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AcorntheTheNewsletteroftheSaltSpringIslandConservancyNumber23,April2003

Offrogs,butterfliesandprawncocktails...

Polly Wilson

In 1993, concerned about the disappearing frog habitat, we decided to make a pond in our garden. We dug a hole 8 by 13ft and 4ft deep, the dirt from the excavation making a retaining embankment on the downhill side of the slope.

We installed a butyl liner securing it with paving stones and laid down a gravel beach all around the edge. Oxygenating plants went into the bottom of the pond and various other pond plants were added. Water from the well completed the picture and since there is no natural water source we have to rely on rainfall and the occasional topping up with the hose

FrogPonderings

Ann Richardson

I’m delighted that the Education Committee is planning a whole string of informational meetings, workshops and some walk-abouts focusing on bears, whales, sharp-tailed snakes and butterflies that will interest those of us with naturalist leanings. Derek Marvin of Duncan will be presenting a slide show and a walkabout on butterflies sometime this spring or summer but we don’t have a date yet.

This year we started the Salt Spring Butterflyers which is a loosely organized group interested in learning more about these beautiful creatures, as well as developing a database of the butterfly population of our island through annual butterfly counts. Participants can choose to count in their own garden or neighborhood or ramble through mountain meadows on Tuam, Maxwell, Bruce, Sullivan, Erskine or Belcher and anywhere else that looks productive. Butterflies generally like sunshine, some species like riparian areas and stream banks, others prefer forest openings or

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Continued on page 7 Butterlies........................1Frogs..............................1President’s Page..............2Director’s Page................3Green Legacies................4Phyllis Webb Poem.........5Broom.............................6Invaded...........................8Seafood...........................9Education Committee....10Ruby Alton Update........11Membership Report.......11Different Perspective......12Land Aquisitions...........13Parks Update.................13Conference....................17Covenant Committee.....15You Can Help................15Editor’s Comments........16Calendar of Events........17

Inside:

Featured Artists:

Tina Spalding and Rachel Bevingtonpage 18

edges. I find sunny roadsides are quite productive. The various nurseries attract butterflies and are worth checking out. This year there will be count days in each month beginning in April and ending in September. If you are interested in joining us or

would like more information, please email Ann Richardson richd@saltspring.com or

call 653-4632. If you participated in the 2002 Count you don’t need to communicate,

unless your email, telephone number, or address has changed.

Butterfly gardens are becoming increasingly of interest to householders. To understand how to attract butterflies and encourage them to

become residents you must know their plant connections. In order to survive, both male and

Butterflies

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President’sPage

-Bob Weeden, February 2003

More often and more devastatingly than we know, words imprison us with walls of assumption and custom. One such word is “property”. Applied to land, it captures us in a steely web of obsolete and dangerous notions of sacred rights, market process, and the inert otherness of nature. I propose that we pull land beyond the reach of “property” and change the meaning of possessive pronouns with which we pair it.

It is easy enough for any one of us to do. A friend of mine is adamand: she will never speak of the few but lovely acres, to which she holds title, as “my property”. It is always “my land,” and she uses the possessive to mean something closer to “my daughter” than “my teapot”. I know many who agree fully, but out of habit keep saying “my property”. I know more who have a gentler attitude toward their home lands than the general run of people, yet hold fast to the bundle of economic rights that custom and law attach to land ownership.

The trouble with calling land, “property,” is the company you force it to keep. Turnips, for example, like land, can be bought and sold, used, or destroyed carelessly without a frown from law or society. The only thing you can’t do with a turnip (besides eating it with unfeigned pleasure) is to heave it through a neighbor’s window - and that is to protect the window not the turnip.

Some things called property do carry with them the duty of care. Truly special works of art and artifice traded in the markeplace may carry a societal imperative against wanton destruction. In a sense, the “owner” of treasured objects functions more like a temporary steward or trustee. Housepets are another example. Traded for money, trained to be useful, and eventually subject to the owners life or death decision, the farm watchdog nevertheless must be treated from day to day within prescribed limits of humane care.

Shamed as we are to remember it, serfs, slaves, children and women once were property. They aren’t any more (in law) simply because we belive that if you are human, you can’t be property.

Our concept of “land” is ready for that same evolutionary step: to be extricated from “property” and put in its own unique class.

One reason is that, like life, land comes as a gift out of unremembered time and into a future past that of our proud species. The basic character of every piece of land arises out of a process of creation in which no human took part. We humans have been affecting that character in small or large degree for millenia, recently in a massive way, but these changes all have been within the limits of an inherited geology and an uncontrolled climate.

Then, too, land is different from simple objects in the extent to which it can be known by an owner. A rational owner of a truck or book or henhouse can be expected to know most of the ways such things can be used, to use those potentials, and to give the object enough care so the value keeps coming. In contrast, no individual owner will ever know all the benefits that flow from the land, nor be interested in more than a fraction of those that are known. Even after millenia of human occupation of land, we are still discovering new goods of value, still only vaguely understanding the services nature freely provides (keeping air breathable, purifying and re-using stuff we throw away, making soil from rock chips, and the like).

Perhaps the most crucial difference between land and property is that every piece of land affects and is affected by all others, at whatever scale you choose, local landscape, watershed, physiographic region, continent, or globe. Rain falls on “my” 17 acres. Some collects in a pond dug by a previous owner. Geese and ducks visit daily, and percolating water brings nutrients into the pond from my manured orchard. Water overflows the pond into McFadden Creek, freighting nutrients along a brushy channel to a marshy meadow a kilometer away. Nutrients are trapped in a winter-flooded marsh. Next summer they feed the rank grasses cut by another farmer. Ratchet the scale upward: every summer two pairs of western tanagers nest on my farm, connecting me forever with their winter homes along the Sea of Cortez.

How, in the name of all that is rational or loving in human nature can we expect that complex, indivisible, everlasting, everchanging entity we call “land” to be taken care of by a system whose every characteristic is perverse? We insist on the rigid, arbitrary and minute subdivision of land. We assign each parcel to the highest bidder regardless

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Prisonbreak:AModestProposal

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Director’sDeskBehind the Scenes-Karen Hudson

One rainy March day, one of the Conservancy’s newest volunteers asked me, “What do members get for being a member of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy?” The more obvious things came to mind first: The Acorn, email announcements of our educational events, special member promotions like last year’s free Robert Bateman poster, use of the broom pullers, and the use of our office and library for research. Then I began to think of all of the other things that members get and most of those things fall into the category of work that is being done on behalf of Conservancy members by the board, committee members and volunteers behind the scenes.

