Environment Archives - Fraser Valley Current

Barred owls are larger and more aggressive than endangered northern sportted owls; their removal is seen as necessary for their gentler cousin's long-term survival 📷 Shutterstock/Alice Hebb

Killing owls to save owls

How efforts to save the endangered northern spotted owl have led to the culling of another type of owl in British Columbia.

After decades of breeding, three northern spotted owls were released in the Fraser Canyon this year. 📷 Shutterstock/Nick Bossenbroek

Return of the owl: a decades-long fight finally brings the ‘messenger of the forest’ home

The release of three northern spotted owls was the culmination of decades of work, civil service battles, and Indigenous advocacy. The future, though, remains perilous.

‘The bus pulled into a parking lot and we just sat there’

When the highways that connect the lower mainland to the rest of the province were severed by floods and mudslides in November, 2021, Mikaela Robinson was on the bus from Kelowna to Vancouver. She got stuck in Hope. The latest in our partnership with the Climate Disaster Project.

‘We open the back and there’s this alligator sitting in this enclosure.’

When the heavy rains poured down on the Fraser Valley in November of 2021, Jordi Wiliams realized his small fishing boat with its jet motor could serve a bigger purpose. The latest in our partnership with the Climate Disaster Project

Interview: Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth

The Fraser Valley Current recently interviewed Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth on the BC Government’s disaster preparation work.

Ten people affected by last year’s flooding and landslides tell their individual stories as part of a collaboration between the Climate Disaster Project and the Fraser Valley Current. 📷 Phil McLachlan

Profiles of resilience: The Climate Disaster Project

The Fraser Valley Current is publishing a collection of 10 eyewitness narratives created in commemoration of the devastation wrought by last year’s atmospheric rivers.

Sema:th First Nation Chief Dalton Silver says more must be done to rejuvenate the natural waterways of Sumas Prairie. But a resurrection of the lake that once stood at the centre of the prairie must come with local support, he says. 📷 Tyler Olsen

Sumas Lake return shouldn’t come over objections of residents: Sema:th chief

“We don’t want to do it in such a way that would force people from their homes,” Semá:th First Nation Chief Dalton Silver told The Current. Silver, though, thinks there may be support for at least a partial restoration of Sumas Prairie.

Does BC need a plan to handle smoke season?

Air quality advisories are becoming increasingly common during wildfire season and the impacts of smoke are costly to human health and to BC’s bottom line.

The lingering questions (and new ones), one year after a historic disaster

Everyone wants to prevent the next disaster. Whether anyone is able to do so remains to be seen.

The Hayward Lake rec site is one of the most popular in the province. 📷 Alec333/Shutterstock

Off-road driving training facility planned, as officials mull Hayward permits

Heavy usage forcing changes as thousands flock to Mission recreation areas