets of Information Requests to the pro-ponent for clarification of its Project Application, and for the proponent’s response. There was a great deal of frustration experienced by numerous intervenors on these, because of inadequacies in the responses provided. Then we were under considerable pressure as we prepared our formal evidence to the Joint Review Panel to meet the deadline for that just before Christmas. Our evidence focused on impacts on marine and coastal birds and Important Bird Areas, as well as on mountain caribou along the pipeline route. Oral hearings in affected communities began this past January for intervenors who had registered to speak. Next come oral hearings for the general public who have registered to speak. The formal hearings for intervenors are scheduled for Sep-tember-October this year. All intervenors must be prepared to be cross-examined on their evidence, and will be able to cross-examine others if they so wish. The hearings are, or were, scheduled to end in April 2013. As this is written, we do not know if this will change, as the federal government’s budget 2012 speech announced that environmental assessments will be streamlined from now on, including the one for the Northern Gateway Project. Because of the size and complexity of this project, it is hard to know how it can be shortened without being seriously compromised. Many consider that the supposedly impartial assessment of the project by the Joint Review Panel has already been compromised by public statements by the Prime Minister and his Minis-ter of Natural Resources earlier this year that the Northern Gateway Project had to proceed without delay, as well as their attempts to crush opposition by publicly attacking environmental organizations who oppose the Northern Gateway Project and receive funding from donors outside Canada, on the unfounded assumption that NGO’s have enlisted foreign foundations to finance their campaigns to defeat the project. The federal gov-ernment’s attack on NGO’s who have received funding from foreign sources is all the more extraordinary when compared with the enormous amount of funding Enbridge has received from China and other foreign sources (at least $100 million) to help it get government approval for its Northern Gateway Project. The attempt by the Prime Minister and his Natural Resources Minister to crush opposition to the Northern Gateway Pipeline resulted in critical comment and editorials in Canada’s media nationwide.

The Prime Minister and his Natural Resources Minister maintain that developing this project is in the national interest and must go ahead because of the economic benefits it will bring to Canada. It is noteworthy that lengthy evidence on the absence of economic benefit has been submitted to the Joint Review Panel by Robyn Allan, past CEO of ICBC and a widely respected economist, as part of the written evidence of the Alberta Fed-eration of Labour. For those interested in an economic analysis of the Northern Gateway Project, Robyn Allan’s paper and others filed by the Alberta Federation of Labour can be downloaded at: http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/fetch.asp?language=E&ID=A38935. Because of our connection to the natural world, BC Nature’s interest is primarily in the environmental impacts and risks of the project. However, Northern Gateway jeopardises not only the envi-ronment we treasure, but the economy as well.

Off-Road Vehicles - Joan Best and Bev Ramey represent BC Nature on a government Joint Advisory Group which has been providing input to the drafting of a Bill to bring into effect better management of off-road ve-hicles.

Introduction in the Legislature of this Bill is now expected for the fall of 2012. When enacted, it is intended that regulations will deal with matters of registration, identification, safety, machine standards, etc. At this time, no regulations as to where ORVs may operate exist, except possibly some that may have been put in place by Munici-palities or Regional Districts. It is envisioned that in future management will involve the Trails Strategy and other tools. Further information can be found on the B.C. government website: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/mof/orv/

Parks - Earlier this year BC Nature (and many other groups and individuals) strongly opposed a proposal by a private company to construct a 300-metre walkway and massive glass-floored “skywalk” at the side of the Icefields Parkway, a UNESCO natural world heritage site in Jasper National Park –which sadly Parks Canada has since agreed to. We consider this to be not only contrary to Parks Canada’s conservation mandate, but a dangerous precedent for commercial development to be allowed in other national parks.

We also deplored the decision of the provincial government to withdraw its support for the longstanding South Okanagan-Similkameen Park Proposal, which in turn led Parks Canada to halt their public consultation

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process. It is important that members continue to urge the provincial government to reverse its position, and Parks Canada to resume public consultation.

BC Nature has joined with several conservation organizations in a campaign just now getting underway with mission: “To have British Columbia’s Provincial Parks strongly recognized, supported, resourced, managed and used as a premiere, world class system for its ecological, recreational, health, educational, spiritual and economic significance, within three years.” More information to BC Nature members will be provided within the next few months, together with requests for letters and support. Goals of the campaign are just now being finalized. A major goal will be: to achieve commitment from all political parties before the May 2013 provincial election for a $100 million BC Parks budget, and to achieve this funding by the 2015 BC provincial budget.

Rivers in danger

1. Kitimat River. If the Northern Gateway Project goes ahead, the Kitimat River will be at serious risk from an oil spill as the pipeline will be built close to it as it descends to sea level from the avalanche-and-rockslide-prone coastal mountains. Thanks to the efforts of the Kitimat Valley Naturalists, the Outdoor Recreation Council nominated the Kitimat River B.C.’s third most endangered river this year after the tri-river Sacred Headwaters of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine rivers (in first place) and the Kokish River on Vancouver Island in second place.

2. Peace River Site C hydroelectric project. Site C has been eyed by BC Hydro as a potential mega-dam site for several decades. The primary impetus behind this second environmental assessment for hydroelectricity generation at Site C is not to provide electric power to homes as generally touted, but to provide power for the development of the shale gas fields in the Horn River Basin further north near Fort Nelson. The development of Site C and the drowning of the Peace River Valley would destroy some of BC’s best farmland, of which it has little in the first place, destroy valuable river bottom wildlife habitat, and contribute to further degradation of the valuable ecosystems of the Athabasca River Delta from reduced Peace River flows into Athabasca Lake, started many decades ago by the construction of the Bennett Dam. As a result, construction of Site C to in-crease corporate profits from environmentally destructive shale gas development in the Horn River Basin adds another serious effect of shale gas development in that area, on top of the effects of fracking and wilderness destruction, potentially creating a triple environmental catastrophe.

3. The Kokish River hydro project on northern Vancouver Island is a small project on a small river, in contrast to the proposed Site C dam,. However, its impact would be disproportionately great, which is why the Kokish was listed as BC’s second most endangered river by ORC this year. The Kokish faces the prospect of a contro-versial 45 MW independent power project that would threaten the survival of its salmon and rare population of summer-run steelhead. Fisheries and Oceans staff have also expressed their concern about the project and the uncertainty to which its impacts can be mitigated. BCNature was one of several groups urging DFO not to sign off on this project. As of mid-April they had not done so.

Water and Wetlands - Peter Ballin represents BC Nature on the Wetland Stewardship Partnership (WSP), which provides a mechanism for wetland conservation interests to coordinate and cooperate. BC Nature’s involvement in the Wetland Stewardship Partnership also provides opportunities for our clubs to become involved as citizen-scientists in wetland conservation, including opportunities for funding for projects. The WSP also provides a venue for coordination on key provincial initiatives such as the government’s Water Act Modernization program, on which BC Nature sent a letter of comment earlier in 2011. Refer to Page 20 for the update. ◊

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Regional ReportsLower Mainland Regional Report

Jude Grass - Regional Coordinator

It has been a very busy year for all 21 clubs in the Lower Mainland Region. Our region added one new group this year – The Surrey Environmental Partners - which was founded in 2003 and is a non-profit, inclusive soci-

ety. SEP was formed by a varied group of Surrey residents with a common mission to preserve, protect, enhance and restore the ecological integrity, biodiversity and natural heritage of Surrey through cooperation, education, community participation, and action for the environmental health and sustainability of Surrey. A mighty chal-lenge for one of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada.

Conservation issues are still forcing all clubs to spend more time fighting issues for the environment rather than getting out an enjoying nature. In the Lower Mainland the Delta Port Expansion and the Perimeter Road continue to grow and devour farmland throughout Delta and as suburbia expands out through the Fraser Valley large subdivision now grow where farms used to be. The Sunshine Coast and the Squamish-Whistler Areas have similar pressures on their green spaces.

Many of the clubs are also working hard to grow their membership through offering nature workshops, inviting public to evening programs and on their field trips, and getting into their local papers promoting their activities. Many of the clubs are also involved with their local governments, (Regional Districts, Municipalities) by serving on Parks or Environment Committees and volunteering at local events.

In addition club members are still participating in the BC Breeding Bird Atlas project, BC Nest Record Scheme, Christmas Bird Counts, and doing other local bird/wildlife/plant inventories throughout the year (and there seem to be more counts every year!!!), and doing biophysical inventories for municipalities or with other environmen-tal organizations. ◊

Kootenays Regional ReportGreg Ross - Regional Coordinator

Boundary Naturalists Association are unfortunately still a non entity since their folding in 2010. Despite ef-forts to revive the once thriving club. Like many others the cause seems to be an aging naturalist population having difficulty attracting new and younger members. Yet there are still hopes that a small group will be forming again in the future.

West Kootenay Naturalists have had a difficult year with the weather being responsible for the cancellation and rescheduling of their AGM and Banquet with plans now in the works to adopt an April venue on a long-term basis to avoid the financial risk associated with meetings during the winter months.

The speakers season started in grand fashion with a visit by the president of BC Nature, John Neville, with a presentation on The Owls of British Columbia. Continuing through the year with various wonderful presenta-tions, including Nature through my Lens, Craters of the Moon-Idaho, Raptors and South East Alaska and Denali Park.

BC Hydro’s reorganization resulted in the cancellation of our address regarding the Fish and Wildlife Compen-sation Program, however, excellent presentations by individual club members resulted in the resolve of many problems with respect to the program. Letters of support were provided to various local researchers regarding their work on the life of bats in the area, the impact of development at the Waneta Hydro station on butterflies as well the measures required to restore habitat of the Yellow Breasted Chat. After the city of Castlegar, authorized the logging of trees in the vicinity of Pass Creek Park council was advised of the impact of such measures on bird life in the area and plans have been developed to avoid such future problems.

The Osprey Newsletter, continues to provide a comprehensive overview of all WKNA activities and the expe-riences gained on the many outings and the introduction of “google groups “to circulate documents within the Association has been very good in enabling the rapid circulation of data to our membership.

Fernie Nature Club’s president, Bob Livsey, reported that their evening Hike and Nature walk every Thursday evening, spring, summer & fall, have included such places as Fernie Provincial Park, Fernie Alpine resort, Coal Creek heritage Trail, Island Lake Lodge, and a couple of trips to the South Country around the mouth of the Elk River and Lake Koocanusa. These walks focus on nature in general with observations of whatever happened to

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cross their path, such as the odd bear, moose or deer and a lot of birds. Longer hikes on week-ends with Mike have travelled to Island Lake Lodge to hike the Tamarack Trail, the Ammonite fossil, Wigwam Flats and Heiko’s Trail. Their Christmas Bird Count had decent weather this year with 14 participants

This year the club, spearheaded by Kim & Ron Lentz and Norm Fraser, has taken on a new project of building, installing and monitoring a number of Bluebird nest boxes. Membership remains stable with the addition of one or two new, younger members. Overall a successful year with a visit from John Neville, President of BC Nature and a wonderful presentation on The Owls of BC.

