AcorntheThe Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy Number 28, Winter 2005

http://saltspring.gulfislands.com/conservancy

Reconciliation?

Featured Artist: Maryanna Gabriel

Continued on page 8

Inside:President’s Page..............2Project Updates..............2Business Members..........2Director’s Desk...............3Volunteers Needed.........3Mt. Erskine Project....4 Ethnobotany..................4Slow Islands Talk...........5Upcoming Events............52004 Stewardship ...........6SSIC Plant Banks...........7We Are Tresspassing.........7Trail Markers..................8R e v i e w s . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Scattered Light..............10Two Sides of Solstice.....10Western bluebird..........12Black & White............13Bench Raffle Update....13Warbler in October.....13Recognizing Volunteers.14Featured Artist..............15

Vancouver Sun Saturday, November 20, 2004- Stephen HumeThursday, with the ink barely dry on the Supreme

Court of Canada’s historic aboriginal rights judgment in the Haida logging case, the province was already congratulating itself on the opportunity for opening a new era in relations with first nations.

The enthusiasm followed the ruling that the “honour of the Crown” requires government to consult meaningfully and, where necessary, accommodate the interests of aboriginal people when dealing with issues involving aboriginal rights and title. This, the court said, is essential to the process of reconciliation.

One would have thought the simple notion that government should deal plainly, honourably and respectfully with aboriginal people -- or any other citizens, for that matter -- would have been clear from earlier rulings by the Supreme Court.

Apparently, however, our politicians required yet another reminder that principles of decency and common sense should both inform and govern relations between people.

Not only is there a duty to consult and accommodate, the court said, but the idea that the Crown’s honour is at stake in dealing with aboriginal peoples now “infuses” the process and thus requires the Crown to act from a position of integrity, “avoiding even the appearance of sharp dealing.”

Setting aside the irony that the same provincial government which now hails the virtues of this ruling had previously argued to the bitter end against it -- an argument that I note the court rather dourly observed would have led directly to the dishonour of the Crown -- we’re now all cheerfully back to the Golden Rule of “do unto others.”

Or are we?Even as the provincial government was patting itself

on the back for having been dragged by the scruff of the neck to an affirmation of requirements laid out by courts a decade earlier, it was simultaneously dismissing first nations’ objections to the discharge of industrial sewage into an aboriginal cemetery that’s one of the most important

archeological sites in the Gulf Islands.I’ve written before about the appeal against plans to

discharge fish farm effluents into the tombolo known as Walker Hook on the north side of Saltspring Island.

The tombolo -- which geologists define as a gravel bar thrown up by tidal and wave action to create a link between islands -- is known as Syuhe’mun by the Penelakut people of the Coast Salish, who live on Kuper Island just next door.

Elders there say Syuhe’mun is the site once occupied by a permanent Hul’qumi’num village that was depopulated in historic times, probably late in the cycle of epidemics which began with the arrival of Spanish and British explorers in the late 18th century.

Scourged by smallpox in 1793 and 1801, by an unknown plague called only “the mortality” in 1824 and 1825, by malaria in 1830, by smallpox again in 1836, by what became known as “the immigrants’ diseases” in the 1840s (measles, whooping cough, typhoid fever etc.) and by a final, epochal outbreak of smallpox in 1862, Coast Salish numbers had crashed from an estimated 20,000 to less than 7,000 by the beginning of the 20th century when reserves were established.

In the post-colonial era, settlers occupied territories conveniently cleared for them by diseases that often claimed 20 or 30 per cent of the population at a pass.

Yet there’s no doubt among the Penelakut that their people lived at Syuhe’mun, harvesting crabs from the rich eelgrass beds

2 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

A New ApproachPresident’s Page

- Peter LambAs we settle into another New Year, it is worth reflecting

on the events of the Old Year, our accomplishments and continuing challenges.

My first duty is to sincerely thank Conservancy members, all 530+ of you, for supporting the Board of Directors and Committees throughout a very busy year.

In 2004, we celebrated the 10th year of operation of the Conservancy, a tribute to the founding mothers and the amazing generosity of our volunteers and members plus the dedication of our staff. We had an active land stewardship program and a successful series of education events, the core of the Conservancy mandate to promote sound environmental protection. In particular, the initiation of a school program on our Andreas Vogt Nature Reserve introduced teachers and students to the work of the Conservancy. This is a program we plan to continue in 2005.

Consolidation of our two acquisitions and continuing work on conservation covenants met our objectives of long-term protection of important parcels of land. At the end of the year we were given an exciting opportunity to acquire a strategically important parcel of land on Mount Erskine (see separate article). This will be a major challenge but one we intend to meet.

While we will continue to raise awareness of environmental issues and impacts with landowners, businesses and visitors, I believe that the Conservancy must also participate in the process of governance of the Island through commenting on local bylaws and regulations and through intervention, when appropriate, in individual projects brought before the Islands Trust and CRD. In this way, we can assist in the understanding of environmental impacts and ways of avoiding unnecessary damage.

In response to our request that the precautionary principle be adopted for planning purposes, Trust Council has agreed to study the idea.

An important initiative taken by our local Trustees last year was the establishment of an Advisory Environment Committee with terms of reference that will make it an effective player in the consideration of development applications.

For the months ahead, we will be working on securing funding for another significant stewardship program, organizing for better involvement in an Islands Trust planned review of the Official Community Plan and enjoying our larger office space. As always, we welcome your continued support and invite you to join our group of volunteers to lend whatever skills or interests you have.

A summary of projects that the Conservancy is following:

1. Channel Ridge: A change in the Project Manager and Communications personnel has accompanied a major review of their development plans for the Village. Revised plans are expected to be submitted to the Trust early in 2005 and may be subject to another full Permit review process.

2. Ganges Marina: The Trustees requested the Marina owner to provide appraisals of the benefits from the proposed commercial/residential redevelopment and the value of the community amenity to be provided. We will continue to challenge the Trust’s interpretation of the OCP and the need for in-fill of Ganges Harbour.

3. Density Transfer at Isabella Point/Sansum Narrows: Trustees have agreed to proceed with a transfer of 2 densities subject to conservation covenants being placed on designated areas in both the Donor and Receiving areas. The Receiving Property on Isabella Point Road will now have much stronger environmental protection on key features adjacent to the existing Ecological Reserve.The newly established Advisory Environment Committee reviewed the amended application.

4. Horel Road Affordable Housing: A difficult issue for the Conservancy attempting to balance urgent housing needs with protection of watershed-zoned lands. The rezoning application was referred to a new Community Housing Task Force for review.

