ISLAND LENS

RAINFOREST FILM COMPLETED

2011-11-09T23:04:00.000-08:00

“This movie is not one to miss.”
Kyle Empringham for World Wildlife Fund Canada Blog

Guided by passion and a determination to honor reality, Richard Boyce travels to the most remote corner of Vancouver Island, through some of the most intensive logging on the planet, into a wilderness that is on the brink of extinction. Massive trees, ranging in age between 1,200 years old and seedlings, thrive along the banks of an ancient river floodplain, which provides for diverse life forms in the temperate rainforest. This film is an evocative journey, contrasting forestry as practiced for ten thousand years by First Nation’s people with modern logging.

After a successful premier at the Vancouver International Film Festival this film will screen at the Montreal Documentary Film Festival, Whistler Film Festival, and at Errington Hall November 27, 2011.

For detailed information, upcoming events, and trailer visit: WWW.RAINFORESTMOVIE.CA

“Rainforest is a sumptuously filmed documentary of the ancient forest… I’m guessing you’ll enjoy this film immensely. It mixes gorgeous imagery with stories of the recent past that will horrify and excite you.”
Dave Olsen Reel Life, Real Ideas: Movies and more…

ISLAND LENS WRITER FOCUSES ON FILM: "SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS"

2009-06-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Richard Boyce filming an aerial garden growing 60 meters high up in the canopy of an ancient Sitka Spruce.

Over the past 5 years I have made a concerted effort to shed some light onto the nature around us with a view that we are here because of the environment that provides humanity with everything we need to live. My belief remains that we must protect the environment around us if we hope to continue to prosper as a species. I have had the opportunity to share my views about a wide variety of subjects with loyal readers and browsers alike.
This is the 125th article of my column ‘Island Lens’ which was first published by the PQNews on February 20, 2004. Today marks the final article for Island Lens, so that I can turn my full attention to the final stages of a film, which I have been producing for the past 3 years entitled; “Such Great Heights.” This feature length documentary film focuses on the unique canopy of the ancient rainforest that grows on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
It has been my lifelong dream to explore airborne gardens, high above the forest floor with their abundance of life that is as diverse as it is lush. During the production of this film I have been able to explore the canopy first-hand and gather stories from people who have spent years researching this incredibly unique environment. First Nations’ Elders have also shared their traditional knowledge with me and my camera.

Aerial gardens are unique ecosystems which have evolved over hundreds of years, as debris is caught in the nooks and crannies of massive trees where it composts over time. Eventually soil deposits develop which provide a rich base for windblown seeds, which flourish in the light. These aerial gardens provide habitat for unique insects, as discovered by a team of Entomologists from the University of Victoria who have recorded more than 125 insects that had never before been identified. Scientists in the early 1990s discovered that the rare and endangered Marbled Murrelet nests exclusively on aerial gardens making it the only known seabird in the world to nest in trees.

With a small crew of climbers, including a professional arborist, I have developed ways to film high up in the canopy, climbing ropes rather than the trees to limit the damage we do to the environment we are documenting. As a team we have created rope systems that allow us to move vertically and horizontally through the canopy of giant Sitka Spruce, Western Red Cedar, and Douglas fir trees.

The temperate rainforests found in the low valley bottoms on the west coast of Vancouver Island have a biomass greater than anywhere on earth, meaning that the density of living organisms per square meter surpasses even that of the famous Amazon rainforest. Science has determined that rainforests are extremely important to the life cycles and functions of this planet. Trees filter air by taking carbon, nitrogen, phosphates, and other airborne chemicals in the atmosphere and fixing them into the soil where they provide nutrients, in turn producing vast amounts of oxygen. Forests are the lungs of our planet. Trees redistribute water, functioning as huge sponges to retain water and pumping vast quantities of water back into the atmosphere. Rainforests greatly effect weather patterns.

Ironically, in order for me to film in the pristine rainforest I have to drive to the most remote regions of Vancouver Island through seemingly endless clear-cuts, tree farms, and second growth mono-culture forests. Less than 2% of the original old growth forest remains in low valley bottoms on Vancouver Island. 85 of the original 91 watersheds have been completely devastated by logging over the past 150 years when the first steam sawmill was brought from England to Port Alberni. Today I estimate that there are three times as many logging roads, where the general public seldom ventures, as paved roads on Vancouver Island.

I am currently editing my film “Such Great Heights” with the goal of providing everyone with an opportunity to explore the canopy of the rainforest before it is completely destroyed. You can catch a glimpse by viewing a short video posted at my website: www.islandboundmedia.ca

Richard Boyce in the canopy overlooking logging operations on publicly owned land in the Upper East Creek, Valley, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

CLAM GARDENS OPEN DEEP WOUND

2009-06-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

Seaweed drying where many generations have spread out this important harvest.

The boat thrashed through the turbulent waters caused by gusts of wind combined with the rushing of the tides through a narrow channel between rocky islands. The tide reached a low of zero at 7am exposing a rocky coastline covered in a wide variety of seaweed well below the tide line that cuts a straight line along the overhanging forest.

The boat is filled to the brim with academics eager to learn about the past from two of the only people with living memory of how their people harvested seaweed and clams along this coast. The passengers included an Archeologist, an Ethno-Botanist, and a Marine Biologist specializing in seaweed as well as graduate students pursuing degrees in Entho-Botany, Environmental studies, and Linguistics who are documenting the journey for their research.

