Mike Pearson, PhD, RPBio visits the Boundary
April 2015, fisheries and habitat biologist Mike Pearson visited the Grand Forks and Gilpin areas to assess various streams and wetlands.Mike and his company, Pearson Ecological Inc, work primarily in the Fraser Valley on restoration/conservation work and Mike's concerns over habitat damage and endangered species have received frequent attention in the press and in extended artricles by environment reporter Larry Pynn in the Vancouver Sun.
Thanks to the efforts of Barry and Midge Brandow, Mike visited the various sites and was speaker at a public meeting in Grand Forks April 10 2015. (See April 1 2015 post)
The writer was pleased to sponsor the meeting on behalf of www.boundaryalliance.org and introduce Mike.
Mike's Habitat Assessment Report report is self-explanatory as to causes of problems and potential solutions.
We note that since his report was written, "The Spring on Nature Trust Property, Gilpin"
has been fenced by volunteers who also funded the project.
Barry Brandow and this writer (Al Grant) primarily constructed the new 'wildlife friendly fence' to replace a smaller poorly constructed and non functional fence installed by Range Branch a few years ago. We received some help with the work from Nature Trust and several other volunteers. Our thanks to all.
The Nature Trust property in the Gilpin was the first Nature Trust acquisition in BC in 1973 and for the first time in 42 years a small section will now be protected from range-cows and off-roaders. The remainder of this plot and several others in the Gilpin remain unprotected.
We expect that this new fenced area of about 6 acres will provide a model for wildlife friendly fencing and may prompt Range Branch to utilize similar fencing on future projects, something they have been reluctant to do.
For this writer, the issues covered by Mike are some of many longstanding issues that have not been remedied by Range Branch or other various Ministries over the years and we do not expect that these issues will be addressed in any meaningful way by the Kettle River Watershed Management Planning Process. More to come in future articles about the KRWMP and it's shortcomings and potential threats.
See Mike Pearson's full report; here
