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Whistler Naturalists host three day mountain festival

The Whistler Naturalists have organized three days of seminars, guided tours and exhibitions from Sept. 20 to 22 to accompany the Federation of B.C. Naturalists annual fall meeting.

The Whistler Naturalists have organized three days of seminars, guided tours and exhibitions from Sept. 20 to 22 to accompany the Federation of B.C. Naturalists annual fall meeting.

All of the events are open to the public as well as the FBCN participants, and cover a wide range of topics from alpine ecosystems to birding to herbology to glaciation.

"We’re opening the meeting up to the public because we think we have created something that’s going to be of interest to people," says Bob Brett, president of the Whistler Naturalists.

"We want to involve visitors and locals is a lot of different ways. There are events indoors, outdoors, in the high alpine and on the valley bottom. The big emphasis is to get as many people to attend at least one event as possible, just to get them involved. I think they’re going to enjoy what they see."

The three-day festival is called "Peak to Valley – The Ups and Downs of Life in a Mountain Environment," and includes more than 20 events as well as local and provincial experts on various naturalist topics.

While some of the seminars are more in depth than others, Brett expects several of the events to sell out. One of those events is the Mountain Nature Photo Exhibition and Social featuring four local nature photographers: Nancy Ricker, Leanna Rathkelly, Bonnie Makarewicz, and Dean Coté. Two surprise exhibitors have yet to be confirmed.

"We’re hoping that this is one event we could hold every year, because people in this town just love photography exhibits, and we have some amazing talent here," says Brett.

Ricker will give a short talk on the physical and technical demands of nature photography, and each photographer will give a 10 minute slideshow of their work. The suggested minimum donation is $5.

Another popular event is the Traditional Plant Use Herbology Walk with Morgan Wells of Mt. Currie.

"The last time we booked Morgan for a herb walk was more than two years ago, and it was very popular," Brett says. "He was originally just doing a morning walk, but we decided to add another afternoon walk so locals could get a chance to take part. This event will sell out fast."

The cost of the herbology walk is $25. The morning group is limited to 15 members of the FBCN meeting, and the afternoon is limited to 15 locals.

Other popular events include Naturalist bird walks, field trips to the Whistler Interpretive Forest and Wetlands, a hike to Wedgemount Glacier, and guided nature field trips around the Whistler Mountain alpine.

Friday, Sept. 20

Birding with Heather Baines – Meet in the Tantalus Lobby for a two hour tour with local birder Heather Baines, starting at 6:30 a.m.

Whistler History with Florence Petersen – Come to the Whistler Museum and Archives from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and learn about the history of the town from local historian Forence Petersen.

Mountain Amphibians with Elke Wind – Wind is an expert on mountain amphibians. She comes from Vancouver Island and her presentation will run from 10:30 a.m. to 11:20 a.m. in the Millennium Place theatre.

Harlequin Ducks with Ken Wright – From 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Wright will discuss this unique waterfowl.

Mountain Insects with Derrick Marven – From 2:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. at Millennium Place.

B.C. Parks Workshop – Join this Workshop by the B.C. Recreation Stewardship Panel which is coming up with a list of recommendations for recreation opportunities in B.C. Parks.

Field Trip to the Whistler Interpretive Forest – Join Don MacLaurin for a look at forest ecology and vegetation in the Interpretive Forest. Meet in the Tantalus lobby at 9 a.m. Runs approximately three hours.

Fish and Wetlands Field Trip – Join members of the Whistler Fisheries Stewardship Group for a look at Whistler’s wetlands and fisheries enhancements projects. Runs from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Wedgemount Glacier Measurement Field Trip – This is a full day with some strenuous hiking will local moutaineer and scientist Karl Ricker. Bring your own lunch, water and hiking gear. The trip starts at 7 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. The trip will run on Saturday if the cloud cover is too low. Contact Ricker at 604-938-1107 for more details.

Mountain Nature Photo Exhibition and Social – Four photographers share their nature and wildlife pictures at Millennium Place. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a social gathering until approximately 10 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 21

Birding with Nancy Ricker – An early morning tour with local birder Nancy Ricker. Meet in the Tantalus lobby at 6:30 a.m.

Alpine Tour – The gondola begins uploading participants at 9:30 a.m. The first stop at the Children’s Learning Centre includes presentations on geology by Whistler local Jack Souther, a look at Alpine Bird Migration with UBC professor Kathy Martin, and Alpine Plant Ecology with Bob Brett.

After a lunch at the Roundhouse Lodge, there will be a guided alpine nature field trip from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. with Souther, Kathy Martin, Brett, Cathy Conroy, Mitch Sulkers and Derrick Marven.

Dinner and awards at Teppan Village – A dinner for all participants for $25 per person. Tom Hurd, a wildlife specialist from Banff National Park will give a presentation on "Co-existing with Wildlife in a Populated Mountain Valley," which will be followed by the FBCN Awards.

Sunday, Sept. 22

Birding with Heather Baines and Jim Wisnia – This birding tour takes place in the Squamish Estuary, which is a home to bald eagles, among other species. Meet at the Howe Sound Brewing Company in Squamish at 8 a.m. Runs until 11 a.m.

Traditional Plant Use Herbology Walk with Morgan Wells – The morning session runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the afternoon session from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Meet at the Cross-Country Connection Hut on the path to Lost Lake. The morning walk is limited to FBCN members, but the afternoon walk is open to the public. There will be a maximum of 15 in each group, and registrants are asked to leave dogs, children and recorders at home. Contact Bob Brett at 604-932-8900 to pre-register.

Full registration to the Whistler Naturalists’ Peak to Valley weekend costs $80 for non-members and $70 for members, and includes most events. A single day admission is $40 or $35 for members. Extras include the photography exhibit (suggested $5 donation), the dinner at Teppan Village and the Herbology Walk ($25 each). To register contact Judy Bonn at 604-894-0188.