All posts by Paul Cipywnyk

Business, Nature, Photography, Society, Sustainability

Citizens Speak to TV News, Opposing Foreshore Park Development in Burnaby

Amazing citizen presence at Fraser Foreshore Park in #Burnaby, BC, today, speaking out against the City’s plan to turn a significant chunk of park and off-river fish habitat into a waste facility.

It was so cool because none of us knew the others were coming!

Burnaby citizens speak to TV media re saving Foreshore Park from development

There were at least three separate groups who had all been in touch with media. Some coordinating with CityNews, some with CBC TV.

And. . .

We were blessed with circling Bald Eagles, and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, throughout most of the interviews.

circling red-tailed hawks at fraser foreshore park in buranby bc

bald eagles circling at fraser foreshore park in burnaby bc

How cool is that?!

Business, Nature, Photography, Society, Sustainability

Burnaby Park Area Proposed for Waste Facility is Designated Ecologically Sensitive

Following up on my previous post about my dismay about hearing that a City of Burnaby staff report recommends removing some 20 acres of parkland to build a composting facility, today I walked the area (as I do several times a month to take wildlife photos.)

UPDATE: it appears to have no special designation. I’m still trying to track down more info on the process in which is was created in the first place. But the signs that have been there for decades certainly point to it being a special place worthy of protection.

Here are some of the signs in the area:

Fraser Foreshore Park ecologically sensitive area signs in Burnaby BC

The first two signs are easy to read. They do not appear to allow bulldozers, backhoes, cranes, and cement trucks.

The last sign is harder to read in a small photo so I’ll share a bit here:

“The eastern portion of Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park is a 16 hectare ecological reserve containing a diversity of habitat types which are becoming scarce on the Fraser River. . . The restored estuary and tidal lagoon are part of a salmonid enhancement project to provide ciritical nutrients and habitat for juvenile salmonids, as well as other fish and wildlife species. . .

“The open meadow adjacent to the lagoon is being managed as an ‘old field’ with the mix of grasses providing food and habitat for small mammals. . . These in turn provide prey for raptors such as hawks and owls. . .

“Please remember that excessive disturbance will prevent the establishment of wildlife communities. . . With the cooperation of all visitors, this ecological reserve will continue to offer unique and fascinating experiences. . . “
Nature, Society, Streamkeeping, Sustainability

Horrified Burnaby Park Could Become Waste Facility

Apparently a large chunk of key fish and wildlife habitat in Burnaby, BC, could become a compost pile.

When I saw the story 20 acres of Burnaby park could be converted from wetlands to waste facility, I gasped in horror.

Holy Crap! Why even contemplate such a move?

According to the article, City staff say the site is not currently used as a recreational facility. How about the dog walkers and bird watchers? Not every park has to have human-centric “recreational facilities.”

By the City’s tone, it seems wetlands are a wasted use of land. Uh, wetlands are crucial for biodiversity, and are key to battling the effects of climate change.

The City claims it will somehow magically compensate by creating fish habitat elsewhere. Good luck with that. Yes, sometimes compensation works. But much of what they are planning to destroy was enhanced as off-channel salmonid habitat decades ago.

In effect, habitat restoration will be destroyed and supposedly compensated with other habitat restoration. Sheesh!

The article says the development “will affect almost 20 acres of wetland habitat (including more than 10 acres of swamp, about six acres of forest and almost three acres of marsh).”

For anyone who thinks getting rid of swamps, marshes, and other wetlands is positive, nothing could be further from the truth.

Here’s what some quick research came up with (and I hope this falls under “fair use” and note that copyright remains with the original reports):

1) DUC biologist Megan Winand says the biodiversity of wetlands make them a priority when it comes to a community’s health.

“There’s such much going on in these wetlands, it’s truly fascinating,” says Winand, who spearheads DUC’s invasive species control in B.C with biologist Matthew Christensen. “From providing habitat to waterfowl and wildlife, to helping filter and absorb pollutants for cleaner water, their health and conservation needs to be a priority going forward.”

Winand also points to their role in protecting against storm surges with their ability to absorb vast amounts of water, to their sheer beauty they provide for recreational opportunities.

“As the effects of climate change become more and more prevalent, it’s so important that we fight to save wetlands. Whether it’s wildfires in the summer or flooding and storm surges in the spring, wetlands are at the forefront that battle.”

2) The incredible value of wetlands is disproportionately large compared to their relatively small area in the greater BC landscape.

They contain some of the richest biodiversity in the country and are considered to be some of the most productive ecosystems in the world.

The importance of protecting and managing these habitats cannot be understated given their benefits to humans and wildlife alike.

For example, wetlands have been shown to clean water supplies, provide flood protection and mitigate the impacts of climate change. It is also estimated that more than 50% of wildlife species in North America rely on access to wetland habitats for at least part of their life cycles, and almost 35 per cent of all rare, threatened, and endangered species depend on these specialized ecosystems (BC/NTBC, 2019-2020).

Wetlands in Canada remain under constant threat of loss and degradation due to industrial development, urban expansion, construction of hydroelectric reservoirs and facilities, fluctuation of water levels, and agricultural development. Over the past two decades, the loss of wetlands in BC has increased – specifically on eastern Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and the Okanagan. Losses in BC include 70 per cent of the original wetlands in the Fraser River Delta, 70 per cent of the wetlands in the Victoria region and 85 per cent of natural wetlands in the south Okanagan.

https://www.naturetrust.bc.ca/…/wetland-protection-bc…

3) For perhaps the first time ever, researchers have mapped out the true extent of habitat loss for salmon in the Lower Fraser River, one of the most important spawning and rearing grounds for Pacific salmon in British Columbia.

