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Creston library starting Great Outdoors series with backcountry safety presentation

WildSafeBC trans-border community co-ordinator Trish Drinkle presenting “Safety in the Backcountry” on Oct. 8...
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A presentation at the Creston library will discuss wild animal encounters.

Cougars and coyotes and bears! Oh my!

Vancouver Island’s recent cougar attack was a stark reminder of how living and playing in British Columbia can involve violent close encounters with wild animals. Thankfully, these clashes are rare, but if you do find yourself face to face with a beast of the forest, being prepared and knowing what to do can literally save your life. This is the theme of the next feature in the Creston Valley Public Library’s Great Outdoors speaker series, “Safety in the Backcountry”, with WildSafeBC’s trans-border community co-ordinator Trish Drinkle.

WildSafeBC is a program designed to reduce human-wildlife conflict through education, innovation and co-operation. It has evolved out of the highly successful Bear Aware program and is owned and delivered by the British Columbia Conservation Foundation. The mission of WildSafeBC is to reduce human-wildlife conflicts in all aspects of our lives, including how we live, work, play and grow.

“Our motto of keeping wildlife wild and communities safe underscores our belief that if we can keep wildlife unhabituated we can, in turn, make our communities safer for us and at the same time keep wildlife from coming to harm,” said Drinkle.

We ourselves are a part of nature, she added, and hopefully view all of our natural surroundings with curiosity and confidence. With education and some deliberate measures, we can be free to fully delight in what nature has to offer.

The free presentation, “Safety in the Backcountry” with Trish Drinkle, will take place 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Creston Valley Public Library.

The Library’s Great Outdoors series will run once per month for the next several months. Watch for upcoming topics, “Canoe Tripping in the Path of the Voyagers”, “Backcountry Snowmobiling Basics” and “Herbs in the Wild”. For more information, contact the library at 250-428-4141.

—CRESTON VALLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY