2017 Annual General Meeting

Hosted by Lillooet Naturalists Society

May 4 - 7, 2017

“Canyon to Alpine”“Canyon to Alpine”May 4 - 7, 2017

Hosted by Lillooet Naturalists Society

2017 Annual General Meeting

Table of Content

Presidents Report...............................................................................................1

Communications Report..................................................................................2

Conservation Report.........................................................................................2

Education Report............................................................................................... 3

O�ce Managers Report................................................................................... 4

In Memoriam....................................................................................................... 4

Club ReportsRegional Coordinator Kootenay....................................................................6Regional Coordinator Lower Mainland...................................................... 7Regional Coordinator Northern BC............................................................13Regional Coordinator Thompson-Okanagan.........................................15Regional Coordinator Vancouver Island...................................................19

Project ReportsHarnessing Nature Knowledge................................................................... 22BC Important Bird Areas (IBA)...................................................................... 22

Reports from BC Nature RepresentativesBC Wetlamd Stewardship Partnership.......................................................23Outdoor Recreation Council......................................................................... 23Nechako Environmental Enchancement (White Sturgeon).............. 24Port Metro Vancouver Roberts Bank Terminal 2.....................................24 Public Conservation Assistance Foundation.......................................... .26South Coast Conservation Program ...........................................................27 South Okanagan Simillkameen Conservation Program......................28

Other ReportsBC Naturalists' Foundation.............................................................................29Camp and Field Activities............................................................................... 30NatureKids BC..................................................................................................... 30

Resolutions 2017................................................................................................ 32Executive & BC Nature Club Director Listing............................................ 37

Note: 2017 Financial Review with Reid Hurst Nagy, was not available at print time of this publication, it is available as a separate

document for the AGM and will be on the presentation screen.

BC Nature Annual Report May 4 - 7, 2017

Cover photography and photographs throughout the AGM 2017 bookletSubmitted by Lillooet Naturalists

President’s Report Submitted by Alan Burger

It has been a very busy year for BC Nature. Below I have highlighted some of our activities, in addition to our primary mandate of serving our 53 member clubs. Our executive, committees and representatives put in huge amounts of

volunteer time to bene�t BC Nature and nature in BC – many thanks to you all!

Membership and club growthWe are hopeful that a naturalist club can be revived this year in Nanaimo. Many people have expressed interest in

re-activating this club. In April, John and Heather Neville gave a presentation in Nanaimo and led a discussion among the 45 or more people who attended. A local steering committee is being formed to guide the formation of this club. In the fall I visited Golden and Revelstoke, gave presentations there, and met with people interested in establishing naturalist clubs in those towns. I’ve also been communicating with people in Pemberton to establish a club there.

On the loss side we saw the closure of the Nanoose Bay Naturalists, but many of those members will hopefully join a new Nanaimo club. In 2016 I also visited and gave presentations to the West Kootenay Naturalists (Castlegar), Vermil-ion Forks Naturalists (Princeton), and Victoria Natural History Society.

BC Nature Executive and RepresentativesLong-time chair of the Conservation Committee Rosemary Fox stepped down in September 2016. Huge thanks to

Rosemary for her major contributions to conservation. Peter Ballin is the new chair and this committee continues to be extremely vigilant and active, involving BC Nature in many environmental issues that are important to our mem-bership. Virginia Rasch has stepped in as BC Nature Vice-president. She is also representing BC Nature on the panel providing environmental input to the Columbia River Treaty, which is being re-negotiated between the Canadian and US governments. Claudia Copley’s extended term as BC Nature Secretary ended in September 2016, but she remains on the executive – she replaced Penney Edwards as chair of the Communications Committee. Penney is still BC Nature’s representative on the BC Outdoor Recreation Council.

Roger Emsley continues as BC Nature’s representative on the proposed expansion of the Robert’s Bank container

port (RBT2). He was instrumental in obtaining funding for a detailed report by Dr. Patricia Baird on the biological risks likely from RBT2, which was BC Nature’s submission to the environmental review panel.

We established a bylaw subcommittee chaired by past-president Kees Visser which revised our bylaws to make them compatible with the new BC Societies Act.

BC Nature o�ceOur o�ce manager Betty Davison and her 2016 summer-student assistant Kristina Charina once again provided

sterling service to BC Nature, handling hundreds of requests from clubs and dealing with over 6,000 members. Betty also manages our website, does the lion’s share of the magazine formatting, manages the books and bank accounts and hundreds of other things that arise in our complex organization. Many thanks!

Education and Nature AwarenessMargaret Cuthbert and Walter Thorne chaired our Education Committee, which does excellent work with schools,

clubs, educators and parents to promote nature knowledge. BC Nature gives money annually to the BC Science Fair program and to our Rene Savenye scholarship, given to worthy post-secondary students. BC Nature continues to have a close working relationship with NatureKids BC (which welcomed a new executive director Louise Pedersen) and the BC Important Bird Areas (IBA) program (headed by Krista Kaptein). Krista was also responsible for drafting our success-ful application for a BC Gaming Grant, which helps to fund the IBA program, the BC Nature magazine and the online Nature Viewing Guides. Bill Kinkaid is the major contributor to the Viewing Guides.

Actions on Nature and Environmental IssuesSince May 2016, with executive approval, BC Nature sent out the following letters (usually at the request of a mem-

ber club or the conservation committee):• To the BC government on impacts of o�-road vehicles in Oliver Mountain (requested by Oliver-Osoyoos Natural-

ists). • To the BC government on the likely impacts of a proposed run-of-the-river power project on Frosst Creek near

Cultus Lake. • To the federal Minister of Transport encouraging a tanker moratorium on the BC north coast.• To the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on the con�ict of interest with DFO managing both wild salmon �sheries

and aquaculture.• To the Premier on the failure to bring in meaningful carbon control and climate policies.• Submission to the Robert’s Bank Review Panel on the environmental impacts of the proposed expansion to the

container port (Dr. Baird’s report – see above).• To the BC Ministers of Environment and FLNRO on inappropriate advertisements for o�-road vehicles in the gov-

ernment’s hunting and trapping regulations.

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• To the BC government on the impacts to sensitive ecosystems and Important Bird Areas of proposed solar farms in the Kootenays.

• To the Prime Minister on the Canadian Government’s lack of action in prosecuting the 2014 Mount Polley Mine pollution.

• Submission to environmental review of proposed LNG plant on Digby island, Prince Rupert (in collaboration with the Northern Amphibians Naturalists Society).

• To the Premier on the proposed bridge and dredging to replace the George Massey Tunnel.• To the federal Minister of Health recommending a ban on imidacloprid pesticide.• To the BC Minister of Environment urging protection of Pink Mountain.• Submission to the BC government’s public survey on provincial Species at Risk initiatives in British Columbia.• Support for a legal application to stop logging in mountain caribou habitat around Trophy Mountain near Wells

Gray Provincial Park• Press release commenting on the proposal by the BC government to establish an independent agency to manage

wildlife in the province.• To the three major political parties in the BC election requesting their stance on a range of nature and conserva-

tion issues.

We’ve also sent letters of support on behalf of Elders Council for Parks British Columbia(grant application), Bird Studies Canada (grant), GotBats (grant), Ecoforestry Institute Society (supporting purchase of Wildwood estate), and Comox Valley Naturalists (grant).

Collaboration on the Aichi TargetsBC Nature is working with Nature Canada and other naturalist organizations across the country to promote and

assist the Canadian government’s goal of increasing the protected areas in Canada to 17% of terrestrial and freshwater areas, and 10% of marine and coastal areas by 2020. This is one of the targets that Canada signed on to in the Aichi Convention on Biodiversity in 2010. This will continue through 2017 and beyond.

Environmental Law CollaborationBC Nature continues to collaborate with Professor Chris Tollefson and his team from the UVic Environmental Law

Centre and the non-pro�t Paci�c Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation (CELL). Prof. Tollefson represented BC Nature and Nature Canada (pro bono) in the successful application to the federal Court of Appeal, which in June 2016 overturned the Harper government’s approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. This legal team is also providing input on behalf of BC Nature to the review of the federal Environmental Assessment Act, which we hope will lead to more open, fair and scienti�cally rigorous reviews of industrial developments in Canada.

Lillooet AGM OrganizersFinally, a big vote of thanks to Vivian Birch-Jones and her team of organizers for the Lillooet AGM. I know we are

going to have an excellent and unique experience at this spring meeting. ☼

Communications Report Submitted by Claudia Copley

The current members of the Communications Committee are as follows: Betty Davison, Rick Gee, John Neville, Pen-ney Edwards, and Claudia Copley. The largest commitment of this Committee is getting the BC Nature magazine put

together and out to members, and the bulk of this work is handled by our indefatigable o�ce manager, Betty Davison, with editing shared by some of the other committee members. The same is true of the emailed ENews: Betty does all of the work involved in compiling and sending this out. She tries to get it out monthly - approximately the third week. Anyone who has something they think would be interesting to include is welcome to send it to her. This communication tool goes to all members, just as the magazine does.

This year the Communications Committee drafted a Terms of Reference and this was approved by the Executive and can be viewed on the BC Nature website. We also agreed that it would be helpful to have a style guide for reference when editing the magazine, and a start has been made on this project, but it is still a work in progress. Finally, it is apparent that social media is here to stay! So BC Nature does need to have a presence via Twitter and probably Instagram and what-ever else is out there (or about to emerge). We do already have a Facebook page so anyone who is a FaceBooker: please “like” us! What we need is someone other than Betty to take on regular updates of the FaceBook site, and someone, not necessarily the same person, to take on our other social media needs. ☼

Conservation Report Submitted by Peter Ballin

This year we welcomed Jim Bryan and Roger Emsley to the conservation committee. They bring depth of knowledge and histories of focused environmental action to the committee. Hugh Westheuser resigned from the committee,

and we thank him for his dedicated work. We are seeking another member to represent Vancouver Island.

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The conservation committee strives to keep informed about environmental issues that concern BC naturalists. Listed below �nd topics that we have been discussing in the last few months. BC Nature has submitted letters, �lled out forms to government, or issued press releases on the topics with a check mark after them.

Columbia River Treaty Alternative Energy-WindAlternative Energy-Solar √BC Parks √Climate Change √Parks and Protected Areas Mount Polley √PipelinesCanada’s National ParksSpecies at Risk √Site CGot Bats √Wells Gray Caribou protection √Wells Gray UNESCO application √Drones in BC ParksEnvironmental Assessment panel report √Election Letter: seeking stances of party leaders on a number of environmental issues √replacement of the Massey Tunnel √Grizzly huntKinder Morgan pipeline: we may join group of intervenorsAurora - Digby Island LNG review √Marsh and Riparian Habitat Compensation in the Fraser River EstuaryMoose recovery strategy: received reply from governmentInappropriate ORV advertisements √ Nature Canada/ CPAWS support √Pink Mt protection √Roberts Bank (See report page Wild salmonPrivatization of wildlife management √Bees: Ban on imidacloprid pesticide √

The conservation committee reports in our BC Nature magazine present you with more details. If you wish more infor-mation, please contact me and I’ll be happy to �ll you in: pjballin@mac.com. ☼

Education Report Submitted by Marg Cuthbert

The Education Committee has addressed:

1. The 2016 Rene Savenye Scholarship was awarded to Haley Crozier and an article and photo were submitted to Betty for the BCnature fall Magazine. It was arranged for Marg Cuthbert and Jude Grass of the Education Com-mittee to present Haley with the cheque at the BC nature o�ce as she was visiting in North Vancouver that day. Photos were taken of the presentation for the BC Nature website.

2. Edits for the 2016 Rene Savenye Scholarship ad and application were completed and submitted to Betty for the website. The deadline is June 2, 2017 for 2017 applicants.

3. A Naturalist Mentor page in the magazine was developed to acknowledge and honour our Naturalist Mentor members who have dedicated years of service to sharing their nature knowledge, expertise and time with others. We hope BC Nature member clubs will wish to utilize this opportunity to honour their club mentoring members.

4. Please contact Marg Cuthbert email: blueheronmarg@gmail.com with your request for acknowledgement, thank you.

5. BC Nature Clubs were requested to include their education activities in their annual club report for our committee members to compile an annual BC Nature Education activity report.

6. The Education Committee received a generous donation from a BC Nature member from Cranbrook and Walter Thorne sent him a thank you card. This donation is very much appreciated.

7. The 2017 BC Regional Science Fairs have just been completed and the Education Committee will be submitting an article on the results for the next magazine.

8. Marg has sent her appreciation to Walter Thorne for representing the Education Committee as Vice Chair in her absence in November thru March and to Jude Grass in March 2016.

9. The Education Committee plans to meet at the BC Nature AGM in Lillooet on Friday, May 5, at 4:00 -6:00 pm. All are welcome.☼.

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O�ce Manager Report Submitted by Betty Davison

Another year has �own by! Hopefully a kind member will heed our plea for assistance as a volunteer for our social media in updating our Facebook, Twitter, enews, and BC Nature website. In order to keep our younger members

engaged and up--to-date with BC Nature, the social media side is crucial to keep updated. So if you know of anyone in your club that has the ambition to take on this volunteer position, please have them contact the o�ce ( manager@bcnature.ca ).

Great news, we have once again been approved for a Canada Summer Jobs grant to get a summer student for the 2017. Our summer student program is crucial to assist with projects, outreach and general o�ce duties for BC Nature.

Work has begun on an on-line database to assist both the o�ce and the membership directors. This was discussed and approved by both the club directors and executive some time ago. We hope to launch this new database in the late fall. It will be of great help to all the clubs and the o�ce to be streamlined and to reduce time spent (on both sides) of keeping the database up to date.

I look forward to a good 2017-2018 administrative year with you all and thank you for your support and assistance in keeping BC Nature running smoothly! ☼

In Memoriam

We are saddened to have lost four BC Nature Club Directors in the last year. We will miss their faces and input at our club directors meeting and seeing them at the AGM/FGM outings. We would like to honour their assistance in their

roles with BC Nature as BCN Club Directors with a few words below.

We are also saddened with the loss of one of our founding directors, Dick Stace-Smith. Dick's in memoriam will be in the BCnature summer magazine.

Leona BreckenridgeSubmitted by Liz Walker - President White Rock Surrey Naturalists

Leona Breckenridge, naturalist, environmentalist and activist was known and appreciated for her curiosity, her desire to learn and to achieve, her willing-

ness to share and her welcoming personality. Leona died along with her hus-band John in March 2017. A much valued member of the White Rock and Surrey Naturalists (and other naturalist/environmental groups) Leona was always the person to step forward when something needed to be done…she was our BC Nature representative, took on our Newsletter, managed the 2016 Christmas Bird Count, provided guidance with our �nances and was always looking for the next step we could take to build the club.

Leona suggested and organized our most recent major project. Endearingly referred to as the Leona Project, under the auspices of the Great Canadian Shoreline cleanup, and was recognized as one of 2 mega clean ups in their Mega Cleanups from groups small and large. Over four full days of clean up our volunteers removed over 46,000 pounds of debris from a 4 km stretch of the Nicomekl River. In the initial days of clean up the debris included 3000 pounds of Styrofoam. It was this revelation that led to the determination that not enough was being done to resolve the problem and hence the development of a resolution for the encapsulation of expanded polystyrene used for �ota-

tion. It is hoped that one of the most troubling aspects of EPS in our environment, when it has broken down into pieces too small and di�cult to retrieve, that some regulatory controls will at least start to address this aspect of degraded EPS. Leona’s death has left us with this to complete as part of her legacy, only one among others.

Leona was very involved with the DFO Shorekeeper marine intertidal annual surveys introduced to Friends of Semi-ahmoo Bay Society in 2005. Her dedication from the beginning to the time of her death was of great value to the organi-zation. Leona would often be found at her favourite beach, Coldicutt, at low tide, searching for the surprise of the day.....maybe a tiny nudibranch or a midshipman carefully guarding a patch of newly laid eggs. Leona was always available to help with the Shorekeeper training of new recruits, specializing in the mapping of the various intertidal habitats. She has left us with many fond memories enjoying the journey as we learn and work together. ☼

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Ursula Easterbrook Submitted by Tom Bearss, President, Delta Naturalists Society

The Delta Naturalists Society (DNS) and BC Nature will miss our good friend, Ur-sula Easterbrook, who died on February 25 at Delta Hospital, following a spirited

�ght with cancer. Ursula was a Director with BC Nature since 2005, and a member for years before that.

Ursula spent her early years in Germany before moving to Toronto, and eventually Vancouver and Tsawwassen. Prior to her retirement, she worked as a lab technician and teacher. Painting was her �rst love until she retired early, and became seri-ous about photography, or, as she admitted, addicted. Ursula was a Certi�ed CAPA Judge, a Fellow of the Canadian Association of Photographic Art and with a CAPA Honours Certi�cate of Photographic Achievement. She was the editor/publisher of the CAPA Paci�c Zone Newsletter, and wrote articles for the newsletter, as well as for Nature Vancouver, Delta Naturalists’ Newsletter and BC Nature.

Ursula was president of the Cammidge House Committee in Boundary Bay Regional Park for two years, and a founding member of the Boundary Bay Park

Association (BBPA). Ursula instituted a joint DNS/BBPA event, “Birds in Focus”, a photography workshop which she taught, and the International Migratory Bird Day ‘Mother’s Day Tea with the Birds’. As a long time member and Director of the Delta Nats, she was responsible for recruiting the monthly speakers, as well as being our representative on BC Nature.

