www.saltspringconservancy.ca

The Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy Winter 2013Number 52

Inside:

Cover Story ........................................................................................... 1President’s Page ................................................................................... 2Director’s Desk ..................................................................................... 3

STEWARDSHIP: Browsing down our natural heritage ...................................... 6 Committee members sign stewardship agreements ........10

SPECIES AT RISK: Nesting owls on Salt Spring ....................................................... 5

SPECIES AT RISK: Western toad ..................................................................................... 7

INSIDE THE CONSERVANCY: 2013 Event Calendar ..................................................................... 9

SCHOOLS PROGRAM:

Schools program gears up for another great year ............. 8

Book Review: Rambunctious Garden .........................................10Essentials ............................................................................................. 11

MOST OF US NEVER SEE THE GLORY OF TREES. Our preoccupied minds delete their images like

unwanted e-mail. Children are more attentive. They know trees as friends whose playful night shadows prove the truth of fairy tales, or that offer knobs and handholds for childhood’s time of obsessive climbing, or that drop

sweet fruit for our pleasure. Too soon the child emulates the yawning disinterest of adulthood. Tree and forest fade to scenery, less to most of us than the Greek chorus of ancient plays.

How I wish we could keep the open affection of child-hood even as, year by year, we infused its innocence with experience and understanding! We would see a tree as a history, a vital cooperative, a well-spring of inspiration, a cornucopia, a chemical marvel. We would see a forest, emerging from the collective lives of many trees, as an even grander cooperative, as a life way for human com-munities, and as a master steward of Gaia.

A tree is, indeed, a story. Remember the tall Douglas-fir you pass every day as you drive to work, isolated in a pasture where successive farmers have valued it as shade for livestock? Its story is easily read from simple clues: low, sweeping limbs, wind-thrashed crown, bits of rusted wire imbedded in its bark, and growth rings reporting past droughts, beetle attacks, and good times alike. You might be interested in its tale because you and your neighbours are involved in it.

However, the two centuries of its life are only the latest sentence in a volume spanning 350 million years. The back trail of this pasture fir begins in a far, lost time when a plant, directed by changing genes and environmental pressures, grew upward out of a crowd of soil huggers. Little by little, successive offspring discovered how to

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Celebrate Trees

2 The Acorn ~ Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

A new year and a look backThe new year 2013, now well underway, marks the 19th year of operation for your Salt Spring Island Conservancy. The Conservancy was founded to help the community pre-serve natural habitats on Salt Spring Island and in surround-ing waters. Its core functions are acquiring and managing nature reserves, holding conservation covenants, helping landown-

ers become good stewards of their own land, and engaging in public education.

Since 1995, the Conservancy has helped buy or protect over 1,181 hectares (3,000 acres) on Salt Spring. In the process, we have built strong partnerships with other conservation groups and government agencies.

2012 was a year of solid achievement in all our core areas. Staff was hard at work on several land acquisition projects, and we are confident that we will soon have good news to announce on this front. Land protection is a long-term project. That is one reason why it is so important to have a solid, profession-ally-staffed conservation organization on Salt Spring in order to work with interested landowners who wish to see their land protected for the future.

Our Stewards In Training program continued to flourish under the guidance of program coordinator Kris Fullbrook. It offers every grade school student on Salt Spring a day of adventure and learning in nature, preceded and followed up with further learning about nature in the classroom. We raise the funds for this program from grants and donations. The program’s success is due to the generosity of donors and the time given by volunteers who participate in the outings. It is a great program, and lots of fun. I encourage you to contact Kris at 250-653-9870 if you would like to join as a volunteer. No special biological or ecological knowledge required!

Our public education program featured many interesting speakers and presentations on nature-related topics. These presentations generally take place on Friday evenings. As members, one of the benefits you receive is email notice of these events. I invite you to attend this year. Thank you to the staff and board members and volunteers who work hard to organize these events.

Long-term financial stability is key, and I am pleased to report that the Conservancy continued its prudent financial man-agement in 2012. We were able to cover operating expenses

without having to dip into our reserve funds. Our endowment fund also grew during this time. As always, we will present a complete financial report to you at our annual general meeting in June.

