2008 Final Report
FSWP File Number*
FSWP 08 PDM D58
*
Please use the FSWP File Number provided in previous FSWP 2008 project correspondence
Contact Information
Sponsoring Organization’s Legal Name
RSBC Rivershed Society of British Columbia
Are you a federally registered Charity, Non-profit organization or Business (Yes /No)?
Yes
If yes, please indicate which.
X
Business
Registration number
88371 3237 RR0001
Charity
Are you a registered Society (Yes / No)?
Yes
X
Non-profit organization
GST number
Society Registration number
88371 3237 RR0001
S36028
Mailing Address
1603 – 1190 Pipeline Road
Coquitlam, BC V3B 7T9
Street Address (if different from above)
Same as above.
Project Manager1
Name: Fin Donnelly
Title: Executive Director
Affiliation: RSBC
Phone: (604) 941-5937
Fax: (604) 664-1600
E-mail: [email protected]
1
All correspondence will be directed to the Project Manager.
Alternate Project Contact
Name: Janis Olsen
Title: Project Officer
Affiliation: RSBC
Phone: (778) 355-3491
Fax: (604) 664-1600
E-mail: [email protected]
Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program 2008 Final Report
1
Partners / Subcontractors
Name:
Phone: (
Affiliation:
)
E-mail:
Note: See attached list of contractors and partners.
Project Information
Project Title
Project Rivershed Brunette
Project Location
Brunette Rivershed (parts of Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Moody, New Westminster and
Vancouver).
Amount
Requested
$15,000
Total Project
Value
$188,865
Non-FSWP
funds2
$173,865
2
Non-FSWP funds include both cash and in-kind funding. In-kind funding refers to all non-cash contributions such as
equipment, supplies, labour, etc. Please refer to Budget Section for further details.
Project Summary
Please provide a single paragraph describing how your project has satisfied at least
one of the FSWP priority activities. As this summary will be used in program
communications, clearly state the issue addressed and avoid overly technical
descriptions. Do not use more than 300 words.
The Brunette Rivershed is one of 34 riversheds in the Fraser River Basin - the greatest salmon
system on Earth. Healthy riversheds are key to sustainability and the vitality of salmon runs.
Human activity is now a major contributing factor to the loss of biodiversity within these
ecosystems. Project Rivershed Brunette is our response to this problem. Under Integrated
Planning and Governance, Project Rivershed Brunette aims to engage people in behaviours that
result in a reduction of negative impacts to rivershed ecology. In 2008, we employed four
strategies to achieve this objective: update the Brunette Rivershed profile, vision and See-it site,
implement the Brunette Rivershed action plan (e.g. 20 stewardship actions), implement a
Brunette Rivershed communication plan (i.e. Keep it Cool / Save a Salmon), and engage in a
series of community events and activities (e.g. Jane’s Walk & BCIT Open House). We re-vamped
our See-it system and used it to measure actions, record progress and engage the community.
We attended seven community events, including World Rivers Day (at BCIT in Burnaby and Still
Creek in Vancouver) and held or participated in six community watershed tours. We engaged
those living and working in the Brunette Rivershed in the “Keep it Cool / Save a Salmon”
promotional campaign, which encouraged people to reduce their impact on salmon and water;
and the five municipalities and the seventeen individuals of conservation organizations remained
actively involved in Project Rivershed Brunette.
OPTIONAL If your project lends itself to sparking interest through a compelling sound
byte (for potential use in FSWP media communications), please tell us what that sound
byte would be. Do not use more than 150 words.
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The Brunette Rivershed is one of 34 riversheds in the Fraser River Basin - the greatest salmon
system on Earth. In 2008, we re-vamped our See-it system using it to measure actions of 20
conservation leaders in the Brunette Rivershed, implemented our Keep it Cool/Save a Salmon
promotional campaign, and engaged in a series of community events and activities, such as
World Rivers Day (at BCIT in Burnaby and Still Creek in Vancouver) and Jane’s Walk in Renfrew
Ravine, which encouraged people to reduce their impact on salmon and water.
Species and life stage(s) the project targets: please list
Project Rivershed Brunette targeted all salmon species in the Brunette Rivershed (esp. coho &
chum) and Steelhead, in all life stages. PRB also indirectly targeted native aquatic and wildlife
populations.
