Selkirk College is hosting a course to help landowners, restoration practitioners and natural resource managers understand, develop and implement erosion control, habitat improvement, and water quality protection using plants!

This 2 day course is an in-depth review of soil bioengineering techniques and options

involved in restoration and reclamation of damaged ecosystems using a combination of structural materials, vegetative cuttings and other specialized techniques. Soil engineering is an applied science that uses live plant materials to perform an engineering function such as slope stabilization, soil erosion or seepage control.

Manual included  $220 +GST

Grand Forks Campus
Phone: 250.442.2704
Email Dayna Esson [email protected]
Fax: 250.442.2877

2 classes: Sep 17 & 18, Thu & Fri 8:30 am-4 pm

We have the opportunity to make the Bioengineering course even more affordable ($110) for 6 to 7 participants who are willing to join us on the Sion slope restoration project in the next month or so, thanks to the Granby Wilderness Society and Electoral Area D / Rural Grand Forks director Roly Russell. When you register for the course (at full price), notify me that you intend to work-trade and we will provide a honorarium once you have spent a day (or two half days) with us applying what you learned in the course! There will also be a limited number of bursaries available to farmers, landowners, and stewardship group members who intend to use the skills on their own projects – please contact me for more details.
Please register for the course at Selkirk College, Grand Forks by next week if possible, and forward this note to any contacts you think would value taking it:
Phone: 250.442.2704
Email [email protected]
Fax: 250.442.2877

On this Friday, September 4 we will be gathering stakes and cuttings for the Sion slope project, meeting at 8:00 at the Grand Forks RDKB and leaving for the field by 9:00 – done at 12:30 or 3:00 depending on when you would like to leave. Looking forward to seeing you in the field!

About the instructor:

Instructor David Polster brings a wealth of experience stabilizing slopes and restoring ecosystems using applied ecology. David is a plant ecologist with over 30 years of experience in vegetation studies, reclamation and invasive species management.  He graduated from the University of Victoria with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in 1975 and a Master of Science degree in 1977.  He has developed a wide variety of reclamation techniques for steep/unstable slopes as well as techniques for the re-establishment of riparian and aquatic habitats.  He is the past-president of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association.  He is the treasurer for the B.C. Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration and serves as the alternate mining representative on the board of the Invasive Plant Council of B.C.  For the past 19 years he has lived with his wife, Genevieve Singleton and four children in Duncan, BC.

Dave has provided on-site design and direction in the development of reclamation and bioengineering systems for restoration of severely damaged ecosystems.  He served as the environmental supervisor for CP Rail’s massive Roger’s Pass Project.  He was responsible for developing the bioengineering systems that have successfully revegetated a portion of the Point Grey cliffs at UBC.  Dave has prepared reclamation plans for numerous mines, quarries and gravel pits in Canada.  He pioneered the concept of successional reclamation where the aim of the reclamation program is the re-integration of the disturbed site into the natural processes of vegetation succession.  He has applied his knowledge in ecology to solving problems of unwanted and invasive vegetation.  He has also authored numerous papers on these topics.