Bradner Community News - The Bradner Barker

Wetlands Threatened by Expanding Industustrial Developments on Langley and Abbotsford Border

5/7/2019

Brit Gardner - I went for a Langley walk yesterday along the West Creek headwaters, in Gloucester Industrial Estates. Close to where I grew up. Thanks to the beavers, these wetlands are a beautiful, thriving, and complete ecosystem. The creek headwaters are home to salmon spawning, geese, ducks, rare and migratory birds, rabbits, and countless other wildlife.

Our Water BC Forum

10/2/2017

Canadian Freshwater Alliance

Our Water BC

Join the Our Water BC forum with the Canadian Freshwater Alliance Thursday, October 5th, 2017 @ 7 – 8:30 pm in the Fraser River Presentation Theatre, Township of Langley Civic Facility

Learn about the opportunities that exist for residents to engage at the local level, and discuss solutions to the limitations, challenges and barriers to guarantee the future of this invaluable resource. Presented by the Canadian Freshwater Alliance. The BC Water Sustainability Act is an important tool to ensure healthy water for people and nature.

RSVP Email Nichole at Langley Environmental Partners Society

Ivy Pull on Saturday!

4/13/2017

Invasive English ivy

Source - Glen Valley Watershed Society (GVWS)

GVWS & LEPS are hosting another ivy pull & FREE pizza event on Saturday April 15th, 2017 - 10am to noon @ Bradner Park (north side of Haverman Rd. just west of Bradner Rd.) Come on down to destroy some ivy... it's getting pretty steep where we are working so channel your inner goat! Free PIZZA is served @ 12! GVWS & LEPS ivy pulling events are made possible by the support of the City of Abbotsford's Neighbourhood Spirit grant.

Celebrate BC Rivers Day!

9/23/2016

RiverBlue BC Rivers Day

Source - RiverBlue

By LEPS - This Sunday is BC Rivers Day! Langley is celebrating at Derek Doubleday Arboretum from 11am - 3pm. BC Rivers Day kicks off three fabulous weeks of celebrating our local creeks and there are a lot of great events to get involved with, check out the Langley Township website for details. Read more for upcoming events...

Invasive Ivy Pull @ Bradner Park

6/16/2016

Invasive English Ivy in Bradner Park

Source - BC Invasives

Hope you can join the Glen Valley Watershed Society & Langley Environmental Partners Society by dragging out family, friends or neighbours to do our first Ivy Pull at Bradner Park, 28665 Haverman Road, on Saturday July 9th, 2016 from 10 am - 12 pm followed up with a FREE pizza lunch!!

Kids are very welcome at the site though the banks of the tributary are steep, if kids/parents are uncomfortable on the slopes we can work on finding other jobs for them to help beautify this park.

Tools and gloves will be provided but if you have any arms you are more comfortable to use while waging an assault on this alien invader please feel free to bring them. Read more for why we need to pull ivy...

Cease & Desist Order Issued on Mushroom Composting Facility

4/8/2016

Mushroom Composting Farm Industrial ALR Bradner Abbotsford

Image - Submitted

A brand new industrial Mushroom composting business named Avina Fresh Produce Ltd. and H.Q. Mushroom Farm Ltd. located at 28310 – 58th Ave in west Bradner is emitting a foul odour. Neighbouring residents say that if they leave windows open in the night, toxic fumes and unpleasant odours waft in. Because of of Bradner's unique location, wind-less nights draw in a Pacific Ocean fed 'marine layer' that forms over the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) area, and traps concentrations of any toxins or off-gasses beneath this layer at ground level.

BC Rivers Day Festival 2015

9/8/2015

Langley Environmental Partners Society Bradner

Photo submitted by Andrei Fejes, Lynn Valley Park, BC

By Sarah Atherton

Save the date for Sunday September 27th, 2015

The BC Rivers Day Community Festival, an annual celebration of water and nature, will be held Sunday, September 27th, 2015, 11am to 3 pm, at the Derek Doubleday Arboretum. The free, family-oriented event, which enhances understanding of the environment and spotlights our water resources also marks the kick-off to WaterWeeks, a three week series of events across the Township of Langley.

Bradner Farms and Healthy Streams

7/29/2015

Photo source - Pintrest

By Heather Lemieux, Editor

Growing up in Bradner I spent a lot of time in Bradner's creeks and ravines with fellow farm kids. A favourite pastime on hot sunny days was to meander down to Beaver Creek (Nathan Creek) swimming hole, where 56th Ave. met Interprovincial Hwy. (58th Ave.) Recently at the Bradner Flower Show I was introduced to the Glen Valley Water Shed Society (GVWS). I learned a lot about the importance of healthy streams working better with healthy farming practices.

Environmental problems from an unhealthy stream can affect land and livestock. The following are some sensitivities I found listed in a Fisheries and Oceans Canada brochure.

