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
Documentary Reflection
August 12, 2026 By: Rhys Parry
Environmental Activism and Civil Disobedience For this exercise, I looked at the recent protests against proposed AI data centers in Vancouver. Hundreds of people have taken part in demonstrations against plans for new AI data centers in British Columbia, with protesters raising concerns about how much electricity and water these facilities could use. A CityNews report focused on the demonstrations themselves and included concerns from protesters about water use, pressure on B.C.’s electrical grid, and the environmental effects of the proposed facilities. By the second major protest in June, a petition opposing the projects had received more than 15,000 signatures.¹…
Exercise 4
August 2, 2026 By: Kayla Wassen
I chose to examine opposition to open-net salmon farming in British Columbia, beginning with the 2017 occupation of the Midsummer Island salmon farm in the Broughton Archipelago. CBC and The Tyee reported that Indigenous protesters occupied the farm for approximately 81 days, arguing that open-net farms threatened wild salmon and were operating in their traditional territories without their consent. The occupation disrupted the farm’s operations and prevented the company from restocking some of its pens. Although the B.C. Supreme Court eventually ordered the protesters to remove their structures, their actions brought greater public and political attention to both the environmental…
Documentary Reflection – Reflecting on the Fairy Creek old-growth logging protests
July 25, 2026 By: Matthew Coxon
Mainstream media: CBC News – “B.C. extends deferral of logging in Fairy Creek amid reports of tree spiking” Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fairy-creek-defer-old-growth-logging-extension-2025-1.7445346 Alternative media: Ricochet Media – “With more old-growth logging set to begin near Fairy Creek, a new blockade has emerged to save the irreplaceable forests” Link: https://ricochet.media/climate/environment/with-more-old-growth-logging-set-to-begin-near-fairy-creek-a-new-blockade-has-emerged-to-save-the-irreplaceable-forests/ When reflecting upon the role of civil disobedience the Fairy Creek protests seem quite relevant given the fact that this directly relates to the documentary If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front. The Fairy Creek protests on Vancouver Island provide a more modern example of the same debates surrounding…
Documentary Reflection
July 18, 2026 By: Julia Morgan
One environmental issue that I have been following is the ongoing logging of old-growth forests in British Columbia. According to a March 2026 Global News report, proposed logging areas continue to overlap with ancient forests that the province’s advisory panel identified as facing very high or imminent risk of biodiversity loss. Members of the former panel have argued that the province is not adequately protecting the forests most at risk (Owen, 2026). I believe endangered old-growth forests require protection. These ecosystems, including the microorganisms, mycorrhizal fungal networks, and carbon-rich soils below ground, have developed over centuries and cannot be replaced…
Documentary Reflection
July 6, 2026 By: David
The news I chose for this exercise was an instance where two individuals who were supporters of the Just Stop Oil movement threw an orange substance onto precious Vincent Van Gogh paintings. This makes it the third time the National Gallery has fallen victim to environmentalists and their questionable antics to spread awareness and their messages. This form of protest reminds me of the documentary, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, which addresses the extreme lengths environmental activists go in order to make a resounding statement. While civil disobedience comes across as a surefire way…