EcoLogic Monthly #76
March 2026
While those down south enjoy early spring blooms, the PG team will enjoy Jamie’s photo of pressed plants. Read about Jamie’s time at the Annual CDC Review below!
Welcome to the 76th EcoLogic staff newsletter! This edition of EcoLogic Monthly features a new website design and therefore, a slightly different newsletter look. All archived newsletters can be accessed here!
Health & Safety
Update from Safety Officer Wade:
Hello and Welcome to March.
On March 3, Metro Vancouver witnessed a meteor’s light and sonic boom and Canada was in the path of the total lunar eclipse. A exciting start to the month!
24 out of 34 people completed February’s Safety Drill on Steep Terrain. If you missed completing previous drills, please click the link here to access them!
The March Safety Drill is on Fatigue! You can access the drill in the link below. Please complete by March 27th!
March Safety & Security Drill - Fatigue
As part of the drill, please review the following documents:
In 2026, projects over fourteen days must add a Fatigue Management Plan to the ERP&JHA
February Safety Drill Winner is Rachel Kruger!
First Aid Certification
Recently JOHS did a review of First Aid Certifications. There were four expired, three about to expire, 11 nothing on record, four exempt, and 12 active certifications.
If you are required to have First Aid, please register for a First Aid course (check with your supervisor if you qualify). You are free to select any provider you like.
Please let Nasrin know and she can purchase on your behalf. Once you complete the course, please update the safety training records database with the new information or email a copy of your new certification to safety@ecologicconsultants.com
Joint Occupational Health and Safety Membership
The composition of the committee is changing to better reflect the range of work and locations.
Monitoring Team x1 - held by Michael M: Active
Prince George Team x1: New Vacancy
JOHS Nasrin M - Active
JOHS Martin R. - Term expiring end of March: Vacancy
JOHS Kyla W term expiring end of March - this posting will be closing to make way for the PG Representative
Thank you to all committee members. And to Co-Chairs Martin & Kyla for your participation, insight and commitment over the last two years.
TWO Vacancies will be required on the JOHS. It is a two year term. If interested, ask a committee member and put forward your name to the safety@ecologicconsultants.com.
Incident Report Updates
Incident Report and Investigation_2026.01.28.MA Fort St James. Knee injury. Our team member has made the return to work
The Corrective Action was > In training exercises, create a step progression of difficulty and allow students time to practice before increasing to the next step of difficulty. Administrative Control.
Thank you,
-Wade
Celebrations!
Happy Birthday to…
Lauren Elviss - March 2
Happy Company Anniversary to…
Jamie Fenneman - 7 year (March 10)
Danielle Mai - 4 year (March 14)
New Employee Announcement!
Please give a warm welcome to Bruna and Destiny! Bruna will be working out of North Vancouver, and Destiny will be helping
us out from Salmon Arm.
Bulletin Board
Calling all EcoLogic creatives!
Zoe is sending a casual Teams invitation for a lunch “sew-cial” currently planned for the last Thursday of each month. The purpose of these get-togethers is to share creative pursuits, ideas, support, accountability, and inspiration!
Are your half-completed crafts gathering dust? Are your impulse-buy art supplies still going unused? Well, this is the space for you!
This group is open to anyone at EcoLogic and creative endeavours are not just limited to crafting.
If you are interested in attending the first meeting (March 26th at noon) reach out to Zoe!
First Annual Canadian Native Seed Summit
Alice attended the first annual Canadian Native Seed Summit that was hosted online by the Native Seed Producers of Canada (NSPC). It was great to see a range of native seed projects across Canada and to learn about the trials and tribulations of native seed production and application.
Click here to watch a recording of the presentations!
Celebrating Spring!
On March 18th, Zoe presented at the Gathering Our Voices Conference which is the largest Indigenous Youth Conference in Canada!
With her co-teacher Nadine McSpadden from the Shuswap Band, they taught youth from across Canada on making their own dyes from the land!
Zoe stated that it was an amazing experience filled with so much hope and energy! Catch a glimpse of this event through Zoe’s photos below:
Mystery Seeds
Alice found these germinating seeds from an old pile of bear scat. She has taken some home to grow. If anyone has any ideas on what she is growing, she would be delighted to know. Hopefully it’s nothing bad. Jamie?
News in Ecology
Annual CDC Review for BC Flora
Jamie reuniting with his own kind…
Jamie writes:
I participated in the annual CDC review of the BC flora on Feb.18, where we discussed and voted on 55 changes to the current list of plants in British Columbia.
