Revelstoke Mountaineer Podcast

Councillor Nicole Cherlet is the chairperson of a committee looking into plans to revitalize Grizzly Plaza, Revelstoke's downtown gathering space. She reached out to revelstokemountaineer.com to speak about the project. Here's our late May, 2022 interview with Coun. Cherlet.

The Revelstoke Food bank is hosting a spring Fill the Van food drive on June 3, 2022, and also hosting a grand opening event for their new community kitchen and food bank. In this podcast, we spoke with Revelstoke Food Bank staff members Hannah Whitney, Community Food and Outreach Coordinator, and Erin MacLachlan, Co-director of Community Outreach and Development. The interview focuses on an update on the food bank since the start of the pandemic, when usage spiked. We looked at trends in the past couple of years, which include increasing systemic inequality in the community, incomes not keeping up with cost of living, and the food bank's efforts to eliminate barriers and dismantle stigma. For more, see our story published May 24 on revelstokemountaineer.com.

The B.C. government's ongoing strategic review of old growth forest practices in the province has generated considerable interest in Revelstoke, an area whose harvesting and milling sector has significant dependence on old growth forests. In November, 2021, the provincial government announced another round of temporary deferrals of old growth harvesting in B.C. It followed an announcement of regional old growth deferrals in the Incomappleaux Valley area in September, 2020. In addition, there have been several protests in the Revelstoke region, including a forest service road blockade in the Apring In April of this year, the B.C. government updated on its progress to reach agreements with First Nations governments on its old growth review plans. In late April following the announcement, we reached out to Nick Arkle, CEO of the Gorman Group, which operates Selkirk Cedar and Downie Timber Ltd. in Revelstoke. In an audio interview that spans just under 30 minutes, we sought Downie's perspectives on the B.C. policy changes and how the major local employer is responding.

After calls, emails, DMs, and many outreach attempts to current Kootenay-Columbia MP, Rob Morrison (Conservative), were met with silence, we reached out to the past two MPs for comment. In this interview, former Kootenay-Columbia MP, Wayne Stetski (NDP), discusses Morrison's non-responsiveness and his actions during the past weeks, which have seen a convoy to Ottawa, which Morrison supported, and a blockade at Coutts, Alberta, which Morrison, a former RCMP officer, also retweeted support for. Later, 13 were arrested and four charged with conspiracy to commit murder, which police say targeted at RCMP officers. In this Feb. 18, 2022 interview, Stetski reacts to Morrison's ongoing actions as MP, and discusses current events in Canada. This interview is one of two with former Kootenay-Columbia MPs, the other on Feb. 16 with former Kootenay-Columbia MP, David Wilks (Conservative).

After many attempts over the past weeks to reach Kootenay-Columbia MP, Rob Morrison (Conservative), for an interview on unfolding events in B.C. and Ottawa, former Kootenay-Columbia MP David Wilks (Conservative), now Mayor of the District of Sparwood, replied to a tweet at Morrison that we had tagged him in. He agreed to sit for an interview to discuss current affairs in the riding and Canada. Here is our Feb. 16, 2022 interview with Mayor Wilks, who, like Morrison, is a former RCMP officer. This interview is one of a pair of interviews with former Kootenay-Columbia MPs. The next with Wayne Stetski (NDP), who defeated Wilks in Kootenay-Columbia in 2015. Stetski then lost the riding to Morrison in 2019. The interview touches on security issues posed by the ongoing protests, including the Coutts blockade and the involvement of far-right groups in the protest movement.

Protesters opposed to pandemic-related restrictions and other issues gathered on the Trans-Canada Highway in Revelstoke on Feb. 12, 2022, a day that saw continued protests in Ottawa and blockades at blockades at border crossings in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. To cover the story, we opted for an audio format, producing this Revelstoke Mountaineer Podcast episode and you can see further reporting on the protest on revelstokemountaineer.com. The protesters are mistrustful of the media, saying so many times in our interviews, so we told the protesters we'd be doing roughly five-minute audio interviews with each, then we'd them together into the podcast. We spoke to four protesters: Shawn Sanders, who was one of the leaders of the protest, volunteered to go first. After that, protester Renee Shaw, who was dancing energetically and waving iridescent costume wings next to the highway, was quick to volunteer next. After that interview, we addressed part of the crowd, asking for volunteers. Michael Ferrera, who was manning the barbecue at the time, volunteered next. Finally, Sally Miller, who had stood close by and listened as Renee Shaw was interviewed, volunteered to go next. The interviewees had lots to say. Our act of interviewing the protesters doesn't endorse their views or the factual claims that people made on pandemic-related topics; rather, it's intended to be a window into the perspectives of some Revelstoke community members meant to help listeners understand pandemic-related events happening around them in the community, such as the protest.

