Environment

Stories that reflect northerners’ interest in that which affects the air we breath, the water we drink and earth beneath our feet.

🔍Read Full ArticleSlow

Slow

🕔Dec 04, 2018

The photographic eye of Talon Gillis is always on point. As an adventurer, Gillis gravitates toward self-propelled travel and his take on “slow” reflects this tendency as well as his love and passion for the landscapes of northern BC. We pair the final photo in this segment with a poem from Paul Glover, Watching Paint Dry.

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🔍Read Full ArticleCarrying Cultures

Carrying Cultures

🕔Dec 04, 2018

When we are forced to carry a heavy load at foot pace, we view the world differently. Dave Quinn makes a compelling case for the carrying cultures of the world, and for us here in the North to take advantage of our remaining road-free landscapes.

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🔍Read Full ArticleTo Break, or Not to Break…Trail

To Break, or Not to Break…Trail

👤Morgan Hite 🕔Dec 03, 2018

As snow falls and the holiday season approaches, do our hearts not turn to thoughts of snowshoeing? Whether you are a neophyte or a seasoned guru, opportunities abound around Smithers.

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🔍Read Full ArticleSmall Flower, Big Problem

Small Flower, Big Problem

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Sep 10, 2018

Investigating invasive plants in northern BC

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🔍Read Full ArticleFirelight

Firelight

🕔Sep 10, 2018

This year’s wildfire season was the worst on record. Photographer Michelle Yarham snapped some beautiful, haunting images near Fraser Lake late in the summer as the fires raged and the daytime skies darkened.

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🔍Read Full ArticleColour of the Water

Colour of the Water

👤Paul Glover 🕔Sep 10, 2018

Sometimes adventures take a strange turn and, when they do, they etch themselves firmly in your memories—including the colours. Paul Glover takes us on a trip down the Nass, and the proverbial memory lane.

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🔍Read Full ArticleColouring the Map

Colouring the Map

🕔Sep 10, 2018

You know when a place is named for a colour? Blue River, Red Bluff, etc. etc. Sometimes the reason why is not as obvious as you’d think. Jo Boxwell checks out a few colourful northern BC locales.

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🔍Read Full ArticleOnions, Little and Big

Onions, Little and Big

👤Morgan Hite 🕔Sep 10, 2018

Just outside of Babine Mountains Provincial Park, "The Onion" is a "tick-the-box" kind of hike.

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🔍Read Full ArticleEurasian Collared-Doves

Eurasian Collared-Doves

🕔Jul 31, 2018

Should we protect an invasive species?

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🔍Read Full ArticleStreet Festivals

Street Festivals

👤Jo Boxwell 🕔Jul 31, 2018

Activating downtown Prince George

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🔍Read Full ArticleRight to Clean Air

Right to Clean Air

👤Dan Mesec 🕔Jul 31, 2018

Can northwest BC’s industry town find balance? Writer Dan Mesec talks to Kitimat locals about their concerns over air quality.

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🔍Read Full ArticleLost or Found?

Lost or Found?

🕔Jul 31, 2018

We asked six writers and one photographer (Michelle Yarham) to tackle this issue’s theme in whatever way they saw fit. What they came up with is quirky, funny, poignant, reflective, and uniquely northern.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Rescuers

The Rescuers

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Jul 31, 2018

Every year, volunteers from across the province save lives, plucking the lost from the backcountry. Contributing editor Amanda Follett Hosgood talks to search-and-rescue groups to gain some insight into the complexities and challenges facing SAR organizations in northern BC.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Economic Expanse

The Economic Expanse

👤Dan Mesec 🕔May 04, 2018

Making sense of the shifting Northwest economy is no small task

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🔍Read Full ArticleCreative Space

Creative Space

👤Jo Boxwell 🕔May 04, 2018

Whatever we create, the environment we are in leaves an imprint on our work. Many artists crave isolation during the creative process, but some encourage outsiders to interrupt and even influence the direction of the pieces. Six northern BC artists discuss their creative spaces and what makes them so significant to the work they produce.

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🔍Read Full ArticlePtarmigan Mountain

Ptarmigan Mountain

🕔May 04, 2018

Close to Prince Rupert, Ptarmigan Mountain provides great access to the open alpine.

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🔍Read Full ArticleLast Word - Tiny Fish

Last Word - Tiny Fish

🕔May 04, 2018

The Nisga'a new year kicks off with the arrival of the saak eulachon.

