Love wood and still be a forest hugger
Winter trail, Eastcourt, March 13, 1937 (Photo by Marion Ellis)
You have probably bought forest products like lumber for a home reno or notepaper for school supplies and wondered how your purchase affects the forest it came from. You may feel guilty, but you shouldn’t if the forest products you buy are...
From woodsman to grandsons to Canadians
Alan Bonnyman and his two sons (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
Whether they live in big cities or small villages, Canadians often see their identity as defined by nature: by our dramatic seasons, by the sheer size of our country and by living near oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains, prairies and forests. This...
Speaking to scientists: Kristyn Ferguson
Kristyn Ferguson, program director, Georgian-Bay Huronia (Photo by Mike McGahon).
We at Earth Unfiltered were very lucky to have a conversation with Kristyn Ferguson, a program director from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). Kristyn is a Toronto-born nature lover who completed her bachelor's degree in environmental...
Leaving a lasting legacy with conservation
Paul Smith (right) takes a walk through the forest he transferred to NCC, with Karen Clarke-Whistler, chief environment officer of TD Bank Group, and John Lounds, NCC president and CEO (Photo by Simon Wilson)Paul
When Paul Smith was a child, he called the family’s forest, located three to four miles from his home, “Grandma’s Woods.” Deeded to his ancestors in 1856, it had passed to his grandmother, and he remembers that she had just...
Partners in conservation: The Nature Conservancy of Canada and Parks Canada
Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta & Northwest Territories (Photo by Parks Canada)
Canada’s Parks Day takes place on the third Saturday of July each year, at all national parks from coast to coast to coast. It serves as a reminder of our country’s beautiful natural landscapes. As Canada’s leading national...
Alberta's ranching evolution (Part Three)
Waldron, Southern Foothills, AB (Photo by Kyle Marquardt)
For just over 130 years, the western rangelands of southern Alberta have been the cradle of the stock-raising industry. As long as the prairie grasses have been allowed to perpetuate themselves, the cow and the calf have been able to harvest a...
Alberta's ranching evolution (Part Two)
A cattle herd just west of Fort MacLeod (Photo by Doug Madill)
(Continued from Part One.) Since it was the landscape of the rangelands that had originally attracted me to Alberta and western Canada, I have become increasingly fascinated with not only the buildings and artifacts associated with the ranching...
Alberta's ranching evolution (Part One)
Boholomec Ranch, Crowsnest Pass (Photo by NCC)
For me, there is something about the Canadian prairies. It’s not where I originally came from, but when I moved west to Saskatchewan and Alberta from Ontario some 36 years ago, they just took me in, and I knew I could not ever stop living...
Canada’s largest parks and protected areas are Canadians' gift to the world
Looking down Columbia Lake Valley from the Dutch Creek Hoodoos (Photo by NCC)
Canada’s greatest contribution to sustaining our planet’s biodiversity and ecological services may very well be our abundance. From some of the world’s largest intact forests and wetlands, to wild northern rivers, to spectacles...
A new hope for nature: Was 2015 a turning point for conservation?
Bayers Island in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
No one was expecting 2015 to be a special year for nature conservation. As we started the year, it seemed Canadians were mostly focused on the economy, security and health care. Yet when we reflect on the year that was, it’s clear the...
