Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present
March 3, 2026 By: Kaia Golab
Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present
Dr. Norman Fennema
HIST 3991: Environmental History
Kaia Golab
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026
Media Item #1 Urbanization and Land-use conflict
Pitt Meadows is facing modern urban pressure in a way that feels like a direct continuation of historical patterns: settler expansion, infrastructure growth, and decisions about which lands are “available” for housing. In 2025, the Province set a housing target for Pitt Meadows, which the City has discussed as a major planning issue.¹ This connects to Unit 3 themes about urbanization. Because growth in areas like Pitt Meadows demonstrates that urban expansion is influenced by policy decisions, floodplain geography, and farmland protections rather than occurring naturally, it made me reflect on how communities in the Lower Mainland manage housing needs while safeguarding historic farmland and wetlands altered by earlier development.
Link: https://www.pittmeadows.ca/homes-development/housing/provincial-housing-targets
Media Item #2 Conservation and Salmon Habitat
A 2026 report from the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC highlights the “Heart of the Fraser” as one of British Columbia’s most endangered river stretches, posing development and urbanization as key threats to salmon and sturgeon habitat.² This connects to Unit 3 conservation themes because the Fraser River, which is near Pitt Meadows, is an example of how rivers function as complex ecological systems instead of just waterways beside cities. The report made me think about how conservation today tends to involve protecting shoreline space and floodplains, so salmon habitat can survive even with ongoing development pressure in the Lower Mainland. It also shows that conservation policy tends to mean limiting specific kinds of growth in order to protect ecosystems.
Link: https://www.orcbc.ca/blog/2026-endangered-rivers-list
I enjoyed reading both of your paragraphs and your connection between housing needs and ecological conservation. This points to how landscapes in the Lower Mainland are not just naturally evolving; they are being shaped by human decisions and policies. The place where I live is an area created through the use of a dike system and now supports over 4000 residents, while having farms and green spaces. These ideas you point out connect back to Unit 3 and how much of the “natural” landscape is actually only engineered to be protected in certain ways. These pressures on protected ecosystems are especially high in a region where growing development and housing is need that has to be addressed.
Hey, I really liked how you pointed out that urban growth does not just “happen” on its own. It is shaped by policy decisions, flood risks, and farmland rules. That idea really clicked for me because I always assumed cities just spread outward naturally as more people move in. Places like Pitt Meadows have to wrestle with protecting good farmland and dealing with floodplains while also trying to build enough homes. It makes me wonder if we’re repeating old mistakes from the past, like paving over wetlands or building in risky areas, just because the pressure for housing is so intense now. Thanks for sharing, this gave me a lot to think about.