Podcasts about raincoast conservation foundation

You've heard of the Big Bad Wolf, Call of the Wild, and countless other wolf tales… but have you ever heard of Sea Wolves? These extraordinary wolves are unlike any others on Earth. Joining us today is Dr. Chris Darimont—a professor at the University of Victoria, the Director of Science at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and one of the world's leading experts on Sea Wolves. He's here to share their fascinating story. These wild canines roam the remote coastline of British Columbia, living in one of the most stunning and untamed environments on the planet. But here's what makes them truly unique: over 80% of their diet comes from the ocean! They feast on fish, crabs, seals, and even barnacles, adapting to a marine lifestyle in ways no other wolf species has. And get this—they don't just wade in the water; they're incredible long-distance swimmers, sometimes covering up to 7 miles between islands! Imagine spotting a wolf slicing through the waves like an apex predator of both land and sea. If you haven't seen the award-winning documentary Takaya: Lone Wolf, put it on your must-watch list. It tells the unbelievable true story of a lone Sea Wolf who captivated the world with his journey. Scientists, conservationists, and Indigenous Nations are working together to better understand and protect these wolves. The First Nations have long believed Sea Wolves bring good fortune and prosperity—so by the time you finish this episode, maybe a little luck will come your way too! Let's dive into the world of Sea Wolves with Chris Darimont. www.furrealpodcast.com      www.raincoast.org ig@thefurrealpodcast    ig@markakyle  ig@raincoastconservation fb@ The Fur Real Podcast      fb@ Raincoast Conservtion Foundation fb @ Mark A Kyle Speical thanks to J Jig Cicero @jjigcicero for our music intro and outro..you rock!!! Special thanks to Jake Olson  jfolson.music@gmail.com for awesome sound editing  and to our supporters: www.prepvet.com  Stem cells for pets  

In this episode, we dive into the crucial work of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, exploring how they integrate scientific research and community partnerships to protect British Columbia's coastal ecosystems. Kristen Walters, Director of Salmon Habitat, Climate, and Policy, discusses the threats facing these environments, successful conservation projects, and the importance of public education and advocacy. Join us as we uncover how Raincoast is leading the way in environmental stewardship and sustainability.

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Orcas ramming boats and chewing on rudders pierced the hull of a yacht near Spain last week. They've also brought down three vessels in the surrounding waters in the last year. Many experts are suggesting the killer whales could be playing. Others have wondered whether a matriarch named White Gladis could be teaching her pod the behaviour, following a traumatic incident with a ship. The internet, meanwhile, can't stop joking about the orcas taking revenge on humanity. If this is a case of psychological projection, it might be because orcas have reason to be mad at us. Today, Raincoast Conservation Foundation senior scientist Peter Ross tells us about the health of the orca population including the one we understand best, the Southern Resident killer whales near our west coast, and discusses why humans see so much of themselves in these neighbours. For transcripts of this series, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Transport Canada has announced 10 measures to protect the critically endangered southern resident orcas off the British Columbia coast, including mandatory speed zones in two areas near Swiftsure Bank, fishing closures, and interim sanctuary zones. Commercial and recreational salmon fishing will be banned this summer and fall throughout the waters of the southern Gulf Islands. From now until May 31, 2024, vessels are required to stay at least 400 meters away from all orcas in southern B.C. coastal waters. However, cetacean researcher and senior research scientist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Lance Barrett-Lennard, said the measures need to go much further to help the animals thrive, including much broader fishing restrictions throughout their critical habitat.   Link to article: https://bit.ly/3HwC3Mp   Book a podcast interview time to share your conservation journey: https://calendly.com/sufb/sufb-interview   Fill out our listener survey: https://www.speakupforblue.com/survey   Join the audio program - Build Your Marine Science and Conservation Career: https://www.speakupforblue.com/career   Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3NmYvsI Connect with Speak Up For Blue: Website: https://bit.ly/3fOF3Wf Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rIaJSG Twitter: https://bit.ly/3rHZxpc   

Peter Ross discusses with interviewer Aaron Pete the report he co-authored that exposes the discovery of an "astounding diversity" of contaminants, including cocaine and pesticides, in the Sumas Lake region following the November 2021 floods, and also shares his thoughts on the impact of the report and his Healthy Waters Program.Raincoast Conservation in partnership with other organizations conducted a seven-week study which found 177 "new and emerging contaminants" in the water, including painkillers, pesticides, and sucralose, raising concerns about the health of fish habitat and the people in the area. The study identified excessive nutrients, metals, hydrocarbons, and pesticides as the primary pollutants of concern, highlighting the impacts of domestic and agricultural practices on the fish habitat in the region.Dr. Peter S. Ross is an ocean pollution expert who has published over 160 scientific articles and book chapters on pollutants in the oceans. He discovered that the region's killer whales are the most contaminated marine mammals in the world, and recently reported on the widespread distribution of microplastics in the NE Pacific and Arctic oceans. He is the founder of the Ocean Pollution Research Program and the Plastics Lab at Ocean Wise, and has advised industry, government, the G7, the European Union, and the OECD on priority pollutants and microplastics. Dr. Ross is now Senior Scientist at Raincoast Conservation Foundation, where he is developing a new community-oriented Healthy Waters Program.Read the full report: https://www.raincoast.org/reports/flood/Chapters: 1:09 Sumas Lake Re-emerging7:39 Designing the Research15:02 Findings of the Report22:10 Waters Pre-Contact32:44 Impact on Fish42:06 What are the Solutions?51:04 Other Raincoast Conservation ProjectsSupport the showwww.biggerthanmepodcast.com

