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Contents - 2007

Newsletter - March 2007

NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

of DENMAN CONSERVANCY ASSOCIATION

will take place

7:30 pm on Monday, March 26, 2007

in the Back Hall of the Denman Community Hall

The AGM business will include:

• The Directors’ Report, Treasurer’s Report, Committee Reports
• A Special Report on the challenges of managing our recently acquired properties
• Election of Directors

Please use the rear entrance direct to the Back Hall

New Board Members Needed

How to save your Land

Sustainability!

Neil Dawe of the Qualicum Institute gave his talk Sustainability:  The Possibilities are Endless to about 70 islanders in the Seniors' Hall that evening.  For this listener Neil's most compelling point was that sustainability and economic growth are now mutually incompatible because we have used up too much of our natural capital and are now operating "in the red" as it were.  His advice for islanders?  Be more self-sufficient, grow your own, food that is.

DCA thanks all those organisers and bakers who made this event possible!

Chocolate Factory Covenant Registered

In late January DCA completed its fourth covenant. It is on the Denman Island Chocolate Factory property protecting the top, slope and foot of the bluff. Owner Daniel Terry has been working with the Conservancy since he bought the land to ensure the long-term protection of this special place.

Robert Bateman and Merve Wilkinson Return to Denman

DCA needs Staff No Complaints Really

Being holders of four covenants, managers of Islands Trust Fund land and owning three substantial properties ourselves, our responsibilities have rapidly increased of late. So we are in the process of looking for someone to fill a paid position that requires a wide range of skills; both office oriented and in the field with a strong suit in communication.

We will be advertising and interviewing soon and hope for a good selection of on-island applicants. Don’t be shy.

- Denise

Walks and Talks

Our spring season has already begun with the talk given by John Tayless on March 3 on the Spring Herring-spawn Carnival.

Upcoming:

• March 17 Bird Nestbox building Workshop Peter Karsten at the Old School Conservancy Room
• March 24 Waterfowl Migration Walkabout Patrick Fawkes, Mike Morrell, Joan Scruton

In May will be ‘Birds and their Songs’, a ‘Wildflower Walk’ and a trip to Tree Island.

Watch for notice of details in the Grapevine.

2007 Annual General Meeting: What's New

The Board has made plans during the past year to properly manage the substantial additional responsibilities DCA has assumed.

For the Settlement Lands, Central Park and the Railway Marsh Covenant Area we will be preparing Management Plans during the forthcoming year. We will be asking for your input.

Remember to attend the DCA Annual General Meeting
Monday, March 26, 2007
Back Hall, use the rear entrance please!

Calling Volunteers! Volunteers!

At the Annual General Meeting of DCA, in March 2006, the first “Doug Olstead Award” of two hundred dollars ($200) was given to Robin Michin for his volunteer work at Recycle. Robin was extremely pleased to receive this recognition. Unfortunately, this year, there will not be an award because no student has applied. DCA urges young people to get involved and apply for this award.

Volunteer opportunities abound on Denman; assist a “not for profit” group at the Christmas Craft Faire, help with the House and Garden Tour, assist with trail building, beach clean up, help a senior or a shut-in for free, or work at Recycle. These are just some suggestions. Scholastic excellence is not a primary factor to apply for this award.

Any interested student or a person knowing a student whose name should be brought to the attention of DCA should do so in writing before Dec. 31, 2007 to Box 60 Denman Island, B.C. V0R 1T0. Contact Carol Freeman for further information 335-2535.

Thinking of summer!

Contributors to this Newsletter: Denise, Laura, John, Patrick, Carol, Susan-Marie.

Flagstone - Spring 2007 Update

The Taylor’s Checkerspot, endangered butterfly, has expanded its Denman territory. Perhaps you have seen the colourful poster asking for reports of sightings of this butterfly? As the only known breeding site in Canada is here on Denman (formerly on Hornby in Helliwell Park, but now gone), two contracts concerning the butterfly have been let by Parks Canada and BC Ministry of Environment, one to study the known population on the Settlement Lands in detail and the other to explore both Hornby and Denman for the presence of the creature. To further protect the butterfly, locations of the sightings will remain unpublished for the present. Studies will continue until mid-summer.

There has been very good response to the call for sightings and it is particularly encouraging that the sightings are widespread on the island, so much so that individual sites are less critical than were first believed.

Note that the checkerspot larva weaves a sticky web not unlike a tent caterpillar although not as large; before destroying it, please consult Andrew or Jenny.

