Check out this video clip from The Express on Shaw Cable Vancouver. The piece about TLC’s Eagles Estate Heritage Garden features our head gardener, Laura Ralph and our volunteer extraordinaire, Rimka Laman at our garden party during the summer.

Photo by N Haddad

Be a part of TLC’s 4th Annual Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up as we once again take to the rocky shores of South Winchelsea Island to rid it of garbage from September 24-26.

Our work will focus on clearing the entire shoreline of the island of garbage that has washed in over the last year. We will also continue our conservation work throughout the island where we have been clearing invasive plants from this sensitive ecosystem.

Come join us for this end-of-summer holiday and go home feeling windswept and satisfied after a weekend of work, relaxation, and camaraderie. For more information on this holiday and others visit our Upcoming Holidays page. Book this holiday now!

Carbonicity , a new online community, has approached popular and environmentally friendly local businesses, such as restaurants, spas, and gyms, and asked for donations to environmental causes in exchange for patronage from the members of their website. Their onlince community members make a difference and help the environment, while merchants gain new customers and additional revenue, and the environmental organizations gain a new source of funding.

Carbonicity has selected The Land Conservancy as one of their environmental causes.  Members of Carbonicity’s online community can now support TLC while  frequenting environmentally conscious businesses throughout Vancouver.  To join their online community please visit their website www.carbonicity.com.

Where to Shop:

Check out Bon Chaz, a new downtown neighbourhood pastry cafe located at 426 W Hastings Street, Vancouver, which serves sandwiches and soup made with daily fresh ingredients and thinks about the environment by serving only fair trade coffee made from Ethical bean. Bonchaz will donate 40% of revenue from each purchase of $10 or more. This offer is valid from August 18, 2010 until August 18, 2011.

Another business participating is Easywash, an eco-friendly carwash. Located at 1501 Main St, in North Vancouver, their state-of-the-art environmentally friendly car wash facility offers you three touchfree carwashes, six interior detail centres, a fully stocked shop and a 24 hour convenience centre. Easywash will donate a percentage of revenue depending on the number of redeemed coupons: 1 to 10 customers – 5% donation, 11 to 30 customers – 10% donation and 30+ customers – 15% donation.

Carbonicity’s mission is to conserve the environment and keep Vancouver green for present and future generations. To contact Carbonicity directly please email customersupport@carbonicity.com.

This is a story about the White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), the largest freshwater fish that lives in our surrounding water systems. The story began 175 million years ago and despite volcanic episodes, flooding, and ice ages – has continued to this day.

Visibly, the White Sturgeon is amazing. With the potential to grow up to six metres and weigh 800 kilograms, this giant fish physically carries the weight of past centuries. Its skin resembles a knight’s armour; rather than typical fish scales, the outside of the White Sturgeon’s body has five rows of bony plates.

However, the White Sturgeon is considered endangered; there are only an estimated 1000 adult sturgeons left in the Upper Columbia. Hydro-electric dams, changes in water quality and flow patterns, and human development are all believed to have impacted the Sturgeon’s ability to thrive in its once natural habitat.

In 2000, the Upper Columbia White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative was formed. Through research, monitoring, a hatchery program, and education it is possible that the White Sturgeon will once again thrive in the Columbia Basin. I encourage you to check www.uppercolumbiasturgeon.org to learn more about the Sturgeon and the initiatives taking place to protect these fish.

If you are an angler, please keep in mind that recreational fishing of the White Sturgeon is illegal. If you happen to snag a sturgeon on your line, break the line immediately to avoid further harm. For more ways on how to avoid negatively impacting the Sturgeon population The White Sturgeon Angler Awareness Program is in place. Contact us for more information.

This article was written by Emily Nilsen, TLC’s Terrestrial Stewardship Advisor in the Kootenay Region, and appeared in the Nelson Express newspaper on the importance of protecting habitat for plants, animals and natural communities. If you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact Nilsen at enilsen@conservancy.bc.ca or 250-354-7345.

Photo by Bianka Sawicz. Dr. Terry McIntosh enthusiastically searching for rare plants.