The Conservancy Board of directors meets every month to discuss issues of importance to SSIC and to Salt Spring Island. The chairpersons of various committees give updates on their latest projects. In addition to these meetings, the executive committee meets even more frequently and is responsible for key decision making, for example, deciding to send a letter to the Local Trust Committee regarding the proposed Sablefish hatchery. Board members also represent SSIC in our many partnerships and coalitions on SSI and beyond. Recently, board member Ruth Tarasoff has been attending the GSX Pipeline hearings in Sidney as part of our role as Marine Coalition interveners to the National Energy Board panel. Locally, a board member will be part of the new CRD-Islands Trust Water Council Initiative forming soon.

Much of the important work done by SSIC is done by our hard working committees. When I think of hard work, I think of the Covenants committee, led by chairperson Maureen Milburn. This dedicated group of volunteers put in hundreds of hours a year ago to secure the Mt. Maxwell watershed covenant which covers 263 acres. This covenant is special because it is the first covenant on a community watershed in BC. The covenant committee is constantly at work meeting with islanders interested in covenanting their properties, drafting and finalizing covenants, and monitoring covenanted lands annually.

Most members are familiar with the Education Committee, currently chaired by Andrea Rankin, which is always working to bring us new and interesting educational talks and workshops. Last year’s series, entitled “A Tourist In Your Own

Back Yard”, was a huge hit with sold out events resulting in many new members and volunteers. In February, 50 people attended a workshop on endangered Sharp-tailed Snakes. Many of you will also remember the 2000 South & West Stewardship Project, which was a result of years of work by our past Stewardship Committee.

A new committee, which was formed last year is the Land Management and Restoration Committee, chaired by Charles Dorworth. This committee put in hundreds of volunteer hours last Fall assisting with the Ruby Alton Nature Reserve Management Plan. As the current interim managers of the Reserve, this work, along with many proposed management plans for other properties will be keeping this new committee very busy. Our newest committee, the Land Acquisition Committee, is being headed up by our former Covenants Committee chair, Charles Kahn. Charles currently has his hands full with the proposed purchase of the Martin Williams Property on Mount Erskine. A huge thank you to all of our members who once again have shown their amazing support by donating to this purchase! Despite this enormous undertaking, Charles still finds time to talk to landholders who may wish to donate their land to SSIC.

Despite the hard work being done by these committees and the dedication of our volunteers, we still need more people to assist us. Our office is increasingly busy and your help is needed now more than ever to manage all of these endeavours. In April, we are losing our wonderful office volunteer, Bob Nation. Bob and his wife, Helen, also helped us at education events and they are moving to Duncan. A big thank you and farewell to Bob & Helen, I don’t know what I will do without you. Please see the updated volunteer opportunities list on the last page of this Acorn and think about how you can get involved and help out behind the scenes.

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President’sPageContinued:

A book has recently been released that features many Saltspring donors to nature conservation causes. Green Legacies: A Guide for Donors in B.C. is now available both online at www.greenlegacies.ca and in hard copy.

The Guide contains important information for people who are thinking about their personal legacies. It offers a menu of planned giving choices (22 in all) to help people plan gifts, either for now or in bequests. Detailed descriptions are included of gifts such as life insurance, annuities, bequests, and tangible goods. There is something for everyone who wants to make a personal gift, regardless of personal wealth.

Project coordinator, Nora Layard, noted that she cornered several Conservancy members to help with the project, including photographers Jonathan Grant, Shari MacDonald, David Denning, Kathy Reimer, Osman Phillips, Ron Hawkins, and Jim Spencer, and donors Colin

GreenLegacies–AvailableNow

of motive or skill. We have a few guidelines for land use, mainly with a nod to community values individual decisions could jeopardize - then charge taxes annually that are based on maximum potential shortterm profit. Are we surprised when owners act in an equally bling, now-or-never fashion?

So should we turn land ownership over to governments? There is a place for Crown lands, in theory and in practice, but governments can be as responsive to shortterm politics as individuals can be to profits. We don’t have to trash private land ownership. Instead, eliminate property taxes based on highest potential current income, and in one action you eliminate the sharpest goad to destructive land use. Tax speculative profits from land-flipping, and reduce the urge to treat land as a commodity. Develop a broad and effective array of incentives for the kinds of treatment of land that produce public and longlasting, as well as private and nearterm benefits, and watch the improvement in private stewardship. (Such incentives have a long history, notably measues taken after the Dust Bowl years to encourage farmers to protect soil. Recent innovations include paying owners of endangered species habitat to

protect those places. What difference incentives made there! The same landowners vowing to poison remnant prairie dog colonies to eliminate endangered ferrets altogether became partners in their survival.)

Two final questions: First, if shortterm gain becomes secondary to longterm care, won’t resource flow dry up? As a practical matter, I doubt it. For one thing, no society in history ever has left real needs of the moment unmet, in favour of a distant benefit - it ain’t human nature. The cost of some resources might rise, more because we would finally be including costs of environmental protection in the accounts of a development project as we should have been all along, not because of diminished supply. On the positive side of the ledger, there would be less desperate struggling for revenue, fewer business failures, less “collateral damage” to the land, and more secure flows of ecosystem services.

Second, wouldn’t the change lead to a huge turnover in land ownerships? Two very different kinds of people suit the dramatically different ideas about the meaning and priorities of land tenure. That’s the plan, folks. Many people who own property today don’t deserve the chance to be stewards of land, the only home we’ll ever have.

Rankin and Sue Pratt, Nancy Braithwaite, Rob Denny, Tamar Griggs and Robert Bateman. Many others helped with the production and editing processes.

The Guide includes a Directory of Conservation Groups that shows clearly the incredible work that is being done in B.C. Dick Cannings and Margaret Holms also contributed an article about why the need is so urgent at this time. Information is included about gifting land and covenants, a topic with which conservancy members are now conversant. Generous support by conservation groups, foundations and government means that the Guide is available for only the cost of handling and postage ($8.00). It can be ordered online or by telephoning 1-800-387-9853 Ext 4. For information, contact Nora Layard. (537-4612)

from page 2

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Crowby Phyllis Webb

Brightness burns off the coal-blackshimmering brats of the branch

The Common Crow, ill-tempered and always hungry infested with matter

shooting out flares from your winter ganglandbounching the bough with hurrumphs

Incendiaries of the Bad NewsYou flaming newsprint!

