Tag: environmental history

Upcoming Events: Feeding the Spirit / The Science & History of Alta LakeUpcoming Events: Feeding the Spirit / The Science & History of Alta Lake

November 22, 2014 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The next couple of weeks are exciting ones here at the museum! We have two events to share, the first of which is happening this evening. Join us tonight for free food and a chance to win stellar prizes from Creekside Market, Prior, Splitz, Whistler Roasting Company, PureBread, and more. Whistler Museum’s annual event, Feeding the Spirit, is a chance for new residents to enjoy some free grub, and mix with long-time locals in an intimate setting.

As part of Welcome Week, the museum, with support from Whistler’s Creekside Market, is aiming to welcome new residents and provide them with a sense of place and community. This event also provides a chance for long-term Whistlerites to recall and share their stories of what originally brought them here and what keeps them in this beautiful playground. Hope to see you there!

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We are also thrilled to announce In Depth & In Writing: The Science & History of Alta Lake, an event you don’t want to miss. Join us for this historical and scientific discussion of environmental change in Alta Lake in the past, present, and future. The event will start at 7:00pm and there will be a cash bar. Free to attend.

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During the summer of 2014 Professor Ian Spooner and graduate student Dewey Dunnington from Acadia University, working with members of Cascade Environmental Resources Group (CERG), conducted some exciting research on Alta Lake. Using a core sampling technique, they collected intact samples of the layers of sediment on the lake bottom to better understand how the lake and its watershed have reacted to both natural and man-made change. This technique is known as paleolimnology. Most studies only look at the way the lake exists now – paleolimnology allows us to study the history of a lake too. Every centimeter of sediment represents about 5 years, so some of the material in these samples is as much as 400 years old!

Alta Lake is an important ecological component of Whistler Valley, and since western settlement of the region, has been an essential resource for residents and visitors alike. It is also historically significant – so much so that the town itself was called “Alta Lake” until 1975.  The history of the lake from a human perspective has been recorded in the pictures and writings of the residents of the valley, many of them kept in the archives of the Whistler Museum.

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While we have watched the lake from its surroundings, the lake has also observed us, recording environmental change through the slow accumulation of material as it washes into the lake, year after year. The sediment from the bottom of Alta Lake allows us to better understand how the lake and its watershed have reacted to both natural and human-made change, and will help us evaluate our management strategies going into the future.

On the evening of Thursday, December 4th, Dewey Dunnington will be presenting his findings to the community at the Whistler Museum. To complement this Executive Director of Whistler Museum, Sarah Drewery, will also be presenting on the history of settlement around Alta Lake.

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Grizzlies in the ValleyGrizzlies in the Valley

October 9, 2014 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

As most of us are well aware, wildlife is constantly in flux. Species come and go; they migrate; they evolve; they become extinct. These transitions are especially evident living in Whistler, as wildlife surrounds us, so much so that one of the first things I learned when I got here concerned our ever-changing mammal population. I quickly learned that although grizzly bears once roamed our valley, they have since moved on from this social, tourist town.

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Recently, the museum acquired the book Mammals of the Alta Lake Region of South-western British Columbia by Kenneth Racey and Ian McTaggart Cowan, published in 1935. This fantastic account eloquently outlines the various mammals that were known to exist in the Whistler (then Alta Lake) region. The account of grizzlies is slight, with only a few documented sightings before 1935; however, we know that an abundance of brown bears made their homes here in Whistler for many years before humans moved in.

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Grizzly bears were common to the alpine meadows and adjacent timber of the Whistler region. On June 26th, 1924, grizzlies were seen in Avalanche Pass, between Mount Overlord and London Mountain (now known as Whistler Mountain). Could you imagine seeing a grizzly around Whistler Mountain today? Of course, there is far too much excitement around the mountain for a grizzly nowadays, as brown bears require a great deal of personal space.