Article from South Okanagan- Similkameen Stewardship News
By Dr. Terry McIntosh
Botanist & Ecologist

In the early 2000’s, I had the privilege to visit private properties on Salt Spring Island and help landowners with a variety of conservation efforts, from identifying plants to assisting in removal of invasive species. Since then, I have been providing botanical services to various groups from government agencies to NGOs. Last year, however, following an invitation from The Land Conservancy, I had the opportunity to revisit stewardship work, initiating plant and ecological surveys on a number of properties in the Okanagan-Similkameen region. And what a year it was! Not only did we enjoy meeting the landowners and discussing possible conservation activities, we also found numerous interesting or rare plants, none of which would have been observed without the permission of the landowner.

Land owners and their subsequent and cooperative stewardship of natural communities, including animals, plants, and their habitats, are critical towards our understanding and protection of biodiversity and native ecosystems. Not only does stewardship increase public awareness and networking, it provides a highly positive atmosphere for conservation activities. I look forward to 2010, and its rewards from working with landowners.

Wildwood by Jade Vovers

Misconceptions and misinformation about TLC’s Wildwood Ecoforestry Site continue to spread through various blogs and websites. It is disappointing that such misinformation would be copied and spread from blog to blog without any attempt to check facts or verify the validity of the story. TLC was never contacted by any of these individuals to comment on the story or provide details. TLC would like to reiterate our original message setting out the facts about our management of Wildwood.

In recent days there have been stories regarding the Wildwood Ecoforestry Site.  These stories, initiated by members of Merv Wilkinson’s family, under Merv’s name, have made several accusations about TLC’s stewardship of the site.  Specifically, they have claimed that TLC is not living up to its commitment that this site would be protected in perpetuity as an ecoforestry and educational site, and that, rather, TLC views this site as a park.   As evidence of these claims, they point to the fact that TLC has only made one minor cut (of 8 trees) on the site since we took on responsibility.  They also claim that TLC is not fully protecting the site, as it has not put a conservation covenant on the property.  In response to this, they say that they want to buy back their property.

These stories have, understandably, caused concern among some of our members and others who have supported Merv’s work at Wildwood and want to see it continue.  We at TLC are equally upset at the claims and interpretations that are being made, and we hope that the following facts will reassure everyone – including Merv’s family – that TLC is fully honouring its commitments and has only the best interests of Wildwood, Merv and Merv’s legacy at heart.

TLC cherishes and celebrates the work that Merv has accomplished at Wildwood.  At every opportunity, with everyone who visits the site, we tell his story, explain his work and show what can be done.  Ten years ago, Merv and his wife Anne – along with many community members – were very concerned that after they passed on Wildwood could fall victim to development pressures, and that Merv’s life work would be lost.  They approached TLC about conserving the property as an ongoing ecoforestry site and as a demonstration site where the techniques and principles that Merv developed could be documented, researched further and taught to others.  In purchasing the site, we made a firm commitment to honour those wishes.  That commitment remains as strong today as it was then.

Over the past ten years of our stewardship of the site we have worked closely with Merv.  He has been very much a part of the activities on site and in helping us make plans.  He would regularly meet with student groups and other visitors – telling his stories himself – until very recently when he became just too frail to continue to do so (he is, after all, 96 years old).  Our site manager – also an aspiring  ecoforester – has worked with Merv since before Wildwood was purchased, and has spent those years actively learning everything he could from Merv, both about Merv’s approach to ecoforestry and about Wildwood itself.

Fiddleheads at Wildwood. Photo by Jade Vovers

From the outset, and at Merv’s encouragement, we have also worked in partnership with the Ecoforestry Institute.  This group of Ecoforestry professionals, led by those whom Merv had inspired and taught, are responsible for the development of the forestry management plan for Wildwood.  While the plan itself has only recently been completed, considerable work has been done over the years to develop a forest inventory for the site, and to get to know the site.  This plan is the first comprehensive effort to document, quantify and structure the processes and strategies that Merv pioneered.  It has been a huge effort, done on a volunteer basis, by dedicated people who have spent countless hours developing it, and we are extremely grateful for their work.  Until this work was completed, and with the guidance of the Ecoforestry Institute, we took a very conservative approach to managing the forest – it was felt by the ecoforesters that both the timber supply and the forest health would benefit from us being cautious and proceeding slowly for a few years.  Thus, we have only done one small cut (and have taken out a few other individual trees) during the past ten years.  That’s not to say there hasn’t been debate and discussion amongst the ecoforesters themselves (including Merv) over the level of cuts that should be done.  It’s an inexact science, and it was our decision to proceed carefully until we had the full management plan in place.

