Fall 2009 Acorn Newsletter - Salt Spring Island Conservancy

8/8/2019 Fall 2009 Acorn Newsletter - Salt Spring Island Conservancy

1/12

Acornthe

he Newsletter o the Salt Spring Island Conservancy Number 42, Fall 2009

http://saltspringconservancy.ca/events

Inside:Presidents Page .................. 2Directors Desk .................. 3Inside SSIC

New Directors..................4Whats On...........................5Natural History

Dwindling Wings.............6Youth Steward Profle..........7SSIC News..........................8Rabbit-Proo Garden...........9SSIC Update

Stewards in Training .......10Turtle Activity..................10

Good Business....................11

Conservancy Stewardship

Tidal heron photo by Todd Carnahan

Project grows

Te Salt Spring Island Conservancy is pleased to announcethe continuation o the Stewardship Project through undingrom the Habitat Stewardship Program, Public ConservationAssistance Fund, and British Columbia ransmissionCorporation. Following ve years o successul stewardshipprojects, the 2009 project builds on much o the ongoing

work that the Conservancy is involved in with Species AtRisk on the island, as well as developing new areas o ocus.

With over 90% o the island privately owned, landownerstewardship is a vitally important aspect o conservation.

Some o the ongoing work the Conservancy is doingincludes landowner contact, outreach and education, andsurveys or a number o rare species, including the sharp-tailed snake, Western painted turtle, phantom orchid, greatblue heron, common nighthawk, olive-sided ycatcher, andred-legged rog. Te project will also include spring night

surveys or owls, summer surveys or rare butteries, and wetland amphibian surveys. We will continue our wormonitoring the yellow montane violet and other rare plantson Mt. uam, as well as surveying or Western bluebirds intheir associated habitats. Tere are over 70 bluebird boxesinstalled on Salt Spring Island in an eort to help reestablishnesting sites or the once common songbird.

Te Salt Spring Island Conservancy launched its new website in June 2009 (www.saltspringconservancy.ca), splease check out our new look and browse or interestingeatures like our Species At Risk pages (with photographsdescriptions, and links to 45 rare species on Salt Spring)Stewards in raining, Owls o Salt Spring Island, AmphibianIdentication, Conservation Options, and details about

our our Nature Reserves. Watch or our ongoing series oeducational events and presentations or the public all yearlong.

Our biologists will continue to work with landownersand volunteers interested in conservation issues such asland restoration, habitat enhancement, Species At Riskstewardship, and long-term conservation options. We havea busy year ahead o us andlook orward to meetingmany o you throughout the

year. I you are interestedin supporting the work

that the Conservancydoes, becoming a memberor making a donation are

wonderul ways to oer your support. For moreinormation, please contactthe Salt Spring IslandConservancy at [email protected] 250-538-0318.~ Laura Matthias


2/12 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Presidents Page

Falls bountyFall has its own sense o renewal as the maple leaves oerthemselves or mulch and the winter veggie starts lookstrong and snow-proo. Our small but vigorous conservancyalso is constantly renewing itsel thanks, in large part, to theinterest and support o the membership.

We have several new board members who bringknowledge, experience and dedication to conservation oour natural world. I continue to be amazed and touched bythe genuine, deep commitment so many o our communitymembers demonstrate through their hours o volunteer

work or SSIC. wo o the executive are stepping back ora breather but we expect they will still be active in the green

world.Our appreciation goes out to Bob Weeden who served

as president or the past 2 years and who has served in thiscapacity several times beore. He will stay on the boardand the executive. His experience is invaluable, his adviceconsistently thoughtul, his commitment unassailable andhis puns remarkably and predictably awul. Our deep thanksto Bob or all his contributions and his lielong work orenvironmental protection. Samantha Beare also has servedas an ofcer and was the treasurer or many years. She was oenormous help in getting us organized and in understandingand communicating the various rules, regulations andnuances o managing a non-prot organization. We alreadymiss her energy and creativity at the board and hope she willcome back to the table invigorated and as eisty as ever.

We have been busy even over the languid summer. We

have, or example, had a meeting with our partners in Mt.Erskine: B.C. Parks and Nature Conservancy o Canadaabout how best to manage the ragile grandeur o that landand we agreed to a plan. One o the aspects o the plan is thatParks will now designate the park as a Special Features zone

which describes it as their most protected category outside oa wilderness area. We will continue to monitor Mt. Erskineand hope to be establishing signage and trail marking in thenear uture.

