Exercise #4: Documentary Reflection
Instructions
For your fourth Exercise assignment, you will make connections between the environmental movement in the recent past and today by considering what you are challenged to learn from documentarians of that movement.
- Find a current or recent report in the mainstream or alternative media of an environmental topic or issue in your local or wider region. As you read/ hear about the issue, consider where you stand on it. Identify your position and your thoughts.
- Use the documentaries in this course unit to reflect on the role that civil disobedience has played in the history of environmentalism, researching one other recent example to defend your answer to the question of whether it works to bring positive change.
Use your research in the mainstream and alternative media from Activity 1 of this unit for this exercise Post the media links and your analysis. Aim for a minimum of 300 words.
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.
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Submissions
Exercise #4: Documentary Reflection
October 23, 2025 By: Grace Fang
The recent environmental issue I chose was about the ancient deforestation protests in Fairy Creek, British Columbia, Canada. Since 2020, activists, Indigenous land defenders and the public have gathered in the Fairy Creek watershed to try to prevent the Teal-Jones group from logging in the last unprotected pristine temperate rainforest in the area by setting up blockades and nonviolent resistance [1]. The protest, which lasted into 2021 and beyond, became one of the largest civil disobedience environmental actions in Canadian history, with more than 1,000 arrests. I support lawful, nonviolent civil disobedience as a means of advancing environmental governance and…
Pipeline Environmental Activism
October 14, 2025 By: Jeff van der Ploeg
I served as a Health and Safety Lead on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP) for over three years. During that period, our security team actively monitored protest activity surrounding the Coastal GasLink (CGL) Project in Northern British Columbia. In February 2022, protest activity related to CGL intensified when approximately 20 masked individuals caused millions of dollars in property and equipment damage and threatened workers with axes and flares (CBC News, 2022). To date, no one has been charged in connection with these incidents, nor has anyone, or any group, claimed responsibility. I support lawful, nonviolent civil disobedience as a…
Documentary Reflection
September 1, 2025 By: Vraj Bharatkumar Patel
Dr. Mark Butorac HIST 3991 – Environmental History Vraj Bharatkumar Patel – T00785625 Sept 1, 2025 Media Item 1: Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again ReferencePatrick, L. (Director). (2025). Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again [Documentary film]. Experimental Forest Films; Lantern Films; National Film Board of Canada. https://www.nfb.ca/film/nechako-it-will-be-a-big-river-again/ ReflectionThis documentary follows the Stellat’én and Saik’uz First Nations in their long struggle for justice after the Kenney Dam diverted the Nechako River to power hydroelectric projects. The loss of salmon and the disruption of cultural traditions reveal the high social and ecological costs of “progress.” In…
Exercise 4
August 23, 2025 By: Sunisha Rakesh
Student Name: Sunisha Rakesh Course: HIST_ 3991 Student ID: T00609237 Date:2025 Aug Exercise #4: Documentary Reflection This assignment prompted me to reflect more about one of the media articles I discussed in Exercise 3, specifically regarding the rapid loss of biodiversity. Swerdfager and Armitage argue that Canada’s conservation laws are old-fashioned and fragmented. Although most of these laws may have been effective decades ago, they are now incapable of addressing today’s realities, such as climate change. Sadly, I agree with these authors’ point of view. The system’s failure to keep pace with modern environmental challenges has led to the continued…
Jasper Wildfires 2024
August 6, 2025 By: Logan Forman
Documentary Reflection-Jasper Wildfires 2024) Media Report: “2024 Jasper Wildfires prompt emergency evacuation; climate change intensifies fire season” CBC News, July 2024. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/jasper-wildfire-evacuation-2024-1.7209173 Position and Analysis: July 2024 brought devastating wildfires to the Jasper National Park region. These wildfires were responsible for evacuations, park closures, tourism disruptions, and the unimaginable damage to many forests.[1] This specific example of wildfires highlights the impacts associated with climate change in Western Canada. The wildfires reignited the tensions between conservation, tourism, and Indigenous rights as the main actors related to this crisis are all viewing the tragedy in a different light. The Jasper wildfires illustrate…