Ursula and her beloved sheep dog, Farley, travelled widely, photographing nature. She visited Antarctica, drove across Canada, and went a number of times to Alaska, but many of you will remember her for her participation at almost every FGM and AGM in BC. She exhibited her photos and gave slide show presentations on her trips at Delta Libraries, as well as to nature groups including DNS. Ursula was a feisty person, having no problem confronting photographers who were getting too close and causing stress to the snowy owls on their annual migratory stops in Delta. Ursula was a true nature lover who expressed her love through her photographs. Ursula Easterbrook was a real Cham-pion and Protector of Our Environment and will be sorely missed.☼

Joyce HoglundSubmitted by Bob Hand�eld, President of South Okanagan Naturalists

Joyce Hoglund passed away in May, 2016 after a brief battle with cancer. While Joyce was a member of SONC for “only” eleven years she made a very big

contribution to the Club in that time. Joyce joined SONC early in 2005 while still working at Okanagan College (OC) in Penticton. She soon became involved in the Club’s South Okanagan Habitat Garden located on the College grounds and was the liaison between the Club and OC until her retirement. She organized the gar-den maintenance activities and also became active in other Club activities, being a co-leader of the Thursday birding outings for some time and helping to organize Club �eld trips. She then served on the Board of Directors for several years.

For the last few years she served as the Club’s rep to BC Nature attending several BC Nature AGM’s and acting on our behalf in all our dealings with BC Nature.

Joyce's warm personality and willingness to jump in and help will most de�nitely be missed by all. ☼

Vida TattrieSubmitted by Vi Lambie, Mackenzie Bird Observatory

Vida was a true naturalist and really appreciated everything in nature.  She was in-volved with our birding project since our club was started.  I had an occasion to post

something in our local newspaper asking for volunteers to help us do something for the birds. Vida phoned - She asked if it was an April fool's joke as she found the ad in the paper on April 1 and people doing things for nature weren't heard about very often. 

Vida took some great photos of wild �owers and wildlife. She took a photo of a Black-chinned Hummingbird when they were out camping - a rare sighting for our area. She had a photo of buckbean that was very similar to what was on the cover of BCnature.We always shared our early sightings of birds as they returned each spring - we really miss her!

Vida taught everyone to appreciate everything from the chirp of a chickadee to the dynamic colours of a wild�ower bouquet. She was a woman who was �ercely proud of her family, and loved with everything she had. Vida will be forever missed by devoted husband Ray, and her four loving children.☼

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T�ght with cancer. Ursula was a Director with BC Nature since 2005, and a member for years before that.

Vancouver and Tsawwassen. Prior to her retirement, she worked as a lab technician and teacher. Painting was her �rst love until she retired early, and became serious about photography, or, as she admitted, addicted. Ursula was a Certi�ed CAPA Judge, a Fellow of the Canadian Association of Photographic Art and with a CAPA

the CAPA Paci�c Zone Newsletter, and wrote articles for the newsletter, as well as for Nature Vancouver, Delta Naturalists’ Newsletter and BC Nature.

Club Reports

Kootenay Region Regional Coordinator - Joan Snyder

Rocky Mountain Naturalists (RMN), submitted by Greg Ross

Our membership has grown and is maintaining a great mix of all ages. Once again, a great variety of our members are stepping up to be leaders of our outings. We are having outings almost every week. This year we have been

bird watching, hiking, biking, canoeing/kayaking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. Our spring Elizabeth Lake bird monitoring activity has grown into a year round event, going weekly to various habitats and hotspots throughout the year.

We continue to maintain and monitor many km of bluebird box trails. Marianne Nahm has done a great job collect-ing the weekly data reports from the monitors and summarizing the results. Over 20 volunteer monitors checked the 320 bluebird boxes, �edging 711 western bluebirds, 184 mountain bluebirds, 425 tree swallows, 4 house wrens and 12 mountain chickadees.

We held our annual club camp at Dry Gulch Provincial Park in Radium this year, exploring the area's birds with Randy Hopkins and other local birders that are also members of the Rocky Mountain Naturalists. Some members walked and others biked the Old Coach Trail along the Eastern rim of the Kootenay river which o�ered fabulous views of the wetlands below.

Although the city is experiencing �ooding at Elizabeth Lake, and the water is now covering a small portion of the turtle nesting habitat, we expect the Turtle Appreciation Day to go o� without a hitch. The Fish and Wildlife Compen-sation Fund sponsor this event with volunteers from the RMN who interact with school children and the public for a full day of nature education. Last year there were over 80 known turtle nesting sites monitored by Greg Ross. ☼

West Kootenay Naturalists’ Association(WKNA), submitted by Peter Wood

Our ‘club’ here keeps very active with pretty regular outings, almost every week through the year; boots, snow-shoes, cross country skis, even the odd bike ramble or canoe trip are possible. Our trip program convenor, about

once a quarter, puts out e-mail requests for volunteer ’leaders’ (trip coordinators) to o�er visits to their favourite places and interested members call these volunteers expressing interest and requesting details. The weather some-times has put dampers on things this past season but most trips get to go, often with a dozen of more participants. For instance, last Saturday, I lead a gentle hike to one of my favourite dog-walking areas. Including me, there were 14 of us on the 3 hour meander along the cobble-lined shore of Kootenay River below the Corra Linn hydro dam, then back through some pretty old cottonwood forest with its admix of most of the local conifers. We all had a grand time checking out the bird-songs and some visible birds too, and lots of di�erent species of plants, a few invertebrates discovered hiding under ‘cast-o�’ plywood pieces left behind after long-ago dam construction times, and many signs of beaver activity too. Spring is slow this year round here but there were lots of signs of it being in full swing soon. The day was cool with sunny warm spells and not much wind. Perfect! The picnic lunch, that some of us tried for at the end of the trip, was briskly demolished by a �erce hail shower!

Besides this regular outdoors weekly program throughout the year, we host guest speaker presentations on the last Monday evenings of September, November, January, March and May. These are rotated around the club’s member-ship catchment area starting in Nelson in September, then on to Genelle (just north of Trail), Castlegar, Trail and back to Genelle. Rotating our locations as we do, shares out the driving distances for our well-spread-out membership. Roads are dark and twisty here and winter driving is not much fun over the big distances involved. The Genelle meet-ings also include pot-luck suppers and in May our AGM. All our business meetings are kept very short but one of the highlights of each, is a round-the-room survey of who has seen what nature-wise since last time we met. Typically we get about 25-40 members plus occasional guests and drop-ins (from our limited advertising) out to these events. This Spring we �tted in an extra meeting in Castlegar to meet and hear the presentation by our BC Nature President Dr. Alan Burger. This was a great thrill for us all and Alan’s very polished, illustrated presentation on Polar Biology was very well received and much appreciated.

Individual members participate in the Annual Christmas and Spring BIRD COUNTS for which we have faithful volun-teers who co-ordinate the sharing of the available territory for the spotters, collate all the data they send in and send the data o� to Bird Studies Canada. We are also hosted each late June, to a very early birding tour of the lower Slocan Valley and a pot-luck picnic in the Valley at the summer cottage of our Bird Counts Coordinator Peter McIver.

Some of our members also are actively supporting and participating again in the Kootenay Bank Swallow nesting study lead by Janice Arndt. Money from BC Nature helps considerably in supporting Janice in her work. Our sincere thanks to BCN for this support for Janice’s work.

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Several local issues have arisen in the last year that have caused the membership to support the writing of letters to the authorities concerned by the WKNA’s executive. Issues such as the prolonged closure of the Enterprise Creek forest service road, which also serves as one of the access roads onto Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park; the burying of nesting Bank Swallows by contractors operating heavy machines in a tall-banked sand-mining operation; the need to expand Cody Caves Provincial Park’s surface boundaries so as to contain all the known extent of the underground caves and surface sink holes that feed the caves. Logging plans are afoot to operate above these caves that extend beyond the present park limits. Such logging would surely endanger the underground park features; the need to constrain, more than presently so, the operation of motorized, o�-road vehicles in the area of the Pend D’Oreille valley south of Trail. Wildlife values and nesting sites of some rare species there are being seriously threatened by these o�-road tear-abouts. There are probably other issues that we have or need to have WKNats’ voices heard on.

Our membership presently includes about 65 addresses, some with couples as members. The challenge still remains to attract volunteers to serve in executive roles for the club. We have operated for the last year without a Record-ing Secretary and for the last several years without a Vice-President. Presently, our Treasurer/Membership Registrar, Director to BC Nature, Newsletter Editor, Bird Counts Coordinator, Google group Administrator and myself as Presi-dent, have been in our roles for many years. We are willing to carry on, but perhaps for the long-term health of the club ‘new blood’ is needed to be trained and readied to take-over the reins. Each year we do attract a few new mem-bers, some relatively youthful compared to most of us, but gradually, I’d guess the average age of our club members is increasing not staying steady, as would be good for a sustainable organization.

Respectfully submitted and with sincere thanks to all the executive members at BC Nature who keep the ‘mother organization’ so vital and our BC Nature Magazine so full of such worthwhile stories and articles. Thanks to you all. ☼

Lower Mainland Region Regional Coordinator - Jude Grass

The Lower Mainland Region covers the Metro Vancouver Area and Fraser Valley up towards Hope, Sunshine Coast, Bowen Island; and up to Squamish and Whistler. We have 21 clubs in our region.

• Abbotsford-MissionNatureClub• AlouetteFieldNaturalists• BowenNatureClub• BurkeMountainNaturalists• ChilliwackFieldNaturalists• DeltaNaturalists’Society• FriendsofSemiahmooBay• GreatBlueHeronSociety• LangleyFieldNaturalistsSociety• LittleCampbellWatershedSociety• NatureVancouver(VancouverNaturalHistorySociety)• PenderHarbourandDistrictWildlifeSociety• SquamishEnvironmentalConservationSociety• StoneyCreekEnvironmentCommittee• SunshineCoastNaturalHistorySociety• SurreyEnvironmentalPartners• TexadaSticklebackGroupAssociation• WhistlerNaturalHistorySociety• WhiteRockandSurreyNaturalistsSociety• WildResearch• YorksonWatershedEnhancementSociety

Congratulations – these clubs are doing a remarkable job with events, �elds trips, �eld studies, working with chil-dren of various ages, and much more....

It would have been nice to have a report from each of the clubs so that we could share their programs, and issues. I would still like to hear from clubs who didn’t send in reports.

There are some challenges in hosting a full regional meeting because of the extent of our area. I am hoping to be able to have either a meeting in some of the areas, or to have conference/phone calls so that we can discuss the important things for each club and see how we can assist our clubs better. One way we might communicate more often would be by circulating the various club newsletters. If clubs would like to send me a PDF or a scanned copy of their newsletter, I could then forward it to all the Club Director in our Region. We can discuss about breaking the Region into smaller areas so that we could meet.

If you have any other ideas about how we can communicate better please let me know. I will be sending this AGM report to the clubs that have not responded for this AGM. Jude Grass – judegrass@shaw.ca 604 538 8774 ☼

The following 10 clubs did submit reports for the AGM. (Reports enclosed)

Abbotsford-Mission Nature Club (AMNC), submitted by Hank Roos

Our monthly club meetings continue to draw good attendance and with the various means we use to communicate the meeting to the community we always see a number of visitors join us as well. Although our total membership

hasn’t changed that much it is encouraging to see new members join �lling the void of those whose membership has lapsed.

At our most recent club meeting we had our �rst and second prize “Science Fair” students present their research and receive their $100 and $75 prize money. First prize went to 2 students from the Dashmesh Punjabi School who pre-sented their research on removing contaminants from ‘grey water’ through �ltration. Second prize went to a student from Credo Christian High School who made roo�ng shingles using ‘recycled plastics’ showing how people in poorer parts of the world could produce them. Having these young people present their projects is an annual highlight for us.

The work we started at Willband Creek Park four years ago, continues with our partners: City of Abbotsford Parks, Rec & Culture, Abbotsford Christina Middle School students, Fraser Valley Watershed Coalition and the Fraser Valley Con-servancy. Our club recently organized our second annual blackberry removal work bee when 16 club members joined in and the City arranging for a pizza lunch. A great event to get to know each other better as well as making progress in removing invasives.

Having failed last year to receive the grant funds applied for from the Coop for our viewing platform we established a “fund raising committee” to �nd other source to raise funds. In the meantime, since the Coop contacted us to encourage us to re-apply this year due to a larger pool of money being made available for projects, we again applied and should know the result in the beginning of May. In addition to the wood duck boxes and swallow boxes made, installed and monitored by students, we now have permission to install a barn owl box. We plan to build �ve of them with materials being donated by a local lumber yard.

This week three of our executive met with the heads of Abbotsford’s park divisions and were extremely well received and encourage by the commitment to support us in our current work and long term vision for a park that is increas-ingly being used and valued by residents (and birds and critters) for its natural values.

The Hogan Family Nature Park, a park our club was involved in since the land was donated by the family to the City, is also a place we are committed to sustaining and adding to its natural values. It is a wonderful 2nd growth forest with a stream meandering through it that is part of the Salmon River watershed. We are currently mapping the trails and updating numbered posts at interpretive points of interest with a matching brochure. We have been asked by a local Scout group as well as NatureKids BC Home Learners to lead them on nature outings for which the park is an excellent resource. ☼

Alouette Field Naturalists (AFN), submitted by Duanne Vandenberg

The monthly meeting of the AFN takes place the second Thursday of the month from September through June. In addition to regular business we establish outings for virtually every Sunday.

We contributed to the Christmas Bird Count on December 17th last year. The weather had turned cold and snowy which made it somewhat more di�cult to locate the birds. Nevertheless, attendance was very good and we ended up enjoying ourselves for the most part. Jennifer and Brian Tayes graciously hosted the evening get together at their home

The AFN has decided to conduct a Nature map of the birds and plants on the property formerly owned by Wilma Robinson. Wilma donated her property to the City of Pitt Meadows some time before she passed away. Thank you to Michael Buckingham who archived her slides and then donated them to the museum.

We have discussed this endeavour with Susanne Sloboda who is in charge of environmental issues at City Hall in Pitt Meadows. She is going to discuss the issue with sta� but she indicated there shouldn't be any problem with it.

A group of AFN folk will be attending the Manning Park Bird Blitz again this year, including Duanne Vandenberg, who has been attending this event for over 20 years. We had a great time last year and expect to have the same this year.

We have been conducting an annual count of our local Sandhill Cranes every year since 1999. A group of intrepid naturalists go out to their locations in the wee hours of the morning and record the crane activity they hear and see.

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Our crane population is small but seems to be hanging on. However we don't appear to have a pair at Codd Wetlands Regional Park this year which is at odds with every other year we have surveyed the area. We have co-hosted this event with the Burke Mountain Naturalists. The weather was really awful this year but we stuck it out and had a good time! In addition to our Sandhill Crane count, a number of our members contributed to the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Thank you to Jennifer Tayes and all our contributors for a great newsletter!

We remain very concerned that the Aquilini Investment Group is going to try to move forward with their intention of alienating 200 acres of good farmland on the Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows borders.

Duanne is our liaison person to the UBC/Malcolm Knapp Research Forest Public Advisory Committee.

We (Duanne) will be attending the June 29, 2017 Seniors Week and will have a table and display at the event.

Jennifer and Brian Tayes are hosting our annual picnic at their lovely home in June.

Our current membership is 20 members ☼

Delta Naturalists Society (DNS), submitted by Anita den Dikken

Delta Naturalists Society has had a very busy few months. Our fearless leader, Tom Bearss, continues to faithfully lead groups of "birders" on early morning birding jaunts. Many of their expeditions are close to home but every once in a

while, they venture into a foreign country (aka USA) and at other times to glamorous island destinations (e.g. Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands). Some birders also take really good pictures which allows those of us who prefer our extra shut-eye to see what we have missed.

We continue to have monthly meetings with guest speakers. With the illness and recent passing of Ursula Easter-brook, members have been volunteering to �nd speakers, and we have had quite a number of topics. These have included birds in Colombia, jaguars in the jungles of Brazil, and some of the highlights of Oman. Snow and ice played havoc with our schedule of speakers and at the last minute in January, we managed to get Joe Foy, one of the Direc-tors of the Wilderness Committee, to speak on the need for Endangered Species legislation in BC This province does not have such legislation. This month, we are looking forward to welcoming Emma Langson whose topic is Plastic Oceans. In June, we will have our usual program of short -presentations from our own members.

A few stalwart members continue to construct, maintain, and monitor bird boxes. We currently have approximately

120 boxes in this community. Recently two of our barn owl boxes fetched the princely sum of $750. In case you are wondering why, farmers who grow blueberries organically rely on natural means to control rodents and “hoo” better than owls?

DNS continues to set up and sta� displays at public events. Next up is the salmon release in Watershed Park on April 23, followed by Mother's Day Tea with the Birds in May. Our Vice-President, Elizabeth Perrin has been busy planning our annual Birds in Focus event for April 22nd here in beautiful downtown Tsawwassen. Ursula Easterbrook started this event years ago, and it continues to draw in crowds. That is then followed by a photography workshop the day after.

DNS is also working with the Corporation of Delta on a Birds and Biodiversity Strategy. In 2018, there will be an Orni-thological Conference in Vancouver. Delta, as a major stop on the Paci�c Flyway, wants to position itself as a major destination for birding. The Birds and Biodiversity Strategy will be part promoting the area. DNS presence on the Birds and Biodiversity committee is comprised of Anne Murray and Nicki Brockamp.

DNS is also partnering with the Tsawwassen Business Improvement Association (Sunny Tsawwassen) to promote our mutual objectives. From this meeting, emerged the idea to have a Facebook page for DNS. Luckily, two of our Direc-tors, Jim Kneesch and Chris McVittie, have attacked this project with considerable relish.

Tom Bearss secured a $1000 grant for students at Burnsview Secondary School in North Delta to remove invasive plants and replace these with native plants. Both students and their teacher were enthusiastic about this project.