Our guest today works with the RainCoast Conservation Foundation - a non-profit, empowered by research to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of coastal British Columbia Please welcome Chelsea Greer to IMPACT!   If you like what we are doing please like, share and subscribe to IMPACT    This episode is sponsored by Hollyhock -  dedicated to helping create a better future via education and personal sharing.  www.hollyhock.ca   Full Bio: Chelsea Greer is an emerging conservation scientist with an interest in animal ethics and coexistence. She holds a MSc in Geography from the University of Calgary and a BSc in Applied Animal Biology from the University of British Columbia.    Chelsea currently works with Raincoast Conservation Foundation - a non-profit organization made up of a team of conservationists and scientists empowered by our research to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of coastal British Columbia.    Chelsea joined the Raincoast team in 2021 to help develop the Wolf Conservation Program and continues to coordinate and deliver the program's various initiatives. Raincoast's wolf initiatives are working toward implementation of provincial policy that respects the welfare of wolves and their ecological role. This includes putting an end to the killing of wolves in BC for the purposes of predator control, trophy, and perceived competition for shared prey.    Raincoast is currently raising funds to stop commercial trophy hunting in more than a quarter of the Great Bear Rainforest in BC. Purchasing the Southern Great Bear Rainforest Tenure, which covers 18,239 km2, protects wolves and dozens of other species from being commercially trophy hunted because it gives Raincoast the exclusive rights to commercially guide trophy hunters. Raincoast currently controls the commercial hunting rights in five tenures, more than 38,000 km2 of the BC coast – an area larger than Vancouver Island or the entire country of Belgium.   ● Safeguarding Coastal Carnivores in the Southern Great Bear Rainforest tenure: https://www.raincoast.org/trophy-hunt/   ● Take action to protect BC Wolves: https://www.raincoast.org/wolves/   Social platforms: ● Twitter: @chelgreer @raincoast ● Instagram: @raincoastconservation ● Website: www.raincoast.org ● Email: chelsea@raincoast.org www.raincoast.eco/link/

Aaron Pete sits down with Dr. Peter Ross to learn about ocean pollution, plastics, and chemicals. He discovered the region's killer whales to be the most ‘contaminated marine mammals in the world' in a groundbreaking study, and reported on the widespread distribution of microplastics in the NE Pacific and Arctic oceans. In this interview, Dr. Ross explains the causes of ocean pollution, what is being done to address this growing global problem and what individuals can do to help. Dr. Peter S. Ross is an internationally recognized ocean pollution expert working as a senior scientist with Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia as well as the University of Victoria. Dr. Ross is a Science Manager and ocean pollution scientist with a demonstrated history of working in the academic, government and private sectors. Skilled in conservation research, Public Engagement, Media interactions, Scientific Publishing, Report Writing, Policy Analysis. Strong education professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and MSc from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. He recently served as the Vice-President of Research at Ocean Wise, where he founded the Ocean Pollution Research Program, launched PollutionTracker and the Plastics Lab. He served for 16 years as a federal Research Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. His work with priority pollutants and microplastics has led to numerous invitations to advise industry, government, the G7, the European Union, and the OECD. His work has been featured prominently in national and international media. Dr Ross is now Senior Scientist at Raincoast Conservation Foundation, where he is developing a new community-oriented Healthy Waters Program. Peter Ross LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ross-53241855/?originalSubdomain=ca Peter Ross Twitter: https://twitter.com/calypsocoast Donate to Raincoast Conservation: https://www.raincoast.org/donate/ Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7jl39CsCYhImbLevAF6aTe?si=dc4479f225ff440b Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/bigger-than-me-podcast/id1517645921 Listen on Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xMDc3MjYyLnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA8JKF2tT0AhUPmp4KHR2rAPkQ9sEGegQIARAC Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/geiqqB2TJxg Chapters: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:05:25 Serving in the Canadian Military 0:10:50 Becoming an Ocean Pollution Expert 0:37:49 Killer Whales in BC are the most CONTAMINATED marine mammals 0:49:59 Indigenous Principles & Conservation 1:07:40 Ocean Garbage Patches & Boyan Slat 1:23:34 Polyester, Plastics & Ocean Pollution 1:51:35 Saving the Ocean 2:20:49 Are Aquariums Good or Bad? 2:39:12 How Can Listeners Help Save the Ocean?

