Tag: BC Wildlife Federation

Species Profile — Bog Star

With its bright, star-like white petals standing out against the darker greens and browns of wetland groundcover, the Northern Grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia palustris)—commonly called the Bog Star—is a striking and unmistakable wetland plant. Its five radiant petals sit atop a solitary upright stem, with most foliage concentrated at the base, creating a simple yet elegant bloom…
Wetlands Institute 2014 — East Vancouver Island

In 2014, the BC Wildlife Federation’s Wetlands Institute brought 30 passionate participants to Vancouver Island for a seven-day, hands-on workshop that spanned Duncan, Nanaimo, and Courtenay. Throughout the week, participants learned practical skills to restore and build wetlands in their own communities. By the end of the training, four existing wetlands had been restored and…
Species Profile — Six-Spotted Fishing Spider

There are over 43,000 species of spiders across the globe, about 3,400 of which are found in North America, and 729 confirmed to be found in B.C. Spiders are one of the smallest creatures to instil such great amounts of fear in people. The species of nursery web spider that will be the focus of…
Wetlandkeepers With a Twist of BioBlitz

It’s always a privilege to learn from passionate biologists—and we were incredibly fortunate to have nine of them attend our Wetlandkeepers course in New Denver! The Slocan Valley has been identified as a priority area by the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program’s Riparian & Wetland Action Plan, making it an ideal location to host this…
Wetland Institute Alumni Restores Wetland in Fraser Valley

Why did the farmer restore a wetland? Because it mud perfect sense. Terrible puns aside, Celia Serrano probably didn’t anticipate how deep she would wade into B.C.’s wetland culture when she boarded her plane from Spain to start her internship with Balance Ecological in the Lower Mainland. She spent numerous weeks monitoring the endangered Oregon Spotted…
Species Profile — American White Pelican

Every last member of our wetlands team voted for this shot of an American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) to feature as our Photo of the Week. The bird certainly makes a striking impression both frozen in an image and when spotted in person. It was taken at the Scout Island Nature Centre in Williams Lake, BC this July by Tania…
Stewards of the Sea-to-Sky — Wetlands Institute 2012

Can you solve this riddle? What do you get when you combine 3 communities, 36 participants, 12 trainers, 4 coordinators, and 4 restoration sites, then let it grow for 8 days? If you guessed a journey of stewards gaining knowledge and inspiration for wetland conservation in BC, you’re right! The 2012 Wetlands Institute along the…
B.C. Planners Unite for Wetlands!

On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, the BC Wildlife Federation’s Wetlands Education Program hosted a one-day workshop in Squamish targeting municipal planners from B.C. The workshop’s main objective was to inform planners on ways they can incorporate wetland stewardship into their policies, while also presenting an overview of the value of wetlands and their basic functions.…
Kelowna Students Lead the Charge to Protect Endangered Painted Turtles

In 2010, students at KLO Middle School in Kelowna discovered baby Western Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta) nesting in their long jump sandbox. Although this species is the most widespread turtle in North America, it is considered endangered in parts of British Columbia. These turtles enjoy basking in the sun and burrowing into the muddy bottoms…
Stud’s Pasture Wetland, Kamloops

The Stud’s Pasture Wetland on the Tk’emlups Indian Reserve near Kamloops, BC was restored as part of the Wetlands Institute in the summer of 2010. It is currently being monitored by enthusiastic past participants of that institute, Sue Huddart & Diane James. They have since been featured as wetland stewards in our article for Womens Outdoor World Magazine: “When Sue & Diane completed…