Comox Valley Project Watershed Society is holding its annual general meeting on Wednesday, May 14. All members of the public are invited. People in our community who care about the protection and enhancement of our local estuary, will be interested in hearing what the guest speaker, Michele Deakin, of the Mid-Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society, will have to say. Michele plays a leading role in conservation issues in the Parksville-Qualicum area and has a background in business and recreation/parks management. She has worked in environmental education, communications and marketing for several years in government and non-profit settings and at present coordinates eelgrass and forage fish mapping and is interested in shoreline management issues. Michele is also the Chair of the Steering Committee for the Englishman River Watershed Recovery Plan (ERWRP), working with a roundtable of provincial, regional and federal agencies, non-profit organizations and private biologists. In what is hoped to set a trend, the ERWRP extends into the estuary and near shore and includes inventories of eelgrass and forage fish spawn sites, shoreline hardening and alterations. The estuary project includes a bio-inventory, a volunteer monitoring project and a door-to-door outreach component. In light of the upcoming Courtenay River Estuary Symposium in October, sponsored by Project Watershed, Michele's presentation will be most appropriate.

Date: May 14, 2008
Location: Washington Room, Best Westerly Inn, 1590 Cliffe Ave., Courtenay
Time: 6:30 p.m. registration, 7:00 pm meeting