I would like to highlight our “Have a Hoot” fund- and fun-raiser in October 2012. Thank you to all who donated items; thanks to our MC, Arthur Black, and our featured enter-tainer, Mark Leiren-Young; and thanks to all who came out in support. Its success was followed by our annual appeal, to which you gave a gratifying response. Thank you to Mouat’s for sponsoring a match for new monthly donations. Thanks also to all who responded to our two $5,000 donation chal-lenges (and to the challengers). The annual appeal exceeded our goal.

Fundraising efforts will continue in 2013. Canadian tax rules are generous for donations of stocks or securities you may own that have appreciated in value. No capital gain is assessed on the donation, but you, the donor, receive a charitable dona-tion receipt for the full value.

In addition, donations from estates can benefit both the Conservancy and the estate. If you are writing or revising your will, and are considering leaving a legacy for Salt Spring, I invite you or your advisor to speak to us in confidence to discuss your vision and how we might help. Please contact our Executive Director, Christine Torgrimson.

To what do I attribute our success? Obviously, there are many factors, including our talented staff and dedicated board of directors and volunteers. We manage our financial affairs care-fully. We have no debt. We report in a timely and full manner to our donors and members. Most of all, we have kept our focus on the core activities I mentioned in the first paragraph of this article. The military has a saying for success in opera-tions: “Maintain your aim.”

That has been our formula so far as well. I wish you a suc-cessful and satisfying 2013. Thank you for your continued support.

— Ashley Hilliard, President

PRESIDENT’S PAGE

Winter 2013 3

Where there’s a will, there’s a way….

DIRECTOR’S DESK

It’s hard to believe that it’s just been a year since I came on board as the Conservancy’s executive director. So much has been accomplished during this 12-month whirl-wind. Life does flow by ever so quickly….

The very best part of the past year for me has been the people I work and interact

with in this organization. Every day, talented and com-mitted staff, board and volunteers venture in and out of our office, passionate about the island, the Conservancy, and our conservation community. Jars of homemade anti-pasto, boxes of handcrafted almond roca, and fruits, choc-olates, flowers and plants appear frequently in our office, as well as kind words, amusing stories and other ges-tures of encouragement. In this time of daunting social, economic and environmental challenges, our kindness towards and support for one another are priceless gifts—“for the world’s more full of weeping than I can under-stand,” as William Butler Yeats so poignantly expressed.

The Conservancy staff and board members are a fabulous bunch—passionate about conservation and the organiza-tion and endowed with abundant skills, experience and perspective. Our more than 100 volunteers are dedicated beyond belief. One volunteer, for example, devoted almost a thousand hours to the organization this past year—one sixth of the combined total of volunteer hours dedicated in 2012 (6,000). Thank you so much, everyone!

One of the most touching and heartening aspects of our caring community has been the love expressed by and for

Conservancy members and volunteers who have recently died. In their honour or through their wills, many gen-erous charitable gifts have been received. These dona-tions have helped support our acquisitions fund, grow our endowment and cover our ongoing work. These legacy gifts inspire and encourage us to persevere with our ongoing work to create and manage nature reserves (5 now, with others in negotiation), work with landown-ers to carefully steward private lands, and help children and adults understand and take good care of the island’s natural treasures.

At some point, most of us come to accept that we won’t live forever, and we consider ways that our brief lives might have some lasting meaning. One significant way to have an ongoing impact is by granting an intentional bequest gift via your will. The Conservancy is often approached by those considering a legacy gift of money or real estate. We provide simple, suggested bequest language for lawyers to consider including in a will. When the gift is received, we provide a charitable tax receipt.

Have you written a formal will, or do you keep putting it off, just as I have? Have you thought about leaving a lasting legacy gift? The Conservancy is a solid organi-zation with a long-term vision and commitment to the natural integrity of Salt Spring Island. As a land trust of almost 20 years, we are keeping a long-term promise to help preserve the natural beauty, diversity and wellbeing of the island—a commitment that will stretch far beyond the reach of any of our brief lives. Help us fulfill that promise. Please join me in including a bequest to the Salt Spring Island Conservancy in your will.

— Christine Torgrimson

Blackburn Lake | Photo: Simon Henson

4 The Acorn ~ Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy STEWARDSHIP

FEATURE | CONTINUED FROM COVER

live tall. They developed the means for majesty: roots for anchorage, cellulose and lignin for strength, inter-nal tubes for water and nutrient transport against gravity, and needles or broad leaves to fit different strategies for survival.

We pass so many potted figs in airport lounges, and urban trees imprisoned in concrete collars, that our experience feeds the notion that trees are solitary and magically self- sufficient. The truth is very different. The wild tree, even the elderly pasture fir or backyard apple, is a teeming cooperative enterprise, a tangle of interdependence from taproot to wind-singing twig. Underground, fungi crowd every bit of soil and embrace or penetrate every quest-ing tree rootlet. There, water and mineral elements move from fungus mycelium to root while carbohydrates made in distant leaves seep from root to fungus. Above ground, hundreds of thousands of mites, spiders and insects, so small as to be beneath casual notice, thrive in intricate dependencies. We do see the big creatures with feath-ers or fur that are members of the cooperative, the hole-making, bark-probing woodpeckers, the quick, colour-splashed warblers, the Douglas squirrels whose fate is tied to banner years of seed production, and many others. An old and sentimental poem praised the tree, “Who may in Summer wear / A nest of robins in her hair.” We could substitute eagles for robins and still know the idea as a miracle of understatement.

A tree is a story; a tree is a model cooperative. It is also a chemical factory. Touring it, we come first to the leaf, the main production line where sunbeams strike electrons from chlorophyll molecules as if striking sparks from flint. The released energy splits water and carbon dioxide into elements. These recombine into acids and split again into water and sugars: fructose for immediate use, starches for

later. Without photosynthesis, all life would disappear, the oceans would turn acid, and Earth’s climate would superheat.

In another laboratory, the tree manufactures auxins (plant hormones), the messengers dispatched by genetic signals to orchestrate tree development. Auxins direct the ger-minating seed’s root downward and its shoot skyward. They schedule and prioritize growth as the seasons require: twig elongation, root extension, opening of leaf and flower buds, healing of wounds, and the severing of needle or leaf at the close of its useful life.

The tree also makes complex molecules that are costly to manufacture but serve essential needs. Phenols and tannins defend the tree against the insistent teeth of deer, the gnawing or sucking mouthparts of insects, and the insidious attacks of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Flavenoids produce the colours and smells that call polli-nators to the flower and even attract predators to infesta-tions of caterpillars. Phytotoxins give trees growing room by discouraging the probing roots of competitors.

We all know that a tree is a cornucopia today as it has been through a million years of hominid history. Lightning-struck trees were firebrands that lit domesticated hearth fires, and dead trees were the fuel that kept them going. Burning wood fueled the first industrial period of medi-eval Europe. From trees come materials for countless human needs and wants, from arrow and basket to flute and drum; from bobbin and hoe to boat hull and bowl; from longhouse to cottage to throne to round table; from paper to paint, from medicine to perfume.

Trees give food and shelter to all comers, but serve humans uniquely in the dimension of art and imagina-tion. A tree is a dancing dapple and sunbeam, a palette of green, gold, and brown. It is a fountain of inspired design for artist and artisan and architect. Trees liberally produce metaphor, our attempt to leaven the rules of logic and disciplined sequence into the realm of things unknown. A tree is a grotto for trolls, a pledge for lovers. A tree is a salmon with roots; a salmon is a tree that swims. (Do you

Winter 2013 5 STEWARDSHIP

doubt me? Follow the nitrogen!) A tree is a river to the sky. (Now follow the water!) A tree is…

Whatever one tree is, it is vastly more when thousands form a forest. Not “more” in simple arithmetical progres-sion, but qualitatively. Trees don’t just add their presence to that of other trees; they interact to produce an emer-gent variety of environments and life forms. Big animals, for instance, can live in forests by drawing sustenance from the diversity of big areas. Think of deer and cougars, or ravens and siskins.

A single tree transpires water with little palpable effect a metre away, but the evapotranspiration of a forest changes the environment within its top-to-bottom and edge-to-edge volume and the climate far beyond its borders. Forests create soil out of raw mineral debris. They pump moisture into onshore breezes, sending life-giving water inland to places that otherwise would be desert. They greatly reduce the loss of nutrients from uplands to oceans. The lignin and cellulose that comprise a forest’s bulk lock away carbon, keeping Earth cool enough for life. The oxygen that trees release makes air breathable. Forests are Gaia’s chief stewards.