Project Updates

Anchorage Cove B&BBaker Beach CottagesBalmoral By The Sea B&BBarb’s BunsBeddis House B&BBold Bluff RetreatCreekhouse Realty Ltd.Green Acres ResortGulf Island Picture FramingIsland EscapadesIsland Star VideoMorie, Neil - ArchitectMurakami Auto Body & RepairsSalt Spring BooksSalt Spring Centre of Yoga

Thank you to our Business members:

Salt Spring Centre SchoolSalt Spring Coffee Co.Salt Spring Home Design CentreSalt Spring Island Chamber of CommerceSalt Spring KayakingSalt Spring Way B&BSaltspring Linen & Dry CleaningSaltspring SoapworksSpindrift at Welbury PointSprague Associates Ltd.Terra Firma Builders Ltd.The Wine Cellar

3Winter 2005

Director’s Desk

Volunteers Are Our Life Blood-Karen Hudson, Executive DirectorConservancy members who missed the December

Open House will be quite surprised by the changes to the Conservancy office the next time they stop by. In early November, energetic Conservancy board members and volunteers descended on an Upper Ganges Centre building storage room and transformed it into a new office space. I liken our volunteer efforts to one of these shows where professional designers makeover your home while you are out. One day I was working in our small brown office on a grant proposal for stewardship work on rare species and ecosystems (due the same day as our office move), and the next day I carried my computer into a bigger, brighter office. Our hardworking, creative volunteers cleaned, scraped, painted and arranged the new space in such a way that a slightly larger space feels like a completely different place. My hat is off to all of them for working so hard to create not only a pleasing place for staff to work but also a place where there is room for visitors to sit and look through our resources as well as space and for our volunteers to work.

Speaking of volunteers, we are looking for a few more volunteers to be a part of the Covenant committee, led by Maureen Milburn. This dedicated committee secured the Mt. Maxwell watershed with a covenant that protects 263 acres – the first covenant on a community watershed in

BC. The covenant committee meets with islanders interested in covenanting their properties, drafts and completes covenants, and monitors SSIC covenanted lands annually. This committee is hoping to find a volunteer to assist with writing covenants. If you would like to find out more about the covenant committee or conservation covenants and how they work, please contact me at 538-0318, or Maureen at 653-9417.

The Conservancy is also seeking a new Volunteer Coordinator. The volunteer coordinator keeps in touch with current volunteers by phone and email, and assists new volunteers by matching their talents with activities undertaken by the Conservancy. This is a great position for someone who wants to get more involved with the Conservancy and likes working with people. Please call me at 538-0318 to find out more.

My sincere gratitude to all of the hardworking volunteers

last year who helped at education events, the market, the fall fair, craft fair, and the 10-year anniversary event and tours; our office helpers, the painting and moving crew, the Board of Directors, the committee members, the Stewards in Training school program volunteers, our intern Yvette Ruesen, our Stewardship Project advisors and volunteer stewards, and everyone who helped in any way. Remember, you are the Conservancy, and we couldn’t do it without you.

We are happy to report that the SSI Conservancy is growing in numbers, projects, committees and lands we own. With all this growth come responsibilities that cost money and require time. If you have any extra time on your hands, how about volunteering for one of the many task that we need doing? You will find enclosed with this issue of the Acorn our new and updated - MAIL-IN VOLUNTEER APPLICATION FORM. Please take the time to read through it and see if our needs fit your skills and inclinations. If you volunteer in our office we can offer you a pleasant new work space (drop in any time). If you volunteer for a committee

New Growth = Volunteers Neededwe can offer you training and fellowship. If you volunteer for a task on one of our Nature Reserves we can offer you beautiful scenery and exercise. Your volunteer hours will be for a good cause (protecting SSI environment) and this contributes to an inner feeling of well being of knowing you are part of the solution. What could be better? Make it your New Year’s resolution. Please mail in your application or drop it by our office as soon as possible. We need your help. Volunteers are poised to process your application and get you involved.

Jean Gelwicks and Kate Leslie

4 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Conservancy Projects

Mount Erskine – A Proposed Acquisition Opportunity-Peter LambThe Salt Spring Island Conservancy has an exciting

opportunity to acquire a strategically important parcel of land on Salt Spring Island that would complete the protection of the Mount Erskine area.

The property offered for sale consists of 40 ha (100 acres) of open coastal Douglas-fir and arbutus forest on Mount Erskine. A key feature of the property is that it occupies the summit of Mount Erskine (448 m), the highest point of land in the northern part of Salt Spring Island and that it is surrounded on three sides by lands already protected by public ownership and/or conservation covenants. The purchase of this property will, therefore, contribute to the permanent protection of a large, contiguous, undeveloped area of up to 240 ha (600 acres), as well as an extended trail network throughout the Mount Erskine area.

The property is highly ecologically valuable as documented in both the Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory carried out by the Conservation Data Centre and by the recent Islands Trust ecosystem map of Salt Spring Island. Spectacular views to the west and north over Stuart Channel are offered from the summit and western ridge.

The purchase of the property will be another important step in achieving the vision of the South and West Salt Spring Conservation Partnership, a coalition initiated by the Conservancy to protect the green space values of the largest undeveloped area in the Islands Trust. The property will form the northern part of an already protected corridor stretching from Mount Tuam in the south and including Hope Hill, Mount Bruce, Mount Sullivan, Burgoyne Bay, and Mount Maxwell.

The total amount required to complete the purchase of the property will include related acquisition expenses for baseline study, legal, fundraising and other necessary work. An appraisal of the property is currently being carried out. A memorandum of understanding has been agreed with the owner. Contributions toward the cost of acquisition and related expenses will be eligible for official income tax receipts issued by the Conservancy.

For more information please contact the Conservancy office at 538-0318 or by email to < ssiconservancy@saltspring.com>, Charles Kahn at 537-1899 and <ckahn@saltspring.com> or Peter Lamb at 537-4859 and < gellam@saltspring.com>.

- Kate LeslieEthnobotanist Nancy Turner is coming to Salt Spring

on April 9th, 2005, for a slide show and walk – ‘Lessons of the Spring: Salt Spring As Home Place’ -- sponsored by the SSI Conservancy and Salt Spring Islanders for Justice and Reconciliation (SSIJAR).

Nancy Turner is a professor in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria, and a Research Associate with the Royal British Columbia Museum. Her field of specialization is the indigenous ethnobotany1 of BC. She has authored or co-authored over 15 books (most recently, Plants of Haida Gwaii), over 20 book chapters, and many other publications in traditional ecological knowledge and sustainable resource use in Canada and British Columbia. By April, she will have two more books out ‘The Earth’s Blanket’and ‘Keeping it Living’ (co-edited with Douglas Deur).

Many Conservancy members will be familiar with Nancy Turner’s ethnobotanical contributions in Pojar & MacKinnon’s ‘Plants of Coastal British Columbia’. In the Salt Spring area, Nancy has learned about traditional plant use from elders of the Saanich and Cowichan Coast Salish people; her teachers have included Violet Williams of the Cole Bay Band, and Elsie Claxton of the Tsawout Band. As early as 1971, Nancy co-authored, ‘The ethnobotany of the Coast Salish Indians of Vancouver Island.’ Specifically about the

Enthobotany on Salt Springethnobotany of this area she has also written: ‘Contemporary Use of Bark for Medicine by Two Salishan Native Elders of Southeast Vancouver Island, Canada’ (1990). And under her guidance, her students have published ‘Plants for All Reasons: Culturally Important Plants of Aboriginal Peoples of Southern Vancouver Island’ (1992).