The Rocky Mountain Naturalists have had another busy, productive year, with our regular meetings sched-uled on a bi-monthly basis, the favorite being the annual outdoor meeting in July at Reade Lake. At Elizabeth Lake, our main local project, we continue to improve habitat, monitor the turtles and upgrade the walking trails. We host Elizabeth Lake Nature Day and an early morning bird outing, weekly in the spring. As well, in order to promote this unique area we host many private walkabouts with school children, clubs and college students. Our outings include fundraising, area clean ups during Pitch-In Week, snowshoeing, hiking, an annual Club Camp, a Summer BBQ as well as birding and botanizing in the many varied habitats of the Kootenay.

Competitions and surveys are a must. We start the year with a Winter Seekers Challenge, a list of 30 birds that keeps us all in form over the winter as we seek out some of the regular winter species until late March when we are able to catch some of the early returning migrants. Little Big Day is our local 12 hour team competition. Many members participated in the B.C. Breeding Bird Atlas, the B.C. Yukon Owl Surveys, Breeding Bird Surveys and our two Christmas Bird Counts.

As with the other Nature Clubs in the Kootenays we greatly enjoyed John and Heather Neville’s wonderfully informative presentation on the Owls of B.C. ◊

Northern BC Regional ReportFred McMechan - Regional Coordinator

There were two conference calls during the past year on November 22, 2011 and March 28, 2012. The two main parts of the meeting focused on information and business from the Northern Region and BC Nature.

Conservation issues in the Nothern Region were a significant part of the discussion during both conference calls. For the Enbridge Pipeline Project, two notable submissions to the Joint Panel Review were the presentation by the Kitimat Naturalists and the BC Nature/Nature Canada report. The second major concern is the proposed Site C Hydroelectric Project on the Peace River. The Prince George Naturalists and the Timberline Trail and Nature Club have been involved in the public consultation meetings. Thirdly The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency(CEAA) has started the process for the second assessment of the proposed Prosperity Mine Project. Recently the CEAA has directed the proponent, Taseko Mines Ltd., to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. After this report becomes available to the public the Williams Lake Field Naturalists will receive information about the public involvement process from the CEAA. The fourth issue of concern is the Shale Gas Exploration and Fracking impacts on the environment.. Our region has recommended that BC Nature continue to communicate further with the provincial government on this issue. At each meeting June Wood informed us about the Nechako White Sturgeon Initiative . At the last meeting she gave us the good news that there likely will be funding for the construction of the sturgeon fish hatchery. A sixth concern is the impact that snowmobil-ing is having on the Mountain Cariboo in the Hart Range. This winter the MOE has been conducting flights to determine if snowmobilers are complying with Recovery Strategy for these animals.

The importance of northern rivers was emphasized in the recent list of the 10 most endangered rivers produced by the Outdoor Recreation Council. In this list three northern rivers were recognized: the Sacred Headwaters ( headwaters of the Stikine, the Skeena and the Nass Rivers), the Kitimat River and the Peace River.Several clubs are involved in worthwhile projects. In the spring the Timberline Trail and Nature Club will be printing an updated “Bird List for the South Peace”. The Williams Lake Field Naturalists will be printing a book on “Nature in the Williams Lake River Valley”. The clubs in the Northwest will continue to be engaged in an Amphibian Monitoring Project. The Bulkley Valley Naturalists in Smithers plan to assist in a nature pro-gram for children, tentatively titled, “Connecting Children with Nature”. The Prince George Naturalists will play an active role in the Mount Robson Bird Blitz, June 8-10, the 25th anniversary of this event. The Mackenzie Nature Observatory will continue with their valuable bird banding and monitoring program. ◊

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Thompson – Shuswap – Okanagan Regional ReportVivian Birch Jones - Regional Coordinator

Shuswap Naturalist Club: In November the Shuswap Naturalist Club Award was given to Lorena Tillotson, a third year student at Thompson Rivers University studying Natural Resource Management. Lorena grew up near Williams Lake. This past year a group of the Shuswap members participated in the Baillie Birdathon for the first time. Our group raised $975 for conservation. Some of the money raised was used for signage at McGuire Lake to help make the public aware of the value of protecting the Painted Turtle and some went towards projects for the Young Naturalists. There are plans to participate in this fundraising project again this year. The Christmas Bird Count was on Sunday, December 18th. We had a foggy start to the day but the sun eventually came through. We counted 7,881 birds (our fourth largest number since 1989) and 72 species. At the end of the day club members met for a social that included carol singing and much laughter. Our monthly meetings include presentations on a wide variety of topics, including pictures and commentary about a trip to Brazil by the Westhausers of Kelowna and a presentation by Peter Stockdale on the use of domestic sheep in the forestry industry.

Nicola Naturalist Society: The Nicola Naturalist Society had a busy winter with monthly evening meetings, outings, running the Merritt Christmas Bird Count and planning projects. Evening talks were given by Dr. Kristina Ovaska (amphibian conservation in BC and in the tropics), Rick Howie (mining restoration in the Thompson highlands), Bob Davis (biology of mosquitoes and the West Nile Virus in the Nicola Valley) and, coming up in April, Eva Durance (gardening with native plants from the southern interior). A field outing was run to check on the Snowy Owls wintering in the Douglas Lake plateau. We helped sponsor the showing of the feature documentary “Sharkwater” which graphically shows the overexploitation of the world’s sharks. Our club is negotiating with the Forest Service to help run the Harmon Lake forest interpretation site in the Kane Valley. The first year’s results from our amphibian monitoring project have been posted on our website www.nicolanaturalists.ca and we are eagerly awaiting the spring to resume this project.

North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club: Monthly speakers have told us about rattlesnake research, hummingbird banding, water quality, and BC bugs that have spread to Eastern Canada and now onto Europe. Our AGM was in November and Rod Drennan became our president. In December our meeting was our Christmas par-ty, where we all bring finger foods, enjoy table activities and do quizzes – and this year we were entertained by Linda Sellar’s ballet students. Our bird count was December 18th and various teams all over the Greater Vernon area participated, ending up at the Bishop Bird Sanctuary for the final tally. Overall, there were fewer birds than last year, but we did see 16,709 birds of 81 species. Others took part in swan and eagle counts in January. We also had a fun sing song in January. Some members have made more bluebird boxes.

Last season we had 16 nest box trails with 399 boxes. Of these 72 were used by Western Bluebirds, 24 by Mountain Bluebirds and others by Tree Swallows, Violet Green Swallows, House Wrens and one by Starlings. Gail Loughridge is our hummingbird bander and that starts up in April for the season. Swan Lake and Cools Pond projects are ongoing. We have finished replacing the signage at Cools Pond, thanks to a grant from BC Nature. Ray Arlt coordinates the Adopt a Road cleanup on the Commonage Road. Birders have been getting out one day on the weekends. Snow conditions have been excellent this year and some of our members have been downhill or cross country skiing on Silver Star. The snow is still good but the lodges have just closed, meaning that now we will look forward to the Thursday hiking program.

Kamloops Naturalist Club: Kamloops has a new website! Visit us at www.kamloopsnaturalistclub.com The site is still in the works but it has already generated interest and has had visitors from all over the world. We are excited to have local experts’ blogging on the site and sharing their sightings. Check out Frank Ritcey’s video on the snakes of BC and Rick Howie’s accounts of his many adventures. Our AGM was held in January and was a success with our usual mix of potluck dinner, photo contest and club business. We have been holding steady with our membership levels and are looking into starting a legacy project for the club. We panicked when our long-standing newsletter editor moved into a new position, but fortunately two other club members stepped in. We are very grateful for the eight years of hard work our last editor Susan Weildant put in. Our annual Big Day Bird Count competition takes place this May. We have two teams birding on the North and South sides of our area and meet for a BBQ and tally after. Work continues on the study of the proposed Ajax mine site using funds from the grant we received with the Grassland Council and the Kamloops Fish and Game Club.

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Lillooet Naturalist Society: 10 members from Lillooet enjoyed the BC Nature meetings at Williams Lake. We received funding to continue the restoration and native plant nursery work at the Powerhouse site “Sat’atqwa7”. The project wrapped up after our AGM with an Art Show and Sale which generated tremen-dous community participation, some amazing art and raised considerable funds. The restoration site has been added to the new Hiking Guide as an easy walk in the ‘Around Town’ section. In partnership with the St’at’imc Tribal Council we hosted the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation conference in July. The presenta-tions were fascinating and we all enjoyed to field trip to the Yalakom and Poison Mountain. Our Great Canadi-an Shoreline cleanup this year was conducted by water as well as by land. In April we held our second annual Wildflower Count. Four bluebird box trail outings were held over the season. The Lillooet Regional Invasive Species group held meetings and educational events – they are now a Society. Kim North organized the fourth annual Salmon in the Canyon festival in August, timed to coincide with the Rivershed rafting expedition arrival at Lillooet. Fin Donnelly MP was able to join us for that event. Many of the researchers, working for the BC Hydro Fish and Wildlife Compensation program, were also able to attend and answer questions from the public about their work at that forum. Working with the MOE biologists we put up an educational sign about our Species at Risk (the sign includes a particularly good photo of a most handsome Townsend’s Big-eared bat). Ian Routley completed Year 4 of 5 of as coordinator for the BC Breeding Bird Atlas. We supported applications for projects on Mule Deer, Grizzly Bear, Mountain Goats, Western Screech Owl, Gates Spawning Channel as well as the restoration site, which all received funding for work this season.

A number of presentations on natural history were held over the year. The Lillooet Hiking Guide, Canyon toAlpine, second edition, was published in November and is generating funds for our activities. We were in-vited to the Xaxli’p Forestry presentation in December. They are offering tours and it could be a great outing for the naturalists to do in 2012. Our 12th annual Christmas bird count was held, coordinated by Ken Wright. Counts also took place in the Hat Creek Valley and the Yalakom. www.lillooetnaturalistsociety.org

Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists: Spring has finally come to the Smilkameen, and we are looking forward to attending the AGM in Kelowna.