What do you mean in this religious darkdamning me with feathers and your hot lights?

From Water and Light Ghazals and Anti-Ghazals by Phyllis Webb

-Phyllis Webb is a poet and painter. She is authour of several distinguished books of brilliantly crafted poetry including “the Sea is also a garden” and “Naked Poems”. We deeply appreciate her

Elderberry - Sambucus racemosa ssp. pubens

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MY ACQUAINTANCE WITH CYTISUS SCOPARIUS-Kate Leslie, member of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Shortly after I moved to B.C., I cycled from the summer haze of Victoria out to Mill Hill. Parking my bike, I left the city behind and climbed through fir, and out among the Garry Oaks. I admired the hills, and the distant waters of the Strait. Then, I opened my sketchbook and made a drawing of the plant which grew so abundantly around me. I felt content, especially at the thought of my growing intimacy with the native plants of my new home. I sketched the green branching shrub before me, the contours of its black, flattened pods and its yellow flowers.

Many readers, will be familiar with my story: a few months later -- DISMAY -- when I thumbed through my copy of the coastal plant ‘bible’ [‘Pojar and MacKinnon’]. There, my first B.C. plant acquaintance was described as no less than ‘a very widespread and invasive shrub’ which ‘has been so successful over much of its range that it has endangered much of our region’s distinctive rainshadow flora.’

Just how invasive is Scotch broom? Well, the first broom was introduced to Vancouver Island in 1850 by Captain Walter Grant. He planted just 12 seeds. Of these, only three germinated. But, today, all the broom plants growing on Vancouver Island are said to be descendants of these original three!Broom plants have massive seed production: some may produce as many as 18,000 seeds every year!

Like many introduced species, broom does not have any natural enemies from its ‘homeland’ here; so it has spread with unusual speed. Broom seeds can remain ‘banked’ in the soil for up to 30 years, awaiting the perfect conditions. On dry and disturbed sites broom has easily established itself. As many native wildflowers and grasses growing in the shade of broom plants do not receive enough sunlight and die, they are being replaced.

Fortunately you can take action to help protect native species from the effects of Scotch broom:

-Sites likely to be invaded by broom, should be replanted with preferred vegetation immediately after disturbance.

-Avoid planting broom for slope stability or as an ornamental. Instead, plant native species. Local

nurseries can help you to select suitable plants or shrubs.

-Prevent soil erosion and carefully clean equipment used on broom infested sites. Since broom seeds can remain dormant for many years as they are protected by a thick coat, if they are washed into the water of ditches and streams or transported on equipment they will survive to invade new sites.

You can help to control existing broom by:

1. PULLING (done during the moist months of the year)

a) When the ground is wet broom plants can be pulled with the least disturbance to the soil. This is important because the soil holds many broom seeds and when disturbed the seeds will be stimulated to germinate. b) Try to push back original vegetation where the broom is taken out or plant native species in its place.

2. CUTTING (usually in the summer but at any time when the conditions are such that the plants have bloomed but the seed pods are still green)

a)The roots have the least chance of survival, once the plants have put their energy into flowering. b) Cut the plant stem at ground level for best results. This is especially effective for killing old plants or those under maximum drought stress.

It was with much satisfaction that I joined a community broom pull late last winter and pried out shoots. That first summer on the coast when I sketched so happily my first B.C. plant seemed far away: Cytisus Scoparius, I have come to know you well.

The Salt Spring Island Conservancy will be hosting a talk on invasive species on Friday, May 9th, and a community broom pulling event is planned for the fall. For further information about Scotch broom or to borrow a broom puller (by donation), please contact the Salt Spring Island Conservancy: 538-0318

Cytisusscoparius-akaBroom

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In spring 1994 there was a small amount of Treefrog spawn and we also collected some spawn from a pond some distance away hoping thereby to introduce some Red-legged Frogs to our garden. By the next year there were Red-legged frogs at the pond and for the next 2 or 3 years there would be 12 to 14 of them sitting around the pond all summer.

Sometimes they would stay in the vegetation at the bottom of the pond, surfacing briefly for air every so often. The Treefrogs begin their chorus in march with a second wave in April and it is a great thrill to hear them singing.

The Red-Legs seem to spawn around April/May and many of their tadpoles do not metamorphose the first year but overwinter at the bottom of the pond, reappearing the following April looking huge and shaped like small whales. Occasional tadpoles appear to have overwintered twice before metamorphosing.

In early spring we always anchor green twigs in the pond because there is so much spawn that there is nowhere left for the frogs to attach their eggs.

About 1998 the numbers of Red-Legs started to decrease yearly until we were seeing only three or four. However by 2002 the oxygenating plants had really taken hold, and the water was clear to the bottom. There was an enormous amount of Treefrog spawn, resulting in a very large number or tiny tadpoles that started to diminish quite rapidly. Upon careful observation it proved to be a large salamander larva, obviously hatched earlier than the frog tadpoles and having a good head start feeding on the tadpoles. This was a very poor year for the Treefrogs but an excellent one for the Red-Legs, resulting in Red-Leg froglets all over the place. The surface water had had a good covering of floating oxygenating plants providing cover for their spawn and tadpoles as well as extra food. Also that season we had put snipped slugs into the pond which the tadpoles devoured voraciously, so with any luck there will be an influx of Red-Legs in 2003.

One interesting experience was to have a large Red-Leg sit near me accepting earthworms from my hand. Red-Legs vocalize under the water and we have been fortunate to hear this faint sound.

Other hazards faced by tadpoles and froglets are Giant Diving Beetles, fast moving in the water and also strong fliers on land – and garter snakes,

always with the pale blue stripes, which are very elusive and who will wait in the depths until one gets tired of watching for them to surface. Herons are no problem here since the garden and pond are closely surrounded by tall trees, making it hard for them to take flight. Watching activities at the pond with a telescope set up in the living room brings us endless pleasure and has taught us a great deal about the life that goes on in a pond. The rapidity with which a new body of water becomes colonized is astonishing and an awesome thing.

female butterflies need nectar and are attracted by many flowering plants and trees. Some species feed on tree sap or animal matter. However, in order to propagate, the female needs to lay her eggs on plants on which the hatched larva can feed and, after an amazing series of changes, become adult butterflies. For example Lorquin’s admirals and the western tiger swallowtails, two of our most common butterflies, share some of the same larval food plants such as willow, black cottonwood, alder and cultivated apple. If you hope to attract butterflies don’t apply insecticides or use weed killer.

