Podcasts about thompson river

Outback Queensland has experienced a year's worth of rain in just six days with the rain to continue to fall over the weekend. An emergency alert was issued this morning for the region with swift water rescue crews airlifted in from Charleville to help evacuate residents and the Premier also arrived in Winton last night. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told Peter Fegan on 4BC Breakfast, "There's predictions that the Thompson River will hit about eight and a half metres, that is uncharted territory." David Crisafulli also confirmed that he will be looking into getting Western Queensland a rain radar saying the current situation is "unacceptable."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us a textThis week we start our adventure at The Muddy Duck campground, just outside Longreach, where the Thompson River quietly flows and the night sky feels within arm's reach. We reminisce about a family road trip across the United States in a dusty old Winnebago and draw parallels with our current adventure DownUnder. The Muddy Duck's growing popularity speaks volumes, and we chat about their exciting expansion plans, giving you more reasons to consider this outback destination for your next camping trip.All aboard the historic 'Silver Bullet' train for an unforgettable sunset ride that combines the charm of the Outback with passionate Aussie characters. Jasper, our little train enthusiast, keeps the journey lively with his infectious excitement. The knowledgeable staff guides us through the endless outback landscape where kangaroos and emus make their cameo appearances. As the sun dips below the horizon, a surprise karaoke session breaks out, leaving us with a train whistle as a souvenir and memories that will remain long after the journey ends.Our road trip takes a lively turn at the Well Shot Pub in Ilfracombe, where history and entertainment collide in the best possible way. Experience the thrill of a pub game that sees young Jasper aiming for the cash-laden ceiling, adding a unique element of fun to our Outback adventure. This iconic pub, rich in heritage, sets the stage for a heartwarming fundraising event in support of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. As we prepare for new adventures, like reconnecting with friends on Keppel Island or visiting the idyllic hot springs, we invite you to join us in embracing the open road where the dreams are big, and the trails are endless.Subscribe to Jasperoo - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCceGx3esRSQBYZfWvf4KVtw Our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/thefeelgoodfamily has a new destination video every Tuesday night at 7.30pm (AEST). We would love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram and our website www.thefeelgoodfamily.com Our Family Travel Australia Podcast is now LIVE and available on all podcast platforms, with a new episode aired every Friday night 8:30pm [AEST].

Welcome to the Outdoor Biz Episode 393 with Todd Lawson. Todd Lawson believes in passion, diversity, and the search for freedom outside. He's an avid world traveler, husband, brother, father, son, writer, photographer, creator, storyteller, mountain athlete, humanitarian, adventure-seeker, and lover of life and all its wonderful ways. Todd is the publisher, producer, and photo editor at Mountain Life Media, Founder and CEO of RISE Outdoor Innovation Inc., and Co-Founder of the Rise and Sean Foundation. His first book, Inside the Belly of an Elephant, launches October 03, 2023. He lives in Whistler, British Columbia. Facebook Twitter Instagram   The Outdoor Biz Podcast   Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!   Sign up for my Newsletter HERE.   I'd love to hear your feedback about the show!   You can contact me here: email: rick@theoutdoorbizpodcast.com   Or leave me a message on Speakpipe! Brought to you by Show Notes What was the adventure or outdoor experience that sparked you to work in the Outdoor Biz? Wow, that's a good banger to start with. I guess for me, it was probably when I did my first travel, and I got my first taste of a real culture shock. I flew from Darwin, Australia to East Timor, and that was back when it wasn't its own country as part of Indonesia. And then that just kind of hit me hard, and it was just like so awesome and so amazingly invigorating all at the same time and a bit scary. And it was just like, I was like, you know, 21 years old and, but that planted the seed of travel, which has been with me for the rest of, you know, for the rest of my life so far.   And photography and storytelling, how did those come into your life? Yeah, so I was kind of at a crux in my life where I wanted to change what I was doing. I used to be a golf professional. Actually, I was a member of the Canadian Professional Golf Association. It was great because it was kind of one of those sports that you don't really, or careers that you don't really associate with the outdoors necessarily, but it kind of totally is. You're out there outside all the time. It kind of wasn't doing enough for my soul. Always when I traveled, I took photographs, you know, I had a little point and shoot, and then someone was looking at my photos, and they're like, oh, your, your photos are pretty good. They're like, way better than the normal stuff that we see from someone's travels or whatever. I was like, oh, thanks. And it kind of got the wheels spinning. So I enrolled in this program in Victoria, BC. It was called the Western Academy of Photography. It was like one of those 10-month intensive courses, and I was single at the time, and it was like, I'm a Pisces and apparently were creative. And before then, I didn't really have, there was no creative outlet for me, aside from maybe golf or whatever. But then when I got into photography, that was just like, it, I was bit, I was in, I was shooting every single day and just like shooting, and that's when we were like, this is back in early 2000, still Darkroom days. The dark room was open till midnight. We could go in there and just make our own prints and stuff. It was pretty cool. So I just let it go.   Your bio says you believe in passion, diversity, and the search for freedom outside. I'm most curious about freedom outside. Tell us what inspires you about freedom outside. The freedom really comes from my brother, cuz he was such a, he wasn't your typical traveler. Like he was the kind of guy that would get in the rickshaw and tell Robert to sit down, and he was gonna take the rickshaw for a while, and then he would take the dude out for lunch. So he was that kind of guy, and he was just, he really like, as cliche as it sounds, he really did live like full on. He lived each moment like it was his last almost, and he was just like one of those full-on guys. So that came over into me. You are a busy guy, tell us about RISE Outdoor Innovation Inc. That is another labor of love. Um, so one day, I was. On an annual paddle trip, a bunch of us, 20 plus, maybe 30 of us that year, uh, on a paddle trip down the Thompson River here. So we carry all our camping gear and have a great old time. And you know how it goes, you're camping with your spouse, got the chores to do, and it was my chore to take down camp that day. So I had to deflate the mattresses, you kneel on it, and then you lay on it, and you fold it up, and then you roll it again, and you do that, and then you find the stuff sack. If you can find the stuff sack and put it in there, then take the tent down. It was kind of raining, and I was a little bit hungover to be honest. And you know, you're kind of swallowed in all these like mountains of fabric trying to stuff things in StuffSack. And I was like; there's gotta be another way. This idea was in my mind to create a better mouse trap. And this idea wouldn't go away, so I started to act on it. I'm trying to bring the world the first rapid inflatable and inflatable outdoor sleep system with an integrated mattress. So everything is just taking away the hassle of setting up and taking down a tent. Because it takes approximately 18 to 30 minutes, depending on how well you even know your gear. To get the tent out, blow up the mattress, and get everything ready. Yeah. And I hope to, you know, it's based on avalanche airbag technology. Oh, interesting. So I'm gonna trademark the term 'push-button-pitch'. So you push a button, and it's gonna inflate in a few seconds, minute, I dunno. So I'm deep in the prototyping stage right now, bootstrapping my own brand, trying to build the brand, just trying to build some community.   Let's talk about the Rise and Sean Foundation. I love the outdoor field trips concept. What's Rise and Sean? Sean was my brother's name. So when Christina and I came back from our first major trip to Latin America, There was an incredible outpouring of help from people who help you daily. And there's no way in hell that you could, you know, pay everyone back or do something in return. So because my brother loved to travel and he loved kids. He didn't have kids, but he loved kids, and he loved to like goof around with them when he was traveling. So we're like, what can we do that would be educational but travel based? What we started back then was called the Sean Lawson Young Travelers Foundation, which is a bit of a mouthful.   So what we do is we take kids from developing nations on extended Outdoor, Educationally based field trips where we take between 10 and 30 kids. We take teachers sometimes, principals, cooks, and bus drivers and take them off on an adventure and a road trip within their own country so they can see what it is like to travel and learn from travel. What travel does to your mind, your heart, and your soul. We've done three of them now. They're, they're always such a, like, mind-blowing success from, from the minds of these kids.   Every kid has a, has a dream, right? Every kid should reserve the right to dream, have that dream, and be able to Dream. We just want to kind of fund and facilitate that and give them that spark to let 'em know that, you know, there is life beyond your village.   And Mountain Life Media, you produce and publish a lot of content. How did that get started? I couldn't be more grateful for what that's provided to my life, just in general. But what we do, our whole motto and our tagline is connecting with people from all walks of life to the magic of the mountains. And mountain Life was started 20 years ago by my business partner Glenn Harris. It's been pretty cool to see what we've grown. We've been able to do this in the media landscape in Canada mainly. And, you know, in print, we've got a really successful formula in the sense that we have a regional model where we concentrate our entire distribution, editorial, stories, and photography into a hundred-kilometer region zone or radius. And it's free. It's been pretty cool to see what we've been able to do in the media landscape in Canada, mainly. We've grown, and we've prospered, and we've thrived, and we've gone through the ups and the downs and all that stuff. But Our mountain lifers, as we call 'em, the people that pick up mountain life every time, we're very lucky to have a 99% pickup rate. So because the magazine is free, we recycle any mags, and we just hold back 1% for marketing and mailouts and stuff like that. So, the demand is there, and it's always been there, and the demand has been there for 20 years.   How about future Adventures? What exciting places are you going? The thing that was the biggest pain in the ass about this trip was the logistics. We had to ship our bikes from Vancouver to Dublin we actually shipped them on the plane, and that was pretty cool. It was expensive, but they were like right there when we arrived kind of thing. So then when we came back, our end point on this journey was Portugal and Lisbon. So, again, we had to go through that same nightmare. It's more expensive to ship things from Ireland to North America, so that was a more expensive bet. But they are almost in a container ship, and they'll be here in hopefully sometime in July. They take a long time. But as, yeah, so as for the next trip, we're like, well, we're never doing that again. The nice thing about being in North America is that you can point your wheels south and pretty much go as far as you want.   Do you have any suggestions and/or advice for folks wanting to get into creative work? My motto in life is, go for it. So I would just say, look for an internship somewhere that you can be exposed to something every single day. The beautiful thing about photography and digital photography now is that you can shoot as much as you want. There's no like paying for film and developing like it was back in our day; it was like 20 bucks a roll or whatever. So you spend a lot of time editing behind the computer. I would just say find someone you want to mentor you and just like ask questions. Ask questions, ask as many questions as you can, and just act, just do. Just go out there and do it.   If you were able to hang a huge banner at the front of one of the tradeshows, what would it say? Live it up. That's our mountain life tagline. Don't take life too seriously. Do what you wanna do. Do it well, share it with friends, and have a cold one after that.   Do you have any daily routines you have to keep your sanity and health, like meditation, exercise, walking the dog, etc? It's my 20 20 20 routine in the morning. So I'll do 20 minutes of body weight exercises. Twenty minutes of yoga and 20 minutes of meditation. And then I also do 20 minutes of reading, so that happens before I even check my smartphone. I try to do that, it's not every day, but that's what I try. Like you said, that kind of keeps me focused, gets me ready and keeps me in shape, and keeps everything going.   Do you have any favorite books or books you give as gifts? My favorite book of all time is called Jupiter's Travels. That's a book written by Ted Simon. He wasn't the first to ride his motorcycle around the world, but he was probably the first to write a really good, serious book on it. And that was a big motivation. In my life and, to continue on with these, these big motorcycle epics cuz he went around the world.   What is your favorite outdoor gear purchase under $100? I have two. One of them is like a Stanley one-click mug. So you just click the button and drink hot, cold beverages. It's just like that thing has been with me for so many places. And the second one is a duct-tape-wrapped Bic lighter. If I'm going away on a trip with six guys, six people, or ten people or whatever, I'll buy 10 Bic lighters. And I'll pop 'em all in a bunch of duct tape. So that if you ever need duct tape, you can have it. And you also have the lighter, which also helps you not lose your lighter so much. Cause it's kinda got that grip on it,   Is there anything else you want to say or ask of our audience? I would love your support in checking out my book, Inside the Belly of an Elephant. If you're into the outdoors and outdoor life, check out Mountain Life Media, mountainlifemedia.ca, and @MountainLifeMedia on all the socials.

