{"id":382,"date":"2025-09-22T20:21:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvox.ca\/?page_id=382"},"modified":"2025-09-22T20:22:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:22:57","slug":"n_20250910-cumberland-conk","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/digfm.ca\/index.php\/n_20250910-cumberland-conk\/","title":{"rendered":"N_20250910 cumberland conk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f3731d452edccdd962f245df39c93484\">Cumberland conk could become world\u2019s first Official Village Fungus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-green-cyan-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-adfffc37920091d593241ad7131fbffe\">Sep 10<em>, 2025 ~ Heather Watson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cvox.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Fomitopsis-mounceae-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1098\" style=\"width:800px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Fomitopsis mounceae<\/em> is a perennial bracket fungus that grows larger every year, with its primary growth spurts occurring in the wettest weather, during spring and fall. Photo: Heather Watson \/ CHLY 101.7 FM &amp; CVOX.CA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/cvox.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2025.09.10-official-village-fungus_HeatherWatson.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-palette-color-6-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9ed323c0c9677b31f2d33713dc29855c\">\u201cI mean, I looked it up and nobody has an official fungus. Why, why can&#8217;t we start a trend?\u201d Dawn Copeman, local historian and forest enthusiast, has written to the Village of Cumberland proposing a new title be declared: Official Village Fungus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI just think for me, there&#8217;s just so much gloom and doom in the world right now that it&#8217;s just, for me, it was just a lighthearted way of acknowledging how special this community is and trying to bring a smile to people&#8217;s faces,\u201d Copeman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Copeman said she was walking in the Cumberland Forest one day, idly thinking about symbols to build community, when the idea of a Village Fungus occurred to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-palette-color-6-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-241b233f344123fff1a18263360cd0c4\">\u201cI was also thinking about the provincial flower of Newfoundland, which is a pitcher plant, which is a carnivorous plant you know, so there&#8217;s this juxtaposition, and so I thought, oh, if I have\u2014 if I propose a fungus that has historic connections to Cumberland, but it&#8217;s a decomposer. It&#8217;s not really a forester&#8217;s friend, but it&#8217;s also a forest recycler. It is about rejuvenation, about the continuity of forest. So I thought it was a really appropriate proposal for the village,\u201d Copeman said.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cvox.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fung02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1099\" style=\"width:800px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Fomitopsis mounceae <\/em>is an indicator that a tree is unhealthy, as its main source of nutrients is dead, diseased, and dying trees. Photo: Heather Watson \/ CHLY 101.7 FM &amp; CVOX.CA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-palette-color-6-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0dd7cf96de0b5ee6a0aeafdedfd0cffd\">And she has just the fungus for the job; a red belted conk, scientifically named <em>Fomitopsis mounceae. <\/em>The name is a tribute to Dr. Irene Mounce, a pioneering scientist in mycology and plant pathology, who was born and raised in Cumberland before moving to Vancouver where she later began her academic career. Her father was the first mayor of Cumberland, and a mill owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo she was around wood her entire life,\u201d Copeman said. \u201cShe was in Haida Gwaii in the 1920s getting conk samples as a young woman, you know, it&#8217;s just, and it, it wasn&#8217;t\u2014 it was definitely a road less traveled and she just spent her whole life studying tree pathogens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It isn\u2019t just the connection to Dr. Mounce that Copeman sees connecting this red belted conk to Cumberland; it has its own characteristics that she sees as befitting the village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanna call it a decomposer, but it&#8217;s actually a forest recycler and it attacks the heartwood and the cellulose within the trees themselves, diseased trees, and it basically brings it back down to very simplified organic matter to rejuvenate the forest and grow more trees,\u201d Copeman explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Copeman said this fungus has been referred to as a \u201csmall-scale disturbance agent\u201d because one small fruiting body can take down the commercial viability of an entire tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-palette-color-6-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6d105a8cdae15829a07209a8089a2326\">\u201cI think that Cumberland has always punched above our weight when it comes to being outsized in our, not maybe just our opinion, but you know what\u2013 we have such heart in this community. I mean, we bought a forest! You know, that&#8217;s gotta be something that you&#8217;ve gotta be proud of,\u201d she said. \u201cIt&#8217;s an amazing community. I&#8217;ve lived here over 30 years and still love it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cvox.