But it is very important for everyone to understand that this cautious approach, and the lack of more extensive cutting does not mean, in any way, that our view of the site and its future has changed.  It has not.

With respect to the conservation covenant, it is also a matter of timing.  Most covenants address and protect the environmental values of the land, and restrict the use and activity on the site to protect those values.  In the case of Wildwood – an Ecoforestry Site – the issues to be addressed in a covenant are significantly more complex.  While we have had some discussions with potential covenant holders we have not yet worked out details.  Also, as the management plan for the site is still being finalized, it makes better sense to wait until this is done before putting a covenant in place.   The lack of a covenant does not, inherently put the property at risk.  TLC’s ownership and management of the site is by far the greatest level of protection.  However, we do want to develop a covenant for this site and will do so with our partners at the appropriate time in the near future.

Medicinal plant Heal All - Prunella vulgaris

And finally, with respect to the request from Merv’s family members to re-purchase the site, we have made it clear to them that this is not possible, even if we wanted to – which we don’t.  This matter was first raised with us in January.  Our Executive Director and our Board Chair met directly with Merv’s daughter and son-in-law, as well as Merv, and explained to them that because the property was purchased with donated funds, and because there were tax receipts and tax benefits involved, we do not have the legal ability to sell the property to private interests.  But, when we take a property under our care, we do have the ethical and moral responsibility to protect that property in perpetuity, to not expose it to undue risk, and to manage it to the best of our abilities according to the expectations of our partners, members and donors. 

We have to say that to sell the property (even to Merv’s family) would be a breach of the commitment we made to Merv and Anne and a breach of our responsibility.  At 96 and quite frail, Merv himself simply would not be taking care of Wildwood.  Its management and its future would pass to others who are not accountable to anyone, and who cannot guarantee the protection of the site or of Merv’s legacy in perpetuity.

We have made it clear to Merv’s family (as it has always been clear to Merv himself) that we very much welcome them to be involved in the ongoing work at Wildwood.  It is disappointing that they chose to go the media instead.  We continue to welcome their involvement.

Located south of Fauquier on Lower Arrow Lake in the West Kootenay, this 112 acre property was donated to TLC in 2005 to protect significant ecological values. It contains mature forest stands in the Interior Cedar Hemlock zone, and wetlands and riparian areas along the property’s shoreline are important bird nesting and resting areas. This property contains a large maternal colony of approximately 1,500 Little Brown Bats, and is home to several species-at-risk including Townsend’s Big-eared Bat, Pacific gopher snake, and racer.

Check out this video clip from The Daily on Shaw Cable Victoria. The piece about TLC’s Wild Hills and Beaches Campaign aired on Tuesday, August 17 and Wednesday, August 18. For more information about our Wild Hills and Beaches Campaign please visit conservancy.bc.ca.

There are five classes of wetlands: bogs, fens, marshes, swamps, and shallow open water. Whether the sun draws a quiet line through the trees, or rain paints soft circles over the water, the stillness of these water bodies is deceiving. The health of the entire watershed relies on the reliability of the wetlands upstream.

Many plants that grow here are busy acting as natural filters. Wetlands are capable of absorbing heavy metals from polluted waters. In the marsh, nitrogen and phosphorous are soaked up to cleanse the water that flows (in a more purified form) downstream.

Like a giant sponge, the vegetation and soils in a wetland sop up rainwater and snowmelt. This provides a gradual yet steady supply of water for plants and animals and decreases the likelihood of downstream flooding.

Providing habitat for a variety of wildlife is another function of wetlands. The brushy edges provide protection for nesting birds and are common fish spawning grounds. Our local Painted Turtles at the Grohman Narrows wetland sun themselves on the pond-side rocks.

Humans have a history of dredging, draining, and ripping around the edges of these delicate ecosystems. Please be aware of wetlands, they are not to be messed with! We rely on them for clean groundwater and they provide essential habitat.

If you have a wetland on your property and would like to know more about how to restore or enhance its ecological features, please contact us.

This article was written by Emily Nilsen, TLC’s Terrestrial Stewardship Advisor in the Kootenay Region, and appeared in the Nelson Express newspaper on the importance of protecting habitat for plants, animals and natural communities. If you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to contact Nilsen at enilsen@conservancy.bc.ca or 250-354-7345.