This is an annual meeting that I have been participating in since 2009, and I have worked closely with the CDC to design the process by which the meeting is structured and the different changes are assessed.
It typically involves approximately a dozen people, including academics, government representatives, consultants, and amateur experts, and in recent years we have begun including several newer biologists at each meeting who are just starting their careers and are able to participate in the discussions as non-voting observers. We have specimens, microscopes, recent papers, and photographs to review and discuss in order to allow the participants to understand each item that is discussed before a vote is submitted.
We usually meet at the Royal BC Museum (as we did this year), and it is always great to see many of my provincial botanist friends to catch up and discuss the newest discoveries. It is through this process that the annual updates to the provincial list of plants are developed, including their ranking as potential species of concern which prompts their inclusion in the baseline surveys we do for many different projects. It is one way in which the work that we do at EcoLogic is able to directly contribute to knowledge and decision-making at the governmental level, ultimately influencing how we do our work as biologists on the land.
New nature sanctuary on Vancouver Island will serve as research centre and bird observatory homebase
Jamie writes:
The Rocky Point Bird Observatory has purchased a large chunk of land in Metchosin, BC for protection and for incorporation into their bird research programs (banding, censuses, academic research, etc.). Rocky Point is a really important bird monitoring station along the west coast of North America, so it’s great to see them expanding their reach!
The second is some information related to the Kus-Kus-Sum project in Courtenay here, which is a major ecological restoration project that has been going on for at least a decade and has now finally reached its final stages. It’s an estuarine restoration at the location of an old industrial site, and was a collaboration between the City of Courtenay, the K’omoks First Nation (who had a village on the site), and our largest local ecological stewardship organization, Project Watershed. It’s a huge deal for people in the Comox Valley, as the project had major support from the community and we have all been watching it unfold next to one of our major commuting routes for quite a few years now. It’s also an amazing example of cooperation between First Nations, local councils, ecologists, and community organizations. I’ve included a link to a summary of the where the project started out and what the vision was (https://projectwatershed.ca/2020/03/02/history-of-the-field-sawmill-site/), and a second article that celebrates the project reaching its final phase (https://comoxvalleyrecord.com/2026/01/22/kus-kus-sum-project-reaches-major-milestone-with-retaining-wall-removal/).
Design Team
Holly and Alice have been taking on some design requests to display information in palatable and aesthetically-pleasing ways! Layout/composition and visuals matter when breaking down barriers in communication. The design team looks forward to expanding this niche within EcoLogic!
Check out Holly’s latest water usage and monitoring report - summary bulletin for the Mount Milligan Mine project! Alice was also delighted to create a summary page for the Gitxsan Laxyip Management Office Land Guardians program.
In the Field
Monitoring
Matt bring us another tale from the Environmental Monitoring world! He writes:
After eight long years, the BC Hydro Cheakamus Penstock Recoating (interior and exterior) Project has come to a close. The original estimate to complete the work was two years!
Issues that resulted in such a long delay came down to water management and poor construction practices. The steep penstock right-of-way acted as a giant conduit accumlating more and more water moving downhill.
Sandblasting material and highly toxic paint had to be managed to avoid any accidental releases to the environment: the Squamish River watershed. The contractor chose a weak plastic material for the base of work areas that constantly ripped.
One Water Sustainability Act contravention resulted in a 3-month delay to the work schedule. See below for before and after photos of the twin, 2.6 m penstocks.
Brian George and I started on this project in 2017, working with Onsite Engineering to lay out access roads and drainage routes to the penstock right-of-way. Since then I have seen BC Hydro construction managers and safety officers come and go, resulting in me being the longest lasting site person!
One lowlight was a landslide in January 2020 due to the land being oversaturated. The access roads and their associated ditches accumulated too much water in one area. An oversight from the original road building from more than half a century ago.
One highlight was the use of helicopters in November 2020 to remove old train tracks, the original method to build the penstock 60+ years ago. BC Hydro insisted that I watch for any bird strikes while taking three days to lift old track pieces off the hill. Oh, ok, I’ll sit down and watch helicopters work in an absolutely beautiful location. Twist my rubber arm!
Weird and Wonderful iNaturalist Observation of the Month
This slime mould observation from Ryan is unique, not in terms of species, but how it was found!
Ryan writes:
We responded to a grass fire, and while checking to make sure it was out, I collected a myxo. Pretty sure it is the first ever collected from a fire and transported in a fire truck. My happy science nerd moment.
