Our Setting
Rich and Varied Ecosystems: The Bulkley Valley is situated at the junction of coastal, transitional, and interior ecological zones. A great advantage of this geographic location for natural resource studies is its proximity to a range of different ecosystems, many of which are still largely intact and functional. These ecosystems are related to those found over large areas of land elsewhere in Canada and the world. The coastal zone is covered with temperate rainforest dominated by western hemlock, western redcedar, amabilis fir, and Sitka spruce. Inland is a boreal zone of lodgepole pine, aspen, white spruce, and subalpine fir forests. The Bulkley Valley lies between these two biomes, in a transitional zone where tree species from the coastal rainforest and from the boreal plateau mix in rich ecological associations. The coast and interior mountain systems that surround the Valley support yet more zones, high elevation forests and alplands. In contrast to most other inhabited mountain environments worldwide, these northwest ecosystems still support healthy populations of large mammals and largely intact predator-prey systems.
A Centre of Innovative Research: Historically, the Bulkley Valley has been a centre for research, as demonstrated by the federal Agricultural Research Farm established in 1938, and provincial forestry research plots that date back 50 years. The region already contains a good network of internationally significant field research initiatives, such as:
- the Date Creek Silviculture Systems Research Forest;
- the Pattern, Process and Productivity of Hypermaritime Forests (HyP³) project; and
- the Long-term Soil Productivity Study.
Multisector collaborative projects that resident specialists are already engaged in include, among many others:
- adaptive management at McCully Creek;
- studies on interactions between resource development and goshawks, marbled murrelets, caribou, grizzly bears, wolverines, bull trout, and steelhead;
- landscape ecology of bark beetles and forest diseases; and
- introduced species on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands).
These projects offer diverse opportunities to advance understanding through further studies.
A Centre of Expertise: The beautiful natural setting, together with excellent amenities and a diverse economy, have made the Bulkley Valley a place where people want to live, work and retire. The Bulkley Valley has attracted and retained well-educated, highly-skilled, professional and technical people. They include life scientists, earth scientists, social scientists, resource professionals, and educators. The fields in which these specialists provide expertise and experience include:
- wildlife management;
- socioeconomic studies;
- restoration ecology;
- ornithology;
- land use planning;
- hydrology;
- geographic information systems;
- forestry;
- fisheries;
- First Nations studies;
- ecosystem-based resource management;
- conservation biology;
- archaeology;
- anthropology; and
- acid rock drainage.
Many of these scientists and professionals have previously worked on interdisciplinary projects developed through local and international collaborations, which positions the Cenre to make a unique and meaningful contribution to the scientific knowledge base.