We are so urbanized that we forget that many communi-ties have earned their livelihood from forests for genera-tions. Long enough, in fact, to create forest-dependent cul-tures both ancient and modern. Here in Cascadia, most of them are of the new industrial forest model, dependent on massive removal of huge volumes of wood from very old trees. Some of those communities are ghosts today. Others live on, cutting second growth more selectively but still working out the strategies of permanence. This part of Earth wants to grow forests; it is good at it. We will learn how to live “with the grain,” with luck and forethought.

Trees and forests are many-splendoured things.

—Bob Weeden

Rare cavity nesting owls on Salt SpringEach year, Conservancy biologists and volunteers survey for owl species in the early spring. Annual monitoring helps us to track long-term changes in populations and distributions of wildlife and focus conser-vation efforts on high priority areas for conservation.

Two of the rare species we are hoping to hear during our surveys are small owls that require large tree cavities for nesting in conifer forests and mixed riparian forest habitat. The Western screech owl (Megascops kennicottii kenn-icottii) is federally listed as Threatened, and the Northern pygmy-owl (Glaucidium gnoma swarthi) is provincially threatened (Blue-listed).

Western screech owls are winter residents on Salt Spring. This small owl measures 19 - 26 cm (less than a foot long), and is grey-brown in appearance with dark wavy stripes on the breast. The eyes are yellow and small ear tufts may be visible. They are most often vocal in the spring at the beginning of breeding season. Their call is a series of iden-tical notes, starting slowly then speeding up, like a bounc-ing ball. They are highly nocturnal, feeding on arthropods, amphibians, small vertebrates, birds, reptiles and fish.

Northern pygmy-owls also overwinter on Salt Spring. They are brownish-grey (less than 20 cm) and have a white belly with dark streaks, white spots on the head and two dark patches on the back of the neck that resemble eyes. The tail is relatively long, and they have no ear tufts. These owls are diurnal (active during the day) and often hunt at dawn and dusk, predominantly preying on small mammals and songbirds, as well as reptiles, amphibians and insects. The primary call is a series of repetitive, whistled hoots: "too-too-too-too-too-too-too" at intervals of about 1 to 2 seconds.

You can help by reporting your owl sightings. If you think you have heard or seen a Western screech owl or Northern pygmy-owl, please contact us. Visit the Conservancy’s website to hear the call of these and other owls, or to report a sighting:

www.saltspringconservancy.ca

Western screech owl Photo: Jared Hobbs

Photos: Bob Weeden

6 The Acorn ~ Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy STEWARDSHIP

Browsing down our natural heritageFor many islanders, woodlands and forests carpeted in moss, sword ferns and compact shrubs are typical and comforting. Not so long ago however, the understory veg-etation of our woodlands and forests looked very differ-ent. A key engineer of these changes has been the increase in black-tailed deer numbers throughout the islands.

Historically, predation by cougars and wolves and hunting by First Nations, followed by early settlers, kept deer den-sities low across the island archipelago. It is likely that island deer populations would periodically be extirpated as a result of predation and hunting, only later to re-col-onise by swimming from neighbouring islands. What is certain is that browsing pressure was not historically as high as it is today, and not constant. Understorys brim-ming with camas, orchids and wild onions had a chance to flower and set seed; arbutus and Garry oak seeds to germinate and grow into saplings; and shrubs to grow tall and form near-impenetrable thickets. Nowadays, on many islands this no longer occurs.

With the loss of predators and the decline of human hunting pressure, deer have become abundant, changing the island-scapes in which we live. Over the past several years, colleagues and I have been examining the effects of elevated deer numbers across the Gulf and San Juan islands and have found some worrying trends.

Influence of deer browsing on island ecosystems

Our research indicates that at moderate (>1 deer/10ha) to high densities (>1 deer/ha), deer browsing can prevent the growth of several plants known to have been abundant historically, including iconic species such as common and great camas, fawn and chocolate lilies, sea blush, blue-eyed mary, lupine, onions and various brodiaea. On Salt Spring Island, blooming of great camas, fool’s onion and harvest brodiaea increased 12-fold in deer exclusion plots. This suggests plants are now rarely able to attain a suffi-cient size to reproduce. Deer browsing also can suppress

Figure 2. Impact of increasing browsing pressure on architecture of native shrub, ocean spray

From left: Low deer density (North Ballenas), Moderate deer density (Little D’Arcy), High deer density (Sidney Island).