Valeria Vergara is a senior research scientist at Raincoast Conservation Foundation where she co-directs the Cetacean Conservation Research Program. Her main focus? Beluga Whales. Originally hailing from Argentia, Valeria studied canids- specifically coyotes and foxes- during her undergrad and masters degree. It wasn't until her PhD that she switched to the marine world.  Valeria is so passionate about her work, and shares insight into what beluga whale research looks like, including spending weeks at camp with these creatures. She also shares why belugas are considered the canaries of the sea, why it's important for us humans to be adaptable, and she shares some amazing stories from the field.Support the show (http://patreon.com/marinebiolife)

Freelance Writer and friend of the show Gabriella Hoffman join the boys for this week's roundup. They discuss a new anti-poaching measure in Oregon involving preference points, a recap of last week's interview with Matt Rinella, and a discussion of Raincoast Conservation Foundation's anti-trophy hunting stance in British Columbia. Podcast is brought to you by: Dog And Gun Coffee: www.dogandguncoffee.com Wren & Ivy: https://www.wrenandivy.com/  Minus33: https://www.minus33.com/  Rugged X Expeditions: https://jalainsmith.com  Fit2Hunt: https://stayfittohunt.com  Splitting Image Taxidermy: https://www.splittingimagetaxidermy.co.za/  See more from Blood Origins: https://bit.ly/BloodOrigins_Subscribe Music: Migration by Ian Post (Winter Solstice), licensed through artlist.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, recreational fishers are routinely violating the 400-metre protection buffers around Southern Resident killer whales. The Foundation is now calling for a complete end to recreational salmon fishing in southern B.C. Joining us again on The Blue Fish Radio Show is Chris Bos, Coordinator of a south Vancouver Island Chinook salmon hatchery, President of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition, and Director with the Public Fishery Alliance. Join Chris and I as we discuss the need for science-based precautionary conservation measures in the fight to save these whales and BC's billion-dollar marine recreational fishery.

A new study from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation shows an intimate relationship between grizzly bear families and Inidgenous people in the Great Bear Rainforest. Researcher Lauren Henson discusses the findings.

On this episode of Behind the Glass Hunting, Chris chats with Chris Darimont of Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Chris is a Professor at the University of Victoria, a long time science director for Raincoast Conservation Foundation and also, like many of us, an adult onset hunter.   This is probably our favourite podcast to date. A great conversation with a well spoken and well educated individual that is outside of the hunting community echo chamber that 90% of these podcasts are bouncing around in.   As always, please send over your feedback. Enjoy!   This episode is bought to you by Seek Outside Use code "BTGH" for FREE SHIPPING on your next purchase. www.seekoutside.com    Here are the links to the podcast referenced in this episode https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/12-chris-darimont-on-conservation-forest-ecology-protecting/id1496216718?i=1000472151881   https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ucGWokUZJtWdJUxiRBH2Y?si=rlz4ImWxQN-zr2RucgrozQ 

Shauna Doll grew up in the relatively treeless city of Grand Prairie, Alberta, and fell in love with nature through a forested ravine that runs through the city and served as her childhood playground. Today, Shauna has found a professional connection to that love of nature through her work with Raincoast Conservation Foundation as the coordinator for the Gulf Islands Forest Project that focusses on addressing impacts to Coastal Douglas-fir habitats. Shauna's work is largely devoted to forest conservation, which includes policy work and review, big tree inventory, public education, and land acquisition projects. If you love trees as much as I do, you will probably agree that there is something wonderful about being paid to seek out, inventory, and protect large trees. All Shauna's professional roles and more are on the table for discussion during this episode including the ever-changing climate, the importance of forest biodiversity, and Shauna's favourite forest-related books. Shauna is a passionate advocate for the environment and an enthusiastic speaker. She effortlessly shares her experience and research for the benefit of all who listen. I thank her for her generosity, and also thank Raincoast Conservation Foundation for their tireless research and work to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of coastal British Columbia. Please enjoy this episode of Pacific Rim College Radio with Shauna Doll. Episode Links: Shauna Doll Pender Islands Big Tree Registry Gulf Islands Forest Project S,DAYES Flycatcher Forest Big Lonely Dougby Harley Rustad Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica Lee The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben Contact Shauna Doll @ shauna@raincoast.org Learning Links: School of Permaculture Design at PRC Online Herbal Medicine courses at PRCOnline Student Clinic at PRC

The Fraser estuary is one of the largest estuaries on the Pacific coast of North America. It is the rearing grounds for Canada’s most productive salmon runs and connects a food web that links fish, birds and marine mammals across thousands of kilometres of the North Pacific Ocean. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is proposing another massive container terminal on Roberts Bank in the Strait of Georgia. We speak about the project with Misty MacDuffee of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

The Fraser estuary is one of the largest estuaries on the Pacific coast of North America. It is the rearing grounds for Canada’s most productive salmon runs and connects a food web that links fish, birds and marine mammals across thousands of kilometres of the North Pacific Ocean. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is proposing another massive container terminal on Roberts Bank in the Strait of Georgia. We speak about the project with Misty MacDuffee of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

If you care about the planet, this episode with conservation scientist and university professor Dr. Chris Darimont is one that you do not want to miss. From his research chair base at the University of Victoria, Chris oversees a team of researchers throughout BC. After earning a PhD in Evolution and Ecology from the University of Victoria, his postdoctoral work took him to the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a large group of research partners. He has also worked closely with conservation leaders from First Nations communities of coastal British Columbia. The wildlife and people of BC's central coast – an area popularly known as the Great Bear Rainforest – comprise a study system of particular interest for Chris and his team. In this episode, Chris and I discuss the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and his work as their Science Director. Chris helps to shed some light on British Columbia's dwindling forests, the logging industry, and the limitations of commercial-scale tree planting. We talk about the importance of our first growth forests and the role of grandmother trees to the health of forest ecology and the wildlife that lives there. As for the wildlife, Chris raises awareness on concerning issues related to salmon, and the importance of many of BC's token animals such as caribou, wolves, mountain lions, and bears. We also spend some time discussing what he and I both agree is the atrocious concept of trophy hunting, which BC still permits in the case of many animals despite overwhelming public outcry to the contrary. Can we put an end to trophy hunting? Chris and I certainly hope that we can, and the recent and senseless slaughter of Victoria's beloved island wolf Takaya, is bringing the issue once again to the forefront. If you care about the environment and its precious creatures, pull up a chair while Professor Chris Darimont leads a little lesson in Conservation 101. Episode Links: Dr. Chris Darimont, University of Victoria Applied Conservation Science Lab Raincoast Conservation Foundation Protect wolves in BC Why Men Trophy Hunt article Learning Links: School of Permaculture Design at Pacific Rim College Community Herbalist Certificate Online at Pacific Rim College Online Podcast on Salish Wolf with Chris's friend and fellow conservationist Norm Hann

