The business session of the AGM will elect officers to the Board for the coming year, report on the operations of the last fiscal year, accept membership renewals and welcome new members. Agenda, Minutes to 2023 AGM, Financial Report
Founded by Michael Blackstock, retired forester and Independent Indigenous Scholar, BEIF is dedicated to tackling today’s pressing environmental issues by sharing the Blue Ecology philosophy, a holistic water centric approach that interweaves Indigenous wisdom with scientific knowledge.
Intrigued? Below are two upcoming events during Culture Days (Sept 20 – Oct 13) where you can learn more and participate in discussions surrounding a more holistic approach to solving today’s environmental challenges. Please register as spaces are limited.
Sept 29, 2024 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm World and BC Rivers Day
Blue Ecology Hope For the Future: Michael Blackstock will take you on a storytelling journey, beginning with why he has dedicated the last 25 years to encouraging a shift in human attitude towards water and nature. He will share a new ecological philosophy called Blue Ecology, which is rooted in peer reviewed academic research, but structured to be implemented in practical ways. He will close off with a message of hope, in the face of overwhelming threats to the environment.
Location:
Berwick Qualicum Beach (Retirement Home * Theater lower level) 120 First Avenue West Qualicum Beach, BC
Sept 30, 2024 1:00 – 2:30 pm Truth and Reconciliation Day
Talking Circle: Sitting in a circle with Michael and others in a serene garden will provide an opportunity to engage in conversation. Rain or shine, the event will take place outdoors. Please dress accordingly. The talking circle is a time-tested way Indigenous peoples have a respectful conversation, this one on climate change, that includes all voices. This is especially important in these polarized times.
Location: Berwick Qualicum Beach (Event is in the Gardens on the main level) 120 First Avenue West Qualicum Beach, BC
Many thanks to organizer Diane Moran, Visual Artist and Community Connector residing in Qualicum Beach. This year’s theme for Culture Days in QB is Tree to Sea. A Pop-Up Art display featuring wooden painted salmon, and other works including photographs taken by residents with a Tree to Sea theme, will be installed at Berwick. Drop by and admire.
Volunteers on the Go
MVIHES volunteers have been busy this summer
Volunteer Dick Dobler and his crew have been rescuing Coho Salmon fry stranded in tiny pools (like the one in the left-hand photo) in Shelly Creek and French Creek. Stewardship groups, including MVIHES, have been rescuing stranded fry for years but now Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has asked us to report on these activities.
DFO also requires that we measure the water temperature and dissolved oxygen levels in the pools to make sure the fry actually need to be rescued. We also measure those parameters at the release site (like the one in the right hand photo) to make sure the release site will support the fry. Good idea! And yes, we release the fry in the same creek they were rescued in.
So far, we have rescued approximately 3500 fry. Dick's crew includes Terry Baum, Rick and Randy Walz, Maggie Estok, Carl Rathburn, Chris Smith and Barb Riordan.
Did you know two of our volunteers are artists with exhibits at the McMillan Art Centre? Xpey' is a gorgeous art exhibit at the MAC in Parksville celebrating our Wetlands. Several artists have created beautiful works showcasing wetlands using steel, wood, glass, pastels, photography and videography. MVIHES volunteer and professional glass crafter, Chris Smith, created lily pads with coho salmon fry taking cover beneath in a glass medium (bottom left-hand photo). Volunteer and professional photographer, Deb Freeman, created window screens from one of her photos of Hamilton Marsh (bottom right-hand photo). Aren't they beautiful!? The exhibit runs until September 1.
Running concurrently with the exhibit in another room is ETHOS, a collection of interactive displays and activities by community groups and NGO's which highlight our Oceanside wetlands and the programs to conserve them. MVIHES is hosting a "Pond Critters Tank" that showcase some typical insects and other invertebrates found in local marshes, ponds and wetlands. There was lots of drama in that tank including predation, mating, and cannibalism.
Sue Wilson of Friends of Shelly Creek Park (and volunteer with MVIHES and Arrowsmith Naturalists) is in the photo below overseeing curious visitors to the tank. In the foreground are activities for kids provided by Arrowsmith Naturalists and MVIHES. While the pond critter tank ended on August 9, the ETHOS displays run until August 25.
