June 2001 Acorn Newsletter - Salt Spring Island Conservancy

8/8/2019 June 2001 Acorn Newsletter - Salt Spring Island Conservancy

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The Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy Number 17 June, 200

corn

Featuredartist –

seepage

Inside:

New president, new faces,New president, new faces,New president, new faces,New president, new faces,New president, new faces,new energy new energy new energy new energy new energy by Sam Lightman

The ink on the April Annual General Meetingminutes had hardly dried when major changesswept through the Salt Spring IslandConservancy.

New members elected to the Conservancy

Board of Directors at the AGM included RuthTarasoff, Peter Lamb, Jean Gelwicks, and SamLightman. They joined sitting Board members

Samantha Beare, Gary Holman, Andrew Lewis, Andrea Rankin, Bob Weeden, Doug Wilkins, MaggieZiegler, Maureen Bendick and AnnRichardson.

But surprises were in store. Just onemonth later, at the Board meeting in

May, Maureen Bendick stepped downas President, citing a wish to “get my life

back”. Maureen will continue serving on theExecutive Committee as Vice President.

At the same time, Bob Weeden agreed toaccept the gavel from her, moving toPresident from his previous position asSecretary. The Executive was rounded out with Ruth Tarasoff being named as the newSecretary and Samantha Beare continuing onas Treasurer.

Ann Richardson, whose usual good health hasbeen less than robust of late, resigned fromher position on the Board. She will continue

working on the pivotal Covenant Committee.

Andrew Lewis will be rejoining the Board aftertaking a leave of absence to run as a GreenParty candidate for this riding in the recent provincial election. In a solidly Liberal riding,Lewis polled a very respectable 25% of the vote. While as a registered non-profit society the Conservancy must remain politically neutral, the Board is nevertheless pleased tohave him back.

Also on hand for the May meeting was KarenHudson, newly appointed Executive Director,the SSI Conservancy’s first (and only )employee. Members will remember Karen asthe Director of our recently completedStewardship project. Karen’s first report

appears on Page 4.

Joining her in the office as Coordinator forour Water Stewardship project is Murray Reiss, who was selected from a field of very impressive candidates (see Page 5). A

Covenants:

Three Complete, TenThree Complete, TenThree Complete, TenThree Complete, TenThree Complete, Ten

in Progress, Severalin Progress, Severalin Progress, Severalin Progress, Severalin Progress, Several

under Discussionunder Discussionunder Discussionunder Discussionunder Discussion

continued on page 5

Featuredartist –

PeterEyles

see page 14

New faces......Page 1Editorial.........Page 2President........Page 3Director..........Page 4Reiss...............Page 5Logging..........Page 6Maxwell..........Page 7

Texada............Page 9Stones................Page 10 Water..................Page 11Co-op................Page 12Black-out............Page 12Feedback............Page 13Eyles..................Page 14Events...............Page 15

by Charles Kahn

Quietly and painstakingly, the CovenantsCommittee has been working to haveconservation covenants placed on theproperties of interested islanders. Thecommittee – consisting of Charles Kahn(chair), Maureen Milburn, Ann Richardson,and Doug Wilkins – periodically sponsorsseminars to interest property holders in thecovenant process and then follows up by

examining prospective properties anddiscussing the process with the owners.

Some owners may decide not to proceedfurther. With others, the next step – baselineinventories of the subject properties – areconducted. Often surveys must be performed,and eventually a detailed contract iscompleted between the Conservancy and each



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Valdy’s bon mot rings like a bell. Trying to get people to unite around an issue on Salt Spring

would be a laughable exercise in futility if it

weren’t for the consequences.

The last time we saw anything approaching

unity was when Falconbridge Mining came

here with plans to establish a mine on Mount

Bruce. They were blown away on a wind of

universal outrage at a public meeting at

Beaver Point Hall. But that’s longer ago than

most people have been here. Most often, we

just disagree.

When Mac Blo decided to sell out and the

buyers commenced to clearcut Mount Tuam

and their other holdings, the island divided as

usual along the lines of private property versus

public good.

When Weldwood ripped a hole in our Fulford

Valley viewscape, only ten or fifteen people

came out to the public meeting to speak

against it. (Weldwood told us their cut

wouldn’t be visible from the road. They lied.Imagine that.)

When Texada Lands arrived to create the

current havoc, only a relative handful of

people came out in opposition. The Salt

Spring Island Conservancy held a Stump

Stomp to raise funds and drew 450 people – a

major event. But that meant that roughly 9450

people stayed away.

Chris Schmah was quoted in the Barnacle as

saying that the community is quite divided onthis topic. We think it’s worse than that. In the

case of Texada, the minority is a little larger

than usual, but it is still a small minority. The

silent majority sat on its hands. Even when the

watershed was threatened.

The reason the community is divided is clear:

it’s the pioneer spirit, the western fixation with

individual freedom versus public good. Thereis a visceral fear out there that government is

going to tell people who’ve always cut their

own firewood or opened up a building site

that they can’t do it any more. Ever. Anywhere.

It’s ridiculous but there it is.