Chapter 1

There has been lots of conversation surrounding the guide outfitting class action lawsuit against the ban put in place by the BC Government on hunting grizzly bears. We heard from the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C. earlier on in the program.   Scott Ellis says it's been a tough year since the province took a tough stand on the trophy hunt. They are pursuing a class action suit to be compensated for all they've lost.   Now now we're going to look at the other side with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Raincoast consists of conservationists and scientists who used peer-reviewed scientific research to achieve their conservation goals. They have been very active in working to protect grizzly bears, and Chris Genovali with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation joins me now…   Guest: Chris Genovali Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Chris Genovali is the Executive Director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation and is a leading conservationist, prolific writer, and major voice for the voiceless creatures of British Columbia. Chris shares the inside story of a hugely successful campaign that recently stopped trophy hunting of grizzly bears in British Columbia.

We’ve all heard the phrase Wildlife management should be science-based. It’s spoken loudly by advocates who are opposed to all hunting and trapping, those who think hunting and trapping is all that stands between humanity and bedlam, and everyone in between. But is wildlife management in North America actually science-based? That’s the question posed by a team of scientists from Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Their study, Hallmarks of science missing from North American wildlife management”, published by Science Advances earlier this month, asked this question: and came up with some disturbing results. Defender Radio connected with Dr. Kyle Artelle, one of the authors of the study to get a deeper understanding of what the team found. A five-minute edit of this interview is also available at TheFurBearers.com, in the iTunes store, or where ever you listen to podcasts. Read the study: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/3/eaao0167.full Defender Radio Patreon: www.Patreon.com/DefenderRadio Defender Radio eMail Updates: www.TheFurBearers.com/Updates  

We’ve all heard the phrase Wildlife management should be science-based. It’s spoken loudly by advocates who are opposed to all hunting and trapping, those who think hunting and trapping is all that stands between humanity and bedlam, and everyone in between. But is wildlife management in North America actually science-based? That’s the question posed by a team of scientists from Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Their study, Hallmarks of science missing from North American wildlife management”, published by Science Advances earlier this month, asked this question: and came up with some disturbing results. I connected with Dr. Kyle Artelle, one of the authors of the study to get a deeper understanding of what the team found. Read the study: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/3/eaao0167.full Defender Radio Patreon: www.Patreon.com/DefenderRadio Defender Radio eMail UpdateS: www.TheFurBearers.com/updates