Nancy’s recent awards include the Richard Evans Schultes Award in Ethnobotany from the Healing Forest Conservancy in Washington, DC, Order of British Columbia, and Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1999); Slow Food award in Bologna, Italy, Honorary Citizen of the City of Victoria (2001); Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia Academic of the Year Award, and Canadian Botanical Association’s Lawson Medal for lifetime contributions to Canadian Botany (2002), UVic’s Alumni Association Legacy Distinguished Alumna award (2003) and University of Victoria distinguished professorship (2004).

We hope that you can join us for this magnificent ‘walk and talk’ learning opportunity. The slide show will be open to all, but, as space is limited for the ethnobotanical walk, we encourage you to sign up early for this by contacting the Conservancy office at 538-0318.

(Footnotes) Ethnobotany is the study of human uses of plants (this includes the use of plants for medicine, food, and materials).

5Winter 2005

Conservancy Event

Slow Island Movement on Salt Spring-Jean GelwicksThe Education Committee of the Conservancy is excited

and pleased to be partnering with the Water Preservation Society in bring Kathy Dunster to Salt Spring Island to personally explain the “Slow Island Movement” with her informative and entertaining slide show. Kathy is the person who coined the term “Slow Island”. Kathy was speaking at a conference in Calgary where she proposed that “Slow Food” could not exist without “Slow Landscapes” and sketched a few examples illustrating her hypothesis. She says, “if land within the cultural landscape is allowed to evolve in slow motion there is a much greater chance that the land base needed to grow food will be appreciated and protected indefinitely. When the agricultural land base is protected, other phenomena related to landscape, society and development will slow down as well. The result should be a landscape impervious to the temptations of fast-paced changes that threaten long-term ecological health, landscape sustainability and quality of life.” This idea of “Slow Landscapes” was the idea that the media picked up on and that got much of the attention at the Conference. Kathy thought she might be on to something and with some more thinking the “Slow Island Movement” was born.

A bit of history for those of you who haven’t heard the terms “Slow Food”, “Slow Landscape” and “Slow Island”. The Slow food movement began in Italy in 1986 in response to the opening of the first McDonald’s on the Piazza de Spagna . It countered the reality of American “fast food” with the notion of “slow food”. Slow food is food carefully prepared using local organic ingredients and traditional recipes. Slow food is eaten slowly and savoured. Slow food celebrates the local and resists the intrusion of fast food into distinct local cultures and regional cuisines. It has a mission to promote food diversity and to prevent the extinction of domestic plants, fruits, vegetables and animals. The Slow Food movement now has over 70,000 members in 50 countries.

“Fast Landscapes” promote fast-paced lives and “Slow Landscapes” promote the opposite. While rapid change disconnects people from place and landscape, slow paced change allows people to identify what parts of the landscape must be protected to preserve ecological integrity and cultural continuity. Slow cultural landscapes are places where cars are not the primary background noise and where you are enticed to go for a walk. They are places where you can get in touch with that part of you that remembers our (Homo sapiens) only home. The home with which all of us were intimately interconnected during our thousands of years of growing up but now have almost forgotten. You know that

feeling of remembering. You first got it when you were a kid, walking in the woods.

Slow Islands are islands that have recognized that their biological and landscape diversity is an essential ecological asset that has existed for millennia. Slow islands are islands

that understand that even though they are “islands”, they are inextricably linked to other natural

system on this planet. Slow islands are mindful that they have a community responsibility to preserve, protect and maintain the island

ecosystems they live in. Slow islands are learning that there is a limit to “development”. Slow islands understand that their unique cultures are the result of a close relationship with both the land and their surrounding waters. Slow islands recognize that agriculture is the foundation of the cultural landscape. Slow islands are vigilant

to the external and internal forces that threaten their survival and have the courage to reject unnecessary change. Slow islands have learned to say no to externally imposed changes that may lead their island landscapes into extinction events.

This is just a preview of Kathy’s entertaining talk and slide show. She will do a much better job of explaining her ideas. Kathy will be speaking on February 18th (Friday) at the Gospel Church next to Portlock Park at 7:30 pm. Come early (doors open at 7:00 pm and have a slow cup of tea/coffee with us.

Jan. 21st (Friday) 7:00 pm Lions HallMassey Lecturer and author of A SHORT HISTORY OF PROGRESS Ronald Wright - Co-sponsored with SSI for Justice and Reconciliation.

Feb. 18th (Friday) 7:30pm Community Gospel ChapelSlide Show & Talk on THE ‘SLOW ISLAND’ Movement by Kathy Dunster. Co-sponsored with Water Preservation Society.

March 18th (Friday) Time and place TBABurweed Bashing & other Invasive SpeciesPanel of exciting speakers to be announced.

April 9th (Saturday) Time and place TBASSI As Home Place - Traditional Plant Use Slide show and Talk by Nancy TurnerCo-sponsored with SSI for Justice and Reconciliation.

Calendar Of Upcoming Events

6 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Conservancy Projects

- Robin AnnschildThe Conservancy stewardship project is complete for

2004! Karen Hudson and myself, Robin Annschild, who were hired as project manager and Species at Risk Biologist have now finished the final report for the project.

Here are some of the things we’ve accomplished this year on behalf of the Conservancy: We’ve become more familiar with Canada’s new Species at Risk Act and its implications for the protection of Species at Risk (SAR) on SSI. Through contacting the various recovery teams for federally listed SAR on SSI and sharing information, we’ve learned a lot about how this act is influencing conservation in Canada. In order decide which areas of Salt Spring to target throughout the project, we obtained records from the Conservation Data Centre as to where known populations of rare plants and animals are located on SSI. Where possible, we verified those locations through site visits. As you recall, hot, dry weather came swiftly in 2004, which caused several of the plants we were looking for to dry up early in the spring before we had a chance to find them in all locations. While not all previously recorded populations were found this year, some new ones were!

The project funded the production of two new educational brochures for SSIC members and the public, one addressing Species at Risk on Salt Spring, and the other discussing invasive species. For the first time, the Conservancy sent out an all-island mailer to the 2775 households on the island who accept ad mail. This mailer, which you may have received, consisted of a letter explaining the project, a calendar of educational events, and copies of our two new brochures. We got a very good response from islanders, with many people who had not previously participated in conservancy events calling to register for our walks and talks. Please contact the SSIC office for copies of these brochures.

We contacted over 50 residents with land within Garry Oak Ecosystems and completed site visits to many properties. We are also keeping a list of landowners who have Garry Oak Ecosystems on their land and who would like a site visit in the spring of 2005 to search for rare plants.

Successful Completion of Stewardship Project 04!We have applied to many organizations and hope to receive funding for next year to carry out these visits. Management plans were prepared for 10 landowners whose land contains sensitive ecosystems or SAR. In addition to this, SSIC staff and expert consultants visited Channel Ridge properties and presented recommendations for management of the rare ecosystems and species present in this area.

