News

Our new report, titled Reducing Wildfire Risk on Your Property: Practical Forest Stewardship for Landowners, has gotten some great coverage. We are excited to share this guide far and wide to help landowners steward their forests.

Salt Spring Exchange - 2026-05-22

Gulf Islands Driftwood (print) - 2026-05-27

The Ember Canada Wildfire News - 2026-05-27

West Coast Climate Action Network - 2026-06-01

Photo by Pierre Mineau

New report now available: a research-backed guide for Gulf Islands residents living in forested environments. The report explores practical ways to reduce wildfire risk on your property while supporting long-term ecosystem health, including assessing fire risk, managing woody debris, increasing forest moisture, and restoring native plant communities. Written by Emily Brown and Dr. Ruth Waldick, the report focuses on local forest conditions and aims to help build healthier, more resilient forests across the Gulf Islands. 

You can find the full 2026 report in the Reports section of the CARL Research Hub.

Date: 2026-05-19

Gulf Islands Driftwood: After years of pioneering forest and watershed restoration on Hwmetʼutsum (Mt. Maxwell), CARL steps out on its own - and invites the community along for the next chapter.

Photo by Keegan Thomas

Date: 2026-05-18

The podcast A Hot Topic: Addressing Heat Vulnerability in the Capital Regional District features CARL Lead Scientist Dr. Ruth Waldick, who shares her experience of the 2021 heat dome and other extreme heat events as both an ecologist and a Salt Spring Island resident. The episode explores the island community's existing response systems and Dr. Waldick's perspective on the ecological impacts of extreme heat on the Southern Gulf Islands.

Listen here: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/is/podcast/episode-3-ruth/id1821551561?i=1000729176104 

Date: 2025-09-29

Teacher magazine features Salt Spring Island educator Sara Peerless and her collaboration with CARL scientists, bringing high school students into real-world watershed restoration research at Mount Maxwell. Her solutions-based environmental science course combines hands-on ecology, experimental design, and Indigenous ways of knowing, with students contributing original field research directly to the CARL project.

Read the article here: 

https://www.teachermag.ca/post/real-world-science-a-solutions-based-approach-to-environmental-science 

Photo by Finlay Repen

Date: 2025-05-13

Dr. Ruth Waldick presented at the University of Northern British Columbia's NRESi Colloquium, making the case that coastal forest vulnerability goes beyond climate change alone, shaped also by over 100 years of logging, fire suppression, and altered watershed hydrology. She drew on CARL's research at the Mount Maxwell Watershed to explore what makes Gulf Island ecosystems vulnerable and what land management approaches can help build resilience.

Read the article here:

https://www.unbc.ca/events/71306/nresi-colloquium-beyond-climate-change-case-study-looking-vulnerability-our-coastal-forests-dr-ruth-waldick 

Watch the colloquium here: 

https://video.unbc.ca/media/NRESi+Colloquium+-+November+4th%2C+2022+-+Dr.+Ruth+Waldick/0_vvebgk41/23996 

Date: 2022-11-04

The Field Files series, hosted by Raincoast Conservation Foundation, documents CARL's project progress by engaging with different experts who have contributed to project work and publicly sharing their expertise and contributions. 

Read the 2023 Field Files here: 

https://www.raincoast.org/tag/climate-adaptation-research-lab/ 

Photo by Pierre Mineau

Date: 2022-2023

Stay tuned for more updates!