Ancient archaeological Site found on the Coast For as long as I can remember, archaeologists have been talking about the ice free corridor that ran from Alaska, across the Bering Strait to Russia and all the way past Calgary. We were told that this was the route that the ancestors of all the first nations on the continent would have taken as they migrated from Asia to the new world. Back in episode 6 (www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep006 I talked about some chinks in the armour of that tried and true theory. Two studies cast some serious doubt on the ice free corridor migration. In one study, researchers looked into a large glacial lake called Lake Peace that sat smack dab in the middle of the corridor. It would have completely blocked the route of any traveler looking to make their way through the corridor. As they examined the sediments below this lake, they learned that food animals like bison and jack rabbits didn't show up in the sediments until around 12,500 years ago. They theorize that the landscape did not support enough food for anyone migrating through the area before that time. The lack of food resources would have stopped any large scale migration. By the time this route would have opened up, archaeological sites farther south would have made these travelers followers rather than leaders. Other studies have shown possible human sites in Monte Verde South America at least 15,000 years ago and in Florida 14,500 years ago. It seems there must have been another way to get south. A second study looked at bison populations through the ice free corridor. Researchers investigate 78 skulls from now-extinct steppe bison and examined the mitochondrial DNA. They also carbon dated the fossils. Prior to the opening of the corridor, both populations had been separated for a long enough period to be considered different genetic populations. It wasn't until 13,000 years ago that the two groups of bison began to intermingle. The fossil dates also imply that the corridor opened up from south to north as opposed to the other way around. Based on the dates of some of these other sites, like Monte Verde, people had already made it south of the corridor by that time. Scientists have long speculated about a possible coastal migration route, but for years, there was not a speck of evidence of an actual coastal migration. Part of the reason is likely that some areas would have been submerged by rising ocean levels as the glaciers melted. Finally, recent discoveries off the coast of British Columbia have found a 14,000-year-old site on Triquet Island, a lonely island some 133 km north of Port Moody which is located on the north end of Vancouver Island. 14,000 years makes this site one of the earliest cultural sites on the continent, with the exception of a few already mentioned in this story. It also shows there may have been a viable coastal route long before any ice-free corridor opened up. The first nations that call Triquet Island home are the Heitsuk Nation. For generations,  their oral traditions have talked about an area of land that never froze during the ice age. The Hietsuk stayed there as a refuge during those years. For the Heitsuk, it is an affirmation of their long-held oral history. It is also yet another example of first nations oral histories proving to be more factual than some of the western histories. After all, it was first nations stories that led to the discovery of both of the lost Franklin ships over the past several years after remaining hidden to history for more than 170 years. The site revealed fish hooks, spears and fire making materials. All it took was a small amount of charcoal from one of the fire pits to carbon date the site. One of the most puzzling parts of the story is that in the area of Triquet Island, the ocean levels remained fairly consistent over the millennia. This allowed for the island to remain inhabited throughout many thousands of years. As archaeologists excavated through the layers of dirt, with each representing a layer of time, they could see an evolution of hunting and fishing techniques. The research was led by Alisha Gaubreau, a Ph.D. student at the University of Victoria, along with a scholar from the Hakai Institute. This research organization focuses on long-term studies of remote areas of coastal British Columbia. This is an amazing discovery and may help to spur a flurry of new studies across a variety of scientific disciplines as researchers try to ferret out additional clues to potential coastal migration routes. Does this mean that nobody walked through the ice-free corridor - absolutely not. They may not have been the first to see the lands south of the corridor, but I still like to think of them as the first Calgary Stampede. A Ribbon of Steel was just a National Dream When we look at the opening up of western Canada, two great events stand out. The fur trade which opened a vast land to exploration, and the Canadian Pacific Railway. This ribbon of steel really is the tie that binds this nation together and without it Canada might not exist...at least not in the way it does today. Prior to our building an all Canadian railway, a lot of talk drifted north from the U. S. about annexation of the Canadian west. One American politician was elected with the rallying cry of 54-40 or fight! Forget the 49th parallel, they wanted everything up to the 54th. That would have put a real dent in western Canada especially when you realize that communities like Banff are just on the 51st parallel. When we hear about the ‘Oregon’ territory, it was NOT the state of Oregon, it was a much larger area. It included present day Oregon, Washington and the lower half of British Columbia. It was much later that the various states were delineated. Well lucky for us, but unlucky for Americans, American intentions were diverted south by the Civil War. What that horrible conflict did for Canada was it bought us time, time to cement our sovereignty over our western lands. Prior to B.C. joining confederation, it had already experienced a gold rush in 1858 that saw some 30,000 prospectors flood into the territory. As a result, the British government created the colony of B.C. that same year. Just 6 years later, in 1964, they instituted a kind of representative government. Simultaneously the colonies in the eastern part of British North America were talking about Confederation. A legislative assembly with a regional governor was established in 1866 which placed Victoria as the capital. Some debate occurred in British Columbia about joining the fledgling nation of Canada in order to provide some security against American aspirations in the western portions of North America, especially after the U.S. purchased Alaska in March of 1867. While there was support in B.C. towards joining Canada, there was also some staunch opposition. However in 1869, when Canada purchased Rupert’s Land and the Northwest Territories from the Hudson’s Bay Company, suddenly the new nation was right up to the eastern boundary of the colony. A three person delegation was sent to Ottawa and after some heated debate, politicians in Ottawa did what politicians do, they sat down with their counterparts from British Columbia and they began to make promises. They said: “if you join Canada we’ll build you a railway” and British Columbia said ‘sold’. In fact, they joined Canada so fast that they joined as a full province on July 20, 1871, when this country was just 4 years old. That may not sound impressive, until you realize that Alberta and Saskatchewan did not become provinces until 1905, more than 30 years later. Nobody knew better than British Columbians how important this link with the rest of the country would be, but also how impossible it would be to build. The government dispatched an army of surveyors across the western wilderness in order to find a route for the transcontinental railway. Pierre Burton in his book The National Dream stated: “no life was harsher than that suffered by members of the Canadian Pacific Survey crews and none was less rewarding, underpaid, overworked, exiled from their families, deprived of their mail, sleeping in slime and snowdrifts, suffering from sunstroke, frostbite, scurvy, fatigue and the tensions that always rise to the surface when weary dispirited men are thrown together for long periods of isolation, the surveyors kept on, year after year Pierre Burton in his book The National Dream stated: “no life was harsher than that suffered by members of the Canadian Pacific Survey crews and none was less rewarding, underpaid, overworked, exiled from their families, deprived of their mail, sleeping in slime and snowdrifts, suffering from sunstroke, frostbite, scurvy, fatigue and the tensions that always rise to the surface when weary dispirited men are thrown together for long periods of isolation, the surveyors kept on, year after year “No life was harsher than that suffered by members of the Canadian Pacific Survey crews and none was less rewarding, underpaid, overworked, exiled from their families, deprived of their mail, sleeping in slime and snowdrifts, suffering from sunstroke, frostbite, scurvy, fatigue and the tensions that always rise to the surface when weary dispirited men are thrown together for long periods of isolation, the surveyors kept on, year after year They explored great sections of Canada--the first engineers scaled mountains that had never before been climbed, crossed lakes that had never known a white man's paddle and forded rivers that were not on any map. They walked with a uniform stride developed through years of habit, measuring the distances as they went, checking altitudes with an aneroid barometer slung around the neck and examining the land with a practiced gaze, always seeing in the mind's eye the finished line of steel--curves, grades, valley crossings, bridges and trestles, tunnels, cuts and fills” Seventy-four thousand kilometres of Canadian wilderness were surveyed during the first 6 years of the survey. Of that, 12,000 was properly charted. Many of the people we refer to as ‘surveyors’ were really just the first step of the process. Men like A.B. Rogers really should be referred to as the pathfinders. A long line of others would need to follow their footsteps once a route was determined. First came the axemen who cleared the route of brush, making way for the chainmen. They would break the line into 30m or 100-foot sections and place a stake at the end of each section and labeled with how many chain lengths it was from the start of the division. Behind them came the transit men. They’re the mathletes of the crew. They’ll look at each bend in the route and estimate the angles of the turns. They note river crossings, changes in landscape and obstacles the route may encounter. And finally, come the levelers who placed elevation benchmarks every 1,500 feet or 457 metres. By 1877, 25,000 bench marks had been placed and more than 600,000 stakes had been pounded in by the Chainmen. It wasn’t long before the chief surveyor, Sandford Fleming found it difficult to find men that were tough enough to endure the challenges of survey life. By mid-summer 1871, he had already dispatched some 800 men on 21 survey parties but many of them were unfit to the task. As he wrote: "Many of those we were obliged to take, subsequent events proved, were unequal to the very arduous labour they had to undergo, causing a very considerable delay and difficulty in pushing the work." He also had to deal with political meddling and nepotism. He was constantly pressured to hire family members or friends of eastern politicians. With unfit and incompetent men in the wilderness, entire crews simply abandoned their posts when the going got tough. In the season of 1871-2, two parties simply quit and wandered home when the temperatures started to get cold. The surveyors traveled through areas where the local first nations had never before seen a white man. On surveyor, Henry Cambie came across a group of natives that would simply not believe that hair actually grew on his face. Another surveyor accepted a seat on a bear skin rug next to a young native woman, not realizing that that was the equivalent of a marriage proposal. After a few tense negotiations, he managed to trade her back to her father for a nice ring that he had been wearing. In the winter of 1875-6, the expedition of