Rationality isn’t the point. If it were, people

would see that what we are doing as a species

is hopelessly and fatally irrational (cf. the

recent Globe and Mail series, “Death Wish”, on

this subject). And we’d get a grip on our

behaviour, individually and collectively.

But it’s not rational. This is emotional, on

both sides. One side looks down the road and

sees a cliff, and the other is enjoying the ride

so much they don’t want to hear about it.

But the cliff is real and it’s getting closer. The

argument now is really only about how close it

is and how fast we’re approaching it. In that

regard, the Globe series has some sobering

numbers regarding such speed indicators as

rates of species extinction, desertification, andclimate change.

Clearly, if we want to slow down the approach,

we’re going to have to change our behaviour

drastically. And the rules that govern it. But

that’s going to require majority support,

locally and globally. Right now we don’t have

it. Not even close.

How to get it? Start changing minds. A

Herculean task, but simply crucial. Start with

your neighbour. The one who figures “they’llgrow back”.

Don’t expect miracles. And don’t give up.

A

Editorial

Convert your neighbour

...if the world is saved, it will be saved by people with changed minds. Not by programs. By people with

changed minds. –Daniel Quinn – “Story of B,” p. 73.

Salt Spring Island – a difference of opinion surrounded by water. – Valdy



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President’s Report

The community and the Conservancy havebeen through a year of environmentalstruggle, of hopes raised and hopes fading,then rising again. In that time, Block 9 onMaxwell Lake has been secured. Some

portions of Burgoyne and the Garry Oakmeadows will be in preservationist hands.Thanks to the dedication and generosity of itspeople, protection and restoration of Salt Spring’s natural environment can continue.This past year has seen the Conservancy pledge resources to watershed protection andto management plans for Ford Lake, to ascholarship fund, to educational events andfundraising. A successful and significant stewardship project saw many landholdersengage in learning more about preservation

and enhancement of the natural features of their land. In practical terms this meansthings like more Garry Oak groves sustainedand enriched, eco-forestry practicesestablished in forested land, streamsprotected, and flora and fauna given a betterchance for long-term survival.

We have a scaled-down, but very important, Watershed Stewardship Project just starting. We are also now very pleased to have taken abig step forward by harvesting andhusbanding our resources. We were able tohire our first staff. We are fortunate in havingKaren Hudson, who did such a stellar job onthe Stewardship Project, as our ExecutiveDirector. She brings experience,commitment, knowledge and fresh ideas tothis new and critically important dimension of our Conservancy.

The expandingawareness of theimportance of legally-bindingcovenants toprotect the natural

features of ourland is creativeand challengingfor theorganization.Thanks to a very generous

donation by one of our members, we can nowadd to the resources of our heretofore entirely volunteer covenant team. The signing of acovenant by Art and Doris Morton, protectingtheir beautiful groves and land, was a

milestone and it shows the way to others who want to make the meaningful commitment topreservation in perpetuity.

I am stepping aside as President, which meansmore time for broom-bashing, fundraising andirate letter-writing to various government departments and bureaucrats.

My time as President of the Conservancy hasstrengthened my understanding of thesesometimes dryly worded, but staggeringly important, concepts: education, stewardship

and covenants.Thank you all again for your support for thisorganization that forges a greener, moreearthy and stronger future for the Island.

There are some people that think that only people have emotions like pride, fear and joy. But those who know will tell you all things are alive…

“Daughters of Copperwoman,” Anne Cameron

A Year of Stress and Accomplishment

A



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As your newly hired Executive Director, Ithought that I would tell you what my role forthe Conservancy will be, as well as tell you what I’ve been up to in my first few weeks on the job.

The purpose of the Executive Director is tostrengthen the Salt Spring Island Conservancy through support of its Board, committees and volunteers. As the Executive Director, I will work under the direction of the Board toimplement the goals of the Salt Spring IslandConservancy, with our main priorities beingCovenants, Education, and Stewardship.

The first thing that I did in my new position wasestablish office hours as Mondays and Wednes-days from 10 AM to 2 PM. For those of you whohave not yet been to the Conservancy office, it is

located at #204, Upper Ganges Centre at 338Lower Ganges Road. (We tell most people whocall that we are located above the ChineseRestaurant.) Please stop in and say “hi”.

I am looking for a few volunteers to staff theoffice so we can have longer office hours, soplease let me know if you would like to helpout a few hours a week. During office hours,all that is required of volunteers is that they answer the phone and assist any visitors withconservation information. It’s a great way toget involved and learn more about theConservancy. We are also looking for more

volunteers to help in areas such as Biology,Covenants, and Educational Events. Those of

you with

computerscan log on to our

local volunteer website to read about those

other positions:

http://www.volunteersaltspring.com.

Another role of the Executive Director is torepresent the Board at meetings and educa-tional events and report back. At the end of April, I attended the annual Land Trust Alliance Conference in Nanaimo. There was

an impressive list of speakers this year ondiverse topics from fundraising to baselineindicator studies. I was most impressed by thelocal First Nations speakers who were the focusof the conference this year, and their strugglesto preserve their sacred sites against the forcesof development. Were you aware that the newparkway in Nanaimo goes through an area that was sacred to the First Nations in that area? Iam grateful to those speakers who shared theirstories with us over that informative weekend.

