Tyee Supporters Hit Our Goal Early! We’re Upping the Ante

You not only did it, you beat the clock by four days!

On behalf of all of us at The Tyee we thank the more than 600 people who so far have contributed to The Tyee during our spring fundraiser. On Thursday we blew past our initial goal of $50,000.

If you haven’t become a Tyee Builder there is still time because our campaign doesn’t wrap up until end of day Monday.

So we are setting a “stretch goal” of $70,000. If we reach that target, we’ll be able to fund an additional cool reporting project investigating how British Columbia can better manage its forests.

Turn Zoë loose!

Here, let Zoë Yunker, the Webster-Award winning reporter who has covered forest, energy and climate change issues for The Tyee, tell you her dream assignment in her own words:

“B.C.’s forests are at a critical juncture: old-growth ecosystems are at a breaking point under climate change and industrial logging, mills across the province are shutting down and laying off hundreds. And, Indigenous nations are reasserting jurisdiction over forests they’ve always stewarded.

“Big conversations are coming about the future of B.C.’s forests and the values they protect.

“The province says the era of industry-led forestry — the status quo for decades — is drawing to a close. But what comes in its place? Can it reflect the diverse, sometimes conflicting, interests of those who live and work here? Will it uphold Indigenous rights and jurisdiction? And, will it happen fast enough?

“To explore these questions, I’ll be looking forward — to the new land and forest planning initiatives the province is crafting now — and backwards, to an unprecedented and oft-forgotten '90s-era experiment in provincewide regional land use planning. It was worlds away from perfect, and its successes and ample failures have lessons for the turning point in B.C.'s forests today.

“And after I’ve explored this topic deeply, we will assemble experts and invite you to participate in a public event sharing best practices.”

Your contribution makes so much possible

Yunker’s ambitious idea reflects a top desire Tyee readers shared when we asked what conversations we need to be having right now. Other top issues you flagged — and that we’ll be diving into thanks to our successful fundraiser — are making housing more affordable, how safer schools can work better for students, and how our economy needs to shift to get real about climate change.

We call those who become paying members of The Tyee our Builders. Last year, nearly 10,000 Builders provided the largest chunk of Tyee revenue — more than half, guaranteeing our editorial independence and allowing us to pay our staff fair wages and freelancers fair rates.

Tyee Builders can feel proud to support public interest journalism at a moment when other newsrooms are shrinking and Google and Facebook are threatening to block all news from their platforms.

If you think quality, fact-based journalism — including in-depth investigative and solutions-focused reporting — makes the positive change possible, supporting The Tyee is a good way to follow through on your convictions.

Diverse media is a bedrock of democracy, and that motivates us to do our best every day. We are humbled and thankful for the support we have received from Tyee Builders. If you haven’t joined their ranks yet, now would be a perfect time to do so!

Head over to our fundraising campaign page and help us hit our stretch goal of $70,000 by midnight on Monday.