In our latest Revelstoke Mountaineer podcast, Aaron Orlando of revelstokemountaineer.com interviews BC Greens leader Sonia Furstenau for a long-form interview covering the topics of B.C.'s COVID-19 response, old-growth logging deferrals and long-term policy, and the ongoing recovery process for mountain caribou.

We checked in with Queen Victoria Hospital physician Dr. Vikki Haines about what staff are experiencing at Revelstoke's local hospital during the Omicron wave.

The Omicron wave arose in Revelstoke sometime in the first half of December, 2021, and now is experiencing the highest COVID-19 case rates out of any Local Health Area in B.C. since the pandemic started. We spoke with Interior Health Medical Health Officer, Dr. Karin Goodison, about the situation here in Revelstoke and Interior Health's response to Omicron since testing demand started to spike on Dec. 15, 2021.

Revelstoke Mayor Gary Sulz appears on the Revelstoke Mountaineer podcast to talk about Revelstoke's long-delayed by election following a councillor resignation in January. Revelstokemountaineer.com has critically questioned the delay in three stories and updates starting on Sept. 23. For background on this story, see our reporting here: https://www.revelstokemountaineer.com/elections-bc-contradicts-city-of-revelstoke-explanation-for-by-election-delay/

Schools are set to reopen in Revelstoke and B.C. in September amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, creating numerous big challenges for those responsible for overseeing and organizing the reopening plans. Like with many things COVID-19, the situation is fluid and information is updated on a daily basis, adding more complexity to the situation. The B.C. government has published its Back to School Plan, and there have been supplemental updates, such as this August 17 update on mask protocols. For an update on the process in Revelstoke, we spoke with Mike Hooker, the Superintendent of School District No. 19. In this audio interview, Hooker outlined some of the plans so far, and also provides information on how students and parents can keep up to date on the developing plan.

In this podcast for revelstokemountaineer.com, Doug Donaldson, the B.C. Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development, joins host Aaron Orlando to discuss plans for a small heli-access lodge on Mount Begbie, the ongoing mountain caribou recovery herd planning process, and calls for land use planning in the Revelstoke area. Recorded July 30, 2020.

The City of Revelstoke recently completed its Official Community Plan (OCP) vision statement update process. We spoke with Marianne Wade, Director of Development Services for the City of Revelstoke, for an update on the OCP. We explored what's happened so far and what comes next, with a focus on community participation in the process.

A recent spike in COVID-19 cases in July in Interior Health has brought the virus transmission prevention part of the overall pandemic story to the fore once again. We reached out to Dr. Sue Pollock, the Interim Chief Medical Health Officer for Interior Health, to talk about what's been happening in the region and what that means for Revelstoke.

FortisBC spokesperson Sean Beardow gives an update on propane service restoration in Revelstoke as of Friday. On Tuesday, Oct. 22, an excavator struck an underground gas line, knocking out service to 900 individual metres in Revelstoke. As of Friday morning, about 90 are still without power

Revelstoke Mayor Gary Sulz discusses staff departures, including the announced resignation of the city's chief administrative officer and director of engineering last week.

In this long-format interview, caribou researcher Dr. Rob Serrouya discusses the results of a large-scale study of woodland caribou, including in the Revelstoke area, that looked at 'adaptive management' as a tool for aiding recovery. He was the lead researcher on a paper that was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)entitled, Saving endangered species using adaptive management. His study was closely intertwined with ongoing government caribou recovery efforts and provides insight into ongoing caribou recovery actions on the ground, as well as potential future options. For more on this subject, see our story on revelstokemountaineer.com or in the June 2019 issue of Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine.