Graham Lake Dock is coming along nicely, a little behind schedule. Work parties are needed to build a staircase to access the shore platform and to finish the new path. The swimming dock should be available for use as you read this.

DCA’s Annual Country Home and Garden Tour will be held June 16 & 17. Tickets are available at the Craft Shop. More volunteers are required: Please phone co-ordinators Laura Busheikin (335 2089) or Riane daSilva (335 1959) to volunteer your services.

DCA Walks and Talks are continuing. Watch the Grapevine for announcements.

DCA staff persons Jenny Balke and Andrew Fyson were hired on May 1, for part-time duties co-ordinating the management of DCA’s lands and covenants.

New Directors were elected at the AGM held on 26 March. The current list of Directors and Officers is:

• Sheila Carnegie
• Annie Corddry
• David Critchley
• Patrick Fawkes
• Carol Freeman
• Dave Freeman, Treasurer
• LeeAndra Jacobs
• Denise MacKean, Secretary
• John Millen, Co-Chair
• John Tayless
• J Thornton, Co-Chair
• Susan Marie Yoshihara

At the AGM retiring veteran directors Roxanna Mandryk, Patti Willis, Brian Miles and Laura Pope were thanked for their many years of dedicated service to the Conservancy cause.

A Stewardship Plan for the Central Park property will be prepared this year and a key step in this process is consultation with the Community. Look for an opportunity to contribute your ideas to this process. Routing of walking trails is an obvious issue and there will be others to discuss.

Visit Abraxis to see the rug and buy your tickets for the beautiful hand woven rug that is being raffled by DCA. This is a fund raiser for Central Park, our 147 acre property across from the Old School Centre. This rug, which its creators, Denman Island Weavers and Spinners, call "Island Palette", is 40 inches by 96 inches and is made of hand-dyed recycled wool blankets. 

The draw of the winning ticket will take place the evening of June 17. Just 500 tickets will be sold at $10 each.

Robert Bateman and Merve Wilkinson will be entertaining us at a fund raising evening presented by DCA on July 13 at the Senior’s Hall.

Flagstone, July 2007

Central Park Planning Process

Biking, walking or driving along Denman Road you may have noticed a sign opposite the Old School announcing Central Park. Denman Conservancy has owned this 147 acre parcel for over a year and not much has changed except that trees are growing apace. So in good “Denman Time” we are starting to formulate a stewardship plan for the area. This could be anything from letting nature take its course to a myriad of uses that are compliant with Conservancy’s mandate which is fairly inclusive.

Therefore, we are inviting public input where everyone can be involved in the process. Obviously in such an endeavor we cannot please all of the people all of the time, but also we may unearth some unusual thoughts and will attempt to take the pulse of the island. DCA has hoped this area would be useful for uniting human needs with restoration and conservation goals.

To this end, we are starting a process of public consultation with a neighbours’ meeting in June. In July we urge you to walk the existing trails, fill out a questionnaire and offer suggestions you may have. This will be followed in August by an open meeting of all interested parties. Early in July we will announce a list of dates of guided walks throughout the month and will make maps and questionnaires available in the Conservancy box at the General Store. Everyone is welcome to take one of these maps/question sheets and either join a walk or go it alone.

Our fondest hope is that we will discover a few individuals committed enough to join a group to draw up a stewardship plan based on input which will be as wide ranging as possible. We urge everyone to take the time to visit the property, walk a lot or a little and fill in the questionnaire at the very least. However, attending the August meeting would turn this into a real community effort so be on the lookout for a time, date and place.

Submitted by Denise MacKean

Newsletter, October 2007

Checkerspot Butterfly Update

Taylor's Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha taylori) is on the British Columbia provincial red-list, and is listed as Endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act. The species was thought to be extirpated from Canada, but was re-discovered in 2005 at one site on Denman Island by biologist Jenny Balke. Denman Island is currently the only known location for the species in Canada.

So starts the Introduction to the report "Taylor's Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha taylori) on the Denman Island Settlement Lands" by Cris Guppy, RPBio, commissioned by the BC Ministry of the Environment in the spring of 2007. This survey and report were concerned only with the Settlement Lands.