Figure 1. Deer browsing impact on forest vegetation cover

From left: Low deer density (Patos Island), Moderate deer density (Wallace Island), High deer density (Sidney Island).

Winter 2013 7 STEWARDSHIP / SPECIES AT RISK

The western toad is a member of the family Bufonidae. The skin of a toad is bumpy and dry, ranging in colour from olive-green to reddish brown to almost black. The belly is pale and mottled, and there is an obvious white or pale stripe running down the back. Toads hibernate for 3-6 months over the winter. In the spring, females gather communally to lay about 12,000 small black eggs in long, intertwined strands in shallow waters of ponds or lakes.

The major threat facing Western toads is habitat loss by development, which can destroy or isolate populations. There have been significant declines of this species across its North American range. Other factors affect-ing this species include roadkill (as young toadlets mass migrate from wetland to upland habitat after metamor-phosis), pollution, disease, and introduced species such as bullfrogs and sport fish.

Conservancy biologists and volunteers have been mon-itoring amphibian populations and distribution in various locations on Salt Spring. You can help by report-ing any sightings of this species. We would be very inter-ested in hearing from you as there have been no recent sightings on the island.

Western toad Anaxyrus boreas

many palatable shrubs, dramatically altering their shape and size. These effects in turn influence the abundance of many native songbirds.

Due to the close links between vegetation structure and bird abundance, we have found dramatic effects of deer browsing on island songbirds. Species that rely on understory shrubs like ocean spray, huckleberry and even salal for feeding and nesting are much less abun-dant on islands with high deer densities, compared to those with few or no deer. Rufous hummingbirds, song sparrows, orange-crowned warblers, spotted towhee and fox sparrows are more abundant on islands with low numbers of deer. Only one species, the dark-eyed junco, is more likely to be found on islands with abun-dant deer, because juncos prefer open forests with little vegetative cover.

The future of island plant and bird communities

Given the mythical status of deer and increasing antip-athy towards hunting by many islanders, a general sense of stewardship for plant and bird communities will need to be developed alongside a public aware-ness of the deleterious impacts of overabundant deer populations, if the natural heritage of the islands is to be preserved. Fencing gardens and small reserves does little to alleviate the wider pressure on our island eco-systems. What we need is a brave solution - one that includes deer exclosures but also direct measures to reduce and maintain densities of deer at historic levels (<1 deer /10 ha).

—Dr. Tara Martin

Dr. Tara Martin was born and raised on Salt Spring. She is on sabbatical from her position as a senior principle research scientist for Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industry Research Organisation). She is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Photo: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

For more on this issue – readers are referred to: Martin, T. G., Arcese, P. & Scheerder, N. (2011) Browsing down our natural heritage: Deer impacts vegetation structure and songbird assemblages across an island archipelago. Biological Conservation 144:459-469 doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.09.033

8 The Acorn ~ Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Stewards In Training Program gearing up for another great year The Conservancy’s Stewards In Training volunteers tell us that being part of the schools program is a ‘crazy but good’ time. Although we are hoping for a little less ‘crazy’ and all ‘good’ this year, it will be busy, with at least 30 classes joining us on field trips this spring!

IN MARCH, the Grade 8 students will learn about ocean health by looking at water quality and dead zones. This program is at the middle school, high school and Ganges Harbour. Students will perform important water quality tests for salinity, pH, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen at Ganges Harbour. David Denning, local marine biologist, will discuss plankton’s role in our oceans, and help stu-dents use microscopes to examine plankton. The program concludes with a discussion about pollution and the future.

IN APRIL, the Grade 6 and 7 students will study wetlands at Ford Lake. Activities include looking at beaver habitats, testing stream quality, observing invertebrate adaptations, and using our senses to explore a marsh. We hope that local artist and naturalist, Robert Bateman, will join us to discuss why nature is so important for kids.

IN MAY, the Grade 4 and 5 students will study intertidal zones at Burgoyne Bay. Activities include a study of First Nations middens, with actual artifacts, and with students making their own stone tool to take home. Other activities include a substrate study and clam dig, examining life in an eel grass meadow, and nature journaling. On some morn-ings, we’ll need extra help with seine netting. Do you feel like getting into chest waders and getting wet?