Episode 53 of Kamloops Last Week is a busy offering. On the show: KTW reporter Jessica Wallace talks suspected drowning in Thompson River (17:12 mark), we lay out plans for KTW’s coverage of the upcoming civic election (22:15), co-host Chris Foulds weighs in on Kamloops rental crisis (11:19), co-host Marty Hastings analyzes Hay’s return to the Kamloops Blazers and team coaching stable (34:50) and Kamloops Ribfest chair Danica Wilkinson joins (28:44) us to tee up a wonderful weekend in the Tournament Capital. We’ve jumped to 220 subscribers (thank you, #LastWeekClique) on YouTube and can be found on your favourite podcast provider. KLW is not possible without our co-title sponsors, Nu Leaf Produce Market and Gord’s Appliance and Mattress Centre, and segment sponsor McDonald’s. We’ll see you Last Week.

Last year, only 70 steelhead returned to the iconic Thompson River. For decades, the runs of Interior Fraser River steelhead in Southern British Columbia have been allowed to completely collapse. Restoration plans have not been enacted, and a previous emergency attempt to provide critical protections under Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) has been derailed by managing agencies. Today a new effort is underway to protect and rebuild these wild steelhead populations before they are lost completely.To help understand the tragic situation, the next steps required, and the lessons and warnings for wild steelhead anglers everywhere, we reached out to Aaron Hill of Watershed Watch Salmon Society and Jesse Zeman of the BC Wildlife Federation for this episode of the Adipose podcast.

Most of us have seen the iconic photograph of two freight wagons being pulled by mules through the Great Bluff cut above the Thompson River, or the equally famous photo of the S.S. Enterprise at its berth on the Fraser River below the town of Soda Creek. Both of these images were captured for posterity in 1867 by Frederick Dally. Todays episode helps us learn more about the man known as the "Gold Rush Photographer" and whose photos are still helping us learn more about the province of British Columbias history.

Our 92nd Zoomcast (Febuary 3, 2022); Our host #CharlotteSistaCFerrell introduces Scott Riesterer, Seniors' Programme Coordinator at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, who talks about Kits House programs for seniors. Better At Home is a United Way program that helps seniors continue to live independently by providing subsidized light housekeeping, volunteer drivers and grocery shopping. To find a Better at Home service in your area phone 211 or go to https://betterathome.ca/map-search/. Other services for seniors include Heart to Home at https://www.hearttohomemeals.ca/, a non-profit service offering free delivery, and the for-profit meal delivery service Fresh Prep at https://www.freshprep.ca Dr. Ramona Srinivasan sings Young at Heart, a pre-birthday song for Neall Ryon, and Neill reads his new poem Never Give Up. #CharlotteSistaCFerrell begins our celebration of Black History Month with a history of BHM in Canada and some inspirational quotes. She invites us to participate in her call and response poem by Mary McLeod Bethune. Lesley Hebert reads JD from 49th Parallel Psalm, Wayde Compton's poem about Governor James Douglas, who invited Black Americans to come to BC from California during the Thompson River gold rush. Sponsored by the 411 Seniors Centre Society; The Government of Canada: New Horizons Grant; and G & F Financial.

In this episode we return to the roots of the podcast and we examine the precipitous decline in Skeena Steelhead numbers, and seek to understand why this has happened, and what management initiatives must take place more or less immediately to conserve these precious populations. We will also look at similar population trends up and down the North American Pacific coast to put this issue into perspective. We did experience some connectivity issues in this episode, please be patient. Today we welcome Bob Hooton back to the program. Bob is a retired fisheries scientist who dedicated 37 years of his life to fisheries management in British Columbia, focusing primarily on Steelhead conservation. His long career included a 13 year tenure at the head of the fisheries section in Smithers over-seeing the Skeena region, and his final 9 years of service were spent at the head of the Fish and Wildlife Section for the Vancouver Island Region. Following his retirement Bob authored two books covering the history of Steelhead management in BC. The first was entitled “Skeena Steelhead - Unknown Past, Uncertain Future”, and the second book was published to complete the saga with specific reference to a dozen of BC's premiere Steelhead streams entitled “Days of Rivers Past”. I believe that Bob has a third book on the way covering the mighty Thompson River. To this day, Bob continues to spread the wild steelhead conservation gospel to anyone that will listen, and actively blogs on his website steelheadvoices.com. Proposed solutions summary: 1. Limited Entry Opportunities via lottery system for anglers during the prime times and prime locations 2. Enforce strict gear limitations on all sport anglers, fly fishing only sections, restrictions on terminal gear size right down to hook size and potentially even sink rates of fly lines 3. Reduce amount of guided pressure via license buy out or rod day re-purchase programs 4. Limitation on what areas can be accessed by what form of water craft, complete closure in some areas 5. Adopt a "Conservation First" mandate for all users of the resource, conservation partnerships developed between Native groups and Sport Anglers with our without government agency involvement. 6. Immediate end to all non-selective in-river harvesting activities, gill-nets must be banned immediately 7. These goals must be adopted and maintained for a 10-15 year time period with annual monitoring and a willingness to impart stricter measures if escapement levels continue to decline. Reports referenced in this episode: Steelhead Bycatch and Mortalities in the Commercial Skeena Net Fisheries of British Columbia from Observer Data: 1989 to 2009 https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/skeena/fish/sk_other_%20reports/5-Comprehensive%20Review%20of%20Skeena%20Observer%20Programs%20(20-Aug-2010).pdf THE GEOGRAPHY OF SALMON FISHING CONFLICTS: THE CASE OF NOYES ISLAND https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/831/1.0106666/1

