A recipe for a great week

~One evening of Sierra Club discussion on Enbridge pipeline

~One open-house session for on-island ecosystem-based management land use planning

~Two afternoons of traditional forest walks and tree appreciation

~A full weekend of potlucks, "gumboot" dancing and beachside camping

Combine it all together with several instances of fabulous sunshine and a couple outstanding sunsets and its a recipe for deliciously successful week!

I continue to be inspired and humbled by the things I learn from so many incredible people and sources and am thrilled by the unique opportunities that have been thrown my way. Last Sunday, our group went out on an amazing forest walk where Kris, one of the local students took us along the Yakoun River and showed us some of the awesome old growth of the islands. We got dwarfed by one of the largest Sitka spruces left on Haida Gwaii and were able to scout out some prime fishing spots along the river where we will be taking some rods down in the next few weeks.

Come Wednesday, we had a couple guest speakers, John Broadhead and Keith Moore, come into our class and talk to us about the unique strategic land use plans being proposed for the island. This negotiation process is very special because it follows a recent reconcilliation between the provice of BC and the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) to make joint decisions on all land use plans. The Haida is a First Nations group that has a philosophy and attitude toward the land that really resonates with me. In the words of the president of the CHN, "Haida culture is our relationship to the land. That's where our songs come from, that's where our language comes from, and our dances are all about the creatures that we share the land with." Additionally, in this land use plan, the Haida claim, "through the lives of everyone-people, seabirds and salmon, bear and many others-the food webs of the ocean and land are woven tightly together". Therefore, many of these new proposed land-use plans are ecosystem-based, to preserve the health of these complex relationships between land and sea. This is a unique process that is not seen in any other area in the province, or the country. It is ruffling some feathers of the forest industry, as many companies feel that the way the Haida would like to protect their land is "extremist" and leaves no room for resource extraction of any volume. One of the guest speakers, John Broadhead is a representative of Gowgaia Institue, an environmental-based organization and explained that the overharvesting of timber on Haida Gwaii in the past has devastated the land and quality of life of all walks of life on this island archipelago. In fact, the total volume of wood harvested on Haida Gwaii between 1979 and 2004 is estimated by the organization to be almost 50 million cubic metres of wood. These were often medium-good quality forests that are the preferred homes to salmon, bear, birds, cedar and medicinal plants. Now, the habitat no longer exists. That is why we see all the negotiations going on and the fight the Haida is putting up for proper and responsible land use this time around. It's meant to protect important wildlife and preserve ancient culturally modified cedars as well as spaces with abundant watershed and riparian habitats, as to not adversly affect health of fish on the island. I'm excited to see how these negotiations play out, which my class will be following closely.

On Thursday, Linda who works for BC Parks as a park interpreter gave us a tour of Spirit Lake, a local lake within a couple km of the Kaay center where we take classes. This walk was very signficant to my understanding of how the Haida really did and still do extract from the land with utmost respect and in a non-wasteful way that minimizes harm to inhabitants of the forest. Upon approaching each fern, moss, shrub, berry and tree, Linda conjured up an explanation and story for us of how the Haida people used the vegetation around them holistically and purposefully-berries were eaten and used for dyes, leaves were used for food, stems and roots were boiled for medicinal purposes, mosses were used for cushioning and moisture absorbants. Nothing was wasted and everything was extracted with an acknowledged respect. I really value and relate to this way of thinking.

Thursday night was great for me to execute some of my motivation and passion to take a stand against tar sands development in Northern Alberta and the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. This project is set to run across from Fort McMurray across the northern half of the province to Kitimat, BC. The dangerous pipe construction would then be met by over 200 supertankers a year that would somehow navigate through the narrow and delicate watersheds surrounding the Northwest coast of BC leading to Kitimat, which is not only dangerous because of potential oil leaks into the ocean but because of the noise pollution that would inevitably result from the tankers. The fact that the pipeline will cross over 1000 salmon bearing streams in Northern BC and it will devastate much of the Boreal forest habitat that houses many wildlife species and surrounds several First Nations communities, it is a big concern of mine and should be of concern to the province. Additionally, the noise pollution produced by the supertankers may negatively affect the imporant communication systems between marine mammals like whales and dolphins. Under the situation where there would be a oil spill or leak, that may be an devastating end to some of the healthy populations of coastal salmon, grizzlies, black bears and kermode (spirit) bears and the unique wolf population on some of the coastal islands that rely on the ocean for their food. I was invited by Severn Cullins-Suzuki (David Suzukis's daughter-exciting!!) to give a presentation of all these facts (and more) to the Sierra Club members here on Haida Gwaii. Of course I accepted, and I feel like this is just the beginning of a beautiful and powerful movement for environmental protection.

The weekend provided a time for relaxation, socializing and dancing. On Friday night, some classmates and I went to the local pub (a one minute walk from our house) where we experienced the first "club night" of Howlers Pub. I must say, it was fun to mingle with the diverse crowd of locals, but since I now know quite a few people in town, a few too many rounds of tequila shots were bought for me! Bad news! lol Regardless of the hangover I had the next morning, I jumped at the chance to go to a gumboot dance party in Tlell, one of the small villages just North of Queen Charlotte. Gumboots were the mandatory footwear and the DJ was playing lots of fun oldies that we could swing and jive to. Great Fun!! The best part of the night had to be the fact that we decided to camp out on a stretch of beach in Tlell, courtesy of our awesome new friends Kye, Luke and Max who took us there and provided great camping equipment. Not only did we have a fantastic night of jamming on the beach with guitars, African drums and harmonicas, with the waves crashing behind us, but we also got to roast marshmellows and sit around the fire talking, singing, smiling and laughing into the wee hours of the night.

I must say, it seems quite crazy to be camping out on the beach in January, but it seems representative of the amazing opportunities that are coming my way these days!