Photo by Burrowing Owl Conservation Society. Mike MacIntosh holding a Burrowing Owl.

Article from South Okanagan- Similkameen Stewardship News
By Mike MacKintosh
Burrowing Owl Conservation Society

Burrowing Owls are captivating little birds of prey, tiny, with long legs, bright yellow eyes and an unusual lifestyle. They live and raise their families in underground burrows, once naturally constructed for them by badgers and other burrowing mammals. The species is in considerable trouble in B.C. and Canada, and was declared endangered in 1995.

Each year since 1992, volunteers and scientists from the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society have reintroduced yearling burrowing owls to ranchlands in the Nicola Valley of B.C. to try to reestablish viable breeding populations.

To increase their numbers we have captive breeding facilities, at the B.C. Wildlife Park in Kamloops, and at Port Kells in the Fraser Valley.

Our great team of over 75 volunteers have been working in the Nicola Valley since 1992, building artificial burrows that the birds will use to raise their families of owlets in the wild. Ranchers and private landowners are the key. We now have over 850 burrows spread through the grasslands of the valley. Each year we release over 100 owls back to the wild to join with some of the birds returning from migration.

Burrowing owls are very social little birds. Many will find each other, pair up and raise their own families. In 2009, our field workers banded over 200 wild born young produced from 45 successful nesting pairs.

The first task of our field staff each year is to locate returning migrants. Over the last five years the numbers have been steadily rising, with 18 owls making the return trip in 2007. Our group are now expanding the program to other parts of the province. We have met with ranchers in the South Okanagan and will be placing burrows near Oliver and Osoyoos in 2010.

Spreading the message about the owls and the program is very important. People from all walks of life are able to get involved and contribute whatever they can to make the planet a little bit better place. For more information, contact the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of BC, 2165 Palmerston Avenue, West Vancouver, BC, V7V 2V7, groundowl@yahoo.ca, ph: 604-562-5810, www.burrowingowlbc.org.

The last Burrowing Owl in the South Okanagan – Similkameen was seen in the 1990’s. Historically, nesting areas were found in Osoyoos, Oliver, Penticton, White Lake, and the Similkameen Valley. The Ministry of Environment attributes their disappearance to the decline in grassland habitat due to agricultural and urban development. These diminutive owls nest in burrows, sometimes made by badgers and ground squirrels.

Badgers are also endangered, with less than 45 individuals left in the region. Without sufficient burrows, owls are more vulnerable to inclement weather and predators, such as coyotes, hawks, other larger owls and weasels. Landowners can help by conserving and restoring grasslands.

Rhubarb Chutney from Abkhazi Garden

 3600g chopped rhubarb                                   

3600 g sugar                                        

50 g molasses                                      

Mix and set overnight in the fridge. In the morning, strain and reserve liquid.

600 g raisins – add to strained rhubarb

720 g onion and 6 tsp. olive oil – sauté until translucent & slightly caramelized     

2700 g vinegar

600 g crystallized ginger

3 tsp. dried chilli flakes

6 T.  mustard seed

6 T.  tamarind concentrate

6 tsp. Fenugreek

6 tsp. mixed pickling spice in tea strainer

3 tsp. salt

Add all of this to the onions, along with the liquid reserved, cook gently bubbling until slightly thickened, candied and glossy.  (up to 1 hour)

Add rhubarb and raisin mixture to above and bring back to the boil.  Cook only a bit to slightly soften fruit.  Process in sterilized jars.  Yield:  7 quarts

Article by Erika Verlinden, TLC Project Officer

Nothing beats the soothing sound of waves lapping the seashore. Imagine being lulled to sleep by the ocean and wind whispering through the Garry Oak and Arbutus leaves. Relax your weekend away at a cottage on South Winchelsea Island (SWI) locate d just off Nanoose Bay, mid Vancouver Island.  Since 1998 The Land Conservancy has owned South Winchelsea and held it in trust for the public good. The public is allowed day use of the island and TLC rents out the cottage for overnight stays. The six person cottage, the only dwelling on the island, offers all the essentials of a regular home. Pure serenity will surely be the predominant undertone of your stay on this blissful island.