Travis Bader speaks with Gillian Steele of Highwater Tackle, Catherine Laflamme of Michael and Young Fly Shop and new angler Tiffany Bader about how someone can fish every day of the year, particularly in the lower mainland of BC. Cat and Gill outline a detailed calendar of what to fish and where so that an interested angler could fish every day of the year should they be so inclined.    To download the fishing calendar for yourself, visit: https://silvercore.ca/2021/02/02/planning-your-fishing-calendar-for-year-round-adventure/   If you have fishing questions for the pro's in this podcast, please don't hesitate to reach out to: https://www.highwatertackle.com http://www.myflyshop.com If you are interested in joining the BC Womans Fly Fishing Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1451093961662565/ Thank you to Silvercore Podcast listener Brock Fisher (@brockfisher88) for the great podcast suggestion: https://www.instagram.com/brockfisher88/ If you have suggestions for topics or people that you would like to hear on an upcoming Silvercore Podcast, email podcast@silvercore.ca or reach out to us through social media! https://www.instagram.com/silvercoreinc/     Topics discussed in this episode:   Intro [00:00:00 - 00:02:11]  Catherine's childhood and fishing [00:02:11 - 00:05:24] Gillian's childhood and fishing [00:05:24 - 00:07:44] Fly fishing calendar [00:07:44 - 00:12:20] Fishing in January - March [00:12:20 - 00:17:46] March - April Fishing [00:17:46 - 00:21:40] Bass fishing & crabbing [00:21:40 - 00:25:30] Lake fishing & April - November fishing [00:25:30 - 00:30:50] 2021 Pinks - mid July to September [00:30:50 - 00:33:10] Fishing opportunities September - Christmas [00:33:10 - 00:35:10] Ice fishing & rainy day fishing [00:35:10 - 00:39:04] New anglers & fishing regulations [00:39:04 - 00:47:44] How the women's fly fishing group got started [00:47:44 - 00:59:14] Having a mentor to show you the ropes [00:59:14 - 01:02:38] Men's counterpart to women's fly fishing group [01:02:38 - 01:04:34] Learning to love the process of learning [01:04:34 - 01:09:48]  Outro [01:09:48 - 01:11:16] Bloopers [01:11:16 - 01:12:21]   Explore these Resources In this episode, we mentioned the following resources which may be beneficial to you:   Silvercore [00:00:10] [00:00:21] [00:00:24] [00:00:31] [00:00:43] [01:11:04] Michael & Young Fly Shop [00:01:06] [00:04:19] [00:04:44] Anchored Outdoors [00:01:10] [01:11:38] Highwater Tackle [00:01:16] [00:05:29] BC Women's Fly Fishing Group [00:01:21] [00:02:03] [00:07:56] [00:47:45] [00:53:10] [00:55:59] Fylgal Ventures [00:03:40] Trade Ex  [00:03:49] Stuart Island [00:06:06] Sonora Island Resort [00:06:08] Steelhead Society [00:07:20] [00:07:24] Vedder River [00:03:24] [00:12:38] [00:12:51] [00:13:05] [00:14:03] [00:14:06] [00:14:26] [00:14:55] [00:15:13] [00:15:16] [00:15:22] [00:15:44] [00:15:48] [00:16:21] [00:16:22] [00:16:36] [00:17:00] [00:17:04] [00:28:38] [00:34:03] Chehalis River [00:12:43] Nicomen Lake [00:16:06] Squamish systems  [00:18:10] [00:18:14] [00:31:57] [00:32:40] [00:34:09] [01:00:39] Fraser River [00:18:17] [00:18:58] [00:24:06] [00:24:09] [00:31:54] [00:31:56] [00:32:45] [00:32:58] [00:34:01] [00:44:21] Harrison Lake [00:18:18] [00:31:57] [01:01:27] Dewdney Park Bar [00:18:21] Stave Lake [00:18:22] Serpentine River [00:18:39] [00:19:44] [00:19:46] Campbell River [00:18:40] [00:19:14] Deer Lake [00:23:14] [00:23:31] [00:23:46] Burnaby Lake [00:23:14] [00:23:17] Bassmaster Classics [00:25:21] Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC [00:26:33] [00:27:19] Lafarge Lake [00:26:46] Green Timbers Lake [00:26:50] Skagit River [00:28:20] Similkameen River [00:28:21] Thompson River [00:28:30] [00:49:25] Blackwater River [00:30:03] Howe Sound Fisheries [00:32:42] Tunkwa Lake [00:35:38] [00:35:59] [00:36:03] Mark Stenroos [00:40:35] iHunter [00:40:39] BCWF [00:40:58] DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) [00:42:52] [00:45:57] [01:09:02] Haida Gwaii [00:48:23] Western Outdoors Women [00:56:43] Skeena Spey Guides [01:00:27] Totem Flyfishers [01:02:50] Osprey Flyfishers of BC [01:02:51] North Shore Fish and Game Club [01:02:52] Stillwaters [01:03:53] [01:04:07]   Follow us: Podcast YouTube Newsletter Instagram Facebook Follow our Host Instagram: @ Bader.Trav   Learn More about Silvercore Silvercore Club Online Training  Other Training & Services  Merchandise CORE Training Management Resources (TMR)  Blog Page  

In this episode we return to the roots of the podcast and examine some past and present issues pertaining to the conservation and abundance of BC's salmonid fisheries, focusing on Steelhead in particular. Today we welcome Bob Hooton back to the program. Bob is a retired fisheries scientist who dedicated 37 years of his life to fisheries management in British Columbia, focusing primarily on Steelhead conservation. His long career included a 13 year tenure at the head of the fisheries section in Smithers over-seeing the Skeena region, and his final 9 years of service were spent at the head of the Fish and Wildlife Section for the Vancouver Island Region. Following his retirement Bob authored two books covering the history of Steelhead management in BC. The first was entitled “Skeena Steelhead - Unknown Past, Uncertain Future”, and the second book was published to complete the saga with specific reference to a dozen of BC's premiere Steelhead streams entitled “Days of Rivers Past”. Bob has a third book on the way covering the mighty Thompson River, due to be released later in 2021. To learn more about Bob and his work please visit: www.steelheadvoices.com

