POLE TO POLE - 100 Mile House to Vancouver

MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

HABITAT PROTECTION

In a narrow strip between British Columbia's coastal mountains and the open sea, on the mainland and nearby islands, grows the coastal temperate rainforest - the most productive forest in the world in terms of sheer mass of living things. Forty years ago, the North American temperate rainforest stretched from northern California, up the coastline of British Columbia, and throughout most of Alaska.

Today, the rainforests in California, Washington and Oregon have virtually disappeared, and only a few pockets of ancient forest remain unlogged in southern BC. Only on the central and north coast do large intact rainforest valleys still exist. Most are slated to be logged.

The Spirit Bear, or Kermode, is a rare white subspecies of black bear, one in ten of which is white. These white bears are not the result of albinism, but of a unique recessive gene that produces white hair instead of black. Spirit Bears are living reminders of an ancient triad of coastal bears, big trees and wild salmon that once dominated hundreds of valleys stretching from mid-California to Alaska in one contiguous rainforest belt. Now most of this is gone.
The only Spirit Bear habitat left on earth is on BC's mid- and north-coast, concentrating in an even smaller area on Princess Royal Island and the adjoining mainland.

A 250,000-hectare Spirit Bear conservancy has been proposed, with cooperative management by the Kitasoo First Nation. While part of the government is interested in its protection, another part - perhaps more powerful - wants to protect two tiny fragments comprising only 15% of this area, and give the rest to clearcut logging. Protecting only 15% of the Kermode's natural habitat will have dire consequences for the survival of this rare and unique bear. If further logging on the islands and adjacent mainland causes numbers to decline, as history has shown it will, the impacts upon the resident bears (as well as other species such as wolves and Orca whales) could be disastrous. Coastal bears depend upon salmon for 95% of their food in late fall, thus their ability to survive winter hibernation is at stake.

Your letters of support are urgently needed. Contact:

Premier Ujjal Dosanjh
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4
Canada
phone: 250 387-1715
fax: 250 387-0087

Hon. Joan Sawicki
Minister of Environment
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4
Canada
phone: 250 387-1187
fax: 250 387-1356

For more information, please contact:

Valhalla Wilderness Society
Box 329
New Denver, B.C.
Canada V0G 1S0
phone 250 358-2333
fax 250 358-7950
vws@vws.org

100 Mile House to Vancouver

Adults and children alike joined us for a police-escorted cycle out of town. - Devlin

. . . we drifted off to sleep under a makeshift tarp. - Devlin

. . . Dylan and Naoki had huge hills to climb on their bikes, from desert-like valley to treeline and glacier-clad peaks . . . - Mercedes

Despite his learning disabilities, he managed to write on it: 'My small step is learn to print'. - Renaud

On To the Big City

Commercial travel arrangements by Horse Lake Travel

May 27th Devlin. 100 Mile House to "Ancient Indian village":
Time to say goodbye. Today we would leave 100 Mile House for the last time. For most of us it felt like we were finally leaving on the journey, leaving this place of comfort and familiarity. Goodbye to our great training facility, The Hills Health Ranch, as well as the office and home base. We kicked off with a public farewell where residents came to wish us well. Adults and children alike joined us for a police-escorted cycle out of town. It was great to have young and old join us and send us on our way. After about 10km, we left our well-wishers behind in the pouring rain and headed off on our relay. A short day of 160km took us to an ancient indian village site where the pit-dwellings dated back 5000 years. We set up camp early and enjoyed time in the inspiring countryside, mountains soaring up from the valley below us, the top covered by rain clouds. It was a great place to spend the night and we drifted off to sleep under a makeshift tarp.

Dawson

May 28th Mercedes:
Today, Renaud and I covered the last part of the relay, almost 50km into Whistler - our goal for the day. While Dylan and Naoki had huge hills to climb on their bikes, from desert-like valley to treeline and glacier-clad peaks, our section of the route was flat but with amazing mountain landscapes. We crossed green lakes, farms, and many waterfalls. In one of the breaks we enjoyed Nairn falls, a big and magnetic waterfall. Sitting in front of that expression of power, with our own dreams and the water splashing our faces really empowered the magnificience of nature! At the end, there was a special committee waiting for us. During our training at The Hills, we met Kevin and Annie who offered us to stay at their place in Whistler. We joined them while they were finishing a party with friends and we all had fun talking, eating some food, sharing experiences, playing with kids or dancing. People like that make me feel lucky and totally grateful to be part of this journey. Thanks to you all in Whistler, BC.

