1. CMI News

We’ve had three events in the last two months.

The CMI Annual Researchers’ Meeting on April 28 in Nakusp was attended by 32 people. Our thanks go to our ten presenters, who brought us up-to-date on their projects and initiatives, and to the participants at the meeting, who seemed to be full of more than the usual amount of wit and gay repartee during question periods. Abstracts of the presentations are on our web site. Thanks also to Garth Mowat for coordinating the meeting, and to Del Williams for running the AGM.

Our slate of Directors for the next year is full at fifteen people. All of our 2003-2004 Directors are carrying on. You can read about them in the “About CMI” section of the web site; look for the link to the “Biographical Notes for CMI Directors” below my picture.

At the May 20 CMI Directors’ Meeting, the Directors appointed Ian Adams as our new President, and Brendan Wilson as our Vice-President. The positions of Treasurer and Secretary will be filled at the next Directors’ meeting on June 10, 2004. Congratulations to Ian and Brendan!

The Applying DNA Methods to the Study of Wildlife Distribution and Abundance course was almost fully subscribed with 21 people attending in Nelson on May 3-6.

The Statistics for Biologists – A Refresher Course, held in Revelstoke on May 11-13, was attended by 14 people. Some of you were asking if this course could be attended by non-biologists and it seems that yes, it can.

Both of the above courses will be run again on demand, so if you’re interested in the course, let me know. At present it looks like it will be a year before we run the Applying DNA Methods course again and at least six months before we run the stats course again.

CMI Funding Successes

We are please to announce that the Columbia Basin Trust, through the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, has awarded us $17,000 for a land bird study south of Revelstoke on the drawdown zone of the Upper Arrow Lakes reservoir. This study builds on previous work and will be done in partnership with Parks Canada. It will form a valuable baseline against which to measure the impacts of increasing use in the area.

Columbia Basin Trust, through the Columbia-Kootenay Fisheries Renewal Partnership, has awarded us $10,000 to assist the Mountain Caribou North Kootenay Recovery Implementation Group. These funds are ear-marked for bringing support people to the NKRAG meetings to educate the group about recent caribou research findings.

And – through the Columbia Basin Community Initiatives program of the Columbia Basin Trust, the CMI was awarded $1,000 toward the purchase of our new digital projector. This projector is a conference-quality unit and will improve our capacity to deliver worthwhile educational events.

So, on behalf of CMI, I’d like to extend a big “Thank you” to the Columbia Basin Trust and their delivery agents!

2. Funding Sources

Animal Behavior Society Conservation Committee
List of funding institutions - Updated March 2004

The Animal Behavior Society Conservation Committee has compiled a list of more than 60 institutions (with their corresponding web links) that would consider funding research and conservation proposals from behaviour-conservation biologists. This is a great source of information for a broad audience, including professors in academia and teaching institutions, graduate and undergraduate students, as well as professionals in conservation-related organizations. To access this database, please visit the Animal Behavior Society Conservation Committee website. Click on Funding. http://www.animalbehavior.org/ABS/Conservation/ccfunding.html

3. Wildlife Amendment Act 2004

On May 12, 2004, the BC Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection introduced a series of amendments to the Wildlife Act that enhance the government's ability to list and protect species at risk. The amendments can be found at: http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/37th5th/1st_read/gov51-1.htm 

The Minister's news release is available at: http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/nrm_news_releases/2004WLAP0026-000389.pdf 

The amendments enable Cabinet to list as endangered, threatened or extirpated the full range of species that can be similarly listed under the federal Species at Risk Act. With listing comes a series of prohibitions against the killing, trading, trafficking and transport of individuals of that species. Cabinet also has the ability to define and protect the residence of a listed species.

Earlier in the month, the Minister signed an order defining the Species at Risk Category for the Forest and Range Practices Act. The order may be found at: http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/identified/approved_sar_order_list.pdf
It is anticipated that additional provincially red- and blue-listed species (non COSEWIC-listed) will be examined for inclusion in IWMS Version 2004 in the immediate future.

4. Congratulations to Mark Hall!

Those of you who attended the CMI Annual Researchers’ Meeting 2003 at the Blue Lake Centre will remember Mark’s presentation on his thesis topic, “Assessing the Fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Southern Rocky Mountain Region of Western Canada”. Mark has just completed his MSc at Royal Roads. Congratulations! You can read an abstract of Mark’s work and download his thesis from our web site. Look in the “Research Highlights” section in the Mammals category.