Brief Summary of Show:   In this episode of The Silvercore Podcast, Travis speaks with jet boat instructor of University of Northern BC, jet boat tour and fishing guide, Robert Bryce. Listen as they discuss some considerations you should make before purchasing a jet boat and experienced based safety precautions when out on the waters.    Robert also talks about his interest in ghost towns in Northern BC and what he does in his off time when he's not touring people with his business Northern BC Jet Boat Tours.    If you have a story that would be of value to the Silvercore audience, or know someone who does, email us at podcast@silvercore.ca.  We would love to hear from you!   Topics discussed in this episode:   Intro [00:00:00 - 00:02:00]  What jet boat tours consist of [00:02:00 - 00:03:57] Jet boating course  [00:03:57 - 00:06:14] Considerations prior to buying a jet boat and after [00:06:14 - 00:09:24] Robert's trip on his boat [00:09:24 - 00:11:31] Tourism BC & ghost towns [00:11:31 - 00:14:51] Research of other ghost towns [00:14:51 - 00:16:37] Fish guiding [00:16:37 - 00:17:29] Accessing remote areas with a jet boat [00:17:29 - 00:18:55] Jet boating course access for students [00:18:55 - 00:20:58] River changes & using caution [00:20:58 - 00:23:29] Interests outside of jet boating & tours [00:23:29 - 00:24:49] Issues on the river & decisions based on experience [00:24:49 - 00:32:12] Reading the river [00:32:12 - 00:32:51] Outro [00:32:51 - 00:33:09]    Explore these Resources In this episode, we mentioned the following resources which may be beneficial to you:   Silvercore [00:00:10] [00:00:21] [00:00:24] [00:00:31] [00:01:22] Skeena River [00:01:12] [00:02:43] [00:02:53] [00:12:34] [00:15:53] [00:16:12] [00:16:24] [00:16:31] [00:16:53] [00:18:03] [00:18:29] [00:22:33] [00:25:07] [00:31:02] University of Northern BC [00:01:28] [00:01:30] [00:01:32] [00:01:54] [00:03:59] Prince George [00:01:35] Terrace [00:01:41] Northern BC Jet Boat Tours [00:01:50] Georgia Strait [00:06:21] Dean River [00:09:40] [00:10:17] Kitimat [00:10:15] [00:10:17] [00:11:10] Shearwater [00:10:19] [00:10:20] Bella Coola [00:11:09] Kitsault [00:11:57] Alice Arm [00:12:11] Anyox [00:12:15] Port Essington [00:12:31] Dorreen [00:12:35] Butedale [00:15:03] Ocean Falls [00:15:04] Namu [00:15:06] Difenbaker's Bunkers [00:15:38] Prince Rupert [00:15:54] Douglas Channel [00:18:31] Hamiltons [00:19:28] American Turbine [00:19:30] Navionics [00:21:00] Bathymetry [00:21:01] Elaho River [00:27:42] Thompson River [00:27:42] Nahatlatch River [00:27:44]   Follow us: Podcast YouTube Newsletter Instagram Facebook Follow our Host Instagram: @ Bader.Trav   Learn More about Silvercore Silvercore Club Online Training  Other Training & Services  Merchandise CORE Training Management Resources (TMR)  Blog Page

Today, we have a very special guest, referred by our former guest Joanna Osawe. Her name is Amie Schellenberg and she is an electrical instructor at Thompson River University. Amie didn’t always want to be a teacher, nor did she even want to be in the trades, but as happens so often, she found her calling. Thinking she was going to be in theater, she went to university for about 2 semesters before taking a job as an electrical apprentice. Little did she realize the path she was about to head down was going to allow her to live her definition of success for years to come. She ended up in the electrical field, traveling all over for jobs, and eventually even meeting her husband in the field. After she had started her family, she thought she was applying for a facilities position at the local school when it quickly turned into an opportunity to teach her craft. Since then, she has been living her definition of success by being rewarded for her years of hard work and, just like stepping back and taking pride in a completing a job, she’s now able to step back and see the change she inspires in young people’s lives. Don't miss this awesome episode tomorrow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Youtube!

This week we visit with Troy Dettman, guide with Grande Ronde Angler. Troy is a Pacific Northwest based guide who has a vast array of fly fishing opportunities which include the Methow, the Yakima, coastal sea run cutthroat, and Grande Ronde steelhead. He has over 30 years experience in the industry and brings a lot of knowledge to the water. We talk about "free the snake", fly tying demos, trips to the Yucatan and chasing salmon in Alaska. Wading the Thompson River, Seahawks, Mariners, the Kraken, bird hunting and much much more. Thanks Troy for sharing your fly fishing journey with us! www.granderondeangler.com

Tourism Kamloops is partnering with Thompson River University to ensure that more tourism talent and ideas are being nurtured at home. Dustin shares more about the exciting new partnership.

Campfires are great places to have discussions. There's no better way to spark up a meaningful conversation than around a fire. Over the years, it's the chats with friends around fires that have stuck with me the most.  In this Outdoor Narrative series, Kevin Dergez and I will get together each week, around a fire, to talk about stuff related to the outdoors, hunting, fishing, wildlife and wild issues. I'm Robert Koopmans, and welcome to Around the Fire.  This week, Kevin and I dove into a topic almost too deep to talk about — saving species from extinction, and what's happening in the Interior of BC with Thompson River steelhead. The story of the decline of steelhead in the Interior has been ongoing for decades now, and sadly, the chapter on our steelhead looks to be coming to a close. Kevin and I chatted, in all our simplistic ignorance, about why we think the decline of steelhead has happened, as well as steps we need to take as we ponder the best way to save the species we share a planet with …  Thanks for listening. If you have a question or a comment, send me an email at infor@theoutdoornarrative.com.

Blue Fish Radio is always amazed and pleased to meet and present anglers who have dedicated huge chunks of their lives to stewarding the wild fish resources in their area. Dave Brown is another one of these local champions who may know more about the Thompson River and Chilcotin River Steelhead that run up the Fraser River on Canada's west coast. His knowledge and advocacy were recently recognized in 2017 with DFO awarding Dave the “National Recreational Fisheries Award”. Dave continues to work hard to save the iconic wild Steelhead from annihilation.Link below to hear Dave Brown in conversation with Lawrence Gunther about the history, current situation, and what needs doing to save BC's Steelhead on this episode of Blue Fish Radio: For more on dave visit his websitehttp://davesellswhistler.com/

Tyler Kushnir has been fishing for trout and steelhead since the 1960s. A retired high school teacher and well-known fishing personality, he’s been at the heart of steelhead advocacy for as long as I’ve known him. Tyler put in 18 years of guiding on B.C.'s Haida Gwaii before hanging up his hat and becoming vice president of the Steelhead Society of B.C. Tyler is a skilled float fisherman, though it’s Spey casting that consumes his time these days. A Spey-O-Rama competitor, he won the inaugural Senior Championship in 2012 and continues to practice and compete with the belief that it makes him a better angler. On a recent road trip up north, I stopped in to see him at Sheridan Lake to see if I could learn a little more of his backstory. In this episode on Anchored, we discuss the Thompson River, competitive casting, and more.

Today I'm talking with Al Martin, who is the director of strategic initiatives with the BC Wildlife Federation. Formed in the late 1800s, the BC Wildlife Federation is one of the oldest organizations of its kind in Canada. With more than 36,000 members, the federation is one of the largest groups in B.C. speaking and working on behalf of conservation and environmentalism. A key mission of the federation is to preserve wildlife, habitats and natural ecosystems for future generations. People might think that the BCWF is solely the voice of anglers and hunters – and there is no question sportspeople are the bulk of members in the federation – but the fact is the federation does far more than just look out for the interests of its membership. Many of the federation's current initiatives focus on environmental and conservation issues that are well removed from hunting and fishing and critically important to the future of the natural landscape in British Columbia. I talked with Al about many of these initiatives, including the fight to save the Thompson River steelhead and concerns for the preservation of the headwater valley of the Skagit River…

Thomas Beyer is a “Christian Capitalist”, a family man, a multimillionaire, and has been a real estate investor for over 20 years. We talked about life, real estate, syndicating deals, raising millions of dollars, and the recovering from the pain of failure. If you're interested in learning how to syndicate large deals, you will be thrilled to learn from someone who purchased over 40 buildings so far in his career. Show Notes:00:00 - Intro and Thomas Beyer’s track record. 03:20 - "Thanks for being brave enough to talk about your faith publicly."04:00 - Thomas talks about the pain of failure. 05:40 - "For us there is only trying, the rest is not our business." 06:30 - How to become a best selling author in Canada.07:25 - Sometimes you work with partners or employees who don’t turn out as you thought a few years prior08:00 - Thomas shares how he got to a place where he bought 2000 units. He started buying in his late 30s with one condo11:20 - Thomas had an epiphany that EVERY building you see is owned by someone. That starts an awareness which leads to the thinking “how can I own that one.”15:00 - Thomas discovers after buying three condos that you can buy the entire building for half the price of purchasing individual units. 16:30 - The evolution from JVs to Offering Memorandums using Corporations, Trusts, and Limited Partnerships19:30 - Why Thomas moved to Canmore, it was near Calgary and Thomas needed to travel for his work with IBM. (His son grew up with Sam’s cousin.) 20:50 - Canmore house cost $400,000, ten years later sold for $1M. Real estate did very well there thanks to Olympics. Then the 2008 crash22:15 - On the topic of the financial crisis, an example of timing being out of our hands came up. The difference between massive success and catastrophic failure can be slim. Being forced to take a 10 year mortgage term at 7% interest was a blessing in disguise.25:00 - Selling a building in the US - Sold in Denton TX for a large profit. 27:10 - How to raise funds: answer questions. MyREINSpace, Twitter, Facebook27:50 - Thomas enjoys intellectual debates: abortion, same sex marriage, politics, and of course real estate29:05 - Thomas believe in “earn, learn, return”, that is why he spends his time helping others with free answers to questions. 29:45 - Debate on overpaid public servants: “20% less salary means 25% more people working”33:15 - Thomas’ take on putting on seminars and real estate training. (Says RENTS memberships are way too cheap). Thomas was more active and travelling more in the past when he was actively raising money. 37:15 - There is a season for everything. Pruning the portfolio, stretching yourself too thin trying to be in the education / event management business. RENTS meetings should be quarterly for the price, or charge $200/mo like REIN. Story about a networking group Thomas ran when he was in the software business. 41:20 - When is enough enough? Thomas gives his definition of success. Talks about life throwing you wrinkles. 1 house paid off, 1 second location paid off, and enough of an income to lead a good life. Is $1M in portfolio value enough? $10M? Perhaps much less if you choose to live abroad. 45:00 - Thomas chose to not take his company public, and decided to do more smaller projects instead. You can buy 10 buildings a year, or one per quarter, or one a year, or sit back for two years and do nothing. That’s what great about real estate: it’s project based.47:00 - "People have drowned in rivers one foot deep, on averageTM”48:20 - Next Saturday will be a great event and there will be lots of stories to share. Oct 6th at Thompson River’s University is the RENTS Bootcamp.You can get registered for the Bootcamp and a recording of it at https://app.greenrope.com/events/Bootcamp2018