As the Conservancy is about to begin another

Education Project, this one focusing on LakeStewardship, I will be spending a lot of timeassisting and training our new Project Coordi-nator. The Hiring Committee, in which Iparticipated, has completed the difficult job of selecting a single individual, Murray Reiss, froma very strong list of candidates. Watch your localpapers for upcoming water-oriented workshopsand educational events this summer.

I want to thank our energetic volunteer,Marilyn Thaden Dexter who, with the help of Peter Lamb, is providing educational guidance

to new landowners on Salt Spring. The Welcome Wagon is now distributing ourbrochure ”Stewardship of your New Land ” to 15-30 newcomers a month. Many realtors on theisland have also agreed to pass along thisbrochure, which will assist landholders instewarding their new land. Stop by the officeto get this brochure, as well as our otherbrochures, Conservation Covenants , and Scotch Broom Removal .

A reminder to anyone fighting the good fight against broom, we have several broom pullersavailable to borrow. You can phone Phil Vernon 537-5614, Jim Spencer 537-9919, orBrian Smallshaw 653-4774 to borrow one of these handy tools. A suggested donation of $5/day is requested to help cover the costs of these tools, and to enable the Conservancy tobuy more.

See you this summer. A

– Karen Hudson

From the Director’s desk

Setting up shop



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continued from page 1

Covenants

Reiss Appointed Water Stewardship

Project CoordinatorMurray Reiss has been selected to serve ascoordinator for the Salt Spring IslandConservancy’s new Lake Stewardship Project.

Murray moved to Salt Spring in 1979 with his wife Karen and daughter Kaya and, with theexception of four years in Vancouver workingfor Tools for Peace, has lived here ever since,roughly half of that time in “537” land and therest in “653”.

He’s coordinated campaigns for Amnesty

International, working to prohibit Canadianarms exports to countries that might use themfor human rights violations. He also workedfor Tools for Peace, helping to build asolidarity network in Canada that providedmaterial and political support to thepopular movement in Nicaragua after theSandinista revolution, and pioneered linksbetween environmentalists in bothcountries.

Closer to home, Murray has sat on theIsland Planning Association and the

Advisory Planning Committee and hasbeen active for the past year and a half inthe campaign to gain community controlof the Texada lands.

He’s brought his professional skills as a writer, researcher and editor to all of thesecampaigns, as well as his training andbackground in counseling and mediation,and organizing skills as an activist. Many Salt Springers know Murray for his poetry,

which he has read on several occasions at various island functions.

He also volunteers with the Community JusticeProgram and the library, and sits on the boardof the Growing Circle Food Co-op.

Murray is excited about being part of theConservancy’s efforts to help conserve andprotect our island’s watershed environments,looks forward to working with its members andboard, and welcomes your comments,

questions and suggestions. A

property owner. The whole, intricate processcan take from many months to a couple of years to complete, as the contractualarrangements are legal and binding, and boththe Conservancy and the property ownersmust be in total agreement on the details. And

the process does not end there, as theConservancy must continue to monitor itscovenant agreements forever.

While the process is extremely slow and resultssometimes seem minuscule, progress is beingmade. We now have three covenantscompleted, which we hold jointly with The

Land Conservancy of British Columbia. Tenothers are in various stages of negotiation. Weare also helping with three other covenantsthat will be held by TLC and the Islands Trust Fund, and we are talking to others who haveexpressed interest in conservation covenants.

For further information on covenants ingeneral, have a look at the Conservancy’spublication “Conservation Covenants:Protecting Your Land in Perpetuity,” which isavailable from the Conservancy’s office. A



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Sierra Club of British Columbia recently released its report “Private Rights and Public Wrongs”, documenting the continued

environmental and social impacts of privateland logging in BC by TimberWest and otherindustrial logging operations includingTexada, Raven, and Weyerhaeuser.

Sierra Club is calling on the new government to conduct a review of BC’s Private Forest Practices Regulation, and to bring BC privateforestry standards up to the sameenvironmental levels as Washington State.

“Private Rights and Public Wrongs”,researched and written by BC writer BenParfitt, highlights several cases where current

private forest practices regulations have failedto protect wildlife, fish, water quality, workers,and endangered species from the effects of industrial scale logging on private lands.

In his forward to the report, Salt Spring’s Dr.Bristol Foster writes, “One year ago, BritishColumbia introduced a wholly inadequateregulation governing logging on private lands.The regulation failed to limit logging rates,did little to conserve streamside forests, andnext to nothing to protect wildlife.”

Foster quotes the acting Deputy Minister of Forests Bronwen Beedle as saying, “private

forest land being regulated represents 1percent of the provincial land base, and allprivate land represents approximately 5percent. Government feels its efforts tomanage wildlife are best focused on the 95percent of British Columbia that is publicland.”

Foster points out that, “While a smallcomponent of the overall landscape, privateland is still hugely important in some areas.On Vancouver Island, for example, about 20per cent of the forest is privately owned, andthis percentage is concentrated on the east coast and neighbouring Gulf Islands. Some of the most endangered ecosystems foundanywhere in British Columbia are on thoselands, including Coastal Douglas-fir forests,and Garry Oak meadows.”

