Critics claim mineral exploration in B.C. needs more accountability

Mineral exploration is exploding in B.C., but critics claim the provincial government isn’t assessing the environmental impact.

It's a culinary blast in the Comox Valley

There is a growing menu of gastronomic attractions that are drawing visitors to the Comox Valley.

Local school boards offsetting financial shortfalls by recruiting foreign students

An aging population, declining enrollment, and sinking budgets are forcing school districts around British Columbia to sell public education to an increasing number of international customers.

Coal clouds Comox Valley's green future

With Asian demand for coal soaring, a Vancouver-based company is proposing to bring the Comox Valley’s coal history back to life.

Fight looms over Fish Lake

Sport fishers can get slapped by the law for netting a single fish over the limit, yet a large Vancouver-based mining company is proposing to destroy a lake and the tens of thousands of trout that inhabit it.

Pipeline would bring tankers into B.C. inlets

If the volatile economics of oil and environmental approvals fall into place, Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. hopes to construct 1,200-kilometre twin pipelines linking the oil fields of northern Alberta with the deep-water port at Kitimat.

Hunting for grizzly bears

Last year, a record number of British Columbia's largest land carnivores were killed; some say this sport undermines tourism businesses, so why does the B.C. government allow trophy killings of grizzlies?

Fat-tire adventure kicks up Guatemala’s past

In 1996, a peace accord ushered in a new era of calm. The guerrillas have laid down their arms and the bloodthirsty dictators are collecting pensions, making possible a backcountry biking adventure that would have been a fool’s game at the height of the civil war.

B.C. tourism operators raise alarm over sea lice

Outrunning the bandits in Bolivia's back country

A trek through around Nevado Illampu in the western Cordillera Real takes a dramatic turn in the imagination of our narrator, while the impassive guide gets on with the real business of boiling water, toting gear, and keeping an eye out for the very real dangers

A methane battle is brewing

Because of the booming economies of China and India, once-marginal mineral and fuel deposits in a geologically rich and remote region have piqued the interest of investors and speculators.

Who will save Amazay?

Fish farming for the future

Advocates of closed-pen aquaculture are having a tough time convincing governments that this approach is financially viable.

Invading plants take root

Ecologists face a dense thicket of problems posed by tough, prolific ivy and weeds.

Chilcotin rodeo racers live on skill and nerve

Four horses stir the ground and toss their heads as a breeze blows bunch grass in golden waves across the hillside.

The perils of planting

Poor man's cruise explores remote charms