Butterfly information is available on the web. The North American Butterfly Association (www.naba.org) is a good resource that sponsors an annual members meeting with field trips and workshops and also publishes two quarterlies: American Butterflies and Butterfly Gardener.

Recommended Publications:

Glassberg, J. 2001. Butterflies Through Binoculars- A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America. New York: Oxford University Press. ($19.95 us)

Guppy, Crispen S. and Shepard, Jon H. 2001. Butterflies of British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press. ($ 85.00 aprox.)

Stokes, Donald and Lillian. 1991. An Easy Approach to Butterfly Gardening, Identification, and Behavior. Little, Brown and Co. ($14.95 )

Butterfly Identification Cards (8 1/2 X 11) showing local butterflies in color are avail. ($ 5.00)

FlightoftheButterflies

FrogPonderings

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Invaded-Rachel Bevington

Invasive species are one of the most frightening and interesting new consequences of widespread human occupation and technology that has occurred in the past several hundred years. All around the world, communities and societies are battling with an enemy that few understand. The spread and establishment of a successful alien species can go quietly unnoticed for many years before the damage is fully comprehended. For many countries, including Canada, invasive species can have serious economic as well as ecological impact.

Invasive species are not a new phenonmenom by any means. As early as 3.5 million years ago mollusc species were exchanged between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, carried with humans that migrated through the Arctic and over the Arctic Ocean. Some argue that invasive species are not a human-caused problem, that plants and animals naturally spread around the world as climates change and conditions are favourable. However, the use of jumbo jets, massive tanker and container ships and semi-trailer trucks and buses that are all moving people, goods and food from one end of the world to the other every day creates a senario that cannot be imitated by nature alone. Without human movement, there would not be South American Cane toads in Australia or the eastern North American Opossum on Horby Island, BC.

Globally, all nations deal with invasive plants. In the United States, one quarter of the US agricultural gross national product is lost to introduced plant pests and measures used in controlling them. Transport of the propagules, or seeds, cuttings, pollen, etc., to new environments is easy, as the seeds can simply blow across natural barriers, cling to a persons clothing, or be transported with other plant crops on trucks and planes. Since many plants can be propagated vegetatively, the mere presence of a leaf or root section can suddenly introduce a whole new species. Genetically modified plants are being tested in the US and Canada and are “escaping” their one metre perimeters and actually “growing” without the aid of their creators, sending shivers up the backs of scientists around the world. The pollen and seeds are in the soil and in the seeds of related native species. The consequences of these experiments with our most precious crop species may not be fully appreciated for many more generations, but it must be understood that there

will be a consequence to these invasions.

Much of the human food supply is tied to crops that are not native to the areas in which they are grown. All of our cereals, fruits and vegetables are products of centuries of careful selective breeding and seed storage from original strains found in Europe and the Near East. All of our common meat species are domesticated and dependent on our care. These food crops are not easily replaceable should we suddenly lose one or more to disease. Therefore greater care must be taken to prevent invasive species from destroying food crops. Every country struggles to keep the weeds at bay and most of those weeds are invasive plants. Invasive diseases destroy tons of food every year, and animal diseases such as Mad-cow or Hoof and Mouth disease can threaten our food stocks. An interesting example of our precarious food continuation is the European honey bee, Apis mellifera. This bee species pollinates all commercial fruit crops in North America and many vegetable crops too. This invasive species is carefully maintain and procreated every season to ensure that our food plants are pollinated. However, another invasive species, a mite, threatens the survival of our honey bees and this entire industry now depends on Apistan, the mite killer that must be applied every year to keep the bees alive.

The problem of spreading diseases around the world can strike fear into even the most steadfast supporters of invasive species. AIDS and the West Nile virus are both rapidly taking hold in many parts of the world, now accompanied by SARS. Human diseases are not the only serious invaders, there are many plant and animal diseases that are taking hold in new territories. Fungal diseases destroy thousands of tons of food crops every year. Scientists in South American were studying frogs dying of an infection, and even as they studied them, they were transmitting the infection from group to group throughout the jungle by the mud on their own boots. It is so important to understand this type of problem before attempting to “fix” it by conventional means.

It is widely accepted that once an organism has become established in a new habitat, it is not possible to remove it. It is very hard and requires incredible cooperation and diligence to remove an alien species. Therefore, the most important thing to do is to prevent future invasions and to control present colonisations to the best of our ability. It is our responsibility to prevent invasions and it can be achieved simply by behavioural changes.

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Most of us may never see the world beneath the waves but, visible or not, what happens undersea has potential consequences for the global environment. Recent changes in our oceans are particularly troubling. Habitat destruction and wasteful fishing practices have led to significant declines in wild fish populations. Indeed, it is estimated that some 70 percent of the world’s natural fishing grounds have been overfished.

This is no small matter. The collapse of a fish population can alter an entire ecosystem. When predator species disappear, fish lower down the food chain increase in numbers, which affects other species. When prey disappears, predator species die off for lack of food, which can affect marine mammals and seabirds.

Your seafood choices can shift demand from fragile fish populations to robust ones. Tell your fishmonger that you only want fish from healthy populations. Here is a list to help you choose...

BAD CHOICES:

Caviar, beluga/osetra/sevrugaChilean seabass (aka toothfish)Cod, AtlanticFlounderGrouperHalibut, AtlanticMonkfishOrange roughySalmon, farmed and AtlanticSharkShrimpSnapperSwordfishTuna, Bluefin

GOOD CHOICES:

Catfish, farmed AmericanCaviar, farmed AmericanCrab, DungenessHalibut, AlaskanHerring, AtlanticMackerel, Spanish and AtlanticMahimahiSalmon, wild AlaskanSardinesStriped bassTilapia, farmed

Note that farmed fish is sometimes a good alternative, but not always. Farmed salmon, for

example, are fed wild fish, resulting in a net loss of fish from the sea. Shrimp farms often damage their surrounding habitat by taking the place of ecologically important mangrove forests.

