The Nature Trust of B.C. had another worker tackling a variety of conservation activities in the Oceanside area this summer, thanks to title sponsor HSBS Bank Canada and a number of other sponsors.
Vancouver Island University student and Lantzville resident Clayton Billett received training in a number of areas and worked around Vancouver Island to remove invasive plants, maintain trails, erect signs and more. In Oceanside he said he removed a lot of broom and knapweed, especially near the Englishman River and also maintained trails and painted kiosks on Nature Trust properties around Parksville and Qualicum Beach.
Entering into his third year at VIU, Billett is studying kinesiology and geography and said some of the work he did this summer, such as learning about GPS mapping, has already tied into his programs at school and helped him get a head start on next year.
“It’s just a stepping stone… like how to do things on the GPS and then when you transfer it to the computer, how to use the program. That’s going to help me in future for sure,” he said.
Billett also learned to identify a number of plant, bird and animal species and how conservation lands are so important to saving biodiversity for generations to come.
The Nature Trust of B.C. hires conservation crews each summer and this year they were operating on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, South Okanagan, East Kootenay, and the Peace River.
Billett said it was a great experience and he will apply to do it again next year.
For details on TNT and its current projects visit www.naturetrust.bc.ca.