E.W. Jarvis in the Smoky River Pass in the Rockies really highlighted the hardships these surveyors endured. In January, Jarvis, along with his assistant C.F. Hannington and dogmaster Alec Macdonald headed out from Fort George with 6 natives and 20 dogs. The weather dropped to -47C. One evening Macdonald knocked on the door of their winter shack completely encased in ice from head to toe. Another day, as they got the dogsleds ready to go in the morning, the lead dog stood up, gave a feeble tail wag and then fell over dead with his legs frozen solid right up to the shoulder. They carried few supplies and just two blankets each and a thin cotton sheet for a tent. After a time, they began to suffer from ‘mal de raquette’ or snowshoe sickness which left them lame simply from walking hundreds of kilometres in large snowshoes. As can often do in the mountains, they experienced a brief chinook wind on one occasion with the temperature increasing from -42C to +4C in a single day. The sudden change left them exhausted. Another morning, they were mushing along the frozen surface of a river when they had to stop suddenly when they found the entire dog team on the thinly frozen overhang of a waterfall. Beneath their feet, the river plunged 65m. Another evening, they made camp beneath the beautiful blue of a glacier. In the middle of the night, huge blocks of ice broke off of the glacier and came crashing through their camp. They described: "masses of ice and rock chasing one another and leaping from point to point as if playing some weird, gigantic game" Surprisingly, even though a chunk of limestone more than 3 metres thick bounced past them, they were left somewhat dazed but even more surprisingly, unharmed. By March, their dogs were dying on a daily basis and the men began to believe that they would never see their families again. At one point Hannington wrote in his journal: "I have been thinking of 'the dearest spot on earth to me' - of our Mother and Father and all my brothers and sisters and friends--of the happy days at home--of all the good deeds I have left undone and all the bad ones committed. If ever our bones will be discovered, when and by whom. If our friends will mourn long for us or do as is often done, forget us as soon as possible. In short, I have been looking death in the face..." In the end, though they did survive. Hannington had lost 15 kg and when they finally reached Fort Edmonton and received fresh food and water it brought on spasms of dysentery and vomiting as it had been so long since they had eaten proper food. In the end, they covered 3036 km over 162 days on the trail. Fifteen hundred of those kilometres were done on snowshoes with the final 530 carrying all of their supplies on their backs because, by this time, all their dogs were dead. Usually, about this point, people come up with a pretty good question...why? Clearly, the work left a little to be desired and the pay, well the pay was even worse. The answer to that question can also be summed up in one word – immortality. They hoped that somewhere along the way their name would linger on a map or, hope beyond hope, that they would go down as the man who had found the route through which the transcontinental railway would pass. We’ll continue this story in future episodes. Golden Eagles People often have a vision of the mountains with eagles soaring overhead and wolves howling in the distance. These idealized pictures often hide the harsh realities of mountain life. It's a tough place to earn a living. In 35 years of guiding, I have yet to hear a wolf howl, lots and lots of coyotes, but nary a wolf. Never has a cougar crossed my path, wolverines, yes, but no cougars. The mountain landscape is a place of secrets with animals and birds constantly striving to survive in a landscape that constantly conspires against them. Travel to the north coast of British Columbia and you've entered the land of milk and honey for many animals and birds. You'll find yourself tripping over bald eagles and great-blue herons. The density of black and grizzly populations can be an order of magnitude higher than it is here simply because there is more food. Golden eagles are a northern specialist. They thrive in high latitude landscapes hunting many of the small game animals that share their environment. They are also the most popular avian national animal. Golden eagles are the emblem of Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan. They are an exciting siting in the Canadian Rockies, but in 1992, biologist Peter Sherrington stumbled upon something truly unique on an outing in Kananaskis Country in March of that year. As he looked up from the top of a small summit, he noticed a tiny speck high above him. As he studied it, he realized it was a golden eagle. Cool, I've just won the wildlife lottery for the day. Before long though, there was another speck, and then another. Any time you see a single golden eagle is exciting, but to see more than one, astounding. By the end of the day, he had counted more than 100. It didn't take Sherrington long to realize that something was out of the ordinary. As he put it in a recent story in the Calgary Herald: "Every time we looked up, there were more golden eagles,” he said. “Everybody thought of the mountains as barriers, but we established they were very serious avian highways.” Sherrington has spent every spring and fall since staking out the area as the research director for the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation. Now at age 72, he has the opportunity to share the spectacle with thousands of visitors each year that flock to the area to see the spring and fall migrations of golden eagles. Just how many eagles pass through this area every spring and fall? When the foundation first began tracking eagles, there were some 4,000/season. Last year only saw 2,500. In fall of 2007, they witnessed almost 5,500 golden eagles. According to Sherington, this is "the greatest eagle migration in the world, and it's right on our doorstep. It truly is a world-class phenomenon." The drop in numbers of the years that the foundation has been counting the eagles is a reflection of the environments that they call home. They overwinter in the states where they are occasionally captured in traps meant for coyotes. However, it may be more a reflection of snowshoe hare populations in their summer homes in the far northern areas of Alaska and the Yukon. It won't be long before the eagles begin to point south at the end of the summer nesting and hunting season. If you'd like to volunteer with the foundation or learn more about their work, you can visit them on their website at www.eaglewatch.ca. Next up, British Columbia abdicates its responsibility for managing wildlife New BC Wildlife Agency Announced Conservation organizations in British Columbia are reeling after the provincial government announced the creation of a new Wildlife Management Agency to be funded by hunting revenues. In late March 2017 the B.C. Government announced that all the revenue from hunting licenses would be reinvested into wildlife management in the province. B.C.'s Minister of Forests, Steve Tomson called it "a significant investment and significant initiative on the part of the provincial government". He went on to state: "This will have great benefit for wildlife populations and wildlife management in British Columbia. It will benefit rural communities throughout the province," Along with a proposed budget of $5million in the first year and revenues of 9-10 million on subsequent years, $200,000 was budgeted as part of a consultation process to determine the structure and priorities of the new agency. British Columbia organizations related to hunting are applauding the move, including the B.C. Wildlife Federation, Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., Wild Sheep Society of B.C., Wildlife Stewardship Council and the B.C. Trappers Association. All five agencies signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in supporting the new agency. Not a single, not consumptive conservation organization has stepped up to support this new agency. As a biologist, this seems like the hunting groups are lining up to manage the organization and that seems a little like the fox guarding the chicken coop to me. Time and again, hunting organizations focus only on huntable species. How do we protect the remainder of the 136 species of mammals, 488 species of birds, 20 amphibians and 16 reptiles? On June 27, twenty-three organizations focusing on protecting wildlife in British Columbia sent an open letter to the province. The organizations include the B.C. SPCA, Bear Matters, Get Bear Smart Society, Humane Society, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Wildlife Defense League, Wolf Awareness Inc and Zoocheck Canada, amongst numerous other stakeholders. In the letter, they state: "The wildlife of the province belongs to all British Columbians and has by law been held by the government in trust, to conserve the wildlife itself, and to ensure the rights of all members of the public. The British Columbia Wildlife Act states that “Ownership in all wildlife in British Columbia is vested in the government.” That means that elected representatives can be held accountable for their wildlife decisions through general elections and in courts. Indeed, a groundswell of public unhappiness with the way our wildlife has been mismanaged (grizzly bear trophy hunt) was a significant issue in the recent election." It continues "In announcing the proposed new agency, Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett stated in the media that “The government is afraid to manage wolves, or afraid to manage grizzly bears in some cases because of the politics of that. Hopefully, an agency that is separate from government can make decisions that are in the best long-term interest of wildlife and just forget about the politics and do what is best for the animals.” The letter continues: "We are sorry to learn that Minister Bennett believes our government representatives cannot apply the wildlife laws and science in an unbiased manner, since we believed that’s what they were elected to do. However, they are accountable to voters, whereas an independent agency would not be. It would have no duty to represent all British Columbians, and would be far more susceptible to influence by special interest groups." Finally, the letter calls for the government to: Cancel the plan for an “independent” agency. Increase the wildlife management staff and funding of government ministries. Recognize that BC has a biodiversity crisis; it requires a shift in focus from juggling numbers of game animals for hunters, to applying the science of ecology. Recognize that all British Columbians are stakeholders in our wildlife. All interest groups should be equally empowered. Only about 2% of the total BC population are registered hunters, whereas a huge majority of British Columbians care about the welfare of our wildlife and ecosystems. A wildlife agency that is not tied to the government for accountability would mean that there was no requirement for the province to intervene in wildlife matters. It creates a situation where special interest groups can move in and manage based on their own agenda. In addition, if the funding is based upon hunting revenue, there is an inherent motivation to increase that revenue by granting more hunting permits. It's a negative spiral that could easily result in priorities being shifted away from things like wildlife viewing and towards consumptive uses like hunting and trapping which fund the program. Numerous studies have shown that wildlife viewing brings in much more money to the provincial coffers than does hunting. This is particularly true for iconic species like whales and grizzly bears. Birding as well is a huge economic driver. And generates 10s of millions of dollars annually to the B.C. economy. Under the species at risk at, the B.C. Government is required by law to develop recovery plans for designated species. They cannot simply sidestep federal law by saying that we aren't in charge of wildlife anymore. I stand with these organizations against a government that is abdicating its responsibility to manage wildlife in a sustainable way. If you want to get involved, send a letter to your MLA if you live in British Columbia. Every voice counts.