Point of origin is another important distinction to make when ordering or shopping for fish. Russian caviar may be highly prized, but American farmed caviar is better for sturgeon populations. Alaskan halibut is fine, but not the Atlantic variety. So, remember to ask where the fish was caught. You may not always get the answer, but you’ve taken the first step toward changing commercial fishing practices.

We offer the above list as a general guideline; however, there are exceptions within categories. For more information and the most up-to-date lists, see the links below.

SEAFOOD LOVER’S GUIDEhttp://www.audubon.org/campaign/lo/seafood/index.html

SEAFOOD WATCHhttp://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp

SEAFOOD SELECTORhttp://www.environmentaldefense.org/seafood/fishhome.cfm

MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCILhttp://www.msc.org/

TROUBLED WATERShttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/08/01/FD144241.DTL

PLEASE DON’T EAT ME!http://environet.policy.net/marine/csb/flash/

TheLamentofSeafood

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– 2003 – Deborah Miller, David Denning, Andrea Leborgne, Ian Mitchell, Rachel Bevington, Kate Leslie, Jan Slakov, Andrea Rankin, Karen Hudson (our Exec. Dir.) and Jean Gelwicks

There is good news and bad news with the Education Committee this year. The good news is that we have a marvelous committee – YOUNG, keen and energetic with lots of ideas and interest. The bad news is that many of our good ideas for programs are not panning out; speakers are unavailable or cannot at this time give us a definite date, which makes advance publicity difficult. However here is what you can look forward to, with any luck, and quite a bit of badgering on behalf of the Committee members:

March - By the time you read this Guujaaw will already have been here to speak about joint native and non-native management of parks, drawing from his experience in Haida Gwai.

April – We did plan to have a “whale of an evening” with an expert on the pod of transient whales which attacked the minke in our harbour. Stay tuned – we’re still trying. Or, alternately, we might sponsor a forum on fish farming.

May – one of our popular Talk and Walk series – this time on INVASIVE SPECIES on our island. May 9, Lions Hall, 7:30 p.m. talk by Rachel

Bevington, biologist, and May 11 – walk led by

Rachel, time to be announced,

probably 9:30 or 10:00

Register at the Conservancy office

– phone 538-0318, $8.00 for both.

June – another Talk and Walk, by and

with David Denning to

celebrate

OCEANS DAY .Talk – Lions Hall, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. Walk – Saturday, time and place to be announcedRegister at Conservancy Office – phone 538-0318, $8.00 for both.

June, July – several things may materialize, including:Presentation on BUTTERFLIES – talk and walkFilm launch with David Denning and Des Kennedy – THINGS WE LOVE TO HATE CRUISE with Bill Austin and his ROV which explores the ocean bottom

September/October - We hope to have a mushroom day – education, selection and ----tasting?Also – CHARLIE RUSSELL, the man who treats bears differently, gently, converses with them.We appreciate the help we receive at our events, and would welcome any ideas about speakers and programs.

We have had some discussion about the mandate of the Committee because it has been suggested that we could organize more member-participation events. Not all the members of the Committee agree with this, maintaining that we should continue to present our educational programs. As a slight nod in the direction of group activities we are organizing a BROOM BASH for early next spring so we can all pull (or cut) together. See elsewhere in this Acorn for the first salvo in the war against broom.

Education Committee Contact – Andrea Rankin – 537-1904

LiveandLearn

Indian Plum - Oemleria cerasiformis

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-Maggie Ziegler

In March, 2002, the Islands Trust Fund (ITF) took title to a 4 acre waterfront property on Isabella Point Road. Donated by the late Ruby Alton, the property includes house, gardens and a wooded portion of land. At Ruby Alton’s request, it is to be managed and preserved in a way that maintains its ecological integrity and scenic features. Also, the house and gardens are to be preserved and managed for non-profit purposes.

Soon after taking title, the ITF contracted with the Salt Spring Island Conservancy and consultant Robin Annschild to prepare a management plan. Robin worked closely with a small committee (Maureen Bendick, Maureen Milburn , Ann Richardson, Maggie Ziegler) and numerous other volunteers who contributed ideas, energy and expertise to this project. For example, the Garden Club provided invaluable assessment of the gardens and Jonathan Yardley donated a heritage assessment of the site. The community was involved through direct contact with neighbours of the Reserve, and through two public meetings that yielded a broad range of ideas and possibilities. Building and technological contractors provided estimates for necessary building maintenance and repairs and water supply issues.Developing a plan for such a property is complex.

ITF holds title to numerous properties but never one with a house, let alone one needing considerable repair and maintenance. Determining appropriate guidelines for appropriate usage is equally complicated. Finding an organization with the capacity to manage the reserve is another challenge. For these reasons, the management plan suggests a two year interim plan. Summary recommendations from a thirty five page report recommended that immediate action be taken to bring the house to standards that would permit a tenant/caretaker and that safety concerns on the property be resolved. Once a caretaker/tenant is installed and a temporary manager found, projects such as signage for limited access and garden work parties can begin. And long-term management planning could commence.

Currently, the repairs and upgrades to the house are almost complete and ITF will soon be looking for a tenant. SSIC will follow developments in the Reserve although no future commitments have been made at this time.

The Salt Spring Island Conservancy appreciates all the volunteers who contributed to the interim management plan for the Ruby Alton Nature Reserve. And a big thank you to the tireless efforts of consultant Robin Annschild whose dedication and professionalism made it happen.

RubyAltonNatureReserve

This year the Salt Spring Island Conservancy is going to begin a new initiative to increase our membership. We are doing so because we know that members like you are the backbone of our organization. Members provide the Conservancy with a constituency of educated and concerned citizens whose support enables us to achieve our goals.

The Conservancy consists of a few dozen board members and volunteers who dedicate hundreds of hours every year to the job of protecting the natural legacy of Salt Spring Island. Many of you may not have the ability with work and family commitments to volunteer hours of your time, but by being a member of the Conservancy you support the people who do.

Without your support the Conservancy volunteers would not be able to represent your interests at the GSX pipeline hearings or at the CRD-Islands

Trust Water Council. Without you we may not have had the substantial political will necessary to secure a conservation covenant in the Mt. Maxwell watershed. Without the generous donations of our members we may not have raised the necessary funds to purchase Martin Williams’ property on Mt. Erskine.