Watershed(s) the project targets: please list
The Brunette Rivershed is located in the Lower Fraser Region, and covers portions of Burnaby,
Vancouver, Coquitlam, New Westminster and Port Moody; it is one of 34 riversheds of the Fraser
River Basin.
Project Deliverables and Results


Paste in the deliverables outlined in your Detailed Proposal (question #3 under project
‘relevance and significance’ heading) into the table below. Then, please list the results
associated with each deliverable.
Please include copies of any relevant communications products (brochures, posters,
videos, website addresses etc.) resulting from this project.
Deliverable
Result
Increased project participation in the Brunette
Rivershed.
The PRB see-it™ saw four new participants
commit to actions (Cities of Coquitlam, Port
Moody and New Westminster and the Still
Moon Arts Society). Additionally we worked
with the Vancouver Film Studio and Evergreen
but no action was added to the site.
A set of revised goals, strategies & actions
(where applicable).
In 2008, the RSBC worked on version two of
See-it and committed to further develop a
comprehensive rivershed sustainability
framework by year end that could be used for
all Fraser River Basin riversheds, leading to
the launch of a third version in September.
Working with Visible Strategies, we discussed
and developed potential categories for
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inclusion to the framework and decided upon
easily measurable rivershed health indicators.
We held a webinar on September 16th, to
provide an opportunity for funders, participants
and committee and Board members to view
the new system and provide feedback before it
went live. We created six other satellite sites to
demonstrate how the entire see-it™ system for
the Fraser River Basin was planned for
integration (e.g. Fraser Basin “hub”,
Seton/Bridge Riversheds, Adams Rivershed,
San Jose Rivershed, Goat Rivershed and
Fraser Lake). Thirteen participants registered,
including FSWP staff, for the webinar and
there was good feedback and questions on the
new site.
We launched the new site on September 24th,
2008 in time for World Rivers Day which linked
to our “Keep It Cool. Save A Salmon”
campaign web pages (www.rivershed.com link
on programs/events).
The new framework streamlined the previous
see-it™ becoming more intuitive, easier to
navigate and more representative of our
project vision. Three new main categories or
cornerstones were created under the Big
Picture: People, Salmon and Riversheds.
The three new category labels now reflect the
RSBC’s vision of “Salmon flourishing in our
rivers. People flourishing in our communities”.
The “focus areas”, now “vantage points” are
broken into indicators (key indicators that can
be measured across riversheds); Stories
(activities and projects that will not be scored);
and Actions. Under “On the Ground”, the
actions are listed out.
The complete 2008 PRB see-it™ can be
viewed at: http://brunette.visiblestrategies.com/
A revised PRB Communications & Action
Strategy AND
A Brunette Rivershed Sustainability Tour &
associated communications strategy.
2008 Communications Campaign: “Keep It
Cool. Save A Salmon”.
In 2007 our communications plan focused on
the SalmonTrain and 10 actions people could
take to save salmon (i.e. brochure and web
site). In 2008, we used “Keep It Cool. Save A
Salmon” as the lead theme, focusing on
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Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program 2008 Final Report
climate change. We created a new brochure
(attached) and web site
(http://www.rivershed.com/keep-itcool/index.html) which included a rivershed
resolution, where people can pledge to do one
or more of the 10 actions.
We launched the campaign just before World
Rivers Day, Sunday, September 28th. We
partnered with the Burnaby Now (two pages)
and the Vancouver Courier (one page) to do a
feature and colouring contest in both papers.
First prize was a trip for two down the Fraser
from Fraser River Raft Expeditions; second
prize was a camping set from Outdoor Deport;
and third prize, a water conservation kit
including rain barrel from the City of
Vancouver.
The features were designed to drive readers to
one of two World Rivers Day events that we
participated in: one at Guichon Creek, BCIT in
Burnaby; the other at Still Creek, Outdoor
Depot in Vancouver. In Burnaby, we invited
people to “Tell A Tale. Save a Salmon”. We
were recording rivershed stories there on
video. In Vancouver, we focused on “Take a
Tour. Save a Salmon”. We had corresponding
ads in each of the community papers and full
event and contest information on our web site
and sent out through World Rivers Day
listservs and posted on the Outdoor
Recreation Council web site.