But last and oremost I want to acknowledge the sta oSSIC. Tey work long hours, they are grossly underpaid butthey bring enthusiasm, expertise and a broad perspective totheir (and our) work. Tey deserve our constant support andappreciation

Daily we all see beings in our environment that need tobe nourished and destruction that needs to be addressed andplants, trees, wildlie and habitat that require protection. Wethank all o you who are committed to this protection: Sopress on, dont be ashamed to hug a tree and dont orget tosign up as many people as you can in SSIC.~ Maureen Bendick

Buttery Walk

School Program 2009

May 2009


3/12Fall 2009

Directors Desk

Directors Desk

Donating is Now Just a Click AwayWe opened a CanadaHelps account earlier this year, makingit really easy or donors who would rather charge donationsto their credit card through a web site. Clicking on theCanadaHelps icon on the ront page o our web site takes

you straight to the SSI Conservancy donation orm on theCanadaHelps web site. I you would like to make monthlydonations throughout the year it is easy to set up a scheduleor charging your credit card. You can make changes to

your donation schedule or amount at any time. Donorreceive a charitable donation receipt by e-mail immediatelydirectly rom CanadaHelps. CanadaHelps retains a 3%adminstration ee, but there are no other charges or servicessuch as processing the charitable receipts or selling donatedsecurities (which can be donated through the web site as

well). For more on CanadaHelps: www.canadahelps.org

Monthly Donations from an Account(rather than a credit card)I you would like to set up a monthly donation as an automatic

withdrawal rom your bank account we can set that up aswell. Just contact us or the orm to ll in, which we can mailor e-mail to you.

Te great thing about monthly donations, no matter whichroute you take, is that you can spread out the cost over the

year. Even small amounts (even $5), when given every month

add up to signicant support by the end o the yearand weappreciate them all the more because we know how much

will be available to us each month. For monthly donors, wesend out one tax receipt or the total amount in Decembereach year.

Wrong Addresses Cost Us 10 Times MoreWhen we mail your ACORN to an address that is no longercorrect, the post ofce charges us $2.32 or each returnedpiece. It cost us 25 cents to mail it under the publicationsmail rates, but part o that agreement is that we have to payor returns. So, we end up investing $2.57 cents in postageper ACORN i we dont have your correct address. Tatsmy long-winded explantion or asking that you let us know

when you move so that we can keep our records up to date.

SoElectronic Acorns Anyone?More and more people preer their ACORNs by e-mail so i

you would like to switch away rom a paper copy, just let meknow: [email protected]

~ Linda Gilkeson

What a Legacy!

Would you like to be someone who helped protectthe rarest ecosystem in British Columbia? And the 45endangered species that live there?

You do just that when you leave a bequest to theSalt Spring Island Conservancy. Living on this amazingisland, with the Coastal Douglas Fir ecosystem all aroundus, most o us dont realize that this rare combinationo land and climate is limited to just the inner southcoast. Only 2% o this ecosystem is protected by parksand nature reserves. Te rest is under pressure rom ourgrowing populationso our work is more urgent thanever. Small or large, every git helps us build a stronglocal conservation organization, dedicated to protectingthe natural environment o the island orever.

Ask or our brochure, Giving or the Future, orpick up a copy rom your nancial advisor. It is alsoavailable on our web site.

We have a NEW E-mail address:[email protected]

A reminder that our new e-mail address or SSIC and toreach the Executive Director (Linda Gilkeson) is:

[email protected]

Our old e-mail will continue to work until next spring,but now is a good time to update your address book.

Here are our other sta e-mail addresses:

Susan Dann:[email protected] Annschild: [email protected] Matthias: [email protected]

AND please dont orget to tell us when your e-mail

address changeswe dont want to lose contact!



inside ssic

New directors welcomedThree Cheers for Five New Directors!

Members at our June AGM chose new directors ater ahardly ought election campaign. Here is a quick prole:

Paul Burke

Artist Paul has lived on SSI or13 years. With his wie AnnaGustason, they built and run Blue Horse Gallery. Paulhas been interested in environmental education or many

years and has volunteered in classrooms in Vancouver andon Salt Spring Island. He has worked with our Stewardsin raining school program and has been a member o theSSIC Education committee or 5 years. He is an enthusiasticamateur naturalist.