Known traditionally as Qwaxsistalla, the Clan Chief of Kawadillikala (wolf) Clan of Kingcome Inlet, Adam Dick leads us on a tour of his traditional Lok'key'wey. This Clam Garden was built thousands of years ago by his ancestors and was maintained through the centuries by his people. They constructed dikes made of stone to bridge the openings between large rock outcroppings between islands. Over many years these structures expanded the beaches, which supported clams and other marine life. The development of these fertile gardens, which were tended every spring and winter during the seaweed and clam harvest season, increased the numbers of clams many times over.

I try to imagine what it would have been like for a small child to be piled into a dug out canoe with his grandparents, paddling through the maze of islands with most of their belongings. Heading to a winter camp, where they could gather clams and hide from the authorities, in order to escape the torments of the residential schools. As a result of their efforts the knowledge passed down through countless generations, by a people who understood how to survive and flourish on this unforgiving coast, exists today.

With first contact between Europeans and First Nations peoples came diseases such as Small Pocks, Measles, and Tuberculosis, which wiped out the majority of people living on the coast of what is now British Columbia. Those who survived were forced to live on government controlled reserves and they were no longer allowed to move freely to harvest their traditional foods which were located in different places depending upon the season. Their children where forcibly taken to residential schools where they were forbidden to speak their languages. Cultural traditions such as the Potlatch, where knowledge was passed between the generations, were outlawed and punishable with extreme hardships.

On the return trip we stop at a tiny island to pick-up a team of graduate students, who have been harvesting seaweed according to traditional methods. One of them spread out squares of the thin green stands on a smooth rock face and comments that this is the perfect place for drying the seaweed with its southern exposure. I wonder how many people have used this same spot for the same purpose over the past millennia. When we return to the boat Qwaxsistalla tells us that he was reminded of his grandmother who spread seaweed in the exact same spot and remembers that the large tree towering over the rock was just a sapling when he last gathered seaweed with his grandparents.

Once the seaweed is dried and stored in a bent cedar box, layered between cedar boughs and pressed under a stone, dense bricks of rich black are ready to store or eat. It has a smell akin to caramel and the texture is similar to popcorn, except it melts in your mouth as it returns to its original state of thin smooth seaweed with a salty spice that is very unique. It’s delicious.

It turns out that the skipper of the boat is doing her postgraduate studies by researching SPLICE, a chemical used in fish farms to kill sea lice, which kill small salmon fry. Premier Gordon Campbell recently increased the number of fish farms and their capacity in the Broughton Archipelago although the effects upon wild salmon stocks have been shown to be devastating. Currently the BC government allows the use of this chemical agent, despite the fact that it has been banned by several countries including the USA because of its ill effects on the marine environment surrounding Salmon Farms.

HIDDEN WETLAND FOREST IN PLAIN SIGHT AROUND HAMILTON MARSH

2009-05-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

Endangered Wetland Forest ecosystem flourishes
Wetland Forest dominated by Sitka Spruce, Douglas fir, and Western Red Cedar

Last Thursday I watched a group of 12 men in Timber Cruising Vests walk into the woods at the edge of the highway between the Inland Highway and the Coombs Junction, very close to the railway tracks. The next day I hiked into the same forest to see what they were up to and noticed a series of florescent pink flagging tape with the words Timber Cruise. These plastic markers surrounded a particularly large Douglas fir tree but I wasn’t able to find any more anywhere else in that portion of the forest.

Hiking towards the open water of Hamilton Marsh I discovered a lush wetland forest, completely different from the 2nd growth Douglas fir forest on the other side of the marsh, where the public accesses the viewing dock. The area I walked through has an abundance of water pools, many of which are connected by slow moving trickles of water, which seeped through out the uneven ground. Thousands of Skunk Cabbage, with bright yellow blooms surrounded by bright green leaves, thrust out of the rich soil, along with a wide array of wetland plants.

I found man Western Red Cedar, with a ‘Diameter at Breast Height’ (DBH), exceeding 1 meter. I was surprised to find a significant number of Sitka Spruce trees, which are rare and endangered on the east coast of Vancouver Island according to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Many of these tall trees also had a DBH greater than 1 meter.

Somewhat to my astonishment, I found many large old growth Douglas fir trees, despite the fact that this species generally likes to keep its roots dry. These ancients flourish on mounds of soil surrounded by pools of water. Through out the forest Hemlock trees of every size grow in abundance along with Creek Dogwood, Ninebark, Salmonberry, and wild Cherry. This wetland forest has many of the characteristics of an old growth forest with multi-layered canopy; multi-aged trees, and multiple species of trees.

As I neared the open waters of Hamilton Marsh the ground became wetter, and the trees became much smaller, and appeared stunted in their growth. They were clustered together in very dense clumps, and the Douglas fir disappeared entirely. A few pine trees appeared, and the Creek Dogwood became so dense that I turned back and headed for the railway following an old logging track, as indicated by the parallel ruts that weave through the forest. I came upon many giant stumps from a time when the trees were hand cut with a straight saw, using planks to elevate the loggers above the flared butt of the trees.

As I walked back along the railway tracks I was reminded of the root cause of the private ownership of this magnificent forest. After all, it was the provincial and federal government who gave Robert Dunsmuir, a coal baron and the richest man in British Columbia at the time, 2 million acres of land in exchange for building a railway on Vancouver Island back in 1884. The land was sold off and as a direct result the southeast coast of Vancouver Island has practically no public land. Today parks make up less than 3% of the landmass on the south east of Vancouver Island, despite claims by the BC government that 12% of the province is park, equally distributed throughout the province.