Many thanks to Sue and our other volunteers at the Pond Critters Tank: Terry Bajenko, Sally Soanes and Jeannie Diewold of Arrowsmith Naturalists; Janet McManus, Catherine Watson, Larysa Bilous, Chris Smith, Jane Murray-Smith, Shelley Goertzen, Pete Law, Barb Riordan and Ross Peterson of MVIHES.
And many thanks to our Team Leader, Maggie Estok, who set up the display with her son, Ralegh, and kept it filled with lively insects with the help of Meghan MacIsaac of North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre; Jeannie Diewold of Arrowsmith Naturalists; Carl Rathburn, Pete Law, Craig Wightman and Denis Cote of MVIHES.
Beach Day in Qualicum Beach We also had a Pond Critters Tank at Beach Day on July 21 where folks learned about the importance of aquatic insects. Thanks to volunteers Kathy Miller, seen in right-hand photo, Liz Campbell and Barb Riordan.
No microplastics here!
On July 16 we conducted our quarterly marine debris survey at Rathtrevor Beach where we surveyed a 100 m span of beach for macroplastics (plastic debris over 20 mm in size) and microplastics (<20 mm in size). Once again, we found only a handful of macroplastics and no microplastics. Yipee!
Many thanks to Jacob Frankel of Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute who trains us and enters our data into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database. Thanks also to our volunteers Yana Maltais, Martin Yeo, Liz Campbell, Bob Williams, and Barb Riordan. To learn more about this global initiative, click here.
One gorgeous weekend in June, seventeen volunteers gathered at French Creek to learn how to assess fish habitat and stream health through a Streamkeeper Course. The course is available from the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation who provide support and education to groups like MVIHES.
Led by our awesome instructor Michele Jones of Mimulus Biological Consultants, we spent a few hours each day in a classroom at the Parksville Community Centre on Mills St. Then we put what we learned into practice in French Creek.
This included taking measurements of water depths, creek widths, oxygen levels, numbers and lengths of pools and riffles. We even measured the amount of gravel and rocks on the creek bottom (left-hand photo below). We collected insects from the creek bottom using a net (right-hand photo below) and took them back to the classroom to identify.
Did you know you can assess the health of a stream by the species of insects living on the bottom? We did this in 2019 on the Englishman River and its tributaries. You can read about it here.
It seems we arrived at French Creek just in time for a hatch of May Flies. Scores of teeny tiny newborn May Fly nymphs (left-hand photo magnified a billion times) were in our samples among other critters like Stone Fly and Caddis Fly nymphs, water mites, and midge and Water Snipe larvae. Some of us older visually challenged folks relied on the experienced eyes of Michele Jones to identify those annoying tiny May Fly nymphs (they did that on purpose!).
Other important features of a creek are the amount of vegetation on the creek banks for stabilizing the banks and the amount of shade provided by trees. Tree roots and logs that hang over or into the water are important for providing cover for young fish from predators as well as shade. We recorded creek measurements and information on field data sheets.
Before we returned to the classroom on the final day we made sure to rinse off our boots/chestwaders and equipment in a 10 percent bleach solution. This is important for preventing the spread of diseases like didymo, commonly known as rock snot, and whirling disease. Volunteer Gene Gapsis (right-hand photo) took this task most seriously.
We brought our field data sheets back to the classroom and copied the information onto assessment sheets that give a score for the various creek features Overall, the small section of French Creek we assessed has Acceptable fish habitat.
And then we graduated from Streamkeeper School. Starting at the back, from to left to right, are Glen Stedham, Bob Williams, Chris Alexander, Matthew Stoltz, Ed Wasiak, Paul Sim, Logan Pike, Liz Campbell, Chris Smith, Craig McFadyen, Kathy Miller. In the front from left to right are Mark Hogg, Darlene Norring, Michele Jones, Kelly, Barb Riordan, Gene Gapsis. Missing in action: David Belitsky
One gorgeous weekend in June, seventeen volunteers gathered at French Creek to learn how to assess fish habitat and stream health through a Streamkeeper Course. The course is available from the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation who provide support and education to groups like MVIHES.