Looking back over the winter we have enjoyed some interesting speakers. Sue Elwell, a local birder, showed us a beautiful slide presentation of birds in Southern Arizona. Hugh and Pat Westerhauser entertained us with their travels in Brazil, with slides of the Pantanal, the world’s largest swamp - there they saw Cappivars, the world’s largest rodent and a favourite food of the Jaguar. In November, Lee McFayden spoke to us about Genetically Modified Foods and the threat to organic farms. This was a very interesting presentation and brought to our attention the need to protect organic food and farming and to ban GM alfalfa, which will contaminate organic alfalfa and severely impact the entire organic food and farming system in Canada. In January, local forester and trapper Norman Druck, challenged us with a very interesting and informative presentation on animal tracks in the snow. This presentation had the club participating and was a very enjoyable, educational evening. At our AGM, Amada Lahaie, gave a presentation about local birds in the area. In March, Madelon gave us a fascinating presentation about birds, animals and plants of Indonesia. In March, Eva Durance focused on Coastal Australia. We are looking forward to hearing Jim Ginns speak about mushrooms and Beatrice Potter as well as Terry and Greg Tellier on bluebirds at Osprey Lake. One of our mandates is education and we are looking forward in Sep-tember to have Dr, Jason Jones, from VARCO, speak on migration and John Neville, from BC Nature in October, about raptors. This May we are participating in the Meadowlark Festival as well as offering two local hikes - to Swan Lake and the Vermilion Bluffs. Both hikes are good for birders. Jeff and Sue Turner, a biologist and film maker will again offer one of their beautiful documentaries at Riverside. These events are usually well attended and appreciated. We are hosting the BC Ornithologists for their AGM in Princeton June 1-3, 2012. Four hikes for birding have been arranged and the evening presentation will be open to the public. Culture Week is April 22-29th in Princeton and Vermilion Forks will have a display at Riverside Centre. Field trips this Spring range from easy to difficult and include birding on the Belfort Loop, Basely Lake, a back country Lake at 1000 foot level, Allison Lake circuit and a hike up Stemwinder Mountain.

Princeton’s 20th Christmas Bird Count was held in January, twenty-two field observers and 6 feeder watchers participated on a relatively mild day. We finally broke our barrier of 59 species and had 64. New and unusual records for us were the Lincoln Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow and Red-winged Crossbill.

We received the 2012 Resolutions, which included the need to continue with the establishment of the South Okanagan-Smilkameen National Park Reserve. We sponsored a CEPAW information event in April which cre-ated discussion between, ranchers, conservationists and town and regional members. We received excellent media coverage as well. A motion was put on the floor to support this resolution at the BC Nature AGM in May

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and it passed unanimously. We also brought to our member’s attention the opportunity to write individual and club support letters to Minster Lake.

We were able to fill new positions on our Executive. Our new Treasurer is Charlie Webber and our newslet-ter editor and publicity people are June Hope and Janis Wright. Thanks to Linda Neuman, and Cora Cherry for their commitment and hard work. We joyously presented Joan Kelly, a charter member and tireless worker on our behalf, with a Lifetime Membership in appreciation of all that she has done and does on our behalf. Thank you Joan!

South Okanagan Naturalists’ Club: SONC has had a busy year. We have a new web-site, through Richard St.Aubin of C-4 Wise, with a smart new face and the ability to accept Pay Pal. In 2012 SONC will be 50 years old as a club. The B.C. Nature Conservancy is also 50 years old. A SONC committee in conjunction with the Pentic-ton Museum and Archives has been planning a celebration throughout the year. The idea is to showcase con-servation that has taken place over the last 50 years in the South Okanagan and bring public awareness to the continuing need for conservation. The official opening at the museum is March 16, 2012 from 5 to 7 pm. There is an excellent video of SONC history (you may recognize yourself from years gone by – the archives don’t lie). The program is ongoing throughout the summer - watch for details. Our conservation committee has been very busy and the issues seem never-ending. The National Park for the South Okanagan has needed considerable support and when the BC Government withdrew support for the Park this fall it was a disappointment and re-newed our efforts to keep it alive. Many letters and presentations have been made. Other issues to be watched are the Enbridge Pipeline, ZED Enterprises “wind farm” at Shinish Creek and KVR trail degradation.

A positive project was the donation by SONC of $1,000 towards the purchase of Twin Lakes Ranch (2000 acres) by Nature Trust B.C., as well as a further $1,400 donation by individual SONC members. We also supported the WITS program with a $1,000 donation. We assisted with financial help for transport costs for the KLO School field trip (30 kids) to our area in relation to the National Park proposal. We continue to support $100 and $500 bursaries for the Science Fair. The Penticton Golf Club was seeking certification by Audubon Int’l and they requested help from SONC to do ongoing bird surveys. Several members are involved with this and it has resulted in a friendly relationship.

We continue to support the Habitat garden by assisting with weed pulling at the ECO Center. Another project for monetary gain for the club, was the Ironman cleanup. We have been very fortunate in having interesting speakers at our regular meetings. Thursday birding has been well attended. SONC field trips include Soap Lake, Lake Chelan, biking Myra Canyon and other hikes and day trips. We had a great turnout for the June potluck supper at the Research Station and fun with games. We look forward to summer outings as planned by this committee. December saw the year end with all the Christmas bird counts. We are very grateful to all the committee members who have worked hard to make this a successful year. ◊

Vancouver Island Regional ReportsGenevieve Singleton - Regional Coordinator

Vancouver Island Clubs are busy on an ongoing basis with conservation and stewardship work, evening and daytime presentations, field trips, bird counts, community events, and programmes for Young Naturalists. The

Arrowsmith and Nanoose Naturalist Clubs are busy preparing for the Fall General Meeting, “Nature by the Salish Sea,” September 27-30, 2012. Exciting field trips and excellent speakers are all planned and booked. Van-

couver Island naturalists look forward to having BC Nature members visit our beautiful island.

As a region, Directors and members have been concerned about the major coal project being planned for the mid Island, in the Cumberland area, and the Enbridge proposal to build a pipe line and have increased oil tanker traffic in northern BC. More recently concerns have been raised around the Kinder Morgan’s proposal to have more oil tankers plying southern waters. Clubs are mounting a variety of initiatives around all of these and many other concerns. The continued development of wild areas into housing and industrial development is a concern. In the south Cowichan area recently a large industrial area was proposed for the Bamberton area despite Cowichan Val-ley Naturalists pointing out that saving only 9.23% for park land was not enough for an area with many natural amenities. The project was approved regardless.

Many of our clubs participated in the Christmas Bird Count this December. All groups continue to be active in a variety of restoration and conservation activities. ◊

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PROJECT REPORTSBC Important Bird Area (IBA) Program

Krista Englund, IBA Caretaker Coordinator

The BC IBA Subcommittee (BC Nature and Bird Studies Canada) made significant progress towards achieving our proposed 2011 Caretaker Network goals. Highlights of our achievements include:

a) Site Conservation/Caretaker Network provided materials and support to Caretakers for 32 IBAs, in- cluding conducting 13 site visits, b) developing and delivering identification and interpretive signs, assisting with monitoring, writing articles, and giving presentations c) sent Caretaker appreciation packages, including the Annual Report Form, to all Caretakers, d) compiled annual reports for 85% of BCs 84 IBAs that have Caretakers (note that 11% of sites currently do not have Caretakers), e) sent Caretaker Packages to three new replacement Caretakers and one potential Caretaker, f) assisted Nature Canada to produce a National IBA Caretaker Manual based on the BC manual, Building Awareness g) helped to design, receive and distribute 70 IBA identification signs and decals to Caretakers, which have been installed or are in the process of being installed at 28 IBA across the province, h) secured funding for, designed and coordinated the production and installation of five interpretive signs, i) developed a poster for Chehalis Estuary IBA, j) delivered four presentations, k) developed, printed and distributed the spring and fall 2011 IBA newsletters, l) updated the IBA section of the BC Nature website twice, m) wrote articles for a variety of media, including the BC Nature magazine, n) inserted language about IBAs into planning guidance documents for local governments (e.g. De- velop with Care),Technical/Scientific a) provided secretariat support for the expanded IBA Conservation Team, which met three times, b) revised the boundary for Fraser Delta-Boundary Bay IBA, completed & reviewed the English Bay Burrard Inlet site summary update, revised the conservation sections of the five South Okanagan Similikameen IBA site summaries, drafted the Chilcotin Junction IBA site summary update (ready for technical review), and compiled data for Snake Island IBA, c) assisted several Caretakers to submit their observations to eBird or in another format, Administration a) submitted four funding applications jointly with Bird Studies Canada (two successful, one not suc cesful, one pending), b) added all BC Caretakers to the map on the Caretaker’s Portal, and assisted IBA Canada Committee develop a National Caretaker Manual and a National IBA Sign c) coordinated strategic planning sessions, and developed a workplan and budget, d) maintained accurate expenditure spreadsheets for all projects/grants, and e) wrote final reports for Mountain Equipment Coop, Canadian Wildlife Federation and Community Legacy Program (BCCF) and an interim report for Nature Canada.

We currently have Caretakers for 75 of BC’s 84 IBAs (89%). Several volunteers have moved on, which explains the decrease over last year. In addition, three new Caretakers have replaced previous Caretakers. ◊

Wildlife Tree Stewardship Initiative (WITS)Lisa Scott, Ian Moul, Jude Grass

Several meeting of the WiTS Steering Committee were held during 2011 to revise the Project Charter. In No-vember 2011 the Nature Trust of BC was approached to join the Steering Committee and Carlton McNaughton

attended on their behalf at the February 2012 strategic planning meeting in North Vancouver together with members from BC Nature & Canadian Wildlife Service. From that meeting there were a number of action items which are currently being worked on.

WITS - Vancouver Island Report - Ian MoulAt this point there are no operating or project funds to support the WiTS program on Vancouver Island. We had a wildlife garden/eagle nest display at the Campbell River Eagle festival in February. We will have a dis-play at the Mountainair Avian Rescue open house this coming Saturday. There are currently groups of active

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volunteers on the Pender Islands, Victoria and Saanich, Gabriola Island, Parkville, the Comox Valley, Campbell River, and a new volunteer in Quatsino. I support the volunteers as my volunteer time permits – which is far less then optimal.