Approximately 500-700 people attended in
Burnaby; about 75-150 in Vancouver. We had
10 people participate on the tour. We had 20
entries in the colouring contest. Global TV
covered the Burnaby event and News 1130
covered the Vancouver one. In terms of reach,
the Burnaby Now circulation is 50,000 and a
full page colour ad is valued at $2,975 (which
they donated two pages). Vancouver Courier
circulation is 112,000 full page colour ad value
is $7,685.76. Web site hits showed an
increase of 38% (higher than our target of
25%).
In 2007, we offered our first guided public tour
at World Rivers’ Day in Burnaby at Chubb
Creek in partnership with the City of Burnaby.
In 2008, we continued to further develop our
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tour program. We completed several dry runs
of portions of the Brunette with our see-it™
participants: a walking tour in the Lower
Brunette, at Guichon Creek and Still Creek, a
bike tour from Still Creek to Guichon Creek.
We offered tours to the public at a couple of
community events. The first was a tour of
Renfrew Ravine with the Still Moon Arts
Society for “Jane’s Walk” in honour of Jane
Jacobs in May. The second was at the World
Rivers Day event at Still Creek in September;
we partnered with the City of Vancouver to
show the restoration and daylighting they have
been doing as part of the Still Creek
Enhancement Plan (also a see-it™ action).
We continued to develop tours and test them
at various community events. While the tours
so far have been guided, we hope to have one
or two self-guided tours in the future, but they
need more research and testing as well as
funding for actual mapping. It is premature to
create a map until we have the tours fully
developed and adequate funding. When we
are ready to develop the map, we will also
develop a distribution plan. In the meantime,
the “Keep It Cool” brochure does have a map
of the Brunette including its tributaries and will
serve as our Project Rivershed handout for
2009.
Inventory of measurable actions in the Brunette
Rivershed.
A Brunette Rivershed Sustainability Solutions
Toolkit.
See attached list of actions and scores.
The two new additions to the tool are the:
 “Keep It Cool” campaign: Climate
change is causing water temperatures
to rise in our local rivers and coastal
waters. By unplugging appliances and
turning off stereos and computers
when not in use, you are helping to
fight global warming and keeping our
waters cool for salmon.
 “Make A Pledge. Save A Salmon”
drive: The choices we make every day
can help save salmon in our local
streams. Choose one or more of the
above actions and make your
Rivershed Resolution at
www.rivershed.com/resolution. For
more information and resources for
each action, go to
www.rivershed.com/tenactions.
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Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program 2008 Final Report


Eco-Sculpture placements in the community
and at community events.
An updated, improved Brunette
Rivershed map.
A new web page providing rivershed
solutions and ten choices we make
every day to helps save salmon:
http://www.rivershed.com/keep-itcool/index.html.
Eco sculpture is a modern form of horticulture
also known as “topiary” that appeals to all age
groups, particularly youth. This style of “green
art” is not only fun and educational it is perfect
for drawing attention to environmental issues.
The RSBC worked with the City of Burnaby
Parks Department at communities events
including:
 Vancouver Home & Garden Show
(Feb. 20th – 24th)
 BC Institute of Technology Open
House (Apr. 11th & 12th)
 Simon Fraser University Open House
(May 31st)
The public was engaged through a 20’ salmon
eco sculpture, educated about PRB and
provided an opportunity to donate a loonie to
“Plant A Plug. Save A Salmon” (which fits
under our communications campaign) with
proceeds going towards PRB. A handout
provided information on riversheds and PRB
and the City’s Eco Sculpture Program.
A final Project Rivershed Brunette report.
Completed.
Project Effectiveness
Please evaluate the effectiveness of the project, using the objective standards,
quantifiable criteria and/or quality control measures identified in your Detailed Proposal
(under question #1 in the ‘performance expectations’ heading).
Note: See attached 2008 Project Rivershed Brunette Indicators of Success for specific project
measures and results.
Measure: Number of participants engaged in the project.
New participants in 2008 include: City of Coquitlam (Bilingual Storm Drain Marking Program), City
of Port Moody (Only Rain Down the Drain Storm Drain Marking Program & Outreach Campaign),
City of New Westminster (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Project) and Still Moon Arts Society (Spirit
Fish Project). We also worked for a number of months with Evergreen on their Community
Stewardship Events and the Vancouver Film Studios on their Zero Emission Business project
however these two actions did not materialize on see-it™ in time for 2008 therefore are not
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included in new additions.