In June, the kindergarten and Grade 1 students will visit Ruckle Park, with a half day exploring the forest and a half day investigating beach life. Activities include: sensory bags where they try to describe parts of a tree that they feel but cannot see, identifying a few local trees through their bark and foliage, examining life on a maple tree using investiga-tive techniques, a closer look at chlorophyll, a beach trea-sure hunt, and sorting activities.

Our programs all include art, journaling and time for reflec-tion. Training days and field days for each program are set and can be viewed on the Conservancy’s website under the What We Do tab, Stewards in Training:

www.saltspringconservancy.ca

We thank all our funders for helping us bring this great program to Salt Spring students. Ducks Unlimited Canada has supported the Stewards In Training program for three years now. We have a new funder this year, TD Friends of the Environment. The program is also supported by Thrifty’s Smile Card, School District 64 and private donations. And we hope to hear soon that the Gaming Commission will continue its support.

The program depends on about 50 fabulous volunteers. If you would like to help out, please contact Schools Coordinator Kris Fulbrook at:

kris.fullbrook@yahoo.ca or 250-653-9870.

Students and parents raise funds Island elementary school students showed their recent support for the Conservancy’s Stewards In Training Program by selling calendars as part of a joint fundraiser. Parent Advisory Committees and classrooms sold cal-endars at Country Grocer, Fulford Christmas Craft Fair and school events such as book fairs, and other winter celebrations. Funds raised were split between the Parent Advisory Committees and the Conservancy. Fulford Community Elementary School is using funds raised by calendar sales to help buy and build new playground equipment. The Salt Spring Centre School raised funds as a community giving project and gave some of the funds to the Conservancy.

Photo description: Students from The Owls class at the Centre School showing their support for the Stewards In

Training Program. The Owls class raised $335.

Spring 2012 9 EVENTS

2013 Conservancy Coming EventsMARCH

Friday, March 22: Dave Polster, RECLAIMING NATURE ON SALT SPRING ISLAND at Lion’s Hall, 7pm.

Dave is a plant ecologist, wildlife biologist and restoration consultant. He is a board member of the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT).

Saturday, March 23: Dave Polster will lead a walk for a limited number of pre-registered SSIC members to demonstrate the recovery work on Mt. Tuam forest land. To register, please contact Deborah Miller at millerde@telus.net or 250-537-4797.

APRIL

Friday, April 19: Andy MacKinnon, THE DYNAMIC FOREST, Community Gospel Hall at 7pm.

Andy MacKinnon is co-author of “Plants of Coastal British Columbia.” One of BC’s best-known botanists, Andy is also a registered professional forester and adjunct professor at the School of Resource and Envioronmental Management, Simon Fraser University.

Sunday, April 28: Robert Bateman, TOPIC TO BE ANNOUNCED, ArtSpring, mid-afternoon.

Salt Spring’s own Robert Bateman is an internationally recognized wildlife artist and naturalist. His work has been featured in countless exhibitions, articles and books. Member of the Order of Canada, Robert has received many awards and kudos for his prolific work.

“I can't conceive of anything being more varied and rich and handsome than the planet Earth. And its crowning beauty is the natural world. I want to soak it up, to understand it as well as I can, and to absorb it...and then I’d like to put it together and express it in my painting. This is the way I want to dedicate my life.” —Robert Bateman

MAY

Saturday, May 4: Daytime invasive plants drop-off at Portlock Park. $5 per truckload or by donation to cover chipping costs. Co-sponsored by the Conservancy and PARC.

Friday, May 17: Lo Camps, adventurer extraordinaire who leads wilderness trips into the Arctic and who has researched wolves, caribou and polar bears. Time and place to be announced.

Late May: Zodiac tour around Salt Spring with Ian Gidney and Robin Annschild, featuring Conservancy nature reserves and Species at Risk research findings. Date, cost and registration information to be announced.

JUNE

Early June Conservancy AGM: Date, site and speaker to be announced.

Saturday, June 8: David Denning STATE OF THE OCEANS Oceans Day.

David is a Salt Spring biologist specializing in marine issues and is also an active Conservancy volunteer. Time and place to be announced.

SEPTEMBER

Late September: Zodiac tour with Ian Gidney and local birding expert, featuring bird and marine life in the waters around Salt Spring. Date, cost and registration information to be announced.

