Fonds consists of two files of materials collected and produced by the Kitimat Valley Naturalists:
F1) Contents of the secretary-treasurer's duotang, 1996-1998. Includes meeting minutes, correspondence, receipts, financial documents, mailing lists, 1997 annual report, photocopied map, events schedule, Federation of BC Naturalists membership info, sign-up sheet for Douglas Channel boat trip, correspondence from Creston Valley Wildlife Area, materials re: Gisela Mendel Native Plant Garden, draft write-up for Iron Oxbow Wildlife Viewing Area along the Kitimat River, and ephemera from the inside front cover of the duotang (receipt from Fed. of BC Naturalists, business cards for Aurora Charters and Reid Crowther Consulting Engineers).
F2) Materials related to Pine Creek Protective Covenant, 2003-2014. This covenant was established by Rio Tinto Alcan, the Haisla Nation, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, to protect the Pine Creek hiking trail and its watercourse near Minette Bay. Folder includes correspondence, signage text, Land Title Act forms, maps, and a Master Watercourse Crossing List from Coastal GasLink.
The Kitimat Valley Naturalists are a non-profit organization with the goal of learning about and enjoying the natural history of the Kitimat Valley. They were founded in 1996 and are still active as of 2023. Their projects include an annual Christmas bird count, construction of bat condos, monitoring amphibian numbers, and mapping eelgrass beds in the Douglas Channel.
Custodial History
Items were donated by Susan and Walter Thorne, longtime members of the Kitimat Valley Naturalists, on February 16th 2023. The fonds was arranged and described by Museum staff in April 2023.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of two files of materials collected and produced by the Kitimat Valley Naturalists:
F1) Contents of the secretary-treasurer's duotang, 1996-1998. Includes meeting minutes, correspondence, receipts, financial documents, mailing lists, 1997 annual report, photocopied map, events schedule, Federation of BC Naturalists membership info, sign-up sheet for Douglas Channel boat trip, correspondence from Creston Valley Wildlife Area, materials re: Gisela Mendel Native Plant Garden, draft write-up for Iron Oxbow Wildlife Viewing Area along the Kitimat River, and ephemera from the inside front cover of the duotang (receipt from Fed. of BC Naturalists, business cards for Aurora Charters and Reid Crowther Consulting Engineers).
F2) Materials related to Pine Creek Protective Covenant, 2003-2014. This covenant was established by Rio Tinto Alcan, the Haisla Nation, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, to protect the Pine Creek hiking trail and its watercourse near Minette Bay. Folder includes correspondence, signage text, Land Title Act forms, maps, and a Master Watercourse Crossing List from Coastal GasLink.
Notes
Three reports collected by the KVN - "An Assessment of the Kitimat Iron Oxbow Proposed Wildlife Viewing Area," "Blue Carbon - The Case for the Conservation and Enhancement of Estuarine Processes and Sediments in BC," and "Coastal Wetlands Habitat Assessment and Classification for Northwestern British Columbia" - have been added to the Museum's Reference Library.
Conservation
Removed from original duotang/folders. Staples removed.
Storage Location
Box 29
Arrangement
F1) has been left in original order, apart from ephemera which was removed from the inside cover of the duotang.
F2) has been arranged in roughly chronological order.
Photo depicts a tent with flat-top house assembly on a production line in West Vancouver for Johnson-Crooks Construction Corporation.
Notes
Title based on content of photograph. -- Slide No. 40 -- The circus tent assembly line was erected at Vancouver Tug and Barge below the Lion's Gate Bridge. Temporary housing destined for Kitimat was assembled there in three sections, then barged to Kitimat - 10 houses or 30 sections on each barge. -- Electrician Bill Frahler wired approximately 2,000 houses in Kitimat camps and townsite between 1954 and 1958, working first for Johnson-Crooks then Straits Construction, both U.S. contractors. Bill Frahler Collection 2003.32
Photo depicts two barges moored in Douglas Channel and loaded with flat-top house sections for construction workers and their families.
Notes
Title based on content of photograph. -- Temporary housing destined for Kitimat was assembled at Vancouver Tug and Barge below the Lion's Gate Bridge in three sections, then barged to Kitimat - 10 houses or 30 sections on each barge. -- Electrician Bill Frahler wired approximately 2,000 houses in Kitimat camps and townsite between 1954 and 1958, working first for Johnson-Crooks then Straits Construction, both U.S. contractors. Pat Jimenez Collection
Photo depicts construction of two pan-abode waiting rooms on the beach at Smeltersite for Pacific Western Airlines. A "Mallard" amphibian airplane unloads on the landing ramp in the background.
Photo depicts construction of two pan-abode waiting rooms on the beach at Smeltersite for Pacific Western Airlines. A "Mallard" amphibian airplane unloads on the landing ramp in the background.
Notes
Pan-Abode is interlocking red cedar building materials invented in 1948 in British Columbia. The builders of Kitimat chose innovative materials such as Pan-Abode for the town. Pan-Abode was used in some of the first prototype homes on Kitimat's first streets - Oriole, Pintail, and Partridge. It is also an efficient building material as a structure can be assembled very quickly. Northern Sentinel Press Collection. P00226.jpg
Brown cover book. Building Permit Register July 2, 1954 to Novemeber 5, 1965. Contains info about property construction and modifications for these years.
Brown cover book. Building Permit Register July 2, 1954 to Novemeber 5, 1965. Contains info about property construction and modifications for these years.
One folder titled correspondance with multiple letters and a bunch of photos photocopied onto a single sheet.
Letter to Jan Leclerk from Burce. Regarding Kitimat Builders. January 18, 1994.
Two page etter to J.T Harvey from Kitimat Builders Supplies Limiyed manager Don Forward. Regarding photos of Kitimat Builders construction. January 2, 1954.
Written two page biography of Kitimat Builders Supplies Limited manager Donald Forward. March 5, 1983.
Oversized page with 12 photocopied photos of Kitimat Builders construction.
One folder titled correspondance with multiple letters and a bunch of photos photocopied onto a single sheet.
Letter to Jan Leclerk from Burce. Regarding Kitimat Builders. January 18, 1994.
Two page etter to J.T Harvey from Kitimat Builders Supplies Limiyed manager Don Forward. Regarding photos of Kitimat Builders construction. January 2, 1954.
Written two page biography of Kitimat Builders Supplies Limited manager Donald Forward. March 5, 1983.
Oversized page with 12 photocopied photos of Kitimat Builders construction.
Photo depicts the newly constructed dock, Terminal Wharf No. 1. View looking south-west from a point on the graving dock. Hydraulic fill dredge pipeline in the foreground running along at water level.
Photo depicts the newly constructed dock, Terminal Wharf No. 1. View looking south-west from a point on the graving dock. Hydraulic fill dredge pipeline in the foreground running along at water level.
Notes
Title based on content of photograph. -- Alcan ID No. BC-2-846. -- Note progress of conveyor gallery steel, kangaroo crane and pneumatic unloading equipment. Alcan Collection 78.11.68
Photo depicts Electrician Bill Frahler's family standing beside his truck. Johnson-Crooks houses under construction in Nechako Neighbourhood are in the background.
Photo depicts Electrician Bill Frahler's family standing beside his truck. Johnson-Crooks houses under construction in Nechako Neighbourhood are in the background.
Notes
Title based on content of photograph. -- "Alva and the Boys", Slide No. 95 -- Bill Frahler wired over 2,000 temporary construction and permanent homes between 1954 and 1958, first working for Johnson-Crooks and then Straits Construction. Bill Frahler Collection 2003.32