As far as we know, the WiTS Atlas is at this time the only data-base of bird and habitat related information that is directly linked to conservation legislation (site specific local government development permit areas that support Section 34 of the provincial Wildlife Act). The WiTS Atlas is operating on the Community Mapping Network and we are in communication with MOE staff in regards to loosening restrictions on what is displayed publically to bring the atlas more in line with Google Maps and other contemporary mapping programs. The WiTS Atlas is at the tail end of its capacity to function on outdated software. We have done approximately 80% of the programming to upgrade, but have stopped due to lack of funding (about $4,000 short). In the fall of 2011 we received compensation money (arranged by MOE) to update atlas records in the Comox area. This was a very nice boost in presentation and determining the actual data requirements of local governments. We are in frequent conversation with citizens, biological consultants, and local government employees in regards to nest records on the atlas, though frustration is building as the atlas falls further and further out of date. We can’t seem to break into the consulting area; local government are prepared to pay top dollar for biological consultants from other geographical areas but will not support the local knowledge and more highly qualified biologists from WiTS. While the Community Mapping Network remains a staunch supporter of the WiTS Atlas, they are not an agency to oversee data collection and management. At this time, Bird Studies Canada and the Conservation Data Centre are not able or interested to administer the WiTS nest records. We are working with CWS to find a citizen scientist, stewardship based program to administer the WiTS nest records. ◊

WiTS – Lower Mainland Report - Jude GrassThe Wildlife Trees Stewardship (WITS) is still not been operating in the Lower Mainland due to cutbacks both provincially and locally. ◊

WiTs - Okanagan Report - Lisa ScottThe Wildlife Tree Stewardship program in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys continued its focus on monitoring several species of “at risk” birds, with an emphasis on Lewis’s Woodpecker and Western Screech-owl. In regards to the Lewis’s Woodpecker (LEWO), efforts were spread across three main areas of interest. WiTS was part of a detectability study being conducted by Environment Canada, where ten nest sites were repeatedly monitored throughout the summer. Birds were witnessed in several different stages of their breed-ing season, from incubation periods, through early nestling, late nestling, and finally the fledgling stage. The second focus of the year was to find new nests. Fifteen dedicated volunteer monitors, most of who belong to a local naturalist club, assisted the summer student, Christoph Mayer, and the Regional Coordinator, Lisa Scott to discover 15 new nests. Lastly, 56 previously detected nests were monitored, of which 22 were re-occupied. On the Western Screech-owl (WSOW) project, the summer student and volunteer monitors were able to detect WSOW responses to call playbacks in two regional parks in the Central Okanagan. Surveys for cavity nesters were conducted on private, municipal and Crown land, and involved the cooperation of many partners.

The Okanagan-Similkameen program has strong links with local government. A ‘Decision Support Tool’, devel-oped as part of the 2010 project, was tested and applied in the Central Okanagan Regional District, City of Pen-ticton and Village of Keremeos. The decision support tool assists in making informed decisions on wildlife tree management and is specific to the operational level of hazard tree assessment and felling.

The monitoring program and development of support tools will assist the recovery of the target bird species, and likely a plethora of other wildlife tree dependent species, by protecting important breeding and foraging habitat. The cavity nesting species targeted by WiTS in the Okanagan-Similkameen will directly benefit through the protection of wildlife trees and surrounding habitat, which may have otherwise been removed or altered in the absence of an effective outreach and stewardship program.

The 2011 WiTS program in the Okanagan-Similkameen was once again successful due to the many enthusiastic and committed volunteer monitors, private landowners, local government staff and technical advice provided by federal and provincial biologists. The program was also made possible thanks to grants from: Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk; Canada Summer Jobs Program; South Okanagan Naturalists’ Club; Oliver-Osoyoos Naturalists; BC Nature and Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists. ◊

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Reports of BC Nature Representatives on Committees

B.C. Agriculture-Wildlife Advisory Committee Joan Best

Sadly, it would appear that this Committee, on which a BC Nature rep has sat for decades, has been axed. Formerly known as the Problem Wildlife Management Committee, the Ag-Wild Committee aimed to provide

better resolution to wildlife/farm/ranch conflicts, solutions that benefitted both wildlife and the agricultural sec-tor. Some examples of issues dealt with included; fencing of hay stacks to prevent attracting elk to feed; better documentation of livestock kills so as to ensure that a predator was not just scavenging already-dead livestock; improved animal husbandry that discouraged or precluded predator access; financial compensation for crop losses due to trumpeter swans and safe passage through vineyards for rattlesnakes. Altogether, it was a valuable tool to better deal with conflicts than shooting or poisoning of predators. Attempts to locate, from government sources, information as to the fate of the Ag-Wild Advisory Committee have, so far, been unsuccessful. Another casualty, no doubt, of cutbacks. ◊

BC Breeding Atlas ReportAnne Murray, Steering Committee liaison to BC Nature

The main goals of the BC Breeding Bird Atlas are to map the distribution and abundance of BC’s breeding birds. The atlas will increase our knowledge of bird communities and allow us to assess changes in future bird

populations. Maps generated from atlas data allow the range and frequency of over 300 breeding bird species in B.C. to be more accurately shown than ever before.

Breeding bird data is being gathered in the field by both professional ornithologists and a legion of volunteer birders, including many BC Nature members. Government and industry databases, from environmental studies of particular areas, are being “mined” for bird data where appropriate access is given.

2011 was the fourth year of this five year project and marked a significant effort to reach more remote parts of the province. A fresh injection of funding from our partners helped to complete field work in under-atlassed areas. It was particularly good to receive a recommitment of funding from the BC Government, as well as funds from HCTF, BC Hydro, the Baillie Fund, BC Field Ornithologists, Columbia Basin Trust and SFI. A private individual also gave a very substantial donation. A partnerships with the BC Floatplane Association allowed birders to gain access to some very remote locations in the province and atlas previously unreached squares.

The atlas project is not without its excitements. Julian Hudson, a Nature Vancouver birder, survived a thor-oughly stuck-in-the-mud truck situation and braved grizzly bears in the Williston Reservoir region of the Rocky Mountain Trench, to confirm the presence of Cape May Warbler. Rob Butler was part of a horseback expedition to the Muskwa Kechika with the prestigious Explorer’s Club (based out of New York). The group recorded eighty species, although Rob found the birding at times surprisingly slow, with unexpectedly few birds present: he is used to birding the rich waters of the Georgia Strait! These stories and more are found in the regular Atlas newsletter, produced by Coordinator Christopher Di Corrado.

A few innovations were made in data collection in 2011. Notably, a new Daily Observation form was brought into circulation for recording breeding evidence as a daily checklist and 25% of the year’s breeding evidence data came in this way last year.

2012 is the final breeding season of the Atlas and there are three goals to be accomplished: finish incomplete squares for point counts and general atlassing effort, complete the most robust bird list possible for any square and enter rare and colonial species locations. To aid in completing squares, the threshold has been reduced to an optional minimum of 10 hours of effort and 10 point counts. Christopher Di Corrado also emphasizes that building a larger, more complete species list is more valuable than confirming a smaller number of species, and there is a need to target species that are not easily found (wetland birds, raptors, owls, nighthawks, etc) by seek-ing out rare species, surveying a variety of habitats and surveying at different times (morning, dusk, night). To learn more about the BC Breeding Bird Atlas see www.birdatlas.bc.ca ◊

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Coalition for the Licensing and Registration of ORV’s (Off-Road Vehicles) BCJoan Best

The Coalition is awaiting the result of a government-appointed Joint Advisory Group (JAG) providing input towards the crafting of legislation to better manage off-road vehicles (ORVs). Many of the JAG members,

including the BC Nature reps, come from the Coalition but the JAG now includes a number of others not for-merly Coalition members such as the Union of BC Municipalities and ICBC. All JAG members are subject to a Confidentiality Agreement that forbids disclosure of any information not already public. For that information please see the website; http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/mof/orv.

For the past two years the JAG has held numerous meetings, most by conference call but several in-person also, chaired by the government-appointed staff tasked with creating the Management Framework. It is hoped that government will introduce the new legislation this spring. Given this projected time-frame, the final enactment may be as late as spring of 2013.

BC Nature has been advocating better management for off-road vehicles since the 1960s and 70s. Over the years letters have been written, government Ministers visited but only now is there hope of, at long last, formal recog-nition of the need, long since addressed by all other jurisdictions in North America, to establish legislation. The Union of BC Municipalities, for example, has repeatedly passed Resolutions urging government to act on the ever-growing problems created by unmanaged off-road vehicles. In its current form the ATV Act applies only to snowmobiles which must carry a license plate. Dirt bikes, quads and other such vehicles are still unregulated and unidentifiable. BC Nature has repeatedly stressed the need for the legislation/regulations to specify that ORVs must display a visible numbered plate or decal to enable identification.

The proposed legislation is a very significant first step in management. As such BC Nature is urging our Pre-mier and Cabinet to expedite its passage. The JAG itself is supervised by a government Implementation Com-mittee whose task it is to oversee the implementation of the ORV Management Framework. The members of this Committee are; Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (Chair); Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation; Minister of Environment; Minister of Transportation and MLAs for Kamloops-South Thomp-son, Kootenay East and Cariboo-Chilcotin. To ensure the legislation is passed BC Nature members are urged to provide encouragement to their local MLAs to support the proposed legislation.

Invasive Species Council of British ColumbiaJude Grass

Formerly the Invasive Plant Council of BC, this group has now expanded into the broader species category, which they will undertake on a gradual basis. I suggest that if you haven’t had a look at their website you

spend some time looking at their projects. http://www.bcinvasives.ca/ You might want to consider having your club, or yourself – if you haven’t already, approach your local or

regional weed committee to assist them with public education, or removal projects. Some of the committees have speakers who are more than willing to come out to your club or community and talk about what they do.

What is the ISCBC? - Through province-wide cooperation and coordination, the Invasive Species Council of BC (ISCBC) is working to minimize the negative ecological, social, and economic impacts caused by the introduction, establishment, and spread of invasive species.

The ISCBC is a registered charity whose members are involved in all aspects of invasive species manage-ment, with the main focus on invasive plants. Members include technical specialists working for government and industry, regional coordinators, Aboriginal Peoples, foresters, biologists, ranchers, horticulturists, recreation enthusiasts, gardeners, and other concerned individuals. Membership is free and open to everyone willing to work collaboratively.The Council’s Board of Directors and five committees have these specific goals:• To educate the public and professionals about invasive species and their risk to ecosystems and econ- omies through activities such as workshops, seminars and newsletters;• To coordinate and fund research relating to invasive species and make this available to the public; and• To undertake and support actions that improves the health of BC’s natural ecosystems.

“Shutting Out Invaders,” the ISCBC’s Annual Public Forum and AGM marked the transition of the Council to include invasive species, and was an exciting opportunity for invasive species specialists to network and enjoy a great line-up of speakers! The theme of “Shutting Out Invaders” was prevention of invasive species, includ-ing early detection, and rapid response (EDRR), and how to change public behaviour. Participants particularly

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enjoyed keynote speaker, Ken Donnelly, who spoke on the concept of changing behaviour and how to effectively engage the public around invasive species. ◊

Nechako White Sturgeon June Wood

The NEEF Management Committee resulted from the 1997 Settlement Agreement between Alcan and the Province of B.C. The Committee delivered its final report in 2001. The report recommended that a cold water

release facility be constructed at the Kenney Dam. Subsequent to the Management Committee’s final report, the Province and Alcan funded additional studies relevant to that recommendation. These studies culminated in reports, released in 2008, that suggested the option of a surface release facility.