Susan HannonA retired proessor

o terrestrial ecology,Susan moved to SSIpermanently in January.She taught ornithology,animal behaviour, ecologyand conservation at theUniversity o Albertaor 25 years. Her mostrecent research centredon the eects o orestragmentation on birds.She served on scientic

advisory panels orgovernment, orestry corporations and conservation groups(e.g. Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative). Susan

was an active researcher in the Sustainable Forest Networkin Alberta and is now active in Garry oak conservation. Shechairs the SSIC Stewardship Committee.

Donna MartinCommunity activist Donnamoved to SSI over 30 yearsago. She has wide-rangingcommunity service. She has

worked at the recycle depot where she organized the rsttoxic waste collection program,and has been on the Highland

Water Committee or six years.Donna led the Save WalkerHook Campaign. In 2008 sheorganized a major shorelineclean-up eort at North Beach and Walker Hook Roads,

with the support o MO, CRD and the SSIC. Donna hasbeen an active member o the Conservancy.

Maureen Milburn

A retired art historian, Maureen has lived on SSI or 28 yearsShe was a ounding memberand our-time president othe Conservancy and haschaired our Covenantscommittee. She has servedon the board o the Land

rust Alliance o BC, thIslands rust AdvisoryPlanning Commissionand the board o the

Community PlanningAssociation. She organizedand led the Crown LandsUse coalition in the1980s and in the early

1990s, negotiated purchase o the Mill Farm regional parkMaureen earned an Islands rust Community Stewardshipaward in 2002 or negotiating the covenant or the MaxwelLake Watershed. She is chairing our Land Restorationand Management Committee and is on the Acquisitionscommittee as well.

John SpragueA retired water pollution biologist,

John has lived on SSI or 15 years. John has put his expertise in waterbiology to excellent use or thecommunity. Relying on his scientic

judgement and award winning writing abilities are the GangesSewer Local Service Committee,Cusheon Lake Watershed SteeringCommittee, Islands rust Advisory Planning Commission

and the Water Preservation Society. Some years ago Johntaught another nominee, Susan Hannon -- its a smallworld!

Te downside o all o this is the retirement o 5 people whogave us their time and talents so generously. Samantha Beare

was reasurer or her 9 years on the Board. Brian Smallshawwas a director or 5 years, Maxine and Steve Leichter or 4years and Jean Brouard or 2 years. We are deeply grateul orall the work they did or the SSI Conservancy.


5/12Fall 2009

Join us for our 2009 Benet October 15th

Celebrating 14 Years of Conservation onSalt Spring

Starring Michael Ableman, organic grower extrordinaire,speaking on: Tinking Like An Island

Living on a small island provides us with clear, tangible anddaily reminders o the limits o trying to live sustainably.Nothing illustrates our island vulnerability more than ourood and how we secure it. For most o us on Salt Spring,only a tiny raction o what we eat is produced here while themajority travels long distances to our shores at high cost interms o energy and quality.

Tis is a rare opportunity to hear Michael Ableman, whowas described in a Sierra Club article as a gracious rebel

who knows that industrialized arming wrings the lie out oboth soil and communities. Michael will show that how weeed ourselves also has critical implications or how we livein nature. Ultimately, it has an impact on our conservationeorts, and shapes the ways we treat our landscapes and theorganisms they support. Te eedback loop on small islandslike ours is immediate; every human interaction, every morselo ood and bit o waste has clear links and impacts.

Venue: ArtspringDoors open: 6:30 pm or rereshments, including acornucopia o all ruit pies baked by volunteers, and a silent

auction set up in the lobby.Main event: 7:30 pm starting with a live auction or vechoice items, ollowed by our speaker.ickets: $16 each. On sale at the Artspring box ofce andthe SSI Conservancy ofce. It is open seating so comeearly, get a good seat, put in your auction bids and enjoy therereshments and displays.

Sept 25th (Friday) - Kayaking from Salt Springto Skagway. Hear a ascinating tale by Jack Rosenabout his recent expedition. He let Salt Spring on

April 2nd, covered 1200 nautical miles and arrivedin Skagway, Alaska 51 days later. Jack tells a story opaddling through British Columbias coastal wildernessto Alaskas bountiul waterways. Wildlie, wateralls,

whales, and whelks--stories o storms, pristinewaterways, wildlie encounters & camping adventures.In short, a trip o a lietime! Ive paddled or over 30

years along the coasts o B.C, Patagonia, Mexico andCosta Rica, but this Inside Passage excursion marked amilestone--living that long in the wilderness allowed aninsight and relationship with nature that Ill never takeor granted.