Dr. Briony Penn is also quoted: “I live adjacentto the Forest Land Reserve. I can’t clear morethan 200 metres square of trees or add on tomy outhouse without a permit as I live in a water catchment area. My neighbour, TexadaLand Corporation, can clear cut their 5000acres, destroy my watershed and endangeredecosystems without even a plan to passcomment on. We live in a society of two rules:one for the corporations and one for the rest

of us.

“ The challenge facing us is to develop anequitable code of practices that embraces allforested lands, deters strip and flip

corporations and rewards goodstewardship. Calling this an issue of private rights versus community rights is a corporate smokescreen toevoke emotive responses. This is anissue of corporate versus community rights and the time has come forthem to have to paint their roofs the

same colour as the rest of us.”

To download the report, go to

http://bc.sierraclub.ca/News/

Media_Releases/TW_AGM.html

and click on the link to “PrivateRights and Public Wrongs”.

A

B.C.’s Standards for Private Land

Logging Worse Than U.S.



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Mt. Maxwell Field Trip Notes

‘Crucial for acquisition’

continued on page 8

To: Mr. Chris KissingerBC ParksVictoria

From: Gordon Brent Ingram, side stream

environmental design

RE: brief notes on the field discussion on Mt.Maxwell, 7 May, 2001

Dear Chris,

As promised, the following is the little‘report’ that you suggested. These notes only represent my opinion, as a researcher with a23-year involvement in this area, and in no way represent the opinions of this RAG[Recovery Action Group] or GOERT [Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team].

On May 7, we had a group of 10 up on theprovincial park and ecological reserve on Mt.Maxwell. As I mentioned earlier, that area isan excellent location for a field trip fordiscussing landscape ecology andconservation planning.

Our group includedemployees ofor officersin BC Ministry of Forests, Parks Canada, theHabitat Acquisition Fund, NatureConservancy of Canada (NCC), the Salt Spring Island Conservancy, Salt Spring Island

Trail & Nature Club...most of whom aremembers of the GOERT Conservationplanning & site protection RAG.

Our group did not have time to discuss theimportance of particular adjacent tracts of land to the provincial park and ecologicalreserve – that have been the topic of muchdiscussion of acquisition. There is some talkthat some of these ‘deals’ have already beenfinalized – which is heartening!

In making the notes below, I am looking at a1969 map of Salt Spring with a scale of ‘1

inch = 1320 feet’ (roughly 1: 16,000).

Along the route described below, we had anumber of discussions about GOERT’smandate, the Conservation Planning & SiteProtection RAG of GOERT, landscapeecology principles, plant associationclassifications of Garry oakecosystems,grazing, and fencing.

After meeting at the summit of Mt. Maxwell, inthe Provincial Park, and being briefed by GOERT chair Marilyn Fuchs, wedrove downthe mountain (north) roughly 1 km andparked on theroad about 200 north of the

boundary of the provincial park (and north200 metres before where the upper part of the ecological reserve touches that road — where the big boulders were recently place).This land is owned by Texada Logging and we walked through the extreme westernportion. This parcel is the extremenorthwestern 16th of Section 80 and theparcel west of the road represents a criticaltriangle touching both the provincial parkand the ecological reserve. Because it is not very steep this has been my preferred entry point to the lower elevations of theprovincial park and the ecological reserve.

At the road, thistract appears swampy but ingoing west slopes down and dries out. I notethat this triangular tract has highly marketable old-growth Douglas fir, away from the road andadjacent to theboundaries of the provincial park and theecological reserve, thatcould be easily logged — disturbances that would haverelatively deleterious negative impacts on theintegrity of the west face of Mt. Maxwell.

Descending through the Douglas fir parkland we came into the oak meadows to the point where the extreme northwestern corner of theprovincial park touches the point exactly mid- way along the eastern boundary of theecological reserve. Wayne Erickson of theMinistry of Forests gave us an overview of theplant communities that he has detected andclassified in the ecological reserve.

Compared to other times in similar times of year over the last two decades, I notedanexceptional number of Calypso orchid,

Calypso bulbosa , and was pleased to see one Erythronium sp. at about 1500'. Brian Readerof the new Gulf Island National Park officeof Parks Canada in Victoria noted that hesaw several more blooming Erythroniumnearby. The grass biomass appears to begreater than normal for this time of year —perhaps because of the warm winter and wet spring. But there are fewer signs of sheep than



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the private piece at the

southwest corner of Section 80 and the two

triangular shores tracts

in section 81 are

absolutely crucial to

maintain the integrity of

this dynamic mosaic


Crucial

continued on page 9

there were even a decade ago: there is far less freshscat and no tell-tale tufts of wool along the trails.

Now at 1200 foot elevation, we walked south-east into the oak meadows only partially protected within the boundaries of theprovincial park.We then went back, northwest,

into the ecological reserve going down to aslow as 800 feet. This is the elevation mid-way down the slope and mid-way ‘down’ theecological reserve.

Continuing through the ecological reserve at that elevation, we came to the fence that yourepaired earlier this year. This is indeed animpressive achievement and the new gates(which we carefully closed) make researchmuch easier. My colleague from the Salt SpringConservancy and I took a very quick half hour

reconnaissance — with a

particular interest in forbs1 .Unfortunately, there were nosigns of the removal of sheepgrazing.There has beeninsufficient time for theherbaceous layer to recover.