West coast bears like their fish. I don’t think we really need science to tell us that. But which bears eat what, how much salmon they’re eating, where they’re getting it from, what influence that has on the ecosystems around them, even at great distances from the coast, and how that could all impact management across geopolitical lines - now that’s what science is good at. Megan Adams, PhD candidate at the University of Victoria, research scholar with the Hakai Institute, and biologist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, recently published a study examining the data associated with some of these questions. That study included samples from over 1,400 grizzly and black bears across 690,000 km2 of BC, from 1995 to 2014.  Adams worked with the Wuikinuxv Nation, as well, adding the importance of traditional knowledge to her research and conclusions. Megan joined Defender Radio to discuss her recently published paper, why salmon and bear populations should be managed together, the influence her time with the Wuikinuxv Nation has imparted on her work, and what animal lovers and environmentalists need to know to protect the salmon-bear relationship and all that it represents in BC.

We began to tentatively celebrate when earlier this month the Auditor General of British Columbia revealed there would be an investigation into the trophy hunting of grizzly bears. The exact notification, found on the AG website, read the investigation would be to, “determine if the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations are effectively managing the grizzly bear population in BC.” The announcement is a result of the AG’s office seeing a peer-reviewed study conducted by our friends at Raincoast Conservation Foundation on the matter of uncertainty in the wildlife policy as it existed in 2013. With support from the Victoria Environmental Law Centre and the David Suzuki Foundation, the study got the attention it deserves – and now we await the results of the investigation. But what, exactly, did that study say? What is uncertainty in the science of ecology, and how does it – or should it – influence wildlife management policy? To answer these questions and walk us through the study, Defender Radio was joined by lead author and Raincoast biologist Kyle Artelle.