North Columbia Environmental Society director Sarah Newton on the Revelstoke environmental organization's 2018 request to the federal environment minister for an emergency stop to logging in old growth in the Revelstoke area designed to aid endangered mountain caribou.

Revelstoke-based Downie Timber plant manager Angus Woodman discusses the federal/provincial caribou recovery plan in advance of the April 15, 2019 consultation session in Revelstoke.

Revelstoke mayor Gary Sulz discusses the April 15, 2019 B.C. government caribou recovery plan consultation session in Revelstoke. He spoke of a need for community groups to put a face to their group's concerns, and the community's need to have a seat at the table during future caribou management discussions.

Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation general manager Mike Copperthwaite expresses serious concerns about the unknowns in the draft federal/provincial caribou recovery plan, particularly lack of detail, consultation and future decision-making structure. Date: April 13, 2019.

We spoke with Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok about the draft caribou recovery plan and the upcoming consultation open house in Revelstoke on April 15th at the community centre. Date: April 12, 2019

A new study using data from cellular towers finds that Revelstoke's population, with some caveats, is nearly double the official Canada Census number. We spoke with city economic development director Ingrid Bron to parse what the report means.

Darcy Peel, Director of the B.C. Caribou Recovery Program for the B.C. government, talks with Aaron Orlando about the ongoing draft caribou recovery program consultations and the upcoming consultation open house in Revelstoke on April 15, 2019. Date: April 11, 2019.

Mar. 29, 2019. Kootenay-Columbia MP Wayne Stetski (NDP) discussed the draft federal/provincial mountain caribou recovery Section 11 agreement with Aaron Orlando from revelstokemountaineer.com.

Interior Health Director of Substance Use Services Rae Samson discusses the recent spike in drug overdose deaths in Revelstoke that left six dead between January and August of 2018.

Here is our interview about Revelstoke: A Kiss in the Wind, an Italian documentary premiering in Revelstoke tonight at the Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre. In our live interview, we speak with director Nicola Moruzzi and producer Leonardo Baraldi about their beautiful, lyrical documentary that showcases a historic love story that connects Revelstoke with Italy. Sorry, there is some repetition at the start! We broadcast this live and had a technical issue.

Our April 21 podcast focuses on two innovative youth programs. We speak with Stacie Byrne of the Revelstoke Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Collaborative about a program seeking to improve mental health outcomes in the community. We talk with Rachel Reimer about the new Open Mountains program that removes barriers to participation into outdoor mountain activities like mountain biking, backcountry skiing, rock climbing a more. We also chat about a celebration happening this morning at 8:30 a.m. at the Revelstoke gazebo in Grizzly Plaza. Thanks for watching!

Following controversy surrounding a development application in the airport bench area south of Revelstoke late last year, Revelstoke’s Local Food Initiative hosted an information session on the provincial Agricultural Land Commission on April 4. LFI board member Melissa Hemphill explains what the session was about. Martin Collins is the Director of Policy and Planning for the the Agricultural Land Commission. He explains its role in agricultural land decisions.

Heliskiing and splitboarding in the mountains around Revelstoke is the subject of a new song and homemade music video produced by New York City resident Eric Rhea, AKA Ric Riggler. Revelstoke gets a shout out in the video, and local companies Eagle Pass Heliskiing and Revelstoke Back Country Guides are feature in the video. We talked with Eric about his video and the National Brotherhood of Skiers.

A controversy has erupted at the Revelstoke Farm & Craft Market after its anchor tenant, Wild Flight Farm, was rejected from coming back this summer -- what would have been its 25th year at the market. We spoke with Wild Flight Farm owner Hermann Bruns and market board member Dan Meakes about the controversy, and any possible resolution.

Revelstoke Mountaineer journalist Aaron Orlando speaks with lawyer Mark Underhill, who represented a Colville Confederated Tribes member from Washington state in a court case that is being viewed as a historical milestone for Sinixt First Nation. The judge ruled that the man, who had been charged with illegal hunting in Canada, had Aboriginal rights to be hunting in Canada. The ruling is seen as a big step for the Sinixt, who have been battling for legal recognition and rights after the Canadian government declared them 'extinct' in 1956.

