Title: The Challenges in Maintaining an Urban Salmon Population – the Brooklyn Creek Story
Speaker: John Neilson
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m. PT
Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox

Streams in urban environments that support healthy Pacific salmon populations are uncommon, as natural watercourses are often degraded or even buried during the course of development of roads and other urban infrastructure.  Of the various Pacific salmon species, coho salmon show special abilities to survive and even thrive in close proximity to human settlements.  In this talk, John Neilson reviews the status of coho salmon in the region, and explores the characteristics of this species that promote their resilience.  He will also speak of the work of the Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society as they work to conserve the watershed in Comox.

About the speaker

Dr. John Neilson has had a 30-year long career as a research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, including leading research on the population status and ecology of bluefin tuna and swordfish in Canadian waters.  He was also a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), and most recently, led the preparation of the status report on chinook salmon in southern British Columbia.  He is the President of the Brooklyn Creek Watershed Society.

More about the meeting

This will be an in-person only meeting. We will make a recording of the keynote presentation available later on this website.

As always, there will be an intermission after the presentation with a chance to meet new people and socialize with old friends. Tea, coffee and treats will be available (by donation).

A brief business meeting follows. Reports from some of our interest groups and projects are an opportunity for guests to learn more about what we do.

The post Learn about coho and Brooklyn Creek stewardship at our September general meeting appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

Title: Alone in the Great Unknown: One Woman’s Remarkable Adventures in the Northwestern Wilderness
Speaker: Caroll Simpson
Date: Sunday, September 20, 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m. PT (doors open 2:30)
Location: Main hall of Comox United Church, 250 Beach Drive, Comox
Admission: By donation (proceeds to SOFT)

In her memoir, Alone in the Great Unknown: One Woman’s Remarkable Adventures in the Northwestern Wilderness, author Caroll Simpson recounts the highs and lows of running a remote fishing lodge on her own following the untimely death of her husband, and of falling in love with the natural world. 

Simpson tells stories of living in the remote wilderness and managing the lodge, becoming an accidental environmental activist, fending off wild animals, working as an angling guide and finally, fighting off a proposed mining operation and participating in the development of a government land management plan as a spokesperson for the wilderness tourism industry.

While Simpson welcomed paying guests at Ookpik Lodge, unwanted house guests included a woodchuck, a pack rat, and martens. Simpson constantly had to watch out for grizzlies, moose, and cougars.  Storms and extreme weather also provided fodder for hair-raising tales. All this makes for wonderful storytelling.

Caroll’s story is essentially a love story. In an essay for Sierra Club, Simpson wrote: “I developed an immense passion for flora and fauna. Just walking back and forth on the 300’ dock several times a day, I was exposed to the unbelievable beauty of the northern spectrum of water life: the golden eagle soaring above, the osprey and kingfisher diving and coming up with fish for their hatchlings, the muskrats and otters looking for an easy meal, the tireless beaver working into the late evening sunsets. All of these creatures and more expressed their generational ownership of this small piece of the world. In return each was given my utmost respect and admiration…As I listened to the loons at the end of each day and the owl and the wolf in the night, I felt blessed to be witnessing such beauty. “

On September 20, join Comox Valley Nature and Save Our Forests Team for an afternoon of storytelling about this remarkable time spent living on a remote British Columbia lake. There will be time for Q&A after the presentation, as well as books available for purchase. Tea/coffee and cookies – including forest-themed cupcakes – will be available for a donation.

Join us, and prepare to fall in love.

The post Enjoy an afternoon of storytelling with author Caroll Simpson appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

Strathcona Wilderness Institute is hosting a one-day Mycology Workshop on Saturday, September 19, 8:30 a.m. till 5:00 p.m., in the Strathcona Park Wilderness Centre located at the Paradise Meadows trailhead in Strathcona Park. The SPWC is adjacent to the Raven Lodge on Mt. Washington.

