Exercise #1: Local Environmental History
Instructions
For Exercise #1, you will bring environmental concepts home by looking at your neighbourhood’s environmental history.
- Using the submission form, post a photo of your area (Google Street View if you do not want to show your home) on this interactive map and explain the ecological history of this space, as per this example.
- Write a 700 to 1100 word of the ecological history of this physical environment, including where applicable: pre-contact use and settlement; wildlife past and present; early settlement and resource extraction; invasive species; urban development; stewardship actions (urban stormwater retention systems; community gardens; composting facilities).
- You must show where you found your information, either through footnote citations or with links embedded in the text, or a combination of both.
- The writing can be informal, as per the Exercise 1 Sample (you may even use first person, which definitely will not fly with your historiography and major essay projects!) but correct spelling and grammar are expected.
- In most cases, given the readily available information online, this exercise need not take more than 6–8 hours to complete. It is meant to help you think historically about your environment—to read it through an ecological lens. If you live in a rural area or small town, you may think that there is less to say than what you read in the sample based on a Vancouver neighbourhood, but this is not the case. The environmental history will be very different, and you might focus far more on, say, the settlement period of the late nineteenth century, or the implications of the introduction of cattle or irrigation and less on events of the 1960s and 70s.
- Please note, you should write and edit your submission in a separate file then copy and paste it into the submission box. Once submitted to the HIST 3991 trubox site, you will not be able to edit your post.
Are you a student of HIST 3991? Click here to add a submission to this assignment.
Submissions
Latest Posts
Angus, Ontario
November 14, 2026 By: Richard Wright
My home is in Angus, Ontario, which lies in the Lake Simcoe-Nottawasaga Treaty 18 lands (Township of Essa 2026). First Nations people have long used the Nottawasaga and Pine River as part of a significant route between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe. The Huron-Wendat and Pentu people used the rivers for fish, game birds and furs (Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority 2020). They had established agricultural practices and grew corn, beans, and squash in the fertile territories (Fecteau 2004; Williamson 2026). Local archaeological sites exist along the former railway line and document evidence of these early settlements and lifeways that sustained…
Quesnel BC
November 10, 2026 By: Kamljit Aujla
Thompson Rivers University HIST 3991 Kamljit Aujla November 10, 2026 If you drop a pin on Google Street View at the confluence of the Fraser and Quesnel Rivers, you’ll see a picturesque riverfront town framed by dense pine and spruce forests. This is Quesnel, British Columbia, a place often dubbed the “Gold Pan City.” But long before the tourists arrived to pan for gold or walk the modern Riverfront Trail, this landscape was, and remains a dynamic ecological and cultural crossroads. Its environmental history is a story of shifting relationships between humans, waterways, and forests. Since time…
Local Environmental History of Barrière, British Columbia
October 25, 2026 By: Danika Zerr
I grew up on Oriole Way, a residential street near the centre of Barrière, British Columbia. Barrière is a small town in the North Thompson Valley, surrounded by mountains, forests, and the North Thompson and Barrière Rivers. Growing up, I was familiar with the rivers, forests, and wildlife around town, but I never really considered how much the environment influenced Barrière’s development. Looking into the history of the area, I found that the natural landscape has played a major role in how people have lived and worked in the valley. The North Thompson Valley is part of the traditional territory…
Environmental History of Prince George
October 8, 2026 By: Sabitri Shahi
I live on Spruce Street in Prince George, which is one of the biggest and most important cities in northern BC. The city has a unique geography because it forms a basin-like structure, also known as “The Bowl,” formed by the erosion of two rivers: the Fraser River and Nechako River.1 Gently rising green hills and valleys surrounding the city give it a basin-like structure when observed from a height, which can be seen when one travels uphill.1 The city is situated within the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh people, who have lived in this region for at least…
Chilliwack Environmental History
September 29, 2026 By: Allison Jakeway
Local Environmental History of Chilliwack A few weeks ago I moved to the downtown area of Chilliwack, B.C. In the time since, I have enjoyed exploring the area by walking along the Hope River Slough which runs west beside the Skwah Reserve. I have also enjoyed being able to easily walk east towards the new 1881 District to get a coffee and study. This assignment has been a welcomed opportunity to familiarize myself further with the land, people and events that have influenced the area and one another. I began with identifying and learning about the Sto:lo people. Archeological records…