Thomas Beyer is a “Christian Capitalist”, a family man, a multimillionaire, and has been a real estate investor for over 20 years. We talked about life, real estate, syndicating deals, raising millions of dollars, and the recovering from the pain of failure. If you're interested in learning how to syndicate large deals, you will be thrilled to learn from someone who purchased over 40 buildings so far in his career. Show Notes:00:00 - Intro and Thomas Beyer’s track record. 03:20 - "Thanks for being brave enough to talk about your faith publicly."04:00 - Thomas talks about the pain of failure. 05:40 - "For us there is only trying, the rest is not our business." 06:30 - How to become a best selling author in Canada.07:25 - Sometimes you work with partners or employees who don’t turn out as you thought a few years prior08:00 - Thomas shares how he got to a place where he bought 2000 units. He started buying in his late 30s with one condo11:20 - Thomas had an epiphany that EVERY building you see is owned by someone. That starts an awareness which leads to the thinking “how can I own that one.”15:00 - Thomas discovers after buying three condos that you can buy the entire building for half the price of purchasing individual units. 16:30 - The evolution from JVs to Offering Memorandums using Corporations, Trusts, and Limited Partnerships19:30 - Why Thomas moved to Canmore, it was near Calgary and Thomas needed to travel for his work with IBM. (His son grew up with Sam’s cousin.) 20:50 - Canmore house cost $400,000, ten years later sold for $1M. Real estate did very well there thanks to Olympics. Then the 2008 crash22:15 - On the topic of the financial crisis, an example of timing being out of our hands came up. The difference between massive success and catastrophic failure can be slim. Being forced to take a 10 year mortgage term at 7% interest was a blessing in disguise.25:00 - Selling a building in the US - Sold in Denton TX for a large profit. 27:10 - How to raise funds: answer questions. MyREINSpace, Twitter, Facebook27:50 - Thomas enjoys intellectual debates: abortion, same sex marriage, politics, and of course real estate29:05 - Thomas believe in “earn, learn, return”, that is why he spends his time helping others with free answers to questions. 29:45 - Debate on overpaid public servants: “20% less salary means 25% more people working”33:15 - Thomas’ take on putting on seminars and real estate training. (Says RENTS memberships are way too cheap). Thomas was more active and travelling more in the past when he was actively raising money. 37:15 - There is a season for everything. Pruning the portfolio, stretching yourself too thin trying to be in the education / event management business. RENTS meetings should be quarterly for the price, or charge $200/mo like REIN. Story about a networking group Thomas ran when he was in the software business. 41:20 - When is enough enough? Thomas gives his definition of success. Talks about life throwing you wrinkles. 1 house paid off, 1 second location paid off, and enough of an income to lead a good life. Is $1M in portfolio value enough? $10M? Perhaps much less if you choose to live abroad. 45:00 - Thomas chose to not take his company public, and decided to do more smaller projects instead. You can buy 10 buildings a year, or one per quarter, or one a year, or sit back for two years and do nothing. That’s what great about real estate: it’s project based.47:00 - "People have drowned in rivers one foot deep, on averageTM”48:20 - Next Saturday will be a great event and there will be lots of stories to share. Oct 6th at Thompson River’s University is the RENTS Bootcamp.You can get registered for the Bootcamp and a recording of it at https://app.greenrope.com/events/Bootcamp2018

Show Notes:  http://wetflyswing.com/17 In episode 017 of the fly fishing show I interviewed Scott Baker McGarva, one of the most knowledgable and experienced guides in BC.  He talks about his history as a fly shop owner, guide and rep. Scott talks about his vast experience fishing BC rivers including the Dean, Thompson, Bulkley and Morice Rivers.  He talks about the original intruder concept, how to twitch dries to entice fish, how to prepare for a Dean River trip the right way and much more.   Click below to listen to the episode with Scott Baker McGarva: Find the show:  itunes | stitcher | overcast Subscribe on Android Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe via RSS   Show Notes with Scott McGarva 06:05 - Dana Prody, a fishing buddy who helped Scott explore the Dean 14:10 - Jerry Wental was one of his mentors early on in his career 15:00 - Harry Lemire -  A mentor of Scott's and a man who fished ankle deep water with a single hand rod (Here's a video of Harry Lemire tying a fly) 19:15 - John Shewey tells the John Ben story of how we all forgot about the man who was helped start steelhead fly fishing 20:40 - Lady Caroline and Doc Spratly were big Thompson River flies back in the day 34:10 - The Squamish River is Scott's current home river. 36:40 - The Vedder River is another popular Vancouver area fishery that is heavily fished by the gear crowd 37:20 - "Make Steelhead Great Again" - I had to put that quote in because it cracked me up 46:30 - Trey Combs Interview from episode #6 of the show 48:40 - The Bulkley Special fly pattern 52:15 - The Morice River Meany is a great pattern that similarities to a lamprey 53:00 - BC West was one of Deneki's lodges and a place Scott guided - The Pink Dynk was another pattern 58:00 - Scott published an article in Fly Fusion magazine   You can reach Scott on Instagram at Uliwon here.  You might also try facebook to see what Scott is up to.   [caption id="attachment_2552" align="alignnone" width="510"] https://www.deneki.com/2010/05/scott-baker-mcgarva-welcome-to-bc-west/[/caption] "Ankle Deep and 20' ....... We catch so many fish within 30' of the shore, it's unbelievable." -Scott Baker McGarva     Steelhead Conservation Notes Scott gets into a great rant on the issues with some people using a stinger hook that is set back too far on the fly and results in steelhead swallowing the hook and their eventual mortality because of it. This goes against the original concept that Ed Ward and his gang had when they originally came up with the idea.  A big part of it was avoiding the damage that the large and long hoods would do to fish. The original Ed Ward Article was first published in Tom Pero's magazine and was the first publication on the intruder type fly. We also get into some of the issues that are occuring around the Pacific Rim but I won't go into detail here.  I will say that I love Scott's take on the whole problem and all of the issues.     Additional Reading, Notes and Comments Scott notes April Vokey's tube stacker system that never took hold.  I wanted to note that here and follow up on it as time allows.  Do you have a link to this system?  Leave a comment in the notes below if you have a link. Scott notes that Rodrick Haig Brown was a mentor for him especially as related to conseration and his ethic. Post a comment below if you have a favorite Haig Brown book. He talks about the Umpqua style of popping dry flies.  I will discuss and cover this with the next guest who covers the North Umpqua.   [caption id="attachment_2553" align="alignnone" width="393"] http://www.whistlerflyfishing.com/photos/flies/[/caption] Conclusion with Scott McGarva I wanted to give a big thank you to Scott for taking the time to come on the show.  If you didn't notice, he was pulled off on the side of the road doing the interview through his phone. Pretty awesome effort.  There is no question that this will go down as one of the greatest podcast episodes yet.  This is because of Scott's huge amount of knowlegde and how he expresses it in such a smooth way. If you liked this episode and the steelhead tips, you can grab the Steelhead Tips PDF Quick Guide by clicking the link below.  This is a summary from the guest of all of the best tips in all episodes:   http://wetflyswing.com/free/    

Show Notes: http://wetflyswing.com/06 Blue Water fly fishing and the history of steelhead flies and fishing is covered in this amazing show.  In episode 006 of the Fly Fishing Show I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the biggest people in the history of steelhead fly fishing, Trey Combs. Trey wrote one of the early books on the history of steelhead fishing and flies and has done a lot of other amazing stuff in his fly fishing career that we cover today. We get into a bunch of big topics including the issues with the Thompson River steelhead decline, talk about his mentors, discuss steelhead fly fishing history, two handed rods plus some of his new fly patterns. The post WFS 006 – Trey Combs Interview – Steelhead Flies and Fishing, Blue Water Fly Fishing appeared first on Wet Fly Swing.