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The book states that the latest grizzly bear tracks were sighted on December 5th, 1932, by John Bailiff; however, there have been grizzly sightings in Whistler since the book’s publishing. The most recent occurrence was in Function Junction in 1989. Sadly, the bear was shot by an RCMP officer after it displayed aggressive behaviour toward local dogs.  There are also reports that claim that the RCMP officers did not have the necessary expertise or equipment to safely tranquilize and relocate the animal.

By now it is common knowledge that grizzly bears are rarely spotted in and around Whistler, but we have also seen a great decrease in brown bears across the Sea to Sky Corridor in general over the last century. This steady decline of the grizzly population began with a vengeance during the twentieth century, and was unsurprisingly largely man-made.

Aside from Racey and Cowan’s book, the museum holds a few other accounts of brown bears in Whistler, including photographs of hunted bears, as well as a newspaper article by John Bailiff about his attempt to hunt a mother grizzly in the 1930s. Bailiff’s article is a rather upsetting read, as he takes us through his excitement at the thought of killing the maternal bear, with seemingly no compassion for the cubs alongside her. Thankfully, times have changed and continue to progress toward attitudes and laws that protect these ursine beauties that roam British Columbia.

Hunters with two trophy grizzly bears in the Singing Pass/Musical Bumps area, ca. 1916.
Hunters with two trophy grizzly bears in the Singing Pass/Musical Bumps area, ca. 1916.

For more information on bears in Whistler, and how you can be bear smart, visit the Bear Smart Society. 

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The Diversity of Whistler’s TreesThe Diversity of Whistler’s Trees

September 13, 2014 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The trees here in Whistler constantly amaze me. Well, I suppose trees of any kind in any place are quite amazing; their billowing roots, their twists and turns, their constant evolution; they are alive. With each hike I am reminded of this and I am humbled and enchanted all in one breath.

I moved to Whistler one year ago from Ontario, and perhaps that is why the trees here leave me awestruck. They are big, abundant and varying, making them vastly different from what I am used to. Although many people assume our forests are built up of mostly pine trees, they include a multitude of species. This variety of species is due in large part to Whistler’s many microclimates. Our microclimates range from coniferous mixed forest found in the valley, to slightly drier slopes, to Alpine tundra way up in the alpine.

A simple walk through the valley is enough to recognize the rich, saturated greens of the landscape. This vibrancy is thanks to Whistler’s abundance of precipitation that comes mostly in the form of snow in the winter and rain in the spring and fall. This climate has allowed for a temperate rainforest to flourish here. This rainforest is comprised of mostly coniferous giants such as Douglas fir, Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, Amabilis Fir and Sitka Spruce or Whistler spruce.

While hiking through a Whistler forest one might also notice the lack of sunlight available to much of the greenery and soil beneath the thick canopies of branches and leaves above. For this reason, few deciduous trees are able to survive here. The ones that do survive do so in forest openings and include mostly Red Alder and Douglas Maple, while Towering Black Cottonwoods are commonly found along valley streams and rivers.

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As you travel a bit higher into the subalpine terrain you will notice Mountain Hemlocks and Subalpine Firs replacing the Douglas Firs and Cedars found near the valley floor. The subalpine forest extends from an elevation of approximately 1000 metres to 1800 metres. This area consists of typically less developed soil and is generally covered in snow much earlier in the fall than the lower levels. It also remains buried in snow well into the spring and early summer when the rainforest below is already thriving.

Then of course, with a little more hiking, you reach the high alpine, the cheekiest of climates. Here you’ll find only the hardiest of tree species, as the elements seem to conspire against any plant life. This area is subject to more snow, greater winds and higher levels of UV than the lower ecological zones, yet you will see Subalpine Firs inching their way as high as they can go.

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Whistler’s ecosystem is far more complex than just its trees. Whistler’s wetlands and plentiful undergrowth is a topic all on its own, and perhaps a topic for another post soon.

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Whistler’s Wildfire Past, part 2: Burned into the Landscape’s MemoryWhistler’s Wildfire Past, part 2: Burned into the Landscape’s Memory

July 13, 2013 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

The Coast Mountain landscape is full of stories. You just need to know how to read them. The grandest of these tales recount violent clashes between volcanic lava and glacial ice, expressed through landforms such as the Table, the Barrier, and Black Tusk in Garibaldi Park. If you know what to look for, however, there are plenty of signs of past wildlife activity to be identified from our surroundings as well.