Community Gospel Hall, 7 pm. Admission by donation.October 15th (Tursday) - Tinking Like An Island:SSIC Annual Benet, with guest speaker MichaelAbleman. Artspring. 7:30. ickets $16 rom Artspringbox ofce and SSI Conservancy ofce.

November 27th (Friday) A personal account o lie inthe mountains o B.C. by author Chris Czajkowski.Lions Hall. 7:00 pm. Admission by donation.

Conservancy Events

Upcoming EventsFundraiser

NEW and Improved Web Site (Same Old Address)

Check out the new SSI Conservancy web site, which has been overhauled and updated by erri Bibby. It eatures a loto new material on native species on Salt Spring and our work with local species at risk. Tere is detailed inormation onthe Stewards in raining school program, including the complete program manual, and improved inormation or donors,

who can now donate on-line through the web site. We will continue to update and improve the site so let us know whatyou think.

www.saltspringconservancy.ca

Michael Ableman



natural history

Dwindling Wings

Te School Program needs volunteers now.Please call 250-538-0318.

Birds winged into my heart when I was very young, andstayed. Im inexpressively sad to know that every year thereare ewer o them. With a earul avidity akin to scanningobituaries or news o riends, I read the statistics about

North American birds. As my eyes and ears record thecomings and goings o birds on our little arm, Im anxiousover every suggestion o decline, irrationally cheered by everyanecdote o abundance.

Lately Ive been especially apprehensive about swallows. Ilike them tremendously. Tey are exquisitely graceul masterso ying, the quintessential skill o birds. (Scientists tell methat ostriches and penguins and kiwis are birds, too, a actI accept with hidden reluctance. o me they are one birdieshort o making the cut. Tey are curiosities, caricatures.Dodos.) Barn swallows are great neighbours, too, toleratingmy use o their barn as well as I accept their use o mine,

and teaching their young to ollow me around the orchardas my tree-tending, mowing and irrigating startle insects outo hiding.

Conservancy biologist Laura Matthias wrote in theDritwood this summer that barn swallows are now listedby the Province as threatened. Canada-wide declines havebeen severe, with average yearly declines o 3.3% rom 1968to 2006 and average annual declines in the 23 years rom1986 to 2006 o 6.1%. No one knows why. Most guessesocus on possible insect shortages and general declines inbuildings, hollow trees and other places good or nesting.

Last winter, Birdwatch Canada reported that 14 outo 18 kinds o Canadian birds that eed on insects in theair have suered signicant losses. Declines are greater inCanada than in the U.S., and greater in the East than in the

West. Species eeding higher in the air are worse o than

those catching insects close to the ground or in the orestcanopy. As examples o the categories, Salt Spring Islandscommon nighthawks (uncommon, actually) and two swits(Vauxs and black) are high-elevation eeders; swallows andthe purple martin hunt all open-air levels; and the western

wood peewee and ycatchers hunt at or below tree-top levelin the orest.

Long ago in New England I was ascinated by chimneyswits, hidden all day but thickly swirling like overgrowndragonies at dusk. We were children then, playing hide-and-seek while reies winked and night herons squawkedtoward the salt marshes and swits caught the last o daylight

as it ed the rising dark. Now the swits are almost gonehaving lost 96% o their numbers in eastern Canada between1968 and 2007. You cant go home again, om Wole wrotein Look Homeward, Angel, and the ate o the chimney switis but one more proo.

Robin Annschild, senior biologist with the Conservancyound a common nighthawk nest on Mount uam this July

while our or ve adults stitched the late aternoon skieabove. Other islanders saw or heard nighthawks this pastsummer as well. Tere were more, by ar, in my rst summershere in the early 1990s, and Im told that a generation earlier

armers oten ushed nighthawks rom nests in pasturesand mown hayelds. Hearsay and anecdote can be deeplymisleading, but in this case science supports them. Canada-

wide, nighthawk numbers have dropped since the start ocounts in 1968, the rate accelerating ater 1986. I wish Icould put it all down to nostalgia and bad memory, but Icant. Neither can I ignore the scarcity o the bary bird, oldQuick-three-beers, the olive-sided ycatcher, or the purplemartin.