Anita den Dikken (yours truly) has agreed to be the current BC Nature club representive, and is looking forward to attending the upcoming BC Nature May meeting and events in Lillooet.

Finally, a word about our Directors and volunteers: Tom Bearss is the President, Elizabeth Perrin is the VP., Jim Kneesch, Treasurer, Chris McVittie Member at Large and enthusiastic volunteer, and Anita in the dual role of Secretary and BC Nature club representative. We are hopeful of securing another Director to assist us. Kudos to Audrey Coutts for her impressive monthly newsletters, Valerie Fuller for P.R., to Terry Carr for scheduling and management of our

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displays, to the wonderful kitchen volunteers who set out our meeting nourishment, our "techies" Paul and Alan, Geof Hacker for his creative posters, Ken Borrie for our website, and to the many others who volunteer at various events. ☼

Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society (FOSB), submitted by Marg Cuthbert

The Friends Volunteer Team continued to contribute an immense amount of time, knowledge and resources for project goals in the Boundary Bay watershed. In 2016 our public outreach hosted 14 events including shoreline

cleanups, invasive removals and plantings, the Beach Hero Marine Interpretive Program provided to the public June through August and the World Ocean Week Festival that included a shoreline cleanup, World Nature Night with a presentation of New Zealand birds, an Eelgrass ecology and beach discovery, the World Ocean Day event followed by beach interpretive and birding walks. We also co-hosted a speaker series focused on the resiliency of Boundary Bay to sea-level rise and climate change; a garden tour in Celebration of the Beauty of Coastal Native Plants and the annual Shorekeepers training workshop and surveys of 4 sites in 2016.

Our Team continued their collaborative work necessary for the Salmon Habitat Restoration and Conservation in Boundary Bay Project. In July and September, we completed 10 days of sub-tidal baseline mapping of the eastern Boundary Bay Eelgrass meadows; hosted a Forage Fish Spawning Habitat training workshop in June followed by biweekly sampling of surf smelt and sand lance spawning sites throughout the year. We are planning both Eelgrass and forage �sh monitoring methods training workshops this summer.

Plantings in three project sites were completed in October and November and work parties continued their monthly invasive removals. The dates are now scheduled for 2017 and a two-project garden tour for the public is scheduled for April 30th.

The FOSB 2016 AGM and Appreciation luncheon was held October 23, 2016 with more than 75 attendees. The 2017 date will be October 15, 2017 and we’ll welcome all interested members with their participation.

The Birds on the Bay & Beyond Program has faltered in recent years and requires a new coordinator; we continue the search as we hope to keep the program viable as it has made a real contribution to lower mainland bird and IBA awareness in the past.

The school programs resource kits were completed renewed in the summer of 2016 due to lost materials. They continue to be in high demand in 2016-17 with the marine program completely booked up for 2017. We continue to request retired naturalist teachers to assist. Two of our FoSBS Board were invited to speak to the North Cascades Audubon Society in Bellingham March 28th and were very well received with positive feedback and numerous ques-tions about our project work. Currently we are advertising for summer students for the Beach hero marine Interpretive program since receiving news that Service Canada will fund two students.

In 2017 we’ve completed in February, the nest box maintenance for the Serpentine WMA tree swallows and wood ducks; hosted three invasive removals, a tree planting and a shoreline cleanup. The 2017 Shorekeepers methods train-ing is scheduled for April 29 with a much re�ned, now one day workshop. The volunteers will survey three sites this year.

Our FOSB volunteers are looking forward to hosting a number of events and beach walks this year as well as a newly formatted World Ocean Weekend Festival.

The FoSBS Team is gratefully acknowledged by their President for their amazing commitment to project work while she was away over the winter!

As times change, we are grateful to our project partners and volunteers for their ideas, direction, time and knowl-edge; our volunteers make all the di�erence! ☼

Langley Field Naturalists (LFN), submitted by Kathy Masse

The Langley Field Naturalist are enjoying excellent monthly speakers organized by Jude Grass. Speakers include our member, Dr. Fred Bunnell, titled The Flight of the Iguana-Wonder and our Biggest Ideas. Another LFN member

David Clements spoke on Attack of the Killer Weeds (concerning weed invasions caused by climate change and inter-national trade).

Wonderful �eld trips are arranged at least bi-monthly by Gareth Pugh. Two of these �eld trips include Cheam lake Wetlands, led by Josh Inman and Birds and Bryophytes at Houston Trail in Derby Reach, led by Phil Henderson

After the LFN worked collaboratively on our Birds of Langley Brochure for over a year, under the leadership of Lilianne Fuller and Gareth Pugh, we applied for grants for publishing. We received funds from BC Nature, the City of Langley and Vancity and now have the beautiful and informative brochures printed and ready for distribution!

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Our new Displays Committee have reviewed our outdated visual materials and is in the process of updating and refreshing our displays. We will be ready with new displays for our upcoming community events.

President, Bob Puls, also our Conservation chair, has worked on many �les, an example being striving to ensure that a wetland is not lost, in rezoning of Gloucester Estates in North Langley. ☼

Nature Vancouver, submitted by Bill Kinkaid and Nancy Prober

Nature Vancouver has been working on a few big projects during the past year which will continue through the year to come.

As a result of changes in provincial legislation, all registered societies are being required to revise their by-laws in line with the new BC Societies Act. We have a committee beginning to work on that.

The ten-year-old website is being redesigned and moved to a new server. It’s been a long drawn-out process with a lot of pitfalls, but we’re slowly moving ahead. The society, founded by John Davidson in 1918, will be celebrating its centennial year in 2018. Lots of plans are in the works, including a number of special trips and social events and an exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver. Additionally, in May of 2018, Nature Vancouver will play host to the Annual General Meeting of BC Nature.

David Cook is stepping down as Chair of the Botany Section after a number of years; we’ve convened a Botany Sec-tion Committee and have had several meetings to get things organized. We look forward to them taking over from David in planning and organizing Botany programmes for the future. Thanks to David for all of his contributions.

The Birder’s Guide to Vancouver and the Lower Mainland was launched in April and continues to sell well both at meetings and at bookstores. It will have an additional printing done for the International Ornithological Congress which will he held in Vancouver in 2018. The Birding Section will be involved with the Congress by having displays at the Convention Centre and leading some �eld trips.

Field trips, hikes, overnight trips and backpacking trips are as popular as ever. More leaders are always needed. Unfor-leaders are always needed. Unfor-tunately, there was no Summer Camp in 2016; for 2017 the camp returns to Driftwood Lodge in Smithers, site of a successful drive-in camp in 2008.

Evening programs, held on most Thursdays during the Fall, Winter and Spring, continue to be well attended.

Two board members are stepping down: Cynthia Crampton, who will continue to be involved on various commit-tees, and Nancy Prober, who has been the recording secretary. Thanks to both for their contributions. Bill Kinkaid will replace Nancy as the second BC Nature Representative and will be attending the BC Nature AGM, along with Bev Ramey, in Lillooet this May. ☼

Squamish Environmental Conservation Society

As we compile this brief report on our activities and challenges for the year we are in the middle of planning for the 25th Earth Day. Our Earth Day celebration will re�ect many of our current programs and priorities.

• For the past few years we have been trying to encourage the development of a program for young naturalists. There will be children’s activities and information on the launch of a NatureKids BC club for Squamish.

• We have just completed our �rst year of monthly nature outings. Earth Day will include a nature walk in the Squa-mish Estuary and a family-oriented nature scavenger hunt. One of our goals this year has been to include some accessible walks. Unfortunately, none of our Estuary trails are accessible, so our Earth Day walk won’t meet this standard. We look forward to working with the Squamish Trails Society to identify and remove barriers to access-ibility of our nature trails.

• Our birding group will lead a birding walk, also in the Estuary. Our birders have been conducting monthly bird counts in the Estuary since 1991. This data is now being analyzed by a Quest University Professor to begin a long-term project that will lead to a better understanding of the impact of birds and climate on our Estuary.

• Several other local environmentally-oriented groups will join us to promote their programs. Our communications this year have re�ected our support for other local groups and we are enjoying a sense of shared purpose.

• Eagle Watch will have an exhibit and we hope to attract more volunteers as well as to support continuity in our Eagle Watch program, which just completed its 21st season. As of this year we have assumed responsibility for the annual Brackendale Eagle Count, which has been conducted in early January for the past 31 years.

• We will be introducing our Biodiversity Squamish project, based on iNaturalist. Through the year we have been building our citizen science web page, which promotes projects sponsored by SES as well as other organiza-tions and individuals. Many of the projects provide opportunities for volunteers and we see increasing interest in citizen science.

• We will be participating with the Squamish Trails Society in a community trail cleanup as part of Pitch-In Week.• Our Earth Day program will end with a screening of the �lm The Messenger, and a discussion of challenges faced

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by our bird populations.

Our reports for the AGM in the past few years have described our concerns about the impact of projects in Howe Sound as well as on the Squamish waterfront. This year we do have a bright spot to report: plans for building a road for industrial tra�c through the middle of the Estuary have been shelved for the foreseeable future. ☼

White Rock & Surrey Naturalists (WRSN), submitted by Carole Monaghan

The White Rock & Surrey Naturalists continue their work on many environmental fronts under the leadership of Presi-dent Liz Walker. We have representation on the Boundary Bay Conservation Committee, the Surrey Environmental

Partners, Sunnyside Acres Advisory Committee, Green Timbers Advisory Committee, Surrey’s Natural Areas Partnership and Campbell Valley Park Association. We receive regular reports and updates from our representatives on these groups. We also take part in the Adopt-a-Street clean-up and the maintenance of the Eva Bene Butter�y Garden. We also support the Nature Kids program.

Education Committee: Education for the year consisted mainly of attending public events where we featured our Nicomekl River Clean-up Project and our Serpentine Fen walks. Note that Laurence also performs educational activities as part of the Eva Bene Butter�y Garden project including a butter�y release. For Surrey's 2016 Environmental Extrava-ganza we attended the Party for the Planet event, the World Ocean's Day Festival and the Sunnyside Heritage Society open house. We hosted a Wetland event at the Serpentine WMA. We continued with our monthly bird watching walks and attempts to encourage the general public to walk their dogs on leash at the Serpentine WMA.

Our Club and our community su�ered a great loss with the death of Leona Breckenridge. She was a tireless worker who inspired others to follow her lead on many environmental issues. She was a past director with BC Nature, took over leadership of the White Rock/South Surrey bird count with Gareth Pugh, and she was also our newsletter editor.

One of Leona’s legacies has been her work on the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup / Nicomekl Riverbank Cleanup. Leona initiated this three-year project which involved removal of unencapsulated expanded polystyrene (EPS) aka Sty-rofoam used in public and private docks, derelict washed-up docks and other garbage which littered the banks of the Nicomekl River in Surrey.  Leona crafted a resolution concerning a ban on the use of un-encapsulated expanded polysty-rene in all new dock facilities, public and private, in tidal and non-tidal river, fresh water, and marine environments, and this resolution will be presented to the BC Nature AGM in May. The members of the WRSN will continue this important work in Leona’s memory.

We are pleased that our Face Book page draws many “likes” for its news and superb photographs. ☼

WildResearch, submitted by Renae Mackas

This spring marks seven years since WildResearch was initiated, and has it ever been an exciting ride! This past year was no exception, as our group continued to grow and develop and see successes with our ongoing programs and events.

2016 was a thrilling year for our �agship program, the Iona Island Bird Observatory (IIBO). Through the IIBO spring and fall migration monitoring programs, we provided training to 90 volunteers that contributed 2,146 volunteer hours towards IIBO (the equivalent of 54 full weeks of work at 40 hrs per week!!) and provided educational demonstrations to 11 visiting groups including Girl Guides of Canada, Nature Kids, UBC, BCIT, Fraser Valley University and the Fairmont Vancouver Airport’s Sustainability Committee. The fall IIBO program also supported the successful completion of mem-ber Natasha Pirani’s MSc. practicum through Royal Roads University. A huge thanks to Christine Rock, the 2016 IIBO Program Manager for all of her work over the past years with this program. Moving into our eighth year running IIBO, we are excited to how the program will continue to develop under the lead of new Program Managers Andrew Huang and Azim Shari�. The spring monitoring program will kick o� this year on April 15th, with help from a team of experienced bandersincludingAnnaSzeitz,AzimShariff,DanFroelich,MicahScholer,JulianHeavyside,YousifAttia,andConnyBreg-man. A BIG thank you to The Sitka Foundation for major �nancial contributions that funded the Spring and Fall Migration Monitoring Programs in 2016 and 2017. Additional funding to run IIBO was generously provided by the City of Richmond and BC Nature and BC Naturalists’ Foundation. We are also very excited to announce that WildResearch has received funding from Service Canada to hire a student this spring and summer to begin the preliminary stages of a long-term habitat restoration project and avian species response study.

The once BC focused WildResearch Nightjar Survey Program continued to spread its wings in 2016, with an expan-sion to �ve additional provinces and territories across Canada to now include survey routes across British Columbia Alberta,Saskatchewan,NewBrunswick,theYukon,andNorthwestTerritories.LedbyProgramManager,EllyKnight,andRegional Coordinators Paul Preston, Gabriel & Amanda Foley, Virginia & Alex Noble-Dalton, Andrea Sidler, and Rhiannon Pankratz, WildResearch enlisted the support from the over 135 volunteers that completed over 253 survey routes across the country. This program’s data contributions and research focus continues to lead the way in terms of our knowledge of three nightjar species with ranges throughout the study area including Common Poorwill, Common Nighthawk, and Eastern Whip-Poor-Will. WildResearch also participated in national meetings to discuss standardized nightjar protocols,

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released an online data atlas hosted by the Community Mapping Network, hosted 8 survey orientation sessions for 51 participants across the country, and continued partnership with University of Alberta’s Bioacoustic Unit, and sustained correspondence with nightjar volunteers through production of a bi-monthly nightjar e-newsletter! TD Friends of the Environment, Canada Summer Jobs Program, and The Nature Trust of British Columbia kindly provided funding for run-ning this program in 2016. We sincerely thank Bird Studies Canada, the Breeding Bird Survey, our program coordinator employee, Alessandra Hood, and many naturalists groups for their support in promoting and participating in our Night-jar Survey program across the country We are very excited to see how the program will continue to develop this year!

This past year the WildResearch Butter�y Program expanded its reach by establishing and building relationships with other like-minded organizations across the Lower Mainland. Program Manager Renae Mackas hosted a successful But-ter�y Identi�cation Workshop in conjunction with Metro Vancouver Regional Park at Campbell Valley Regional Park (CVRP) in Langley, and completed WildResearch’s �ve-year commitment to the BC Butter�y Atlas inventory program in local parks. This year, we look forward to hosting our identi�cation workshop in CVRP again on May 28th, and to further expanding and developing the program around a conservation-focused goal.

Our pilot project ‘Cooper’s Hawks in the City’, further evolved in 2016 under the direction of Jay Brogan, with help from Angela Bond this year as well. This program is aimed at estimating the relative abundance of the Cooper’s Hawk, in Metro Vancouver. As top predators, raptor species like to Cooper’s Hawk are often one of the �rst species to be a�ected by a range of environmental pressures and can provide a cost-e�ective means of detecting environmental change. Under-standing their relative abundance is the �rst step to studying potential environmental pressures, and thanks to the 10 volunteers that assisted with surveys in 2016, this work is underway. Surveys have started again this year, and we are excited to see how the program will continue to develop in its third year.

The WildResearch newsletter, skill-advancing workshops, and regular social events continue to unite our community. Some of the exciting workshops we’ve held so far this year include a workshop which covered nocturnal owl survey methods, and a pre-season banding review workshop where participants learned and reviewed banding operations at IIBO, bird aging techniques, and molt analysis. After a one year hiatus, we are also thrilled to be hosting our “annual” pelagic birding fundraising trip out of Ucluelet on Sunday May 7, 2017. There will be many more events and workshops to look forward to in the remainder of the year, so stay tuned if you are interested! ☼

Yorkson Watershed enhancement Society (YWES), submitted by Kathy Masse

ThisisabusyyearsofarfortheYorksonWatershedEnhancementSociety(YWES)

• InSeptemberwetookpartinLangley’sRiversdayandwehadtwoYWESgarbagepick-ups.• Our group purchased a refrigeration unit to use in North Langley classroom aquariums. It is already being used by

our member Marlee St. Pierre in her classroom at James Kennedy School. • EachyeartheYWEScountspawningsalmonintheYorksonandtributariesandhadahighof170returningCoho.• After all the snowy weather this winter we were very concerned about the salt from the roads, being washed into

our rivers and streams that will harm salmon and its habitat. We have written a letter Langley Township Council to voice our concerns and to ask that the Township use a less toxic alternative on roads.

• We have assisted James Kennedy School in building their rain garden by procuring and planting willow whips.• We are looking forward to our annual �sh release on April 22nd, an exciting community event where we release

ChumsalmonintotheYorkson.☼•

Northern BC - Regional Coordinator Fred McMechan

During the last year there were two meetings via TELUS teleconference call, November 28, 2016 and March 27, 2017. They were well attended and there was �ne communication on a variety of topics with a

focus on activities and issues from our northern clubs.

The remainder of this report consists of highlights from most of the clubs.

Bulkley Valley Naturalists (BVN), submitted by Anne Hetherington

Highlights include:

• Regular �eld trips and presentations• Bat house workshop and bat activity monitoring• Tree planting to replace wetland border along the Smithers Perimeter Trail• Initiating the Perpetual Nature Dairy project. Local artists illustrating an annual natural history event, for each

month; for example the departure of Sandhill Cranes each SeptemberTelkwa Caribou Conservation Recovery Public Consultation Process

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Northern Amphibians Naturalists Society, submitted by Norma Kerby

Our club is located in Northwestern BC with membership from Fort Fraser in the east, north to Dease Lake, and west to Prince Rupert.