Our mountain environment is highly varied so it is difficult to characterize our region’s wildfire activity too specifically. Generally speaking, however, the average wildfire interval for coastal forests is 750 years. This means that any given point in a coastal landscape is prone to burn, on average, every 750 years.

Major wildfires in the Whistler region from the last 100 years. The large purple blotch at the top right represents the 1926 Soo/Green fire.
Major wildfires in the Whistler region from the last 100 years. The large purple blotch at the top right represents the 1926 Soo/Green fire.

In the Whistler Valley, like most other populated valleys, the incidence of wildfires actually increased during the 20th century due to the large number of human-caused fires, especially those caused by railway activity. (Check out this blog post for some cool insights into railway fire suppression in the 1940s, not to mention Rainbow Lodge booze runs and the dangers of playing chicken with a freight train).

The point being, at any point in time, large swaths of our our forests are in the process of recovering after a wildfire disturbance. Fire is an essential aspect of the life cycle of the Douglas Fir, the dominant tree species in our Coast Mountain valleys. They thrive under direct sunlight and grow fast and straight, allowing them to grow quickly after wildfires and clearcuts. They also have extra thick bark that acts like an armour against flame. This last point is crucial.

Even if only a handful of Douglas Firs survive a wildfire, these “resids” (short for residuals) are well-situated to re-seed the disturbed area and kickstart the forest’s regeneration. A few decades after a large wildfire, you will often find a few scattered, mature douglas firs surrounded by a  uniform forest of younger growth.

Heading north from Whistler on Highway 99, just before the Soo Valley turnoff, you can clearly see some trees that stand well above the rest of the forest. They are a few of the survivors of a massive wildfire from the mid-1920s that destroyed much of the surrounding forest.

Heading north from Whistler, just before the Soo Valley turnoff, you can clearly see some trees that stand well above the rest of the forest. They are a few of the survivors of a massive forest fire from the mid-1920s, that destroyed much of the surrounding slopes. these few survivors would have provided the seeds to regenerate the forest that has returned to the burned area.
A handful of “resids” stand head and shoulders above the regenerating forest that they helped re-seed.

Checking back in with our wildfire data from the Whistler Forest History Project, there was a massive wildfire around the junction of the Soo River with the Green River in 1926. To fully appreciate a fire of this scale, you need a bird’s-eye view. Luckily enough, there is a lookout  up the Soo Valley Forest Service Road that was designed with just this purpose in mind.

the llower cluster is on the banks of the Soo River, which is hidden from view.
The view from the lookout. 3 clusters of Douglas Firs that survived the 1926 wildfire are are easily identified. They are substantially taller and darker than the surrounding forest. The upper two clusters are located beside rock clearings on the periphery of the fire, while the lower cluster is on the banks of the Soo River, which is hidden from view. Highway 99 is visible at lower right.

From this higher perspective you can see a few more groupings of residual douglas firs. You can also get a sense of just how uniform the regenerated forest is, as the entire swath of burned forest was recolonised by seeds from a small number of trees over a short period of time.

Finally, looking across the highway at Mount Currie you can find the upper limits of this massive, historical fire. If the boundary lines were a bit straighter you might mistake them as the edges of old cutblocks.

nearly 90 years later, the upper limits of the wildfire are still plainly visible along the upper west flanks of Mount Currie.
Nearly 90 years later, the upper limits of the wildfire are still plainly visible along the upper west flanks of Mount Currie.
A close-up of the previous image.
A close-up of the previous image.

This is far from the only identifiable wildfire landscape in the area. Other prime spots are Cheakamus Canyon and Pemberton Meadows (Tenquille and the Camel Humps, specifically). Anywhere else?

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Much thanks to Rod Allen of the Pemberton Fire Base, and John Hammons of the Whistler Forest History Project for their help with this series of posts about wildfire history. Check out part 1 here, with more instalments to come throughout the summer.

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