54 Degrees North - Podcast series about issues around Northwest BC

54 Degrees North - Podcast series about issues around Northwest BC

54 Degrees North is a podcast created out of Wet'suwet'en territory in Smithers, BC. It is produced periodically as a topic series - looking at regional climate change impacts; digging deeper into food security; assessing mining impacts on salmon watersheds; and bringing in some episodes from Beneath the Surface by the BC Mining Law Reform. Through engaging interviews and conversations with experts and Indigenous knowledge holders, we bring up insights and issues related to the northwest.

Episodes

December 23, 2024 30 mins

Episode Notes

In this episode, we’re joined by geographers Rosemary Collard and Jessica Dempsey to discuss their groundbreaking audit of mining projects in British Columbia. Are environmental regulations really the bottleneck the mining industry claims they are? What happens when the promised economic benefits of mining—like jobs, tax revenue, and production—fall drastically short? Rosemary and Jessica walk us through their...

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Episode Notes

This episode of Beneath the Surface features a discussion about the proposed Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (KSM) mine in northern British Columbia. If completed, the KSM mine would become one of the world’s largest gold-copper mines, threatening critical river systems and the communities that depend on them.

Joining us is Rachel Gutman, a lawyer with Ecojustice, who is part of the legal team challenging the B.C. Env...

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December 2, 2022 42 mins

As part of our salmon connections and resilience series, we go further north to Taku River Tlingit territory to learn about the work and research being done to protect salmon and adapt to changing conditions from climate impacts.

Thanks for the interviews and insights from Mark Connor and Chris Sergeant.

Music thanks to the late Telkwa Ted Turner, and to Facundo Gastiazoro for the art.

This episode was r...

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October 11, 2022 26 mins

The Skeena River is the second largest salmon producing watershed in Canada and a critical part of it is the unique and highly productive estuary. The area deserves protection from future threats and is essential to the survival and resilience of salmon and cultures in this region. In this episode of 54 Degrees North, we learn more about this critical habitat as part of a series exploring salmon connections and resilience.

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October 11, 2022 16 mins

As part of the salmon connections and resilience series for 54 Degrees North, we reached out to a number of people who have defended salmon in some way against the myriad of threats they face. We hear about their connectedness to this critical species that is so intertwined with cultures and communities of the Skeena region and throughout the Pacific Northwest. 


Interviews and insights from Yahaan, Chief Namoks, Nuskmata, Jonat...

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October 11, 2022 29 mins

As part of our salmon connections and resilience series, we explore the potential impacts of mining on salmon watersheds. The episode features some of the authors who collaborated on a science and policy paper published in Science Advances in July 2022 that reviewed the ecological complexities of rivers and some of the risks mines can have on salmon watersheds. We also hear from those facing impacts from mining on the Fraser River....

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August 11, 2021 31 mins

After a challenging year, we're exploring positive stories from the Skeena Region. In this episode of 54 degrees North, we explore the Healthy Watersheds Initiative projects taking place in this region. Learn more about the restoration economy and reconciliation in action.

Thanks to Tara Marsden, Sarah Railton and Jeff Anderson for the interviews. Thanks to Facundo Gastiazoro for the artwork and Los Gringos Salvajes ...

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July 2, 2021 32 mins

This is a follow-up episode of 54 degrees North with Jacob Beaton from Tea Creek Farms about how their training program and food sovereignty initiative managed to operate through a year in a pandemic. 

Thanks to regionally based Saltwater Hank for the music and Facundo Gastiazoro for the artwork. 

This episode was recorded on unceded Witsuwit’en territory during COVID-19 via Zoom in April 2021. 54 Degrees North wa...

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In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear tips and preferences for putting food away that avoids spoilage and extends local food security through the year.  

Interviews and insights from Shannon McPhail, Laurie Gallant, Gwininit (Yvonne Lattie), Jennifer Zyp, and Emily Bulmer.   

Music thanks to the regionally talented Saltwater Hank and artwork thanks to Facundo Gastiazoro. 

This episode was recorded ...