After the fence was first constructed, about 1983 (?), Ithink that it took about 5 years before I began to seeafew common Camas Camassia

quamash and one Fritilleria

[lily]2 species in that enclosure.Incidentally,Tim Ennes of

GOERT and NCC found aCamassia bloomingon a cliff nearby in the ecological reserve, that sounds more like the largerspecies of Camas.

Outside (and inside) of the exclosure, the rate of recent oak regeneration also appears to begreater than it was decades back — though I didnot keep records or establish permanent plots.

Heading southeast again and contouringupward, wepassed that exploratory ‘mine’ that goes in about5 metres.The floor wasexceptionally dry but there were no signs of thesmall batsthat used it two decades before.

As for the currently unprotected portions of this mountainside, I think that the extremenorthwest corner of Section 81, west of thepark road and owned by Texada Logging, iscrucial for acquisition — especially tomaintain the cliff seepage system that flows

through the southeast half of the ecologicalreserve. As for the entire Garry oak mosaic,across this mountainside, the private piece at the southwest corner of Section 80 (boundedon two sides by the provincial park) and the two(privately owned) triangular shores tracts insection 81 (touching two sides of the ecologicalreserve) are absolutely crucial to maintain theintegrity of this dynamic mosaic of oak,

grassland, and old-growth Douglas fir (withrelatively rare seepage communities). If theseparcels are not purchased in the comingmonths, I will be asking whether these sitesshould be evaluated as priority areas forprotection under the terms of this RAG (with amandate that may one day have a legal basis).

For our recovery action group, the discussion ofthe partial conservation provided by theboundaries of the ecological reserve and theprovincial park allowed us to illustrate someconservation planning principles that we will be

working with over the coming years. I hope that you can also find time to attend at least some ofour meetings and join us for field trips.

With best wishes,

Gordon Brent Ingram, Ph.D.side stream environmental design321 Railway Street #108 Vancouver, BC V6A 1A4telephone: 1(604)669-0422email: [email protected]

PS: There are few large landscape mosaics of

old Garry oak and old-growth Douglas firleft anywhere — and especially in thenorthern portion of this ecosystem that is inCanada. The west side of Mt. Maxwell hasone of the largest and most complexset of Garry oak ecosystems — and one of the leastdamaged bybroom infestation (though it isthere). In 1981,I completed my M.Sc. thesisin ecosystem management on the ecologicalreserve there andon othersin the region in1981. As a conservation priority, Mt. Maxwell was discounted for years because of the feralsheepand their heavy toll on the forbs and

grasses.But these pressures have diminished(and can be further controlled throughfencing and predation). On the other hand,Mt. Maxwell has some of the best remainingareas of standing and fallen dead wood (oakand fir) which is key to some aspects of theseecosystems andthis slope is one of themost promising areas for re-introduction of burning



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Texada Lands Use Process Expandsby Dan Kahn

The Salt Spring Island Conservancy has beeninvited to participate in a process which aimsto create a model of stewardship, education,and sustainability on the current Texada Lands.

The ad hoc group which coalesced around

The Land Conservancy of British Columbia at the outset of the Texada controversy is nowopening up their process in an effort todevelop a community vision for the use of the lands. The group has already expandedits membership from an original 16 or so to

about 50.

The province plans to acquire aportion of the Texada lands tobe designated as parkland.

Indications are that the province wants input regarding funding/

management partners to feed into itsnegotiations before the end of June. A process is now underway to create, by June14th, a document which will serve thecommunity’s interests.

The purpose of this process: to catalyzetangible community plans for stewardship,protection, and practical, prosperous,educational relationships with those lands.The hope is that these very preliminary plans will help the province acquire more lands at abetter price and leverage more private

financing. In addition, the plans would helpthe community to develop protected areas,cooperative farming and eco-forestry projects, safe drinking water, environmental

education, and other ecologically sustainableand responsible projects. The more human-intensive activities would serve as a bufferbetween “core protected areas” and thesurrounding, more vulnerable landscape.

The idea is to develop a document whichcontains several distinct scenarios, each oneinvolving various integrated and/or isolateduses. The “final” document is intended to be acommunity resource which containsinformation about various options for land useand avenues for funding particular uses and would be available to any local groups orindividuals willing to employ it. Theexpanded ad hoc group hopes to use thisdocument to persuade the Land Conservancy board to acquire funding to help secure the

land, and other organizations that similarly might be willing to raise or borrow fundsbased on this document would be highly encouraged to do so.

A number of possible avenues for theConservancy’s participation in this processhave been suggested and the ad hoc group is welcoming collaboration. Any questions abouthe process can be directed to Dan Kahn at 653-4244, or [email protected]. A

[Note: At press time, the SSI Conservancy Board

was studying the ad hoc group’s preliminary

document and considering what response(s) wouldbe most appropriate, meaningful, effective, and –

most important – doable within the limits of our

considerably constrained resources. –Ed.]


