Brackendale "Winter Home of the Bald Eagles"
HI-Vancouver Central

Located just north of Squamish is the community of Brackendale. And it's there on the estuary of the Squamish River that the world's largest convocation of bald eagle gathers to feed on the salmon as they head up stream to spawn. We hired a charter bus and took the guests up the Sea-to-Sky Highway, stopping at Shannon Falls, where a warren of wild rabbits lives. For the tour, we employed Thor Froslev, curator of the Brackendale Art Gallery and eagle activist. Thor is also the man who organizes the annual eagle count and it is because of his petitioning of the provincial government that the eagles' habitat is protected from development. Thor's tour of the estuary detailed the behaviour of the eagles and explained their life cycle and feathering colourations, as well as recounted the history of threats that this critical wintering habitat has survived. In one year's count, were we told, nearly 4,000 eagles were spotted on a single day! Finally, we headed to the Thor's art gallery where his wife and brother served up home cooked bread and a variety of soups, including wild salmon bisque made from the same salmon the eagles were enjoying when we saw them.  
   
 We ran this tour twice and it was hugely successful, selling out both times. The first time, we saw several hundred ball eagles as well as otters and seals in the river. On the second tour, we saw only a few dozen eagles, but we also saw a pair of coyotes and of course, there was the release.

Best Environmental Program

Interpretive guiding program
HI-Kananaskis Wilderness Hostel

HI-Kananaskis Wilderness Hostel's manager, Shauna Morey, has taken the personal initiative to become a fully-certified Mountain Parks Heritage Interpretive Association Guide and offers her services as a guide to the various school groups who visit her hostel.  Whether it be walking, biking or cross-country skiing, Shauna will guide the guests out into the wilderness areas of Kananaskis Park, educating them on the flora, fauna and geological highlights of the Canadian Rockies.

Best Continuing Program

Heritage Centre
HI-Ottawa Jail

The Carleton County Gaol Heritage Centre tells some of the stories associated with our unique 145-year-old building. Launched in 2007, the Heritage Centre is primarily located on death row, but has displays spread around the hostel. Some of the topics covered include: Meals that prisoners would have been served, last meals that prisoners have requested from around the world (included in the dining room and kitchens of the hostel), description of the anti-suicide bars located on the stairwells, fun and interesting news-story clippings of people who have been tried and convicted. Many of these displays also include an interactive component where guests can tell us what they would order for their last meal or any ghost stories they have experienced here at the hostel.

On death row itself, we tell the stories of the three people officially hanged in the Gaol as well as displays about which countries still practice the death penalty. Other, less weighty displays include panels on why the building was called a Gaol and not a Jail, what the concept of the Gaol was and displays some of the few artefacts that still exist here such as one of the originally log books that identifies the names of prisoners, what they were charged with and how long they stayed with us, whether or not they could read or write and what country they were from.

The Heritage Centre is now officially open to guests occasionally, but is to be opened daily for guests in the near future. The Heritage centre has already contributed to an increase in the number of our guests who take the historical Crime and Punishment Tour through the hostel and provided a unique insight into the history of the building.

As a project that is growing, we are developing many new specific educational programs for groups relating to life in the Gaol and the issues that prisoners dealt with. We hope that these programs will be launched in the coming weeks and months.

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