Measure: Evaluation of feedback from participants and the Advisory Group.
Each month, the Project Rivershed Coordinator sent out a monthly update, providing information
on activities during the month and seeking feedback from participants and committee members.
Numerous e-mails were received and phone conversations were had where participants and
committee members provided specific feedback, constructive criticism and recommended
changes to the program.
Measure: Evaluation of actions entered into see-it™.
See-it™ scores for each action in the three “vantage points” (e.g. Salmon, People and
Riversheds) are rolled up and an average taken to assign a score for each one. The legend
denotes 0 – 3 is an improvement area, 4-7 reflects moderate performance and 8-10 reflects
excellent performance. 2008 results are:
Salmon = 10 (excellent performance).
People = 9 (excellent performance).
Riversheds = 7 (moderate performance).
Overall, participants performed well in achieving their targets and there was a moderate level of
participation in the project. A technical support person was added in 2008 to assist participants
with developing and updating actions as suggested by participants in 2007. This did prove more
successful in order to complete actions in see-it™ however, this proved time consuming and
increased cost and participants appear to depend on this person to remind them for updates
rather than send them ongoing.
Meaure: Media Coverage
Global TV covered the Burnaby event and News 1130 covered the Vancouver one. In terms of
reach, the Burnaby Now circulation is 50,000 and a full page colour ad is valued at $2,975 (they
gave us two pages). Vancouver Courier circulation is 112,000, full page colour ad value is
$7,685.76. Both papers also ran winner announcement ads (1/4 page colour with photos in both
papers) and we published the winners on our web site as well. Total earned media value from the
Courier/Burn Now is $16,300.95.
Measure: Community Tours
We continued to develop our series of Brunette Rivershed Sustainability tours this year.
At the end of February, eight PRB participants took a walk along the Brunette River. Elmer
Rudolph from the Sapperton Fish and Game Club gave us an excellent tour. We started at Hume
Park, worked our way west into Burnaby Lake and walked all the way to the dam. Bob Gunn from
BCIT provided wonderful commentary as well. It was a beautiful walk. At this time of the year
many of the trees are not in leaf so we could see deep into the wooded areas. We saw ducks and
many other birds and evidence on the trees that woodpeckers had been at work. We learned a
lot and will be incorporating many of the highlights in the tour we are developing for the public.
This section of the river has great potential for a public tour.
At the BCIT open house in April, we did a short walk along Guichon Creek with Bob Gunn of
BCIT’s Fish, Wildlife and Recreation Program.
As part of Think City's Jane's Walk, in honour of the late urban activist, Jane Jacobs, we did a
Riverwalk in Renfrew Ravine on Sat May 3 with partner Still Moon Arts Society (the group that
does the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival). There were 14 of us on the tour learning about this
unique, art-filled urban forest and ravine lovingly tended by neighbourhood stewards. The Think
City walks were so successful (over 500 registrations and 30 Walks) that they are considering
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running more in the fall. The tour was an excellent vehicle for us to help people get to know their
rivershed.
In July, we had a tour of SFU's UniverCity with managing engineer Dion Doepker. One of the
astonishing facts we learned as we toured this sustainable community was that they are going to
be getting rid of some of the current parking lots as parking needs have dropped dramatically.
That means more and more people are using transit, riding bikes and walking to and from and in
the area
In September we offered a walking tour of Still Creek at the World Rivers Day Event in Vancouver
in partnership with the City of Vancouver. We had 10 participants and we looked at the
restoration and enhancement being done along this urban creek from Outdoor Depot to the
Vancouver Film Studio. We also discussed the interesting lease and development agreements
the City has undertaken in order to do the enhancement.
Next year, we hope to link the Vancouver event with the Burnaby one by developing a bike tour
from one site to the other and follow the Central Valley Greenway as much as possible. We hope
to work with the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition on the tour. We did a dry run of the tour this
year to test it out, but found that it would be too challenging for the public without the completed
greenway.