In exchange for your support we have provided you with a trusted source of information on local environmental issues and suggested small ways for you to work with us to protect our beautiful island. Maybe a day will come when every Salt Spring resident is an ecologically minded steward of the land – until then we need your continued support! We are only as strong as our membership. Ask a friend to join SSIC and become personally involved in the conservation and restoration or our islands natural amenities. Thanks for your help - past, present and future – the board and volunteers at your Conservancy.

MembershipReport

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FromADifferentPerspective

In the mornings of the first days of ownership she walked around the property making endless mental notes to heself “trim the trees back here to improve the view....make more lawn space.....move those rocks over there so they look more like a Japanese shrine....make a pond with a liitle bridge....Need a backhoe in to enlarge the parking area” Such a lovely place and so peaceful. But so much to do and so many improvements needed.

After little while when the place was more familiar, she began to bring home books.First on gardening on the west coast and a bit later on native plants,Pedersens”s bird book and an interesting one on “green culture”. A friend brought her journal to record the arrival of hummers and the first redleg frogs in the pond and the patterns of sapsucker holes in the bark of the wild cherry tree near her door.The pond that she had dug was not quite so clear and spotless around the edges now.She had let it become a bit more overgrown and the kinnikinik was creeping down the stoney walls. The expanded parking lot began to look bare and sparce so she started planting grasses around the fence and they crept in,tentatively at first but then more boldly with the advent of the spring warm rains. The tall grass that at first had looked so untended to her now became a waving place instead where goldfinches could sway on the slimmest stalk.

In those later afternoons pullings weeds became a moving meditation.”imagine that I used to use “Roundup” on dandelions,she mused.”How could I do that when the bees love them so?” She fenced a tiny plot for a

struggling oak seedling that couldn’t run away from the doe-eyed predators that came every evening - so every day brought more grace.

Then she took longer walks, fewer drives.She looked foreward to the weary evenings after the broom was pulled and the compost carried and turned and carried again.

With years her hands became chestnut-backed,her eyes more the colour of a heron feather.The days were soothed by silence and the fly-by salutes of a kingfisher.Now the evenings on the land were no longer just hers but “theirs” and “ours” and “its” and “It’s”.It became imperative to pass on her notes on the song sparrow nesting sites and she accpeted the grave responsibility for the undammed water courses and the pileated logs on the forest’s ferny floor.”Is there anybody there?said the Listener” Choruses of croaks and chirps and whispers of leaves replied.

So she made a covenant with the land she shared.The lawyers lawyerized it, the regal, legal processes nodded their stodgy approval, papers were drawn up.One day she signed the papers in proxy for every living creature in the boundaries called her land.And that evening she slept outside under a signature of stars, cradled in the soft indentations of the earth and she moved into sleep with her ear near the earth and smell of moss and grass all around. A rustle in the understory was a towhee’s benediction. Four oystercatchers went whistling by, dipped and slowed and settled on a rock awash and the long, slow twilight breathed all around her until dark.

Education,stewardshipandcovenantsarethemajorworkoftheConservancy

Western Meadowlark -Sturnella neglecta

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FriendsofSaltspringParksSocietyUpdateThe future of Burgoyne Bay continues to be of great interest to islanders, as exhibited by the turn-out at an Open House sponsored by FOSP on February 15th to look at maps and photographs of the Bay area. FOSP is preparing a Background Report for BC Parks as the first step in the long process of making decisions about the future management of the park. The report will be submitted by March 31st.

With summer coming up, FOSP is preparing to meet with Parks representatives to look for ways to manage increased recreational use in the new parklands. FOSP members have already noted greatly increased parking needs.

For information about FOSP, contact Nora Layard (537-4612).

ParksUpdate

THE SSIC RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE IS ALIVE AND KICKING!

After a respite to reconsider and renew our direction, the Land Management Committee is prepared now with new energy to embark upon new tasks, under the direction of Charles Dorworth.

The Conservancy recently accepted as a part of its mandate the acquisition and management of lands as appropriate and germane within our goals. This function was determined, in part, through our work to acquire the Martin Williams Property on Mt. Erskine. This was a kind offer on the part of Mr. Martin Williams that was, by any measure, too good to refuse and the SSIC accepted the challenge. Thereafter, another property was generously donated and an announcement is due shortly about that land.

Similarly, lands such as the new addition to the Maxwell Lake Watershed, require both evaluation and management to insure that their status is maintained and enhanced, as appropriate within the SSIC charter and the requirements of bodies such as the North Saltspring Water District.

Once lands become the property of the SSIC, their perpetuation in a sustainable condition cannot be left to chance. We might either leave such properties to develop in an entirely natural fashion or determine their ecological fate in a systematic fashion but we will choose the best option and not leave it to chance. This is our obligation to future generations as responsible land stewards. Each property is unique and precious and its future is unsure until embodied within a written document: THE MANAGEMENT PLAN!

The Management Committee is both empowered and dedicated to the generation of such management plans for our properties. Consider then the opportunities which this new thrust affords to members:

Start with your particular skills and backgrounds:

Can you identify plants and animals and enumerate same?

Can you envisage means whereby flora and fauna on our lands may be brought into balance with the potential of the sites and with one another?

Can you examine landscapes and ecological sites and evaluate same with respect to status and requirements to achieve maximum ecological stability?

What do you see as appropriate community input and means to achieve community participation in the management of these lands?

In your view, how can these lands best serve to arouse and contribute to community appreciation of our ecological heritage?

WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED TO LEARN NEW SKILLS IN THESE AREAS??

These are your lands! We worked to bring these opportunities into being and we shall work to maximize their potential, in all regards.

Let Charles know your interests at the next AGM or by phone and pledge your input whether it be planting trees, pulling broom or contributing ideas for other options.

