BC Wildfire Service has lifted the lid on an early May fire ban for the Coastal Fire Centre. 

Starting Friday, May 15 at noon, campfires are allowed throughout the coastal fire jurisdiction. Larger open burn piles (Category 2 and Category 3) remain prohibited.

“Current and forecast conditions have since shifted, bringing cooler temperatures, improved humidity values and an overall reduction in wildfire hazard throughout the Coastal Fire Centre,” said BC Wildfire Service in a May 12 media release.

A cow research project is underway in the ancient village of Opitsaht within Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation (TFN) traditional territory on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The multi-year study looks at why the wild cows, or muus muus as they’re called in TFN language, are so healthy. 

Tla-o-qui-aht has partnered with researchers at the University of Lethbridge and Tsolum Mobile Vet for the project. 

The NTC Nursing team gathered at Canal Beach on May 12 to welcome their new manager and to celebrate each other during Canada’s National Nursing week, which runs May 11 to 17.

Tenille Lindsay is the new Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Community Health manager. Part of her role is to manage the NTC Nursing team. According to NTC nurse Kelsey Rix, there are eight NTC nurses plus two casual workers. 

“There used to be about 32 nurses,” said Sonya Summerville, a long-time NTC nurse. 

The senior’s care facility designed to serve First Nations elders in Port Alberni is looking to expand its facilities by building new apartments on the Russell Place property.

Tsawaayuus Rainbow Gardens is a senior care/subsidized housing facility built with First Nations elders in mind. Located at 6151 Russell Place, the care home was first dreamed of in 1985 when a group of women began planning safe housing for Indigenous elders. 

The BC Treaty Commission is congratulating Huu-ay-aht’s Angela Wesley on her appointment by the Government of British Columbia for a two-year Commissioner term.

Wesley is no stranger to the role, having previously served as a commissioner from 2018 to 2025. During that time, the K’omoks, Kitselas and Kitsumkalum First Nations moved forward in their treaty negotiations with the federal and provincial governments.

A Nuu-chah-nulth woman is the first Indigenous person to earn a PhD from the University of Victoria (UVic) English Department, according to the department chair.

Alana Sayers, 38, successfully defended her dissertation about what it means to be Nuu-chah-nulth on April 15, with her four-year-old son Taryn and her niece and nephew looking on. 

After being closed for a year, the iconic Juan de Fuca Marine Trail is expected to be accessible to the public this summer with the reopening date to be announced in mid-May. 

The Juan de Fuca Trail, one of B.C.’s most popular coastal hiking trails, receives thousands of visitors each year. The trail is in the territory of the Pacheedaht First Nation, which holds deep cultural significance for their community.