Welcome to “The Restoration of Still Creek: How the Salmon Returned”, a blog created by students of GEOG 419 Research in Environmental Geography at the University of British Columbia to explore the restoration of Still Creek during the Spring 2017 semester.
Still Creek recently made the news after salmon returned to spawn in 2012 for the first time in 80 years. This exciting news sparked our imaginations. We asked ourselves, how were the salmon able to return? Why did they return in 2012 specifically?
Still Creek is not a unique situation. Less than 100 years ago, Vancouver was home to over 50 wild salmon streams (Vancouver Street Stories, 2012). Unfortunately, as seen from the map below, Still Creek was one of many “lost streams” of Vancouver, paved over by roads, homes, and businesses and controlled with sewage systems and culverts. River restoration, is an increasingly important topic as many people are realizing the importance of healthy watersheds, especially those in urban areas. Still Creek’s restoration is an exciting success that can be used to inspire stream recovery throughout the Lower Mainland.
During the semester we conducted research to answer these questions by reading newspaper articles, visiting the Vancouver Archives, reading governmental and non-governmental reports, and finally interviewing key players in the restoration.
We hope that this blog will contribute to the literature on Still Creek to engage people with river restoration, provide a resource that combines all of the available reports and documents, and ultimately inspires future research on river restoration.
Learn about our research through exploring our website! First, we recommend looking at the History section to learn more on the background of Still Creek. Check out our infographic Timeline to see a brief overview of Still Creek in the past 100 years. Then read our Methodology to understand how we did our research and why. Next look at the Results to see how and why the salmon were able to return and then see the Implications and Next Steps section to understand why this is important and what can be learned for future restoration work.
Finally, take a look at our Additional Resources for more information, and if you have the time, read our Final Report. Now are you excited about river restoration and visiting Still Creek? Get inspired by our Gallery of photographs and then take a self-guided tour of Still Creek at the Renfrew Ravine.
Questions, comments, or concerns? Contact us!