Last week, the B.C. government announced the creation of a new wildlife management agency that would steer hunting licence revenue into wildlife management activities. In statements sent in the government media release, the announcement was applauded by hunting organizations like the B.C. Wildlife Federation, Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., And the B.C. Trappers Association. However, environmental conservation group Wildsight is expressing concerns about the new agency, and a potential step away from science-based conservation to a new model. We spoke with Wildsight's conservation director John Bergenske to hear more about their concerns.

The ambitious Revelstoke Adventure Park development planned for the Greeley area just outside of Revelstoke received tenure approval from the B.C. government in February, a huge step forward for the developers. We sat down with Revelstoke Adventure Park CEO to find out what happens on the ground now that tenure has been approved.

Gerry Taft is the NDP candidate for the riding of Columbia River–Revelstoke in the May 9 provincial election. He's seeking to replace retiring MLA Norm Macdonald and hold the seat for the NDP. It was our first time meeting Gerry, so we sat down to find out more about the candidate and his platform.

After nine black bears were euthanized in Revelstoke in just a few days, we spoke with Revelstoke Bear Aware coordinator Maggie Spizzirri to find out what's causing the issue and what we can do as individuals and a community to prevent further bear deaths.

BC Coroners Service spokesperson Barb McLintock provides details on the recovery of remains of a drowning victim at Shelter Bay on Aug. 7, 2016.

Three-term Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald has announced he won’t run in the 2017 provincial election, saying he wants to finish off his career as an educator. The surprise announcement comes a year before the provincial election. We spoke with Macdonald about his decision.

The plan for my interview with B.C. musician Rachelle van Zanten was to podcast the audio interview with a brief bio interview. But as I learned during the interview, the new mother of two has settled into a homesteading lifestyle in a rural area near Francois, B.C., and that means off-the-grid reception and dwindling power at her solar-powered home, all factors conspiring against great audio. In the 1990s, van Zanten broke into the music scene as a member of Painting Daisies. After years in Painting Daisies and 17 years travelling the globe as an independent musician, she settled in Francois Lake, B.C. where she engaged in the issues taking place on the land, such as oil and gas development and pipeline projects. She brings a politically and environmentally-oriented message with her blues influenced music. Both are intertwined with her experience growing up in the north and living in northern Alberta, where resource extraction issues are at the front of mind. Now rooted in Francois Lake with two young children, her songwriting and performing has evolved into a deeper experience. A pipeline right of way is being cut right behind her homestead and through her grazing lease, and through over 30 creeks where she fished and from which her cattle drink. “Songwriting became truly intense and personal and it required meditation and just being completely genuine,” she said. She is fresh off a performance in Portland, Oregon with famous ethnobiologist Wade Davis, with whom she periodically collaborates. “It was the coolest show I have ever done, a theatre filled with people who love the earth and want to make it work,” she said. “It’s much more fulfilling than having to squeeze into tight pants and make myself look good in front of an audience that perhaps wants something else. Van Zanten is Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, and has recently narrated a video detailing efforts to save northern herds of mountain caribou, something that reminded me very much of local efforts to save the southern herds. (“I tired to channel Lorne Greene because he was my hero back in the ‘80s,” she joked. “He was awesome.”) Rachelle van Zanten plays the Village Idiot in downtown Revelstoke from 9:30 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18 as part of the Axis Mundi Harvest festival. Here is our audio interview with van Zanten. Apologies for some rough edits when the audio dropped out.

Don Johnston, the Liberal candidate for the Kootenay–Columbia riding in the October 19 federal election, brings serious credentials to the table in his bid to upset a race that’s much closer now that Nelson, Kaslo, Salmo and some surrounding areas have joined the riding. Johnston was born and still lives in Nelson, and has held leadership positions at major organizations, including as the CEO of the Columbia Basin Trust from 1999–2005. Johnston is bound to be a factor in the election. Conservative support is down in B.C., and the Liberals are poised to take votes from the Conservatives with their first strong candidate in this riding in two elections. Listen you our Sept. 13, 2015 interview, and read the full story on www.revelstokemountaineer.com.

Wayne Stetski is the NDP candidate in the riding of Kootenay-Columbia in the October federal election. Stetski served as Mayor of Cranbrook for three years until he was defeated in the 2014 municipal election. His career background is in government parks management and conservation. This our second audio interview with Wayne Stetski was recorded on Aug. 24, 2015 while he was campaigning in Revelstoke. This long-form interview explores a number of issues facing the riding, and seeks to find out more about the candidate's take on issues facing the riding.