Silent Springs and dwindling wings: these are a ew omy unavourite things.

~ Bob Weeden

Note: Bridgit Stutchburys Te Silence o the Songbirds(Harper Collins 2007) is a book with heart and goodscience.

Common nighthawk on rock photo by Jared Hobbs


7/12Fall 2009http://saltspringconservancy.ca/events

inside ssic

Youth Steward Profile: Kelsey MechKelsey Mech, winner o the Conservancys GISS Scholarshipor 2009, spent grades ve to nine living in a variety ocountries in North, Central and South America as her amilytraveled 14,000 nautical miles on their orty-oot sailboat.She gained a keen appreciation or the plight o much o

the worlds people as well as how important it is to savethe earth rom the negative impacts o human actions. Herlie work (all 18 years o it) has been dedicated to makinga dierence. She has already accomplished more than mostadults I know.

Much o Kelseys work has to do with education. I thinkshe believes i people can get the inormation and reallyunderstand it, they will change their behaviors positively. Shehopes to be a conservation biologist with a degree in either

wildlie or marine biology. With her straight A average, drive,passion and wisdom she will be brilliant at what ever shedecides to do. Everything Kelsey does relates to the Preserve

and Protect mandate. She loves this earth. She makes onebelieve in the saying, By wonder we are saved. She is doingher best and deserves to be acknowledged.

In Grade 11, Kelsey volunteered or the job o YouthCoordinator or the Salt Spring Energy Strategy group.She was the liaison student with the secondary and middleschools on education projects that had to do with climatechange and greenhouse gas emissions. Concerned aboutclimate change and environmental degradation, she cameup with the idea and planned a ull-day event to raiseawareness and promote action. She was the head student

coordinator or Environmental Action Day (EAD), heldin February 2008 at Gul Island Secondary School (GISS).She organized opening and closing speakers, and twenty-two workshops or this event. Six hundred students and staand many members o the community were provided withpresentations and interactive sessions under the categorieso: Climate Change, Ecosystem Destruction, Consumerism,Food Issues in Our Community and more. Te eventeatured a variety o high-prole presenters, including Dr.Andrew Weaver, award-winning proessor o Earth andOcean Sciences who was a key note speaker on ClimateChange, Simon Jackson, ounder and chair o the Spirit Bear

Youth Coalition and Ron Wright, author o a Short Historyo Progress. I attended and I can tell you it was an incredibleday lled with amazing speakers and workshops and it wasKelsey who made it happen.

Te EAD had a strong emphasis on ACION. Positiveeedback rom students and community members indicatedmany personal sustainable actions would be practiced inthe long term. Several ways o increasing sustainability inthe school and community were identied. As a ollow-up

to this event, Kelsey ounded and led the EnvironmentaAction Group Encouraging Responsibility (EAGER) at

GISS. Tis group is dedicated to tackling both long andshort-term environmental projects. EAGER has plantedand placed potted plants in every classroom, worked withsta and administration to reduce paper waste and increasethe use o recycled paper, is currently implementing acomposting program, and has acquired representation at theSchool Boards policy meetings. In the community, EAGERis collaborating with retail managers to promote eco-riendlyshopping by working to eliminate the use o paper andplastic bags at the tills, and by publishing an environmentallyriendly shopping guide.

For two years, Kelsey has been writing a monthly columnor the Dritwood Weekender newspaper in which she hasaddressed important issues such as climate change, animalexperimentation, wildlie trade, deorestation, consumerismand the Alberta ar Sands. She has recently co-initiateda letter writing campaign on Salt Spring, directed at ourederal government leaders to express concern about heenvironmental devastation o the Alberta ar Sands.

In 2008 she served as a member on the ProvincesClimate Action Youth Dialogue, a member o the BC YouthParliament and Salt Springs Healthy Ecosystems HealthyCommunity Initiative. Tese are a ew o the activities Kelsey

has involved hersel with, having to do with Climate Changein the last ew years. Kelsey is also the youngest committeemember on the Governance Committee o the ConservancyDid I also mention that she has a ull time job o being astudent, at which she excels? She is o to university and has

won a scholarship.I have worked with young people my entire working

career. Kelsey is special in her dedication to the earth. Sheis a great model.