We’ve worked closely with our many partner organizations, such as the Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team (GOERT) and the Sharp-Tailed Snake Recovery Team. GOERT provided us with copies of their Species at Risk and Invasive Species in Garry Oak Ecosystems manuals, which we distributed to landowners. Christian Engelstoft, scientific advisor to the Sharp-tailed Snake Recovery Team, visited Salt Spring several times this year, and gave one of our project presentations.

We held 6 educational events, which were attended by a total of 273 people, and we organized a number of walks to explore Garry Oak Ecosystems, old growth ecosystems, and to seek out some of Salt Spring’s rare and beautiful butterflies.

Future Plans:With feedback from the SSIC’s Stewardship Committee,

Karen and I have been working on grant applications for our next project, entitled Habitat Protection and Stewardship of Species at Risk on Salt Spring 2005 –07. Should we receive funding, the project is set to run from the spring of 2005 to the spring of 2007.

We couldn’t have done it without you!A huge thank-you to the SSIC board members

(especially Stewardship Committee Chair Nigel Denyer) who toil tirelessly to keep this organization running, and without whom this project could not have gone ahead. Thanks also to the landowners and volunteers who helped the 2004 Stewardship Project to be a success. This project was made possible by funding from the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk, the Bullitt Foundation, the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund, the Salt Spring Island Foundation, a grant in aid from the CRD, and a matching grant from the Islands Trust.

Garry Oak Ecosystem Walk - Autumn 2004 Photo Curtesy Robin Annschild

7Winter 2005

Conservancy Projects

SSI Conservancy Plant Banks-Charles DorworthThe Restoration and Management Committee met

in Spring, 2004 and considered the development of Plant Banks. These would be used as receiving, storage and perhaps propagation plots for rare or endangered plants of Salt Spring Island .

It is our intent to provide pocket refuges to insure that locally rare or endangered species, are not lost from Salt Spring.

An example of plant rescue would be where students and others removed plants from the highway burm near Thetis Lake Park several years ago when such plants were destined to be lost during highway construction, and the firm doing the work suspended machine operations for a week to permit this job to occur.

A Plant Bank would function as a reservoir of germ plasm lines and prevent the loss of species or sub-species. At the same time, a bank is subject to withdrawals. These might be used to repopulate SSIC and other lands which provide suitable habitat for the selected plant but from which that plant was lost through human activity. Notably, some plants, animals and microbes exist in loose or strict combinations with one another. The renewed presence of a particular plant can be expected to present an opportunity for natural repopulation by other organisms.

MT. BELCHER: We have the use of one plot of fertile, fenced garden land on Mt. Belcher (photo above). This plot was cultivated, debris was moved out, and it was de-rooted and de-stoned in spring, 2004 and can be quickly brought into the scheme in 2005 with only spading of the re-established weeds. This would provide about 500 ft2 of area with only 2 hours spading, and twice that with a day’s work.

STEWART ROAD: Masochists of the world unite! Approximately 1,000 ft2 of damp bottom land can be reclaimed by clearing it of plants, spading and de-rooting to suppress Himalayan Blackberry (in particular) and other unwanted plant species. Mechanical cultivation would merely distribute the roots and runners throughout the soil. The initial part of the job could be attempted in chain mail suits with napalm. Alternatively, a pair of gauntlet gloves

and overalls would permit one to remove the vines and pile them without undue bloodshed. Regardless, it’s not that big a job, and a group could well enjoy this effort. Certainly, your SSI Conservancy would appreciate it.

VOLUNTEERS: We have the kind offer of Pat Parks, Parkside Gardens, to lend assistance in this project as her time permits. I see two categories of volunteers:

1. We will require a group of people with particular knowledge of plants or a willingness to learn, who (with permission) would rescue threatened plants and take them to the Plant Bank.

2. A second group could keep a weather eye on situations around Salt Spring Island where valuable wild plants might lost. See your Autumn 2004 Acorn for an account of

a species of Trillium worthy of protection or, where it is to be lost to construction or other disturbance, removal to one of our Plant Banks

In all instances, we will work only with the owners’

approval. In the matter of propagation stock, often we can wait to collect seed.

If this project interests you please leave your name, address and phone number at the SSIC office (538-0318), and we’ll contact you.

Mt. Belcher Plant Bank. Photo Curtesy Charles Dorworth

Proceed west for ~1450 linear feet (453 M) from the Andreas Vogt Nature Reserve trailhead and you reach a sharp turn downhill (south). At that point, do not proceed more than 200 ft westward as you will soon be on private property; plainly marked with red and white signs.

The Reynolds family have been good neighbors and Bernie emphasized that they would always welcome our members provided they requested permission to pass along trail (roadway), which parallels our mutual property line, or elsewhere but they are no longer prepared to accept trespass by people who use their property as a shortcut or move about there at will without so much as an acknowledgement of the owners.

If you come across non-members who leave the Reserve and trespass, please advise them that the No Trespass signs are there by an owner who means business. C.D.

We Are Trespassing!!

8 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Regional Issues

that flank the tombolo, gathering shellfish from its beaches, beach-seining for salmon and re-interring the bones of their dead generations according to ancient custom and rite. Indeed, people who live in the Penelakut village say they still occasionally use the site for harvesting marine food from the inter-tidal zone and for spiritual purposes.

The site possibly had been occupied for 4,500 years or more until pestilence swept the landscape clean and the survivors were herded onto postage stamp reserves. Considering that some archeological projections estimate more than 1,000 burials in the tombolo, it’s easy to understand why a plan to irrigate the place with industrial sewage might have a profoundly troubling resonance among present-day Penelakut.

When digging began on the tombolo after approval to locate an effluent discharge system for waste water had been obtained, the excavating crew quickly uncovered human remains. Back in March the Hul’qumi’num wrote to the province expressing concern. They said they had found bones already excavated and removed from a sewer trench and that they had located additional human remains in a sorted backfill pile.

Given the cultural significance of the site, it was hardly surprising when the Coast Salish bands associated with the Penelakut then raised objections with the province, which has jurisdiction over both registered archeological sites and waste management. They said it was disrespectful to discharge sewage among the bones of their ancestors.

The affidavit of one elder, August Sylvester, likened it to a desecration.

“The use of the ancestral burial ground as a sewage treatment site is very hurtful to our people. It is counter to all our beliefs,” he said. “They are pumping waste into the ground where the bones of our ancestors lie.”

The province takes a different view.Wednesday, the Environmental Appeal Board did

acknowledge that the Penelakut elders and other Coast Salish may sincerely believe that Syuhe’mun is a sacred burial ground and that the mere act of discharging sewage into the sub-surface of the site is disrespectful and offensive, even if the discharge won’t physically affect other human remains buried at the site.

“However,” it went on to say, “in this case it is not sufficient to show that the act of discharging effluent at the site offends aboriginal spiritual values and beliefs.”

Administrative considerations outweighed spiritual and cultural concerns. So the board rejected the request that it overturn approval for alteration of the registered archeological site and withdraw the waste management permit for the sewage discharge into the Walker Hook tombolo.

