 |
magazine / mj04
 |
May/June 2004 issue |
|
|
|
EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Wondering where the lions are
Violent encounters between the human and non-human world leave indelible memories, particularly
so at the impressionable age of five. That’s how old Terry Glavin was when he and his
family, recent immigrants from Ireland, travelled from their new home in Vancouver to visit
friends in Powell River on the Malaspina Peninsula. He recalls waking on the day after their
arrival to find the adults in a sombre mood. A cougar had attacked
a neighbour out walking his dog. Now, the children were being confined to quarters.
Glavin, the award-winning journalist and author who wrote our cover story on cougars, remembers
how terrifying it was to learn that there were "lions out there in the forest. I have
such vivid impressions of that trip. I remember the deep evergreen of the forest and how
dark and forbidding and seductive it all seemed."
Glavin now lives a short ferry ride from Vancouver on Mayne Island, where the last cougar
was killed in the 1940s. But nearby Vancouver Island is home to a robust population of the
big cats and has had more recorded attacks by cougars on humans than anywhere else in North
America. Glavin’s story opens with the riveting tale of David Parker, a survivor of
a cougar ambush, and asks, Is it possible to live safely with mountain lions in our midst?
That’s an increasingly pertinent question given recent reports of cougar sightings
in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Cougars may be making a comeback. If they are, Glavin’s
article offers thoughtful advice to those who may find themselves living in or hiking through
mountain lion territory.
This is our ninth annual environment issue. Every year as we select and develop stories
for it, we are careful to avoid turning the issue into a grim parade of ecological disasters
in the making. There is never any shortage of those stories, and they need to be told. But
we think we also need to speak about the mystery and wonder of the natural world as much
as we do about its vulnerability. We open our package of feature stories with Glavin on cougars.
Then, John DeMont looks at ethanol fuel and explains why the federal government is investing
in its production. David Lees reports on the dramatic decline in the water levels of the
Great Lakes — this despite record-setting rainfall in recent years. Harry Thurston
waxes poetic on the arrival of May on the saltwater marsh behind his home. And biology researcher
Bob Kull recounts his year alone on a remote island. In our departments, "Exploration" visits
Sudbury’s marvellous Science North museum. "À la carte" maps
the freshening of the North Atlantic Ocean. "Eco-audit" tallies the cost of human/
wildlife encounters. "Reviews" rates the best environment and wildlife books of
the year. "Mosaic" tours a raptor rehabilitation centre in Ladner, B.C. And in
our back-page column, "In habitat," Heidi Redl tells us how her family manages
the trash on their ranch in British Columbia’s Cariboo Country.
Congratulations to all the finalists of this year’s Canadian
Environment Awards and to the recipient of the Citation
of Lifetime Achievement, World Wildlife Fund Canada president Monte
Hummel. Profiles of Hummel and the finalists appear in the supplement included with
this issue. The category winners will be announced at the Canadian Environment Awards banquet
in Calgary on May 31.
— Rick Boychuk
top
|
|
|