During 2016 and 2017 we continued all of our normal projects. Our primary program, NWBC Reptile and Amphibians Monitoring Program, had another successful season. In addition we continue to collect invertebrates for the Royal BC Museum, with an emphasis on pollinators, and small, nondescript moths. We assisted Dr. Dietrich Mebs from the Uni-versity of Frankfurt with his study of rough skin newts, and assisted Dr Corri Lausen with her northern study of bats.

The Society was active in supporting preservation of amphibians and amphibian habitat, with major submissions to the Federal SARA draft management plan for the species of concern, Western Toads, and to the Environmental Assess-ment public process for the Aurora LNG project on Digby Island, a site of a large Western Toad population. Our AGM was held in the community of Rosswood BC with members travelling great distances to attend. Our dispersed mem-bership stays In touch the rest of the year through exchanges of information via email and phone calls. ☼

Kitimat Valley Naturalists (KVN), submitted by Dennis Horwood

In December we sponsored the annual Christmas Bird Count. Good participation with a count of over 50 species.Since the discovery of a large bat colony last July we have collectively spent a great deal of time, making presenta-

tions to Council, meeting with district sta� and hiring a contractor to build two bat colonies. The Council agreed to fund both bat condos. We secured some additional funds from the BC Naturalists Foundation to add signage below each condo. The condos were installed on March 24 in time to be ready for the returning bats.

We were contacted by Kitimat LNG (Chevron) as they wanted to relocate an Osprey nest. The LNG sta� invited us to an information session. A tall stand-alone pole has now been erected and the old nest has been relocated to the new platform. Hopefully the osprey will take to their new viewpoint.This May we hope to be involved in the estuary BioBlitz. This will focus on the outer estuary, speci�cally migrating birds, plant life and invertebrates.

The District of Kitimat owns a signi�cant portion of land immediately adjacent to Minette Bay . District sta� has been active in holding open houses and soliciting ideas on how the property should be developed. Our club has been involved by attending meetings, submitting ideas and completing surveys.Kitimat continues to attract di�erent forms of development. Two run-of the-river projects have been proposed for creeks which �ow into the Little Wedeene River. Our club will monitor the progress as much as possible

Kitimat LNG projects have been very slow to materialize. Both of the large companies involved, Shell and Chevron, have delayed making a �nal investment decision. It seems this may (or may not) be announced in 2018. There con-tinues to be talk and some progress towards having an oil re�nery built in the valley. There does not seem to be much public interest but we understand one company has started an environmental review. Club members continue to monitor any meetings or announcements related to oil moving through pipelines or by rail. ☼

Quesnel Trail and Nature Club (QTNC), submitted by Lorna Schley

A highlight for our club was the awarding of life time memberships to Earl Erb and Gloria Lazzarin, both founding members of our club.

Hikes and �eld trips for this year are being planned. A lovely snowshoe hike along Baker Creek took place in January.A number of members participated in the Christmas Bird Count. We had members participate in the Winter Carnival and Earth Day. Another educational activity will be a showing of the �lm, “Toad People”, a Wilderness Committee �lm. We continue to monitor two sets of Bluebird nest boxes in our area.Beginning this spring our president will be organizing the monitoring of Western Toads in the pond in West Fraser Timber Park. For the past two years tadpoles have been present but there has been no evidence toad hatching and migrating. The plan is to check pH and oxygen levels, and do visual surveillance to determine why the life cycle is interrupted. ☼

MacKenzie Nature Observatory (MNO), submitted by Jeanne Shaw

2016 was an average year for the number of birds that were banded, 3390 birds were banded and the nets were open for a total of 4447 net hours which worked out to an average of 0.76 birds/net-hours. The average was 54

birds banded/day but actual number varied substantially, from a low of 3 birds over a total of 24 net-hours with rain, to a high of 110 on August 6. We had 3 days with over 100 birds. Multiple days were impacted by rain but only Sep-tember 2nd was lost entirely to rain. Another noteworthy mention is that during the 2016 season A Nashville Warbler and a Marsh wren were banded; both are �rsts for the banding station and for the area.

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At a general meeting held November 27, 2016 we were informed that there was funding available through the Macleod Lake and MacKenzie Community Forest. After some discussion it was decided we would apply for funding to build a kitchen building at the Mugaha Marsh Banding Station and to form a building committee At the �rst meeting on November 30th we each took on tasks of fact �nding, costs of materials, prefab versus building the kitchen ourselves, any permits needed and whether or not we have land use permission. At a second meeting we met and decided to go with building it ourselves. An application for $15 000 was approved and then submitted.

Our AGM was held on January 22, 2017 . We also had a General Meeting on March 5, 2017. The purpose of this meeting was to schedule a work party at the banding station and to �nd out if we were successful with our application. We were successful and have to wait for a formal letter of approval.

On March 15, 2017 we set up a display with birds and bugs in the library window.

We will have a busy spring as we would like to have everthng completed before banding starts in July.☼

Williams Lake Field Naturalists (WLFN), submitted by Fred McMechan

Highlights for the past year include:

• Presentations and �eld trips were o�ered• Ongoing operation of the Scout Island Nature was carried on• The Bluebird Nest Box trail project has been ongoing with maintenance and monitoring of the nest boxes in the

Cariboo Chilcotin . This spring monitors have been out cleaning and repairing the boxes, to be ready for the re-turning Mountain Bluebirds and Tree Swallows.

• A bursary for a graduation secondary student will be given in June. An event to raise funds for this bursary will be held in May

• Our club coordinated the Christmas Bird Count in December 2016• Our club sent a letter to the BC Ministry of Environment in November 2016 to strongly oppose the proposal by

Mount Polley Mines Corporation to discharge excess mine water directly into Quesnel Lake as described in their permit application. ☼

Thompson Okanagan Region

Regional Coordinator Janet Pattinson

Lillooet Naturalist Society (LNS) – submitted by Vivian Birch-Jones

Our AGM was held in January with the general membership - the work of the Society the rest of the year is con-ducted by the directors on email and at directors’ meetings. The current executive is Vivian Birch-Jones, Secretary

Chris Galliazzo, Treasurer Greg Smith and directors-at-large Simon Warhurst, Robin Strong, Kevin Aitken and Colin Vidian-Jones. Judy Bodaly assists with the membership duties and MJ Oakes keeps our website up to date. Judy also volunteered to manage the registration and banking for the BC Nature AGM – this was a massive undertaking and Judy conducted it masterfully! The other planning executive for the events are Vivian B-J, Chris Galliazzo and Eleanor Wright.

Sales of the Lillooet Hiking Guide, Canyon to Alpine continue to help fund many of our club activities. Keeping the listed trails clear and enjoying the listed hikes were part of our many activities.

Other highlights this past year include:

• S7i’sken visit January 9th at the kind invitation of elder Bill Machell, which was enjoyed by our group, and we met with First Nation leaders in 2016 to continue to build our relationships and keep communication strong. We are pleased to o�er a visit to the S7i’sken as part of some of our AGM �eld trips.

• As a club, we participated with our local Chamber of Commerce. in support of the activities led by Splitrock Environmental. We also assisted with LRISS (Lil-looet Region Invasive Species Society) activities as well as Lillooet Agriculture and Food Society (LAFS). We are also members of the "Coast to Cascades Grizzly Bear" recovery initiative. Other local groups we participated with are the Lil-looet O� Road Cycling Association (LORCA). LORCA initially formed under the umbrella of LNS – they are now their own Society.

• We participated in the BC “Got Bats?” project and will be assisting with a mist netting course planned for Lillooet in July 2017 led by Dr. Cori Lausen. Our sum-mer program, "The Walking with Smolts" event, in which buses of school children come to the Lower Spawning Channel and to tour educational booths along a natural history walk, was a success again this year.

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• Chris Galliazzo is the coordinator for the Bluebird Box Trail project and led expeditions again this year. • Beautiful outing to the alpine in September to plant over 2,000 Whitebark pine seedlings – great volunteer e�ort

led by Randy Moody and Kim North. • The local radio and newspaper continue to provide positive PR for our organization. We joined the Love Lillooet

campaign and have a site on their website promoting all good things Lillooet. • The webcam on the Osprey nest at the Old Bridge was operational and we enjoyed watching that virtual nest as

well as two other Osprey nests ‘live’ over the season. • We supported a number of applications for funding in the Bridge and Seton watersheds in 2016 including work

on Bats, Whitebark Pine, Fishers, Tailed Frog, Spotted owl restoration, a wetland survey, Invasive Species control and restoration work along the Seton corridor. Maintenance work continues to be done at the Powerhouse site, “Sat'atqwa7”.

• Nature Conservancy of Canada will be completing their FWCP funded year’s work in 2017 – they have been cre-ating an overview map to identify properties for acquisition for conservation purposes.

• We wrote to our MP Jati regarding reinstating passenger rail service, cc various, and brought it to the Liberal MLA for Small Business during her visit here - positive responses received but no action.

• Public presentations on natural history were held including one on Grizzly bears by MFLNRO and slide shows on New Zealand by Hans Meyer and Antarctica by Ken Wright and one on eDNA and Tailed Frogs by J. Hobbs

• We collaborated with the library to host a book release and presentation – Crossing Home Ground by David Pitt-Brooke. David will be available at the grasslands talk in May to promote his book with the BC Nature group.

• At member’s requests we conveyed out concerns about timber harvest plans at Burkholder and have been informed that ‘recreational values’ will be taken into account.

• Our 17th annual Christmas bird count was held in Lillooet in December.• Members conveyed concerns about the Sturgeon �shery here and we have partnered with the local Conserva-

tion o�cer and anglers to complete a tagging and enumeration project to assist in establishing a baseline popu-lation of these amazing prehistoric �sh. A conservation message will be a large part of the project for local and visiting �shers. BC Nature Foundation has contributed $2,000 towards this project – thank you.

• BC Nature held their fall meetings in Prince George in 2016 – two members from the Lillooet Naturalists attended.

We are looking forward to the BC Nature AGM at Lillooet. ☼

Shuswap Naturalist Club (SNC), submitted by Janet Pattinson

We made a donation to BC Tomorrow, a local group. Their website best tells about their project: this “online gam-ing simulator directly supports BC’s new educational curriculum outcomes and will use cutting edge technology

and satellite imagery to explore options for balancing human land use with ecological integrity.” The plan is to make this available to all high schools in the province.

• We made a donation to the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre which deals primarily with raptors.• We have a budget line for the Nature Kids to support some children who might not otherwise be able to attend

overnight activities.• We have continued our work in manually removing the invasive plant, woody nightshade.• We are collaborating with the Salmon Arm Bay Nature Enhancement Society in their Hummock Project: Complex-

ing the Foreshore. This includes planting native species.• We appreciated a presentation by Michelle Walsh about her research on �sh in the Deadman River.• We have a team working on Save our Songbirds, which seeks to educate cat guardians about keeping their pets

inside. ☼

Nicola Naturalist Society (NNS), submitted by Alan Burger

In our seventh year, our club reached an important milestone, with just over 100 members (70 memberships). Our evening meetings continue to be well-attended and in the past year featured: Dr. Rob Higgins from Thompson Riv-

ers University (Ants of British Columbia); T.J. Goolia�, a grad student at UBC Okanagan (Range Shifts of Bobcats and Lynx in BC); Tracy Wimbush, �sheries biologist with the Nicola Tribal Association (Salmon and salmon habitat in the Nicola Valley); local naturalist Bob Scafe (Butter�ies and moths of the Nicola Valley); and UBC student ethnobotanist Sarah Desrosiers (Sharing ‘Berried’ Knowledge - people and plants in the Canadian Arctic). In December we co-hosted, with the Wilderness Committee, the documentary movie Toad People and in February we screened the award-win-ning movie on Arctic Eider Ducks, People of a Feather.

Our winter bird identi�cation workshop, held just before the Christmas Bird Count, remains popular. Despite the frigid weather, we had a record number of participants (36 people) on the Merritt CBC, a near-record number of species (70), and a record number of individual birds (7,026). The highlight of the count was the discovery of a Lesser Gold�nch - a rare vagrant to BC, which luckily remained in town for several weeks to the delight of visiting birders.

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In the summer we enjoyed joint �eld trips with two of our neighbouring BC Nature clubs, the Central Okanagan Naturalists (Kelowna) and the Vermilion Forks Naturalists (Princeton). Other �eld outings included a swan/eagle count in January with Wayne Weber, and our annual Snow Bunting Shiver - a winter visit to the high-elevation grasslands of the Douglas Lake plateau (highlights were about 180 Snow Buntings and 11 Sharp-tailed Grouse). Our members also participated in ongoing surveys for owls, nightjars, and Lewis’s Woodpeckers.

On the eduction side, we ran a birding �eld trip for local Grade 11 - 12 students, gave nature presentations to ele-mentary school classes, and had a wetlands information display at the Kane Valley Ranch Day. Club director Bob Scafe added to his popular butter�y and moth feature-pages on the Nicola Naturalist website, and in the spring and sum-mer is leading monthly butter�y hunts. An exciting development is the start of a NatureKids BC club in Merritt - one of our members was the mentor on their �rst outing and we look forward to many more collaborations.

We’re continuing to work with BC Parks and their landscape contractors, helping to redesign the campsites at Ken-tucky-Alleyne Provincial Park to minimize roadkills of Western Toads, and to provide interpretive signs for visitors. The toads in this park were a focus of our 5-year amphibian monitoring program, which ended in 2014. ☼

Kamloops Naturalist Club (KNC), submitted by Ken Lipinski

2016 was a year of growth for the Club with:

• Record membership numbers (now at 113)• Incredible participation in our Facebook community (reaching 4,000 people in the last month, with one of Rick

Howie’s photo posts alone reaching 900 people!)• Collaborative Grasslands Cleanup (including such diverse groups as 4 x 4 clubs & Fish & Game) with over 130 vol-

unteers and 10 tons of garbage removed.• Designed & distributed a pamphlet describing the uniqueness of the Dewdrop/Rousseau protected area.• Citizen science in the form of Herp Day, Bird Fest, the Swan/eagle Count, and the short -lived Osprey Cam• Got Bats? Program. Responded to 77 requests for assistance; 20 bat houses constructed & distributed.• Twice yearly Adopt-a-road cleanups.• Regular monthly �eld trips with expert leaders• Monthly meeting programs ranging from permafrost to �re protection, grizzly bears to badgers, rattlesnakes and

even elephants, mushrooms (record attendance!) to drones.

The best way to make even more of a di�erence is to build relationships with allied groups. In 2016, the KNC:

• Continued to partner with BC Parks (speci�cally the Parks Supervisor, who will soon have more colleagues, (thanks in part to KNC letters to our MLA)

• Supported NatureKids BC (remember, �eld trip ideas/leaders are always needed)• On the Kamloops Natural Areas Advisory Committee which is working closely with the City on priority issues.

Corresponded with:• BC Hydro (Kenna Cartwright substation construction)• Kinder Morgan Canada (pipeline through Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area)• BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources (Dewdrop management and beyond),• City of Kamloops (interpretive signs at McArthur Island, Peterson Creek Multi-Use Path, need for Natural Areas

Master Plan), colleagues, (thanks in part to KNC letters to our MLA) ☼

Central Okanagan Naturalist Club (CONC), submitted by Hugh Westheuser

CONC has experienced another good year. Membership is currently just over 250, with many people joining it to learn more about nature; contribute to local conservation e�orts; enjoy the highly rated monthly meetings with

great guest speakers - many from the sta� of UBC Biology Department or their students; and to participate in the many outdoor activities organized by the club. These activities include twice weekly birding; weekly botany outings; 3 kinds of weekly hiking, for easy, more �at terrain to hiking more di�cult, longer hikes with good elevation gains; and one group bicycling combining it with both birding and botany.

A revived “Conservation Committee” has seen the completion of Fascieux Creek Restoration project within the play�eld of a Kelowna Middle School. There is space to hold classes out-of-doors. The committee is now tackling two more complicated and di�cult projects - the preservation of Robert Lake - a very popular birding area within the City of Kelowna and another area is being examined for Red and Blue listed plants. A variety of Moss, liverwort and lichen, with one species of lichen identi�ed as a �rst for B. C. have been identi�ed in this area.

Munson Pond, developed as a park by the City of Kelowna, last year, with a lot of input from CONC, has proved to be highly successful for bird viewing. Dogs are not allowed. The City has now erected two viewing platforms at water level opposite each other across the 9.82 h. of water.

This year CONC will host a BC Nature Camp on the shores of Okanagan Lake. ☼

North Okanagan Naturalist Club (NONC), submitted by Pam Jenkins

There is an active committee working at the September FGM preparations. We’ve had speakers each month at our regular meetings, the �rst Wednesday of the month. For April, a UBCO graduate student told of his badger research

project.

At Christmas we had a bird walk before the actual bird count and held a Christmas party on our regular meeting night.

We have several bluebird trails and have just held a workshop at the library open to the public. There will be a hum-mingbird workshop in May, and some are involved with a rattlesnake research project on the Campbell Brown property involving a professional biologist, Mike Dunn.

