The Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Ecological Reserves was
held at the
This year has been an exciting and
interesting one for Friends of Ecological
Reserves. We have a website, because we had
the good fortune to connect with
GORDON HARRIS who built it for us. We
have finalised and completed our
Alpine Placemat with wonderful artwork by a number of
well known BC artists
and featuring the work of DONALD GUNN. JANE
FRANCIS was kind enough
to provide expert assistance with layout.
As in past years, FER have been able to
provide funding for some excellent research in
the Province: the interactive
relation work of DR. TOM REIMCHEN and his student
KATIE KRISTIE, sea
otter research by DR. JANE WATSON, Vancouver
Island Marmot research by
DR. ANDREW BRANT and his team, PAM JENSEN
on
JAMES MISKELLY’s butterfly research in endangered Gary Oak
habitat. We
also helped support a UVic
student through the Vicki Husband Scholarship. We
have supported wardens through involving them
in the website (thanks for your
letters and photos…there is room for more). We
created a space called “Field
Notes” especially for wardens,
and others in the field. We have written many
letters to the Honourable
Joyce Murray about troublesome things like clear-cutting
adjacent to ecological reserves, the need to
protect and maintain our
provincial system of ERs, and the desire to expand
ERs when opportunities
arise. We have taken FER members to Trial
Island ER to experience the spring
wildflower bloom and learn about rare plants from
ADOLF and ALUNA
CESKA. It has been a busy and very exciting
year.
None of these things could have happened
without the hard work of many
people and the financial contributions of our donors
and supporters. We wish
to acknowledge all contributions made to
Friends. As President, I would also like
to acknowledge the work done by our Board
of Directors: Lynne Milnes, our
ear-to-the-ground vice-president, Nichola
Walkden, our champion treasurer,
Marilyn Lambert, who not only organises beach clean-ups and boats for our Trial
Island trip but is also our recording
secretary, Evelyn Hamilton, who helped
organise our AGM, Syd Cannings and Sue Carr, who brighten our meetings and
activities as they work around two delightful wee
redheads, Don Eastman, our
connection to the university world, Alison
Nicholson, who took up the chal-lenge
of webmaster, Bristol Foster, a rock of the
organization, Mary Rannie, who
throws her heart into any task she can fit
around her symphony schedule and
Pen Brown who keeps
records of all memberships in Friends. We have members
who are exceptionally active. Cheryl Borris, a former FER President was very
helpful interacting with Gordon Harris as the
website was being constructed.
Diane Wootton,
our bookkeeper makes certain that bills are paid and everything
balances. Tom Gillespie helps us get the
newsletters to everyone three times a
year. We have been blessed with the energetic
work and constant good humour
of our Office Manager Daphne Munroe. Who
would ever know that this was
the year she moved into a house of her own
complete with a suite that needed
renovation? Finally, the wardens have been our eyes
in the Reserves—letting
Friends know if something is amiss. Take
a bow everyone who has helped make
the past year memorable and productive for
Friends of Ecological Reserves.
This has been a year to say goodbye to
some of our hardest workers. After
three years of timely production presenting
interesting articles and fascinating
websites, Cheryl Borris
has decided not to continue as editor of The LOG. We
hope she will continue to be an active and
much valued Friend. After 10 years
of consistent and meticulous work, Pen
Brown has retired from his responsibilities
as membership secretary. We have been able
to fill both positions. Our new editor is
Denise deMontreuil and this is her first LOG.
We also said goodbye to
many dedicated and hard working civil servants in the
Environment Ministry
and BC Parks. Those faithful friends of the environment
that are left seem so
overworked we worry about them. It has also been a year when
our families have
experienced death and disease. I would like to express my
sympathy for those
experiencing losses and health challenges in 2002/03.
For those who are strong and healthy, I send out a
plea. The present Liberal
government chooses not to consult directly with the public. If
you have access to
a computer (try your library if you don’t have one at
home), check out the
Ministry of Water, Land and Air
Protection’s website. Look for
management
plans for your area. Often these plans are open for
comment, but there are few
public meetings. One such draft Management Plan, for the Stikine Country,
included some reference to Gladys
important that Friends review the information about continued
protection of the
Reserve. If you are not able to access a computer, call the
regional office and
locate the senior park planner. They will be able to tell
you what planning
documents are being prepared for Ecological Reserves that
concerns you. Please
contact FER if there is something that we should address
with the Minister. It
is important that our voices be heard. Don’t hesitate
to send your comments
directly to the Minister too—The Honourable
Joyce Murray. She needs to know
that there are people throughout the province who value
Ecological Reserves.
Likewise send comments on other government documents,
such as the Working
Forests Paper. Here, comments should be sent to the Honourable Stanley Hagen,
Minister of Sustainable Resource
Management. The Board tries to
respond to
these papers, but it is the wardens and others in the
regions who know what is
happening on the ground and who are aware of regional
concerns. Please don’t
stop writing simply because government doesn’t respond to
your queries.
Finally—with the help of Eva, Bev,
and others from the BC Federation of
Naturalists, it looks like there will be an “Annual
Warden’s Meeting” this
September. The plan is that the meeting will take place outside
the lower
mainland (
exchange information and ideas as they did about ten years
ago. This meeting is
critically important because the wardens continue to be the
eyes and ears of
Friends and the government, even though training has been reduced to nothing.
We want everyone to come to the meeting, learn lots,
have a good time, and
drive home sober. We shall overcome.
Peggy Frank, President