Help TLC connect BC with nature
This #GivingTuesday we are calling on our supporters to contribute to TLC’s ever-growing land stewardship and educational programming.
This fall has been a busy time for our team. Staff, volunteers, and partners have been wrapping up our annual covenant monitoring, hosting our final 2023 Passport to Nature educational events, and the stewarding more than 15,000 acres of protected areas like our Abkhazi Garden, Clearwater Wetlands and Wildlife Corridors, and Fort Shepherd Conservancy Area. As you’re likely aware, TLC’s work doesn’t stop once we’ve protected an area through direct acquisition or the registration of a conservation covenant. Stewardship continues indefinitely.
We encourage you to read more below about our fall land stewardship and educational programming.
With gratitude,
Dianna Stenberg
Executive Director
Pollinator Planting at Fort Shepherd
In mid-October the TLC team travelled to Trail, BC to co-host two native species planting events in collaboration with Kootenay Native Plant Society, the Sn̓ ʕaýckstx (Sinixt) Confederacy and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CCT). These events built on continued efforts to support native and endangered pollinators to the Columbia river basin and to increase biodiversity at Fort Shepherd.
Way̓ ́ʔi̓tx̌ʷǎʔ (“why eat-hwa”) Hello Camas Event
ʔíʔtxʷǎʔ (camas) have been stewarded by First Nations in the Kootenays for millenia. With great care, volunteers planted one thousand camas bulbs to continue the legacy of ʔíʔtxʷǎʔ at Fort Shepherd in a good way. Camas take an incredibly long time to grow. Bulbs that were planted were 3-4 years old and are estimated to flower after 5-6 years.
Welcome Back Monarchs Event
On October 21st, Waneta Sunshine Rotary club volunteers planted 350 seedlings to expand an existing pollinator corridor at Fort Shepherd. The plants consisted of eight pollinator-friendly species native to the Kootenays, some of which are the only species that native pollinators use for food or shelter.
Invasive Species Removal at Alston-Stewart
In partnership with the Greater Victoria Green Team (GVGT), two invasive species removal stewardship events were held on October 14th and 29th at TLC’s Alston-Stewart properties in the Blenkinsop valley in Victoria. This was the first time stewardship events occurred on the properties since their bequeathment to TLC by the late Joan Alston-Stewart in 2022 and what a success they were!
The events drew 66 volunteers who contributed 196 combined hours to remove 15 cubic-metres (~93 bathtubs-full) of English ivy (Hedera helix) and other invasive plants. This incredible feat uncovered approximately 1,350 square metres of forest floor, re-exposing native understory species like trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus), dull Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa) and Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor). By clipping up to three inch thick vines, volunteers also saved dozens of Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Red Alder (Alnus rubra) and bitter cherry (Prunus emarginata) trees from strangulation.
Events Summary Report & Photos
Read more about these events and browse the photo album.
Report and photos provided by Greater Victoria Green Team.
Volunteer removes invasive English ivy at Alston-Stewart
Passport to Nature Wrap Up
Passport to Nature 2023 wrapped up this fall with two final events. With free, year-round, family-friendly events across BC, the program is designed to increase accessibility and connection to nature for all.
Funky Fungi Foray at Second Lake
With 40 different species observed, fungi fanatics were not disappointed by foray finds at TLC’s Second Lake property in the Highlands. “The Boundary Layer” Passport to Nature event was co-led by local naturalists and authors Andy MacKinnon and Kem Luther, and TLC’s Biologist and mushroom-lover Torrey Archer-Anderson. The event introduced participants to lichens, mosses and fungi inhabitants of endangered Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystems.
Virtual Nature-based Learning: Sod & Sea Webinar
For audiences far and wide, TLC offers virtual Passport to Nature events like the recent “Sod and Sea” presentation prepared by Sara Wickham, MSc. and TLC board member, that investigates nutrient cycling between intertidal and terrestrial ecosystem boundaries.