Crucial

and even aboriginal gathering of traditionalspecies such as camas. A

1 Forbs are a host of low herbaceous plants that

aren’t grasses. When flowering, many forbs are just

called ‘wildflowers’. They are delicate. But for mostof the year, these low green plants sort of fit into the

grasslands as if they are grasses but they aren’t. In

a summer drought ecoystem like Mt. Maxwell, parts

of Oregon and California, Mediterranean Europe

etc., forbs die back by June but dominate the

groundcover through the wet months.A forb doesn’t

have much of a stalk —in contrast to a low shrub

which isn’t a forb or a grass.

Sheep actually don’t like grass that much. If they

have the chance, they eat the tender forbs over the

tough grass — making lilies and other such forbs

particularly vulnerable from repeated grazing (which

is what has happened on Mt. Maxwell). As sheep

are moved off or better controlled through predation

(natural predators or hunting), the big change will be

in the expanded forb layers. The best time to see

the difference in a healthy forb layer is April and

May (until early June). Until maybe the end of this

week or next, if you compare a walk through the

camas meadows of Beacon Hill Park in Victoria to

the (ghost) camas meadows of Mt. Maxwell, in

Beacon Hill Park perhaps half of the plants in the

meadow are not actually grass — whereas on Mt.

Maxwell, the tougher grasses rule (for now).

2 Probably the Fritilleria lanceolata, a chocolate lily

found occasionally in the area.



10

by Bob Weeden

[This is a second reminiscence from a trip

taken by Don and Fiona Flook, and Bob and

Judy Weeden on an arctic river last summer.

The first appeared in Acorn #16.–Ed.]

While I walk the stony gravels of the beach of our evening camp, I recall Loren Eisely’smarvellous metaphor of stones and words.Stones, he said, weather from the cliff of theirorigins, fall into a river, and year by year are

carried along, always changing shapeas they grind and chip and split,but always keeping somefundamental essence of theiroriginal nature. So, too, with words, born somehow as a newperception of life or the universeand then worn and changed in

the tumble down through thecenturies, but always carrying intheir deepest structure the crystals

of their beginnings.

Remembering that, I feel the warmth of my long admiration for Eisely, a respect tinged insome unlikely way with kinship. Set asidelevels of achievement and fame: didn’t I, likeEisely, yearn to be both scientist and poet?

My errant foot kicks a stone, and I look downat the cobbled beach. These have come a long way, I think, because the hills at my back are

pure limestone while these are a colorfulmixture of granites and gneisses, quartzes andhardened slates, and many others I can’t name. A variant of Eisely’s metaphor strikesme: these are not like words, they are words.Each of my hands can hold one stone, andeach is a word. In their wonderful variety onthis patch of beach where I stand, they compose a thought – a sentence. In theirsmoothness is embedded another thought,and in their size, yet another. And if I knewenough I could write a paragraph, even achapter, in the history of Earth.

Here is a word: a fist of granite, speckled grey- white, black, and rose-pink. Worn smooth but crystalline. It speaks of heat and weight and amassive thrust to the surface.

Here is a sentence: a pail of blindly-collectedstones, wonderfully varied. Ocean sediments,molten planetary core, compressed rivergravels. An immense broom has swept a

continental room of its furniture and left it, jumbled together, in the watershed of thissmall river.

No matter their color or structure or size,these stones are smooth and rounded. No jagged edges. No skipping stones whosecurving leaps I’ve counted all these delightful years. Only sand-laden desert winds or tall waves on a steep beach or the force of a wildriver can so smooth and round such stones. And so another sentence lies around me, waiting to be read.

And thus the paragraph, created from thesepebbles and glued together by what we sawupriver a few days ago. In the beginning (Ishall call it that, though I know it to be false)there was ice, ice of immense weight and hugegeography, covering this country. Thicker insome places than others, and lying on unevenground, it plowed slowly outward from centersof accumulation and from higher elevation,seeking, as does water everywhere, its lowest level. This glacier plucked and gouged thecountry rock and loose debris of earlier times,and pushed it ahead. In summer meltwaterstreams formed and rolled some of this debrisbefore errantly throwing it aside. Eventually the continental ice disappeared, leaving amantle of silt, sand and rocks behind. We

landed on a small lake in this mantle last Wednesday and camped on a flower-coveredlow ridge of gravel where the little riverbegins. All around us was glacial debris,hillocks and ridges and pockets now softenedby plant growth. The little river had busieditself for millennia, carrying everything loosetoward the sea. Big pieces were left behindearly, near the place the ice abandoned them.Our beach on this sun-lit night is a third of the way to river mouth, and the cobble and gravelis of a size humans love to turn over, pick up,and admire. Farther downstream all will be

pebbles or smaller, except for bigger piecesnewly dropped by sidestreams or from cliffsalong the way. Where the river dies in the armsof the sea, only fine sand and mud will be left.

In the language of these stones, river is a verb,and so is ice. Above and through all, so istime, the invisible guide of all action. A

Stones, Words, and the River

In the

language of these stones,

river is a

verb,



11

The media, government, cottagers, yourneighbours - everyone is talking about theneed for clean water for drinking andrecreation. Healthy natural shorelines - be

they along lakes, creeks, ponds, canals,oceans, rivers, or estuaries - play an essentialrole in protecting our water quality,preventing erosion and safeguardingshoreline property values.