5. OUC/UBCO Receives Major Research Boost from the CFI

An OUC initiative to establish a $2.2 million Species at Risk and Habitat Studies (SARAHS) Centre has been given a major boost by an $876,000 investment by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Dr. Dan Durall spoke about this initiative at our CMI Annual Researcher’s Meeting. To view the press release from the March 8, 2004 announcement, visit:
http://www.ouc.bc.ca/update/news03140.html

(Did you know that UBCO stands for University of British Columbia – Okanagan?)

1. Accounts and Measures for Managing Identified Wildlife
Now includes Mountain Caribou

BC Water, Land and Air Protection has recently release the provincial identified wildlife document for mountain caribou. You can view it and similar documents for other species at:
http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/identified/accounts.html 

2. Report your Mountain Caribou Sightings

The Revelstoke Mountain Caribou Recovery Committee is a local group of stakeholders working to save caribou populations in the Revelstoke – Mica – Central Rockies area (separate group from the Mountain Caribou North Kootenay Recovery Implementation Group). In cooperation with the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, they have posted a “sightings” form so individuals can report where and when they are seeing Mountain Caribou. The information gathered is anecdotal in nature. Check it out at:
http://www.cbfishwildlife.org/

4. Species at Risk 2004 – Recovery Training Workshop Summaries Now Available

The presentations from the March 2, 2004 Species at Risk Recovery Training Workshop are now posted as PDF files. Includes information on critical habitat definition, Renew Recover Handbook (ROMAN) and much more.

Visit the Species at Risk 2004 web site:
http://www.speciesatrisk2004.ca/html/agenda.html

1. Y2Y Research Mini-Grant Awards

Take a look at the projects granted funding through this year’s Y2Y Minigrant Program, at:
http://www.y2y.net/events/minigrants.asp

2. “Communities and Natural Resources in Transition” Proceedings Now Available
http://www.forrex.org/publications/filereports/fr04-04.pdf 

Morford, S. and R. Kahlke. 2004. Communities and natural resources in transition: Linking social science, decision makers, and practitioners for a sustainable future. Forum summaries and abstracts. FORREX- Forest Research Extension Partnership, Kamloops, B.C. FORREX File Report No. 04-04.

Many communities in British Columbia are undergoing significant demographic, social, and economic changes. Globalization, mountain pine beetle infestations, demands for forest certification, and other factors are having significant effects on natural resource-based communities and industries. As they deal with these changes, community and industry leaders have a growing need for the knowledge and research findings generated by scientists who focus on the human dimension (e.g., sociologists, anthropologists, and economists).

This forum, which focused specifically on the needs of communities in transition, was co-hosted by FORREX–Forest Research Extension Partnership and McGregor Model Forest. It supplied information to community and industry leaders, and helped scientists understand the issues and needs of natural resource-based communities and industries. Attendees to the February 17–19, 2004, Prince George forum included First Nations leaders, forest industry representatives, community activists, mayors and other municipal government officials, and social scientists.

1. CMI News

Our first Directors’ meeting of the year is scheduled for September 9th. Our new President, Ian Adams, will be leading the discussion on topics such as final approval of our new Privacy Policy (on our web site in the “About CMI” section), upcoming events (climate change and forests workshop for April 2005 and possibly another mountain caribou conference), restructuring the CMI Executive Committee, and more. If you have any concerns or topics you want to bring to the Directors, contact Ian at iadams@corvus.bc.ca  or contact me at the CMI office office@cmiae.org.

CMI is administering two projects at the moment. “Land Birds in a High Human Use Riparian Zone: Revelstoke Reach Wetlands” is a project being done in partnership with Parks Canada to monitor bird use on the reservoir drawdown south of Revelstoke. The survey was conducted this spring and John Boulanger is analyzing the data. The results will show if there have been changes since an earlier survey in 2001, and provide a good baseline for monitoring change in the future. Water Use Planning and increased ATV use may mean big changes ahead in wildlife use of the drawdown zone. Funds for this project come from Parks Canada and the Columbia Basin Trust, through the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program.

Our second project is to assist the Mountain Caribou North Kootenay Recovery Implementation Group by bringing in experts to speak to the committee. This educational project is funded by the Columbia Basin Trust through the Columbia-Kootenay Fisheries Renewal Partnership.

