Jim Cooperman

Author of the local best seller, Everything Shuswap, Jim Cooperman moved to the Shuswap in 1969 as a war resister and a back-to-the-lander, after receiving his BA from the University of California at Berkeley. Over the succeeding years, Jim taught school, worked in construction and log building, operated a sawmill, and edited a provincial environmental journal, the BC Environmental Report. His local environmental work led to the protection of over 25,000 hectares of new parks in the Shuswap, which is documented in the book, Big Trees Saved, by Deanna Kawatski. He has researched and written about local history and helped initiate and edit the local history journal, Shuswap Chronicles I and II. In 1993, he wrote the Chapter on Canada in Clearcut – The Tragedy of Industrial Forestry. And in 1998, he wrote Keeping the Special in Special Management Zones, A Citizens’ Guide, published by BC Spaces for Nature. Jim lives with his wife, Kathleen, in a log home they built on 40 acres above Shuswap Lake, where they raised five children. His column, “Shuswap Passion,” appears every two weeks in either the Shuswap Market News or the Salmon Arm Observer. Additionally, his YouTube channel has over 100 videos, including many that showcase live music, skiing and Shuswap geography.

Jun 14 2022June 15, 2022

Shuswap Lake water quality concerns prompt action by Ministry of Environment

Environment, Shuswap

The Ministry of Environment recently released a draft report that provides objectives for Shuswap Lake water quality. The document was produced after years of monitoring …

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May 26 2022May 31, 2022

Kwikoit (Scotch Creek) is one of many Shuswap agri-communities in 2052

Communities, Shuswap

Part seven and the final column in the series about a best-case scenario future By the year 2052, the North Shuswap community of Kwikoit*, formerly …

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Apr 14 2022April 14, 2022

Social life and education in the year 2052

Culture, Shuswap

Part six in the visionary series about a best-case scenario future The current trend of social isolation and virtual interactions began to reverse after the shock …

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Apr 2 2022April 2, 2022

Housing and infrastructure in a warmer Shuswap thirty years from now

Environment, Shuswap

Given the challenges we face today regarding the lack of affordable housing and the vulnerability of infrastructure to intense weather events, these difficulties will only …

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Mar 27 2022May 31, 2022

What does the future hold?

Environment, Shuswap

A visionary series about a best-case scenario future in the Shuswap Two years ago, after the New Year’s Eve “snowmegeddon” storm, my first column of …

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