We know that grizzly bears love fish. We know that grizzly bears can come into conflict with people and infrastructure. And now, thanks to researchers at Raincoast Conservation Foundation, we know how those two facts are tied together. Earlier this month, Raincoast published their study, Ecology of conflict: Marine food supply affects human-wildlife interactions on land, in the journal Scientific Reports. By examining over three decades of conflict-killed grizzly reports, the researchers determined that food availability was the greatest cause of conflict – and that other factors such as hunting or population changes played a much less significant role. To discuss this study, what it means for policy decisions in the future, and why understanding how important ecological studies are to wildlife management, Defender Radio spoke with the lead author of the study Kyle Artelle, who is a biologist for Raincoast and a Hakai PhD scholar at Simon Fraser University.

In the animal kingdom, the power of fear is something no one would question. Fear can impact and control entire populations, affect whole ecosystems, and even change the path of evolution. But is it something we can measure – and once and for all, prove that the role of predators is more than just what they eat? A new study from Raincoast Conservation Foundation does just that. Led by Raincoast’s ecologist and PhD student Justin Suraci, the team of scientists showed through experiments that the mere presence of predators can impact the behaviour of mesopredators and other species further down the food chain. By using the sound of dogs barking Suraci and his team validated that fear itself is indeed something to behold. To talk more about this study, its real world applications, and what it could be mean in future policy planning, Defender Radio was joined by Raincoast’s Justin Suraci.

Thanksgiving has passed and we know what we’re thankful for: Living With Wildlife 2015 is finally here! This Friday, October 16, we’re bringing together some of the top experts on wildlife, conservation, and co-existence in Vancouver for our fifth annual conference. I was lucky enough to catch time with two of our presenters prior to the event: the BC SPCA’s top scientist Dr. Sara Dubois, as well as Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s postdoctoral researcher Dr. Heather Bryan. There are still a few seats available for this great event, so if you’re in the Vancouver area, make sure you register today at furbearerdefenders.com or by calling 604-435-1850.

Predator control is a nasty business. Millions of animals are killed each year around the country to protect livestock, ecosystems and, depending on who you listen to, children. The problem with this entire system of treating predators as the bad guy is that we’re missing the biggest and the baddest of them all: us. In a peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Science, researchers from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, University of Victoria (UVic), and the Hakai Institute pulled data from hundreds of studies worldwide to confirm that humans are dangerous “super-predators.” To dive into how human actions are impacting fish populations, carnivore and herbivore relationships, and even changing the very course of evolution before our eyes, Defender Radio was fortunate to be joined by Raincoast science director and Hakai-Raincoast professor at UVic, Dr. Chris Darimont.