Brookfield Asset Management now owns the land around Hamilton Marsh. It plans to log and flog this land as real estate through Island Timberlands. However, the railway is dilapidated and does not serve the public, which was the reason for the land gift in the first place. Island Timberlands’ Public Relations Director, McKensie Leine responded to inquiries by stating: “There is a Wildlife Danger Tree Assessor course going on right now. The class was doing the practical portion of the training and using the area to learn to assess danger trees.” Meanwhile negotiations with conservation groups and the Regional District of Nanaimo have reached an impasse and Island Timberlands logging and development plans stand ready to move into action.

FORESTRY MINISTERS EXPORT GREENWASH

2009-04-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Richard Boyce films a special management zone along Klaskish Creek on Vancouver Island, this is the highest standard of logging in BC according to Ministry of Forests.

Last week someone working for Natural Resources Canada contacted me through my website with the following e-mail message: “Hi - I am looking for some dramatic photos of our fabulous old growth forests. Doesn't have to be Vancouver Island, but the big trees are on the west coast. Do you have licensed photos we could purchase for a display for the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers.” After a quick internet search I found their website: www.ccmf.org

I soon learned that this council includes all of the Forest Ministers and/or Natural Resource Ministers, for every province and territory in Canada along with the Federal Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources. “Governments working in partnership to ensure Canada remains a world leader in Sustainable Forest Management and supports a competitive forest sector.”

Upon closer inspection I realized that this council is the governing body responsible for green-washing the Canadian forestry industry. They lobby foreign governments around the world with presentations, which shows the world that the last of Canada’s old growth forests are for sale. They claim that regulations have changed and the environmental impact of logging has been reduced.

This government council is spending taxpayers’ money to promote a forestry industry, which continues to destroy the ancient forests of Canada at an ever-increasing rate with devastating consequences to both the environment and forestry workers. Logging continues to destroy watersheds while more lives have been lost in forestry in Canada than in the Canadian military overseas in recent years. Raw log exports increase and at the same time far fewer Canadians are being employed in the forestry industry than in past years.

The Canadian Council of Forest Ministers asked me to provide beautiful photographs of an almost extinct rainforest to help sell the last few old growth trees to foreign markets so that mostly international corporations can cut down the last few stands of ancient forest in Canada. I responded with a series of photographs of the ancient rainforest that I have taken over the past few years from all over Vancouver Island, which illustrate the reality of logging devastation.

I also included the following text:

With regards to your request for photographs of big trees, I am very interested in providing you with “some dramatic photos of our fabulous old growth forests.” However, due to the practices of the British Columbia Ministry of Forests there are very few such giant trees left. The biggest, oldest, and healthiest specimens are found only in the lush valley bottoms. Of the original 85 watersheds found on Vancouver Island at least 80 have been clear-cut logged and the majority of those left pristine are having logging roads built into them as I write this letter.

98% of those lush rainforests on Vancouver Island, where the largest, tallest, and oldest trees in Canada once grew, have already been cut down. Much of what little is left is not preserved and will be cut down in the next few decades. Any discrepancy in statistics is due to questionable methods of calculation used by the BC Forest Ministry which includes counting rocky mountain tops, the surface areas of lakes, and areas where trees seldom grow to make up a higher percentage of land mass which has not been logged.

Attached you will find a few examples of my life-long pursuit to photograph the rainforest of Vancouver Island. I have included a proportionate number of pristine images to reflect the current state of this incredible forest. That photo is of a Culturally Modified Tree, which was used more than 150 years ago to extract natural pitch for building, ceremony, and medicinal purposes. Notice that the tree is still very much alive and healthy today although it was used as a ‘Natural Resource’ by several generations of First Nations People.

I followed this with a request to everyone on my e-mail list, to send their own message and photos of logging to the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers. I encourage you to do the same. Their detailed contact information is readily available on their website: www.ccmf.org

ISLAND TIMBERLANDS BANS ECO-TOUR OPERATORS, NOT HUNTERS FOR SPRING KILL

2009-04-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

“A young bear cub shot with my camera on Vancouver Island”

Walking at Top Bridge Regional Park I heard many gun shots from the adjacent rifle range. By the thundering retorts I could tell that these were big guns. Then I remembered that the BC Liberals introduced a spring hunt for Black Bear and Cougar, when they first came to power in 2001.

At the time there was considerable public outrage, but most people have forgotten all about it today, yet the hunt continues and today many Black Bears and Cougars are being shot to death. On Vancouver Island there is an open hunting season on Black Bear from April 1 to June 15. This follows the fall hunt that was open September 6 through December 10, 2008.

Fish and Wildlife BC used to restrict hunting of bears to the fall only because in the spring the sows are with very young cubs. Shooting the mothers tends to seal the fate of the little ones to death through starvation or predation. Black Bear cubs live with their mother for at least a year, learning everything there is to know about being a bear. During the winter, bears on Vancouver Island are in semi-hibernation and the sows give birth to their cubs. In early spring bears begin to move around, foraging for fresh grass sprouts and various young plant shoots.

Today a BC residents can buy a hunting license for $20 to hunt down and kill Black Bears. A gall bladder fetches $500 and the paws about $100 each on the illegal parts market. In 2001 the official wildlife count by the BC Ministry of Environment recorded 12,000 Black Bear living on Vancouver Island. By 2008 more than 1/3 of the population had been killed, with current estimates at between 7,000 - 8,000 Black Bears.

Hunters can also shoot Cougars anytime between September 2 and June 15. The typical method humans use to hunt Cougar is with a team of dogs, often with a radio collar, who chase the mountain lion until it climbs a tree. The hunters then locate their dogs and shoot the cougar out of the tree. In 1995 an estimated 750 Cougars lived on Vancouver Island but their population has been decimated to half that number with approximately 300-400 recorded by Fish & Wildlife BC in 2008.

