By Margaret-Anne Enders – “Stay safe”. In the midst of this summer’s wild fires, evacuations, and escaping from heavy smoke, that simple phrase became a standard Cariboo farewell. It certainly was my go-to in ending every phone call, email, text, or visit. It was said with urging, with concern, with fear, and with hope that safety would indeed prevail. And in most cases, it did. There was no loss of human life, and while some returned home to devastation, the majority were able to return to life as normal. Except that normal doesn’t exist anymore, at least not yet. Many…
Author: thegreengazette
By Terri Smith – Amadeus has fared well during this fire season. We were lucky that for the first few weeks, in spite of the Green Mountain fire being way too close for comfort, the topography of our area is such that we didn’t really have much smoke here at first. We are rather sheltered in a low valley and with wind direction being in our favour, we could breathe easily for longer than many in the Cariboo. It wasn’t until so many fires burned for so long that the smoke closed in thick around us. I worried for Amadeus, of…
By Lewis Evans – What does art mean to you—if anything? Is it merely decoration, an emotional response to a memory, an illustration of something familiar, something creative you simply like but you don’t know why, an investment, a space-filler, or something else entirely? Whatever you may think, you are probably not thinking that art can fuel economic prosperity for your community, put it firmly on the map in innovative and exciting ways, and facilitate income-generation for a whole host of local businesses. But that’s what it can do. Here’s how it has done just that in other communities. Let’s…
By Guy Dauncey – Imagine you are struggling to get by on a low income. For some, it doesn’t need much imagining. Now imagine that as well as not having much money, you live in a community where there is very little affordable housing, no subsidized daycare, no safe bike lanes, and only sporadic public transit. There are no urban farms or community allotments where you can grow food, no farmers’ markets, and no community kitchens—just the food bank to help when your monthly cheque runs out. Imagine, too, that it’s a community without any attractive parks or green spaces,…
By Bill Irwin – With fall around the corner at last, the smoke has abated, at least out near Horsefly. I have taken my astro gear from the camper, where it was pending evacuation, and reinstalled it in the Bells Lake observatory. Last night the moon was a slender crescent, probably regaling in the fact that it trumped the sun only four days ago. We saw the partial eclipse on August 21 from our deck with specially filtered telescopes. The white light view showed the sun’s surface, somewhat unspectacularly, black and white, except for the incredible fine detail in the…
By Jim Hilton – When I started working in the forest service in 1974 (in what was then known as the Caribou Forest Region) there were forest districts (Ranger Districts) in Tatla Lake, Alexis Creek, Riske Creek, Williams Lake, Horsefly, Likely, 100 Mile, Clinton, and Quesnel (east and west) and, if I recall correctly, a field office in Anahim Lake. In offices like Tatla Lake and Alexis Creek most of the work was involved with Range (permit administration with the local ranchers), some timber administration, and lots of fire fighting in the summer when conditions were hot. Summer students were…
By Kristin Lehar – The skin, like many other organs of the human body, performs several crucial roles in keeping the body functioning in balance including excreting wastes, synthesizing hormones (vitamin D), regulating heat, and protecting the body from the elements. It is our largest organ with a delicate pH and a unique micro-biome and, as the most visible of our organs, we do what we can to make it look its best and feel its healthiest—but often these measures result in troublesome consequences, many of which are not immediately obvious. We have embraced conventional skin care products and other…
By Brandon Hoffman, Artistic Director, Arts on the Fly – July 8, the day after the fires first broke out in Williams Lake, the biggest thing on my mind was the fate of Arts on the Fly Festival, slated for the following weekend. I went through the motions like everybody else: putting together my evacuation pack, turning off the gas, filling the tub and sinks, but it all felt kind of silly and overcautious. Like, sure it’s a good idea to do these little tasks just in case, but a personal defeat that could actually happen is the cancellation of…
By Venta Rutkauskas – It was Nina Simone who said, “How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?” This question has come to mind frequently in recent weeks, for the times demand that we speak out about injustice and stand up for a vision of tolerance, if not compassion and inclusivity. In a summer engulfed by flames, rising bigotry, and ongoing inequalities for Indigenous communities (think missing and murdered women and girls, education, and social service) it is more and more difficult to remain silent. Challenges against dominant ideals within a society have often emerged from artists.…
By Oliver Berger – Arts Wells 2017 was the only music festival that actually ran this year in the Cariboo Region due to ‘you know what’. Boasting over 100 acts in over 10 different venues situated all throughout the colourful community, this is one music festival that is hard to miss. This year I was fortunate to partake in the events as well as another activity I enjoy doing: waste management. In collaboration with the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society, Mary Forbes and I went up with a waste station she built and we planted ourselves right on the main drag…
