News Archives - Page 42 of 53 - Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation

Thu, 28 Aug 2014

Tags: Fisheries

Shaping up Seymour

Seymour estuary restoration earth moving.jpg

is well on its way to being restored to an important transition ground for juvenile seagoing trout, char and salmon making their way out to Burrard Inlet. Major earth moving work for this BIRPP project was completed last week, reshaping and contouring the estuary to make it more hospitable for the fish and other organisms that historically thrived there. Creosote-soaked structures leaking contaminants and invasive plants were removed from the estuary, and huge logs and boulders were strategically placed to both provide cover for young salmonids and to protect the native vegetation that will be planted here next spring. These plantings will complete the site’s transformation from an estuary with virtually no cover or foraging habitat to a functional ecosystem offering multiple benefits to fish, wildlife and humans.

The work at the Seymour River estuary will soon be followed by earth moving at another BIRPP estuary restoration project, Mosquito Creek. This estuary has been reduced to 1% of its historical size through waterfront industrial development. This will be an excellent opportunity to view restoration work in progress, as the site is located at a key junction point for the North Shore Spirit Trail. Check back here in September for more BIRPP project updates.

Fri, 22 Aug 2014

Inspiring Images

Looking for some inspiration for our photo contest? Check out our Flickr album of some great project photos submitted by our proponents!

Fri, 8 Aug 2014

Summer Newsletter

HCTF’s Summer Newsletter is out now! View it on our Newsletter page, where you can also sign up to have future editions delivered right to your inbox.

Thu, 7 Aug 2014

Tags: Wildlife

Project Evaluation: Bringing Back the Bluebirds

A few times a year, HCTF staff get to escape from the office and check out some of our projects in the field. We conduct project site evaluations as an accountability measure, and to gain a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing our proponents. These evaluations include a financial review and a site visit, where we get to see firsthand the important conservation work being done by our proponents. This summer, HCTF Biologist Lynne Bonner and Finance Officer Katelynn Sander were excited to spend some time with the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT) and get the inside scoop on their Bring Back the Bluebirds project.

Though once plentiful, Western Bluebirds have been extirpated (locally extinct) in southwestern BC since 1995. They like to make their nests in Garry Oak meadows, but these ecosystems have become increasingly rare due to human development. As their habitat was lost and fragmented, Western Bluebirds eventually stopped returning to Vancouver Island to nest and raise their young. In their Bring Back the Bluebirds project, GOERT is aiming to re-establish a breeding population of Western Bluebirds on Vancouver Island. This project took flight in 2012, and has hatched an international partnership which allows Bluebirds from a healthy population in Washington to be re-located to Vancouver Island. There are currently multiple nest sites in the Cowichan Valley where pairs of Bluebirds have nested and are tending to their fledglings.

The first two years of the project enjoyed remarkable successes with 9 nestlings fledged in 2012 and 32 nestlings fledged in 2013. This year saw some challenges for the nesting bluebirds. While some bluebirds were lost to predators (likely suspects: domestic cats, mink or raccoon), the most harm came from depredation from the invasive House Sparrow. These small birds are highly territorial and aggressive, attacking any birds (adults and nestlings) within their breeding territory. This year 6 nestlings were lost to House Sparrow attacks. Thanks to the determined efforts of the GOERT Recovery Team, volunteers and the Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre, several injured nestlings were rescued, rehabilitated and returned to the wild. You can read more about this on the GOERT website’s July 2014 news article. Despite these losses, there have been more successful nests this year than in previous years and by early August 2014, four nests had fledged successfully and four currently active nests are expected to fledge by mid-August.

We would like to extend a big thank you to GOERT Conservation Specialist Kathryn Martell, summer student Reanna Schelling, and bluebird translocation expert Gary Slater (Ecostudies Instutite, Washington) for taking the time to show us around the nest sites, and introducing us to some adorable baby Bluebirds. If you are interested in learning more about the Bluebird Reintroduction project and the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, check out their website at http://www.goert.ca/

See other Bluebird Project Posts >>

Fri, 1 Aug 2014

HCTF Photo Contest Starts Today!

The HCTF photo contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry. We will be announcing winners on our website on or before January 31^st, 2015, and will also be featuring some of our favourite photos in the Winter edition of our newsletter.

The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation is holding its first ever photo contest! We’re looking for spectacular images of British Columbia’s fish, wildlife and habitats, or people outdoors enjoying these resources. Specifically, HCTF is looking for photos of:

Freshwater fish (species native to BC)
BC wildlife (terrestrial and freshwater, not in captivity)
BC landscapes where freshwater fish and wildlife are found, including lakes, rivers, wetlands, forests, and grasslands.
Fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and outdoor education.

Our favorite three images will win VISA gift cards, and be featured on our website. Please note that entries may also be used by HCTF in future communications materials.

Judges

The winning entries will be selected by a panel established by HCTF. Each photo shall be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. Winners will be announced on the Foundation’s website by January 31^st, 2015.

Deadline

Entries must be received by 4:30pm PST on November 14^th, 2014.

Full contest rules (including prize information) are available here.

Sat, 19 Jul 2014

HCTF Board Visits Burn Sites in the Peace

In late June, the HCTF Board of Directors travelled north to Toad River for their spring board meeting, and to get a first-hand look at one of HCTF’s longest-running projects, the Peace-Liard Burn Program. HCTF has funded this project for over 20 years, investing close to $100K in it annually and adding to other contributions made by organizations including the Northern BC Guides Association and the Northeast BC Wildlife Fund. This ongoing habitat enhancement program uses prescribed fire to enhance grazing habitat for the area’s huge diversity of ungulates. Burning select tracts of land regenerates the grasses and small plants previously shaded out by dense forest, providing valuable foraging habitat for these animals. The opened-up areas add to a mosaic of different successional stages across the landscape that can support the huge diversity of wildlife that the Peace is famous for. This was evident from the air, as Board members spotted elk, mountain goats, and Stone’s sheep on previously burned sites.

It has been well over a decade since the Board last met in this specific area of BC, and their visit also coincided with the meeting for the Northern Guides Association, enabling a joint get-together over a barbecue dinner hosted by Leif and Kellie Olson. Our sincere thanks to the Olsons, to Chris Addison (MFLNRO), Jim Fulton (Northeast BC Wildlife Fund) and Brent Munro (BCTA) for joining us for dinner, to project leader Alicia Woods for guiding the tour, and to Cam Allan from Qwest Helicopters for safely piloting the Board and staff on the tour, and for also donating some helicopter time in support of the Foundation.