The conclusions, paraphrased here, summarize the report which can be seen in its totality (tables, maps and photographs) on the DCA website: www.denmanis.bc.ca/conserve

1. A small but apparently healthy population of Taylor’s Checkerspot exists on the Settlement Lands which reproduces and lives in two general areas on the Settlement Lands
2. Taylor's Checkerspot reproduces in vernal pools and vernal wetlands, with the dominant vegetation being sedges (Carex sp.) and rushes (Juncus effuses). This is a previously undocumented habitat type for this species.
3. The butterfly uses two Veronica species (family Scrophulariaceae), American brooklime (Veronica beccabunga var. americana) and thyme-leaved speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia), as the only pre-diapause larval foodplant on the Settlement Lands. This is a previously undocumented use of Veronica as the primary or sole foodplant by Taylor's Checkerspot.
4. Trailing blackberry, woodland strawberry, and (less so) buttercup species are used as nectar sources by Taylor's Checkerspot, and are widely distributed on the Settlement Lands.
5. Taylor's Checkerspot will be eliminated from the Settlement Lands through forest regrowth (if left unchecked) through shading of the vernal pools/wetlands. These impacts are already underway, and the population size will steadily decrease over the next (20?) years. There is potential on the Settlement Lands for maintaining suitable habitat.
6. The Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris, Western population), which is SARA-listed as nationally Threatened, is present on the Settlement Lands and may be using the same reproductive habitats as Taylor’s Checkerspot.

Further study and planning for maintaining the butterfly population is expected.

J Thornton

Central Park Planning

We would like to thank everyone who recently provided their thoughts for potential uses of Central Park. The input received from questionnaires and attendance at community and neighbour’s meetings is being used by the recently formed Central Park Committee to draft a management plan. Guided by a mandate of balancing public uses with protection of wildlife habitat, this committee, consisting at present of Annie Corddry (chair), Denise MacKean, Sonya Edelston, John Tallerino and Carroll Taylor-Lindoe continues to welcome ideas from any interested people. There is still room on the committee for one more member. Call any of the above if you would like to join us.

One recent rainy Saturday afternoon, 12 brave souls spent about two hours improving one of the main existing loop trails. A big thank you to them. That trail, with entrances across from the Old School and at the corner of Denman road and North Central road, is now cleared of Alder saplings and encroaching branches and is ready for use this winter by walkers, bicyclists and equestrians. Please keep your dogs on leash or under control. There will be many more opportunities for trail work, so let one of us know if you'd like to be added to our volunteer list.

Annie Corddry (225-2762)

In Perpetuity: DCA to create Endowment Fund

DCA decided recently to establish an endowment of $100,000 with the Vancouver Foundation. Vancouver Foundation is Canada's largest and one of North America's oldest community foundations, serving communities throughout British Columbia. Currently, Vancouver Foundation is the custodian of over 1,000 endowment funds with a total market value of approximately $800 million. The fees charged for fund management are relatively low, less than 1%, and the disbursement rate has averaged just over 10% in the past four years. The DCA fund will not be devoted completely towards endowing specific properties but yearly dividend payments could be directed to improvements and maintenance of properties already owned or to future acquisitions. Limited retractability also gives us flexibility if opportunities arise.

DCA is in the fortunate position of being able to establish this endowment fund due to recent, substantial donations including the bequest received from Brian Boxall's estate, the transfer from the United States of funds held there on our account, the transfer to DCA of the balance of the Denman Community Forest Cooperative funds upon the windup of the Coop, as well as our own fundraising activities and of course the ongoing generosity of our supporters.

DCA feels this fund will provide more confidence to donors that their gifts will be professionally managed and will support a stable on-going conservation effort. In fact we hope it will encourage people to seriously consider DCA for charitable donations that will carry into the future or for bequests in their wills.

In that light it may be a good time, pre tax-deadline, to remind islanders of the advantages of donating to a charity. The benefits for payers of capital gains tax are significant making such gains on transferred stock tax-free. Add to that the tax deduction for charitable gifts applied to all donations and it is a substantial consideration. Of course this is true for other groups besides DCA but seeing direct results of a donation in your own backyard feels great. Contact DCA treasurer, if you wish to learn more - Dave Freeman at 335-2535.

Out and About

If you have visited Winter Wren Wood lately you will have seen the fine viewing bench created by Tomas Hajek. It was donated by Marilyn Jensen and Dennis Forsyth in memory of Marilyn's mother, Muriel Graham

Photo by John Millen

'No Hunting" signs were posted around the Island early in October on various Conservancy and Island Trust Fund Nature Reserves. If you are not sure exactly where these properties are, for example Inner Island Nature Reserve on Pickles Road, these signs make a good guide.

Where is DCA in the Denman Northlands debate?

• we do not take a position in support of, or in opposition to, a development proposal whether it is on or off Denman Island
• we do not undertake projects that include development as a component.

