The BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection has launched its Bear Smart Communities Program. The Bear Smart Communities Program encourages communities to take pro-active steps to reduce the number of bear-human conflicts that occur each year.  This program is based on a series of criteria that communities must achieve in order to be recognized by the Minister as being "Bear Smart". The criteria are:

1. Prepare a bear hazard assessment of the community and surrounding area.
2. Prepare a bear/human conflict management plan that is designed to address the bear hazards and land-use conflicts identified in the previous step.
3. Revise planning and decision-making documents to be consistent with the bear/human conflict management plan.
4. Implement a continuing education program, directed at all sectors of the community.
5. Develop and maintain a bear-proof municipal solid waste management system.
6. Implement "Bear Smart" bylaws prohibiting the provision of food to bears as a result of intent, neglect, or irresponsible management of attractants. 

To download the background report or a smaller promotional brochure on this program, visit:
http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/bearsmart/bearsmintro.html

The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is addressing the issue of overlapping use between llamas (trekking areas) and vulnerable wildlife. A first step is a list of areas where llamas are trekking. If you know of such activity, please send a note to Helen Schwantje at helen.schwantje@gems2.gov.bc.ca or phone her in Victoria at: 250-953-4285.

The BC Centre of Disease control wants BC citizens to be on the look out for unusual deaths of crows, ravens, jays and magpies. Such deaths may indicate that West Nile Virus, first recognized in North America in 1999, is active in Canada. Dead birds should be reported to Larry Halverson, Bird Surveillance Coordinator for the East Kootenays, BC, at 250-347-2207 (larry.halverson@pc.gc.ca) or if in Alberta, Margo J. Pybus 780-427-3462 so that they can be examined for West Nile Virus infection. This is an important part of the early-warning system currently in place to detect West Nile Virus activity in Canada and to reduce the risk of human infection. For more information, visit: http://www.bccdc.org .

Environmental Affairs Manager, Columbia Power Corporation, Castlegar. Application deadline is July 30. More info at http://www.cwra.org/ and follow the links.

Columbia Basin Trust, 2 year Internship, application deadline is July 31. More info at: http://www.cbt.org/trust/CareerOpportunities/Internship.htm

Forsite Consultants Ltd. in Salmon Arm is looking for candidates to fill two positions, one in Timber and one in Forest Operations. They are willing to train the right individuals who possess the attitude they are looking for. These positions will last from now until at least November. Contact Morgan Brown at mbrown@forsite-sa.com or phone 250-832-3366.

Mountain Forests: Conservation and Management
July 28 - August 1 2002
Silver Star Mountain, Vernon BC

The agenda and information for this conference is posted at:  http://www.mountainforests.net

SISCO Summer Field Tour
August 20-21 2002
Vernon Forest District

Silviculturalists are constantly faced with converting research results into operational practices. A strong link between the two is crucial to both the success of these silviculture practices and the effectiveness of the design and implementation of research programs. SISCO tours aim to strengthen this link. For details and the agenda for the SISCO Summer Field Tour, please call 250-226-7641 or email aaa@netidea.com .
 

Registrations are picking up for the "Mountain Caribou in 21st Century Ecosystems" conference to be held in Revelstoke on October 16-18. For information on this and other CMI fall events, visit our web site at www.cmiae.org
CMI now has a complement of 28 Corporate Members. To view the list of these supporters, please go to www.cmiae.org look in the "Thanks to Our Supporters" section.

Thompson Basin Fisheries Council maintains this list of 39 agencies that fund fisheries projects.
http://www.tbfc.ca/

Ectomycorrhizae and Forestry in British Columbia:
A summary of current research and conservation strategies. 

This is a BC Journal of Ecosystem Management Extension Note. Authors Alan Wiensczyk, Sharmin Gamiet, Daniel Durall, Melanie Jones, and Suzanne Simard have drawn on a large body of research to identify strategies and forest management practices that promote ectomycorrhizal diversity across the landscape. This paper includes information on the role that these fungus-root associations play in forest ecosystems, and discusses their importance to many commercially-grown tree species in British Columbia. Read it at:
http://www.siferp.org/jem/2002/vol2/no1/art6.pdf

Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network (CARCNet)
September 27-30, 2002
Winnipeg, Manitoba

CARCNet is holding its annual meeting on September 27-30, 2002, at the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, Winnipeg. There will be three days of oral and poster presentations, on topics such as population dynamics, diseases, genetics, monitoring, and habitat protection. Also there will be a field trip to the Narcisse snake dens (an area that has the worlds largest concentration of snakes), and social events. A call for papers is out, deadline for abstracts is August 30. For details visit:
http://eqb-dqe.cciw.ca/partners/carcnet