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fung03.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1100\" style=\"width:800px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dawn Copeman goes by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cumberlandforesthag\/?hl=en\">@cumberlandforesthag<\/a> online, reclaiming the term from its disparaging connotation to its truer meaning, a knowledge keeper of the community. Photo: Heather Watson \/ CHLY 101.7 FM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-palette-color-6-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-72485fe6dbfb91b8ea91f5117a2f12cc\">Cumberland Village Council discussed the proposal in a meeting September 2nd, where Mayor Vickey Brown referred to the petitioner as \u201cthe legendary Dawn Copeman.\u201d The conversation was favourable toward recognizing a figure from Cumberland\u2019s history, but hesitant to make a decision naming an official fungus. One concern raised by Councillor Nick Ward was that, as Cumberland has no other official items, it is unknown how much work this would create for staff. Councillor Troy Therrien\u2019s concern was whether this is something more than one person is interested in, or whether requests for various official village items will be coming in from individuals one at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think I need to have a groundswell of support that says, yes, we&#8217;ll support this position. This is a unique community, we have to have a unique way of telling the world how unique we are, and by having the first municipal official fungus would be the way to do that obviously,\u201d Copeman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dawn Copeman added that if the village decides against naming an Official Village Fungus, there are other routes available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI did discover during my research that the BC government does not have an official fungus. So we might just bump it upstairs and go all in for the BC government, because they have a fossil and the fossil was actually initiated by people in Courtenay for the [Traskasaura],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cvox.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fung04.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1101\" style=\"width:800px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Copeman first became interested in fungi by walking in the forest, something she does with her dog every day for her own mental health. Photo: Heather Watson \/ CHLY 101.7 FM &amp; CVOX.CA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If Cumberland were to name the red belted conk the Official Village Fungus, Copeman has some fun ideas for ways to incorporate it into the village identity, anywhere from stickers, to t-shirts with clever puns, to playful uniforms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMaybe even epaulettes that the village officials could wear at meetings that would look like bracket fungus. I mean, the possibilities are endless. I mean you&#8217;d obviously, you don&#8217;t wanna make government a joke, but I think to have a little bit of levity is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-palette-color-6-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c9b8e8671a64c72df244c7fbff4b004b\">Copeman would like to see the world\u2019s first Official Village Fungus unveiled at the annual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cumberlandforest.com\/fungus-fest\">Cumberland Fungus Fest<\/a>, taking place October 2nd through 5th. Run by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cumberlandforest.com\/\">Cumberland Community Forest Society<\/a>, all proceeds from the Fungus Fest support land protection, stewardship and education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6dab2d5e4867b67cd74e9033e970878b\"><strong>Funding Note:<\/strong> This story was produced with funding support from the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/canadian-heritage\/services\/funding\/local-journalism-initiative.html\"> Local Journalism Initiative<\/a>, administered by the<a href=\"https:\/\/crfc-fcrc.ca\/en\/\"> Community Radio Fund of Canada<\/a>. Reporting done in the Comox Valley is done in<a href=\"https:\/\/cvox.ca\/\"> partnership with CVOX<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cumberland conk could become world\u2019s first Official Village Fungus Sep 10, 2025 ~ Heather Watson \u201cI mean, I looked it up and nobody has an official fungus. Why, why can&#8217;t&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"hide","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-382","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>N_20250910 cumberland conk - Dig FM Comox Valley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/digfm.ca\/index.php\/n_20250910-cumberland-conk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N_20250910 cumberland conk - Dig FM Comox Valley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cumberland conk could become world\u2019s first Official Village Fungus Sep 10, 2025 ~ Heather Watson \u201cI mean, I looked it up and nobody has an official fungus. 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