On a recent owl survey, four species were noted.Saturday morning Nature walks are advertised in the local paper with a 9:00 am local destination meeting place. The

walks are about two hours long and some go for refreshments afterwards. Some participants have since joined our club.We will hold a Field Day and picnic in May the weekend following the Lillooet AGM. ☼

Oliver Osoyoos Naturalist’s Club, submitted by Dwayne Flexhaug

Our club enjoyed an active year. We maintain a spring and fall hiking schedule which is open to the public. Happy to share our love of the local beauty of nature with interested newcomers to the area.We constructed and distributed 7 Wood Duck boxes in suitable locations around the local wetlands. And are happy to see some new tenants. Would like to increase the number of nest boxes in the coming year.Our club donated money, in the name of long time member Harold King, to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to purchase 90 acres of land at the north end of Osoyoos Lake.The Solana Bay restoration work is ongoing. We planted trees last fall and upgraded the log boom protecting the shore in a particularly sensitive turtle nesting area.Also noteworthy is the upgraded and redesigned website for our club. This has resulted in increased usage.And most recently the executive of the club met with Victor Cumming, a consultant hired by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to gather input on west bench land south of Osoyoos to guide future development. This is a very environmentally sensitive area for a number of plants and animals. Our hope is some of this area will be protected from development. Time will tell. ☼

South Okanagan Naturalist Club (SONC) - submitted by Alex Bodden

The South Okanagan Naturalist Club (SONC) continues to be active in local issues, as well as member and youth edu-cation with in the community. The monthly club meetings continue to be well attended and o�er a wide variety of

educational opportunities through the guest speakers. Topics have included astronomy, the Nature Conservatory of Canada, burrowing owls and personal presentations by club members. SONC is well connected to most conservation activities in the South Okanagan through volunteer work and direct �nancial support to the Nature Conservatory of Canada towards the acquisition of the Bobolink meadows near Osoy-oos, the Wilderness Committee and the Invasive Species society. The club also continues in its support and ongoing advocacy for the development of the South Okanagan and Similkamen National Park. The conservation committee continues to monitor local activities a�ecting wildlife and our lifestyle connection with nature, which makes up a large part of living in the South Okanangan.

The club had obtained a grant from BC Nature towards the construction of the new bird blind at Vaseaux Lake and after tireless work by Eva Durance and support from a variety of volunteers and conservation and community groups, it was �nally completed. An o�cial opening will be held during the upcoming Meadow Lark festival in May. Education is a key part of the club and addition to guest speakers the club supports the South Okanagan Chapter of Nature Kids, which is currently around 35 members. They have had monthly �eld trips or learning sessions led by a core of dedicated volunteer mentors. The club newsletter, “The Honker” is also a source of learning on a variety of na-ture topics and is available on the club website. Club members also participate in various activities during the upcom-ing Meadow Lark festival which o�ers learning opportunities on many natural sciences.

Club members participated in the Christmas bird counts and the Thursday birding session continues to be popular. A recent �eld trip by 14 club members to the Douglas Lake IBA in early April was a great event and over 50 individual species of birds were identi�ed. We are looking forward to a year of continued learning, socializing and élan towards nature. ☼

Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists (VFFN), submitted by Donna Hills

The Vermilion Forks Field Naturalists have had a busy and productive year. We had a total of 22 �eld trips, rang-ing from easy strolls to some very adventurous hikes. It included some great snow shoeing in the winter, a hike

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to Oliver, led by Lee McFadyen to see the returning Sockeye Salmon, and an outing to Seven and a Half Diamond Ranch, with the Nicola Naturalists led by Alan Burger. We also enjoyed hosting the Langley Naturalists as well as the group from Chilliwack Field Naturalists, taking them on guided tours of Wolf Lake and Swan Lake Nature Reserve. Our group enjoyed some very informative evening speakers; most notable were Alan Burger, on Antarctic and the E�ects of Climate Change, Sue Elwell on Galapagos and Ecuador, Lee McFadyen on the Okanagan Restoration Initiative, and Wendy Hawkes, Lower Similkameen Indian Band, on First Nations Ancestral Burials and the Heritage Conservation Act.

Once again VFFN participated in the Christmas Bird Count in January, Earth Day clean up and rehabilitation work at Cormack Marsh with local grade 4 students in April, Bailey’s Bird-a-thon (Bird Studies of Canada) and the Meadow Lark Festival in May and participated in the Princeton Trade Show to give our group more exposure.

Our Hummingbird Banding group, led by Sue Elwell received a much appreciated grant from BC Nature, which was put to great use, assisting with supplies, stock and transport for the group. Many hummingbird sites are located in and around Princeton, the furthest being in Kaledon, over an hours drive from Princeton. In May, members of our group will be traveling to Vernon to attend a Hummingbird Seminar, to discuss and share information on just about every-thing to do with hummingbirds. We have put a wonderful short video of the group and their work on our website, v�n.ca for viewing pleasure… Enjoy!

In the upcoming months, VFFN is looking forward to participating in Earth Day Community Cleanup and Princeton Trade Show, doing great outings, listening to awesome speakers, and doing further improvements to Swan Lake Nature Reserve. We always end our year with the Christmas gathering, a time to share laughs, stories and some really great food, with an eye on the upcoming year and a toast to more great adventures. ☼

Vancouver Island Region Regional Coordinator - John Neville

Here are the reports submitted from our region. I’m always amazed just how many activities each club packs in! On the sad side, the Nanoose club has folded, but on the bright side our President Alan Burger and I are exploring the

possibility of starting a new club in Nanaimo.

Pender Island Field Naturalists (PFN), submitted by Bob Vergette

Our activities for 2016

• June 2 Insects of Pender Island - talk and walk by Linda Gilkeson• June 14 Boat Charter to Mandarte Island – cormorants• July 18 Galiano Day Trip – birds and plants• Aug 10 Day Trip to Sidney Spit – birds• Sept 18 to 22 Excursion to Mount Baker – birds and plants• Oct 19 eBird Training – birds• Oct 25 Day Trip to Boundary Bay – birds• Nov12 Indigenous Plant Knowledge and Wisdom - Talk and Walk lead by First Nations Elders and Dr. Nancy Turner• Dec 9 Winter Bird Identi�cation Walk• Dec 17 Christmas Bird Count and pot luck Dinner• Dec 29 Christmas Bird Count for Kids

2017• Jan 18 Wednesday Nature Walk• Jan 20 Exploring BC’s Coast Mountains – Talk by Lisa Baile• Feb 15 Wednesday Nature Walk• Feb 24 Endemic and Invasive Plants of Hawaii – talk by Dr. Ken Marr• Feb 24 Pender Island Field Naturalists �rst AGM• Feb 25 Plant Walk – Dr. Ken Marr• March 10 Pender Island Ocean Depths Revealed – underwater photography – talk by Derek Holzapfel, nature

diver.com• March 15 Wednesday Nature Walk• Planned Activities for the remainder of 2017• April 19 South Pender Spring Flower and Bird Walk• April 22 Beach Cleanup – Earth Day• May 17 Wednesday Nature Walk• June 9 and 10 Parks Canada Bioblitz on Pender Island• Sept 30 Boat Trip to Race Rocks• Dec 8 Winter Bird Identi�cation• Dec 16 Christmas Bird Count

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Our ProjectsScreech Owl nest box – we have installed four boxes and will monitor for activity Bird Studies Canada Nocturnal Owl Survey – we have now completed two surveys ☼

Arrowsmith Naturalists Club (ANC), submitted by Sandra Gray

Membership up to 107 now with quite a few new faces at our monthly general meetings and 3 times monthly out-ings. Schedule on Club website. http://arrowsmithnats.org/

Our 2nd Mushroom Show held last October at North Island Wildlife Recovery Association site in Errington was very successful with over 1000 people attending. A large marquis tent was rented for the main mushroom display and there were several smaller tents with individual vendors and educational materials. Our 3rd Mushroom Show will be held, same location, mid-October, details on Club website. Many members volunteered for several mid-Island Christmas Bird Counts, Parksville Qualicum (home count), Nanoose Bay and Nanaimo. Quite the birding community here on VI !

Many members are involved with the Brant Wildlife Festival again, mid-March through mid-April, sponsored by The Nature Trust of British Columbia (TNT). Brant in the Bay will be our wildlife watch event with members bringing scopes and sharing their nature knowledge with the community. The Hamilton Marsh Tour will highlight marsh crit-ters and a forest walk. We are conducting our 3rd Brant Count covering the Parksville Qualicum Beach Wildlife Man-agement Area, organized by Sandra Gray. We go once a week, late February through April. Each count takes about 1.5 hrs, the result is an estimated daily total number of Brant and notes re feeding disturbances and other species present. Results go to TNT and now CWS is interested in what we �nd and how it can be added to the previous Brant research done here since 1989.

Nature Kids Oceanside is looking for new leadership, Alison Bakker has retired from her long held position as organ-izer. The kids are still getting together with leadership from some of the parents and a similar group out of Nanaimo.

Stewardship activities are ongoing at the Englishman River estuary with broom, spurge laurel, ivy, periwinkle and spotted knapweed as the main targets.

Events attended: Seedy Saturday, Water Day.☼

Salt Spring Trail and Nature Club (SSTNC), submitted by Kathleen Maser

Our weekly walks, hikes and rambles have continued throughout the winter, with a few cancellations due to inclement weather.

• Peter McAllister and David Denning gave a public presentation on the Purple Martin Recovery Project. An ener-getic group have built, and installed boxes on numerous wharves around the island, to astounding success.

• Gary Quiring and Charles Kahn, have done much legwork on a couple of initiatives that will improve and grow trail access on Salt Spring Island. The �rst was to join the Gulf Islands Trail Society, in existence for several years, and whose current members include the Mayne Island Path And Trails Society, Saturna Recreation Centre Society, Moving Around Pender and Galiano Trails Society. Secondly a major new public trail is in the works, made possible by a generous private landowner who wishes to sell us his property at a reduced price. Our club has agreed to lead the fundraising to acquire the Derazzio property which will then be transferred to BC Parks with the objective of accessing additional trails.

• Charles Kahn is pursuing the possible acquisition of a property adjoining Mt Erskine Provincial Park. Again the intent is to fundraise to buy the property then transfer ownership to BC Parks.

• Christmas Bird Count was a harrying event due to crazy snow and windy weather. Our total count for this year is the same as last year, more--‐ or--‐ less, at 12,125 by 126 counters. The two Townsend Solitaire’s sightings (one north, one south) are the “new bird” of the year. They have been counted before, but many years back --‐ 1991, 94, 98.

• Owl Island SSTNC is supporting Peter McAllister, and a group of islanders who are working to secure its protection. OWL ISLAND is a rare botanical and archaeological jewel in the Salish Sea, which is currently for private sale. Two acres in size, it is located on the west side of Prevost Island, just north of Secret Island, near the entrance of Ganges Harbour. Extraordinary in its pristine ecological and archaeological condition, Contact has been made with Marcia Morash, regional administrator for Parks Canada, to suggest that Owl Island be acquired and added to the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. ☼

Comox Valley Naturalists Society (CVN), submitted by Sharon Niscak

Comox Valley Nature (CVN) has a full schedule of year-round activities including a series of public lectures, interpre-tive walks, citizen science activities, ecological restoration projects and conservation history and culture. Presently

there are about 180 members each with unique knowledge and experiences that contribute to the vitality of the club.

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CVN publishes a newsletter, maintains an active and extensive website, Facebook page and publishes periodic nature guides. Visit TideChange – Comox Valley News for events and our website at comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/

At the February AGM the presentation format featured four well-known environmentalists who discussed and answered questions “Conservation and Sustainability to 2030”. In January the guest speaker, Dr. Sarah Dudas, spoke about the potential impact of micro-plastics on marine food chains. And, in March the guest speaker was Charly Capro� a Fraser Riverkeeper who engaged attendees in a lively discussion about water issues. Charly is also an advocate for karst eco-systems and karsts unrecognized ecological importance.

All Weather Walkers: The weekend walks included a hike through the coal remediation site at Union Bay Coal Hills, which is listed as one of the 13 most contaminated sites in BC. This post-industrial ecosystem walk featured the restoration and enhancement e�orts to mitigate the site’s coal mining impacts. Other recent walks include: sustain-able forestry with Fred Newhouse, the Comox Blu�s Ecological Reserve, Seal Bay Park, Bear Creek Park, Trent River and Royston Walkway to view eel grass restoration.

Botany Group: The botany group has engaged in citizen science surveys and walks with presentations featuring botany through the seasons. This month the Botany group visited Miracle Beach Park to examine the mosses. Walks included visits to Mount Washington to view the higher altitude �ora, the ecological reserve blu�s and the seashore to examine the coastal ecosystem �ora.

Birding Group: We meet once a month at the Florence Filberg Centre and organizes many activities. These include the Christmas/Winter counts in Deep Bay, Comox, Campbell River and Little River-Powell Ferry o� shore counts. The upcoming Spring Bird Count is April 30th followed by a pot luck supper to tally results. The group organizes many �eld trips, plus the weekly Trumpeter Swan count over the winter, and the Bird Studies Canada Coast Waterbird bird count. The highlights of the counts and unusual sighting reports are posted on Comox Valley Nature website. The Red-�anked Bluetail, Paci�c Golden-Plover and Palm Warbler sightings were reported. The March 2017 Trumpeter Swan Count was 1220 indicating a healthy population. Other species of note are also recorded including Snow Goose and other migrating birds.

Wetland Restoration: The group continues to work on the estuary and establishing new areas for plants collected via plant rescue. Murray Little organized a group to rescue trilliums and fawn lilies and other native plants from an area undergoing road construction. In late March the team collected another 200 one gallon pots of fawn lilies to plant in our parks.

The Wetland Restoration group is optimistic for the coming year. Loosestrife control will be part of their agenda. This small group addresses relevant issues and plant rescue and with dedication contributes time and energy to restoring habitats and addressing environmental concerns.

Garry Oak Restoration: The Garry oak nursery continues to grow and �ourish. Under the care of the Loys and Alison Maingon the inventory, from local genetically stock, continues to expand providing Garry oak seedlings for restoration and public and private planting.

Environmental History and Culture Group hopes to publish an unpublished manuscript by Hamilton Mack Laing. The Comox Valley has been the home to several outstanding naturalists. The most urgent concern is the legacy of Hamilton Mack Laing who left in his will his house and property, plus cash to maintain the nature museum he desired. His Shakesides home is on the Comox Bay waterfront, an ideal location for a nature museum looking south towards Baynes Sound and backed to the north by parkland. The Town of Comox bulldozed his “Baybrook Home last year and have voted to also destroy Shakesides. The Town of Comox rented it out for years and failed to maintain the house and honor the intent of his will.

Photography Group: The photography group shares their expertise among the small group who are dedicated to taking photos of nature. The group shares their images for special activities and engages in projects that encourage exploration and capturing images with the camera. We are fortunate to have two outstanding photographers with experience in photo technology to demonstrate techniques and give guidance.

Young Naturalists: “Nature Kids” engaged in Explorer Day at Woodhus Slough with guest Luisa Richardson and Jocie Brooks. Activities included bird watching at Lazo March, beach clean-up at Kye Bay and a mushroom walk to Williams’ Beach forest. Nature Kids also participated in a special X-mas bird count, and enjoyed botany and seashore exploration over the fall and winter. Jocie Brooks prepared a Bird Check list for Nature Kids. ☼

Nanoose Naturalists (NN), submitted by Tony Ransom

I'm sorry to report that the Nanoose Naturalists is no longer. We have been unable to �nd volunteers to run the Club despite serious e�orts to encourage members to step forward into leadership roles over the past several years. So,

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regretfully, we must now refrain from further BCN activities and involvement.Thank you for your continued e�orts and endeavours and I personally wish you all the very best going forward. ☼

Victoria Natural History Society (VNHS), submitted by by Claudia Copley

The Society had another busy year of weekly �eld trips and continues to provide four natural-history themed pres-entations per month from September until April. Our membership numbers are doing well at almost 800 members,

and we are participating in a number of ways in our community via outreach, funding, committee representation, and letters of support. Below are just a few highlights from the last year.

• Funding this past year was again given to the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary but we increased our annual contribution to $5000 (from the $4000 we have given every year since 1975) and are speci�cally sponsor-ing their last Sunday each month: nature-themed special events (eggs, owls, ducks, spiders, etc.). We also again contributed $5000 to support the Western Bluebird Reintroduction Program, a project recently taken over by the Cowichan Valley Naturalists.

• The Victoria Natural History Society is partnering with a number of other organizations to increase awareness about the three migratory bird sanctuaries in the region. The Urban Sanctuaries project is being coordinated by the Bateman Centre and is already generating a lot of local attention. A brochure is now available, and several events have been held as well.

• The free Connecting Children with Nature program of the VicNHS exceeded 1000 participants! A write-up about this program and the co-coordinators was featured on the back page of the spring issue of BC Nature’s magazine. It continues to be a great success and one we are very proud of.

• Although the results at this time are uncertain, the Victoria Natural History Society and our membership were intensely involved in the CRD Island View Beach Park management planning process. Most of the diverse uses of this park currently run counter to conservation, but the opposition to preservation is intense, particularly from dog-walkers. They have been extremely vocal.

• We have also successfully transitioned to the new Societies Act, something all BC Nature member clubs and BC Nature itself has to do. It feels great to get this bit of bureaucracy behind us and carry on with more important conservation e�orts!

• Finally, we held a photo contest and the winners’ photos will be gracing the covers of our bi-monthly magazine.☼•

PROJECT REPORTS

Harnessing Nature Knowledge Submitted by Krista Kaptein, Bill Kinkaid and Shanelle Marshall

The 2017 phase of the Harnessing Nature Knowledge Project received funding with a grant of $8000 from BC Gam-ing. The project is a web-based, map-based tool highlighting nature viewing sites in British Columbia, intended for

users interested in nature viewing – both local residents and visitors.