I don’t have space here to go into the complex jurisdictional minutiae of how waste management officials aren’t responsible for archeological considerations and why, despite thousands of years of undisputed occupation, aboriginal people still have to prove that they occupied sites a few kilometres from where they now reside -- often having been moved there by government.

In any event, the board ruled that the elders’ had not complained until after the initial approvals and that their evidence failed to establish that aboriginal people have “maintained an ongoing connection” to Syuhe’mun that is integral to the distinctive culture of the Penelakut or other Coast Salish people.

Furthermore, it said that there was no evidence that the ability of aboriginal people to conduct their traditional spiritual and religious practices requires that the “effluent discharge” into the burial site must cease.

So there we have it. While the politicians natter on about new relationships, government decisions continue to reflect attitudes which, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, appear to know the practical price of everything and the spiritual value of nothing.

Whatever the technical and legal reasoning in this particular case, whatever the merits of the fish farm’s business plan, surely the central issue here for the province and for industry will be the symbolic message that such a decision sends to aboriginal peoples.

Using a known first nations burial site for waste disposal may make practical sense and have legal authority. But as a metaphor for the colliding values of two cultures seeking reconciliation, it doesn’t seem likely to encourage aboriginal activists to believe new relationships are in the immediate offing.

ReconciliationContinued from page 1

Age(30) “There’s one guy ahead. We’ll zip by and have the trail to ourselves.”(40) “Next time they take a water break we’ll get ahead.” (50) “Damn! Are those kids going to pass us?” (60) “Let’s let them go by.” But, dear, they are half a mile back!” (70) “Finished with the sports section?”

RBW

Trail Markers - Memoirs of an Aging Hiker

9Winter 2005

Continued on page 14

All submissions will be considered and the one most nearly in line with SSIC activities and interests at the time will be selected for publication. Please limit to ½ page and cover those salient points of a book or article which reflect the aims and directions of the SSI Conservancy plus those which introduce new concepts, methods, ideas and philosophies. We look forward to hearing from you.

Reviews – A New Initiative of The Acorn!

Reviews

Carbon Sequestering- Charles DorworthPost, Wilfred M., et al. 2004. Enhancement of Carbon

Sequestration in US Soils. Bioscience 54(10):895-908.Some of you will recall a brief presentation to the

Education Committee volunteers during the formative phase of our SSI Conservancy Student Tours Program in Summer, 2004. I mentioned that the fertile layer on our (now) Andreas Vogt Nature Reserve had been dispersed and moved south by the glaciers. Consequently, 12,000 years ago the Reserve surface was a mishmash of sand, gravel and other till, plus boulders. During subsequent millennia, plant life re-established, thousands of life cycles were completed and the dead plants were added to the soil, with incorporation of a fraction of each as what are called, generally, humins, such as humic acid, which incorporate the raw silicates and aluminum oxides, etc., in the soil as humus. This generated the present growing layer of the soil. I also noted that a single sweep of a bulldozer blade could remove 12,000 years of soil formation. The present authors review current techniques which would both enhance humus formation and sequester carbon from the atmosphere more quickly than would normally occur. Their emphasis was upon reducing the excess carbon in the atmosphere and, hence, slowing the process of global warming as it is attributed to combustion of petrochemicals.

The authors present 6 initiatives needed to evaluate and model the consequences of present practices (a full carbon and greenhouse gas accounting), to evaluate requirements for change and to investigate techniques available to increase carbon sequestering. It is hoped to decrease atmospheric CO

2 from the present 371 ppm by volume to the estimated

pre-industrial 280 ppm. Various additional options are considered which reduce the immediate loss of carbon into the atmosphere, such as no-till agriculture, a move away from annual crops to perennial crops and discrimination against practices which lead to the destruction of soil structure.

The current trend toward controlled burning of forests to protect home owners leads to far greater increases in CO

2 release than did the earlier proactive of forest fire

suppression. Anyone who wishes to pursue the topic further may

request a reprint from the senior author at postwimiii@ornl.gov.

-Bob WeedenRon Wright. 2004. A Short History Of Progress. Anansi

Press.There’s good news and bad news.The good news is that this is a great read: fascinating,

horrifying, and fun. The bad news is that it ends before it finishes. (More later.)

In case you finish reading this before I finish writing, go out and buy this book NOW! All Island bookstores have it or will order it.

OK, What’s so fascinating about it? Well, I admit you might be bored if you haveno interest in a book that takes you through a dancing, leaping, step-stone crossing of 5 million years of almost-human history (2 chapters). Or a book that paints a mural of rising and failing civilizations through the most recent 10,000 years (2 more chapters). If you like history as much as you relish dried oatmeal, or if you think history began when Adam hired on as the Beatles’ road agent, well, ignore all that stuff. Go to the last chapter for insights into our own civilization that, I guarantee, will make you wiser than George Dubya.

Horrifying, I called it. Yep. Take the story of Sumer. Sumer was great. Had the longest run of any civilization-play yet - about 3000 years. It invented the city (as did the Chinese and Mayans and Egyptians). It invented vast irrigation works, hierarchies, slavery, warrior castes used in the protection racket, warfare over resources, mass graves, corporate takeover of private land. All that stuff so familiar to us.

And it ended when the richest bottomland in the world became a ruin so thorough that 4000 years later the place is still a salt-polluted desert. That’s horror way beyond “The Shining.”

If Mahatma Gandhi were to take a tour through any city in the world today, he might well repeat his answer to a London guide who, in the 1930s, asked him what he thought of Western civilization. “It would be a very good thing,”Gandhi replied.

Which brings me to the fun part.“I have a weakness for cynical graffiti,” Dr. Wright says.

And so he does, and so do I. Examples:“Each time history repeats itself, the price goes up.”

(Wright original)“A peasant must stand a long time on a hillside with his

mouth open, before a roast duck flies in.” (Chinese saying)“Socialism never took root in America because the poor

see themselves not as exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” (John Steinbeck)

The bad news? Darn book just stops too soon. Thought I had lots more to read, but everything after page 132 is just

History? Short?

10 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Scattered Light

Continued on page 11

-Bob Weeden Two journal entries:January 3, 1993, Saltspring Island, BCSnow fell early today, later mixed with rain. After lunch

the sky cleared quickly. At 2:30pm the sun was low and bright in the blue heaven, lighting aisles and windows in the woods.

Every fir needle dripped. Sprays of snow released in clods high up but broken to bits by lower limbs, fell every few seconds. Every mote of moisture sparkled. As I watched, one drop would suddenly, inexplicably, glow fiercely orange. In a second or to it would turn dazzling blue, and in seconds more that drop would wink out, falling as it grew too heavy or batted off by falling snow. In 5 - 10 seconds another drop became a prism and sent its orange-blue-white rays outward.

January 6, 2004, Hanalei, Kauai, Hawai’iJudy, my sister Janet and I ate supper on a restaurant

balcony on Princeville’s perch above jungle and sea. The full moon clambered out of the east. Broken clouds were lighted vaguely by village lamps. One cloud dropped a dense shower on the curves of the lower Hanalei River.

