Heritage Rivers Storymap Project

In 2018, he Fraser Basin Council’s Youth Program worked on developing two storymaps of the Fraser and Cowichan Rivers to highlight their cultural, natural and recreational heritage values. The storymap are an interactive, visual storytelling tool that provides easy access to information and an in-depth look at particular locations. This project is part of the national storymap project being developed by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System and Parks Canada.

This project was led by the FBC’s Youth Program and encouraged a strong youth participation in the project. Through this program, two FBC Youth Advisory Committee members traveled down the Fraser River for a once-in-a-lifetime trip with the Rivershed Society of BC's Sustainable Living Leadership Program. FBC sponsored Brock Endean and Riley Brennan to take this month-long trip in order to learn more about the Fraser as well as conduct interviews along the river and collect images for the Canadian Heritage Rivers System Storymap Project.

Through our collaboration with Destination BC, Tourism Cowichan and Tourism Vancouver Island, we reached out to youth and the general public via social media to get broader input on areas of importance along the rivers. Thank you to all those who shared their photos and stories on Instagram and Facebook!

The storymaps can be used as travel and learning resources for those visiting the rivers and surrounding areas and by teachers in both riversheds in order to integrate the map into classrooms.

A huge thank-you to the Fraser River Heritage Storymap Advisors who shared their knowledge and time for this project: Brock Endean, Riley Brennan, Chris Kelly, John Haugen, Chief Ian Campbell, Blaine Grinder, Larry Casper, Katherine Gizikoff, and Heather Deal. 

This project was made possible with the generous support from Canadian Heritage Rivers System and BC Parks. 

For more information on the project, please contact Cherry Tam at ctam@fraserbasin.bc.ca or by phone at 604 488 5354.