In the early 1960s, sports fishermen and hunters lobbied the BC government to open all forestlands to the public for recreational purposes. Agreements were made between the private and public sectors, which have benefited millions of people by allowing countless trips for camping, fishing, hunting, birding, mountain biking, canoeing, hiking, swimming, and other recreational activities. In recent years both logging corporations and the BC government have imposed restrictions that reduce public access to forestlands.

In a conversation I had with Ronda Murdock, co-owner/operator of Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours, she explained: “We have been leading tours at Hamilton Marsh for the past two years, as part of the annual Brant Festival, but this year we were told by Island Timberlands that we are not welcome on their land.” Murdock went on to explain that on Tuesday April 7 she received a phone call from Makenzie Leine, spokeswoman for Island Timberlands, who told her that she would not be allowed to give the annual Brant Festival tour at Hamilton Marsh.

Leine also objected to Gary Murdock, who worked as a BC Forest Service Officer for 35 years, based on the fact that he appeared in a short video about Bear Den Island. www.islandboundmedia.blip.tv According to Leine this video proved that Murdock trespassed on the tiny island in the middle of Englishman River where he explained the age of a tree that had been cut down by fallers working for Island Timberlands.

According to the current laws and regulations established by the BC government and Island Timberlands, a hunter with a gun, can hike to Bear Den Island, locate the den, track the animal, and shoot a Black Bear. All this based on the very public knowledge that a bear has a den on this tiny island in the middle of Englishman River as reported in the PQNews along with a photo. However, an eco-tour operator is banned from entering any property owned by Island Timberlands because he has told the public about logging in the middle of a river.

VOTING 'YES" FOR STV MAY 12, 2009 WILL HELP PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

2009-04-02T00:38:00.000-07:00

Looking at things from a new perspective changes the world.

As individuals we can effect a great deal of change on the world around us but the number one way we can effect change for the environment is by voting. This is due to the fact that every level of government sets the laws and regulations that all individuals and corporations are expected to follow.

Greenwash is all the rage but sooner than later we have to really change the human impact upon the environment because the planet is showing many signs of weakening under direct pressure from our species. The public has been demanding environmental protection for years. Based on what people are doing on a personal level in terms of recycling, etc… they want to make a difference but are left with only 2 choices when it comes to voting.

Thankfully, there is an alternative, which has been chosen by 150 citizens selected randomly from across British Columbia. The Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform, after an extensive process, selected the Single Transferable Vote (STV) as the system that best suites BC’s population and political make up. Ireland has being using the STV electoral system successfully for 50 years.

You may remember that in the last referendum on May 17, 2005, BC came very close, with in fact 57.7% of voters endorsing STV. With such a fine margin the government had to agree to a second referendum after establishing a set of standards voted for by the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. In order for the STV system to replace the ‘first past the post system’ voters use today, 60% of BC voters will have to vote ‘yes’ on the referendum ballot during the upcoming provincial election on May 12, 2009.

STV may seem complicated but is actually based on grade 6 math and is designed to make your vote count. Rather than being limited to one vote, you would be expected to list your preferences by writing the number one for your first choice of candidates; with number two for 2nd and so forth until you reach the candidates, which you don’t want to elect, where you would leave the box blank. This eliminates the need for strategic voting and allows you to vote with your conscience.

If adopted, the STV system would first be used in the BC elections of 2013 when voters would elect the same number of MLAs, that has been increased from 79 to 85, for this upcoming election. The entire province would be divided into a number of districts each of which would have between 2-7 MLAs. The Mid-Vancouver Island district would have 4 MLAs, which is equal to the number representing the same area today. You would be voting on a ballot with candidates from all parties, including independents.

Scrutinizers will still guarantee all the ballots and will oversee the imputing of data into computers, which will then do the math. Paper ballots will be kept in case a recount is necessary and as evidence of a fair count.

The reason we need a change is simple, during the 2001 election the BC Liberal party won 97% of the seats with only 58% of the popular vote and in 2005 they ruled with a majority of 56% of the seats in the Legislature but they only received 46% of the popular vote. That power shift allowed Gordon Campbell to cancel the fall session of the legislature in both 2006 and 2008 to avoid questions from the opposition. The very corner stone of parliamentary democracy is the opportunity for the public’s will to be heard by the government.

In 2005 the Green Party of BC received 9% of the popular vote but not a single MLA represents them in the Legislature. Under the STV system the BC Green Party would likely have had 3 MLA’s representing their voters’ base. Trends in other countries that use STV or a similar system, indicate that a broader spectrum of voters are represented in government and politicians are forced to come to agreements and compromises that reflects the will of citizens.

It is interesting to note that political parties, such as the BC Liberals and the BC NDP, currently use a similar STV process to elect their candidates and leaders because they know that the system the public uses today is not fair.

For more information checkout: www.stv.ca

THE MORATORIUM PROTECTING COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA FROM OIL TANKERS AND DRILLING RIGS MAY SOON BE LIFTED

2009-03-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

HARLEQUIN DUCKS EYE HERRING ROE CLINGING TO SEAWEED ALONG THE FRAGILE COAST OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

The abundance of life along the shorelines of Oceanside at this time of year is truly profound. On a single walk I counted 30 eagles on boulders near the waterline while thousands of gulls pecked away at the herring roe washed to shore by waves.