Overview:The template for the tool is based on the approach of the Comox Valley Naturalists (CVN) online Nature Viewing Guide at http://comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/nature-viewing-guide/ The CVN site was originally developed by Krista Kaptein.• The BC Nature Viewing Guide website is www.bcnatureguide.ca The site has been enhanced with a gallery of

photos on the home page, and bird sounds courtesy of Neville Recording on main pages.• There are a number of ways in which viewers can access general or detailed information using the maps. On the

main BC Nature Viewing Regions page, icons on a Provincial map indicate sites for which nature viewing informa-tion is compiled. On a drop-down menu, a visitor may select from Nature Viewing Regions of the Province. Each of these regions has Nature Viewing Areas which show as clusters of marker icons on a map. Each marker icon links to a detailed Nature Viewing Site page, which presents in chart form, information, images, seasons to visit, refer-ences, links & more.

Completed to date:To date, eight broad regions have Nature Viewing Areas with detailed Nature Viewing Sites:Thompson/Nicola Region: compiled by Sarah Weaver with additions by Bill Kinkaid: 29 Nature Sites.Lower Mainland Region: compiled by Bill Kinkaid : 65 Nature Sites.Vancouver Island Region: compiled by Krista Kaptein: 80 Nature Sites . Sunshine Coast Region: compiled by Bill Kinkaid: 14 Nature Sites.North & Northwest Region: compiled by Krista Kaptein: 22 Nature Sites.Okanagan Region: compiled by Bill Kinkaid : 39 Nature Sites.Southeast Region: compiled by Bill Kinkaid: 33 Nature Sites.Central BC Region: by Bill Kinkaid : 12 Nature Sites; by Krista Kaptein: 7 Nature Sites.

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In Progress for 2017:

Updates & corrections of Thompson/Nicola and Lower Mainland sites: by Bill Kinkaid: estimate 40 sites.Prince George area & Central BC Region: by Shanelle Marshall: estimate 30 sites

We encourage naturalists and clubs to review the online Guide and let us know of any changes they would like to make for nature sites that they are familiar with. Please contact krista.coordinator@gmail.com . ☼

BC Important Bird Area (IBA) Submitted by Krista Kaptein

Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas Program

The IBA Program is one of the main province-wide stewardship projects of BCN. The BC IBA Caretaker Network now includes about 60 Caretakers & co-Caretakers , involved in over 90% of BC's 83 IBAs. Around the province,

our volunteer Caretakers & assistants, who care for BC's IBAs, are critical to the Program's success. Caretaker projects range from education to conservation, including activities such as birding festivals, community outreach, bird surveys, sign installation, and bird blind construction . The IBA program has continued with achievements, collaborations and targets in the past year as follows:

• Successful continuation of BC Gaming support with $10,000 grant awarded for 2017.• Successful application to McLean Foundation for $5000 support for continued IBA outreach in 2017.• Presentation on IBAs on Sept. 22, 2016 as part of the BCN Fall GM in Prince George. Outreach & site visits to three

central BC Caretakers & their supporters.• Fall IBA Newsletter produced in Oct. 2016.• 2016 Annual IBA Report compiled and posted online.• Four IBA brochures & an IBA poster updated & uploaded to BC Nature website.• Focus on IBAs articles published in BC Nature magazine Summer 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2016/2017 and Spring

2017 issues.• Conservation team meetings to provide technical support continue. The core team includes Anne Murray, Art

Martell, George Clulow, David Bradley and Karen Devitt of Bird Studies Canada, and other expertise as needed.• Liaison with Bird Studies Canada headquarters sta� in Ontario continues. Caretaker summaries and IBA website

updates sent to Andrew Couturier, BSC Senior Analyst.• BC IBA Caretaker Google Groups emailing list reaches 60 Caretakers & Co-caretakers.• Several BC IBA eNewsletters sent, reaching about 340 people in the IBA network every three months.• Recruitment, communications and welcome packages for two new IBA Co-Caretakers since spring 2016.• 2016Year-endthank-youpackages&appreciationgifts(donatedbyMECandONOWork&Safety)senttoall

Caretakers & Co-Caretakers.• Ongoing Caretaker Support including Caretaker business cards; small IBA signs (14 new in 2016, 10 more ordered

to date in 2017) ; support letters e.g. re South Okanagan Similkameen National Park Reserve process; to FLNRO re concern about local residents' proposal to accelerate herring roe decomposition at French Creek in Little Qual-icum IBA.

• Several funding applications were not successful : to MEC for enhanced communications; to CWF, WWF, WHC, and Baillie Fund for interpretive signage.

• Application for funding submitted to MEC in March 2017, for awareness re bird disturbance targeted to watersport participants (Noti�cation late May).

• Application for funding from IBA Local Action Fund submitted to Nature Canada in March 2017, for engaging First Nations Guardian Watchmen in IBA Program. Outreach to K'omoks Guardian Watchmen proposed as pilot project. (Noti�cation mid-April)

• Support letter provided to BSC for Sitka Foundation application for work in Haida Gwaii. Partial funding received by BSC in March 2017.

• Inclusion of IBA information on future Project Watershed signs in K'omoks IBA.• Annual meeting with Okanagan Caretakers & support team in March 2017, including follow-up on action plans,

providing Caretaker outreach materials, and site visits.• Ongoing Caretaker support for Vaseux Lake IBA bird blind construction. Project substantially complete, o�cial

unveiling May 19, 2017. BCN Foundation contributed to this project.

In the coming year, funding will continue to be sought to support IBA interpretive sign projects, and other conserva-tion initiatives. Site summary updates will continue in collaboration with Caretakers. The Coordinator will continue to support Caretaker initiatives at their request. There will be a display on IBAs on May 6, 2017 as part of the BC Nature AGM in Lillooet, and a presentation to the public at Skagit Valley Provincial Park (Skagit Valley IBA) on May 13, 2017. Anne Murray continues as volunteer IBA Program Liaison for BC Nature; and members of the BC IBA Conservation Team, Caretakers, Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada, and other partners and supporters, continue to contribute a signi�cant amount of in-kind time and expertise to the Program.☼

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REPORTS FROM BC NATURE REPRESENTATIVES ON COMMITTEES

BC Wetland Stewardship Partnership Submitted by Peter Ballin and Greg Ferguson

Nothing to report for 2016-2017 ☼

Outdoor Recreation Council (ORC)Submitted by Penney Edwards

During the latter part of last year, the Outdoor Recreation Council (ORC) stepped up its campaign for increased fund-ing of BC Parks. For example, ORC made a �nancial statement-style submission to the BC Legislature’s Finance Com-

mittee.

The ultimate response, there was an increase from the long-standing, “stagnant” amount of $31 million to $49 million. Back in November, the government announced its Future Strategy for BC Parks. It appears that the $17 million increase includes contributions to a new BC Parks Foundation, and for the hiring of 28 more park rangers. Apparently, there doesn’t seem to be dedicated funding for needed improvements to back-country trails, bridges and camping sites.

Access to private lands for responsible recreation use is an on-going concern for ORC member organizations. ORC has established a committee of 11 people from various interest groups on Vancouver Island and the Mainland. The com-mittee had its �rst working meeting in late October. One of its �rst tasks has been to research access schemes in place in other parts of Canada and internationally, with the ultimate goal of developing protocols acceptable to owners and recreation groups.

ORC continues to support the Provincial Trails Advisory Body (PTAB). Jeremy McCall, ORC’s executive director, continues as co-chair of this organization, which meets quarterly and mainly by teleconference. The PTAB’s meeting minutes are posted on the ORC website. Pending needed funding, there is a plan in place to establish a website for the PTAB.

In conjunction with the Horse Council of British Columbia, ORC co-sponsors the yearly Share the Trails day-long work-shop. This year’s event, with the theme “A Trail Everyone. Not Everyone on Every Trail,” takes place on May 12 at the Pen-ticton Convention Centre. The intention is to expose the views of all parties concerned with the use of rail trails (decom-missioned railway lines) and try to determine a better way of sharing them than what is happening now.

ORC now has a new part-time, paid sta� member. Her name is Natalia Pisarek, who has been studying communica-tions and recreation management at Capilano College. Instead of resurrecting the ORC magazine-style print newsletter, Natalia is editing a monthly e-newsletter and welcomes submissions from member organizations.To celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial (Canada 150), ORC is contributing planning e�ort to “Trailhead Canada”, a na-tional trails conference in Ottawa, from November 13-16. Details to follow. ☼

Nechako Environmental Enchancment (White Sturgeon) Submitted by June Wood

The 2017 the release of juvenile, hatchery-raised sturgeon will take place on the Nechako River in Vanderhoof onMay 11th. The projected number to be released is 12,000, but that number could be drastically altered. The newly

created, Provincial Sturgeon Group is questioning the 12,000 release number for 2017 and highlighted the need for provincial approval for release numbers going forward that follow an adaptive management process which considers impacts of recovery on other populations, natural recruitment, longevity of the program, juvenile survival and the car-rying capacity of the river. Mike Ramsay, Associate Director of Fisheries Management, is of the opinion that the Ne-chako White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative (NWSRI) has been so focused on recovery of the sturgeon that that there has been little focus on implications of the recovery strategy on other populations. I must admit, with the high numbers being released (10,000 last year) the carrying capacity of the river has been a concern of mine.

In addition to the Provincial Sturgeon Group, there are those downstream on the Fraser River, who have voiced their concern that by releasing the proposed 12,000 �sh into the Nechako this year, the risk of hatchery �sh entering the Fraser River and impacting that population is high. They suggest releasing a lower number taking into consideration juvenile survival, carrying capacity, genetic diversity, straying, habitat movements, population demographics, risk of extinction, natural recruitment, habitat improvements, a no-regret decision and a short and long-term plan.

Unfortunately, the Technical Working Group of the NWSRI, try as they might, has not been able to get a handle on the survival rate of the young sturgeon that have been released in previous years. The juvenile indexing program is ongoing and in 2016, 105 juveniles were captured. The plan for 2017 is to expand the indexing program spatially and to spend more time at it in the hope of increasing the number of juveniles caught and so be better able to estimate

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their survival, movement and use of habitat. A juvenile telemetry and predation study was also carried out in 2016 and the results indicate that 80% of juveniles �tted with radio-tags over 2015 and 2016 were lost to predation, mostly by otters. A study is planned for 2017 to determine if radio-transmitters in�uence juvenile survival by predators – in other words, are otters, and perhaps birds, attracted to the radio signal. This high mortality of radio-tagged �sh should not be extrapolated to the entire juvenile population.

On a happier note, the Intern Program, which is sponsored by Rio Tinto (formerly Alcan), will host four intern posi-tions at the hatchery. The positions for these students will start in April 2017, with two of the positions lasting four months, while the other two will continue to December. The program is for two years. ☼

Port Metro Vancouver Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RB2) Submitted by Roger Emsley

1. Overview

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA), doing business as Port of Vancouver is proposing to add a second container terminal on Roberts Bank in Delta, BC (RBT2). Roberts Bank is a unique and extremely important ecosystem. It is

an area of abundant wildlife and biodiversity, rated by Birdlife International as the most Important Bird Area (IBA) in Canada and one of the top ten IBAs in the world. It is a critical stop for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds on the Paci�c Flyway and is recognized internationally under the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network as a site of hemispheric importance – one of only eight such sites in the whole of North, Central and South America. Roberts Bank is simply not the place to build a second container terminal. Rather it needs to be protected from any further industrial or port development.

VFPA plans to construct an arti�cial island and expanded port causeway which will �ll in 445 acres of aquatic ecosystem in the environmentally sensitive and globally signi�cant Fraser River Estuary. All this in order to increase West Coast Can-ada container capacity, when in fact there is more than enough container terminal capacity in operation now or in devel-opment to satisfy Canada’s trading needs for many years to come. Why put Roberts Bank at risk by building RBT2 when:

• The three existing container terminals in Vancouver – Deltaport, Centerm and Vanterm all have spare capacity of up to 1.5 million Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), based on 2016 statistics. (TEU is the commonly used term to express the number of shipping containers).

• All three Vancouver terminals have plans for expansion that will add even more capacity. Deltaport is already expanding, shortly to add another 600,000 TEUs of capacity. Centerm has plans in the short term to add between 600,000 and 800,000 TEUs capacity. And Vanterm also has medium term plans to expand.

• Prince Rupert’s Fairview container terminal is undergoing an expansion that will add an additional 500,000 to 750,000 TEUs. There are further expansion plans being considered, by adding a third berth, which will bring addi-tional capacity of up to 700,000 TEUs. It is expected that Prince Rupert will have in excess of 2 million capacity by 2020 or shortly thereafter

• Seattle/Tacoma container terminals, currently handling 3.4 million TEUs, plans to expand to 6 million TEUs by 2020 and want to take back the US container tra�c that the Port of Vancouver has poached.

Taken together the Canadian West Coast container terminal expansions will bring online between 2.4 and 3 million TEUs by 2020, without RBT2. Adding this to the current spare capacity, there is more than su�cient container capacity to meet Canada’s trading needs for many years to come. T2 is not needed now or in the foreseeable future and should not be built.

2. Environmental Assessment ProcessThe Federal Government determined that the RBT2 project should undergo an environmental assessment by an inde-

pendent review panel. That decision to refer the project was made after considering its potential for signi�cant adverse environmental e�ects and concerns expressed by the public and Aboriginal groups in relation to these e�ects. Accord-ingly a three person panel was appointed and began its work in early 2016.The basis for its assessment is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared and paid for by VFPA. This docu-ment runs to over 7,000 pages, well over 10,000 pages once referenced documentation is added.

The Panel is governed by terms of reference established by the federal government following consultation with stake-holders and the proponent - VFPA. That process ended up severely limiting the scope of the assessment. VFPA were successful in having the terms of reference restricted such that:• Review and assessment of environmental and other impacts are limited to the port footprint. That rules out the

panel being able to review noise, light and air pollution beyond the port footprint. As a result the panel will not look at for example air pollution impacts for the more than 5,000 truck trips per day through Delta and the lower mainland. Nor will they be able to look at the impacts of tra�c congestion caused by the increased truck tra�c.

• Impacts of marine shipping were originally out of scope. This was amended after a considerable protest. However whilst the panel can now look at marine shipping impacts they are not permitted to make recommendations.

• Business case and alternatives are largely out of scope. In 2012 the previous federal government gutted the en-vironmental assessment regulations. One of the results is that the panel is unable to carry out a proper review of the business justi�cation for RBT2, nor can they assess whether VFPA did a thorough job of assessing alternatives.

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The �nal terms of reference were published in April 2015 along with revised guidelines for the Environmental Impact Statement that VFPA is required to produce.

3. Panel ProgressThe three person panel began its work in June 2016. It started with two orientation sessions that brought in all the

agencies as well as the proponent and provided the panel an opportunity to ask questions.

The panel then opened up the VFPA-prepared Environmental Impact Statement for public comment, as to its suf-�ciency and the technical merit of the environmental assessment information. Hundreds of comments on the docu-ment, many of them highly critical, were submitted prior to the close of the comment period at the end of October 2016. BC Nature made a major submission, prepared on behalf of BC Nature by Pat Baird. The submission was highly critical of the EIS and identi�ed a number of serious errors and omissions in the environmental impact statement. Importantly Environment Canada has also submitted several reports that highlight critical areas of concern in terms of the potential impacts of RBT2 on wildlife in the Roberts Bank area, focusing speci�cally on the millions of shorebirds that rely on Roberts Bank and its unique bio�lm as a critical food source.

In mid December one of the three panel members resigned from the panel, due to a potential con�ict of interest.

4. Status as of April 2017In March 2017 the federal government appointed a new panel member to replace the person that had resigned.

In continuing its work the panel has sent out four requests for information packages to VFPA detailing further infor-mation that they require. These requests appear to be zeroing in on certain key aspects of the environmental impact assessment.

The panel will be holding hearings so that any interested parties will have an opportunity to participate in the envi-ronmental assessment. Once the panel completes its work it will prepare a report with respect to the environmental assessment that sets out: • the rationale, conclusions and recommendations of the Review Panel, including any mitigation measures and

follow-up program; and• a summary of any comments received from the public, including interested parties.

The panel will then submit the report with respect to the environmental assessment to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. The Minister may then seek further clari�cation concerning any of the conclusions and recom-mendations set out in the panel report with respect to the environmental assessment.

If the Minister then decides that the project is likely to cause signi�cant adverse environmental e�ects, the Minister will refer the matter to the Governor in Council (Cabinet) who must decide whether those environmental e�ects are justi�ed in the circumstances.

Therefore whilst the Independent Review Panel may indeed make a recommendation that RBT2 not go ahead it is up to the Minister to decide whether RBT2 should proceed. If the Minister decides that it should not proceed the �nal decision is in fact made by the federal cabinet.

To read a copy of the BC Nature Report to the panel please follow the link to: http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/p80054/116088E.pdf

For further information on why the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project is not needed and its associated environmental risks follow the link to www.againstportexpansion.org ☼

Public Conservation Assistance Foundation Submitted by Darren Copley

2017 Projects and approved funding

Project Name Sponsor Link Project Description

Universal Boardwalk Tread Protection Caledonia Ramblers Trust http://caledoniaramblers.ca/ build a plank pathway around the

entire 2.6 km Ancient Forest Trail.

Meadow and Wetland Vegetation Restoration

Haliburton Community Organic Farm http://haliburtonfarm.org/

includes wetland restoration, creating a native meadow, restoring a riparian area, and improving habitat quality

Lanz and Cox Island Shore Cleanup Living Ocean Society http://www.livingoceans.org/

�is project will restore foreshore habitat in Lanz and Cox Islands Provincial park by removing plastic debris.

Alcove Pond Habitat Restoration Zeballos Elementary Secondary School http://zess.sd84.bc.ca/

undertake restoration activities and photo monitoring at a newly constructed o�-channel habitat on the Zeballos River.

Healthy Headwaters , Aleza Lake Aleza Lake Research Forest Society http://alrf.unbc.ca/

develop and coordinate a headwater-stream monitoring program - to collect regular seasonal observations and assessments of our headwater streams in a mid-elevation area of the Upper Fraser Basin.

