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British Columbia.
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This On-line Guide will help you find those great experiences to explore remote BC snow. Learn more about the Monashee Circle Drive and great backcountry escapes. Consider this portal as a primer to explore where the desert of the Okanagan Valley meets interior rainforests and alpine meadows. Go....
Vapor Trail
Lots of drops ranging from 3 to 8 feet. Three manmade launches and many natural launches. Fast flowing single track from top to bottom. Each drop and launch has a by pass for the faint of heart. 
Go...
Go...Wild Horse Canyon
SELAH OUTDOOR EXPLORATIONS
Using 26' Voyageur canoes or smaller 2 person canoes we offer part-day to multi-day canoe tours on many of the lakes and rivers in the Okanagan Valley and Shuswap. Workshops on canoeing, wilderness navigation and survival skills. In the winter we offer snowshoe tours of Crystal Mountain.
The Vernon
Outdoors Club
The club got its start in 1976 when Chrissie Stump and a few other kindred spirits got together and organized hikes around the Vernon area. The Club primarily schedules hiking and bicycling outings however many members enjoy a wide range of outdoor activities and are encouraged to share their interests with others. Find out More....Go....
TrailsCanada Resource Section
Explore this resource section designed for trail owners, managers, builders, researchers and you! Go...
Go...Coalition for Licensing and
Registration of Off Road Vehicles
This is a stakeholder driven initiative in British Columbia, working closely with a government Off-Road Vehicle Committee representing eleven agencies, so that effective legislative changes can be made to improve the sport and the environment. Go....
Sports Rent Kelowna offers exceptional Winter Sports equipment for rent. We have everything ranging from downhill skis to snowboarding to snowshoeing and more. Go...
REPAIRS & RENTALS
At Venture Gear we tune and repair your bikes, skis and boards. We also rent snowshoes & backcountry gear. Details are available from any one of our friendly staff.
Surplus Herby's is the largest full-service fly shop and fishing tackle dealer in the BC Interior. If you're looking for the hot lure on the big lakes like Okanagan, Kalamalka or Mabel you'll find everything you need at Herby's!
SURPLUS
HERBY'S
The Best Online Travel Guide
in the BC Interior
Visit Us Today!
Reviews From Users
British Columbia Interior
ADVENTURE NEWS SCAN
Sports Report
AC INDEX
CURRENT ADVENTURE NEWS
AC OUTBOUND
GREAT ADVENTURE TRIPS & TIPS
By Don Elzer
Some surprising events continue to occur in the British Columbia interior that places us on center stage as we see our planet transforming as a result of environmental changes. On Wednesday October 10, 2007, the first of a swarm of small earthquakes was recorded by seismic monitoring equipment in place in the upper Baezaeko River region, about 100 km west of Quesnel.
Eight microearthquakes of magnitude 2-3 occurred on October 10 and 11, and more than 100 tremors of less than magnitude 2 had occurred between October 10 and October 18. This steady rumble is believed to be volcanic activity.
The Nazko Cone: Mixing a volcano with a decaying forest?
GO...
An E-zine from The Monster Guide
Learn how the environment, habitat
and the nature of British Columbia is changing.
GO...
PREVENTION...
Lyme disease update
Three to five cases of Lyme disease in humans are reported to public health each year in BC. The best protection from this disease is to wear appropriate clothing when walking or working in areas where ticks may be present. Go......
About West Niles Virus
The risk of becoming seriously ill as a result of infection with the virus is very low and most people virus is very low and most people who become infected experience no symptoms or have less serious illness. Less than 1% of the mosquito population carries the disease. Presently, there are no reported cases of West Nile virus in British Columbia.
Prevention from The Monster Guide, an information portal which describes travel risks and provides education so that residents, visitors and the travel industry can better deal with crises, risk and fear management issues.
BC News Headlines
Agricrime will grow and bloom in the southern BC Interior
Illegal activity is turning into a major part of a walk in the woods
By Don Elzer
The economic impacts of regional marijuana grow-ops have been significant for the past three decades and after 30 years of unbridled growth the industry has become mature and is far beyond the scope of resources that local law enforcement have to prevent continued growth.
Not knowing the details of this underground economy means not knowing how it really impacts us today and in the future. In fact, the grow-op economy has been an anchoring force for rural economies that have been struggling in the wake of natural resources being removed from local economies by governments.
A new road for rural communities approaches on the horizon as agricrime surfaces as a possible career choice for more and more residents unable to find well-paid work in the mainstream economy. This causes more residents to prefer less policing and government presence and moves them to reduce their environmental footprint even further so they can bring about their place within an invisible economy that flies under the radar of the mainstream economy.
The trail can offer a surprise...
An RCMP chopper stands as a monument amidst hundreds of pot plants north of Sugar Lake on the Shuswap River. Much of this industry exists either hidden indoors or outdoors in remote rural areas.