Water temperature is critical for the survival of sockeye salmon travelling up the Nechako before either turning

up the Stuart to spawn in that system or continuing up the Nechako. The Reports revealed that the research had determined there would be little benefit derived to the main-stem of the Nechako River from a cold water release facility. It was concluded that since a smaller volume of water would be released from the spillway, even though it would be colder water, drawn from the depths of the reservoir, there would be very little difference in the water temperature (compared to current conditions) when it reached the confluence of the Stuart and Nechako rivers.

Given that a cold water release facility would not accomplish a cooler water temperature at Finmoore (where the temperature gage is located at the confluence) it would still be necessary to release the high volumes of water into the Nechako for cooling purposes, from July 15th to August 15th. Our hopes for a more natural flow pattern in the river were dashed.

Given these conclusions, the 2008 Reports recommended the option of a much cheaper surface release facility. The price tag for such a facility was pegged at around $260 million; this included the engineering of a channel through the Cheslatta Fan below the canyon. Although a facility such as this would not benefit the main-stem of the river, it would re-water the Grand Canyon of the Nechako and enable the rehabilitation of the Murray/Cheslatta system through which all water has passed since construction of the Kenney Dam across the Grand Canyon of the Nechako. These would of course be important benefits, but the Nechako River would be stuck with the low spring flows and high summer “cooling flows”…a very unnatural flow pattern. There would be no benefit derived from the facility, either to the river or to its Nechako white sturgeon.

A critical aspect of the NEEF MC was that Alcan would make a matching contribution of up to $50 million dol-lars to the Fund following the contribution by “another person”. Since the 1997 Agreement was between Alcan and the Province, it was always assumed that the “other person” would be the Province. The federal government was signatory to the 1987 Settlement Agreement, but not the 1997 Settlement Agreement and so has since held that a contribution from the federal government would not be something that would likely be forthcoming.

The NEEF MC disbanded following the release of its report in 2001, but last September the announcement was made that the NEEF MC would be reconvened “to review, assess and report on options that may be available for the downstream enhancement of the Nechako watershed area.” We all assumed this meant money was in place to carry out these “options.”

I attended the first meeting of the reconvened NEEF MC on January 25th. Unfortunately, the Committee had received a letter from the Province of BC that very day. This sentence sums it up, “I would encourage the com-mittee to consider recommendations that are not dependent on the provincial government as a primary funding partner, and that are affordable in the current economic climate.” Alcan is not obligated to put any money on the table till the “other person” antes up; Alcan was to make a “matching contribution.” Therefore there is no money.

The letter from the Province did indicate that it would continue to provide funding for the Nechako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative. Whether that means money toward the process, research and monitoring or money toward a hatchery, I don’t know. It is possible the NEEF MC will continue and recommend the construction of a sturgeon hatchery that will have a price tag the provincial government feels it can support during “the very challenging fiscal situation” the province is apparently experiencing.

In conclusion, I will reafirm that given the information in the 2008 Reports, that a release facility would not result in a more natural flow pattern in the river, financial support for that endeavor was not critical to survival of the sturgeon. A release facility at the Kenney Dam would have resulted in the re-watering of the canyon (which isn’t critical to anything) and it would have enabled the rehabilitation of the Murray/Cheslatta system. ◊

_______________________________________2011 Annual Report_____________________________ 18

Outdoor Recreation CouncilJeremy McCall

Gone are the days when ORC, with other NGOs, was invited to a quarterly forum with the Ministry of Envi-ronment and the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. At these forums the NGOs were given

an update by senior staff about what was happening or what was being planned for the BC landscape. We also got to know people in the other NGOs and learned what they were doing. Meetings with the ministries, which were last reorganized in 2010, have to be much more focused in the current era. As a result there is less sharing of information and knowledge than there used to be, which is a pity. Fortunately ORC has a good working rela-tionship with its key department, the Recreational Sites and Trails Branch, which has now returned to what has become the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

ORC has also been vocal on the BC Parks file. After a couple of years of protesting about the state of BC Parks and pushing for the reintroduction of an effective volunteer program (the former program was effectively can-celled in 2002), BC Parks recently made a strong commitment to doing just that by hosting a series of 11 work-shops round the province to seek stakeholder input. It is to be hoped that some of the better features of the pre-2002 Volunteer Program Manual will be retained in the new program.

ORC also puts on workshops for issues of interest to the outdoor recreation sector. In 2010 our workshop on resolving regional and community trail issues, which was well-attended by all outdoor recreation sectors, resulted in the formation of the Chilliwack River Valley Trail Association. The CRVTA is now grappling with the conflicts occurring there. We continue trying to resolve the conflicts on the Kettle Valley Railway section of the Trans Canada Trail and to take an active part in those discussions when we can. Our next workshop will focus on risk management for outdoor recreation groups.

As an active member of the Canadian Trails Federation ORC is extensively involved with the National Trails Survey mandated by the 2010 National Trails Roundtable in Banff. BC is a standout in that survey because mem-bers of our recreation groups contributed about 40% of all responses in Canada! ORC is also playing an active role in developing new legislation for the Off Road Vehicle Management Framework and the proposed Natural Resource Roads Act.

Meanwhile ORC continues to regularly disseminate information it deems to be useful to its member organiza-tions about such matters as crown land tenures, park management plans and environmental assessments. For more details on ORC’s day-to-day work please visit the website at www.orcbc.ca and review the minutes of the monthly meetings of the ORC Executive. If you wish to be added to ORC’s e-mail list please contact outdoorrec@orcbc.ca

Public Conservation Assistance FoundationDarren Copley

Each year since 1974, the Province of British Columbia and Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (formerly Habitat Conservation Fund) have made grants available to organizations and individuals who wanted to carry out a conservation project but needed some financial help to get going. To assist as many groups as possible throughout the province each year, grants are modest, averaging about $2,500 each. There is an annual limit of $10,000 per year per project, and multi-year projects are allowed, provided 1) they are identified as such in the first year of application and 2) the total project life is limited to five years. There is a project lifetime limit of $20,000 total budget for multiple year projects. More than 300 such projects have been carried out under the program so far.

For further information, please visit the website: http://www.hctf.ca/PCAF/PCAF.html

Project Sponsor $ AmountHolland Creek Restoration 2010 Ladysmith Sportsman Club 5000.00

Bats in Peachland - Public Education & Conservation Peachland Chamber of Commerce 4500.00Installation Catwalks to Access Distribution Valves in Marshes

Yaqan Nuki Wetlands Friendship Society

8512.00

Salmo Bighorn Sheep Feeding station rebuild Nelson Rod & Gun Club Cons. Soc.

3400.00

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Prince George Urban Bear Monitoring and Public Out-reach Northern Bear Awareness Soc. 2000.00

Waterfowl Pen Reconstruction Prince Rupert Wildlife Rehab. Shelter

5000.00

French Creek Restoration - Hof Waldeck Farm Friends of French Creek 5000.00

Clinton Bighorn Lamb Mortality Study (Year 3) Clinton & District Outdoor Sportsman Association

8400.00

Kinsmen Beach Restoration Project Lake Windermere Ambassadors 4700.00

Migration Monitoring - Mugaha Marsh Banding StationYear 2 Mackenzie Nature Observatory 6000.00

Iona Island Bird Observatory - Fall Migration Monitoring WildResearch Society 9100.00Building Bat Habitat Workshop South Boast Bat Action Team 500.00

Garry Oak Meadow Restoration - Denman Island Denman Conservancy Associa-tion

2000.00

Boundary WMA Spartin Mapping & Control BC Spartina Working Group 1500.00

Wetland Restoration in the Quamichan Watershed Quamichan Watershed Steward-ship Society

9480.00

Community Stewardship of Painted Turtles on Sunshine Cost (Year 2) Michelle Evelyn 6200.00

Fishing Forever - Opportunity for disabled people to fish for a day

Delta Ladner Rod and Gund Club 8610.00

Shane Lake Dock - Construct a dock to enhance public fishing experience

Polar Coachman Flyfishers Club 10,000.00

Pegleg Gravel Bar Cleanup - Organize/Execute Annual Fraser River Cleanup events

Fraser Riverkeeper Society 4,000.00

South Okanagan-Similkameen Conservation Program (SOSCP)J.E. Bryan

Here’s a snippet of what SOSCP partners have accomplished in 2011.

• The Nature Trust of BC, with help from conservation partners, are close to acquiring one of the largest intact private grassland properties in the South Okanagan. Twin Lakes Ranch consists of 2,000 acres of grasslands, riparian and wetland habitats

• The Canadian Okanagan Basin Technical Working Group completed phase one of the Okanagan River Restoration Initiative. Partners including the Ministry of Environment, Okanagan Nation Alliance, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada restored one of the most biologically important sections of the Okanagan River.

• The Conservation Fund Guide completed by the SOSCP and partners, is a resource for local governments and community organizations interesting in building a source of funding to support expanding parklands, acquisitions, watershed protection and more

• Two private land donations from the Bonin and Pelletier families added more than 27 hectares of high quality grasslands to our network of South Okanagan parks.

The Burrowing Owl Society established a captive breeding facility in Oliver for the endangered Burrowing Owl and built new burrows for owls released locally.• SOSCP partners celebrated 10 years of conservation work.• The Nature Trust celebrated 40 years of work in BC Parks turned 100 years old• Naramata Area E garbage management bylaw significantly addressed bear-human conflicts in the commu nity, reducing the need to euthanize bears and increasing resident safety• Okanagan Conservation Collaborative Program partners, with support of local, provincial, and federal governments, documented the condition of Okanagan Lake foreshore to help develop a more integrated approach to watershed management.• SOSCP and local governments completed a second year of collaboration to support a shared environmen

_______________________________________2011 Annual Report_____________________________ 20

tal planner who provided environmental technical and policy expertise.• “Keeping Nature in Our Future” a biodiversity conservation initiative for the South Okanagan Similka meen, saw completion of the biodiversity analysis, mapping, and first draft of the strategy. • A “Guide to Development in Sensitive Areas” was published with Oliver, Summerland, Keremeos and Penticton local governments. • SOSCP and local governments completed a second year of collaboration to support a shared environmen- tal planner who provided environmental technical and policy expertise.• For more about SOSCP including newsletters visit their website SOSCP.org ◊

Wetlands Stewardship PartnershipPeter Ballin

A conference call in May 2011 included discussion of: • Water Act Modernization and the Mitigation and Offsetting Policy.• Water Act Policy and Joint Venture implementation plans, in progress.• The BC Nature Wetland Survey, which will be contained in the RAMSAR report for Environment Canada addressing wetland activities. The committee requested more surveys to be completed.• A push to identify wetland priority sites to become part of a national conservation plan. A national wet lands working group is making a guide for environmental assessment to guide wetland habitat compen- sation plans. • A new form for wetland inventories for proposed developments so that there is greater consistency. The province seems happy to look at this.