Bat Detection Equipment Cannings Holm Consulting http://www.bcbats.ca/ To increase identi�cation of bat species during annual bat counts conducted in fourteen regions of the province

Fishing Forever BCWF http://www.bcwf.bc.ca/

events designed to provide physically and developmentally challenged individuals and their care-givers with the opportunity to experience a fun and educational day in the outdoors

Long Billed Curlew Habitat Limitations Bird Studies of Canada http://www.birdscanada.org/

project aims to answer this question: Are modi�ed habitats a population sink for Long-billed Curlews?

Survey of aquatic plants in Charlie Lk

Charlie Lake Conservation Society

http://www.charlielakeconservationsociety.ca/

conduct a spatial shoreline survey of the extent of emergent aquatic plants in Charlie Lake.

Pollinator Pasture at Earthwise Agassiz DRS Earthwise Society http://www.earthwisesociety.

bc.ca/

raise awareness about the importance of providing habitat for native bee populations by planting a bee forage demonstration native plant garden

Hecate Park Beach Nourishment Cowichan Land Trust http://www.cowichanlandtrust.ca/ to restore 200 metres of riprap and hardened shoreline to a diverse native habitat to support a healthy nearshore ecosystem.

Engaging the Katzie Community Katzie Development Ltd. Partnership http://www.kdlp.ca/

begin a 3 year volunteer-training project on Barnston Island in the Fraser River, home to Katzie Reserve 3, and the only contiguous forest patch remaining on the island.

Katzie Slough Watershed Watch Salmon Society

https://www.watershed-watch.org/

to support an in-depth water quality analysis in order to create baseline data for on-going monitoring

Small Lake Enrichment Campbell River Fish and Wildlife Association http://www.crfw.net/

continued application and monitoring of nutrients to Reginald and Martha Lakes in the Sayward Forest District that was initiated by HCTF

What is PCAF?

The Public Conservation Assistance Fund provides small grants to organizations and individuals who have a con-servation project in mind but need �nancial help to make it happen. Each year since 1974, the Province of BC and

the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation provide approximately $150,000 in PCAF grants to help implement on-the-ground conservation work, with a particular focus on hands-on, community based and public awareness initiatives. More than 1000 such projects have been carried out under the program so far.

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How much funding can we apply for?PCAFwillfundeligibleexpensesupto$10,000inanyoneyear.Youmustmatchtherequestedfundsbycontributingvolunteer labour credited at $15 per hour, materials, or other allowable donations. To assist as many groups as possible throughout the province each year, grants are modest, averaging about $2,500 each. The total amount available over the life of a project is $20,000.

What kind of activities are eligible?Projects must be of a conservation nature, with priority given to projects that focus on activities that maintain, conserve or restore native (indigenous) �sh and wildlife species and their habitats. There’s almost no limit to on-the-ground activities we consider, as long as it contributes to the conservation of wildlife and �sheries. Examples include:

improving spawning grounds building bird houses planting shrubs for cover tagging / monitoring animals restoring riparian areas restoring grasslands building waterfowl nesting �oats and boxes fencing improving winter range

We prefer projects with long-range bene�ts involving as many volunteers as possible. Grant applications must be approved before commencing your project. PCAF will not fund proposals retroactively.☼

South Coast Conservation Program (SCCP) Submitted By Greg Ferguson

2016 was a busy year for the South Coast Conservation Program (SCCP) and one of transition. All initiatives from 2015 continued into the fall of 2016, but unfortunately the SCCP was unsuccessful in obtaining funds to continue

some of its existing initiatives in 2017. Discontinued initiatives for the time being include the organization’s work with local governments, First Nations, and citizen scientists, and further work on its Diversity by Design guide. Their Spe-cies at Risk in the Classroom program will continue, but on a fee for service basis. Online resources will remain acces-sible and updates regarding the Program and partner activities will continue through its website, social media, and other outreach avenues. Work with private landowner’s through its Nature Stewards Program will continue based on existing and new funding, including landowner contact, education and outreach, invasive species management and habitat restoration, and species at risk conservation.

Currently the Program’s Coordinator is working on an information package for landowners regarding critical habitat that can be used by local governments, continuing development of a species at risk app and other online identi�ca-tion and monitoring tools, and assisting other sta� with existing programs and day to day activities. The Program’s Stewardship Coordinator is continuing to deliver many activities through their Nature Stewards Program and is cur-rently drafting a Stewardship Road Map, which will be an action plan to guide the Program’s stewardship activities for species at risk into the next �ve years.

Unfortunately, there has been di�culty in �nding a new chair, co-chair, secretary, and local government representa-tive for the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee has agreed to reduce its number of annual meetings from four to three in 2017.

During our most recent meeting there was discussion about the May 2018 BC Nature AGM in Vancouver and how the SCCP may be involved. This discussion is planned to continue at future Steering Committee meetings.

The SCCP continues to hold its AGM and Connects event, which brings together various people and groups working on SAR on the south coast. The Program also continues to distribute information to its ‘members’ through its Face-book page, website, and Endangered Times newsletter.

For further information on the SCCP, please visit www.sccp.ca, or contact Greg Ferguson, BC Nature Steering Com-mittee member or email - suncity28@gmail.com ☼

South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program (SOSCP) Submitted by J.E. Bryan

SOSCP is a partnership of 50 conservation related organizations. They include government, non-government (such as BC Nature through SONC), and First Nation organization the En’Owkin Centre. The main purpose of SOSCP is

to conserve natural ecosystems and wildlife in the southern Okanagan by coordinating conservation e�orts of the 50 partners. SOSCP operates at the Landscape Level as opposed to Species at Risk levels to maintain the rich biodiversity mainly in the South Okanagan-Similkameen. For at least some of the work, the geographic boundaries have expanded

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to include the Central and North Okanagan as well. SOSCP is organized into six pillars of work: Habitat Securement, Stewardship, Science, Outreach, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Land Use Management.

As in past years, there have been many undertakings and successes by the conservation partners in SOSCP. One of these particularly stands out and is therefore noteworthy. That is the establishment of a Conservation Fund by the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS). I understand that the RDOS Fund will be similar to those established in the East Kootenay and elsewhere. Money will be raised for the Conservation Fund by a small tax levy amounting to about $10 per household. It will provide money for a variety of conservation initiatives in the South Okanagan. There will be a process whereby applications for various conservation proposals can be considered to receive money from the fund each year.

There are many details about how the fund will work which have yet to be announced, but the funds will be dedi-cated for conservation projects only and there will be a committee which will decide which projects receive funding. Presumably the committee will include experts with knowledge and experience appropriate for assessing the pro-jects. SOSCP has o�ered to help in this process. An advantage of the Conservation Fund is that organizations receiv-ing funding may then be able to leverage additional funds from another source. SOSCP indicates that the following could receive funding:

• Conserve and restore ecologically important areas • Protect watersheds, including lakes, watercourses and groundwater• Build on the network of regional green and open spaces for people and wildlife• Support stewardship activities to restore and enhance damaged or disappearing ecosystems• Increase recreation and tourism opportunities; encourage people to explore the region’s history and natural en-

vironment• Encourage volunteer nature conservation activities• Support environmental education and awareness

The person who deserves the most credit for establishing the South Okanagan Conservation Fund is Bryn White, the Manager of SOSCP. She persuaded RDOS Directors to follow the lead of other regional districts and create such a fund. She also helped raise public awareness and support for the initiative. There is little doubt in my mind that The Fund will provide many conservation bene�ts here in the South Okanagan. ☼

OTHER REPORTS

BC Naturalists’ Foundation Submitted by Bob Hand�eld

The BC Naturalists’ Foundation annually supports projects of BC Nature Clubs through the Club Support Grants pro-gram. In February 2017 the Foundation provided $14,000 to BC Nature to support projects of nine clubs. The club

projects receiving grants are:

• Bulkley Valley Naturalists - Bulkley Valley Perpetual Nature Diary Project to promote an awareness of the rich diversity of wildlife that occurs in the Bulkley Valley, to showcase Bulkley Valley nature artists and to get kids in-volved in nature through school art programs.

• Comox Valley Naturalists Society - Wetland Restoration project to remove invasive plants, and replace them with native plants.

• Cowichan Valley Naturalists’ Society - Bring back the Bluebird Project ; a multi-year project aimed at re-establish-ing a breeding population of Western Bluebirds (WEBL) to their historic range in Cowichan Valley.

• Delta Naturalists Society partnering with École Secondaire Burnsview Secondary School, Grade 10-12 French Im-mersion Environmental Studies course – project to undertake Naturalization of Chalmers Park by removing much of the existing, non-native, invasive plants such as large blackberry growth and replacing with native plants.

• Kitimat Valley Naturalists - Kitimat Bat Condos Project to replace a maternal bat colony roosting site which was lost when an old building was demolished. An estimated 1500 bats were displaced by the demolition.

• Langley Field Naturalists - Budding Bird Enthusiasts Brochure is a project to make available a comprehensive bro-chure with pictures and short descriptions of the birds in the Langley area.

• Lillooet Naturalist Society - project to partner with the local Conservation O�cer and the local angling groups to assist with tagging and monitoring to assess the population status of the Lillooet mid-Fraser River area White Sturgeon.

• Pender Island Field Naturalists - new Membership Brochure project to augment a recently updated and profes-sionally redesigned website that has been very successful and well received.

• Rocky Point Bird Observatory Nocturnal Owl Migration Monitoring Project An ongoing project started in 2002 that aims to understand the migration patterns and biology of the Northern Saw-whet Owl.

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All these projects involve considerable volunteer time on the part of club members. In most cases the club support grants provide only a portion of the total project budgets but the clubs are often able to use the Foundation’s support to leverage funds from additional sources. The successful clubs have all agreed to recognize the Foundation and BC Nature in publicity about their projects. The annual grant from the Foundation to BC Nature for club support is made possible through the investment earnings from the capital of the BC Naturalists’ Foundation. Over the 25 years since its formation, the Foundation, has distributed nearly $175,000 in grants to BC Nature and its member clubs for conser-vation and education projects. As the Foundation’s invested capital grows, its earnings are able to provide increasing amounts of grants to support naturalists’ projects.

The Foundation’s AGM and Directors meeting will be held Friday, May 5, 2017, during BC Nature’s AGM and Confer-ence in Lillooet. The AGM is open to all to attend. At the meeting the annual �nancial statements for year-end 2016 will be reviewed. The Foundation operates nearly expense free. The major expense is for the annual review engage-ment. Donations and bequests received in 2016 were $103,131 (2015 - $3,705). The year-end assets of the Foundation are $436,278 (compared to 2015 - $321,171) held by the Foundation, plus the additional capital held by the Vancouver Foundation of $191,598. The fair market year-end value of assets held by the Vancouver Foundation was $229,077 (2015-$219,348). Combined, the funds now held in the name of our Foundation exceed $600,000. The BC Naturalists’ Foundation funds managed by the Vancouver Foundation provide an annual disbursement of investment earnings. The assets that the Foundation directly holds are described in its year-end 2015 Financial Statements. These assets are grouped into two categories: the Endowment Fund ($195,769) which is the total capital of donations and bequests received over the years, and the General Fund ($123,557) which is the investment earnings. The General Fund repre-sents the amount available for grants and expenses, although most of that fund is obviously reinvested for additional returns.

Regarding the appointment of members and election of Directors of the BC Naturalists’ Foundation, the Club Direc-tors of BC Nature appoint the members of the Foundation and nominate its Directors. All current Foundation Direc-tor’s terms extend for at least one more year with the exception of Kees Visser whose term ends this May. Kees has agreed to stand for re-election. The Foundation Directors will elect its o�cers at its May 5th AGM. If you are interested in volunteering with the Foundation, please contact Bob Hand�eld, soncbob@shaw.ca The Foundation welcomes new members, as appointed by BC Nature. The Foundation greatly appreciates the contributions and support from naturalists throughout BC. ☼

Camp and Field ActivitiesSubmitted by Betty Davison

2016 was a quiet year for camps. Only one camp was held, Camp Mitlenatch on Quadra Island. 36 members were treated to a wonderful four-day camp on Quadra Island, headquartered out of the historic Heriot Bay Inn. They toured Mitlenatch under the care of the Mitlenatch Island Stewardship Team (M.I.S.T.) . A circumnavigation of Quadra Island with stops at the Clam Gardens and a lesson in a series of �ve rip tides. Early morning birding, hiking and petroglyph viewing at the beach at Tsa kwa luten.

2017 will be host to four, four-day camps. Starting with Kelowna, a second-year camp at Mitlenatch (Quadra) and two back-to-back camps at Telegraph Harbour. A total of 62 members have signed up for these camps. Please see the fall and winter BCnature magazines for the recaps on these education �eld camps. ☼

NatureKids BCSubmitted by Louise Pedersen, Executive Director

Firstofall,thankyouverymuchtoallourfriendswithintheBCNaturenetwork.Yourpassionanddedicationtoex-ploring and studying the many di�erent aspects of BC’s natural history is inspiring to us and our members. Many of

our nature clubs across the province bene�t in very tangible ways from connections with adult naturalist organizations within their communities in terms of;

• promotion of the NatureKids club to families • recruiting enthusiastic nature mentors, supported by our nature club leaders, • delivering Explorer Days on topics that range from botanical forays, learning about forest ecosystems to

looking for rocks and other geological formations and learning about bird banding.

We appreciate the time that you give as well as the great knowledge and passion for all things wild and beautiful that are passed down from you to the young naturalists that are part of NatureKids BC.

This year NatureKids BC took another new leap in its organizational evolution. In collaboration with our Board of Direc-tors, we created a new strategic plan for 2016-19 which will set the tone and direction for how we prioritize our work for the next couple of years. We remain committed as ever to continuing to strengthen our network of nature clubs

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across the province. We feel that there has never been a greater need for opportunities like our nature clubs to engage children and their families in exploring and learning about nature together. With each nature club being locally anchored and led by local volunteer lead-ers and nature mentors, this is a beautiful way to build community amongst kids and families.

In 2016 we continued our journey on rebranding the organization. It was an immense group e�ort to let our members and the public know that we had changed ouroperationalnamefromYoungNaturalists’ClubofBC Society to NatureKids BC. We adopted a new logo which features the province of British Columbia over-laid with an image of a bald eagle.

Kristine Webber, our long-standing Executive Direc-tor, made a decision to move to Mayne Island with her family and embark on a new career in farming and pot-tery. Louise Pedersen took over from Kristine in Octo-ber 2016 and has continued to carry the organization forward.

One of our priorities remains the strengthening of our network of nature clubs and of the volunteers - the lifeblood of the organization, giving us more than 4,000 hours of their time in 2016 - who enable the clubs to inspire kids about their local nature and help them along on their journey as nature enthusiasts and budding conservationists. The clubs delivered 216 Explorer Days which included activities as diverse as wildlife tracking, shelter building, learning about salmon at salmon hatcheries, river ecology, and learning about bats and fungi.

We continue to provide our members with opportunities to get involved with citizens science and hands-on steward-ship opportunities as we know this is a powerful pathway to encourage them to get involved as adults in hands-on conservation initiatives in future roles as “biologists or conservation technicians-in-training”.

Some of the activities that NatureKids were involved with this past year included bird surveys, bird banding, mason bee home building and cleaning, shoreline clean ups, native plant-ings, invasive species removal, and amphibian surveys. We also launched a new youth citizen science project that seeks to pro-tect wild birds while keeping cats safe; we are asking our youth members to help us test, through experiments, three di�erent tactics that can help decrease bird predation - by having their cats wear bibs or collars or by training their cat to walk on a leash while outdoors.