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🔍Read Full ArticleCoal in the Water

Coal in the Water

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Mar 09, 2018

CN spill leaves water quality questions in Hazelton

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🔍Read Full ArticleRevolving Doors

Revolving Doors

👤Dan Mesec 🕔Mar 09, 2018

What happens when you come to a place temporarily and never leave? Or when you leave everything behind and venture out to northern BC for a job, but it doesn’t pan out? As our economy becomes increasingly reliant on transient workers, Dan Mesec investigates the temporary world in our half of the province.

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🔍Read Full ArticleStealing Time

Stealing Time

🕔Mar 09, 2018

Photo Essay by Talon Gillis

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🔍Read Full ArticlePassing Through

Passing Through

👤Jo Boxwell 🕔Mar 09, 2018

Yawning and leg stretching at the visitor centre. The city connects highways and breaks up a train route, but the distances are vast. Some travellers collect brochures and pile them in their car doors. Others invest in small mementos: a printed mug or a wooden Mr. PG. A few leave behind their stories.

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🔍Read Full ArticleOnion Lake Ski Trails

Onion Lake Ski Trails

👤Morgan Hite 🕔Mar 09, 2018

Cross-country skiing between Terrace and Kitimat

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🔍Read Full ArticleHunters

Hunters

🕔Feb 17, 2018

The smell of satisfaction is a roast in the oven

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🔍Read Full ArticleOn Ancient Ice

On Ancient Ice

👤Matt J. Simmons 🕔Feb 17, 2018

Tatshenshini-Alsek Park is iconic Canadian wilderness. It’s rugged, remote, and truly remarkable. Perched on a confluence of borders—BC, Yukon, and Alaska—the park is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest protected natural area in the world.

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🔍Read Full ArticleTweedsmuir

Tweedsmuir

🕔Feb 17, 2018

A bird's eye view of North Tweedsmuir Provincial Park

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🔍Read Full ArticleEdge of the World

Edge of the World

👤Dave Quinn 🕔Feb 17, 2018

The beginning of a thing is often not recognized as such until long after, or indeed until an ending appears on the horizon. Such was the case in the fall of 1994, when four dirtbags pooled their limited resources and headed north from Vancouver and the Kootenays to undertake a month-long sea-kayak trip in Gwaii Hanaas National Park Reserve.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Crawl

The Crawl

🕔Feb 17, 2018

Patrick Williston lives in Smithers in a mountainside home with a dark and spidery crawl space. When days are longer, you will find him and his family gunkholing around the Chatham Sea in an old sailboat. This is his first piece of fiction for Northword.

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🔍Read Full ArticleLemur

Lemur

👤Matt J. Simmons 🕔Feb 17, 2018

I dreamt you were a lemur...

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🔍Read Full ArticleBeginnings

Beginnings

🕔Feb 13, 2018

Check out Northword's latest publication, a collection of northern stories and amazing images.

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🔍Read Full ArticleNo Room on the Bus

No Room on the Bus

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Nov 06, 2017

"On several mornings, she says she saw five teens get off to make room for younger kids, indicating the bus was overbooked by at least as many spaces."

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🔍Read Full ArticleA Terror of Tyrannosaurs

A Terror of Tyrannosaurs

👤Jo Boxwell 🕔Nov 06, 2017

The best way to see ancient dinosaur footprints is in the dark. It’s also the best way to feel that tingly sensation on the back of your neck. Jo Boxwell takes us to Tumbler Ridge, where lantern tours of the dino trackways are a mainstay of the growing paleo-tourism industry.

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🔍Read Full ArticleBy Boat

By Boat

🕔Nov 06, 2017

In Haida Gwaii, the dark months of winter mean more time for things like hunting trips. Join photographer Joseph Crawford as he explores abandoned buildings and the subdued coastal landscapes while on a boat-access hunting excursion.

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🔍Read Full ArticleAvalanches

Avalanches

👤Tania Millen 🕔Nov 06, 2017

Travelling in northern BC’s backcountry means taking risks. Why we do we do it? Tania Millen weighs in, as she explores the dark side of risk vs. reward, and nudges us in the right direction for finding balance.

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🔍Read Full ArticleNightbirds

Nightbirds

👤Dave Quinn 🕔Nov 06, 2017

Helen Keller proved irrevocably the power of the senses, especially when one operates in isolation from the rest. Spending a night on a remote island, sans headlamp, to witness the spectacle of nesting seabirds is revealing, to say the least. Join writer and biologist Dave Quinn on the North Coast with some very peculiar little birds.

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🔍Read Full ArticleOn Beaches

On Beaches

🕔Sep 11, 2017

As the world’s oceans fill up with plastic, the beaches along BC’s coast are quietly accumulating garbage. Talon Gillis's photos offers us a glimpse into a group of individuals working to protect and restore impacted habitat.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Future of LNG

The Future of LNG

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Sep 11, 2017

In wake of Petronas decision, northerners agree: It’s time to work together.

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🔍Read Full ArticleFishing for Future

Fishing for Future

🕔Sep 11, 2017

Opening day on the Skeena came late this year. Kitsumkalum fish monitors were there working with recreational anglers to gather data. Britta Boudreau takes us to the river, and gives us a glimpse of what’s at stake if the salmon stop swimming, and who is working to protect the resource.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Last Salmon Stronghold

The Last Salmon Stronghold

👤Dan Mesec 🕔Sep 11, 2017

Salmon are a way of life in northern BC. This season’s closures of the sockeye and Chinook fisheries on the Skeena River are causing ripples of fear for a future with no fish in the rivers. Dan Mesec investigates the issues, and the potential cultural implications of declining stocks.

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🔍Read Full ArticleAbove/Below

Above/Below

🕔May 01, 2017

Freediving is a meditative, introspective sport, and here we get a rare glimpse of what that looks like in Haida Gwaii waters. Words by Allison Smith, photos by Joseph Crawford.

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🔍Read Full ArticleCaribou Conundrum

Caribou Conundrum

🕔May 01, 2017

The Telkwa caribou herd has dwindled down to just over a dozen animals. Here, we explore different perspectives on the issue. First, Emily Bulmer takes us back to her childhood and looks at a Witsuwit'en perspective. Then, Amanda Follett Hosgood gives us a glimpse of what's being done at a government level.

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🔍Read Full ArticleKitimat Bats

Kitimat Bats

👤Dennis Horwood 🕔May 01, 2017

Discovering one of BC's largest bat colonies

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🔍Read Full ArticleLlgaaygwü sdiihlda

Llgaaygwü sdiihlda

🕔May 01, 2017

Restoring balance in Gwaii Haanas

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🔍Read Full ArticleIn Retrospect

In Retrospect

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Feb 27, 2017

JRP chair Sheila Leggett on due process, yoga and the search for common ground

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🔍Read Full ArticleMind (over) Mountains

Mind (over) Mountains

🕔Feb 27, 2017

"Everyone deserves to enjoy the mountains." Talon Gillis inspires with his photo essay.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Grizzly Business

The Grizzly Business

👤Dan Mesec 🕔Feb 24, 2017

One of BC’s iconic creatures, the grizzly bear is responsible for a significant portion of our province’s economy. The question is: should we shoot bears with guns or cameras, or both?

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🔍Read Full ArticleOn the Fly

On the Fly

👤Brian Smith 🕔Nov 25, 2016

Bulkley River steelhead: Hoping for that one-in-a-thousand cast

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🔍Read Full ArticleDigby Disturbed

Digby Disturbed

👤Frances Riley 🕔Nov 25, 2016

Tiny communities off BC’s northwest coast standing up to LNG threat

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🔍Read Full ArticleOh, Christmas Tree!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

👤Emily Bulmer 🕔Nov 25, 2016

The annual hunt for that elusive conifer

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🔍Read Full ArticleGimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Nov 25, 2016

Making your property a winter haven for moose

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🔍Read Full ArticleUnseen Labyrinth: Northern BC’s amazing limestone karst topography

Unseen Labyrinth: Northern BC’s amazing limestone karst topography

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Oct 03, 2016

The dog slips farther into the hole and it becomes suddenly apparent that we’ve found exactly what we were expecting.

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🔍Read Full ArticleFirewatchers: 62 days in winter

Firewatchers: 62 days in winter

👤Marilyn Belak 🕔Oct 03, 2016

Security asks our names, then reads a statement saying we are in an active logging area and need to move back several metres.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Cheeky Chickadee

The Cheeky Chickadee

👤Emily Bulmer 🕔Oct 03, 2016

Survival tales of a tough little bird

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🔍Read Full ArticleGreat Glaciers:  Experience these prehistoric beauties before they’re gone

Great Glaciers:  Experience these prehistoric beauties before they’re gone

👤Matt J. Simmons 🕔Aug 01, 2016

The glaciers are melting.

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🔍Read Full ArticleDisappearing waters:  How climate change is threatening our fish streams

Disappearing waters:  How climate change is threatening our fish streams

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Aug 01, 2016

“There must be a small salmon run up this stream.”

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🔍Read Full ArticleAre We Losing Our Aspens?

Are We Losing Our Aspens?

👤Paul Glover 🕔Aug 01, 2016

It’s a beautiful day in May 2012 and the air is filled with millions of tiny, fluttering moths.

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🔍Read Full ArticleWinter Cities: Designing communities for whatever way the wind blows

Winter Cities: Designing communities for whatever way the wind blows

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Nov 24, 2015

Whoever built my former house did not know or understand the direction of the prevailing wind or how drifts are formed.

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Monster Snowfalls

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Nov 24, 2015

You can tell when the big snowfalls are coming.

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🔍Read Full ArticleCows vs. Frogs:  Fort Fraser Ranch promotes amphibian biodiversity

Cows vs. Frogs:  Fort Fraser Ranch promotes amphibian biodiversity

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Jul 31, 2015

“Here’s something worthwhile. A rancher in the Fort Fraser area wants to monitor for us. He says that they have lots of amphibians and snakes on their ranch—at least five different species.”

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🔍Read Full ArticleHope for the Nechako Sturgeon

Hope for the Nechako Sturgeon

👤Tom Walker 🕔Jun 01, 2015

When fisheries biologist Cory Williamson tickles the water to simulate feeding, a two-metre dinosaur ghosts out of the shadows and glides across the brood-tank floor.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Paradox of Anyox—New hope springs from old mine site

The Paradox of Anyox—New hope springs from old mine site

👤Joanne Campbell 🕔Mar 27, 2015

What does it feel like to stand in the middle of a slagheap? To climb around the innards of an old-but-not-forsaken dam? Or to pick your way across a falling-down power plant whose crumbling floors could swallow you with nary a burp?

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🔍Read Full ArticleUp the Clore: Shifting landscapes on a projected pipeline route

Up the Clore: Shifting landscapes on a projected pipeline route

👤Al Lehmann 🕔Oct 09, 2014

“Let’s go up the Clore,” one of the boys suggested one evening at yacht club—an informal weekly gathering at Terrace’s Back Eddy Pub.

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🔍Read Full ArticleNorthern landscapes on the big screen:  Local filmmakers raise awareness through imagery

Northern landscapes on the big screen:  Local filmmakers raise awareness through imagery

👤Alicia Bridges 🕔Oct 09, 2014

In a place where our day-to-day lives are lived between a vast network of grand landscapes, it’s easy to appreciate the North’s natural environment.

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🔍Read Full ArticleBug Bonanza: Is climate change impacting northern spiders and insects?

Bug Bonanza: Is climate change impacting northern spiders and insects?

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Aug 04, 2014

A slight movement on my sleeve catches my attention: A spider—the size of a nickel. Yeow!

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe certainties of LNG development (Commentary/Op Ed)

The certainties of LNG development (Commentary/Op Ed)

👤Michael Price 🕔Jul 16, 2014

While it is true that wrapping our minds around the implications of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is anything but straightforward...there are some certainties worth considering.

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🔍Read Full ArticleNorthern recycling: How new programs are leveling the field

Northern recycling: How new programs are leveling the field

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Apr 04, 2014

Like many who move to the North, I wanted to live closer to the land.

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🔍Read Full ArticleEnergy alternatives: How three innovative communities are re-thinking energy

Energy alternatives: How three innovative communities are re-thinking energy

👤Greg Horne 🕔Apr 04, 2014

With much recent talk about oil, gas, pipelines and dams in northern BC, it’s possible to completely miss the North’s unique energy potentials.

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🔍Read Full ArticleUntangling the pipeline debate:What does LNG mean for BC?

Untangling the pipeline debate:What does LNG mean for BC?

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Apr 04, 2014

Proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects would run pipelines clear across the North.

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🔍Read Full ArticleHolding Our Breath: Airshed Management Society works on the particulate problem

Holding Our Breath: Airshed Management Society works on the particulate problem

👤Morgan Hite 🕔Apr 04, 2014

Feb. 6, 4 p.m. Smithers: -16 C, clear, with the slightest breath of wind at 0.5 metre/second from the northwest. PM2.5 is 34 micrograms per cubic metre.

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🔍Read Full ArticleWarmth under snow— Why rising temperatures could mean harsher climate for some species

Warmth under snow— Why rising temperatures could mean harsher climate for some species

👤Norma Kerby 🕔Nov 25, 2013

Broad, deep tracks in the fresh snow followed the logging road ahead of us. “First snow of winter,” my grandfather would say, “and the grizzly bears head for their dens in the mountains.”

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Northwest Transmission Line (Comment/Op-Ed)

The Northwest Transmission Line (Comment/Op-Ed)

👤Greg Horne 🕔Nov 25, 2013

The graceful steel spires stand at regular distances along the highway. It’s as if a giant millipede has threaded its way over the steep roadside ridges, swept out a swath of forest with its belly, and lost a long, straight leg with every step.

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Another kind of dream (Comment/Op-ed)

👤Sheila Peters 🕔Nov 25, 2013

I live beside a gravel road. You cross a small bridge into the heart of Driftwood Canyon and, for a couple of kilometres, the hydro poles have been rerouted out of sight.

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🔍Read Full ArticleSpectacular Spatsizi—Vast wilderness with a rich history and uncertain future

Spectacular Spatsizi—Vast wilderness with a rich history and uncertain future

👤Tania Millen 🕔Oct 02, 2013

Our horses walked slowly into a biting winter wind, making fresh tracks across the sparkling snow.

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🔍Read Full ArticleMean Manure & Killer Compost: Grazon after-effects in the Bulkley Valley

Mean Manure & Killer Compost: Grazon after-effects in the Bulkley Valley

👤Paul Glover 🕔Aug 01, 2013

Cheryl and Les Harmati had been successfully gardening on their property outside Smithers for 25 years. But last year something strange was happening: plants in the garden and greenhouse were curling and wilting.

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🔍Read Full ArticleModelling community-based forest stewardship

Modelling community-based forest stewardship

👤Emily McGiffin 🕔Mar 29, 2013

It’s early morning at the mouth of the Carood, a small river that drains the eastern end of the Philippine island of Bohol.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Salmon Cycle: Keeping Salmon sustainable and close to home

The Salmon Cycle: Keeping Salmon sustainable and close to home

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Mar 29, 2013

It’s unknown exactly how long the Lake Babine people have relied upon salmon. For countless generations, ocean-run sockeye made its way from the Pacific, up the Skeena River, to the Babine River and its spawning grounds at Babine Lake, sustaining the nation while also providing a resource to trade with other nations.

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🔍Read Full ArticleThe Accidental Activist: how a back-woods crew of local yokels mobilized the North.

The Accidental Activist: how a back-woods crew of local yokels mobilized the North.

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Mar 28, 2013

When faced with environmental threats, community advocates became environmental activists. They've won the battle for the Sacred Headwaters, but their biggest fight may be yet to come.

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🔍Read Full ArticleDon’t Mess with the Estuary: Skeena mouth threatened by development near and far

Don’t Mess with the Estuary: Skeena mouth threatened by development near and far

👤Frances Riley 🕔Dec 01, 2012

Over the past few years, protection of the Skeena River has received a lot of attention.

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🔍Read Full ArticleSilence on the Sacred Headwaters: What happens next?

Silence on the Sacred Headwaters: What happens next?

👤Amanda Follett Hosgood 🕔Dec 01, 2012

As the clock winds down on the province’s moratorium on coalbed methane drilling, the Ministry of Energy and Mines remains tight-lipped about its plans for northern BC’s Sacred Headwaters.

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🔍Read Full ArticleSustainable Mining in BC: Does it really exist?

Sustainable Mining in BC: Does it really exist?

👤Anastasia Ledwon 🕔Dec 01, 2012

Sustainable is a word used everywhere these days, thrown around like a corporate-world Frisbee: sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry, sustainable communities. But sustainable mining?

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🔍Read Full ArticleGreen Mining: There is a better way

Green Mining: There is a better way

👤Monty Bassett 🕔Jun 01, 2012

Green Mining sounds like a contradiction in terms—an oxymoron, like “government intelligence.”

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🔍Read Full ArticleDirty Dirt: The legacy of contaminated sites

Dirty Dirt: The legacy of contaminated sites

👤Tania Millen 🕔Jun 01, 2012

Have you ever driven by a vacant site in town and wondered why it was empty? Maybe the buildings have been torn down but nothing’s going on.

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