In October, a WSP meeting was held at Royal Roads University. Here we• deferred submission of a letter supporting the proposed Environmental Mitigation and Offsetting Policy (EMOP) pending further consultation. An important wording change: from “no net loss” to “maintain or improve ecological function or resiliency”, will be included. • heard reports from the attending partners showing a wish for more collaboration and data sharing amongst NGO’s. Our clubs can become involved as citizen-scientists, including funding for wetland (and other) projects. • learned that information gathering for The Water Act Modernization program continues, now with a submission date in 2013. • discussed the importance of mapping priority wetlands. • convened a retrospective on WSP’s accomplishments. I expressed how useful our clubs can be to pro- vide information to further conservation and restoration of wetlands, especially in cooperation with government and other NGO’s .

In March, I participated in a webinar on water science strategy for Living WaterSmart. I gave some input into the technical discussion, and also made a case for citizen science: what us naturalists can contribute, especially since we often have long-term knowledge of sites. ◊

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OTHER REPORTSBC Nature Camp and Field Activities Report 2011 and Upcoming 2012

Anne Murray

Camps and field activities are a great way for BC Nature members to meet fellow naturalists while enjoying British Columbia’s spectacular scenery and wildlife. Last year, one regular camp, two exploratory camps

and two bird blitzes were held, catering to a wide diversity of natural history interests. Thanks to all the 2011 organizers!

The 2011 events were reported on in detail at the FGM 2011, but a quick recap is in order here. The Fraser Can-yon Field Camp, April 28 to May 1st, was organized by Chilliwack Field Naturalists in cooperation with the Hope Mountain Centre, and provided a great opportunity to explore the Canyon with experts in archaeology, geology, birds and botany. A second camp, planned by Comox Valley Naturalists for Strathcona Park in mid-July, unfor-tunately had to be cancelled. Discussion at the FGM clarified that the heavy snow lingering in the mountains was the main factor in lack of registrations.

2011 was the inaugural year for the Skagit Bird Blitz and participants reported it a great success. The Manning Park Bird Blitz also attracted a full slate of birders from near and far. Both Blitzes were jointly sponsored by BC Nature and the Hope Mountain Centre for Outdoor Learning (www.hopemountain.org), with the Centre doing the organizational work and managing both events. Our thanks to Scott Denkers, Kelly Pearce and their team for all their work!

Two Exploratory Camps were organized by Bev and Bill Ramey. The first week of July backpacking trip headed into the Potato Range in the West Chilcotins, a change in the original destination due to snow pack. Campers contributed to the BC Breeding Bird Atlas, surrounded by alpine flowers and the stunning backdrop of the Coast Mountains. The second Exploratory Camp destination saw nine backpackers hiking in the South Chilcotins, up Tyaughton Creek to the Fortress Ridge and Castle Mountain area. Held the third week of July, hikers recorded Breeding Bird Evidence for the Atlas, while enjoying the craggy spires and alpine flowers, made even more dra-matic by the rapidly changing weather.

The following Camps and Field Activities will take place in 2012:

1. Salt Spring Island Camp based at Cusheon Lake Resort and organized by Nieke Visser and the Salt Spring Island Trail and Nature Club, is back by popular demand, on June 4 to 8. This camp was booked up on registration day and there is a waiting list!

2. Lillooet Naturalists are offering a fall camp, October 1 to 6, featuring an alpine hike, a cultural tour with the St’at’imc, a geology outing and a train trip to Seton Portage. Anyone who has attended previous trips with the Lillooet Naturalists will know they put on an excellent, fun event. See www.lillooetnaturalistssociety.org for more information.

3. The Skagit Valley Bird Blitz will take place May 4 to 6, 2012, the Mount Robson Bird Blitz, June 9 to 10, 2012, and the Manning Bird Blitz 15 to 17, 2012. Bird Blitzes are a fun weekend of bird watching, counting and social activities. See Scott Denkers article in the Spring issue of BCnature to learn more about them.

4. A spring camp in Tofino has been suggested for 2013, but we are always looking for more volunteers to help organize events. Clubs are encouraged to host a camp and showcase their area. Please contact the Camp Committee chair, Anne Murray, sanderling@uniserve.com for more information. ◊

B.C. NATURALISTS’ FOUNDATIONBob Dyer

Since our BC Naturalists’ Foundation was started 21 years ago we have provided over $116,000 in grants to member clubs of BC Nature for their conservation and education projects. Our objective is to build invested

capital which will provide a steady and reliable flow of income which in turn can be used each year to fund club projects.

Our investments in 2011 kept pace with the financial markets, which essentially meant that there was no capital appreciation, but in the first quarter of 2012 our equities did advance significantly and our total assets reached a new high of $385,000. About half of our capital is managed by the Vancouver Foundation, and the other half is invested directly by our directors to produce the cash flow we need for our operations. Our expenses are very low, since we have no paid staff or office space. We received no major legacies or bequests in 2011, but regular

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donations from members of BC Nature and our Foundation directors amounted to over $5,000, which was $1,000 more than the previous year.

In 2011 we provided $8,000 to BC Nature for grants to member clubs. BC Nature added $743, so a total of $8,743 was distributed early in 2012 to clubs whose applications for grants were successful. The following club projects received grants: Abbotsford Mission Nature Club New club brochure and new wildlife viewing Abbotsford Mission Nature Club #2 Brochure for children Burke Mountain Naturalists 19th annual Treefest Celebration Comox Valley Naturalists Wetland restoration Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Little Campbell River signage Pender Harbour & District Society Iris Griffith Centre nature school program Saltspring Trail and Nature Club Improving the Jack Foster Trail

At the end of 2012 we expect to be able to provide a similar amount for Club Support grants, and these funds will be available for distribution early in 2013. ◊

Young Naturalist ClubsKristine Webber

Thank you to the Central Okanagan Naturalists for hosting this year’s AGM and welcoming the Young Natu-ralists’ Club of BC Society!

The YNC is an exciting club-based nature program for children aged 5-12 and their families. Children dis-cover nearby nature on Explorer Days with local natural history experts, read about BC plants and wildlife in NatureWILD magazine and participate in an Action Awards program, stewardship activities and citizen science projects. YNC was founded in 2000 with a single club and as a program of the Vancouver Natural History Society; in 2006 it became an independent charity whose constitution recognizes its special relationship with BC Nature.

Some adventures enjoyed by the 900 YNC members in our over 50 Nature Clubs around BC in 2011: paddling the waters around Vancouver Island, camping in the Skagit Valley, cleaning flying squirrel nest boxes, exploring wetland wildlife with dip nets and microscopes, scouring beaches and shorelines collecting garbage, hiking the Dewdrop to track Bighorn Sheep, planting trees at Sterline Ridge Park, exploring the secret bog at Stanley Park and surveying amphibian populations along Nanaimo Lakes Road. They learned basic outdoor first aid skills and how to identify trees, tracks and mushrooms, discovered which plants are important for pollinators, how to use a compass and survive in the bush, as well as other skills during the more than 200 Explorer Day Adventures they took with their Club Leaders . Members also took part in individual actions for wildlife by completing the Bronze, Silver and Gold level YNC Action Awards, as well as participating in Citizen Science projects such as counting species during provincial Bioblitzes or birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count, photographing BC butterflies for a PhD project, or counting birds during the inaugural BC Christmas Bird Count for kids. Some of our members’ efforts were duly recognized with awards and articles in local papers. The YNC recognizes and thanks each of our members for Stepping up for Nature

Interest in the YNC continues to grow in 2011, the YNC welcomed a number of new clubs: Hornby Island, Mayne Island, Quadra Island, Victoria Home Learners, Cowichan Valley Home Learners, Langley Maple Dis-covery Gardens, University Hill School Club, and Lillooet. As well, in 2011 the YNC joined conversations about the importance of children and nature at the local, national and international level and has engaged in dialogue to strengthen the charitable sector as a whole. YNC was a delegate at Healthy by Nature conference andthe National Summit for the Charitable and Non-profit Sector, and is on the Standards Council for Imagine Canada’s Standards Program to develop capacity in the Sector.

All this activity was made possible thanks to the support and effort of many individuals. The YNC is a group effort – our 90 leaders, 3 part-time staff, NatureWILD editors, Board, parents and Explorer Day guests are all working together to connect children with nature. Thanks to the support of funders and donors the YNC has resources to develop and sustain an exemplary nature discovery program for BC children. Thanks to herculean fundraising efforts this year the YNC realized an increase in revenues of 37% from the previous year that helped us to hire a new Club Coordinator, Tammy Keetch, who has visited many of the clubs and by providing better communication has increased support for our clubs and leaders. For a detailed list of our donors and funders please see the YNC Annual Report available online at www.ync.ca or at the YNC display table.

_______________________________________2011 Annual Report_____________________________ 23

A huge and special thank you is extended to our dedicated volunteer club leaders who share their passion for nature with member families and are inspiring a new generation of naturalists. As our president and founder Daphne Solecki so often says, “YNC Leaders are the lifeblood of the organizations and without them, there would not be a YNC in BC”. A great debt of gratitude is also due to the many Explorer Day guests and nature mentors who volunteer and share their expertise and varied outdoor experience and skills with club members – these individuals make nature come alive for kids and their families.

The YNC acknowledges and appreciates our special relationship with BC Nature. We benefit from sharing office space and working together at an organizational level but most importantly many of the BC Nature Clubs work closely with local YNCs. The connection between the Kelowna YNC and Central Okanagan Naturalists is a wonderful example of this symbiosis that you can read about in the last issue of BC Nature Magazine (or speak with Pat or Fiona). I invite all BC Nature Clubs to get to know the YNC Club in their area (you can find a listing at www.ync.ca). Some day in the not too distant future these youth members may be joining you on your club outings or protecting nearby wild species and spaces through their actions.

The 2011 YNC Board of Directors was a wonderfully engaged and skilled group who did much in addition to developing policy and overseeing the governance of the Young Naturalists’ Club of BC. Some board members are also YNC Leaders and brought that expertise to their role on the board, others volunteered at community events, edited NatureWILD Magazine, organized special projects like the Past Member Survey or helped with program planning and evaluation. Thank you to Daphne Solecki, George Bangham, Eva Nagy, Bob Peart, Laura Estrada, Ruth Foster, Vanessa Lee, Lynne Carlson and Ian McKeachie. This year we also recognized the efforts and support of a previous Board Member Rob Butler by making him an Honorary Board Member.

