Enter the Cover Shot Contest

We're looking for a feature photo for our 2019 Annual Report. If you've got a beautiful scenic shot from within the RDEK, submit it! Even better if it includes invasive species in some way! Submit your photo today and you could see it featured on our Annual Report which comes out in May 2020.

Pesticide Applicator Course Registration Open Now

EKISC is hosting a Pesticide Applicator course for Noxious Weeds and Agriculture Modules. You must register before February 10th, 2020. 

Most people who have been involved in invasive species management have some story of pulling weeds. Joyce and her family have been involved in invasive weed management for the better part of a decade including helping out at weed pulls and contributing to weed committees. She is also a member of the Golden Spinners, a group that spins and felts raw wool; and recently have been using invasive plants to dye their hand spun wool.

The idea for using invasive plants to dye wool was sparked from a marriage of Joyce's interest in using wool as a locally grown fibre and her deep concern that "fast fashion" has a damaging affect on the environment. Her knowledge of invasive plants led her down a path to experimenting whether she could use invasive plants to create natural, local products while still helping out at weed pulls. She also found a few other women who were also interested in the experiment. 

Although Joyce was fairly well versed on the impact of invasive plants, the five friends that came on board to help with the experiment didn't know as much, "they all said that prior to the project, they knew basically nothing about the subject. After working on this, they are intimately aware of the information about the plants we chose and have a much stronger understanding of the whole issue of invasive plants and even other species." 

The group has had several discussions around how to collect the plants without increasing their spread, and how to get rid of them on their own properties. We asked if these conversations would have happened before the project and their answer was likely not.

Stories like that of the Golden Spinners are the inspirations behind the East Kootenay Invasive Species Council's (EKISC) art-based programs. Engaging people in invasive species management can be a difficult job; it can seem hopeless, depressing, and sometimes, as Joyce recounts, "we dream about them, as I'm sure you do....more nightmares than pleasant dreams." 

Weed pulls offer many opportunities such as building community and engaging people in environmental responsibility and stewardship, and some gardeners find pulling weeds to be a form of therapy; however, pulling invasive weeds can be just plain hard work. Jessie Paloposki, EKISC Education and Communications Manager, saw a decline in weed pull participants in the last few years, "People are looking for more personally relative and meaningful reasons to be involved in conservation issues like invasive species management."

EKISC saw problems developing, "less folks are becoming interested in pulling weeds. We'd like to give them a reason to get involved," explains Jessie. Some ideas were passed around between the education department, "We wanted to provide a physical link to the issue of invasive species while bringing public awareness to the impacts by engaging with the invasive plants in a meaningful way. We landed on the idea of making art."

EKISC has been putting the weeds they've pulled to use by hosting workshops such as Weeds and Watercolours and Paper Making with Invasive Plants. They also host a series of performing art interpretive plays entitled Mr. Zebra Mussel at BC Parks each summer, engaging volunteers and members of the audience in invasive mussel awareness. 

"Art can influence our communities by changing opinions, instilling values, and translating experiences across space and time," says Jessie, "It's a valuable vehicle for social change, and that's part of what we're trying to accomplish with invasive species education - getting people to stop the spread of invasive species."

Emotional experience of art may act as a way to help those bothered by the crisis of doom and gloom and it can act as a catalyst to spark people interest in a subject, create a desire to learn more, and feel better about the doom and gloom environmental crisis stories affecting us today. Perhaps we can start turning those nightmares into more pleasant dreams. 

EKISC will be hosting more art-based workshops in the coming weeks. The opportunity to sign up for an art workshop combined with a gathering workshop will also be available. Stay tuned to www.ekisc.com or subscribe to the e-Newsletter here to stay up to date on upcoming events and courses. 

Order Now for Spring Installations! 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Crown Managers Partnership ANNUAL FORUM

This forum is a workshop style event that is focused on conservation priorities. The forum helps with the delivery and implementation of the conservation priorities.

Venues rotate among the two Canadian provinces (Alberta and British Columbia) and the state of Montana. Crown agencies and the public are invited to participate in an agency meeting that coincides with the forum. At this meeting agencies are invited to identify and discuss those issues that need to be addressed at regional or ecosystem scales.

This year it's happening in our backyard. March 10 - 12 at St. Eugene Resort

Learn More

Online Invasive Species Management Courses Open for Registration

NAISMA’s Online Invasive Species Management Training Program is designed to provide the education needed for professionals and students who are managing or learning to manage invasive species.

Details:

• The Spring 2020 Online Training Program will begin on Monday, February 3, 2020, and end on Wednesday, May 20, 2020.  
• Students may register and enroll at any time. The training program will be flexible to students’ individual schedules, and the average time required for each course is approximately 1-2 hours per week.
• Registration fee waived for NAISMA members. 

Learn more and register.

The INVASIVES 2020 Forum

Join ISCBC at this conference which incorporates a variety of workshops, keynote presentation, plenary and speedy sessions along with plenty of opportunities for networking throughout the event. February 11-13 in Vancouver.

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Kootenay Livestock Association AGM, Dinner & Dance

The Kootenay Livestock Association will be hosting their Annual General Meeting on Saturday, February 15 starting at 10:30 am. Various industry speakers will be featured, along with presentations around water use. Following will be the annual elections of office. Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm, with a dance to follow. 

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BC Farm & Ranch Wildfire Preparedness Workshops in 2020

Across BC, the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative is hosting agriculture and wildfire risk reduction workshops aimed at agricultural producers from all sectors, wildfire response and emergency personnel, and local government representatives. Producers will gain vital knowledge to prepare themselves and their operations for wildfire. 

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Public Input Sought to Help B.C. Prepare for Climate Change

The Province is looking for public input to help develop a new strategy that will better prepare B.C. communities for the impacts of climate change.

"Across British Columbia, we are seeing and feeling the steadily increasing effects of climate change – from record wildfires, to severe droughts and floods, to the job impacts of beetle-killed forests,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. 

Learn More