How are the Haida Nation and Parks Canada tacking invasive species? Together as seen in my story, A Fine Balance, for Earth Island Journal’s winter issue.
Invasive species are one of our biggest ecological challenges but they also have have cultural implications. Black-tailed sitka deer have no predators in Haida Gwaii; their numbers have increased dramatically and they eat the understory. Young cedar trees, important to the Haida for cultural uses, never get the chance to grow larger because deer graze them.
Learn how Parks Canada and the Haida Nation are partnering to use science and indigenous knowledge to eradicate invasive rats and deer in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site by reading about the three part plan to eradicate rats and deer and restore salmon habitat here.
One of the best historical attractions I’ve seen is the ghost town of Val-Jalbert in Quebec’s Saguenay– Lac-St. Jean Region. Val-Jalbert in the 1920s was a bit like Fort McMurray of today – a bustling town built around one industry. Damase Jalbert built a pulp mill near two falls on the Ouiatchouan River in 1902, the tumbling water a cheap source of electricity. American shareholders bought the mill in 1909 and modernized the facility. Skilled mill workers lived in a master planned community with homes boasting electricity, water and indoor toilets. A worker would make $25 a week but pay only $11 a month for a large home. A convent school and post office were within walking distance. It is said that the living standards were the equivalent of people living in Boston in 1921 and the town was the envy of surrounding communities.