DCA Home and Garden Tour

The tour was started all those years ago to raise money for the purchase of the Inner Island Nature Reserve and the Lindsay-Dickson Forest. Literally thousands of volunteers have participated in this fabulous and famous fund-raiser, supported by gardeners and nature lovers on Denman Island and as far afield as Japan. Over the years the Tour has provided many thousands of dollars to fund projects and purchases of the Denman Conservancy Association. We honour the contributions of all the gardeners, volunteers and co-coordinators whose efforts have made our Tour function and continue.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, all those who have made the DCA's Home and Garden Tour possible can feel proud. Garden tours have become very popular since our tour began. Now there is a lot of competition for gardeners' attention. Ferry fares are rising to new dizzying heights and are starting to scare off Tour goers. In recent years we have depended on the same few gardeners to be the mainstays of the tour. This year two of those wonderful gardens are not going to be available for the tour and this felt like a sign that something needs to change.

What would you like to see in 2009? More vegetable gardens? Green building techniques Self-sufficient living? Designer outhouses? Want to be on the Tour in 2009? We very much value and welcome your input and want to hear from you! Please contact Lee Andra Jacobs, Chair DCA Fund-raising Committee at 335-1802 or write to Box 60, Denman Island, B.C. V0R 1T0

Look for the DCA booth at the Christmas Craft Faire:

A Winter Project - Build a Swallow Nest Box

Construction tips:

Use rough, unpainted cedar boards. The floor is four inches square inside. The hole diameter of one and a quarter inches and its height above the floor is critical, to keep out predator birds.

Locate the box at least 12 feet above ground in partial or full sun; under high eaves is a good spot. Have a clear approach fly path.

Make the roof or one side removable so you can clean the nest box each year after the swallow family has left for the winter. This prevents the accumulation of mites which would harm the young nestlings.

Put up the nest box by mid-March, ready to be found by returning swallows in the latter half of the month.

Calling Denman Teenage Volunteers!
The Doug Olstead Award for Community Service

In March 2005, the Denman Conservancy Association (DCA) established an award in the name of Doug Olstead to thank him for his generous contribution to Denman Island and in particular to DCA.

I am sorry to say that during 2006 DCA did not receive an application for this award. We do hope that teenagers might tell us about their volunteer work on Denman during 2007 to be considered for the award of two hundred dollars ($200).

There are several opportunities to participate in volunteer work on Denman. You might assist at the up coming Christmas Craft Fair, (DCA has an information table and other charitable organizations do as well), assist with Trail building; lead, assist, or initiate Conservancy walks, help with bird counts, work at the Recycle Depot, or help at the Community School. These are just some suggestions. Donating your time, not scholastic excellence, is the primary factor for this award.

Any interested student, or a person knowing a student whose name should be brought to the attention of DCA should do so in writing to The Secretary of Denman Conservancy Association, Box 60, Denman Island, B.C. V0R 1T0 before December 31, 2007.

The Denman Craft Shop

Denman Conservancy would like to recognize and thank The Denman Craft Shop. During the Month of April 2007 their featured display was our hand woven Rug for raffle and they sold tickets. This co-operative group of crafts people stock and sell DCA’s Tee shirts, Island Maps, DCA Caps, and now we have added Post Cards to our product line. They do all this as a fundraising effort on behalf of Denman Conservancy. This task means taking special care to keep track of items that may be among other purchases in the store. And they do it with smiles and pleasure.

Carol Freeman

♫♫♫ The Holly and the Ivy ♫♫♫

DCA has made a budget request to ITF for funds to provide technical guidance and supervision for a removal effort next season.

On the Railway Grade Trail

A crew led by J Thornton recently replaced the tricky (balance on a narrow log) creek crossing on the Railway Grade Marsh trail with a sturdy bridge.

Walks and Talks

• Railway Grade Marsh Saturday November 3

  Join Andrew Fyson to hike around the Conservancy covenant area on the Railway Grade Marsh. Meet at the north end of the big clearcut on Northwest Road, (just before the entrance to Komas Ranch) 10 am Saturday 3 November. For info call Andrew 335-9047
  
  

• Winter Waterbird Watch December 1

  Meet with Mike Morrell at the Old School Centre at 10 am, Saturday December 1, before going on to the beach to see birds.

Patrick Fawkes

DCA Booksale at the Blackberry Fair

Thanks to volunteers Carol Freeman, Annie Corddry, Patrick Fawkes, Susan-Marie Yoshihara, John Millen and J Thornton for assistance in producing this Newsletter.

For newsletters published in other years, select from the following: