Written by Niall Clancy Imagine someone has sneezed over all the rocks in your local stream. If you’ve ever seen Didymosphenia geminata, it shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine what that looks like. In fact, that’s exactly what the people who decided to call this unfortunate algae ‘rock snot’ thought it looked like. Yes, not …
Written by Crystal Mason In 2019 my partner and I volunteered for the BC Parks Citizen Science Wildlife Monitoring Program to install and monitor a trail camera in the Coquihalla area. The program is a BC Parks initiative and data gathered from the program is available to other researchers, including biologists from Canada and the …
The 26 kilometre-square lava plain left by the Tseax Volcano in the Nass Valley is an impressive central feature of the Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park north of Terrace, B.C. The volcanic eruption that took place sometime in the 1700s and its impacts are central to the history of the Nisga’a Nation. Large lava flows …
Tucked away in the nooks and crannies of British Columbia’s mountain ranges is a symbol of the alpine. White as the snow-capped peaks, the mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) is an iconic mountain species of British Columbia. Approximately half of the world’s mountain goats reside within the province, inhabiting the jagged alpine slopes. Owing to the …
These days sports reporting is full of stories about one GOAT or another, as in the “Greatest of All Time.” This is a story about actual goats. More than half of the world’s mountain goats are found in B.C., living in rugged mountainous terrain scattered throughout the province. Cathedral Provincial Park, located southwest of Keremeos …
Written by Abby Koning Aaaah the sounds of nature… there’s nothing quite like it, is there? Wind blowing through the trees, squirrels scurrying in the branches, and best of all, birds singing all around you. Birdwatching and bird listening can provide magical experiences, but you’ve got to be observant, and most of all, you’ve got …
When Erica McClaren looks at the coastal landscape of Helliwell Provincial Park, she feels hopeful a rare species of butterfly will return to its former home. As a conservation specialist for BC Parks, McClaren is among a large team of scientists and community members who began restoring the park’s coastal bluff meadows in the spring …
In the heart of the Robson Valley, skirting the western edge of the Rocky Mountains, is a diverse range of habitat that’s captured the attention of scientists studying wetlands and climate change. The rivers and wetlands are supported by the melt of winter snowpack flowing down mountain slopes in the spring. But Darwyn Coxson, a …
On a calm morning in mid July, Rachel Shephard slides into a kayak and slowly starts paddling around the perimeter of Fawn Lake. Keeping a camera and notebook within reach, Shepard’s eyes are glued to the water, searching for any signs of western toad tadpoles. “We’ve been looking to see where they are in the …
Written by Rob Wilson For the past five years, BC Parks has been working with partners in the Skagit Valley to study wildlife utilizing an emerging tool: wildlife cameras. Back in 2013, I was invited by a Metro Vancouver Parks area manager on a trip to the United States. On our own time, we traveled …