South Winchelsea is a hook-line-and-sinker for all types: wildflower enthusiasts will be kept entertained for hours  by the many species abound on the island including but certainly not limited to Common Camas, Fool’s Onion, Yellow Monkey-Flower, Chocolate Lily, Sea Blush, and Prickly Pear Cactus. Coming to the island in mid-Spring is a must for the fauna fiend as you will delight in the barking symphony of the visiting California and resident Stellar sea lions, not to mention a sighting of one of SWI’s bald eagles is almost definite as are several visits from curious seals. The conservationist will be happy to make use of the cottage’s rainwater-fed indoor plumbing and solar lights. And for the wine lover there is no better way to enjoy a glass of local red or white than watching the sun set over Mount Arrowsmith and the neighbouring Beaufort range.

At the end of your stay you’ll feel refreshed, peaceful, well-fed and hopefully even more appreciative of the conservation work of TLC to protect our special places.

To book your stay at South Winchelsea Island, call TLC Enterprises at 250-383-4627 or 1-888-738-0533, email enterprises@conservancy.bc.ca. TLC Members receive 10% off, become a Member today.

Since 1997, TLC has been saving special places throughout our beautiful province for today and future generations. As B.C.’s leading charitable land trust, we have protected more than 300 properties of fast disappearing natural areas, historic sites, farms and ranches, and places of community and recreational importance. TLC works with many partners, all levels of government, businesses, community groups, and individuals to ensure the broadest support for our activities. TLC is proud to work on behalf of over 7,700 Members worldwide. Become a Member today at conservancy.bc.ca.

Thousands of volunteer hours have transformed a once badly deteriorated space back into an elegant 1860s Dining Room for all to admire. The ornate mirror reflects the glow of a handsome oil-lamp, hanging over a dining table set for breakfast with period china. Dark Victorian furniture and an oriental carpet set off the classic wallpaper and heavy velvet drapes. Every detail is appropriate to the 1860s period in which the Villa was built, and represents an astonishing labour of love by a number of heritage professionals and skilled artisans and artists. Specialist craftspeople on the project have included an historic wallpaper designer, a retired paperhanger, a lath-and-plaster expert, a conservator, a heritage carpenter, a cabinet-maker, a heritage mason, and a textile specialist. But many more of the volunteers are everyday people with a love for heritage, all of whom have painstakingly scraped away the layers of paint and wallpaper, and restored the original baseboards, door, frames, floor, glass, and fireplace.

“TLC is extremely lucky to have such a wonderful group of dedicated volunteers,” says Deborah Hudson, TLC’s Vancouver Island Regional Manager. “A number of volunteers have been working weekly at the Villa for 10 years or more.”  

“Time: That’s what it took to make this room and project a success,” says professional conservator Simone Vogel-Horridge. “Restoring the plaster ceiling-rose alone probably took a hundred hours, with volunteers working on a scaffold at neck-breaking angles! And every Saturday you can find a volunteer working away methodically on a section of the Villa, and the results are breathtaking. When you walk into the Dining Room, it is like you are going to sit down for dinner with the Roscoes, the original family to occupy the home in 1865.”

Please join TLC’s Ross Bay Villa Labour Day Lawn Party on Monday, September 6, 1 – 4 p.m. Admission to the grounds and heritage group displays are free. Visitors may also enjoy a comprehensive tour of the Villa for an additional $7.00 and traditional ‘Cream Tea’ on the lawn for $7.00. Period 1800s music will also be provided by the Windrift Woodwind Quintet.

Ross Bay Villa is a rare 1865 colonial cottage, one of about a dozen buildings of this era known to survive in the Capital Region. Located at 1490 Fairfield Road in Victoria, this historic site is directly opposite historic Ross Bay Cemetery. TLC purchased the property in April 1999 rescuing it from demolition. Under professional guidance, a dedicated group of volunteers is bringing the building back to its 1865 appearance. TLC intends to restore the building as a multi-use facility including period rooms and interpretive displays open to the public, and office rental space for local heritage organizations. With the restoration nearly complete, the Old Cemeteries Society is poised to be the first group to move into one of the offices. The 1860s style garden will also be available for small gatherings such as weddings.

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For further information:

Heather Skydt, TLC Communications Manager, 604-733-2313, hskydt@conservancy.bc.ca

Bill Turner, TLC Executive Director, 250-479-8053, bturner@conservancy.bc.ca

Note to editors: interviews with volunteers available through TLC

Please visit our photo gallery of Ross Bay Villa.