Lack of streamed vegetation leads to increased bank erosion and stream sedimentation. Native plants, Salmonberry, Willow, Red-osier dogwood and Hardhack have deep roots that help stabilize the stream banks, protecting your valuable land from erosion
Runoff from uncovered manure piles can contaminate water, increasing the transmission of diseases. Covered piles reduce contaminated runoff, improving water quality and reducing the spread of diseases
Uncontrolled livestock access to the stream can result in bank erosion, trampling of vegetation and fouling water quality. Controlling animal access with fences and livestock watering stations protect stream-side vegetation, bank stability and water quality
Improperly stored fuel, pesticides and fertilizers can leach into groundwater, contaminating wells and surface water
Excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from manure can result in algae blooms, reducing water quality
Straightening and dredging streams can lead to increased bank erosion and chronic sediment and drainage problems. Allowing the natural stream side channels to meander increases the amount of water that it can hold during periods of high-water and flooding
Undersized culverts impede drainage, increasing upstream flooding
Lack of over hanging vegetation and shade increases growth of inserted grasses, trapping sediments and reducing drainage. Overhanging vegetation helps filter surface runoff and improves water quality
Rain runoff from bark mulch and wood waste placed near the stream can contaminate surface water. Stream-side vegetation helps filter surface runoff improving water quality
Spraying pesticides near the stream, especially during windy or wet conditions, may result in contaminated surface water. Flood plains increase the capacity of the stream to hold water during high flows, reducing flooding

Healthy streams have clean cool water, beds of clean gravel and cobbles and are rich in oxygen. Riparian vegetation provides food, nutrients, shade and plant roots stabilize the stream banks, minimizing soil erosion. Streamed vegetation also acts as a buffer from farm activities, reducing the amount of sediment and excess nutrients transported by runoff, improving water quality. Pools, riffles and large woody debris provide homes for fish and insects. Having good water quality supports healthy crops and sustainable agriculture and improved drainage increases the productivity of farm land. This allows crops to be planted earlier in the spring and healthy stream is good for agriculture and the environment.

So, through education and by keeping our streams healthy we can all experience the benefits for our farms, fish and wildlife. Keeping water ecosystems healthy is an important part of our special community here in Bradner and beyond.

Links
Glen Valley Watersheds Society
Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Dinner Event at Williams Park

7/22/2015

Photo Source - Langley Explorer

There is no place like Williams Park to beat the heat during the summer!

On August 18th, 2015 from 5:00 - 8:00 pm the Glen Valley Watershed Society will be partnering with the Lower Fraser Aboriginal Society to offer dinner in the park, a chance to come together with our community, stewardship groups, members of LEPS and families to celebrate the beauty of the Salmon River Watershed.

Members of our restoration teams will be on hand to discuss three of our major restoration projects - The North Langley Fingered Wetland Project and the Salmon River and West Creek Enhancement and Restoration Projects.

Family activities include the life cycle salmon board game, salmon hats and a nature scavenger hunt!

Some food will be provided but we welcome you to bring along a picnic of your choice or participate in a pot luck.

Registration required for planning purposes, please contact Sarah at education@leps.bc.ca

Williams Park, 68th Ave. & 238th St., Langley BC

Bradner Mystery Solved!

6/18/2015

By Heather Lemieux, Editor

Nathan or Beaver Creek?

A Bradner Barker contributor and reader wrote to me recently wondering, "Nathan Creek is actually called Beaver Creek, how it became Nathan is a mystery to all of us". I too have been confused about this very topic and have been curious to find answers. So with a bit of inquiring and research I was able to solve this mystery!

The Glen Valley Watershed Society posted the history of the name origin on their website.

Beaver Creek was known by the Bradner area's early settlers and Nathan Creek is still commonly referred to as Beaver Creek, particularly in the Bradner area of west Abbotsford BC.

In 1914 a decision was made in Victoria, BC to change the name to Nathan Creek in commemoration of Henry Nathan who pre-empted land at the mouth of the creek in 1875. There doesn't appear to be any further record of Henry Nathan as a settler in the Bradner area. In 1939 the Geographic Names Board of Canada confirmed Nathan as the official name.

Originally, Nathan Creek flowed several hundred metres East of the present dyke channel and joined the Fraser River through what is now known as Nathan Slough. The creek was diverted and dyked in 1911 - 1912, constructed by the Canadian Northern Railway, protecting much of the fertile natural prairie of Glen Valley from periodic flooding.

While agriculture established in the lower parts of Nathan (Beaver) Creek the fine stands of timber in the uplands attracted loggers. For many years several sawmills flourished in the Bradner area.

In the past, Nathan (Beaver) Creek has provided spawning areas for significant numbers of Coho, Pink, Chum and Steelhead Salmon, as well as Cutthroat and Rainbow Trout. While Chinook salmon are not known to spawn in the system, young Chinook fry from other creeks use the lower reaches to feed and rest as they venture to the ocean. Chum Salmon are no longer common in the system, and there is evidence that populations of Coho, Steelhead and Rainbow are declining.