May 29th Heidi:
Today we spent a beautiful day in Whistler. This morning we had two presentations, one in Pemberton and the other at the Whistler Secondary School. It went off really well! Afterwards we had a few hours of free time in Whistler Village. Whistler is definitely a "man! I - wish - I - had - my - camera!" town. The whole central section is restricted to walkers and cyclists only and the edges are all trimmed with beautiful tulips. At every turn I would look up towards the mountains and just wish that I could be skiing the slopes! The mountains are so close and towering that it made me stop and just soak it in. It definitely helped that the sun was shining bright to warm our faces! I just wanted to thank Kevin, Annie, Noah and Issiah for having eight crazy ruffians in their beautiful home. The kindness of people is continually astounding me. :-)

May 30th Renaud:
Out of Whistler and here we go for our first real contact with a big city for quite a while. Going down Highway 99, we stopped at Lions Bay to finish the day in a canoe. Seven of us jumped in the boat, the two others driving the vehicles. Coming from the far North and being used to kayaking, I felt confident with cold water. How stupid I've been - I wasn't dressed enough and ended up being really cold. Getting out of the boat, all my body was trembling and my teeth were playing the drums. I've never been cold like this in the North Pole which shows that it's when it looks easy that accidents happen. It also influenced my mood and I was really nervous and aggressive, especially having the feeling (probably not sure) to be the only one to paddle this boat. And the city? Well, first all those concrete buildings are quite awful and you really notice it after three months "out of the world". But after a while you get used to it again with all those people and activity. One thing that will be harder to get along with again is the perpetual noise you have in each city. Anyway, the first surprise passed. Vancouver is far from being ugly, with parks, ocean and beaches all around and mountains with ski resorts as a background !

31 May Jay:
In the morning, we joined a project named "Keep Vancouver Spectacular". The team picked up the trash on the beach for a couple of hours. We had some but it was not a lot. That's because many people already joined that project and had a good result: it was actually the last day of a month long effort in Vancouver. It was so nice to see such a clean beach because many people worked for it! This is what we hope to do! Inspire people and make the Earth clean! I really wish us to make it!

1 June Naoki:
We had two presentations today. Dylan, Heidi, Renaud and me visited the Lord Roberts Elementary School. We talked in front of many, many students who are grade 4 to 6. After the presentation a Japanese girl came and spoke to me. She came to Vancouver one year ago. Maybe we have the same feelings, because we can't speak English well, we can't express ourselves well. Let's go for it!

2 June Renaud:
A busy presenting day but such a good one! I frequently send e-mails to my friends and family in France and after a while I received great answers like "Thanks for the dream you bring in the office" or "Good to see people following and reaching their dreams". I also know that some teenagers were well moved and inspired by our talk. But today I think I've had the most beautiful message. After a presentation in an Elementary school, one of the teachers (nearly crying) asked me to come and see something. I did join her just after and she was with a grade 1 kid (around 6 years old) who handed me a piece of paper. Despite his learning disabilities, he managed to write on it: 'My small step is learn to print'. The teacher added she had worked a year on him and it's the most significant progress so far. I was close to crying too. He was really nice and passionate. This answer helps a lot when sometimes we are wondering why we're here.

June 3 Dylan. (Vancouver, B.C.):
Riding a bicycle through Stanley park near downtown Vancouver, the cool moist air of the ancient cedars baptize me beneath the lush robes of their protective branches. We are participating in a local initiative promoting the use of bicycles as alternative transportation: around 100 lantern-clad riders penetrating the depths of the Stanley Park night.

Jay the dinosaur promotes cycling in Vancouver

All is dark and quiet around us except for the odd voice, jingle of a pedal, or crunch of gravel beneath our tires. As the group left the cool shelter of the park I was astounded by the wall we passed through. A massive temperature fluctuation between the cool realms of the park and the conducive heat of the city. In the concrete world, we just pedaled through, it was obvious that the urban world is a massive insulator, holding the light and heat from the sun and emanating it in a fashion that was symbolic to me of all the controlled environments I live in, houses, cars, tents etc. Whatever symbiotic relationship that existed here (in what is now Vancouver) between land and sky has obviously been altered by the structures it seems we humans build to protect ourselves from the outside in. As I remember the slight discomfort of the park's cool veils penetrating my skin and vibrating my body to life, I wonder if my own comforts are worth sacrificing to know the glory of nature's phenomenon.

Jay the dinosaur promotes cycling in Vancouver

Inuvik to 100 Mile House - pictures & reports.

North Pole to Resolute Bay - pictures & reports.

Training Camp - pictures & reports

You may copy and distribute these releases freely as well as information on other pages on this site. Please acknowledge the source as http://www.pole2pole2000.com

If you'd like to receive more information, or be added to an E-Mail update mailing list, please send your request to Pole2000@bcinternet.net

Become a Sponsor

Site by