Kelsey at Science World



SSIC news

Te purpose o the rusts Community Stewardship Awardis to recognize individuals and groups or programs or actionsthat have made a signicant contribution towards the objecto the rust (to preserve and protect). What a perect tthis award is or the Conservancys Stewards in rainingschool program which won one o the group awards. Tisprogram takes almost every student on Salt Spring, gradeone eight, every year, on all day nature eld experiencesinto a variety o special places and eco-systems on Salt SpringIsland and teaches them about how to best take care o theirenvironment and be good stewards o the land.

Tis is done one class at a time. Students are involvedin un, hands on, curriculum based, outdoor learningexperiences. Students are learning about nature..in nature(placed based learning). Te Conservancy is proud o thisprogram and could not be more pleased about winning thisStewardship Award. We want to thank our three terricschool program coordinators, Sarah Bateman, Cate McEwenand Kris Fullbrook, and all our wonderul volunteers (this

year over 50 o them) or all their dedication and hard work.We also want to give a huge thanks to Fernwood School ornominating us. As one volunteer remarked ater a eld trip,

Tey need more o this! We could not agree more, saidGelwicks, School Committee chair.But there is more good news. Te Conservancy did a bit

o their own nominating. Tey nominated Grade 12 studentKelsey Mech and Jackie Booth (posthumously) or individualawards and both won.

Kelsey is nothing short o incredible. She has a ull timejob (school) at which she excels (straight As) and she stillmanages to do more volunteer work than most adults. (Seepage 5 or a ull prole).

Jackie Booth died this April very unexpected and so it is

Salt Spring wins three stewardship awardsextremely tting, both sweet and sad at the same time, thatshe was awarded (posthumously) what the Conservancy so

wishes she could have received in person. Jacky Booth wawell known and well loved by all who worked in conservationon Salt Spring in the past 15 years.

She was a pioneer in the use o GIS or ecosystemmapping. She was always ready to help with any mappingproblems. Although her proessional ocus was on marineresource mapping and conservation, Jacky helped manydierent groups with their maps. She was an active volunteerand helped establish and lead the Fulord Elementary SchoolNature Club. She worked with Garry Holman and BrionyPenn to establish the South and West Conservation Groupon Salt Spring - this continued during the exada battles

when she hosted many o the strategy meetings in her homeTe groups she assisted varied rom Salmon Enhancemento Water Bird Watch, rom great blue herons to burweed

- i the topic had a conservation ocus then she usuallyvolunteered.

Jacky will be sorely missed by her riends ancolleagues.

Broom Bashers Hall of Fame

When people return the broom pullers they have borrowed we oten hear o eats o broom removal. One such tal

came rom Gwen McDonald, who cleared nearly 1 acreso broom this summer. Te results, as you see here, are 4piles o dead broom and a broom-less background. Gwenclaims there are great athletic advantages to broom clearingincluding nicely sculpted biceps that she never had beoreHer challenge on this site was the steep slope, which made ihard to gure out where to put the puller or best advantage

oo many times she ound hersel alling backwards downthe slope as the broom root suddenly popped out o theground. Her tips: Always wear blue jeans and long sleeves-- shin pads would be great i you have them!

Jean Gelwicks accepts award from Tust Chair, Sheila Malcomson

Gwen McDonald gets tough on broom


9/12Fall 2009

Humour

Rabbit-proofing your garden

Feral European hares (the big ones with solid colours) havelopped around a ew neighbourhood lawns or the whole

19 years Ive lived on Salt Spring Island. In the past 2 yearsa small, mottled brown rabbit with a cotton-pu tail hasshown up in more places and in bigger numbers. People whohave lived here 40 years or more recall seeing them decadesago, and some remember hunting them when the cottontails

were numerous.Biologists say the rst Eastern cottontail showed up

in BC in 1952, possibly rom rabbits stocked in 1927 and1931 or hunters in Washington State. Some were releasednear Sooke in 1964, too, and progeny o that bunch havespread up the east side o Vancouver Island as ar as Sayward.

Whatever their origin and Island history, weve got them

now. With deer leaping over and rabbits squeezing under,gardening is about to become very interesting on our littlerock. Teyll be a boon to hawks and owls, but experienceround the world gives little hope that enough rabbits willbecome raptorial repasts to make much dierence in haresapparent. (Puns trump biology every time.)