Another activity that we would like to highlight was the Delta NatureBlitz in February which took place at the Reifel Bird Sanc-tuary and Alaksen National Wildlife Area. We co-hosted a free, family-friendly nature adventure that o�ered a dawn to dusk line-up of wildlife walks, outdoor exploration and even a pho-tography contest, all with the help of local naturalists and nature experts NatureKids BC, Nature Canada, the BC Waterfowl Soci-ety, the Delta Naturalists Society, the Delta Farmland & Wildlife Trust and the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Looking forward to another year of partnerships! ☼

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RESOLUTIONS 2017RESOLUTION 2017-01 ROADSIDE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT IN BRITISH COLUMBIASubmitted by Rosamund Pojar and Janine Lemire on behalf of the Bulkley Valley Naturalists

Resolution concerning roadside vegetation management in British Columbia and contravention of the Canadian Migratory Birds Convention Act of 1994 and the British Columbia Wildife Act of 1996

WHEREAS the purpose of the Canadian Migratory Bird Convention act (MBCA) of 1994 is to: Implement the International Convention between Canada and the United States of America by “protecting and conserving migratory birds – as populations and individual birds – and their nests.” (Statutes of Canada c.22) And the Act states: “no person shall: Disturb, destroy, or take a nest, egg, nest shelter, eider duck box or duck box of a migratory bird” (MBCA Regulations, General Prohibitions, Section 6, Section 5 (9)) WHEREAS this act (MCBA) applies to all Provinces and parts of Provinces of Canada WHEREAS the British Columbia wildlife act states: “A person commits an o�ence if the person, except as provided by regulation, possesses, takes, injures, molests or destroys (a) A bird or its eggs (b) The nest of an Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Gyrfalcon, Osprey, Heron or Burrowing Owl, or (c) The nest of a bird not referred to in paragraph (b) when the nest is occupied by a bird or its egg” (Section 34, BC Wildlife Act) WHEREAS the Species at Risk act (SARA) states: “ No person shall damage or destroy the residence of one or more individuals of a wildlife species that is listed as an endangered species or a threatened species, or that is listed as an extirpated species if a recovery strategy has recommended the reintroduction of the species into the wild in Canada” (Section 33) And WHEREAS it has been well documented that migratory birds are declining in numbers (Background document available on request)AndWHEREAS the British Columbia’s ministry of transportation and infrastructure’s environmental best management practices for highway maintenance states: “Potential Environmental Impacts” from “Brushing” and “Mowing” “....may disturb birds and their nests” They then present a table showing the required “Performance Standards and Legal Requirements” to prevent disturbance to birds and their nests. And WHEREAS the British Columbia government is currently in contravention of the above mentioned acts despite repeated requests and opportunities to simply adjust roadside brushing timelines.THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT BC Nature request that British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, The Honourable Todd Stone: 1. Follow the mandatory law that no highway brushing be carried out during the peak breeding bird season in British Columbia in order to comply with the Migratory Birds Convention Act of 1994 and the British Columbia Wildlife Act of 1996. 2. Assess the peak breeding bird season in geographically explicit regions across British Columbia following Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Regional Nesting Period Tables (see https://www.ec.gc.ca/paom-itmb/default.asp?Lang=En&n=4F39A78F-1) with accompanying maps for each region. 3. Only allow mowing of weeds only when it does not impact woody shrubs, trees and aquatic vegetation in ditches during breeding bird season. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT that BC Nature request that, if for any reason the brushing must be carried out, we strongly urge the Ministry to hire a professional ornithologist to assess the area prior to brushing to determine the presence or absence of birds and their nests. In the event that the ornithologist determines there is no risk to breeding birds, the brushing must be carried out within 7 days of the ornithologist’s recommended approval for brushing. If brushing is not carried out within this time period, an ornithologist must be hired again to do an additional assessment (see Environment and Climate Change Canada – Nature –Reducing Risk to Migratory Birds, https://www.ec.gc.ca)

RESOLUTION 2017-02 PROTECTION OF OUR FOSSIL HERITAGESubmitted by John Neville, BC Nature Director

WHEREAS British Columbia is the only province in Canada without protective legislation speci�c to its fossil heritage; WHEREAS B.C.’s fossil heritage is at high risk of being removed from Crown Lands or irrevocably damaged, leading to loss of valuable scienti�c knowledge; and WHEREAS there is a signi�cant province-wide lack of public awareness of the importance of fossil heritage resources;

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BE IT RESOLVED THAT that BC Nature requests the Province of British Columbia to enact and implement e�ective protective legislation so as to fully protect all fossils within its jurisdiction.

RESOLUTION 2017-03 UN-ENCAPSULATED EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE USED AS FLOTATION Submitted by White Rock and Surrey Naturalists

WHEREAS a plastic product called expanded polystyrene (EPS), used in block form, provides economical �otation material in applications such as, but not limited to, fresh and saltwater docks and �oats; and WHEREAS expanded polystyrene foam is made of small white grains of plastic that are expanded into beads by steam and then shaped into blocks, with gaps left between the beads; and WHEREAS expanded polystyrene, in contact with water, eventually becomes waterlogged due to the gaps between the beads, resulting in a relatively short useable life; and WHEREAS expanded polystyrene deteriorates when exposed to ultraviolet radiation and by contact with gasoline, oil and other contaminants, and is subject to breakdown from extreme weather conditions and impact by boats and �oating debris such as logs; and WHEREAS the expanded polystyrene blocks, pieces, �akes and chips that break o� enter the marine and/or freshwater environment causing not only unsightly pollution, but, once broken down into beads and �akes, become a pervasive and unnatural part of the environment (eg. In river bottoms, banks, sea beds and soil) for which there is no existing method of removal; and WHEREAS the expanded polystyrene breaks into ever smaller pieces, and, in its smallest forms, can endanger invertebrates, �sh (including salmonids) and waterfowl that mistake it for food; and WHEREAS there is no existing Canadian legislation, provincial or federal, which requires the usage of any of the various methods of encapsulation available; and WHEREAS there is abundant precedence for encapsulation legislation in jurisdictions outside Canada, including the U.S. states that share our waters; BE IT RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the Ministry of the Environment and its provincial counterparts to enact legislation that bans the use of un-encapsulated expanded polystyrene in all new and replacement dock facilities, public and private, in all freshwater, estuarine and marine environments; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the Ministry of the Environment to establish anAcceptable and e�ective standard of encapsulation; and BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that BC Nature urge the Ministry of the Environment and its provincial counterparts to enact legislation governing the transition of all public and private dock facilities using un-encapsulated expanded polystyrene to approved encapsulated expanded polystyrene in a timely fashion and that legislation also be enacted governing the recycling and/or disposal of expanded polystyrene and encapsulation materials.

RESOLUTION 2017-04 BC NATURE POSITION PAPER ON CLIMATE CHANGE Submitted by the BC Nature Conservation Committee (Please note that this di�ers from our regular conservation resolutions, which are normally addressed to government. This position was accepted for discussion and for consideration by our BC Nature members to develop a statement of position on climate change)

WHEREAS anthropogenic alteration of the earth’s atmosphere is causing global temperature to rise at an unprecedented rate, and WHEREAS the resulting anthropogenic climate change is manifesting itself in increasingly frequent extreme weather events a�ecting land and water, and WHEREAS anthropogenic climate change will increasingly lead to profound disruption of ecosystems, a reduction in global biodiversity, and an increase in human social instability, BE IT RESOLVED THAT BC Nature support on a case-by-case basis, the actions, policies, initiatives and organizations that promote the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by taking ecologically responsible measures to slow or mitigate climate change.

RESOLUTION 2017-05 REINSTATEMENT OF PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE BETWEEN VANCOUVER AND LILLOOET AND ON TO PRINCE GEORGE Submitted by the Lillooet Naturalists

WHEREAS, the passenger rail service is less damaging to the natural environment, compared with vehicles on the highways, between Vancouver and Lillooet and on to Prince George, WHEREAS, the provincial government is having di�culty meeting its climate change goals, as announced by our Premier at the Paris climate change summit, WHEREAS, the rail line already exists and passes through spectacular BC scenery, giving passengers a chance to ‘enjoy Nature’ along the way, WHEREAS, the passenger rail service has the potential to bring low impact tourism to towns and cities along the route, many of which have experienced economic downturns over the past few years, WHEREAS, the very limited passenger rail service already available between Seton Portage and Lillooet is extremely

popular, demonstrating considerable interest from tourists from across the world , as illustrated by a BBC article that generated international demand for local rail tourism, WHEREAS, BC Nature members have also enjoyed this present passenger rail service as part of BC Nature camps in Lillooet, and booked up early on for the passenger rail trip as part of the AGM this May 2017 ,re�ecting a keen interest in our naturalist group for this service, WHEREAS, Mayors and Chiefs and Councils along the rail line have also been advocating for a return of the passenger rail service as an important service to communities along this route, BE IT RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the British Columbia government, and in particular, the Ministry of Transportation, to reinstate the passenger rail service between Vancouver and communities to the north including Lillooet.

RESOLUTION 2017 – 06 LILLOOET AREA TRAILS Submitted by the Lillooet Naturalists

WHEREAS, the natural landscape of the Lillooet area is both diverse and spectacular, WHEREAS, historical, cultural and recreational trails exist on the landscape, WHEREAS, the Lillooet Naturalists, have invested thousands of hours in rediscovering, describing, maintaining, enjoying and sharing the trails of our area with local people and visitors, with an emphasis on a gentle footprint to help preserve the very attributes of the natural beauty here that the trails celebrate, explore and lead to, WHEREAS, activities such as o� road vehicle driving, forestry, mining and Hydro operations can disturb the natural landscapes and our trails, WHEREAS, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) is responsible for stewardship of Provincial Crown land and natural resources, and protection of B.C.’s heritage resources, BE IT RESOLVED THAT BC Nature write to the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources (MFLNRO) to ask for the Ministry’s support and assistance to (1) maintain the integrity of the trails in the Lillooet area; and (2) consider providing legal designation for some of these trails.

RESOLUTION 2017-07. CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION OF GREY WOLVES BY BANNING THE GOVERNMENT OF BC WOLF KILL Submitted by the Cowichan Valley Naturalist Club

WHEREAS wolf culls to date in BC and Alberta have not been e�ective in supporting caribou herds being primarily extirpated by habitat loss; and WHEREAS killing wolves from aircraft does not meet the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) standards, and WHEREAS the intentional, inhumane su�ering of animals these killing methods impose violates the fundamental principles of ethical science, and WHEREAS the BC Government has been negligent in its duties to protect and Conserve wildlife habitat; and WHEREAS conservation management interventions should be well grounded in ecology and environmental ethics; the wolf cull does neither, and WHEREAS when Grey Wolves are eliminated or reduced, ecological and evolutionary relationships are a�ected adversely, causing substantial changes in the number, behavior and distribution of �ora and fauna, including their principle prey. BE IT RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the BC Government to enact a 10-year moratorium on the wolf kill until a study of e�ectiveness or lack thereof be conducted; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the BC Government to adopt the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) Standards; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the BC Government to acknowledge that wolves cause less than half of caribou deaths and at present there is no longer su�cient habitat to maintain the species in small herds.

RESOLUTION 2017-08 SOLAR POWER GENERATION Submitted by: Rocky Mountain Naturalists Club

WHEREAS BC Nature supports in principle the development of alternate energy sources as methods to mitigate global warming and large-scale environmental degradation; WHEREAS the Government of British Columbia does not currently have speci�c policies and procedures guiding the development and placement of utility-scale solar power generation Facilities; WHEREAS options for the scale and placement of solar panels, and related environmental impacts, range widely; WHEREAS the environmental footprint and impacts of utility-scale solar power generation facilities may include the following:

• loss of ecosystem functions through ground disturbance and enclosures; • loss of ecological integrity and diversity of adjacent and downstream ecosystems and• Their �ora and fauna through e�ects on hydrology, microclimates, behaviour, movement, migration,

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connectivity, and the dispersal of invasive species; • loss of the land to user groups such as recreationists and ranchers; • loss of previous investments such as those already contributed for grassland restoration

And habitat enhancement; • loss of existing or potential agricultural land and related income; • interference with natural and prescribed �re regimes;

WHEREAS utility-scale solar power facilities are not currently a permitted use in the Agricultural Land Reserve; BE IT RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the Government of British Columbia to develop legislation, policies and guidelines necessary for the development of scienti�cally sound solar power generation in our province; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT BC Nature also advise the Government of British Columbia to prioritize the development of solar power generation by supporting small-scale, decentralized solar power generation, followed by the development of utility-scale projects, according to the government’s own mitigation priorities, placing facilities on already highly disturbed areas and excluding land in the Agricultural Land Reserve; BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT BC Nature urge the Government of British Columbia to revoke all existing approvals on Crown land for the purpose of investigating the feasibility of solar power generation and place a moratorium on all applications for utility-scale solar power production in the province until it develops legislation and policies and the means to ensure these are followed. ☼

BC Nature wishes to thank our many generous members and donors who assist with our activities, both through monetary support and through contributions of time and expertise. We also appreciate the sup-port from the several groups and agencies we partner with on our projects and programs. A huge thanks to the many Executive and Directors who donated to BC Nature through their travel and other expenses.Thank you to our individual Donors and BCN Club directors who donated their travel expenses this past year!

W. & E. Schoen, P. Stockdale, K. & S. May, J. & L. Wisnia, A. Gri�ths, Kitimat Naturalists, H. Divine, C. Howse, Spaces for Nature, V. van Veen, R. Peck, S. Woodworth, Prov. Employees Comm. Services Fund, G. & T. Bloem, J. Lucas, M. Cuthbert, B. Tamke, R. Shepherd, A. Murray, Telus Employees Fund, D. Webb, R. Mallett, C. Kemp, A. Skene, P. Sanborn, A. Hoag, D. Wagg, G. Cole, J. Simon, S. Hemphill, J. & E. van Veenendaal, E. Szabo, W. Hauser, J. Best, B. Peart, E. Stewart, M. Coghlan, L. Irwin, C. Sharplin, F. McMechan, R. Williams, S. Mooney, P. Wales, E. Sowerby, P. Lukaszek, P. MacLeod, C. & S. Betuzzi, J. Atkinson, N. Krueger, E. Greenwood, H. Thompson, S. Olson, C. Saremba, J. Feick, D. & H. Atchison, M. Pim, E. & G. Pearson, R. Gee, R. Frake, S. Solecki, N. Clare, L. Vigurs, H. Rueggeberg, K. Maitland, E. Beynon, P. & R. Rowat, G. Dreger, R. Fulton, A. Ferguson, P. Dewar, R. Sims, G. McKeating, D. Hutchings, F. & A. Vyse, J. Marmont, L. Mueller, M. Hoebel, D. Drummond, D. & R. Boyd, V. Bonaguro, M. & E. Coulson, D. & J. Phelps, M. Lottridge, D. & N. Truman, D. Munro, M. Bauais, M. Roland, H. Dueck, J. Bryan, S. MacRae, B. Fryer, J. & R. usenik, S. Metcalfe, C. Crampton, S. Fleming, S. & D. Jones, K. Castle, E. Wright, D. Sturdy, A. Burnett, B. Brandhorst, J. Van Dyke, S. Denkers, N. Braithwaite, S. Boothman, M. Misner.All BCN Club directors that donated their Travel and Accomodation expenses to BC Nature, thank you for your gener-osity, not only with your volunteer time, but with your expenses!

BC Nature wishes to acknowledge with thanks, the grants received to assist with our projects from funders, including:

Federal Human Resources Service CanadaMinistry of Finance - BC - Gaming Grants

MECNature Canada

McLean FoundationEnvironment Canada

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Federation of British Columbia Naturalists BC Nature Executive and BC Nature Club Directors 2017

BC Nature Executive CommitteePosition Name Email

President Alan Burger aburger@uvic.caVice President Virginia Rasch virginiainbc@gmail.comPast President Kees Visser cnvisser@shaw.caDirector at Large Bev Ramey bevramey@telus.netTreasurer Reda Rakladios rakladios@yahoo.caSecretary Vivian Birch-Jones vivianbj@telus.netSecretary-Alternate Susan Thorne swthorne@telus.netConservation Chair Peter Ballin pjballin@mac.caKootenay Regional Coordinator Joan Snyder snowdance@shaw.caLower Mainland Regional Coordinator Jude Grass judegrass@shaw.caNorthern BC Regional Coordinator Fred McMechan fred_mcmechan@telus.netVancouver Island Regional Coordinator John Neville songbird@saltspring.comThompson Okanagan Regional Coordinator Janet Pattinson scouse5@icloud.comEducation Chair Margaret Cuthbert blueheron@birdsonthebay.caCommunications Director Claudia Copley dccopley@telus.netAwards Chair Pat Westhauser hpwest@telus.netIBA Coordinator Krista Kaptein kapteink@shaw.caNatureKids President Valery Ross president@naturekidsbc.caNatureKids - Executive Director Louise Pedersen louisepedersen@naturekidsbc.caBC Naturalists Foundation - President Bob Handfield bobnmaggie@shaw.ca

Lower Mainland Region DirectorsAbbotsford-Mission Nature Club Hank RoosAlouette Field Naturalists Duanne VandenbergBC Great Blue Heron Society Gillian AndersonBowen Nature Club VACANTBurke Mountain Naturalists Elaine GoldsChilliwack Field Naturalists’ Society Janne PerrinDelta Naturalists Society Anita den Dikken *Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society Marg CuthbertLangley Field Naturalists Kathy MasseLittle Campbell Watershed Society David RileyPender Harbour & District Wildlife Society Joe HarrisonSquamish Environmental Conservation Society Gwen L'HirondelleStoney Creek Environmental Committee VACANTSunshine Coast Natural History Society VACANTSurrey Environmental Partners (SEP) Deb JackNature Vancouver Bill Kinkaid, Nancy Prober *Whistler Naturalists Society Kathy JenkinsWhite Rock and Surrey Naturalists Society Carol Monaghan *WildResearch Renae Mackas *

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Yorkson Watershed Stewardship Committee Kathy MasseKootenay Region Directors

Fernie Nature Club Kim Lentz *Rocky Mountain Naturalists Greg RossWest Kootenay Naturalists’ Association Joan Snyder

Northern BC Region DirectorsBulkley Valley Naturalists Anne HetheringtonKitimat Valley Naturalists Walter ThorneMackenzie Nature Observatory Jeanne Shaw *Northern Amphibian Naturalists Society Norma KerbyPrince George Naturalists Dave Leman *Quesnel Naturalists Lorna SchleyTimberline Trail & Nature Club Meredith ThorntonWilliams Lake Field Naturalists Fred McMechan

Thompson-Shuswap-Okanagan Region DirectorsCentral Okanagan Naturalist Club Hugh WestheuserKamloops Naturalist Club Ken LipinskiKamloops Thompson Trail Alliance Richard DoucetteLillooet Naturalists Vivian Birch JonesNicola Naturalists Alan BurgerNorth Okanagan Naturalists Club Pamela JenkinsNorth Shuswap Naturalists Club Bob Ewart *Oliver-Osoyoos Naturalists Dwayne FlexhaugShuswap Naturalists Club Janet PattinsonSouth Okanagan Naturalists’ Club Joyce HoglundVermillion Forks Field Naturalists Donna Hills

Vancouver Island Region DirectorsArrowsmith Naturalists Sandra GrayComox Valley Naturalists Society Sharon NiscakCowichan Valley Naturalists Society Jane McAllisterPender Island Field Naturalists Bob Vergette *Rithet’s Bog Conservation Society Sharon ForresterRocky Point Bird Observatory VACANTSalt Spring Trail & Nature Club Kathleen Maser *Victoria Natural History Society Darren Copley

* denotes new director (within the last 12 months)