It was a banner year for the Vancouver Island Marmot.

There were more marmots recorded in the wild than at any time since their population started being tracked in the 1980s.

The wild marmot population is mainly centered around two areas, Strathcona Park and Nanaimo Lakes.

The Marmot Recovery foundation is a non profit founded in 1999 with the goal of restoring the wild population of the Vancouver Island Marmot, their work includes captive breeding programs and habitat restoration efforts.

The organization’s executive director and head veterinarian joined Midcoast Morning to break down the latest on B.C.’s only endemic mammal species.

Community members are gathering downtown this afternoon to honour the lives of of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people.

The No More Stolen Sisters March begins at Diana Krall Plaza at 3:30.

Starting in 1992 memorial marches have been held in communities across the country each year on February 14th.

The event originated as a memorial march for Cheryl Anne Joe, a mother of three from Sechelt who was murdered that year in Vancouver.

Leah Vaisanen is organizing the march in Nanaimo.

Monique May is organizing a march this Sunday in Victoria. She’ll also be in attendance Friday in Nanaimo.

Both of them spoke with Midcoast Morning about the march, and the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people.

University of Vermont professor Kim Coleman is hitting the mountain biking trails of Vancouver Island.

But she’s not here on vacation.

Coleman is visiting Vancouver Island University for the spring semester as a Fulbright Canada Research Chair.

She’s studying how communities manage outdoor recreation, comparing examples on the island with some she’s studied back in New England.

Coleman visited the CHLY studio to talk about how communities change when mountain biking goes