Te website o the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recoveryeam (Victoria) has another warning: cottontailseat things in Garry oak meadows, too, including oakseedlings and rare plants like the yellow montane violetrecently discovered here by Salt Spring Island Conservancybiologists. In a small Garry oak meadow with patches othick brush broom, or instance around it, rabbits couldmake lie even tougher or owers and seedlings.

In the interest o saving some vegetables or localpeople to eat, I oer these instructions or ool-proo gardenences:

Dig a trench our eet deep around your garden. Digholes or 14-oot I-beam steel posts, which extend rom twoeet below the bottom o the trench to eight eet above theground. (Rabbits dont jump that high, but you might as wellkeep out deer, too.) Bolt a 10-oot cyclone ence to the posts,leaving two eet o wire to curve outward rom the bottom

o the I-beam. Pin olded part securely. Backll the trench with broken glass layered every our inches with cemenreinorcing web. Make sure no rabbits are inside when yousecure the ence. Sprinkle myxomatosis powder at rates o 1litre per oot just outside the ence.

Do not put in gates; i they arent there they cant belet open. ry to get in. I you can, rebuild with prison wire

wound among cyclone wire meshes. Parachute a ull-timgardener inside. A padlocked hatch installed into the ence

will allow passage o water, ood and recent ACORNSWastes are recycled in the garden, naturally.Build a dog-proo ence around the backlled trench toallow a our-oot runway or caged killer dogs. I you dont

want to hurt the cottontails use toothless dogs that snarl and

bark constantly. You could omit the dogs. Instead, install anelectried groove into which a robotic rabbit, drenched inestrogens, moves very ast. One model stays ahead o thesprinting male rabbits, which die o exhaustion. Anotherallows bucks to catch it at intervals. Again, the males die oexhaustion.

You could consider giving up gardening and buyin veggies rom a commercial grower who has enced (seabove) ve acres.~ Bob Weeden

Special Thanks for a Special DononationIan Gidney, o Go Wild Zodiac ours, donated 3 days ozodiac trips in April as a undraiser or the SSICandevery day the boat was lled. Participants soon oundthey were in or an amazing tour o the marine areasaround the islands. Marine biologist, David Denning, alsotravelled with the tours, providing a wealth o inormationabout local marine wildlie and ecosystems. Judging bythe appreciative comments heard rom those who werelucky enough to get a seat on one those voyages, it was a

wonderul experience. Many, many thanks to Ian and toDavid!



ssic update

Want to learn how to make rope rom stinging nettles, howto whittle wood, the history o Cushion Cove and the properuse o a compass, or see Chris Hatelds pottery ragments?I the answer is yes, the Stewards in raining School Programneeds you.

Te School Committee o the Conservancy will berunning the grade 4/5 Cusheon Cove program on Oct 1,6, 7,8. We will give you all the training you need. We needpeople to teach each o the 4 learning stations and another 4

volunteers to sheppard students rom station to station.We need 8 volunteers or each o the 9 eld trips. Te

location is beautiul in the all, the students antastic and theday will be ull o un activities that everyone enjoys. I youare available to volunteer or even one day (9:30 am 2:30pm), please contact the Conservancy ofce (250) 538-0318or Sarah Bateman at (250) 653- 4675. You wont regret it.

Stewards in Training to visit Cusheon CoveI acts are the seeds that later produce knowledgeand wisdom, then the emotions and impressions othe senses are the ertile soil in which the seeds mustgrow.~ Rachel Carson, A Sense o Wonder, 1956

Te School Committee would like to thank all thosepeople who supported the Stewards in raining SchoolProgram by buying 2009 Calendars.

Western Painted Turtle Activities

As part o our Habitat Stewardship program at the Salt

Spring Island Conservancy, we have been looking or theendangered Western Painted urtle on the island. With thehelp o numerous landowners and volunteers, we have hadgreat success in learning more about these turtles and theirneeds.