Longtime Forke-based guide Bob Kratzer and B.C. guide Ryan Pohl talk about two hallowed steelhead areas: the Olympic Peninsula and the Thompson River.

Longtime Forke-based guide Bob Kratzer and B.C. guide Ryan Pohl talk about two hallowed steelhead areas: the Olympic Peninsula and the Thompson River.

Wolves are a grizzlies best friend - at least in Yellowstone Yellowstone has become a world renowned laboratory for what can happen when long absent carnivores are returned to the landscape. For decades across North America, predators were seen as the enemy, and targeted for extermination. Bounties were paid for the pelts of wolves, coyotes and other carnivores in order to make the wilderness a more human friendly place. The program resulted in a natural system that ran amok. Food chains evolved over millions and in some cases 10s of millions of years. Every hoofed animal was partially designed by its need to escape predators that were in turn designed to eat them. In some cases, as in the case of snowshoe hare and lynx, both predator and prey evolved the same strategies. Snowshoe hares gradually developed huge back feet to enable them to stay atop deep snows and escape the lynx. In time, the lynx evolved to also have huge feet, negating the hare's advantage. As biologists, we call that co-evolution - two species evolving in concert with each other in the age-old chess match of hunter and hunted. Over time, the predator control programs were very effective over much of their range and wolves were long ago extirpated from places like the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. In their absence, nature didn't rest on its laurels. It continued to evolve based on the now more limited numbers of actors on the stage. In a 2013 study, a research study looked into what impacts removing wolves from Yellowstone may have had on other species, in particular grizzly bears. Normally, we think of animals like wolves and bears as adversaries, both competing for similar prey. Hop onto Youtube and you can find countless examples of wolves and grizzlies battling over carcasses. However when you remove the wolf, might the entire equation change? This study tried to look at what how the Yellowstone ecosystem was impacted by the removal of wolves and how it was further impacted with their return. Looking at mountain landscapes is not all about the pretty pictures that we as visitors take home. Less wolves meant, more elk. Tourists love to take photos of elk. They are one of the main large, charismatic animals that bring tour bus after tour bus into the mountain west. However we also need to remember one important fact. Elk are…what's that word again…oh yah…food! Elk are here not because they are cute and charismatic. They are here because they are made of meat. Ecosystems are a combination of predator and prey. Pressure from predation stimulates adaptation and evolution in their prey animals. This in turn forces the predators to also adapt. Take away the predator and the prey population simply explodes. This is what happened in Yellowstone. With an absence of wolves for more than 70 years, elk and deer numbers had exploded. Everything that was edible was, well, eaten. During this same time, the population of Yellowstone grizzlies also suffered. Could there be some relationship between wolves, elk and grizzly population? This study looked to quantify this relationship. We like to think of bears as carnivores, but in reality, they are omnivores. Most of their diet is made up of plants rather than meat. Uncontrolled elk numbers may have impacted the bears by simply grazing on the plants that produced berries important to those bears. This study examined the idea that taking wolves off the landscape simply changed the landscape to make it less suitable to bears. Grizzlies thrive in forests of aspen, poplar and willow because they tend to have a diverse understory of berry-producing plants like buffaloberry, Saskatoon or Serviceberry and chokecherry.  Too many elk, meant that these shrubs, and even the new shoots of aspen, poplar and willow trees were mere fodder for the endless appetite of the ever growing elk population. In the early days of the absence of wolves, the park did some elk reductions but they stopped those in 1968 with a population of some 3,000 elk. With the programs cancellation, by 1994 the population had grown to a high of approximately 19,000 elk.   New growth of trees and shrubs essentially stopped during this period as every edible shoot, leaf and berry was consumed by the elkopolypse. In a further hit to bear populations, the park closed all of its garbage dumps in 1971. Anyone visiting parks like Yellowstone, or even Banff in those days knew that if you want to see the bears, go to the dump. For bears already stressed by a loss of berry crops, the loss of the easy calories offered by landfills represented another loss in food opportunities for grizzlies. Coincidentally, in 1975 the grizzly bear was designated as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Could reintroducing wolves reverse this trend? In 1995 wolves from Jasper National Park in Canada were captured and reintroduced to Yellowstone. The results have exceeded any expectations although this report was looking at just the impact on grizzlies. With the return of the wolf, populations of both bison and beaver increased, likely due to the increase availability of food. Did the increase in forage improve bear habitat as well? This study looked into the situation before and after wolves were re-introduced. When looking at the amount of fruit composing the diet of Yellowstone grizzlies prior to the reintroduction, they found it was just 2 to 4% as opposed to 28% in British Columbia and 18% in Alberta. In normal ecosystems, fruit composes a critical part of the grizzly bear's diet. The contain huge amounts of carbohydrates that are easily converted to fat. In fact, in episode 42, I spoke about the amazing realization that grizzlies in Alaska will choose Elderberries over salmon when given the opportunity. It seems that berries are the way to go. You can check out that episode at: www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep042. So, we brought the wolves back. Did it make a difference? Well, OK, it exceeded anyone's expectations. Returning wolves to the Yellowstone released something biologists call a trophic cascade. This means that by reintroducing wolves, biologists returned the balance to the landscape and the benefits trickled down through the entire ecosystem. More wolves meant less elk. Even today, the wolves take very few bison simply because they are very formidable prey. Elk, on the other hand are manageable, even in cases where bison are more plentiful. Removing elk allowed forage to grow. Poplar, aspen, and willow, in turn allowed bison and beaver populations to increase. More importantly they also allowed plants to grow. Aspen, poplar, and willow trees thrived. Beneath their canopy berry bushes also began to regenerate. Looking into the effects on the diet of bears, the study showed that fruit consumption more than doubled with the reduction in elk numbers.  In some years, fruit consumption could account for up to 29% of the diet of male bears and as high as 39% for females once the wolves were returned to the landscape. Wolves reduced the elk population by an order of magnitude; from an average of 12.1/km2 in the absence of wolves to just 1-2/km2. If we look at the real benefits of the reintroduction of the wolf and the downward cascade of benefits we would see many things. Wolves preyed on elk, but more importantly changed their behaviour in order to avoid the wolves. They moved out of the valleys allowing those areas to regrow. The height of trees skyrocketed with the freedom to simply grow. Long absent forests of aspen, poplar, and willow thrived. This brought in songbirds that used the trees for nesting sites. Less competition for trees allowed beaver populations to grow as well. The beavers helped the ducks, the fish, the muskrat and even the otters. Wolves are a big predator of coyotes, and as they did this, rabbits, hares and mice numbers exploded, helping to spur populations of weasels, hawks, fox and badgers. Many scavengers rely upon animals like wolves to open up carcasses to allow them to feed. As a result, raven and bald eagle populations increased. We've already mentioned that the bears benefited with more available berries. Remember thought that bears will take a significant amount of newborn elk and moose calves. This meant that the bears worked in concert with the wolves to reduce elk populations, while at the same time benefiting with more available berries. Ok, now are you ready for this. The wolves impacted the landscape, and with that the rivers. The regrowth of plant life helped to stabilize the riverbanks and in turn helped to change the course of the rivers. Scientists call this a trophic cascade. It refers to situations like this, where a predator can create a series of benefits that trickle down the entire food chain. I'll include a link in the show notes to a great video that highlights some of the incredible changes that wolves have brought to the Yellowstone ecosystem. Most importantly for this story though, the wolves have helped the bears to thrive in this renewed landscape. This study also helped to reveal a historically negative aspect of this story. Grizzlies once roamed the mountain west all the way south to Mexico. Looking at the history of the mountains, people moved onto the landscape and culled predators, allowing herbivores to reproduce unchecked, while in many cases introducing cattle to the landscape. All of this would have reduced the forage necessary for bears to survive. Think of this as a grizzly bear famine. 20 to 30% of their normal annual food budget had been removed by overgrazing. Perhaps associated with this, grizzly populations began to drop. This means that the removal of wolves may have played an important role in the disappearance of grizzlies from much of the southwest. Could programs like wolf reintroductions allow bears to also be reintroduced to new landscapes? While bears are much more difficult to reintroduce, I'd love to see the scientists make a concerted effort and investigating the possibilities. It all starts with wolves. Trails - the good and the bad Let's talk about a few trail projects in and adjacent to the Rockies. First I want to talk about the grand-daddy of them all - the Great Trail, formerly known as the Trans Canada Trail.  This month, the world's longest recreational trail opened - and it's in Canada. Formerly known as the Trans Canada Trail, Canada's "Great Trail" has officially opened. In total, it covers some 24,000 km, traverses all 10 provinces and 2 territories, and travels from ocean to ocean to ocean. The announcement means that you can now hike across the country from coast to coast, with an option to head all the way to the Arctic Ocean at Inuvik (although you'd need to follow the East Channel of the Mackenzie River a bit to truly meet the ocean. It is not a true trail, but a collaboration of hundreds of trails, each operated by differing jurisdictions, and then joined together by stretches of road or river where necessary. All-in-all, there are more than 400 trails winding their way across all 10 provinces with a potential detour to the far north. Like any network of its kind, it's a work in progress. Over time, sections involving walking on the shoulder of roads will be replaced by bonafide trails, but after 25 years, it's now a reality. Can you hike it all? Not yet. Think of this as a multi-disciplinary trail. The best way to take in the magic will be to combine hiking, cycling and paddling. Like the earliest days of Canada, for some stretches, the waters show the way. Some 26% of the trail follows waterways, so best to practice your J-stroke if you want to conquer this trail network. Other stretches that are dominated by connecting roadways are better covered on two-wheels. If you want, you can even strap on cross-country skis (or if need be fire up a snowmobile) for some sections. The great trail is a reflection of Canada. It crosses diverse landscapes with varying amounts of development and urbanization. Each section will offer its own unique challenges along with its own vistas. Traveling west across the country, when the trail reaches Edmonton, you'll have to decide whether you want to head south towards Calgary to continue the westward section of the trail, or north towards Inuvik and the Arctic Ocean. Along this northern route, you can select a land-based or aquatic route depending on your preferred mode of exploration. As Canadians, most of us have never traveled from coast to coast to coast. It was less than 10 years ago that I finally traveled west to east but I have yet to explore the north. Perhaps the magic of the Great Trail is in its possibilities. It offers each of us the ability to explore Canada in our own way. Lovers of history can follow the footsteps, or paddleways of those that traveled long before we did. Urban explorers can look for trails that connect in ways that allow them to cycle or perhaps hike from hotel to hotel. Nowhere else is there a network like this one. In some ways, it's not ready for the prime time, but in others, it's prime time to begin to imagine the possibilities that await you on the existing pathways, as well as where new additions of the trail may beckon. As you can imagine, this didn't emerge out of the ether. It took 25 years of volunteer hours and thousands of individuals to bring the trail to the point that we are today. If you'd like to learn more, check out their website at: www.tctrail.ca. If you can contribute to the effort, the Federal Government will contribute 50 cents for every dollar you can spare. There is also an app available on both Android and iPhone to help you navigate along the way. I'll see you on the trail.     