This year marks a special milestone in the maturation of the YNC – you may have heard the rumour that our president, founder and chief cheerleader Daphne Solecki is stepping down from her role as President of the Board at this AGM. It is fitting then, that Daphne is about to be recognized with a BC Achievement award. The citation reads: “Daphne Solecki has shared her lifelong love of nature by launching a program for families and schools that introduces children to BC’s diverse natural heritage. As a result, The Young Naturalists’ Clubs of BC have shown more than 10,000 children BC’s wild spaces and species. Daphne has inspired a generation of young people with a connection to and responsibility for the environment.” We agree! We hope you will help us cel-ebrate Daphne’s retirement from her Board Presidency and welcome incoming Board President Ian McKeachie at this year’s AGM in Kelowna. ◊

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Proposed Resolutions 2012BC Nature AGM – May 13 2012

Resolutions Committee: Dick Stace-Smith and Anne Murray

Index:Resolution 2012 - 01: Freedom of information on scientific papersResolution 2012 - 02: South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve ¡V EstablishResolution 2012 - 03: Fraser River Gravel Removal RevisitedResolution 2012 - 04: The Fisheries Act Habitat ProtectionResolution 2012 - 05: Immediate Implementation of BC Trails Strategy

Resolution 2012-01: Freedom of Information on Scientific PapersSubmitted by: Comox Valley Naturalists Society

Whereas freedom of information is critical to a balanced and informed debate on the state of the environment and on public input in environmental decisions, and

Whereas taxpayers pay for scientific research by Canadians at home and abroad, and

Whereas until recently every Canadian citizen could access the results of this research either electronically through the National Research Council Press, or in hard copy journals both in public libraries and university libraries which are open to the public, and

Whereas with the recent privatization of the National Research Council press and the subsequent restriction of access to computer terminals or electronic library access sites, the public no longer has free access to informa-tion it has already paid for, and

Whereas this restricts the public understanding of science, and unfairly jeopardizes the interests of citizens engaged in environmental defense andWhereas similar restrictions on freedom of information have led American lawmakers to introduce a bill to re-introduce free public access to scientific research: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/02/lawmak-ers-reintroduce-public-access.html?ref=em and similar concerns are being voiced in Europe.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that BC Nature urge the federal and provincial governments to mandate that scientific papers funded with taxpayer money be made freely accessible on the Internet.

Resolution 2012-02: South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve - Establish Jointly submitted by: South Okanagan Naturalists Club, Central Okanagan Naturalists Club & Vermillion Fork Field Naturalists

Whereas the BC provincial government announced in early 2012 that although the 8 year, tax payer funded feasibility study for a proposed South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve resulted in the conclu-sion that the park was feasible and with recommendations on how to move forward, the Province did not feel that there was enough public support at this time, and

Whereas two scientific polls conducted in the region (2009 Similkameen Valley Planning Society and the 2010 McAllister Public Opinion Research) showed strong local support for a national park, (SVPS showed that less than 20% opposed the national park, and the McAllister poll showed that 63% of local residents support the national park), and

Whereas the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, representing 3,200 businesses, have written a letter to the Premier expressing their support for the national park, andWhereas on the basis of dialogue with Parks Canada staff, most of the ranchers with grazing rights in the pro-posed park area are interested in continuing discussion with Parks Canada representatives to develop a collab-orative model that would ensure the viability of ranches as well as the establishment of the national park, and

Whereas in February 2012 the four South Okanagan Bands (Lower Similkameen, Osoyoos, Upper Similka-meen, and Penticton) with the full support of the Okanagan Nation Alliance Chiefs Executive Council an-nounced that they are seeking a common vision for a Syilx/Parks Canada protected area, and Grand Chief

_______________________________________2011 Annual Report_____________________________ 25

Phillip strongly urged both the Governments of Canada and British Columbia to revisit their premature and hasty decision to abandon the South Okanagan Park proposal until full consultations have taken place with the First Nations of the south Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, and Okanagan Nation (Syilx)and

Whereas the size of park area under consideration has been reduced by excluding Snowy Protected Area, thereby addressing some concerns, and

Whereas from the ecological perspective there are many urgent reasons for creating this national park, includ-ing:• the unique ecology of a very small and easily disturbed area that will soon be irrevocably altered due to

significant human pressures.• more than 50% of Red and Blue-listed species in the province are dependent on the area and its rapidly

diminishing habitat for their survival.• the importance of the South Okanagan-Similkameen to endangered birds is recognized internationally

through the designation of five sites (White Lake, Vaseux Lake, Kilpoola Lake, Osoyoos Oxbows and Chopaka Customs) as nationally significant Important Bird Areas, and

Whereas the Interior Dry Plateau Natural Region, including shrub steppe, Ponderosa Pine forests, and grass-lands, is a unique category which Parks Canada identified for representation in Canada¡¦s national park sys-tem and cannot finish Canada¡¦s National Park Systems Plan without a national park in this region, andWhereas Parks Canada has the financial resources to purchase private lands from willing sellers, and the Prov-ince can transfer unencumbered lands to Parks Canada, to establish the national park, and

Whereas Parks Canada has the necessary resources to manage the new park to a high ecological standard, and

Whereas Parks Canada is required by law to protect endangered species and restore critical habitat affording the strong protection necessary to ensure the long-term persistence of the many species in the area that are on the verge of extirpation or extinction due to climate change, population growth, agricultural expansion and resource extraction pressures, andWhereas there are well-documented and well-known economic and job development benefits accruing to com-munities located near national parks, and this could become a park where Canadians and international tourists alike could experience and enjoy the striking scenery as well as the fascinating flora and fauna this region has to offer, therefore

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that BC Nature urge the provincial and federal government to complete the Feasibility Study through to its conclusion and formally move to the next stage of national park reserve estab-lishment.

Resolution 2012-03: Fraser River Gravel Removal RevisitedSubmitted by Nature Vancouver

Whereas the gradient of the Fraser River declines on its approach to the sea so that the river deposits its gravel load in the reach between Hope and Mission, while the lighter sand is deposited further downriver, andWhereas in its natural state the gravel reach of the Fraser is braided with numerous gravel bar islands and side channels and the regular supply and onward movement of gravel within this reach renews aquatic habitats, and

Whereas the gravel reach and its channel-edge forests nurture a remarkably rich ecosystem, including at least 28 native fish species, some of the world¡¦s greatest Oncorhyncid salmon runs, and numerous riparian birds, mammals and amphibians, and

Whereas net deposition of gravel means that the river slowly raises its bed (aggrades), and that the dyking of the river has accelerated aggradation because the river can no longer distribute gravel over as wide a channel zone as formerly, and

Whereas raising the gravel bed raises the water surface and as this happens the degree of protection against floods afforded by the dykes declines which presents a major concern to human settlement, and

Whereas the build-up of gravel remains a slow process, with about 9 cm of aggradation (averaged over the length of the gravel reach) occurring in the second half of the 20th century, reduced significantly to just over 2

_______________________________________2011 Annual Report_____________________________ 26

cm by gravel extractions since the mid-20th century, and

Whereas removing gravel damages fish habitat, and

Whereas gravel is sought after for foundation construction material, but is not sufficiently valuable, economi-cally, to justify transporting it a great distance, and

Whereas in the late 1980s and 1990s gravel removal from the river was accelerated, largely for commercial rea-sons, but after fisheries authorities raised concerns over destruction of fish habitat, a moratorium was placed on gravel removal to allow time for scientific investigation, and

Whereas a gravel budget of the river was determined and in 2005, a federal-provincial agreement was reached on an acceptable volume of gravel that could be removed at selected sites, to counteract aggradation, and

Whereas the amount of gravel designated for removal annually amounted to about twice the estimated gravel influx and the program was meant to be experimental to determine the effectiveness of the strategy, but was not a great success since in most years after 2005, relatively little gravel was actually taken because of continu-ing concerns over damage to fish habitat, yet in a few years, large volumes were removed, not necessarily from the most appropriate sites, and

Whereas it has been determined that gravel removal for the purposes of flood control in the attempt to signifi-cantly lower river levels, far exceeds the amount that is considered ecologically acceptable to remove, andWhereas despite flood concerns, the water level has not been systematically measured along the river, andWhereas impacts on the fisheries remain uncertain due to insignificant monitoring, although for areas where gravel was removed, impacts do not appear to be major (with one major exception being the destruction of pink salmon at Big Bar in 2007), and

Whereas this uncertainty is the consequence of insufficient monitoring of the effects of gravel removal, likely because thorough monitoring is an exceptionally expensive exercise, and

Whereas disagreements amongst public authorities over the direction and effectiveness of the program have again resulted in a moratorium, and

Whereas recent investigations indicate the need for a new calculation of the ongoing gravel input, due to new research, namely: (i) rather than the previous calculation, which assumed a fairly constant and continual downriver movement of gravel, new research suggests that gravel input over the past fifty years has been the re sult of an exceptionally large down river movement of gravel due to upriver human activities during the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, namely the gold mining and other engi neering works in the Fraser Canyon and Cariboo regions, and (ii) calculations of volume of gravel have perhaps been exaggerated due to the unmeasured sand deposits within the gravel accumulations, and this lighter sand will move further downstream, leaving less total volume of materials in the gravel reach, therefore

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that BC Nature call on senior levels of government to continue the morato-rium on gravel removal until the gravel budget is better defined so that gravel removals from this world-class river, with its spawning salmon and rich habitats for numerous species will be done in an ecologically sustain-able manner, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that BC Nature call on senior levels of government to appropriately fund:

1. monitoring of the effects of gravel removal as it occurs,2. monitoring of water levels with respect to flood control concerns, and3. reassessment of the gravel input to accurately determine the gravel influx for the reach of the Fraser River between Hope and Mission.

Resolution 2012-04: The Fisheries Act Habitat ProtectionSubmitted by Comox Valley Nature (Comox Valley Naturalists Society)Whereas Canadians expect their government, regardless of party or persuasion, to base environmental legisla-tion on the best available science, and

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Whereas environmental legislation must be objective and conform with publicly-perceived long-term objec-tives and in keeping with stated government policy, and

Whereas to remain consistent with publicly-stated objectives, not to pollute and to protect the environment for forthcoming generations, habitat protection must be enhanced, and

Whereas Sections 35 and 36 of The Fisheries Act were enacted in 1976 as a result of now classic work done by the Yale Forestry School, known as ¡§The Hubbard Stream Experiments¡¨, and work done by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada and are based on a sound scientific foundation which is still fundamental to our understanding of riparian processes today; and

Whereas in spite of enforcement problems, since their inception in 1976, Sections 35 and 36 of The Fisheries Act have served Canadians well by leading to the recovery and protection of fish and wildlife populations, mitigating otherwise irreversible development impacts and providing guidance for the protection of endan-gered species and the related stated objectives of the Species at Risk Act.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that BC Nature strongly urge the government of Canada to refrain from any modification of sections 35 and 36 of The Fisheries Act which would limit habitat protection to “commercial species” and prioritize the economic needs of development and industry.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in keeping with legal precedent in Federal Court (2012 FCA 4 ) concern-ing protection of endangered species, such as the Nooksack Dace (Rhinichys cataractae), BC Nature urge the government of Canada to extend sections 35 and 36 of The Fisheries Act to more strongly specify the need to protect ¡§critical habitat¡¨ and enhance enforcement.