By Tera Grady – If you frequent the Central Cariboo Transfer Station on Frizzi Road in Williams Lake, you will know that the site houses a couple of Share Sheds for residents to drop off and pick up items free of charge. Loved by many, these Share Sheds are a great way to encourage waste diversion, re-use, repurposing, and recycling. Over the years, these two Share Sheds have seen a number of different management styles, and we have just entered into another phase. As the site supervisor likes to put it, “they are the Share Sheds for the people, by…
By Al-Lisa McKay – For the 84th year running, World Animal Day is being celebrated on October 4. It started in 1931 in Florence Italy; its aim was to bring attention to endangered or threatened species. The date was chosen because it is the Feast Day of the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi. It is a time to celebrate and appreciate our relationship with animals and the ways in which they enrich our lives. It is also an important opportunity to speak out to ensure the humane treatment of animals and to advocate for the protection of…
By David Suzuki – Governments change—along with laws, regulations, and priorities. It’s the nature of democracies. In Canada, we’ve seen environmental laws implemented, then weakened or overturned, then strengthened and re-instated. But the basic necessities of health, well-being, and life shouldn’t be subject to the shifting agendas of political parties. That’s why Canada should recognize the right to a healthy environment in its Constitution—something 110 countries already do. We’re a-ways from that, but some promising developments give hope for the possibility that all people in Canada may soon enjoy the right to breathe fresh air, drink clean water, eat healthy…
By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette – Thanksgiving season is here. Though the sun still warms the earth, the shift is coming slowly towards cooler mornings, reddening leaves, and comfort inklings like slow cooker meals and hot tea in the evenings. Some people mark this season of gratitude and plenty with Thanksgiving dinner—loved ones gather to enjoy warm, enveloping food and give thanks for one another. Others simply take the harvest, the shorter days, and the season of coziness as time to close in on the darkness, and slow down to ponder and reflect on all we are grateful…
By Lisa Bland, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief – Dear readers, It has been quite a summer. We’ve literally all been through a trial by fire—locally, provincially, and globally. Whether by fire, flood, or hurricane, there is no doubt our world is changing. As we go to press, the class 5 hurricane Irma has just churned through the Caribbean leaving devastation in its wake and on to Florida, where storm surges and flooding forced the evacuation of thousands. Two weeks ago, hurricane Harvey, now considered the worst and most expensive natural disaster in US history, left an infrastructural nightmare due to flooding in Texas…
By Sage Birchwater – Clean air is a gift we have to stand up for and protect. It’s not something we can take for granted. For those of us involved in the Rail Ties Be Wise campaign, the horrendous wildfire season of 2017 has steeled our resolve to protect our air quality. For long stretches of time during the fires, air quality in Williams Lake soared to over 40 on a scale of one to ten. We observed firsthand how smoke gets trapped in the valley and builds up because of temperature inversions that don’t allow proper flushing. The smoke-choked…
By Fin Donnelly, MP Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP Critic for Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard – In 2015, Justin Trudeau was elected on a promise of “Real Change.” His environmental platform was welcomed by many wild salmon advocates who thought we could move beyond ten long years of Harper’s disastrous environmental policies. Two years later, when we examine Trudeau’s record, we see how his promises were nothing but hype and cynicism. We are still living under Harper’s environmental policies, his climate change targets, and his review process that approves major industrial projects jeopardizing our wild salmon. As NDP critic for…
By Melissa Chaun – It has been eerily quiet on the Lower Fraser River this year. Not a single fishing boat to be seen. At the time of writing this, the commercial salmon fishery had yet to open this season and likely never will. There are simply not enough salmon. Even the Musqueam Indian Band, hosting the final wild salmon feast celebration for the Rivershed Society of BCs (RSBC’s) FraserFEST event on August 12, were unsure until the day before whether the menu could feature wild salmon. Yes, it’s that bad. Fish farms, sea lice, over-fishing, habitat destruction, climate change…
By Jessica Kirby – This summer will probably go down in history as one that brought upset and disruption to many people in the region; but also, it will be remembered for its community connections and those who came together to help. No exception to the crew of those eager to ease the burden for others are regional brewers Barkerville Brewing and Jackson’s Social Club and Brewhouse, who recognized the importance of giving back to their communities and took action right away. When the wildfires began, management at Barkerville Brewing in Quesnel knew right away they wanted to do something…