OCTOBER

Early October: MUSHROOM EVENT, We hope it will be a moist fall! Date and registration information to be announced.

Mid to late October: Annual Salt Spring Island Conservancy fun and fundraising event

10 The Acorn ~ Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy BOOK REVIEW / STEWARDSHIP

Book Review Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-wild World by Emma Marris, 2011 Bloomsbury Publishing, 211 pages.

This book takes the reader on a fascinating journey to visit conservation projects worldwide, pointing out that “there is no pristine wilderness on planet earth.” Author Emma Marris explores conservation challenges in light of the large human footprint on the planet.

For example, an attempt by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy to restore 30 square miles of land to resem-ble the natural environment of the year 1770 required an immense effort to eliminate exotic species. Now the “con-servationists must shoot, poison, trap, fence, and watch, forever watch, lest the excluded species find their way back in.”

A 23-square-mile nature reserve in the Netherlands designed to mimic conditions of 10,000 years ago is devoid of long-extinct grazing animals but, instead, employs proxies: the Konik horse and Heck cattle. And there is controversy regarding the habitat conditions of that bygone era.

Half of Hawaiian plant species are non-native, and res-toration of “natural” environments there is problematic. Some scientists are examining the value of ecosystems composed of a mix of exotic and native species, as novel ecosystems of this type have shown promise elsewhere.

In North America, ecologists are studying the assisted colonization of species to anticipate climate change. The Florida torreya (an evergreen tree) has been moved north, as has the Bolson tortoise. Much of one chapter is devoted to British Columbia climate trials involving Douglas-fir, Garry oak, and butterflies.

Restoration ecology involves remaking destroyed ecosys-tems, but climate change is prompting restoration ecolo-gists to rethink their goals, and the book contains a chapter devoted to designer ecosystems. Another approach, “rec-onciliation ecology,” targets conservation on developed land. This has application here on Salt Spring, where most land is privately owned.

The last chapter features a menu of conservation goals with the suggestion that “there is no one best goal.” The author of the book promotes the view that conservation-ists must often settle for managing a “half-wild rambunc-tious garden.”

This book raises many intriguing issues and illumi-nates controversies through interviews with ecologists. The ardent naturalist will cringe at some terminology (“Canadian geese,” meaning Canada geese, “hummus” meaning humus, and “birds and animals,” meaning birds and other animals), but the book is an interesting read.

—Peter Ommundsen

Stewardship Committee members sign Stewardship Agreements.Since over 90 percent of Salt Spring is privately owned, stewardship of land on private property is critical to the conservation of biodiversity on the island. Recently, four members of the Conservancy’s Stewardship Committee signed stewardship agreements and received plaques for their properties. Each is a tireless volunteer, and each has different stewardship challenges.

Jean Wilkinson has written Driftwood articles on invasive plants, organized a community ivy bash and volunteers for the Stewards In Training program. She lives with husband Derek on a one-acre parcel in the Beddis area. They have removed invasive plants, fenced part of the area to protect gardens and native vegetation from deer browsing, reclaimed a parking area for a vegetable garden, developed rain catchment for irri-gation and planted oaks, camas and other native species as well as fruit trees and berry bushes.

On their five-acre property on Walker Hook Road, Donna Martin and partner Michael Hogan have turned an over-groomed terraced lawn into hedge rows, fruit trees, berries, shrubs and non-invasive and native plants with an even-tual goal to eliminate the lawn. Donna has removed invasive plants and berms branches, prunings and garden waste. New rock walls are now home to garter snakes and alligator lizards. The remainder of the property is mixed woodland with newly planted areas of native flowers. Donna is a Conservancy board member and spearheaded the building of a deer exclosure at Andrea Vogt Nature Reserve.

Jane and Lyle Petch live on a 0.3 acre residential property in the Long Harbour area. They are the lucky hosts of the endangered sharp-tailed snake and have worked with the Conservancy to improve snake habitat on their and an adjacent property. They have removed invasive plants, planted drought-tolerant and native plants, and fenced the property to exclude deer. Jane

Winter 2013 11 ESSENTIALS

Membership ApplicationYouth (Under 16) 1 yr @ $15 Senior or Low-Income: 1 yr @ $20 3 yr @ $60Regular Single 1 yr @ $25 3 yr @ $75Regular Family 1 yr @ $35 3 yr @ $105Group/School 1 yr @ $35 3 yr @ $105Business 1 yr @ $55 3 yr @ $165

Name: _________________________________________Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________Postal Code: _____________________________________Phone: _________________________________________E-mail: _________________________________________

This is a renewal for an existing membership

Please send me the Acorn via e-mail. (We NEVER give out members’ e-mail addresses!)

