Introduction

Community events, public meetings and presentations to special interest groups provided the TRTF with opportunities to discuss watershed issues, inform people about projects underway and to listen to community concerns. Between 1997 and 1999, the TRTF actively participated in numerous community events. These events included: BC Rivers Day 1997 and 1998, EarthFest’98, the 1998 Comox Valley Fall Fair, the 1998 Fish and Game Club Outdoor Show, the 1998 World Community Film Festival Bazaar and the 1998 Mountainaire Avian Rescue Open House.  TRTF members also made several presentations to schools and community groups.  The support that the TRTF received from the agricultural community and from volunteers was vital to the success of its projects.

The media work group’s goal was to raise awareness of the habitat degradation in the Tsolum River through local and provincial media reports. The group’s efforts were rewarded with significant coverage by local media. A CBC Radio special report, CBC Television News and CHEK Television News features, as well as in a Victoria Times Colonist newspaper article also provided provincial media coverage.

Public Events

A photoboard display, created by the media group, was viewed by 100 visitors to the January 1998, World Community Film Festival Bazaar held at the Florence Filberg Centre. The display and representatives were also present at the May 1998, Courtenay Fish and Game Club Outdoor Show and the 1998 Mountainaire Avian Rescue Open House in April 1998.

The TRTF exhibited a display at EarthFest’98, held in Courtenay on August 22-23, 1998. This very successful event attracted 1500 people, giving them the opportunity to walk through the TRTF gazebo and view the popular scale model of the Tsolum River watershed. Three weeks later, September 12-13, this exhibit promoted the TRTF at the annual Comox Valley Exhibition Association’s 1998 Fall Fair.

To further raise the profile of the endangered Tsolum River, the TRTF sponsored a photo contest in November 1998. TRTF members judged more than fifty photographs in four categories: People and the River, the Endangered Tsolum, the Scenic Tsolum, and Fish and Fishing. Winners were announced in January 1999 and received prizes donated by four local businesses.

The TRTF facilitated publicly open general meetings in November 1997, as well as in February, June and November 1998. At these meetings the TRTF received public input on its achievements and project plans.  Approximately forty people attended each meeting to view presentations and photoboard displays, and to participate in discussions on project progress. 

Presentations were also made at several community group meetings.  Mapping and water sampling techniques were presented to a Vancouver Island Highway Project meeting of Concerned Citizens held on November 1997 at Marsland House.  A slide show and discussion of flow control on the Tsolum River were held at the February 1998 Farmers’ Institute meeting at Dove Creek Hall.  The TRTF also delivered a presentation to 75 members of the Courtenay Fish and Game Club at their annual general meeting held in May 1998.  In January 1999, 20 Excel Career College students were introduced to GPS techniques being used by the TRTF in watershed mapping studies. Students at Tsolum School Careers Day, held in February 1999, saw a presentation titled “Working to Save the River”.

Recognizing the valuable service of its volunteers, the TRTF co-hosted a Volunteer Appreciation Day at Marsland House with the Comox Valley Project Watershed Society and the Citizen’s Action on Recycling and the Environment (CARE) group in April 1998. Fifty volunteers were treated to four workshops, lunch and the opportunity to meet other volunteers. 

Endangered Rivers Campaign

Print Media

The media work group produced many press releases to publicize the work of the project. Local newspapers actively supported the project by publishing photos and stories documenting the project’s progress. (See Appendix A). 
The Comox Valley Echo and Comox Valley Record newspapers published numerous articles covering TRTF issues and activities. For example, the Tsolum River’s past, present and future; acid mine drainage issues; and TRTF efforts to obtain funding were featured. Articles also publicized BC Rivers’ Day events, the activities of Tsolum Streamkeepers, the Environmental Youth Team’s willow wattling project, the Endangered Rivers List campaign, and the Tsolum River photo contest.

Provincial exposure to acid mine drainage issues was provided by the Victoria Times Colonist July 4, 1998, issue describing lobbying by the Sierra Legal Defense Fund. Locally, the monthly Mt. Washington Ridgeline highlighted strategies for cleaning up acid mine drainage following the release of an engineering study in its June 25, 1998, issue. The Voice’s August 1998 issue described in detail the construction of the watershed model being built for the EarthFest exhibit. 

Radio

Television

Web Page

Links to associated websites will bring visitors in touch with information about training and volunteering opportunities offered by the TRTF, other community stewardship groups or government agencies.  Volunteers have offered to maintain the page after its creation.

Samples of Media Coverage

List of Media Coverage

Electronic Media

CBC Radio

No Fish No Future -- Vancouver Almanac Program, May 22, 1998 

CBC TV

Acid Mine Drainage -- Evening News, October 1998. 

CHEK TV

Environmental Youth Team willow wattling -- Evening News, June 1998. 

Print Media

Comox Valley Echo

• Celebrate BC Rivers’ Day at Tsolum Spirit Park   Friday, September 26, 1997.
• Reclaiming a River   Friday, September 26, 1997.
• Endangered status for Tsolum
• Community asked to join campaign for river’s inclusion on list  Friday, October 10, 1997.
• Streamkeepers needed to work on Tsolum River  Friday, November 7, 1997.
• A River runs through it ... Rivers: the lifeblood of our Valley 
• Tuesday, February 10, 1998.
• Tsolum River group anxious for funds - Fisheries Renewal process going slow 
• Tuesday, February 24, 1998.
• ‘Amazing’ salmon find in stream - Tributary to troubled Tsolum yields steelhead 
• Friday, March 20, 1998.
• Willow Wattle - An old technique being used in effort to restore Tsolum watershed 
• Tuesday, March 31, 1998.
• Salmon spotters needed on the Tsolum River Looking for Answers on the Missing Pinks 
• Tuesday, September 29, 1998
• Photo contest highlighted beauty of Tsolum  Friday, January 22, 1999.

 Comox Valley Record

• TRTF asks Fisheries program for acid-mine help--Friday, September 26, 1997.
• Streamkeepers meet --Friday, November 7, 1997.
• Chums released - New life for Tsolum --Friday, November 14, 1997.
• Salmonids found - New Hope for Tsolum River--Wednesday, March 25, 1998.

Mt. Washington Ridgeline 

• Strategies for acid mine revealed following study --June 25, 1998.

The Voice

• Solar power gets its moment in the sun--August 1998

Times Colonist

• Sierra puts Heat on Old BC Mines with Appeal to NAFTA Watchdog  --Saturday, July 4, 1998.

Appendix B--List of Media Contacts

Newspaper

  Radio

    Television

SECTION 4.  APPENDIX C
Informational Pamphlet

Section 3 Top of Page Section 5