The sun, now far west of our arc of earth, must have left work undone. All day, on its way from horizon to horizon, it found spaces between clouds through which it aimed its brilliance. Time and again those lances struck rain cells - rain thick as syrup, warm as soup, vertical as Pisa, loud as a thousand distant praising hands - forming rainbows one after another. Then earth slid away and night rose everywhere. Still the unspent clouds swept the black cliffs; still the showers pelted from their bellies. Now, however...no rainbows. No arc to remind a contrite God of the covenant made after the first avenging flood. Are all promises off, after dark?

Then the sun called its silvered handmaiden to finish its work. The moon’s scarred, sun-struck face threw mirrored light on the streaming clouds. We saw it as a moonbow , a demi-arc of pale light reddened along its upper curve.

Word spread from table to table. Diners quieted, rose, or turned their heads to see. In less than a minute all eyes

were on the sky. In one minute more the miracle had faded.

Musing about those unremarkable entries, I realized that other events in the sky have intrigued me: sundogs guarding a weak, wintry subarctic sun; the aurora; the rare, corner-of-the-day flash of green; starlight. Physicists

know them. Each begins as scattered light, then constructs itself, under fairly well known conditions, into a definable, organized, phenomenon ordinary people can name. Each possesses the yin and yang of the cosmos: chaos and structure, formlessness and beauty, entropy and negentropy.

Consider the green sunset:Some have seen - I have not - a flash of green as night

began to rise. They were looking west, they said, riding earth backward into distant morning. Behind them the boldest stars gleamed in a violet sky; above their heads the arch was deepest blue. Sunlight’s last red and yellow hues were racing westward out of view. Suddenly, for a small but timeless moment they were bathed in green; they felt that they stood in the center of a rainless bow of color.

Those who study sky explain: slanting through prismatic air, white sunlight bends apart to separate bands of color. As we sense it, from farthest away the air is red. Yellow and green gleam from closer sky, and blue from closer still. We turn to look away from the sun: the blue overhead gives way to violet, and then to the black of night.

The flash of green is a whimsical thing, a possibility each dawn and dusk but only rarely seen by humans. Clouds get in the way. Dust and vapor confuse the reflecting light, and our eyes. Even the density of our layered atmosphere can determine which mirages we see, which realities we don’t. In the Arctic and in hotter deserts the green of sun at new morning and old evening is more common. Ancient Egyptians thought that the sun - wherever it went - was green at night, and Osiris, god of that sun and of death, was painted green.

To us all, the blaze of green sky comes as a hope of miracles. Perhaps, like emerald evenings, miracles are always out there, making the universe work. Things get in the way, and our minds do not record the marvels. Rarely our body is turned toward them when our mind, too, is in right relation. Then we experience the miracle as reality; it was there all along.

Consider starlight:The star, whose light night after night pulls our gaze

from earth to heaven, may not be there, or anywhere. It may be cold and dark, lost to us in empty blackness, or it may have become the merest whisp of atomed dust. What twinkles still is its last lance, hurled before it died. Or, think of that star’s light as a train that stretched from genesis to today: we are watching the last car, its lantern swinging on the vast curve that takes it finally out of sight. If light were sound we would be an audience revelling in an echoing finale, not knowing that the orchestra had disbanded and gone home.

And so, to the apparent Bedlam of our apparent world add this confusion: the star we see may not be, but only

Two Sides of Solsticeby Judith Borbas

Sun low in our skyAs northern earth tilts awayLight shrinks more each day.

Longest nights now pastI eagerly greet the sunWaiting for this day.

Natural History

11Winter 2005

Scattered LightContinued from page 10

once was. Logic tells us, as well, that there are stars so new they can’t yet be seen. Word of their birth will come to us tomorrow, or to a dead earth a billion years hence. We shall watch the dark spaces of the night sky, and wait.

Yet on ancient seas and swelling steppes sailors and horsemen read instructions from the mirage they called a star, and were guided to a greener home. We can only marvel at such faith in a nightly glance at a place where a star is not, but forever seems to be.

Unmeasurable uncertainty - chaos - we are told, is at the core of everything. (It’s a lovely irony that uncertainty is the outcome of the abstract logic of the most organized structure we can imagine, the human brain. To put it another way, chaos is the deepest reality we can imagine.) It is there because at the tiniest of subelectron levels, any measurement of position or momentum knocks the undisturbed event for a loop. As well, each electron seems to vanish and be recreated with every unit of energy it emits. All right, then: Hooray for anarchy! The ruleless shall rule the world!

Except that it is this inexplicable behavior of “the least of these” which guides the formation and mechanical operation of everything. Think: laws of thermodynamics, the conservation of matter and energy, gravity, entropy. By those rules we understand the sensible world, plan our futures, and invent wonderful machines for our convenience.

Oddly enough, everyone knows that within that structured middle world are common events that seem purely random, even theoretically unpredictable. Who can map in advance the quick steps of the dancing

campfire? Who can tell us where next to expect the droplet suspended in the tumult of a thunderhead? Or the pattern of rain falling on parched ground? Or the shape of the next snowflake?

Life seems to epitomize organization and structure. The phenomenal complexity of a single cell is exponentially multiplied at the level of tissue and organism, all controlled by genomic instruction and organized into ecosystems, the whole kaboodle surviving time and change by the not - so - simple process of survival of the fittest. Talk about organization! A Republican Convention can’t hold a candle to it.

It is curious, however, to discover that this extraordinary structure is full of crucial dice games . Genetic mutations are random (in nature), and pollination and fertilization have huge elements of chance. The helpless movement of

the diaspores of sea life in changeable currents, and the outcomes of billions of meetings of predator and prey, from protozoan to feline, are the foundation to which we trust our ambitious hopes to manipulate nature.

Is life, then, the pleasing tune played accidentally by the hundredth monkey? Perhaps - but surely not only that. Life is full of beauty, as are the skies, the cosmos; and beauty to me is ever and always the outcome of harmony and order. Ephemeral or lasting, unique or repeated, extinguished or created by chaos, beauty is of the mind, and the mind is more than chance.

The earliest humans probably knew that chaos and harmony exist side by side in

this world. Human experience through the ages, especially in the era of science,

has taught that some things once assigned to accident or the playfulness of interfering

gods, are in truth full of order. Contrarily, we have uncovered

vast uncertainties, once inconceivable, in every corner of the universe.

Chaos, it seems, is ever vulnerable to the chance

relationship that propagates into symmetry and order. Organization, on the other hand, is always liable through random accident to collapse into its unhooked parts.

Those scattered parts may yet be reborn into beauty. Loren Eiseley remarked (p.40, The Unexpected Universe) that “Each one of us is a statistical impossibility around which hover a million lives never destined to be born - but who nevertheless are being unmanifest, a lurking potential in the dark storehouse of the void.”

So, too, the unborn stars, stars that never were because the particles from exploding gases that might have made them never collected together in a large enough company. They are still out there, the grist out of which, in some far place and time, a star will form, will orbit around a bigger one, will cool, will find water in a meteor...

So, too, there is poetry yet to come, still to find a home in the mind that will reassemble the scattered pieces of language strewn in each generation’s wake. (Thanks to John Berger, “Redemption Songs.”)

Tony Hillerman (p.257, Coyote Waits) puts it in simple words:

“Joe Leaphorn still remembered not just the words but the old man’s face when he said them: ‘ I think from where we stand rain seems random. If we could stand somewhere else, we would see the order of it.’ “

What a wonderful gift, I would think, in any life, just once to be able to stand in a different place.

Natural History

12 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Stewards Needed to Monitor Western Bluebird Nestboxes

- Naira JohnstonNot long ago that western bluebirds (Sialia mexicana)

were sighted on southeastern Vancouver Island. In fact, they used to be seen year-round in the 1960’s, over-wintering in places such as Rocky Point Military Base (Trotter, 1985). The Victoria Christmas Bird Count reported 59 individual western bluebirds in 1964. Between 1966 and 1979 these birds were noted to be quickly disappearing. Probable factors involved in this coastal population’s decline were the widespread removal of dead trees and the arrival of the European starling, which increased competition for nesting spaces (Beauchesne et al., 2002). The use of pesticides may have altered the amount of prey items available for feeding their young, contributing to nest failure.

The last western bluebird populations were located on Mt Tuam of Salt Spring Island (Palmeteer, 2004 Pers.comm.). Despite the huge effort by dedicated naturalists Harold Pollock, Calvin Trotter, and Calvor Palmeteer who provided nestboxes for them on Salt Spring Island throughout the 80’s, the last of the coastal population of western bluebirds dwindled from 16 pairs to 1-2 pairs by the early 1990’s. The last few pairs had nest failure due to a cold and wet spring and have since disappeared (Pollock, 2004 Pers.comm.).

Despite the effort to support them through a nestbox program it is believed that too few individuals remained from this resident population to be able to withstand any amount of mortality (Pollock and Altman, 2004 Pers.comm).

The coastal population to the south has made a rebound with the help of a nestbox program. At Fort Lewis, just south of Seattle Washington, the dwindling population made a rebound from 1 pair in 1981 to 160-175 pairs in the 1990’s (Beauchesne et al, 2002). This example of population recovery provides hope for northerly migration to Vancouver Island as the population expands, and suggests a need for nestboxes to be in place to welcome migrants. It is our hope that enough birds return to the Island so that a healthy population can be reestablished with the support of a network of nestboxes accompanied by monitoring stewards. Western bluebirds often take readily to nestboxes.

Sixty nestboxes have been built and will be put up at eight historical western bluebird sites around Southern Vancouver Island. In some places nestboxes that were used in the past will be assessed and used if they are still in good shape. Sites around Victoria are: Mount Finlayson, Mount Wells, Mill Hill, Lone Tree Hill Regional Park, and Rocky Point Military Base in Metchosin. Stewards are being organized for these sites through the Victoria Natural History Society.

The sites outside of the Victoria area are: Mount Tuam on Salt Spring Island, CFMERT Nanoose military base, Matthews Point Park on Galiano Island, and Mount

Tzuhalem adjacent to the Cowichan Valley. Stewards are needed for areas around Mount Tuam on

Salt Spring Island. Stewardship involves checking nestboxes once a week from early February to early September. A stewardship package containing a map of the site, monitoring protocol, and contact information will be given to all stewards. Salt Spring Island Conservancy members interested in becoming stewards may contact Robin Annschild at (250) 538-0318.Your involvement in the creation of this bluebird nestbox project in your area could help bring the western bluebird back!

Multi-year pilot studies are being done around the Fort Lewis population in the hopes of reintroducing western bluebirds back to Vancouver Island in two to five years time if birds do not migrate here on their own. A sighting of a female western bluebird was reported on Salt Spring Island this spring in early April (CDC, 2004). Bob Altman from the American Bird Conservancy has been working closely with Washington and Oregon’s coastal western bluebird populations and is organizing funding for the possibility of this international project down the road.

Support for this project comes from the University of Victoria Student Learning Internship (SLIP) Grant, the Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team (GOERT), the Nanaimo Area Land Trust (NALT), the Vertebrates Implementation Recovery Group, and from Trudy Chatwin, Rare and Endangered Species Biologist from the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection.

Literature CitedBeauchesne S.M., P. Chytyk, and J.M. Cooper. 2002.

Western bluebird stewardship account for the Garry Oak ecosystems of south western BC. Garry Oak Recovery Team.

Conservation Data Center, Apr 03, 2004. Western bluebird sighting by Robert Weeden of Salt Spring Island around Mount Tuam.

Pollock, Harold. 1986. The western bluebirds’s struggle for survival. The Victoria Naturalist. Victoria Natural History Society, 43:4.

Trotter, Charlie. 1985. Western bluebirds at Rocky Point. Victoria Naturalist. Victoria Natural History Society, 41:5.

Personal Communications Altman, Bob. October 2004. American Bird Conservancy, Northern Pacific Raincoast BCR Coordinator. Corvallis, Oregon, USA.

Palmeteer, Calvor. September 2004. Former western bluebird trail Coordinator, Victoria, BC.

Pollock, Harold. April 2004. Former western bluebird trail coordinator, Victoria, BC.

Natural History

13Winter 2005

-Bob Weeden Last April a crow nested in a cloud of plum blossoms on

a tree beside the Chamber of Commerce. I watched walkers on the steps 8 feet below the nest. No one looked up. My musing mind came to a fork in the road:

Musing, still (in spite of all warnings), I recalled an issue of black and white on a windy day this winter when, even with binoculars, I couldn’t identify objects bobbing far out in Ganges Harbour. “Must be getting old,” I told myself in some discouragement, “when I can’t tell the gulls from the bouys.”

Speaking of black and white - we were, you know, - have you noticed how crows and gulls love the soccer pitch at Portlock Park in winter? Crows come after the first good autumnal rain. With

Black and White

Crow in Plum: Colourist Blacksurrounded by white.At nightwhitesurrounded by black.

Crow in Plum: BiologistBird and flowerwill be creativeif black and whiteare alternative.

waddling pomposity (I imagine overweight vicars of the sort Bronte and Austen heroines had to fend off), probing for some small delight at grassroots. When drenching rains push m o i s t u r e down to where big earthworms detect it and start nightly orgies on the surface, the gulls come. They are as

pompous and even flatter of foot than the crows. Someone might take

pictures of this formal crowd of ethnically diverse aves, p r e f e r a b l y

l o t s of photos over the whole winter. I think they would show that black and white tend to stick to their own. Perhaps crows are wary of the bigger gulls. Maybe, as black absorbs all light and white reflects all light, crows standing too close to gulls tend to swell up and burst in a shower of carnal sparks. Perhaps.

At the final Saturday Market raffle ticket sale, volunteers turned-on beautiful smiles and encouraging words about the SSI Conservancy to help a U.S. visitor decide upon purchase of three tickets.

This was one of Luke’s best efforts (all of Luke’s efforts are “best efforts”) and volunteers were free with their praise of the beautiful h a n d m a d e driftwood bench we raffled and with information pertaining to Luke’s whereabouts and such.