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In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear directly from food producers in the wider Bulkley Valley region about their farms and businesses, and their suggestions for overcoming barriers to be a more food secure region.

Interviews and insights from Jacob Beaton, Laurie Gallant, Mark Fisher, Crystal Nelligan and Shannon McPhail.   

Music thanks to the regionally talented Saltwater Hank and Los Gringos Salvajes. ...

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In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear origin stories of how food producers from the Bulkley Valley region got started - their motivations behind where and what they grow.

Interviews with Laurie Gallant, Jacob Beaton, Crystal Nelligan and Mark Fisher. 

Music thanks to the regionally talented Saltwater Hank and artwork by Facundo Gastiazoro.

This episode was recorded on unceded Witsuwit’en territor...

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In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear tips and tricks from gardeners and harvesters in the Bulkley Valley region.

Interviews with Gwininit (Yvonne Lattie), Jennifer Zyp, Shannon McPhail, Emily Bulmer, Crystal Nelligan, Mark Fisher, Felix and Lucia Gastiazoro. 

Music thanks to the regionally talented Los Gringos Salvajes and Saltwater Hank. Thanks to Facundo Gastiazoro for the artwork. 

This episo...

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In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear about training and gardening programs in the wider Bulkley Valley region that help make growing food more accessible. 

Interviews with Helene Fleury, Gwininit (Yvonne Lattie), Jennifer Zyp, Jacob Beaton, Dmitri Cody, Scott McMillan, and Lucia Gastiazoro.   

Music thanks to the regionally talented Saltwater Hank and artwork by Facundo Gastiazoro. 

This episode w...

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In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear politics and policies, and initiatives and ideas for taking action and adapting to the climate crisis in the Bulkley Valley.

Interviews with Chief Namoks (John Ridsdale), Gladys Atrill, Taylor Bachrach, Tina Portman, Kevin Pegg, Nathan Cullen, and Smithers Secondary Student climate strikers.

Music thanks to the locally talented Los Gringos Salvajes and Rachelle van Za...

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In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear how forests around the Bulkley Valley have been impacted by pathogens and droughts (bugs and wildfires are in another episode), and stories on how these changes are affecting the people and ecology. We also hear how trees suck, in a good way.

Interviews with Chief Namoks (John Ridsdale), Will MacKenzie, Alex Woods, Richard Wright, Alana Clason, and Jim Pojar. 

Music t...

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It has always been predicted that climate change would bring more extreme and less predictable weather events. In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear the science and stories behind wildfires and other extreme weather events in the Bulkley Valley. These impact not only our ecology, but our psyche as smoky days feel apocalyptic.

Interviews with Chief Namoks (John Ridsdale), Dr. Jim Pojar, Vanessa Foord, Rachelle van Z...

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November 19, 2019 21 mins

In this episode of 54 degrees North, we learn about bugs in the Bulkley Valley. Listen to the stories and science about insect impacts to our environment and potentially our health as a result of a warming world.
 
Interviews with Jim Pojar, Ken White, Chief Namoks (John Ridsdale), Nick Meyer, Felix Gastiazoro, and Amanda Follett Hosgood.

Music thanks to locally talented Los Gringos Salvajes and Rachelle van Zant...

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November 19, 2019 30 mins

In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear how salmon and steelhead are being impacted by climate change. Salmon often unite people across the Skeena watershed and this time should be no different. Listen to the stories and science behind our declining wild salmon.

Interviews with Chief Namoks (John Ridsdale), Lucia Gastiazoro, Michael Price, Richard Wright, Freda Huson, Shannon McPhail and Carrie Collingwood.

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November 19, 2019 17 mins

In this episode of 54 degrees North, we hear about how the climate has changed in the last 120 years in the Bulkley Valley, and hear more science and stories behind the melting glaciers and disappearing groundwater.

Interviews with Vanessa Foord, Christoph Dietzfelbinger, Chief Namoks, Shannon McPhail and Sheena Miller.

Music by the locally talented Los Gringos Salvajes and Rachelle van Zanten

This epis...

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