Now onto another trail. Over the past year, I've spoken at length about a proposed bike trail planned to run between the town of Jasper all the way to the Columbia Icefields, and eventually to Lake Louise and Banff. This trail was poorly conceived and rammed through with little or no public input, and against the best advice of Parks Canada's own scientists. You can read more about the trail plans by checking out episodes 3, 23, and 26. Episode 26 especially, brings out the backroom dealings that occurred in order to force the trail through the approval process. You can listen to it at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep026. The public opinion on the trail has been overwhelmingly negative and it seems that, for the moment at least, the trail has been put on hold. The trail was tied to dollars that had a deadline of 2-years to be spent and that time is running out. Jasper currently has hundreds of kilometres of trails that are virtually impassable due to a decade of neglect during the Harper years. During that time, all the focus was on getting more and more cars through the park gates so they could claim the $8 bucks a head per day. The backcountry was largely forgotten. I first came to the mountains in 1980 to walk the South Boundary Trail in Jasper. At the time, this 176 km trail was the longest in the mountain parks. Today, parts of the original route are impassable. $86 million dollars could go a long way towards repairing overgrown trails,  replacing bridges and upgrading long neglected backcountry campgrounds, hanging racks and outhouses. It now seems that there is hope that this trail will be cancelled. The time limit on the money is running out. The park is now, after being pilloried in the media, doing more extensive public consultations, but the trail is no longer connected to any definite timeline. According to a recent article in the Rocky Mountain Outlook, Parks spokesperson Audrey Champagne stated: “After the consultation periods, if the decision is to move forward with the concept, new project timelines would be established” If the decision is eventually made to move forward, they'll try to get a continuation on the original $70 million that was earmarked in the 2016 budget.   As the author of two books on mountain biking, I'm not opposed to mountain biking as a valid use of the backcountry. However ill-conceived trails will always be ill-conceived. New trails need to take into account new realities, like wildlife movement corridors and habitat patches for endangered or threatened animals like caribou and grizzly bears. This trail not only traveled through critical habitat for the endangered mountain caribou, but also that of grizzly bears, a threatened species in Alberta. At the same time, creating a trail would also create openings in the canopy which would promote the growth of buffaloberries. Bikes and buffaloberries don't mix. The trail would increase the likelihood of bear bike conflicts along its route. The public consultation ended in April of 2017, but the Indigenous consultation is just in the process of ending. There should be an opportunity for further public and indigenous consultation once the draft of the detailed impact analysis is competed so stay tuned. I'll leave a link in the show notes so that you can stay on top of current updates on the trail's status (https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/jasper/info/plan/sentierdesglaciers-icefieldstrail) Hopefully, we'll see this project quietly slip into the dustbin of history and see the dollars dedicated to iconic trails that have been neglected in favour of the frontcountry. Parks are for all Canadians, and not just for those visiting the paved corridors. Let's all fight to make sure that the backcountry trails are refurbished to make sure that tomorrows wilderness wanderers will have an opportunity to explore the further reaches of the park. Thars Gold in British Columbia Many years ago, I wrote a magazine article on the legend of the Lost Lemon Mine in Alberta. I interviewed a long time prospector, Mike Czech who had prospected in the Yukon and southern Alberta in search of the famed Lost Lemon Mine. I was writing an article on this legendary bonanza when suddenly, his wife looked at me and said…"don't get the gold fever!" Her message was that once you get the fever, there is no inoculation. She had been married to a prospector for more than 50 years and had moved from place to place and the hope for the big strike had always been a part of her life as well. Gold Fever is real…once you catch it, it stays with you, and the genesis of British Columbia can be, to a great extent, connected to gold fever. Now if you're not familiar with the symptoms, they often began/begin accidentally. Wilderness wandering was often a pre-requisite. Gold doesn't just pop up anywhere but, like finding a unicorn, it suddenly appears to that individual that not both wandered and observed. In British Columbia, like most places where gold is discovered, discoveries began with a rumour, which evolved into a story which excited the imaginations of adventure seekers, leading to a sudden migration into a wilderness area lacking utilities, support systems, or any of the things people took for granted in civilization. In 1851, a 27 oz nugget from the Queen Charlottes, known as the Haida Gwaii today, was traded in at Fort Victoria. Now you can't just walk into a trading post, drop of an almost two pound chunk of gold and then just wander back to your pickup like nothing unusual has happened. A nugget means people take notice and after this nugget was traded for 1,500 Hudson's Bay Company Blankets, it was brought to the attention of Governor Richard Blandshard. He sent a message to the British Secretary of War and the Colonies (Yup, we were part of the department of war). In it he stated: "I have heard that fresh specimens of gold have been obtained from the Queen Charlotte Islanders. I have not seen them myself, but they are reported to be very rich. The Hudson's Bay Company servants intend to send an expedition in the course of the summer to make proper investigations. The brigantine Huron was dispatched accordingly, ostensibly to trade, but really to search for gold. Failing in which, the men broke up part of a quartz ledge, and carrying pieces on board their vessel, returned in triumph to Victoria" In the end though, this first goldrush didn't produce much gold, but it did see enough people flooding into the territory that the region was designated as the unified Colony of British Columbia. Prior to this, there was a colony on Vancouver Island, with James Douglas as the governor. Douglas was also an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company and so was also in charge of the lands on the mainland although they were not part of the original colony. In a way, the crown colony of British Columbia owes its genesis to the search for gold. While the first taste of gold in the Haida Gwaii had not panned out, in 1857 rumours surfaced of a new gold strike on the Thompson River, downstream of Fort Kamloops. The gold was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company and in Feb of 1858, Douglas dispatched the steamship Otter to San Francisco with 800 ounces of gold for minting. Within weeks, miners began to arrive on the Fraser River. The first gold strikes were around just a few kilometres above the city of Hope. The new governor of the Colony of British Columbia, James Douglas, hired gold commissioners to intercept American prospectors and make them buy licenses, stake claims and record their progress. This was needed to help maintain sovereignty over the new colony as much as it was to make sure that the gold didn't disappear into the U.S. without helping to enrich British Columbia first. In the spring of 1858, shiploads of miners from San Francisco began to arrive at Fort Victoria. Now keep in mind that Fort Victoria was home to a mere 400 people, but between May and July, some 23,000 gold seekers departed San Francisco to arrive at a Fort completely overwhelmed. When they arrived at the growing tent city, only then did they learn that Fort Kamloops was still 600 km distant, and on the mainland, across the Strait. Many built their own boats to try to beat the crowds across the 32 km crossing and up the Fraser towards Fort Yale. Many miners simply began to pan there, pocketing 4-5 ounces per person per day. The more adventurous though, headed upriver on foot. If there was gold in the gravels, then the motherlode must be upstream. Some miners brought with them both experience and instinct. Some, it seemed, could smell the gold. One of these included a group of five Americans led by Peter Curran Dunlevy from Pittsburgh. Like their contemporaries, they began staking claims upstream from Fort Yale, but soon ventured upstream, far upstream. By May, they were panning near the confluence of the Chilcotin and Fraser Rivers, near to present-day Junction Sheep Range Provincial Park. While there, they met a native named Tomaah, the son of Chief Lolo St. Paul. When he asked what they were doing, they showed him a few flakes of gold. Tomaah then claimed that he could "show them a river where gold lay like beans in a pan." The miners would need to stock up on supplies though, and Tomaah promised to meet them at Lac La Hache, some 65 km east as the crow flies. The party purchased a tonne of provisions and 12 packhorses in Fort Kamloops and headed to Lac La Hache. Tomaah, asked his friend Baptiste to show them the river of gold and after several days of travel, they came to a river that they named the "Little Horsefly" because of the hordes of biting flies that plagued them. One of the party, Ira Crow panned the very first gold from the area of British Columbia that would soon be known as the Cariboo. Dunlevy's party had swelled to some 12 men but they struck it rich. They left the area with gold rumoured to have been worth more than a million dollars - that's a million dollars in 1859 dollars. It's the equivalent to winning the lottery. They took their money and moved on. Some, like Dunlevy, continued to invest in the goldrush, opening roadhouses and freighting operations to help other miners along the Cariboo Road as it the area was opened up to easier access. The route to the Cariboo was long, hard and dangerous. James Douglas, the acting Governor of the Crown Colony, informed London: "Another important object I have in view is the improvement of the internal communications of the country, which at present are, for all practical purposes, nearly inaccessible beyond Fort Yale." A road to the Cariboo would not only assist the miners in traveling safer, but would also assist in making sure that the 49th parallel remain as the border between Canada and the U.S. Long before getting permission to build the road, Douglas met with miners and promised that his government would trade them transportation, equipment and food in exchange for a 1.2 metre-wide mule trail through the wilderness as far as Lillooet. To make sure they didn't desert, the miners were required to place a $25 deposit which would later be redeemed in supplies from Lillooet. It also helped to add a few dollars to the road building fund. This road wouldn't follow Fraser past Yale though, but would rather follow the route of the Lillooet River across Harrison, Lillooet, Anderson and Seton Lakes. Alexander Caulfield Anderson had traversed the route in 1847 and was put in charge of the construction. Workers were organized into groups of 25 and dispersed along the route. There were 500 workers on the road by mid-August. In the meantime, the British Government replied to Douglas' original dispatch: "Her Majesty's Government propose sending to British Columbia at the earliest possible opportunity an Officer of Royal Engineers and a Company of Sappers and Miners made up of 150 non-Commissioned Officers and men." By December, 1858 it was reported by the Victoria Gazette that: "Good boats are running on all the lakes, while numerous houses for public entertainment are opening up all along the line. " In one of the strangest stories of the Cariboo Goldrush, Gustavus Blin Wright imported 23 camels at the cost of $7,000. He believed that they could carry twice the weight and cover more distance than mules and horse. What he didn't count on was that their feet were far too soft for the coarse terrain and the fact that horses and mules would stampede when they smelled the strong smells that the camel radiated. In the end, the idea was a total bust. Miners petitioned to have the "Dromedary Express" banned from the road and, in the end, they were simply turned loose. The last one died in 1905 south of Kamloops near present-day Westwold, B.C. Douglas then shifted his attention to the Fraser Valley route to the Cariboo. In 1860, he sent out construction parties to improve the road between Yale and Lytton. There was already an established route from Lytton up to the gold fields. In the end, this Cariboo Road turned out to be a much faster route than Douglas' original route to Lillooet and it quickly took on the majority of the traffic. In just over a year, Douglas has built two major roads towards the gold fields of the Cariboo. He has developed a system of gold commissioners to monitor the miners, the claims and the findings. For many, he is considered the father of British Columbia. Next week we'll follow the story as the Cariboo really begins to get the gold fever. And with that it's time to wrap this episode up. I want to thank you for sharing your time with me and be sure to check out the show notes for links and additional information. You can find them at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep045. Don't forget to click the subscribe button - cmon…do it now! To make sure that you don't miss any episodes. And as always, if you'd like to reach out to me personally you can drop me a line at ward@wardcameron.com or hit me up on twitter @wardcameron. You can also visit our FaceBook page at www.Facebook.com/wardcameronenterprises. And with that said, the sun's out and it's time to go hiking. I'll talk to you next week.