The calm water of the Strait of Georgia, transformed into a bright turquoise color by the sperm of millions of male herring, was shattered repeatedly by the splashes of massive sea lions as they gorged themselves on adult herring just below the surface. Offshore thousands of Brant Geese were feeding on the herring roe and the eelgrass it clings to underwater. Harlequin ducks, with all their brilliant colors, navigated through the shallow waters between countless other ducks, gulls, and shorebirds.

Locally the Brant Festival provides many opportunities to learn more about shoreline wildlife and habitat. It is important to keep a respectful distance from these birds because they have a very limited time for feeding. Humans, dogs, and boats can disturb these seabirds and cause them to break away from the very important business of eating. The Brant Geese are just stopping here briefly to load up on protein from herring roe before they move north to nesting grounds in Alaska.

March 24th is the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which occurred along the Alaska coastline on Good Friday 1989. This giant oil tanker spilled 40 million litres of crude oil into the sea, killing seabirds, sea otters, whales, sea lions, salmon, seals and many other species along the coastline. This oil slick spread over 28,000 km2 of ocean.

Since 1972 the coastal waters of British Columbia have been protected from oil tankers by a federal moratorium. Today the federal government of Canada is being asked to lift this moratorium at the request of Enbridge Inc. Their proposed Northern Gateway project includes building a twin pipeline system running 1,170km from Bruderheim, Alberta (just north of Edmonton) to Kitimat, BC where a supertanker port would be built with 2 ship berths for tankers that can hold anywhere from 200,000 to 300,000 tons of crude oil.

Even without any major spills, vast quantities of crude oil will be pumped knowingly into the waters along the BC coastline. This is because oil tankers regularly fill 1/3 of their hulls with water, pumped in from a foreign ocean, to act as ballast for the return voyage. When this ballast water is pumped out of the hull, to prepare for the next shipment of oil, it takes with it the oil dredges left behind when unloading the last shipment of crude oil. Governments around the world allow tankers to discard this type of waste oil, which can amount to 1% of the volume of the ballast water. In the case of a tanker that is able to hold 200,000 tons of crude oil this equals 650 tons of wasted oil pumped directly into coastal waters each time a tanker returns to a port such as Kitimat.

This is also how many invasive marine species are transported around the world, including: foreign mussels, oysters, eelgrass, seaweeds, and barnacles. These species will be flushed into the coastal ecosystem near Kitimat, along with the dredges of oil from the last shipment.

This entire Northern Gateway project is meant to bring oil extracted from the Alberta's Tar Sands, which is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, to the world market. However the public still has time to demand that the federal and provincial governments maintain the current moratorium on oil tankers and drilling along the BC coast.

A while back a cashier handed me a Loonie coin and I noticed that the loon was covered in black along with the coastline highlighting the text: ‘notankers.ca’ When I checked out the website I discovered that this was part of a Dogwood Initiative campaign to raise public awareness about the impending threat to the British Columbia Coastline. Dogwood Initiative is a Canadian non-profit group based in Victoria, which wants to ensure that BC residents have the right to make their own decisions about how the land they live on is used. A video with world renowned, and local painter, Robert Bateman explains the situation simply. Check it out at: www.notankers.ca

FOREST LANDS LIQUIDATED INTO REAL ESTATE

2009-02-24T23:32:00.000-08:00

On a crisp clear winter’s day I found myself standing just above the hydro-lines on Rowbotham Ridge, which is clearly visible from almost anywhere in Oceanside with its unsightly cut-blocks. I admired a panoramic view of the Strait of Georgia. I could see clearly from Comox to Nanaimo and gazed upon many islands including Denman, Hornby, Lasqueti, Texada, Ballenas, and the Winchelse Group.

My view was partially obstructed by piles of logs that had been felled recently. I soon realized that they had been yarded out of several patches that had been left behind from earlier logging. These bunches of trees had been left as part of a selective logging practice known as Variable Retention, which is referred to by many as patch-cut logging.

The previous owners of this forestland, Weyerhaeuser, had obtained special certification for their logging practices in order to get past tight restrictions set by buyers of lumber such as Home Depot, and European markets. The standards needed to meet these regulations forced the logging multinational to leave small clumps of trees throughout their clear-cuts, including small buffers along watershed tributaries.

Certification was approved, trees were cashed in for dollars, and investors were paid. At the same time international and domestic consumers were duped into believing that logging in BC is regulated by the highest environmental standards in the world. Then Weyerhaeuser sold all of its forestland on Vancouver Island to Brookfield Assets Management Inc

Through the BC Investment Corporation 25% of Island Timberlands is owned by BC Government employees via their pension funds. Since 2005, profits from this logging company have been stored offshore in Bermuda by Brookfield Asset Management in order to minimize taxes paid in Canada.

Island Timberlands is now cutting down the buffer trees which completely defeats the purpose of Variable Retention logging practices. Multinational logging companies are now selling forestland all over Vancouver Island as real estate.

What the public doesn’t realize is that forestlands were established in BC during the 1950's and were put in place to promote sustainable logging that would provide economic stability for future generations. Stipulations were included that local towns would be supported, in perpetuity, by logging companies that benefited from forestland status. These regulations were put in place for the good of local economies. It was illegal for logging companies to sell forestland as real estate.

All private forestlands were included in the Tree Farm Licenses and were regulated by the Ministry of Forests through the BC Forest Service. Since 2001 Premier Gordon Campbell’s Liberal government has stripped away these regulations, cut back the Forest Service staff, and given hundreds of thousand of hectares to multinational forest companies, which they are selling as real estate.