What can you do to help to protect our waterquality and shoreline health? The folks at The Living by Water Project are challenging allCanadians to help make a difference by fillingout the Shoreline Action Checklist . Ourchecklist contains easy actions that you cancarry out in your home, along the shoreline,

and on the water to help protect and restoreshorelines. Let us know what you are already

A Call to Everyone Who Cares About Clean Water

Create a Ripple of ChangeCreate a Ripple of ChangeCreate a Ripple of ChangeCreate a Ripple of ChangeCreate a Ripple of Changedoing and what things you’ll try by simply checking the I’m doing or I will box next tothe appropriate action and receive a Shoreline Ambassador Certificate in recognition of your

efforts. Your actions do make a difference!

Shoreline residents (year-round and seasonal)are invited to complete the checklist found at

http://www.livingbywater.ca

Shoreline visitors are invited to complete thechecklist found at http://www.caringforshorelines.ca

For more information, contact:The Living by Water Project Tel: (250) 832-7405, Fax: (250) 832-6875

E-mail: [email protected]

A

The W. David and Marilyn DexterConservancy Scholarship

fund was enlarged by $400this spring, with the help of tuition-paying students.

During four two-hour

evening sessions, a diverseclass let their mindshopscotch around thecosmos in search of anenvironmental ethic. It was so much fun that they gathered threemore times to watchand discuss Vision TV’sfive-part series,

“Reinventing the World.” Who knows: youmight see a reincarnation of that energy insome other form.

Several of those ‘phearless philosophers’, plusnew folks, honed bird-watching skills on threefine April Saturdays. They will remember a

gem-like moment in Ruckle Park, with a warmsun reflecting from the lemon-green blossomsof huge old maples. Each tree hid spirit-birds,fleeting shapes at the edge of vision,confirming their doubted existence withsignature songs. Thanks to Ducks Unlimitedand Mark Hughes, we were able to enjoy thesights and sounds of one of the finest wetland-and-farmland landscapes on our Island. Barn, violet-green, and rough-winged swallowsshimmered around Ford Lake, like electronsaround their nucleus. And, if quirky quarkscould call, surely they would sound like therattling chorus of invisible marsh wrens.

Bob Weeden had almost as much funorganizing these explorations as the studentshad in re-organizing them. A

Words and Birds



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A new cooperative landscaping business,called Earthworks, is forming on Salt Spring,and is looking for a response from

Conservancy members. EarthworksCooperative will specialize in edible, medicinaland aromatic landscaping. Its other mainfocus will be the removal of scotch broom andgorse, and revegetating with native and othersuitable plants. Coop workers will try todiscover the best methods of compostingbroom, gorse, and other yard waste to turnthem into viable soil amendments.

Earthworks will also attempt to make otheruseful and interesting products out of broom.

New Co-operative Forming

on Salt Spring

[One of the more interesting suggestions to

come our way in recent months via eamil.]

In protest of George W. Bush’s energy policiesand lack of emphasis on efficiency,conservation and alternative fuels, there willbe a voluntary rolling blackout on the first day of summer, June 21 from 7 PM - 10 PM in any

time zone (this will roll it across the planet).

In addition, they are trying to redesignexisting broom control tools for greater easeof use and make them available to the

community.Earthworks is currently putting together abusiness plan and need to do some market research. They would greatly appreciate any of your information or ideas. If you arepotentially interested in their services or want more information about the co-op, pleasecontact Laura Morrison at 537 4816, or viaemail at [email protected]. A

It’s a simple protest and a symbolic act. Turnout your lights from 7 PM - 10 PM on June 21.Unplug whatever you can unplug in yourhouse. Light a candle to the sungod, kiss andtell, make love, tell ghost stories, do somethinginstead of watching television, have fun in thedark.

Forward this email as widely as possible, to your government representatives and

environmental contacts. Let them know we want global education, participationand funding in conservation, efficiency and alternative fuel efforts — and an endto over- exploitation and misuse of theearth’s resources.

ROLL YOUR OWN BLACK OUT. TheFirst Day of Summer, Thursday evening, June 21, 2001, 7-10 PM worldwide, alltime zones. A

R O L L Y O U R O W N B L A C K O U TR O L L Y O U R O W N B L A C K O U TR O L L Y O U R O W N B L A C K O U TR O L L Y O U R O W N B L A C K O U TR O L L Y O U R O W N B L A C K O U T



13

FEEDFEEDFEEDFEEDFEEDFEEDFEEDback

Help WantedHelp WantedHelp WantedHelp WantedHelp Wanted

Computer whiz, volunteer, comfort-able with Windows, to help out withproblems, installs and removes, etc.Call Karen, 538-0318

Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 11:34:18 +0100To: [email protected]

From: John Munro and Karen ClarkSubject: Herbicide Use on Salt Spring

Hi Sam,

I am a SSI Conservancy member and alwaysenjoy reading the Acorn . It continues to get better and more informative.