The final days of the raffle occurred at the Fall Fair, 2004 September 18-19, and the winner and all time champion was selected by means of a random draw. This year the bench went to Sue Mouat.

2004 Raffle Of Luke Hart-Weller Bench

Warbler In October

Lost in a calendarThat passed it byThe small bird flicksThrough unclad limbsTo the last, thenAcross the spaceTo promised shelter.Betrayed again,It hurries onSoutheast, southeast.What kept it back A month ago, when Just for the singing, It could have hadThe best of company? RBW

The net income derived from ticket sales was $2800, which will provide a bit of cash for further activities.

Many thanks to Luke, to Karen Hudson and her organizing skills and to all the volunteers who made this event possible!

Natural History

14 The Acorn - Newsletter of the Salt Spring Island Conservancy

Volunteers

- Karen HudsonJean Gelwicks sits on the Board of Directors of the

Conservancy and chairs the Education Committee with boundless energy. She leads the Education Committee with an amazing level of enthusiasm and commitment. Her boundless energy and dedication are invaluable to the group and have resulted in a rich and varied education program over the past few years. Events have included the increasingly popular guest speaker “Talks & Walks”, the world premiere of “Living Things We Love to Hate” and this year’s mushroom workshops.

The biggest initiative of course was this spring’s Stewards in Training program. Jean spearheaded the initial idea, then obtained funding to hire Kate Leslie and put in countless hours towards the organization and delivery of the program. The full day field trips for 200 grade 6 and 7 students of SSIMS was a terrific success as a result of Jean’s vision and effort, and was a great learning experience for everyone involved!

Kate Leslie was able to put some words together about working with Jean. “I cannot say enough about Jean’s hard work on the ‘Stewards in Training’ school program last spring. It was a joy to work with her, and to have her as my

Recognizing Volunteers - Jean Gelwickssupervisor and advisor. Aside from working on the funding proposal for the program, and being a leader in developing the objectives of the program, Jean wrote media peices, solicited volunteers at Conservancy events,created a list of

coordinator responsibilities, bought program supplies and helped with supply preparation, helped with set up and take down at each of the eight programs (including transporting all the materials to the site and back), taught a number of sessions to the students, documented the activities through photos, marked student assignments and put in countless hours preparing cut glass ornaments as gifts for each of the volunteers -- in short she was there, enthusiastic and energetic at every step along the way. She shared lots of ideas and insights with me, and best of all, she was and is a good friend. The Conservancy is very fortunate to have such a tireless and caring leader.”

Jean’s participation in the Salt Spring Island Conservancy goes beyond her involvement with the Education Committee. She is a valuable resource for the organization and a tireless volunteer for various events and activities. She is

even now taking on some of the role of volunteer coordinator with Ruth Tarasoff – something that is above and beyond the call of duty for this active Conservancy member

Thank you Jean for your love of the land, your commitment to education and the energy you put into the Conservancy and the Education Committee, we are lucky to have you!

notes and index. Here I was, happily lapping up my fondest beliefs about the world, written much better than I could, assuming that the way out of this mess was just overleaf, when - Boom! Done. Wright, you done me wrong. I know I’m supposed to be smart enough to draw my own wellwater when you’ve tipped me upside down in the well. I could when I was younger. And you did drop hints in the last chapter. You even summarized them in the last paragraph. But I’ve heard and preached it all: share resources, clean up pollution, dispense basic health care and birth control, set economic limits in line with natural ones. Sure, sure, but

where’s the silver bullet? Why don’t you tell me and my lonely friends how we can save the world by the time P.M. Martin gets his climate cooled and we can all go back to our condos in Palm Desert?

Bummer!Buy the book anyway.

Review: History? Short?Continued from page 9

15Winter 2005

Editor and Desktop Publishing:Rachel Ogis

Board of Directors:Samantha Beare (Treasurer)Maureen Bendick (Vice-President)Rachel Ogis (Secretary)Nigel DenyerCharles DorworthJean GelwicksPeter Lamb (President)Linda QuiringBrian SmallshawRuth TarasoffDoug WilkinsBob Weeden (Past-President)

The Salt Spring IslandConservancy#203 Upper Ganges Centre, 338 Lower Ganges Rd.Mail: PO Box 722, SSI, BC V8K 2W3Office hours : Mon/Wed9 am - 12 amPhone: (250) 538-0318Fax: (250) 538-0319Email:ssiconservancy@saltspring.comWeb site:http://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

Youth (Under 16) 1 yr @ $10 _ Senior, or Low-Income: 1 yr @ $15 _ 3 yr @ $45 _Regular Single 1 yr @ $20 _ 3 yr @ $60 _Regular Family 1 yr @ $30 _ 3 yr @ $90 _Group/School 1 yr @ $30 _ 3 yr @ $90 _Business 1 yr @ $50 _ 3 yr @ $150 _

Name: ______________________________________ Address: ____________________________________ ____________________________________________ Postal Code: _______________ Phone: ______________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________

❒ Please send me the Acorn via e-mail.

❒ This is a renewal for an existing membershipDonations In addition to my membership fee above, I have enclosed my donation in the amount of: $50 _ $100 _ $250 _ $500 _ $1000_ $2500 _ $5000 _ Other ___________ Tax reciepts will be provided for donations of $20 or more.

Volunteer Opportunities

We have a Volunteer Application Form that best describes areas you wish to help in. For now, which areas interest you? Please check off:❒ Office Work (typing, filing or computer work)❒ Information Table at Saturday Market❒ Education Programs❒ Annual Fundraising Events❒ Information Table at SSI Community Events❒ Joining a SSIC Committee (Land Restoration & Management, Fundraising, Covenants, Acquisitions, Education or Stewardship)❒ Other: _______________________

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(We NEVER give out member’s e-mail addresses to anyone!)

the Salt Spring Island

ConservancyGanges P.O. Box 722

Salt Spring Island, BC

V8K 2W3

Featured Artist

Donations of any of the following would be gratefully appreciated: Laptop Computer, Small Refrigerator, Telephones and GPS Unit.

Please remember to put your shopping receipt in the green Conservancy receipt box at GVM, and to say “Community Chest #58” at the check out at Thrifty’s. You can also credit the Conservancy when you take back your bottles to the Salt Spring Refund Centre (Bottle Depot at GVM). Every little bit helps keep our programs running!

Office Update: Small Actions Help!

Maryanna enjoys creatively reflecting the beauty of this unique ecosystem through sculpture, tapestry, painting and drawing. A graduate of Simon Fraser University, she has been an archaeologist, library technician, legal secretary, web designer, and business owner. Maryanna has lived and raised a family in the gulf islands for the last 25 years.

Maryanna GabrielCall for Submissions!

You are invited to submit articles to the Acorn on any topic, including: the Conservancy’s history, natural history, complexity articles, stewardship, and fundamental conservancy interests such as political policies, accountability and issues beyond SSI borders. If you have any ideas, write to us at ssiconservancy@saltspring.com or PO Box 722, SSI, BC, V8K 2W3. Thanks!