For interested participants, the workshop is complemented with an optional one-day hike into the spectacular old–growth Divers Lake area on Sunday, September 20 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

The workshop consists of basic and advanced presentations on mushroom ecology, morphology and identification by some of Vancouver Island’s best-known mycologists, followed by in-class hands-on ID sessions and short field trips into Paradise Meadows and beyond.

For registration details and more about the expert team of presenters, download SWI’s information sheet.

The post SWI workshop: Subalpine mycology 2026 appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

I made a very short PowerPoint from the Mount Washington outing we did July 7 under Martin Dollenkamp’s leadership. He is a first class entomologist and regaled us with all sorts of tidbits on butterfly habits.

The highlight was the mating hydaspe fritillaria couple with a third one trying repeatedly to force himself on the mating couple.

The many flowering sub-alpine flowers were a bonus.

Nice views and weather helped make the day a great success. All our thanks to Martin for donating his time to share something close to his heart with us.

Download the slides here (PDF, 2.1 MB), and see a selection of the photos below.

The post Entomology and botany at Mt. Washington, July 2026 appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

Smartphone cameras are great for taking photos of your friends, your food, and yourself, but what about the insects, plants, spiders, and fungi you want to post to iNaturalist? How do you get it to focus on that small piece of grass, or a flighty moth?

Join us on Tuesday, August 4 at 9:00 am PDT for Smartphone Photography for iNaturalist, a free webinar with Tony Iwane (Director of Community Support) and Arya Natarajan (Sr. Communications Manager). We’ll share tips and tricks for getting the best nature photos you can out of your smartphone, and then posting them to iNat.

Even if you can’t join us live, please register to receive the recording!

Register Now

We’ll cover:

• The best way to approach an insect
• How to photograph the different features of a plant
• Getting the underside of a mushroom
• How to quickly post your batch of photos to iNaturalist

Whether you joined iNaturalist last week or have thousands of observations already, you may find this webinar helpful. Clearer photos mean faster identifications, more observations reaching Research Grade, and better data for the researchers who use it.

Hope to see you there,
The iNaturalist Team

The post Smartphone photography for iNaturalist appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

The post appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.

The New Forest Act Roadshow, initiated by the Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society (BFWSS), is a series of public presentations across British Columbia explaining why BC’s current forestry system is failing, and what a workable legislative solution looks like.

That solution is the New Forest Act—a proposed policy framework developed over several years through research, public input, and lived experience in communities directly affected by forestry decisions.

BC’s forestry challenges are not isolated incidents—they are the result of a system that no longer reflects the realities on the land.

Join Jennifer Houghton and Dave Weaver on Monday June 15, 7:00 p.m., at the Stan Hagen Theatre in Courtenay for a presentation that offers a clear, developed alternative.

This event is for:

• Residents concerned about forestry in their region
• People working in or affected by the forestry sector
• Those interested in practical, policy-level solutions
• Anyone who wants a clear explanation of what’s happening—and what can be done

This is a free public event. Donations are welcome.

About the speakers

Jennifer Houghton is lead developer of the New Forest Act, a legislative proposal to replace British Columbia’s current forestry system. She works directly on forestry policy analysis, public education, and government engagement to advance structural reform in how BC’s forests are managed.

Dave Weaver has 37 years of experience in British Columbia’s forestry sector, working across industry, consulting, and government. His career includes field forestry with MacMillan Bloedel, forest consulting and applied ecology instruction in the northern interior, and 12 years with the BC Ministry of Forests developing silviculture policy and training in alternatives to clearcutting.

He now focuses on watershed-level impacts of forestry through his work with the Beaufort Watershed Stewards, bringing decades of on-the-ground and policy experience to the discussion of forestry reform in BC.

More…

To view the schedule for other presentations and for full details on the legislative framework visit the BFWSS website.

Sentinel Educational Foundation and the Watershed Sentinel magazine are the sponsors of the Vancouver Island leg of the 2026 New Forest Act Roadshow. Their support is helping bring public education about forest policy reform to communities across Vancouver Island.

The post Learn about the proposed New Forest Act, June 15 appeared first on Comox Valley Nature.