Even though there have been 156 recorded wildfires in the province up until May 4, the BC Wildfire Service say they expect the 2021 Vancouver Island wildfire season to be average.
“On a 10-year average, the Coastal Fire Centre has about 198 fires per year. Of those 198 fires, 129 of them are human caused, and 69 are lighting caused,” said Donna MacPherson of the Coast Fire Centre.
The COVID-19 pandemic will not stop the First Nations Spring Festival this year, as School District 70 has opted to offer the showcase of artwork and Aboriginal content in schools through an online format.
Accessible through the SD70 website, as well as the sites for the individual schools, the district plans to make a presentation available by the end of May. The event is held every two years, usually taking place at Alberni District Secondary near the end of the school year, although COVID-19 restrictions against gatherings have forced this year’s festival to be held online.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on its operations, Chims Guest House has received some prestigious recognition.
The Port Alberni business, which was opened in July of 2018 by Tseshaht First Nation member Naomi Nicholson, was a finalist this year in the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) annual commercial business awards.
This marked the 14th year of the VIREB awards, which were held virtually this year. Winners were announced on May 7.
Daily new counts of COVID-19 among First Nations in British Columbia continues to fall and is at its lowest level since June 2020.
According to the First Nations Health Authority’s (FNHA) latest Community Situation Report, more than 83,400 First Nations people, along with non-Indigenous people living in or near First Nations communities, have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of May 6, 2021. More than 10,900 have received their second.
Mariah Charleson, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) vice-president, said the decreasing case count is welcome news.
While Nuu-chah-nulth nations are celebrating a favourable ruling from the B.C. Court of Appeal, it remains to be seen how the DFO will adjust fisheries allocations beyond the small fraction set aside for the coastal communities this spring.
Flurer Smokery is offering the traditional flavours of the West Coast to Port Alberni’s Fisherman’s Harbour with their hot smoked seafood products and processing plant.
Flurer Smokery has been a Vancouver Island staple for seafood lovers for the past 12 years. The company opened in Campbell River in 2009 by Kelly and Brian Flurer and the couple worked hard to make the wholesale and custom value-added processing plant internationally known.
A marine salvage contractor has patched a sunken freighter leaking fuel in Nootka Sound and identified next steps in a complicated deep-water spill response.
Despite this — and the gift of good weather — operations to stop fuel leaking from the 1968 wreck are far from over, said Gillian Oliver, Coast Guard incident commander.
Resolve Marine Group placed patches on the hull of the MV Schiedyk in late April using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), six months after fuel sheening was observed on waters off Bligh Island.
B.C.’s forestry watchdog has released a report critical of logging practices in the Nahmint valley, pointing to inconsistencies in protecting the area’s old growth forest.
While the RCMP and BC Coroner’s Service have not confirmed the identity of a person found deceased in a Port Alberni apartment, friends and family are saying that the man was Terrance Mack of Toquaht First Nation.
“He was so very gentle, he did not deserve to go the way he did,” said Sandra Mack.
Sandra was at the apartment building a week after her first cousin was found. Other family members were there to demand justice for their relative. She said that her cousin, whom she called brother, died by homicide.
A Dakelh blessing celebrated spring release of 15,300 chinook fry into the Blackwater River as part of emergency enhancement measures to offset Big Bar Slide impacts.
“We think it’s important of the community to do the ceremony in celebration of our culture, traditions and teachings to keep them alive, but also to give prayers to the ancestors to help guide these fish back to the ocean and back to us,” said Chief Leah Stump of Nazko First Nation after taking part in the April 27 ceremony.