Please contact me about becoming a monthly donor

DonationsIn addition to my membership fee above, I have enclosed my donation in the amount of:

Become a Conservation Friend with a donation of $250.

Tax receipts will be provided for donations of $20 or more.

Salt Spring Island Conservancy #201 Upper Ganges Centre, 338 Lower Ganges Rd. Mail: PO Box 722, Salt Spring Island BC V8K 2W3

Office hours: Tues/Wed/Thurs 10 am — 3 pm Phone: 250/538-0318 Fax: 250/538-0319 info@saltspringconservancy.ca www.saltspringconservancy.ca

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Christine Torgrimson

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Maureen Bendick Samantha Beare John Borst Robin Ferry Jean Gelwicks John de Haan (Treasurer) Susan Hannon (Secretary) Ashley Hilliard (President) Donna Martin Maureen Milburn Deborah Miller David Paine Bob Weeden (Vice President)

Acorn Editing Team: Christine Torgrimson Bob Weeden, Susan Dann

Acorn Design: Harry Bardal

WE THANK OUR FUNDERS Community Support Apple Photo & Imaging Country Grocer Moonstruck Organic Cheese Inc. Mouat’s Clothing Company Mouat’s Home Hardware Outdoor Visions RBC Foundation Richard and Rose Murakami Salt Spring Adventure Co. Salt Spring Books Salt Spring Island Cheese Salt Spring Island Foundation Salt Spring Island Trail and Nature Club Salt Spring Soapworks School District #64 Stowel Lake Farm The Pinch Group/Raymond James Many wonderful private donors

Stewards-in-Training School Program Ducks Unlimited Province of British Columbia Salt Spring Island Foundation TD Friends of the Environment Thrifty Foods Smile Card Program

Stewardship, Land Acquisition and Species at Risk: BC Hydro BC Ministry of Environment Canadian Wildlife Federation Evergreen/Canon Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species At Risk Habitat Conservation Trust Fund Islands Trust Fund Nature Conservancy of Canada (Natural Areas Conservation Program) Public Conservation Assistance Fund

Shaw Communications Vancouver Foundation Victoria Foundation Wildlife Habitat Canada

The Acorn is the newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy, a local non-profit society supporting and enabling voluntary conservation and restoration of the natural environment of Salt Spring Island and surrounding waters. We welcome your feedback and contributions, by e-mail to info@saltspringconservancy.ca or by regular mail. Opinions expressed here are the authors’.

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is the force behind the invasive plant drop-off and the “Cut broom in bloom” campaign, and enthusiastically promotes native plant gardening and removal of invasive plants on the island. She is a former Conservancy board member.

Susan Hannon lives on a 3.5 acre property in the Reginald Hill area which she has kept in a natural state with arbutus, Douglas-fir and Garry oak abounding. She’s declared a war on Scotch broom and other invasive plants. Susan is the “blue-bird” lady, looking after 250 bluebird boxes on the island and hoping for the return of the extirpated Western bluebird. She also leads the Stewardship Committee, conducts stewardship visits for island landowners and serves on the Conservancy board. To get involved as a volunteer, sign a stewardship agreement or have a stewardship visit, please contact the Conservancy office at 250-538-0318.

From left: Jean Wilkinson, Donna Martin, Jane Petch and Susan Hannon with their stewardship plaques after signing

Stewardship Agreements with the Conservancy.

12 The Acorn ~ Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Ganges PO Box 722Salt Spring Island BC

V8K 2W3

See the Acorn in colour on our website: www.saltspringconservancy.ca

The Conservancy's Board of Directors spent a day together in November, discussing the role and responsibilities of the board as the organization enters its 19th year.

From left: Bob Weeden, Maureen Milburn, Jean Gelwicks, Donna Martin, David Paine, Deborah Miller, Ashley Hilliard, Samantha

Beare, John de Haan, Robin Ferry, Susan Hannon, John Borst.