I really support the Conservancy approach toeducating people as I often see that peoplesometimes do things and don’t realize theramifications of their actions for the

environment and wildlife.I was wondering if the Conservancy had everthought of having speakers or articles in the Acorn on herbicide use. I see more and morepeople here on Channel Ridge usingRoundup to kill broom or in some cases killall the Garry Oak meadow plants so that they can plant a ‘lawn’.

I do think for some people if they were moreaware of the risks of using herbicides they would not use them. There is a one acre lot on Canvasback where the person has just

sprayed all of the native vegetation on theirproperty including the road-right-of way in anarea where small children and pets often play.Most of the vegetation was garry oak meadow.Channel Ridge Properties, the developer, hasbeen spraying with Roundup to kill broomand is considering more widespread spraying.I think if more people realized that inRoundup it is only the glysophate that hasundergone toxicological testing whereas thesurfactants and solvents that are used to makethe herbicide adhere to the foliage do not undergo testing because they are secret andpart of the patent held by Monsanto. There is

growing evidence that the solvents andsurfactants are quite toxic and are known to

kill fish and amphibians. There is alsoevidence that glysophate is not as benign asMonsanto would like everyone to believe andthat it is persistent for at least 90 days. Also theprimary factor in herbicide-caused illness forlandscape workers is Roundup.

Another issue is insecticides, which I know arecommonly sold and used in many gardens andin general are quite toxic and persistent. Most insecticides are neurotoxins, killing by disrupting the nervous system of insects. Toassume that such a powerful chemical could

be so specific as to affect only insects and bebenign to humans, intuitively to me seemsquite naive.

I have been hearing also of the use of pesticides by the vineyards on Salt Spring andconcerns about runoff and drift from theseareas onto surrounding lands.

The use of pesticides seems like an issue whereeducating people on the risks of their usecould potentially go a long way, since at themoment most people seem to rely on the

manufacturers for the safety information,(which is obviously biased) and the TV advertising (which strives to make you thinkthese are wonder chemicals).

I recently saw a woman trying to fit a 10kgbag of ‘Weed and Feed’ and a large bottle of Diazanon into her car around her three smallchildren and two dogs. I really wondered if she realized what she was about to expose herfamily to.

Thanks for thinking about this.

Karen Clark A



14

Featured

artist –

Peter Eyles

Peter Eyles received his degree in Visual Arts fromthe University of Victoria in 1972. He worked asa Natural History Illustrator for the ProvincialParks Department from 1972 to 1976. Heworked in the display department which

produced outdoor display signs for provincialparks and indoor displays for the nature houses.

Since then he has enjoyed drawing and paintingout of doors as well as in the studio. The landscaperemains a dominant theme in his work. Peter has

shown his work locally in galleries and groupexhibits. He lives on Salt Spring with his wife Gailand his two sons. Their studio is on the tour wherewoodwork as well as painting and photography areon display. A



15

Board of Directors:Board of Directors:Board of Directors:Board of Directors:Board of Directors:

Maureen Bendick Samantha Beare

Jean Gelwicks

Gary Holman

Ann RichardsonPeter Lamb

Andrew Lewis

Sam Lightman Andrea Rankin

Ruth Tarasoff

Doug WilkinsMaggie Ziegler

Bob Weeden,President

The AcornThe AcornThe AcornThe AcornThe Acorn is the newslet-ter of the Salt Spring Island

Conservancy, a local, non-

profit society supporting and enabling voluntary

preservation and restora-tion of the natural environ-

ment of Salt Spring Islandand surrounding waters.

We welcome your feed-back and contributions, by

email [email protected]

or by regular mail to the

Conservancy office.

Editor/Designer:Sam Lightman

Membersh ip Appl i ca t ion

Individual $15

Family $20

Underemployed $10

Name:

Address:

Postal Code:

Phone: Fax:

email:

Donat ionsTax deductible receipts are provided for every

donation over $20.

In addition to my $15-20 membership fee, I have

enclosed my donation in the amount of:

$25 $50 $100

Other________

o n s e r v a n c yo n s e r v a n c yo n s e r v a n c yo n s e r v a n c yo n s e r v a n c ythe Salt Spring Islandthe Salt Spring Islandthe Salt Spring Islandthe Salt Spring Islandthe Salt Spring Island

C C C C C Ganges PO Box 722

Salt Spring Island, BC

V8K 2W3

Pa r t i c i pa t i on

I would like to participate in the work of the

Conservancy by volunteering in the following way(s):

Research

Land restoration

Office work

Site evaluation and habitat identification

Computer work

Mapping

Fund raising

Specific educational programs (your ideas

welcome)

Joining the Board of Directors (this Board isactive, not passive)

Other (your suggestions)

Please email the Acorn to me.

printed on recycled paper

Coming Events

SALT SPRING WATER –The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

June 27, 7:30 PM. All Saints by the Sea Anglican Church

Gary Gibson - IS OUR WATER THREATENING OUR HEALTH?Health hazards in water supplies and what we might be facing

Tom Wright – ARE OUR WELLS WELL?An update on the condition of our ground water

Cost per session: $5.00 member $6.00 non members

Refreshments will be served.


C C C C C

Sponsored by :



16


C C C C C Ganges PO Box 722

Salt Spring Island, BC

V8K 2W3

Documents

June 2001 Acorn Newsletter - Salt Spring Island Conservancy