US International Association of Landscape Ecology
April 2-6, 2003
Banff Alberta

The US Chapter of the International Association of Landscape Ecology will be hosting its 18th Annual Symposium from April 2-6, 2003 at the Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta. The conference organizers invite you to visit the conference web site for further information on the event, and the call for abstracts.
www.zoo.utoronto.ca/US-IALE_2003

Natural Resources Information Management Forum
Vancouver, British Columbia
Feb. 5-6, 2003

Effective decision making depends on current and reliable information. In collaboration with a variety of organizations, the Forest Research Extension Partnership (FORREX) is facilitating a two-day Forum that will build awareness and understanding of information and knowledge management. This includes strategies, tools and technologies for collecting, managing, organizing, sharing and applying social, economic and environmental information. This event is targeted at any natural resource agency or individual that has an interest in, or influence over, the management of scientific, biological or geospatial information. For more information on the Forum, abstract submission guidelines and sponsorship opportunities visit:
http://www.forrex.org/imforum
 

No Charitable Status for CMI
At the September 12 CMI Director's planning session, the Directors decided not to re-apply for charitable status for the CMI. Our application was turned down a year ago because our mandate was not in line with the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency's criteria for "charitable" activities. Re-applying would not have been successful without a significant change in the mandate of CMI.

2. Call For Proposals - Climate Change and Forests
The Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation Program provides funding for targeted research to better understand Canada’s vulnerability to climate change and to provide information necessary for the development of adaptation strategies. Adaptation in this context refers to deliberate intervention in a system (biophysical or socio-economic) in a way that maintains or improves the viability of that system under variable or changing conditions; in this case, variable and changing climate. The call for letters of interest on impacts and adaptation issues related to Canada's forests has been announced. The deadline for Letters of Interest is October 11, 2002. Please check the CCAF website for more detailed information:
http://www.adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/forestry_call_final.htm

For a list of dates for upcoming Calls for Proposals for other sectors visit:
http://adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/splash_call_for_proposals.asp

3. NRC Research Press
Check out the huge number of articles available on-line at the National Research Council Research Press. Journals, affiliated journals, monographs, conference proceedings, and more are available mostly in PDF format. 
http://www.nrc.ca/cisti/journals/rp2_home_e.html 

4. Living With Wildlife
September 27-28 2003
Radium Hot Springs BC

This family event features 20 presenters, field trips, eco-fair, workshops, art, and more. Some of the presenters are:
     Christopher Swain, Swimming the Columbia River for Conservation
     Marie Tremblay - Wildlife Corridor Research
     Jeff Gailus and Darrell Smith - Mountain Connections
     Bob Hahn  - Mountain Goats "Return of Billy, Nanny and the Kids"
     Sharon Morgan - Wolf Habitat Walk
     Bill Swan and Alan Dibb - Bighorn Habitat walk
     Pete McCoy - Ethnobotany walks
     Nancy Newhouse - Badgers in BC
For more information about times and fees, contact:
www.livingwithwildlife.ca
(250) 347-6525 Friends of Kootenay National Park
1-800-347-9704 (toll free) Radium Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce

5. BC Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection Press Releases
Those of us living in small towns sometimes miss press releases put out by the BC Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection. You can read them on line at:
http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/main/news_rel.htm
Recent releases of interest to CMI members include:
September 23, 2002  Expert Board to Strengthen Ground-Water Protection 
September 19, 2002  New Wildlife Call Centre Will Improve Public Safety

Look at the bottom of the list of press releases for information on how you can subscribe to the news releases or search for archived press releases.

6. BC Journal of Ecosystem Management and LINK Newsletter
Both of these are published on-line and in print by FORREX. Here's the best way to find the BC Journal of Ecosystem Management (JEM) articles and the articles in the LINK newsletter:
1. go to the FORREX home page at www.forrex.org
2. on the left hand frame click on the JEM or LINK buttons
3. The JEM articles are in the Archive accessible on the JEM page.

Social Science Forum papers on-line
Conference proceedings from the June 27-28 forum, "Human Dimensions in Natural Resource Management."
http://www.forrex.org/pubs/link/v4iss1/article4.asp

New products improve access to watershed management information
Improve your access to the latest watershed management information with three new Web-based products.
http://www.forrex.org/pubs/link/v4iss1/article5.asp