Two consultants who worked on Revelstoke’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan say now’s the time to get your property ready for a potential interface fire. Archie McConnachie served as a senior government wildfire manager in Revelstoke before retiring 15 years ago. He worked alongside forester Cindy Pearce on the 2015 update of Revelstoke’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan update. McConnachie told the Mountaineer that this season is as dry or even a little worse than 2003, when wildfires swept through B.C. and caused massive damage.

Myrtle and the Nocturnal are a Revelstoke-based collaboration between Myra Morrison and Denis Severino. We recorded Going Across the Mountain at Revelstoke's Centennial Park on a sweltering hot July 8, 2015. This interview and song is a preview of their performance at the Revelstoke Street Music Festival on Saturday, July 11, 2015.

D.R. Michel is the Executive Director of the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT), and he told the Revelstoke Mountaineer the June 25 presentation in Revelstoke will explore the ongoing technical, scientific and political efforts underway to promote restoration of traditional salmon migrations in the Columbia. He will also explain the importance and progress of UCUT and other groups’ efforts to link ecosystem and salmon restoration to the international Columbia River Treaty, which is in the midst of a process to explore negotiation and modernization of the Canada/U.S. deal concerned with water and hydro issues relating to the international river system. The presentation starts at 7 p.m. on June 25 at the Revelstoke United Church, 314 Mackenzie Avenue.

Revelstoke-based geologist Agathe Bernard is gearing up for a fall scientific expedition from Africa to Brazil aboard a sailing ship that will explore plastic waste in the Atlantic. Bernard will participate in the experiments and document them as a photographer and filmmaker.

The Martha Creek Makeover initiative is a summer 2015 community project to repair and renovate the popular downhill-oriented trail on Sale Mountain just north of Revelstoke. Organizer and mountain bike guide Matt Yaki is leading the push to raise funds for the project, and the target is about $30,000. Currently, they’re past the halfway mark on a crowdfunding campaign on the fundrazr platform — see the Martha Creek Trail page here — and they’ve just announced a big new prize for anyone donating $100 or more.

Revelstoke residents are encouraged to attend wildfire FireSmart sessions to learn how to prepare their properties before this fire season, which is shaping up to be drier and hotter than usual. The May 26–28 sessions will also provide Revelstoke residents the opportunity to review a new draft fuel break plan for the community, part of ongoing wildfire management planning in Revelstoke. Consultant Cindy Pearce explained the new fire break design maps out existing fuel breaks around Revelstoke – such as roadways, hydro lines, and ski runs on Mount Mackenzie – and also proposes some new ones. The gaps in forest cover are used as defensive barriers in the event of a wildfire.

The Revelstoke Board of Education has been ranked first in B.C. alongside their West Vancouver counterpart in a report by the Fraser Institute. The neo-liberal think tank’s report is usually accompanied by an asterisk denoting criticism of their school ranking reports. Critics say the ranking focuses on unhelpful selection of criteria that favours private schools and produces a snapshot that doesn’t factor in important socio-economic differences between districts. Alan Chell is the long-serving chairperson of the Revelstoke Board of Education. In the interview with the Revelstoke Mountaineer embedded below, Chell said the Revelstoke School District is data-focused and utilizes the information to improve education here. He spoke with the Revelstoke Mountaineer about the 2015 edition of the annual report on May 14.

The Revelstoke-based North Columbia Environmental Society (NCES) is asking governments of all levels to enforce existing rules prohibiting motorized recreation on the Upper Arrow Lake drawdown zone, most commonly known at the Columbia River Flats. We spoke with NCES president Jody Lownds about the issue.

Vancouver-based company Emergent Waste Solutions (EWS) is exploring building a bio-waste processing facility in Revelstoke. The facility would process waste including wood chips into byproducts like bio-oil, charcoal and carbon. They would then be resold. The Revelstoke Mountaineer spoke with EWS president Kevin Hull about the concept for the Revelstoke facility concept.

Organizer Matt Yaki of Revelstoke bike guides Wandering Wheels talks about plans to refurbish the battered trail at Martha Creek during the summer of 2015, including fixing buckled bridges and other improvements.