LandAquisitions:NowOurstoManage,ProtectandRestore

Foliose lichen

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July 3 – 6, 2003University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

����������

Network with practitioners, stewardsand other professionals

Choose from more than 80 seminarsand panel discussions

Hear inspirational speakers from theleading edge of conservation

Visit Canada’s spectacular West Coast

���������� ������

Building long-term strategies Meeting organizational needs Sharing program resources Improving legal, economic, and

policy tools

��� ���� ������������Contact us now for early bird rates: info@stewardship2003.ca1-250-995-0225

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Thursday July 3• Pre-conference workshops and

site visits• Salmon barbecue

Friday July 4• Opening plenary: Honourable

David Anderson, Minister of Environment

• Seminars and panel discussions• Evening - dinner with speaker

Saturday July 5• Plenaries - Landowner

Stewardship Success Stories(Environics International);The Science of Conservation

• Seminars and panels• Gala dinner - Stewardship

Awards

Sunday July 6• Seminars and panels• Final plenary

����������������������

������ �������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

July 3 – 6, 2003University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

����������

Network with practitioners, stewardsand other professionals

Choose from more than 80 seminarsand panel discussions

Hear inspirational speakers from theleading edge of conservation

Visit Canada’s spectacular West Coast

���������� ������

Building long-term strategies Meeting organizational needs Sharing program resources Improving legal, economic, and

policy tools

��� ���� ������������Contact us now for early bird rates: info@stewardship2003.ca1-250-995-0225

������� ����������

Thursday July 3• Pre-conference workshops and

site visits• Salmon barbecue

Friday July 4• Opening plenary: Honourable

David Anderson, Minister of Environment

• Seminars and panel discussions• Evening - dinner with speaker

Saturday July 5• Plenaries - Landowner

Stewardship Success Stories(Environics International);The Science of Conservation

• Seminars and panels• Gala dinner - Stewardship

Awards

Sunday July 6• Seminars and panels• Final plenary

����������������������

UpComingConferenceinVictoria

14 15

-Charles Kahn

Strengthened by the addition of several new members, the Covenant Committee has been very busy in several areas, including land acquisition and an ambitious outreach program to educate islanders about covenants.

Original committee members Maureen Milburn, Ann Richardson, and Doug Wilkins are still very much involved and Maureen will be chair-woman starting in April. Building on their spadework are new members, whose intelligence, drive, and enthusiasm are capitalizing on seeds already planted and ensuring that there is ongoing planting for the future.

• Peter Lamb, currently on sabbatical but due back in the spring, has provided vitality and savoir faire that have helped propel our committee into a new area for the Conservancy − land acquisition, in particular the acquisition of Martin Williams’s 50 acres on Mt. Erskine. • Vivian Chenard’s accounting background has given our committee an important area of expertise, one that we had been seeking for some time. We now give our potential covenanters much more expert financial information than was possible in the past.• Greg Spendjian continually provides us with the benefit of his perspicacity, providing stimulus for our outreach program and enlarging our horizons. Greg also provided most of the funding for the

tasteful signs erected on all of our covenanted properties.• Board member Ruth Tarasoff’s good humour and involvement always brighten our committee meetings and monitoring expeditions.• Nigel Denyer has proved to be a real asset, bringing a thoughtful, methodical approach to each task. His unflagging enthusiasm and reliability have added greatly to recent committee activities.• New board member Charles Dorworth is providing valuable liaison with the Conservancy’s Land Management Committee and has been a strong asset to our committee’s ongoing work.

The report card on all committee members is excellent. We’ve been fortunate that whenever the energy or availability of a member has faltered, another member has been able to pick up the slack. Thank you all for your superb efforts.

The operative word in all of this is “energy.” Covenant work is very time consuming and requires constant infusions of vitality. So even with ten members, the committee often seems to be out of breath as it attempts to complete all of the work it has assumed. The new outreach program (contacting prospective covenanters) and our increasing efforts to acquire and protect land are making unlimited demands on our resources. Anyone interested in getting involved with the committee should contact committee chair Maureen Milburn at 653-9412.

CovenantCommittee-NewEnergyandNewChallennges

The Salt Spring Island Conservancy is a registered charitable society dedicated to preserving and restoring the natural environment of Salt Spring Island by helping landowners care for their land. One of the ways we do this is by helping landowners place conservation covenants on their property. A conservation covenant is designed to protect the ecological values of a piece of land. The covenant provides owners with a legal instrument that will protect all or part of their land in perpetuity. Since an owner is foregoing future development possibilities by placing a covenant on a piece of land, there may be tax benefits to the owner.The Conservancy is always ready to discuss covenants with landowners. However, we have had some problem in identifying many of the large

YouCanHelppieces of land that warrant being covenanted for their size or other ecological/aesthetic value and therefore we are asking you to help us. If you know of any large piece of land of significant ecological value on Salt Spring Island that you feel should be protected, you are invited to nominate it to the Conservancy’s Covenant Committee. Please provide the property’s exact location or address and some idea of why you are nominating it. A representative of the Conservancy will then contact you to obtain further information on the owner and the land before contacting the owner to explain covenants and determine interest. Contact Nigel Denyer of the Covenant Committee, directly at 537-9166 or ndenyer@saltspring.com, or, if you prefer, contact the Conservancy office at 538-0318.

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AttentionVolunteers!

-Maureen Bendick

As a once and only editor of the Acorn I have found that this job has it’s ups and it’s downsides. On the”down “is the necessity to become an incessant nag to get the authors to meet the deadlines. On the upside I find that as an editor I have the traditional perogative of proclaiming my own point of view without incriminating any one else. Recently a wise friend of mine was alternately annoyed and amused by a call from a salesman wanting her to list for sale the “vacant land” surrounding her home.The land in question is a forest.

In this context we were both confounded by the concept of “vacant land”. Roget’s Thesaurus

Editor’sCommentslists synonyms for vacant as “untenanted”,unoccupied”,”vapid”,”empty” and “not filled with any activity”. It should only take a few moments of sitting quietly near a downed wildlife tree watching the insects, spiders,sow bugs,ants and other little-known creatures going about their very active lives in a forest that is home and health to songbirds,snakes,racoons,deer,squirrels,snails and slugs in their green world of salal and oregon grape, tillium and sedges, grasses and moss to know that there is no vacancy here. The concept that land that is not built upon or “:recreated” upon or even trod upon is idle rests on the deeply disconnected delusion that if human aren’t stamping their use upon it, that the land is empty. There are places for us to be . There should also be places and spaces that we leave undisturbed....places that are not vacant but that are, in fact,full and richly alive and profoundly important to all life.

Conservancy member Paul Burke is selling large sacks of untreated, seasoned kindling for only $20, with 100% of the profit going to SSIC! You can pick up a sack to make your spring fires start easier from Thursday to Monday, 10am - 5pm, at Blue Horse Folk Art Gallery located at 175 North View Drive. (off of North End Road). If you are driving across the island to purchase kindling, you may want to phone first to make sure someone will be there: #537-0754. Thank You Paul!

Folk-artKindlingForSale

Red-flowering Currant - Ribes sanguineum

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April 26th: Dr. Helen Caldicott The Conservancy is co-sponsor of the upcoming talk by this world renowned writer and peace activist. Not to be Missed! 8pm, Sat, G.I.S.S GYM.