By Don Elzer
Presently, plants struggle as humans continue to be the primary consumers on the planet, and now blue-green algae is being positioned to once again become an instrument of the planetary continuum,
only this time its role might prove to question the motives of the human experience on this planet. When it comes to converting sunlight into biomass, algae is the most productive type of plant. Biodiesel from algae has the potential to produce enough fuel to drive a Prius-type car 370,000 miles per acre per year (MAY), compared to 2,000 to 31,000 MAY for conventional biodiesel crops, while ethanol from switchgrass could produce 32,500 MAY. Furthermore, some strains of algae are as much as 40% oil by weight, leading to the hope of a large supply of oil which is much easier to convert into biodiesel than it is to ferment corn into ethanol.
Forget corn - buy yourself an algae reactor
Food for Fuel it's not:
Algae on the beach today may fuel SUV's tomorrow
An ancient, living and intelligent plant poised to drive the planet
AdventureCatalogue.com is your online portal for finding the trails, tribes, guides and best adventure gear in the British Columbia interior.
The Drive....
Conservation Authority Model for the Okanagan?
Drop the governance debate and get on with solving the real problems
By Don Elzer
Our local governments should look to workable models that can be used where regional districts can come together without effecting regional autonomies but still directly address Okanagan-wide issues. Good models for such regional cooperation exist in Canada, one such proven model is the Conservation Authority system in Ontario.
Today in Ontario, 36 Conservation Authorities operate in watersheds in which 90 per cent of the provincial population resides. Managing Ontario's watershed resources is a major undertaking that calls upon Conservation Authorities and their foresters, engineers, wildlife experts, ecologists, geologists, economists, chemists, agroscientists, planners, local municipal members, and volunteers to work together with farmers, developers, educators, lawyers, and ordinary citizens.
The range of responsibilities and activities are vast and includes: watershed strategies and management; flooding and erosion protection; water quality and quantity; reforestation and sustainable woodlot management; ecosystem regeneration; environmental education and information programming; land acquisition; outdoor recreation; soil conservation; environmental land use planning; habitat protection; agricultural and rural landowner assistance; and sensitive wetlands, flood plains and valley lands protection.
The model is a good one, and it’s a Canadian idea that works.
Shankers Bend Dam in the Okanogan:
Losing the Similkameen to Climate Change and Energy
By Don Elzer - June 9, 2009
To the south, is the “Okanogan” and to the north, is the “Okanagan”, and connecting the two is the gentle and meandering Similkameen River with a place called Shankers Bend which is now poised to challenge two nations as they both react to issues of climate change and energy.
The Okanogan County Public Utility District is proposing that a dam be built at Shankers Bend which would create an 18,000-acre reservoir that holds 1.7 million acre feet of water — with half of it in Canada. The reservoir would be larger than Lake Osoyoos and would potentially affect two B.C. protected areas: the
25,889-hectare Snowy Protected Area and the 9,364-hectare South Okanagan Grasslands Protected Area, as well as flooding aboriginal reserve lands. The reservoir would flood a delicate ecosystem that is home to 16 federally listed species at risk.
In British Columbia there are only a few critics of the project, which seems surprising since it will flood one of the most scenic regions in British Columbia.
The old red Covered Bridge which spans the Similkameen River near Keremeos is one of the last of its kind in North America. The reservoir waters would cover this bridge.
Bigger Resorts, More Reservoirs – Less Water?
Another reservoir expansion this time impacting the Kettle River
By Don Elzer
Another somewhat unexpected development linked to a local ski resort is now raising questions about the health of yet another watershed that feeds the Columbia River system.
The Kettle River is the sixth most endangered river in BC due to excessive water extraction, development and small scale hydro development, and now according to the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. (ORCBC), Big White has applied to dam three creeks in the
watershed to create reservoirs for the storage of more than 350 million gallons or 935,000,000 litres of water to supply the needs of the growing resort and such an event will further impact the Kettle River.
Schumann Resorts owns both Big White and Silver Star Ski Resorts and have been aggressively growing development. Presently a reservoir capable of holding 240,000 cubic metres of water is being completed at Silver Star, and in 2005 the company dug a reservoir at Big White capable of holding more than 60 million gallons of water.
It appears both resorts are planning to secure water demands in order to grow resort populations high up in the upper reaches of the Okanagan.
Creating the Vance Creek Reservoir
at Silver Star Resort - Dig first, dialogue later?
Investigative Travel Documentary:
The Undiscovered Country
Explore the place and the stories of the Coldstream and Monashee
Produced by Don Elzer
It is here that the Okanagan grasslands, forests and mountains are bound together by the sustenance of life – water. Exploring this eastern edge of the North Okanagan provides adventurers a chance to find worlds hidden within the remote valleys and mountain tops of this place.
We welcome you to explore with us The Undiscovered Country a documentary featuring stories and experiences as we journey into the Coldstream and Monashee. This two part Bearfoot Canada series has been produced by the Watershed Intelligence Network in partnership with the Cascadia Conservancy.
This online documentary is available for viewing until November 30th 2009
It's a land of extremes and mysteries, even a lost lake and a search for bigfoot.
Watch for our new Watershed Cafe Program Guide at coffee shops and other gathering places. The Café let’s you explore our current online documentaries about British Columbia and beyond.
CAFE
Watershed