If you have a project that CMI can help you with, give me a call at the office. You need to be a member in good standing, provide a written description of your project, and, if the Directors accept the project, you would need to sign a CMI Researcher’s Memorandum of Understanding. CMI charges an administration fee. Please allow plenty of advance time if there is a deadline for funding applications.

2. Publications and Web Resources

Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation: A Canadian Perspective
The completed report is now available on the Government of Canada's Impacts and Adaptation website: http://adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/perspective_e.asp. The report reviews recent Canadian research on the impacts of, and adaptation to, climate change in Canada. It presents an overview of new knowledge developed over the past 5 years within key sectors, highlighting results of research funded by the impacts and adaptation component of the Gov't of Canada's Climate Change Action Fund. It emphasizes the important role of adaptation in reducing Canada's vulnerability to climate change. The report was prepared by the Impacts and Adaptation Directorate of Natural Resources Canada, with contributions and review provided by more than 90 experts within government, universities and non-government organizations. Available to view on-screen or as a PDF download.

Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network has new web site
CBEEN is a new organization devoted to supporting environmental education in the Columbia Basin. Coordinator Juliet Craig has been working on a number of tasks to get the group up and running, including a setting up a major contract to produce a curriculum unit on Water Resources, and a web site. Learn more about CBEEN at http://www.cbeen.org . They are building a web-accessible database of resources for teachers and others who are working in environmental education. If you can recommend a resource that isn’t listed yet, contact Ali Daley at alidaley@netidea.com.

1. CMI News

Check out the 90-second film on Mountain Caribou now available on our web site. (Look for the “New” box on the front page at www.cmiae.org). This film is provided courtesy of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, and it is part of an exhibit at the Rogers Pass Visitor Centre. It introduces the species and some of the issues surrounding its decline.

2. Forest Practices Board Report on Mountain Caribou

Last Wednesday the Forest Practices Board released its special report on Mountain Caribou. They found decisive government leadership and prompt action are needed to address serious threats to the survival of BC's mountain caribou. Here’s where to get the report and accessory documents:

FPB Backgrounder:
http://www.fpb.gov.bc.ca/News/Backgrounders/2004/FPB2004.htm

Mountain Caribou Backgrounder (PDF 195Kb):
http://www.fpb.gov.bc.ca/SPECIAL/reports/SR22/BG-SR22.pdf

Full Report (PDF 673Kb):
http://www.fpb.gov.bc.ca/SPECIAL/reports/SR22/SR22.pdf

3. Interesting Web Sites for Plant People

Forest Pathology Herbarium
Pacific Forestry Centre
http://www.pfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/biodiversity/herbarium/herb_search_e.html

The BC Host-Fungus Index was compiled from 60 years of Canadian Forest Service records, augmented from published literature records and data generously provided by Agriculture/Agrifood Canada . The Host-Fungus Index has been designed to assist in the identification and formal documentation of fungi occurring on native plants in the province of British Columbia, with the exception of most agricultural crops and horticultural ornamental (non-native) plant species.

On-Line Atlas of BC Flora
http://www.eflora.bc.ca/

E-Flora BC is a GIS-based project of the Research Committee of the Native Plant Society of British Columbia in partnership with the UBC Herbarium and the Spatial Data Lab, Department of Geography, UBC. It is aimed at developing an on-line atlas of the flora of British Columbia for use in education, research and conservation. The purpose of the atlas is to provide a centralized source of information on BC plants that is presented in an atlas page format. This will include information on distribution, biology, ecology, taxonomy, and botanical literature, as well as photographic illustrations and line-drawings.

BC Mushrooms (Coastal Western Hemlock Zone)
http://bcmushrooms.forrex.org/

This resource is provided by FORREX. Although designed for mushrooms in the Coastal Western Hemlock Zone, this resource can be useful for the Interior Cedar-Hemlock Zone as well. It includes descriptions of about 200 species of ectomycorrhizal fungi and information on mushrooms with commercial value.

1. Satellite Photos of TFLs

Both Downie Timber and the Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation include aerial photographs of their TFLs on their web sites. The photos are a few years old but interesting nonetheless. Here’s where to see the photos:

• Downie Timber: http://www.downietimber.com then click on the tab for Woodlands, then to Forest Planning, and look for the link on the right hand side.
• Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation: http://www.rcfc.bc.ca then click on the tab to the Maps and Links Home Page.