May 9th: Invasive Species Talk with Rachel Bevington, 7:30, Lion’s Hall

May 11th: Invasive Species Walk, 10 am, meet at Artspring

May 18th: Birding With Bob, and Sun, May 18th at 1:30pm. Meet each day at east extension of Garner Road to walk to Ford Lake -Call 537-5403 to register.

“Pause a bit while swallows fly With clouds all cattywampus in the skyBob Weeden.

May 12-18th: Islands in the Salish Sea Community Mapping Project. The final Salt Spring Island showing of the - 32 final maps - including 4 of SSI - will be on display at Artspring. The Salt Spring Conservancy, as local hosts of the show, is seeking volunteers to sit with the show for 4 hour sessions. Please call Karen 538-0318 if you can help. This will be the first & last time to see the complete collection on SSI! May 27th:. Salt Spring Island Conservancy 2003 AGM: Tuesday, 7pm, Lion’s HallMark Your Calendars! Please join us to hear of our past successes and future plans.

June 7th: Friday - Lion’s Hall -7:30 Ocean’s Day Beach Slide Show titled - The Secret Sea - Encounters with our Saltspring Marine Neighnours with David Denning.

June 14th: Ocean’s Day Beach Walk and Clean-up with David Denning.

(Dates TBA): Our new Young Naturalist’s Club will be beginning this Spring! Grade 2-5 students will be meeting at Fables Cottage for several upcoming outings, call 538-0318 for more info. or to sign up your child.

CalendarofEvents

May 9, Friday, Lion’s Hall - 7:30 slide show and talk on Invasive Species with Rachel Bevington, BiologistMay 11, SUNDAY - 10:00 a.m. - meet behind Artspring for carpool to area, probably near Ruckle, where we will explore invasive species. Bring lunch, sun hat etc. REGISTER IN ADVANCE AT CONSERVANCY OFFICE Price for talk and slides alone: $5.00, walk alone (if there is space): $8.00 and both: $10.00 June 6 Friday - Lion’s Hall 7:30 - multimedia presentation - The Secret Sea - Encounters with our Saltspring Marine Neighnours - with David DenningJune 14 - take advantage of the lowest tide of the year to check out what creatures will be exposed. Meet at Artspring at 9:30 for beach walk with David Denning. Bring lunch, sun hat etc.REGISTER IN ADVANCE AT CONSERVANCY OFFICE Price for talk and slides alone: $5.00, walk alone (if there is space): $8.00 and both: $10.00

UpComingWalksandTalks

AttentionVolunteersWe are updating our Salt Spring Island Conservancy Volunteer List!

Many of you signed up years ago and we want to find out more about your current interests and availability. You will be receiving a newly minted Volunteer Application Form in the mail in April. This form will clarify the various ways you can be involved with the Conservancy. Please expect a follow-up phone call.

If you haven’t signed up to volunteer before, but would like to now, please send in the form in the back of this Acorn, or call 538-0318 for the new Volunteer Application Form to be sent to you.

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Tina Spalding is a wildlife artist whose work can be seen at the Waterfront Gallery.

FeaturedArtists

Rachel Bevington is a biologist living on Salt Spring who works as a web-designer, writer and researcher and does layout and graphic design as well. Her passions are nature, gardening and making things. Right now she sketches for fun in her not so spare time. She can be found on her new hobby farm selling eggs on Beddis Road.

Rachel is giving a walk and talk on invasive species May 9th at the Lion’s Hall. Her talk will focus on introducing us to some of the many invasive species that can be found on Saltspring and it’s shores.

Big leaf Maple -Acer macrophyllum

Fern Frond

Butterflies by Tina Spalding

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Editor this issue:Maureen BendickLayout: Rachel Bevington

Board of Directors:Samantha Beare (Treasurer)Maureen Bendick (Vice-President)Charles DorworthJean GelwicksPeter LambRuth TarasoffJill Thomas (Secretary)Doug WilkinsBob Weeden (President)Maggie Ziegler

The Salt Spring IslandConservancy

#203 Upper Ganges Rd.Office hours : Mon/Wed/Fri

9 am - 11 amPhone: (250) 538-0318

Fax: (250) 538-0319Email:

ssiconservancy@saltspring.comWeb site:

saltspring.gulfislands.com/conservancy

The Acorn is the newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy, a local non-profit society supporting and enabling voluntary preservation and restoration of the natural environment of Salt Spring Island and surrounding waters. We welcome your feedback and contributions, by email to ssiconservancy@saltspring.com or by regular mail. Opinions expressed here are the author’s, not subject to Conservancy approval.

Membership Application Regular single 1 yr @ $15, 3 yr @ $45 Regular family 1 yr @ $20, 3 yr @ $60 Youth, Senior or Low-income: 1 yr @ $10, 3 yr @ $30

Name: ______________________________________

Address: ____________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

Postal Code: _______________ Phone: ______________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________

Please send me the Acorn via e-mail

This is a renewal for an existing membership

Donations In addition to my membership fee above, I have enclosed my donation in the amount of: $50 _ $100 _ $250 _ $500 _ Other ___________ Tax reciepts will be provided for donations of $20 or more

Volunteer Opportunities

I would like to participate in the work of the Conservancy by volunteering in the following way(s):

• Office Work (Typping, Filing or Computer)• Information table at Saturday Market• Education Programs• Annual Fundraising Events• Information table at SSI Community Events• Joining the SSIC committee (Land Management, Fundraising, Membership, Stewarship)• Other: __________________________

the Salt Spring Island

ConservancyGanges P.O. Box 722

Salt Spring Island, BC

V8K 2W3

ƒ printed on recycled paper

…

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Salmon by Tina SpaldingAnInvitationThe Acorn is in need of a new editor. If you would like to volunteer to collect and edit articles for the Acorn, please let Karen at the Conservancy office know.

We are also always looking for people to contribute articles and art work to the Acorn. We are interested in having a good balance of Conservancy News and Natural History articles, so please do not hesitate to submit anything you have written.

In the upcoming issues we would like to feature children’s artwork, so please keep any little drawings of your children or grand children that you think would be useful for the Acorn.

Thanks, M & R

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the Salt Spring Island

ConservancyGanges P.O. Box 722Salt Spring Island, BC

V8K 2W3