The tours undertaken so far need more development and for the most part a partner or guest
experts to help deliver the information. At this point they are not ready to be self-guided. We will
continue to develop the tours. We had hoped to create a business card size (Z-card) accordion
map and a promotional campaign around the tours this year but won’t proceed until the tours
have been more fully developed and we secure a corporate sponsor to fund that aspect of our
program. Unfortunately talks with BC Hydro earlier this year on corporate sponsorship did not
result in a partnership.
The three developed tours are: Chub/Still Creeks, Burnaby; Renfrew Ravine, Vancouver; Still
Creek from Superstore to the Vancouver Film Studios, Vancouver.
Measure: Number of participants who engage in the eco-footprint challenge.
Due to lack of funding, we were unable to proceed with the eco-footprint challenge.
What are the top three lessons learned from this project that would be important to
communicate to others doing similar work throughout the Basin?
Since implementing the Project Rivershed Brunette Demonstration Project in 2006, and Project
Rivershed Brunette in 2007, we have learned many lessons and adjusted our strategies for
engaging people in the Brunette Rivershed and below are top three lessons learned:
1. Self-updating by participants in see-it™ (or other similar tool) is a time-consuming, resourceintensive and difficult task to obtain needed information.
2. The data that the see-it™ tool rolls up must be intuitive to show measures of success so that
participants can understand how their commitment fits into the larger picture of watershed
governance.
3. Through regular communications with participants and partners, we became aware of the
interest for on-the-ground activities which provided great opportunities to engage the public with
key messaging.
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Project Effectiveness
Please describe how your project has addressed each Priority Activity identified in your
Detailed Proposal.
How the Priority Activity has been
Priority Activity1
Addressed
Watershed Governance & Planning
Integrated Planning & Governance
PRB focused specifically on the Brunette
Rivershed, the smallest of the Fraser River
Basin’s 34 riversheds and most
populated/impacted. In 2008, we added the
Cities of Coquitlam, Port Moody and New
Westminster to the list of participating
municipalities in PRB. The RSBC met with
each of the 5 Brunette Rivershed
municipalities in 2007 and encouraged them to
participate using see-it to highlight their
conservation objectives in the planning
processes. Coquitlam and Port Moody both
completed storm drain marking programs and
New Westminster completed phase 3 of their
Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Program.
Engagement
Tools and support to increase community
capacity for engagement (i.e. information
sharing, summaries of community values) are
reflected in the PRB see-it™.
PRB specifically focused on engaging people
in sustainable living and understanding the
relationship between lifestyle choices and
impacts to the Brunette and Fraser Rivers.
Integrated Information
PRB’s See-it toolkit measures and integrates
ecological, social and economic values,
actions and aspects of communities within the
Brunette Rivershed. Please see See-it actions
at www.rivershed.com for complete list of
integrated actions, tools and information.
Policy
PRB action and communication plans linked
directly to Metro Vancouver’s Brunette Basin
Watershed Management Plan, as well as
municipal ISMPs (Integrated Stormwater
Management Plans).
Education & Engagement
PRB promotes salmon and water as a highlyvalued public good with salmon being a key
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Fraser Salmon and Watersheds Program 2008 Final Report
“vantage point” in the see-it™ framework
(along with People and Riversheds). PRB
recognizes salmon as a key indicator of
watershed health and aims to protect them
through our unique communications campaign
(i.e. “Keep It Cool. Save A Salmon”). Through
the use of our see-it™ tool, the Brunette
Rivershed community was encouraged to
reduce their eco-footprint and was provided
solutions, tools and resources to live
sustainably in the Brunette Rivershed. See-it™
also highlighted local champions and inspired
others to reduce their footprint and commit to a
stewardship or sustainability action. PRB was
strengthened through the various
collaborations among individuals and groups in
the Brunette Rivershed who are working to
protect and conserve salmonids, water and
ecosystem health through a variety of
stewardship activities including science (e.g.
Sapperton Fish & Game Club) and art (e.g.
Still Moon Arts Society). Through our guided
sustainability walking and cycling tours, we
provided community members with the
opportunity to directly experience nature and
learn about their local creek and rivershed
including information about salmon habitat and
groups involved in conservation and protection
in the Brunette Rivershed.
1Please paste each priority activity identified in your Detailed Proposal in the space provided.
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