Timberwest is selling 54,000 hectare of forestland as real estate between Courtney and Campbell River with a few plots in Oceanside. Western Forest Products is selling 1,800 hectares of real estate between the community of Shirley and Jordan River. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. has been strategically placing forestland on the real estate market along the east coast of Vancouver Island. A highly visible example is the land around Hamilton Marsh, just outside of Qualicum Beach, which has been logged in preparation for sale.

When you add up all the forestland converted to real estate recently, it represents a larger landmass than is encompassed by all the cities on Vancouver Island combined. Besides flooding the market with property at a time that the world is diving headlong into a massive depression, these properties will be governed by very few regulations yet they will place heavy demands on local water, sewage, and nature.

The fact remains: BC Liberal’s election campaigns have been largely funded, by the same logging companies that now stand to gain billions of dollars in real estate profits. This massive land sell-off is happening at the same time that thousands of forest industry workers are being laid off by these same multi-national companies. The next election is May 12, 2009 and will include a referendum on Electoral Reform, which is so desperately needed in BC.

TRAPPED ON A RIVER’S ISLAND

2009-02-18T22:39:00.000-08:00

CHECK OUT VIDEO: http://islandboundmedia.blip.tv

Canadian Air Crane under contract to Island Timberlands (Brookfield Assets Management BAM) Logging an island in the middle of Englishman River - Sunday February 15, 2009

My last article sparked interest by Parksville’s City Council, who wanted to know more about the effects logging by Island Timberlands would have on the public drinking water supply. As a result Councilor Chris Berger asked me to take him on a hike to see an island in the middle of Englishman River.

The next day city council unanimously adopted an emergency resolution stating: “Therefore be it resolved that the City of Parksville strongly objects to this ongoing logging activity and urges the Provincial Government to take immediate action to halt all logging in proximity to the Englishman River…”

Sunday afternoon I headed up the BC Provincial Park’s service trail past the warden’s cabin, and onto the regularly used Hammerfest mountain biking trails with Councilor Berger, his eight year old son, and Phil Carson of the Arrowsmith Parks and Land-Use Council. A long established agreement with private landowner, Island Timberlands, allows public access to this popular recreational area.

We expected there would be no logging work on Sunday, particularly given the amount of noise complaints by local residents to Island Timberlands. We saw no signs warning the public of active logging.

After winding down the steep slope, on well established switch-backed trails, we crossed the river on a enormous windblown log. We stopped on a massive stump to count 600 rings of this Douglas fir tree that had been felled and cut into three long chunks near the bank of the one hectare island.

Federal and provincial governments have spent millions of dollars rehabilitating the Englishman River, one of the most endangered rivers in BC. Through the BC Investment Corporation 25% of Island Timberlands is owned by BC Government employees via their pension funds. Since 2005 profits from this logging company have been stored off-shore in Bermuda by Brookfield Asset Management in order to minimize taxes paid in Canada.

I began making my way towards the tree where I had photographed a bear inside its den a few winters ago while the other 3 members of my party headed towards the small channel which separates the island from the tree farm that surrounds the Provincial Park. Suddenly I heard this thundering roar and looked up to see a massive helicopter hovering just over the tree tops directly above me.

I ran down a 60 meter log and leapt off the far end into a tangle of bush and debris. I was able to take cover behind the bear den tree where I turned to see the helicopter breaking off a giant tree with its massive claw attached to a steel cable. The intense downdraft from the helicopter blades was hurling giant branches and debris to the forest floor with great force.

The helicopter flew away with the massive log, providing a window of opportunity for me to head for the river but the helicopter returned in very little time, cutting off my escape. The claw broke off a cedar tree directly in front of me. My path was blocked several more times, since the extraction of trees appeared to be random, giving me no opportunity to escape.

After about 20 minutes the helicopter flew away and didn’t return so I was finally able to clamber down a steep gully and wade through the smaller of the two channels that make this an island. From there I made my way into the relative safety of the tree farm where I heard voices calling me. Councilor Berger had called 911 when he reached the relative safety of the tree farm because he realized that I was trapped on the island and in extreme danger.

We waited half an hour before a logger from Canadian Air Crane finally showed up. He admitted that he hadn’t swept the logging site before the helicopter started working. He explained that he regularly can’t keep up with the helicopter and therefore he doesn’t sweep the logging area for people as is required by the Workers Compensation Board.

Island Timberlands made no public announcements that dangerous heli-logging operations would be going on 7 days a week, dawn until dusk, in close proximity to the Provincial Park, putting the public at great risk.

Today 99% of coastal old-growth Douglas fir has been logged, and a multinational investment corporation is destroying the watershed which is clearly not protected by forestry laws. Its time to establish laws which actually protect watersheds.

CHECK OUT VIDEO: http://islandboundmedia.blip.tv

BROOKFIELD LOGGING ISLAND FOREST IN THE MIDDLE OF ENGLISHMAN RIVER

2009-02-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Governments stand by while Island Timberlands logs island in the middle of a river where this Bear dens in a Culturally Modified Cedar Tree on behalf of Brooksfield Asset Management Inc. on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

With the impending doom of YK2 I spent New Years Eve on a personal wilderness retreat. I camped out on a beautiful island in the middle of Englishman River where massive Douglas fir and Cedar trees tower over a diversity of undergrowth that has the distinct characteristics of an old growth forest. Thick moss grows everywhere and bright tuffs of lichens hang from branches, tree trunks, and shale along the river’s banks. This lush forest grows on an island of fertile sediment that has been deposited by the river over many centuries. This tiny jewel of forest is nestled in a deep ravine carved out by the river, somehow the trees escaped logging of the past.