2. Columbia Wetlands to Become Ramsar Site

On September 29th at the Living Landscapes Conference at Fairmont Hot Springs, Jennifer Moore as the Minster of Environment's representative announced that Canada will soon have a new Ramsar site – the Columbia Wetlands. The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. It is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem. There are presently 141 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1387 wetland sites, totalling 122.7 million hectares. For more information about Ramsar sites, visit http://www.ramsar.org 

3. Province Announces Funding for BC Species at Risk Coordination

The Province has committed $800,000, and has appointed Kevin Jardine as Provincial Species-at-Risk Recovery Co-ordinator, to accelerate progress on the recovery of mountain caribou and other species at risk. Through increased and enhanced scientific analysis, including modelling, mapping and information sharing with other jurisdictions, the new funding will support a principled, well co-ordinated provincial species-at-risk program. The funding will benefit projects already underway to recover a number of species, including mountain caribou, marbled murrelet and spotted owl. The new recovery co-ordinator will lead provincial species-at-risk planning and management and ensure that efforts already underway in the ministries of Sustainable Resource Management, Forests and Water, Land and Air Protection are complementary.

View the complete BC WLAP news release about this announcement at:
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/nrm_news_releases/2004WLAP0054-000869.htm

1. CMI News

We are wondering what the interest level is for the “Statistics for Biologists – A Refresher Course” and the “Applying DNA Methods to the Study of Wildlife Distribution and Abundance” course. We offer these courses on demand, and if you or someone you know are interested in taking either course, please let me know. Spring 2005 would be the earliest we could run these courses. (Many thanks to those of you who expressed your interest earlier in the year; I still have your names!)

The Mountain Caribou Compendium has been updated. An index of the Compendium containing abstracts is available on our web site at www.cmiae.org  and many entries now contain hyperlinks to digital versions of the documents. I recommend that you download the Word file provided and use Word’s “find” function to look for your choice of keywords or author names. A print copy of each item is at the CMI office (non-circulating collection).

2. Documents to Download

Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment is a study released November 8 by the International Scientific Symposium on Climate Change in Reykjavik, Iceland. More than 300 scientists from 15 countries – including Canada – and six aboriginal groups have contributed to the four-year study measuring how fast the Arctic is warming up. You can read the lavishly illustrated and well referenced document at:
http://amap.no/workdocs/index.cfm?dirsub=%2FACIA%2Foverview
The document is large (over 14 MB) but you can download it in portions.

2004 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/c2004menu_e.html
-- From federal media release accompanying the release of the report:
Ottawa, 26 October 2004—The federal government may have good intentions when it comes to the environment, but it doesn't follow through on its commitments, says Johanne Gélinas, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, in her fourth annual report, which was tabled today in the House of Commons.
“Why is progress so slow? After all, the mandates and commitments are there, the knowledge of what to do and how to do it is there, and we know it can be done—some of our findings show that. I am left to conclude that the reasons are lack of leadership, lack of priority, and lack of will," said Johanne Gélinas.
You can download the complete document and accompanying media releases at the web site noted above.

FORREX Publication: Streamline
http://www.forrex.org/streamline
Have you seen the FORREX publication called Streamline? Streamline Vol. 8 No. 1 is now available.
Contents of the current issue include:

1) A Brief History of Forest Hydrology in British Columbia
2) A Framework for Effective Watershed Monitoring
3) Introduction to Salt Dilution Gauging for Streamflow Measurement Part 2: Constant-rate Injection
4) Construction of a Mariotte Bottle for Constant-rate Tracer Injection into Small Streams
5) Profile: Dr. Markus Weiler: A New Face in B.C. Hydrology
6) Upper Penticton Creek: How Forest Harvesting Affects Water Quantity and Quality
7) A Paradigm Shift in Watershed Restoration
8) Low Flows in Snowmelt-dominated Watersheds
9) Update: Upcoming Events / New Publications
Further information on subscribing, article submission deadlines, and submission criteria are available from Robin Pike, Watershed Management Specialist, FORREX.250-387-5887 or email Robin.Pike@forrex.org

3. Re-Designed Web Site for US National Park Service
http://www.nature.nps.gov/

The US National Park Service has re-designed their web site. Four main sections include: Protecting and Restoring; Science and Research; Social Science; and Students and Teachers. It’s worth a look!

 Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology
Box 2568 Revelstoke, B.C. VOE 2SO
Tel: 250-837-9311 Fax: 250-837-9311
E-mail: office@cmiae.org
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