Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In the first of a series of articles from Cortes Islands recent Wildlife Coexistence Gathering, Cortes Currents looked at Vancouver Island’s first wildlife coexistence program in the Pacific Rim National Park. The problem at that time was human/bear conflicts. By the time Sabina Leader Mense reached out from Cortes Island, about 2010, WildSafeBC had been dealing with...

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On April 5th, Max Thaysen, Sara Stewart, and Filipe Figueira joined host Manda Aufochs Gillespie for a FolkU Friday group discussion on food security and food systems. They chat about successes and challenges in food systems, both locally and globally, from the perspective of farmers, food thinkers, and one of the main coordinators of the Cortes Food Bank. Folk U...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Around 40 people turned out for the Wildlife Coexistence Gathering on Cortes Island. This was an opportunity for Cortesians to meet some of the extended community of advisors to the local program and learn more about our three top predators: grey wolf, black bear and cougar. The gathering was organized and hosted by Sabina Leader Mense and Georgina Silby from the Cor...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - How should we live on a planet where the rate of extreme weather events seem to be increasing, and humanity is the cause?  
 “We're not doing well in terms of global temperatures at all. We're on a dangerous trajectory. We are not going to keep below the 1.5°C on average limit, that seems really clear.  We're actually over 1.5°C in terms of individual years already,...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - After close to a decade as the Member of Parliament for North Island-Powell River, Rachel Blaney announced that she will not run in the next Federal Election. 
“It was a very hard decision to make but, sadly, I have family issues that have come to the forefront. I recognize that time is precious and this is a long commute back and forth, so I'm happy to be able to co...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - More than 2,600 people went to the North Island Outdoor Adventure Show last year.  
 “Most of them were from Courtney and Campbell River. A good portion from Parksville, Nanaimo and then it got pretty slim, but Quadra, Gold River, Victoria, Qualicum. There was one that really  blew my mind: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,” explained Joel Wheeldon, Program Coordinator with th...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Vancouver Island Regional Library increased its operating budget for 2024 to $38 million. That is 15% more money than last year. Executive Director Brent Hyman explained that this increase is necessary because the library’s  previous management did not budget properly and more money is needed for wages, benefits and leases. He has been giving presentations to the...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - At the March 27th meeting of the Strathcona Regional District Board, a couple of items affecting Cortes were on the agenda. Decisions were taken with regard to funding for our community halls, and equipment for our volunteer fire department.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Part 5 of 5 of 25 Years of Good Libations

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - he West Connect Infrastructure (WCI) crew had just finished laying CityWest’s main cable in Whaletown, when one  of the workers noticed that a line had been cut. They immediately informed the RCMP, whose press release states they were initially informed of three cuts to the cable.  
Scott Simpson, Senior Marketing Manager at CityWest explained: “On the evening or nig...

Cortes Island Academy at Folk U - On the March 29th replay episode of The Wild Island, created by the 2022-2023 Cortes Island Academy cohort, young journalists cover Cortes from different angles; Ro explores the island’s history with forestry, Finley unpacks the mystery of the abandoned cars in Carrington Bay, Sophie looks at the realities of coexisting with wild animals, and Seren and Sonia profi...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - part 4 of 5 of the interview with Doug Brown of Good Libations

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Area C ‘opted-in’ to the Short Term Rental Accommodation Act at the SRD Board meeting yesterday. There was a spirited discussion in which the Director from Area D and two of his Campbell River colleagues discussed their reservations. Regional Director Mark Vonesch showed everyone an exception that would allow some absentee landlords to continue operating their short...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The SRD Board will be meeting again today and three items about BC’s Short Term Rental Act are on the agenda. The Ministry of Housing responded to Cortes Island’s decision to opt in. 58% of the respondents of Area C’s survey on whether to opt in replied ‘Yes’ and Area D will not opt in.  
 On February 28, the SRD approved Cortes Island’s decision to opt in to BC’...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - part 3 of 5 of the interview with Doug Brown of Good Libations

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - The story of Good Libations Part 2 of 5

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A citizen scientist project to photograph pacific herring spawn along the West Coast, from Alaska down to California, has been underway for two months. It is based in the Comox Courtenay area, and one of its many partners is the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI). According to project lead Jacqueline Huard, a scientist with Project Watershed, “I work with the Coastal Fo...

CIA on Folk U - On the March 22nd replay episode of Cosmic Confidential, created by the 2022-2023 Cortes Island Academy cohort, journalists Rose and Zella dig deep into Cortes Island’s infamous coffeehouse drugging incident with their piece Psychedelic Soup. Kiana and Igor explore the possibilities and pitfalls of using psychedelics as medicine in their piece, The Psychedelics Journey. What really...

De Clarke/ Good Libations - One of Cortes Island's best loved businesses is a U-Brew tucked away in an old seafood plant, off the beaten track on Hansen Road. Founder and sole proprietor Doug Brown started the business 25 years ago after moving to Cortes from the Fraser Valley. Currents interviewed Doug in mid-March 2024. Our extensive interview covers many topics including: how Doug got started i...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Food Bank has met the rapidly expanding need for its services, but says it is time the local, provincial and federal governments stepped up to the plate. Only 110 food hampers were given out in 2022, but since August they have seen at least a threefold increase of demand every month. There were 86 clients in January and 70 in February. Prior to this...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -  Linnaea Farm's Homegrown Series kicks off at 10:00 AM this Saturday. This is a monthly series, which will be offered on March 23rd, April 20th, May 11th and June 8th, 2024. “I want to teach. I've had a lot of seasons under my belt now. 1995 was my first growing season, I was in Pemberton. Then I did a garden program at Linnaea Farm in 1998. I just really like sharin...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A new subpopulation of Orcas has been identified in the open ocean off the coasts of Oregon and California. UBC researchers have identified 49 individual killer whales in photographs taken between 1997 and 2021.  
 According to Josh McInnes, a masters student in the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and lead author of a new paper in Aquatic Animals, they may...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Scientists at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden recently concluded that some farmed salmon die from depression. This may not be too surprising, given the conditions in which they are kept. In other recent research, a team of US and Canadian scientists has charted an ominous trend: mass die-offs of farmed salmon are increasing in both frequency and scale. Some obse...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Early in the week of March 11th, during the annual herring run, a combination of weather and tides swept an unusual quantity of herring roe ashore at Smelt Bay. On Tuesday the 12th of March, the roe in some places was piled 6-8 inches deep on the beach. From a distance it resembled lighter coloured sand piled on top of the familiar gray sand and shingle of Smelt Bay.

CIA on Folk U Radio - What really matters most in the world? How will we help inspire the next generation of truth-seekers and truth-tellers? At the Cortes Island Academy we believe in the passion and skills of the people and wild places of this place and are proud of our youth who learned along side our community and shared their growing skills through journalistic podcasts, Elder Documentaries,...