To get there I followed the provincial park trail upstream from the upper waterfalls, walked through a tree farm logged by MacMillan-Bloedel in 1986, and crawled carefully over a fallen log to reach this tiny island paradise. Approaching the spot I knew would be the best for my tent I heard a noise. Clawing… followed by silence. Looking up into the forest ahead I saw a black bear about ten meters up a cedar tree. It was looking over its shoulders at me and looked very cute but didn’t move. I backed away slowing and found another route to the tiny beach where I set up my camp. I didn’t sleep very much with the thought of the bear but at that moment I thought we were both in one of the safest spots in the world.

The next morning I returned to the cedar tree with my camera and noticed that it appeared to have a cultural modification where the bark had been stripped off one side, perhaps to be used for weaving by First Nations people many years ago. The tree had healed itself, with the bark curling over the scar, but then fire had burned the dry exposed wood. This may have been caused by First Peoples attempting to fell the tree to use for a totem, canoe, or building. The bottom of the tree was burned out leaving a fairly large cavity.

I approached cautiously. A slight movement alerted me to a large nose, which was sniffing me out from inside a pile of leaves. The bear rose ever so slowly and looked at me. I took a photo when it was standing at full height, and then backed away slowly. The bear lowered itself back into the den and I returned home.

Today that very same island forest is being logged by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., which owns Island Timberlands. The massive trees are being killed with chainsaws that first limb all the branches, then top the crown off the tree, and finally cut down these veteran trees so that a helicopter can pull the giant logs into the air and dumps them on the side of a logging road.

This logging operation is pure desperation by the multinational corporation which is cutting down any remaining trees that can be sold on the collapsing world market. This brazen logging adjacent to a provincial park may be used to set a terrible precedent that logging in the middle of a river is okay. The Englishman River has been rated as an endangered river yet it provides drinking water to thousands of residents in the Oceanside area as well as spawning grounds for salmon that are on the brink of extinction.

The banks of Englishman River, from this tiny island forest upstream to the dammed reservoir at Arrowsmith Lake, are dotted with old growth trees that were left behind during logging operations of the past. Today, both the provincial and federal governments allow private corporations to destroy fragile watersheds. Ministries of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries all refuse to protect public water from private interests.

What is desperately needed in British Columbia, and across Canada, is legislation that protects watersheds regardless of private ownership of lands.

The upcoming provincial elections on May 12, along with the referendum on proportional representation, can make a difference. Until then you need to ask questions about our watersheds or nothing will change. To make your voice heard locally contact Island Timberlands or your local MLA. To find out more check out: www.brookfield.com

FAIR TRADE LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY

2009-01-21T20:51:00.000-08:00

Many species of bird are threatened by Global consumerism Fair Trade can help change the way the world does business!

Today there are a few places around Oceanside that sell 'Fair Trade' products. This certification assures the consumer that ethical practices have been used to produce specific items. This form of trade sharply contrasts with the standard and established forms of trade, which have been used by multinational corporations for years at the expense of those living in the third world while destroying the global environment.

‘Fair Trade’ is helping communities in impoverished countries; establish sustainable practices that help to protect the global environment, while insuring that the workers get paid ethically. The entire system is dependent upon consumers who must make the choice to support this growing phenomenon. Namely you! Europe has been supporting this method of trade for decades, with a great deal of enthusiasm and effect but North America is slower to change.

The products look the same, and to most people the only difference is that they cost a little more, but the facts are in the ethics behind this movement that is changing the world. This social movement is organized and uses a market-based approach to empower producers in developing counties by advocating the payment of fair price while promoting sustainability. The result is social and environmental standards that help to transform the lives of people and the ecosystems that support them.

The most commonly fair traded products include: coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, handicrafts, fresh fruit and flowers. These items are produced primarily in impoverished countries and sold in wealthier countries such as Canada. 50% is paid to the producers when the order is placed and 50% upon delivery in the country of origin. The buyer is responsible for all transportation costs. The producers (typically individual people, families, and small groups) are paid far more for their products, an amount that allows them to live and build their communities. This ethical trade releases the people from their dependence upon large multinational companies who previously held a monopoly over the workers.

Women in Laos were nominated for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize because of their work over the past 30 years using Fair Trade, by planting a forest of mulberry trees, establishing silk-worm farms, developing dyes using local materials, and building a sustainable industry which provides for their community while protecting the environment.

In Columbia, drug cartels rule vast regions where entire communities are ruled by cocaine. Fair Trade has been combating this vicious cycle by establishing farms that are no longer dependent on cocaine growers. The youth in these areas are no longer forced to serve cartels and live as part of their community without fear by growing coffee, tea, sugar, and food crops.

In many third world countries the standard agricultural practice, introduced by multinational corporations, is slash and burn where the soil is depleted after a few harvests making the area infertile for many years to come. Fair Trade has implemented sustainable farming in many countries over the past 30 years so that crops can grow in one area for a long time. This allows the community to survive in one place, much closer to their traditional lifestyle, while protecting the environment.

Shade Grown is another certification that goes hand-in-hand with Fair Trade and is specific to coffee, which is grown in between the trees, allowing for the habitat for birds and animals to remain. By contrast the standard industrial coffees are grown in massive plantations that have been slash-cut and burned to remove all living organisms. The soil is then depleted in a few short harvests of coffee and then more land is scorched to grow the next crop.