Gerhard's West Canada Euer Wegweiser den Westen Canadas für euch zu entdecken Fraser River im Lower Mainland  Begleitende Internetseite, Bilder und Kartenausschnitte www.gerhards-west-canada.de   In den bisherigen Folgen der Podcast-Serie Gerhard's West Canada hat man sich ganz British Columbia und den Südwesten der Nachbarprovinz Alberta erschlossen. Die Metropole Vancouver und die sie umgebenden Coast Mountains, auch die riesige Insel Vancouver Island hat man sich angesehen. Man ist quer durch den Süden Britisch Columbia's durch die Regionen Thompson, Okanagan, Kootenay und Cariboo Chilcotin Coast gekommen, man ist bis hinauf in den Norden Britisch Columbia's gelangt. Die atemberaubende Landschaft der Canadian Rocky Mountains Alberta's und British Columbia's hat man mit Begeisterung sich angesehen und kennengelernt. Man hat sich Gedanken gemacht über das Reisen mit dem Wohnmobil, sogar, was es bedeutet, seinen eigenen Camper in Kanada zu besitzen. Entdeckungsfahrten mit dem Kanu lassen einem die Regionen noch viel intensiver erleben. Nicht Wenige kommen auf den Gedanken und hegen den Wunsch während ihrer Westkanadareise auch einmal das Abenteuer des River Rafting erleben zu können. Möglichkeiten gibt es in den Rockies oder auf dem Fraser und Thompson River, eigentlich auf ganz Wetkanada verteilt in den verschiedensten Schwierigkeitsgraden. Viele mögen es vielleicht doch etwas ruhiger, sie denken eher an eine Flußfahrt auf der es gemächlicher, aber nicht minder interessant zugeht, wie zum Beispiel auf dem Fraser River im Lower Mainland Viel Vergnügen beim Zuhören, der Reiseplanung und natürlich dem Wichtigsten, der Reise selbst. Herzlichen Gruß Gerhard Ibl