Resolution 2012-05: Immediate implementation of BC Trails StrategySubmitted by the Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club

Whereas trails are the primary method for naturalists to access the natural areas so fundamental to knowing and enjoying the dynamics, peace and solitude of nature, and

Whereas the province has been soliciting public input on a Trails Strategy for British Columbia since 2007, and

Whereas there is a widespread pattern of motorized off-road vehicle (ORV) users accessing and abusing tradi-tional hiking trails, leaving them in deplorable condition, and

Whereas non-motorized trails were the first to be established on the landbase and thus the non-motorized community has the most to lose when ORVs take over or render impassible their traditional routes, and

Whereas there are very few trails built specifically for ORV use while the number of people owning and oper-ating them increases annually, and

Whereas it is unsafe and dangerous to have motorized and non-motorized users on the same trails, and

Whereas there is increasing conflict between the motorized and non-motorized communities over the use of trails, and

Whereas tourism depends upon use-designated, safe, signed trails for visitors to enjoy, and

Whereas it is imperative that existing trails be identified by user group, that illegal trails be restored to a natural state, and that new trails be planned so that each user group has certainty about where they can safely enjoy their activity;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that BC Nature urge the BC government to implement and fund the BC Trails Strategy immediately to address the safety, uncertainty, economic and legal issues the current situation has created and perpetuates.

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BC Nature - Club DirectorsLower Mainland Club DirectorsAbbotsford-Mission Nature Club Jacqueline ReznickAlouette Field Naturalists Duanne VandenbergBowen Nature Club Everhand van Lith de JeudeBurke Mountain Naturalists Elaine GoldsChilliwack Field Naturalists’ Society Helen TurnerDelta Naturalists Society Ursula EasterbrookFriends of Semiahmoo Bay Society Marg CuthbertLangley Field Naturalists Annabel GriffithsLittle Campbell Watershed Society David RileyNorth Shore Urban Bear Club Betty CarringtonPender Harbour & District Wildlife Society Royal City Field Naturalists Gareth LlewellynSquamish Environmental Conservation Society Correy MathesonStoney Creek Environmental Committee Alan JamesSunshine Coast Natural History Society Tony GreenfieldSurrey Environmental Partners (SEP) Deb JackTexada Stickleback Group Association Tim AtwoodNature Vancouver Dorothy Nelson Nature Vancouver Bev RameyWhistler Naturalists Society Kristina SwerhunWhite Rock and Surrey Naturalists Society Esther JohnsonWildResearch Christine RockKootenay Club Directors

Fernie Nature Club Bob LivseyRocky Mountain Naturalists Greg RossWest Kootenay Naturalists Association Joan SnyderNorthern Club Directors

Bulkley Valley Naturalists Anne HetheringtonKitimat Valley Naturalists April MacLeodMacKenzie Nature Observatory Vida TattriePrince George Naturalists Club Carol FairhurstQuesnel Naturalists Lorna SchleySkeena Naturlists Judy ChryslerTimberline Trail & Nature Club Meredith ThorntonWilliams Lake Field Naturalists Fred McMechan

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Thompson Okanagan Shuswap Club DirectorsCentral Okanagan Don GuildKamloops Naturalists Teresa CorboyLillooet Naturalists Club Vivian Birch JonesNicola Naturalists Alan BurgerNorth Okanagan Naturalist Club Pamela JenkinsNorth Shuswap Naturalists Club Rudy VervoortOliver-Osoyoos Naturalists Skip KingShuswap Naturalists Club Janet PattinsonSouth Okanagan Naturalists Club Dennis St. JohnVermillion Forks Field Naturalists Trish ReidVancouver Island Club DirectorsArrowsmith Naturalists Sandra GrayComox Valley Naturalists Society Sharon NiscakCowichan Valley Naturalists Society Genevieve SingletonNanoose Naturalists Carolyn DoddPender Island Field Naturalists Gerald McKeatingRithet’s Bog Conservation Society Sharon Forrester

FEDERATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA NATURALISTSFINANCIAL STATEMENTS

December 31, 2011 (unaudited)

Index to Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2011

Review Engagement Report

Financial Statements

Statement of Financial Position .............................................................31

Statement of Changes in Net Assets .............................................................31

Statement of Operations .................................................................................32

Statement of Cash Flows.................................................................................34

Notes to Financial Statements .......................................................................34

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BC Nature wishes to thank our many generous members and donors who assist with our activities, both through monetary support and through contributions of time and expertise. We also appreciate the support from the several groups and agencies we partner with on our projects and programs. A huge thanks to the many Executive and Directors who donated to BC Nature through their travel and other expenses.

Aardvark Armadillo Tents, Adrian Geaghty, Alan & Kathryn Young, Ann & MikkelSchau, Ann Ecclestone, Annabel Griffiths, Anne & Len Murray, Anne Algard, Anny Scoones, Art & Joy Johnson, Audrey & Nils Hoeg, B. Davison, Barbare E. Hall, BC Orthepedic Asso., Bernice Ramsdin, Beryl Borris, Betty Collins, Bev Ramey, Beverly Brunet, B.H. Jones, Bill Aaroe, Bob Peart, Brian Bjarnason, Brian Coleman, Bruce Fryer, Bruce Tait, Carlie Holland, Carol MacMillan, Carol Muirhead, Charles Ramey, Charles Bailey, Charles Dorworth, Charles Powell, Chis Pielou, Christine Hoffmann, Claire Hughs, Cory Van Heck, C.S. Robertson, Cvaller & Allard van Veen, Cynthia Crampton, D. & J. Phelps, D. Mueller, Dana Griffith, Daphne Sanderson, Darcy Lazzarin, Darren & Claudia Copley, David & Pamela Helem, David & Rosemary Boyd, David Boyd, David Hutchins, David Paul Schorn, David Riley, Debra Herst, Dennis Webb, Denny Wagg, Desmond Belton, Diane Mothersil, Dianne Ward, Don G. Wilson, Donna McKenzie, Doreen Olson, Dorothy Danielson, Dorothy Morrison, Dorothy Nelson, Dr. Walton Langford, Dr. William Fairbank, Duanne Vandenberg, Ed & Hazel Beyon, Edward & Joyce Van Veenendaal, Eileen Sowerby, Elaine Golds, Eleanor Mae, Elena Klein, Elisabeth Scotson, Elizabeth Hofmeier, Elizabeth Lunam, Elizabeth Rhunstrom, Elizabeth Walker, Eric Marshall, Esther Johnson, Eva Williamson, Eve Szabo, Evelyn Lepin, F. Mackenzie, Fast Signs, Francis & Alan Vyse, Frank & Arden Moretti, Frank Hovenden, Fred Lesergent, Fred McMechan, Freda Easy, Fredrick Henry Stevens, Gary Runka, Gary Williams, George Brooks, George Lucas, Gertrude Tucker, Glenda Ross, Gloria Lazzarin, Greg Ross, Gwenneth Wilson,Harold Sellars, Harriet Hyde, Harriet Rueggeberg, Heather & Rolf Kellerhals, Helen Ruckle, Helen W. Smith, Helga Bonner, Herb Young, Hilary Crowley, Hua Franks, Hugh Dabney, Ian Routley, Ilkiko Szabo, James & Anthea Bryan, James Hamilton, James Simmons, James Sims, Janet Pattinson, Jean Hammer, Jean Sacenieks, Jeff Ilutowiez, Jen King, Jim Wisnia, Joan Best, Joan Domer, Joan Ford, John Lewall, John Neville, John & Anita Hagen, John Reynolds, John Whittaker, Joop Burgerjon, Joseph & Irene Orgnero, Josephine Brown, Joy Penno, Joyce Folbigg, Joyce Harrison, Joyce Morton, Judith Molly Bell, Ju-lia Roberts, Juliet Simon, June Banwell, June Cleghorn, June Kitamura, Karen Barry, Katharine Spall, Kathe Parsons, Kazue Goto, Ken & Rosemary Maitland, Kenneth & Shelley May, Krista Englund, L.A. Gosselin, Leo Rankin, Lillian M. Vigurs, Linda Halls, Lindsay & Annabel Griffiths, Lois & John Perry, Lois Higgins, Lorna Schley, Louise Paterson, Lyn Farquharson, Malcolm Martin, Marck & Allison Petersen, Marg Cuthbert, Margaret McKenzie, Margaret Pahrs, Margaret Shephard, Marie Ellen O’Shaghnessy, Marilyn Miser, Marion Innes, Marion Marsel, May Murray, Meg Fellowes, Mel & Evi Coulson, Melva & Gordon Bradshaw, Merriene Duncan, Michael Dezell, Michael Force, Mr. & Mrs. Coffey, Mr. Jeanine Lucas, Mrs. J.N. Braithwaite, Nancy Krueger, Nancy Wilkin, Nanette Clare, Neil Bourne, Nieke Visser, Nona & Peter Rowat, Norma York, Ordell & Kathryn Steen, P. & A. Anderson, Pam Jenkins, Pamela Sinclair, Pat Bourgeois, Patricia Stubbs, Pelee Wings Nature Store, Peter & Judy Stockdale, Peter Ballin, Phil & Wanda Ranson, Phyllis Henderson, R. Wayne Nelson, R.C. Nash, Rick Clendenning, Rita Aptekmann, Roger Sims, Ron Speller, Rosemary Fox, Ross Peck, Rudy Vervoort, S.W. Webster, Sandy Goldman, Sara Morton, Sharon & Serge Planidin, Sharon Slack, Sherry Kirkvold, Shiela Souliere, Sieg Achermen, Steve Vida, Sue Hemphill, Susan Fisher, Susan Fletcher, Suzette Ford, Ted & Gwen Greenwood, Teresa Corboy,Trish Reid, Ursula Easterbrook, Uta Schuler, Vera Morelli, Vivian Birch-Jones, Walter Schoen, Walter Thorne, Walter Walmseley, Wendy Dadalt, Wendy Hunt, Williams Heidrick, Wilma Sotas

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BC Nature wishes to acknowledge with thanks, the grants received to assist with our projects from funders, including:

Environment CanadaFederal Human Resources Service Canada

BC Ministry of Environment, BC Parks Habitat Conservation Trust Foundations

Nature CanadaBird Studies Canada,

BC Naturalists FoundationMountain Equipment Co-opBC Conservation Foundation

Canadian Wildlife FoundationCommunity Gaming Grants