Important new publications in the online Susan Bond Memorial Library for 2024
January 25th, 2025
As part of the mandates of the Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resource society (Trench Society) and Rocky Mountain Trench Ecosystem Restoration Program (RMTERP) the Susan Bond Memorial Library must be periodically updated with new works. We do try to locate and curate reports maps and documents that pertain to the natural resources of the East Kootenay. After feedback from some of our users, the RMTERP will be updating this resource once a year and will be keeping the new reports in their own annual folder in the library directory for at least 6 months for ease of review. So, if you want to just check out the 2024 additions sign into the memorial library and check the folder “2024 Susan Bond Library addition”. This was a very busy year we have 156 new titles; some highlights are:
1. Usually, the Susan Bond Memorial library curates reports on local issues and studies but only one is in this year’s additions. The first is the 2024 report East Kootenay Trench Species at Risk Surveys Which covers post treatment wildlife surveys on three Ecosystem Restoration projects: Lost Springs, Indian Springs and Wigwam Flats. The report was commissioned by the Trench Society and focussed on 6 grassland species at risk. Valuable location data was found for two of the species and recommendations were made for further management of the species on all three projects. The report is in added to the library under the main folder in 2024 Susan Bond Library Addition folder and Species at Risk folder in main library.
2. Of local interest are two papers on chronic wasting disease. As of this writing three deer have been found with this disease in the forests just south of Cranbrook. These reports are information bulletins from the BC Government describing the disease and its management and join 4 reports from the Alberta government on the same disease. The reports are hard to find so they are curated in the Chronic Wasting Disease sub folder in the Deer folder of main library and in 2024 Susan Bond Library Addition folders.
3. Other papers are general references that may be of help to local natural resource staff. There is an entire new folder under Range Policy for Range Plants and Communities in the main library. Files are also found in the Rangeland subfolder in the 2024 Susan Bond Library Addition folder. It is a series of papers produced by the Range Branch contained in the BC Ministry of Forests. It lists descriptions of 10 important shrubs, grasses and herbs and 6 plant communities, all found in the East Kootenay area. The descriptions include productivity charts and management considerations for each species and community.
4. There has been a lot of policy discussions in 2024 around First Nations and we have curated new reports in three new topic areas.
a. The Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) was passed by the BC government in 2019 following the signing of the United Nations Declaration by the Canadian federal government. These documents are designed to improve First Nation culture and communities by improving reconciliation between settler and First Nation communities and further enhance the understanding of aboriginal rights and Title. The topic is esoteric but has large ramification for natural resource management in Canada. So, eight papers specific to this issue are gathered in the Declaration of Indigenous personals sub folder in the First Nations folders in main library and 2024 Susan Bond library addition. Significant is the action plan for implementing DRIPA as well as 4 annual plans on its progress issued by the BC provincial government. Two papers from the United Nations are added as they outline what is meant by prior, free informed consent a major policy issue. The papers are again dry reading, but a more practical report is listed that shows how these principles are implemented “NISHIMA-MILLER | 2022 The Ktunaxa Nation Rights and Interests Assessment” which covered the K’tunaxa led Environmental Assessment of the Elk Valley coal mine expansion.
b. Four papers, all from the United States of America were gathered into one folder. They outline in general principles on how to combine the findings western science and First Nation Traditional Ecological knowledge (TEK). This is a new and interesting approach to reconciliation and land management. They are in a sub folder called Braiding Knowledge in the First Nations folders in main library and 2024 Susan Bond library addition.
c. A better example supplementing the braiding knowledge effort are a series of studies and papers from University of British Columbia (UBC) and First Nation partners on Fire stewardship. Sarah Dickson-Hoyle (along with several UBC partners) has collaborated with St̓uxwtéws (Bonaparte First Nation) and Skeetchestn Natural Resources Corporation for two interesting papers showing the effects of wildfire on culturally important materials such as shrubs and plants. Sarah Dickson-Hoyle also collaborated with the Secwepemcúl̓ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society to produce a report on lessons learned from restoration of the Elephant Hill fire near Lytton; in fact, both sets of reports focussed on the Elephant Hill fire. Kelsey Copes Gerbitz (with UBC partners) produced two papers showing how partnership with First Nations can work in wildfire responses. They are in a folder called Fire Stewardship sub folder under First Nations folder under both main library and 2024 Susan Bond library addition.
5. “A NEW FUTURE FOR OLD FORESTS, A Strategic Review of How British Columbia Manages for Old Forests Within its Ancient Ecosystems” by Gorley and Merkel was published in 2020. In 2024 three new publications were released by the Ministry of Water Land and Natural Resource Stewardship to better implement the original Old Growth strategy. It includes an implementation plan, a backgrounder and an assessment backgrounder report. A 2021 report of priority deferrals written by the Old Growth Technical Advisory Council is also added to the library this year. Just to round out all these reports the 1992 Ministry of Forests Old Growth Strategy (which lead to the 1995 Biodiversity guidebook) is also added this year. All reports are in an Old Growth folder in main library and 2024 Susan Bond library addition.
6. Of interest a couple of policy proposals put forward by Polis, a think tank based out of the University of Victoria. The have a water stewardship group and a Wildfire Resilience Project. Two reports are of interest “Learning to Live with Fire: State of Wildfire in B.C., Policy, Programs, & Priorities – A Primer.” This report gives a comprehensive review as to how wildfire is currently managed and how organisations outside the usual wildfire services, especially First Nations, can be integrated into a larger more nuanced wildfire management regime. This thesis is further explored in a short report “Wildfire and a Whole-of-Society Approach” which expands into landscape planning and multi sectoral fuel mitigation treatments.
1. There are several interesting papers on the effectiveness of Fuel treatments. FP Innovations completed three post wildfire studies on 2 fires from 2021 (Lytton Creek in the Fraser valley and White Rock Lake fire near Vernon) and a 2024 fire near Lytton. In all cases the fuel treatment areas moderated the fire’s behaviour allowing an easy burn off in the Lytton Creek fire and in all cases they were important in keeping structures from burning. This will be of interest for Ecosystem Restoration as ER treatments can create the same stand structure and fuel mitigation effects. This collection of studies is supplemented by a structure review of buildings burnt by the McDougall Creek (West Kelowna) in 2023 entitled “A wildland-urban post-fire case study: The Grouse Complex”. All reports are in a sub folder called Fuel Effectiveness Reports in the Fuel Mgt folder in main library and Fuel Mgt subfolder in the Fire Fuels Folder in the 2024 Susan Bond library addition.
If you have any comments or questions about the library, please contact:
Randy Harris RPF
RMTERP Outreach Coordinator
If you have any questions regarding the Ecosystem Restoration Program, please contact:
Marc Trudeau, Executive Director
Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resources Society
Phone: 250-427-1138
Email: marc@trench-society.com
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