Salmon have lost access to as much as 85 per cent of their historical floodplain habitat – the biologically rich wetlands next to a river or stream that typically harbour wildlife – due to dikes and similar infrastructure.

4) Seven Key Wetland Contributions to Society

The first step in evaluating whether and what actions are needed is to properly understand what benefits wetlands currently provide. Here are seven of the most important ecological,social, and economic benefits provided by wetlands in BC:

• Wetlands play an important role in ensuring adequate water supplies for urban and rural communities.

• Wetlands protect communities from extreme flooding and guard against erosion.
• Wetlands absorb and dissipate contaminants, preventing pollution of water supplies.
• Wetlands have the potential to mitigate the magnitude and impacts of global warming.
• Wetlands provide essential habitat for wildlife species.
• Wetlands create important recreational, cultural, and educational opportunities.
• Wetlands can be important agricultural resources.

https://bcwetlandsca.files.wordpress.com/…/bcwetlandact…

5) Salmon have lost access to as much as 85 per cent of their historical floodplain habitat — the biologically rich wetlands next to a river or stream that typically harbour wildlife — due to dikes and similar infrastructure, say researchers at UBC and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

“Only around 101 square kilometers out of an estimated 659 square kilometers of historical floodplains remain accessible to salmon,” says lead author Riley Finn, a research associate with the Conservation Decisions Lab in the faculty of forestry at UBC.

“This loss is particularly critical for populations of coho and Chinook, which rely more heavily on these habitats for rearing, compared to other types of salmon,” says Finn.

The City of Burnaby Council report puts a very positive spin on the project, claiming an overall 3.2 ~ 3.7:1 gain in wetlands. A question, though, is that this compensation appears to be spread over three or more sites. Fragmentation of habitat is never a good thing. . .

Nature, Photography

Super Day at Centennial Beach in Delta

We hadn’t been down to Centennial Beach in Delta, BC, for some time.

So I made a bento box and put a few oatmeal cookies in a tupper, and we headed down.

It proved to be a lovely day, with birds galore. . .

bald eagle centennial beach delta bc
Bald Eagle in flight

northern harrier centennial beach delta bc
Northern Harrier

great blue heron centennial beach delta bc
Great Blue Heron

rabbit centennial beach delta bc
That wee nub sticking up about halfway up the rabbit’s eye? That’s Yumi’s reflection!

raven centennial beach delta bc
Raven

Nature, Photography

Eagles at North 40, Harrier ’n More On Boundary Bay

We had a long but enjoyable day checking out the Bald Eagles at North 40 Park Reserve in Delta, Harriers and other birds on the Boundary Bay dyke, finishing off with a walk around the Historic Stewart Farm in south Surrey, BC.

bald eagles north 40 park reserve delta bc

northern harrier boundary bay bc
Northern Harrier

yellow-rumped warbler boundary bay bc
Yellow-rumped Warbler

purple finch bounday bay bc
Purple Finch

bunny boundary bay bc
Bunny

red-winged blackbird historic stewart farm surrey bc
Red-winged Blackbird Historic Stewart Farm

great blue heron historic stewart farm surrey bc
Great Blue Heron on the Nicomekl River at the Historic Stewart Farm in south Surrey

Nature, Photography, Society, Streamkeeping

Fish Kill on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC

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It was a sad day on Byrne Creek in SE Burnaby, BC, today.

Several hundred dead coho and cutthroat trout, lots of dead lamprey, several dozen dead stickleback, a dead crayfish, and a dead frog.

This was just in about a quarter of the creek’s length.

City staff noticed dead fish and called volunteer streamkeepers and the province. Volunteers reported to the DFO Observe, Record, Report hotline/email, and also to their DFO Community Advisor.

City staff contacted Environment Canada, and an ECCC staff person came out in the afternoon.

Upon checking monitors in the creek, City staff noted a spike in pH that lasted for many hours. The pH was back to normal by the time we were counting dead fish.

fish kill on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC

Music, Writing

Ruminations as the ‘Day the Music Died’ Increase

It’s Friday night, the night I often post a Friday night song/video to Facebook and other social media.

I haven’t started listening yet tonight, just poured a glass of wine and began reflecting on all the deaths over the last months in the music world.

I’m not going to start listing them, for I’m sure to miss some major names, but, yeah, it’s been tough on us who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s. . .

I’m younger than that, but as with many of us, I got a steady diet of music from older family members and friends, so my popular music education and tastes date from the ’60s.

The rock and blues and pop and folk and country heroes of our youth are steadily getting up there into their ’70s, ’80s, and older, eh? More are leaving us at an increasing rate.

The guitar gods of the rock development era decades ago are giving in to mortality.

Social Media has an impact on this too, of course. Now it’s easy to share, to reminisce with folks who are not only our local “real” friends, but people around the world.

On the upside, there are many “bad boys” and “bad girls” of those days who are still playing, still having fun.

As Neil Young wrote: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away. . . ”

Or as the amazing Buddy Guy, who influenced generations of blues and rock guitarists, and who is still performing at age 86, writes:

“I’m gonna keep on playing
And on my dying day
A polka-dot guitar will be resting on my grave. . . “