As many people know, there is a population o theturtles at Stowel Lake. Te turtles use the public access beachor their communal nesting grounds, laying eggs throughout

June. Tey dig nests in the sand where they deposit theieggs. Tis year, we placed cages over some o the knownnesting sites, hoping to alert beach goers o the presence othe nests and to protect the nests rom being disturbed. We

had a number o keen local residents who helped to monitorthe turtles and who reported nesting sightings. Tese reports

were very helpul. Te turtles usually hatch at the end o thesummer, but may stay in the nests until spring. I you seeany hatchling turtles popping out o the sand, we are veryinterested in hearing rom you.

urtles also require undisturbed basking sites to get outo the water so that they can warm up in the sunshine andgain energy or other activities like eeding, mating, and egg-laying. Available basking sites is oten the one thing thatlimits population growth or turtles. Many o our lakes and

wetlands have been cleaned out o trees and oating logthat turtles could use. Tese are important eatures to leave inplace or turtles and many other critters. With the generoushelp o local landowners and volunteers, we were able toinstall two cedar logs in Stowel Lake as additional baskingsites or the turtles.

As interest and knowledge o the turtles grows, wehope that we will continue to see healthy populations othe turtles at Stowel Lake and elsewhere on the island intothe uture. I you have other turtle sightings on the islandparticularly nesting sites, please contact the Salt Spring IslandConservancy at 538-0318 or [email protected]


11/1211Fall 2009

Membership Application Youth (Under 16) 1 yr @ $15 __

Senior or Low-Income: 1 yr @ $20 __ 3 yr @ $60 __

Regular Single 1 yr @ $25 __ 3 yr @ $75 __

Regular Family 1 yr @ $35 __ 3 yr @ $105 __

Group/School 1 yr @ $35 __ 3 yr @ $105 __

Business 1 yr @ $55 __ 3 yr @ $165 __

Name: ______________________________________

Address: _____________________________________

____________________________________________

Postal Code: __________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________Email: _______________________________________

This is a renewal for an existing membership

Please send me the Acorn via email.

(We NEVER give out members email addresses to anyone!)

DonationsIn addition to my membership fee

above, I have enclosed my donation in

the amount of:

$50 _ $100 _ $250 _ $500 _ $1000_

$2500 _ $5000 _

Other ___________

Become a Conservation Friend with a

donation of $250.

Tax receipts will be provided for

donations of $20 or more.

Baker Beach CottagesCedar Mountain Studios

Derek Crawford ArchitectInc.

Elsea PlumbingInstitute for Sustainability,

Education and ActionDaniel Leavitt

Lisa Lloyd, The LloydFarm

Salt Spring Adventure Co.Salt Spring Centre of YogaSalt Spring Island Cheese

Co.Salt Spring SeedsSalt Spring Soapworks

Good Business...Thank you to all of our businessmembers for your support!

Salt Spring Island Conservancy#201 Upper Ganges Centre,338 Lower Ganges Rd.Mail: PO Box 722,Salt Spring Island BCV8K 2W3Ofce hours: ues/Wed/Turs10 am - 3 pmPhone: (250) 538-0318Fax: (250) [email protected]

www.saltspringconservancy.ca

Executive Director: Linda GilkesonBoard o Directors:Maureen Bendick (President)

Paul BurkeRobin Ferry (Vice President)

Jean Gelwicks (Secretary)John de HaanSusan HannonAshley Hilliard (reasurer)Donna MartinMaureen MilburnDeborah Miller

Jane PetchJohn SpragueBob Weeden (Past President)Doug Wilkins

Editor and Layout: Elizabeth Nolan

Te Acorn is the newsletter o the Salt Spring Island Conservancy, a local non-prot society supporting and enablingvoluntary preservation and restoration o the natural environment o Salt Spring Island and surrounding waters. We welcomeyour eedback and contributions, by email to [email protected] or by regular mail. Opinions expressed here arethe authors, not subject to Conservancy approval.

essentials

...and Our Fine FundersTo the granting and funding organizationsthat support our work, many thanks!

Salt Spring Island FoundationCountry Grocer (formerly Ganges Village Market)Thrifty Foods Smile Card ProgramProvince of BC Direct Access ProgramTD Friends of the Environment FoundationNature Canada and Park Canada (Parks & People

Program)Mountain Equipment Co-opThe Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship

Program for Species at RiskPublic Conservation Assistance FundBC Transmission CorporationBC Ministry of Environment

Snake found at Ford Lake


12/12

Ganges PO Box 722Salt Spring Island BC

V8K 2W3

40026325

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Fall 2009 Acorn Newsletter - Salt Spring Island Conservancy

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