...Topics: New Research Projects Forest Centre Project Vancouver Foundation Grant for Stream Restoration Salmon Festival

Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Partners with Central Westcoast Forest Society for Research Project on the West Coast The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection funded an important research project through the Central Westcoast Forest Society to monitor known Pacific Great Blue Heron colonies within the Strait of Georgia. The objective was to visit heron colonies known to be active within the last three years to collect data on breeding activity. Attempts were also made to locate new heron colonies based on public reports. For complete details please see the population inventory report. Coastal Great Blue Heron Population Inventory_Final03.pdf Clayoquot Community Forest Centre Project Moves Forward Long a vision of many in the Central West Coast of Vancouver Island area, the Clayoquot Community Forest Centre is taking a step closer to completion. The Central Westcoast Forest Society and its partners are guiding the project and the first task will be to see a business plan completed for creation and operation of the centre. The Clayoquot Biosphere Trust has agreed to assist the process. A graduate student, working with the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, will assist the consultant as the business plan is developed. A main sponsor of the business plan is the C.P. Loewen Family Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit philanthropic organization founded in 1973 by the late C.P. Loewen and his wife Annie to fund charitable causes. Additional sponsors are Human Resources Development Canada through the Ucluelet Industrial Adjustment Strategy Committee, International Forest Products Ltd. (Interfor), and the Central Westcoast Forest Society. Background The Clayoquot Community Forest Centre will be built at a site along the Pacific Rim Highway between Ucluelet and Tofino, near the entrance to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The goal of the centre is to celebrate, study, and promote all aspects of the temperate rainforest through various attractions: a 'Wood Village' showcasing timber and non-timber value-added products a forest interpretive centre demonstration sites for restoration work and new forest harvesting techniques interpretive walking trails opportunities to celebrate the area's culture and heritage picnic/day use area campsites an old-style logging camp bunk-house to house visiting students and researchers classroom/meeting room/offices. Borrowing a theme from the local Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, the Clayoquot Community Forest Centre will work on the idea of 'Hishuk ish is'awalk' or 'Everything is One.' The centre will positively impact many sectors; research and education, tourism, recreation, forestry, non-timber forest industries, ecosystem restoration, regional economic diversification, etc.

This site on Lost Shoe Creek illustrates the restoration work needed in the system. The site is deciduous-dominate with much alder; a tree species that does not have sufficient root structure to maintain stream bank structure. Large woody debris will be placed in the creek to provide stability as well as rearing and spawning habitat for salmon and steelhead. Riparian (stream side) restoration, including planting coniferous trees, will also be necessary. (photo credit Warren Warttig). Vancouver Foundation Grant is Missing Link Not-for-profit charitable organizations such as the Central Westcoast Forest Society (CWFS) rely on grants and other funding from government agencies, foundations, corporations, and the public. The Vancouver Foundation is one such organization that is helping to make a difference for BC's coastal rainforest through a grant to the CWFS for its ecosystem restoration work. The Vancouver Foundation recently awarded the CWFS $30,000. That money will be spent in the Lost Shoe Creek low-lying coastal forest area between Ucluelet and Tofino on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. The Vancouver Foundation restoration site is actually located inside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. "Many funding agencies issue grants with the condition the money be spent on provincial Crown land," says Len Dziama, General Manager of the CWFS, "but with the Vancouver Foundation grant there is no such restriction." The preferred approach for watershed restoration is to work from the top down; to start up on the hillsides stabilizing the slope by deactivating roads to prevent landslides that can clog streams. The restoration work then moves down to creek level. "The society conducted restoration work in the upper reaches of the Lost Shoe watershed last season addressing approximately two kilometres of stream and 25 wood jams. That brings the restoration work on Lost Shoe to date to eight kilometres and 75 jams," says Dziama. "In the 2003 summer fisheries window we will be able to spend Vancouver Foundation money in the national park continuing the restoration work to the mouth of the river where salmon and steelhead first enter the system." Assessments are complete and CWFS crews will work at placing large woody debris into Lost Shoe Creek to replace missing spawning and rearing habitat. "This Vancouver Foundation money really is the missing link. Without this section of the system being addressed the picture is not complete." The Vancouver Foundation is a non-governmental community foundation, founded in 1943 as a collection of funds that form a permanent endowment for charitable purposes. The Foundation administers over 600 funds, the capital of which comes from bequests, living donors, endowments of non-profit organizations, and other gifts. Grants are made from income generated from the investment of the funds. While originating and located in Vancouver, the Foundation helps with projects throughout British Columbia.

Salmon Festival Visit the west Coast of Vancouver Island during the last weekend of October (Oct. 25 & 26, 2003) for the annual Return of the Salmon Festival and see the CWFS's salmon habitat restoration work while the West Coast wild salmon run home. There is lots going on. Join in the fun. The CWFS is a registered charity dedicated to fish and forest ecosystem restoration, recreational and educational infrastructure and programming. Contact us: Central Westcoast Forest Society Box 405, Ucluelet, BC V0R 3A0 Tel: (250) 726-2424 Fax: (250) 726-7211 Email: cwfs@alberni.net ACTIVITIES: I TRAIL I FISHERIES I FESTIVAL I WILDLIFE I FUTURE PROJECTS I  Location Page . .