A Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation has been recognized provincially for its dealings with climate action.

The Uchucklesaht Tribe was one of seven communities within the province that received climate and energy action awards at the Union of BC Municipalities convention held in September in Victoria. Uchucklesaht was honoured for its climate action plan, released earlier this year.

The Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, which has its headquarters in Port Alberni, has about 350 members.

Residents of communities on southwest Vancouver Island are no longer cut off from Port Alberni, after the Mount Underwood wildfire shut down the Bamfield road for two and a half months.

Today Bamfield Main reopened, although daily closures are expected as crews continue to repair damage from the forest fire. More than 1,000 dangerous trees had to be removed from the slope along 1.5 kilometres of the road. On Aug. 11 the Mount Underwood wildfire closed down the road, raging to encompass 3,600 hectares south of Port Alberni in a matter of days.

Nuchatlaht Tyee Ha’wilth Jordan Michael arrived at Vancouver Law Courts on Oct. 20, appealing the May 2023 decision of Justice Elliot Myers that determined that the Nuchatlaht are the rightful owners of some of their territory – but not all of it.

On the first day of the DAC (Disability Access Committee) Health Ability Fair started with a talk led by Deputy Fire Chief Travis Cross on the prevention of fires in your home and tips for creating a safety plan. 

On Oct. 22 Cross expressed the honor the Port Alberni Fire Department holds in its service to the community and began the discussion by asking those in attendance who had personally experienced a fire in the home. With many in the crowd raising their hands the tips and tricks for prevention began. 

A recent annual report from the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) details which populations are rebounding, but gaps in data obscure why certain stocks are increasing or decreasing. 

The PSF’s 2025 State of Salmon report categorizes salmon population averages by the spawner abundance and the total abundance. The spawner abundance is the number of mature salmon that return to their spawning grounds to reproduce after escaping. The total return abundance is the number of spawned and caught salmon that survive to maturity. 

A wildlife charity is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the identification and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for injuring a young male cougar and not reporting it. 

On the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 12, the RCMP and BC Conservation officers were summoned to an alley near Dunbar Street and 4th Avenue in Port Alberni, where a cougar was spotted in the residential neighborhood.

On Monday the Nuchatlaht are back in court, this time to appeal a ruling from last year in hope of proving historical ownership over the inland areas of its territory.

A mother who recently lost her son in a car accident is calling for systemic changes, after being left in the dark about the deceased’s whereabouts for most of a week.

It took five days for Nancy Antoine to get any information from the BC Coroners Service. Her son Nick was killed in a collision by Cameron Lake on Sept. 27.

“I had to look for my son and look for his car. Stand by and wait,” she said in correspondence with Ha-Shilth-Sa. “It should not be like this for grieving families.”

MacKenzie Beach in Tofino has been officially renamed tinwis (pronounced ti-nu-wis) by the Government of British Columbia following a proposal and years-long consultation led by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation (TFN).

Certain salmon populations have rebounded at a considerable rate this year, but that isn’t enough to restore their long-term average, according to the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) in its recent annual State of Salmon Report. 

The 2025 report assesses the decline of different Pacific salmon populations in 10 different regions across Western Canada. The six salmon species studied are the chinook, pink, chum, sockeye, coho and steelhead salmon.