For birders like myself, this is very important indeed since many of my favorite species spend the winter in the south and live in the forests where coffee is grown. Industrial coffee destroys their habitat and Fair Trade Shade Grown Practices can help to protect these areas while still allowing the people to obtain a livelihood. Hummingbirds, Waxwings, Swainson’s thrush, Yellow Warbler, Western Tanager, and most Swallows spend their winters in southern countries where Fair Trade is needed to protect their habitats. You can help by supporting these ethical practices with your purchases.

For more information: www.transfair.ca

LOCAL WATER A GLOBAL ISSUE

2009-01-07T23:45:00.000-08:00

Englishman River Falls Park has lost the lower Falls, forever!

I’ve explored much of the crystal-clear water of Englishman River, as it runs its course of 10 km between the source on Mount Arrowsmith and the estuary in the Strait of Georgia. Jumping off the cliffs at the lower falls in the provincial park led my friends and I to swim across the large pool to the gushing flow of water that was the falls. Skirting around the edge of the pounding water and thick spray we were able to access a fairly large cave in behind the cascading waterfall. We sat on a log, wedged between the rocks, and watched the light filter in through the emerald coloured waterfall. That memory will remain with me forever.

Today, that waterfall no longer exists. The water has finally carved through solid rock, allowing the river to flow under a massive boulder rather than over it. The deep canyon between steeply carved cliffs, etched out by the river’s flow of water, bears testament to the fact that this type of natural change has been happening for millennia. The disappearance of this waterfall reminds me to look at the bigger picture.

Multi-national corporations around the world are taking over control of the world’s water. The pretense is usually that the local governments cannot keep up with the public demands for increased water, safety and security. The result is that the price of water doubles, public access decreases, and poor people die of thirst. The fact is corporations have made water more expensive than anything the general public consumes because it is essential for us to exist. Water in small plastic bottles, fetches double the price of gasoline at your local convenience store.

Today Natural Glacial Waters, a local company, pumps fresh water directly out of Rosewall Creek, just north of Deep Bay. They export more than 24 million individual plastic bottles of water to Asia every year. Recycling has to be a question, but so does ownership of water. Who has the right to sell water?

In 1997 The World Bank, on behalf of multi-national corporations, forced the government of Bolivia to privatize their public water systems as explicit condition of aid for this impoverished country. The collection of rainwater by the people was made illegal. The people revolted, police killed ordinary citizens, but the people prevailed and eventually they were victorious. The government was forced to change and some of the multi-national corporations were expelled from the country. Water was returned to the people as a right, not a privilege to be paid for with cash.

“In every corner of the globe, we are polluting, diverting, pumping, and wasting our limited supply of fresh water at an expediential level as population and technology grows. The rampant overdevelopment of agriculture, housing and industry increase the demands for fresh water well beyond the finite supply, resulting in the desertification of the earth.” This quote comes directly from a film I saw on the big screen during the holidays. “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” is winning awards, receiving rave reviews, and attracting a great deal of public attention. Check it out at: www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com

The film goes on to state; “Corporate giants force developing countries to privatize their water supply for profit. Wall Street investors target desalination and mass bulk water export schemes. Corrupt governments use water for economic and political gain. Military control of water emerges and a new geo-political map and power structure forms, setting the stage for world water wars.”

Maude Barlow, one of the main characters in the film proclaims, “This is our revolution, this is our war. A line has been crossed, as water becomes a commodity. Will we survive?” As the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and the founder of the Blue Planet Project, Barlow has been raising awareness about this issue for decades and sees a sharp increase in support as people begin to realize the dangers. Find out more: www.blueplanetproject.net

One of the most inspiring characters is a Canadian, Ryan Hreljac, who started raising money to provide clean drinking water for people in Africa when he was in grade one. Since then he has raised $2 million which have built 319 wells in 114 countries providing clean drinking water to nearly half a million people. Today he’s in High School.

WORLD PERCEPTION OF BC LOGGING

2008-12-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

The highest standards of logging in British Columbia Designated as Special Management

I just returned home from a journey that has given me a new perspective of international perceptions of forestry in British Columbia. I traveled to Sweden where I was interviewed for a job to shoot a documentary film, deep in the rainforest of Africa.

The Swedish director will spend 4 months filming Pygmies in the tropical rainforest of Congo. I won’t be joining her for a variety of reasons. However, I learned how persuasive and effective the international green-wash campaign, launched by the BC government along with international logging corporations, has been at convincing the world that logging in BC is wonderful.

It just so happened that the film director’s husband is a logger. Originally from France, Xavier worked in Africa for many years as a forester with large logging companies. He now works for the government in Sweden, managing sustainable logging of public land. The Swedish outlawed clear-cut logging years ago and it is illegal to cut down trees on more than a few acres at a time.

He used Google-Earth to show me the logging in Cameroon and Congo where he had worked. He explained that the logging companies target specific species of trees which were cut down selectively. Road building did much more damage to the wilderness than the logging, and they open up pristine rainforest to poachers who destroyed many endangered animal species as well as trees for firewood and building material. From the satellite images, it was easy to find the maze of logging roads, but the forest seemed intact and was completely void of large clearings, other than occasional village sites.

Then I showed him Vancouver Island, which is completely covered by a complex patchwork of clear-cuts, that cover the entire land mass. A seemingly endless maze of logging roads connect massive open clearings, combine with sprawling industrial and residential developments to take over the majority of the Island. A few intermittent parks stand out as green wilderness in the checkerboard of destruction.

Xavier could not believe his eyes, and spent an hour zooming in on individual sites to confirm that what he was looking at was really logging in Canada. He had been lead to believe that Canada had some of the best logging practices in the world, but confronted by the reality he was witnessing, he realized that British Columbia has archaic approaches to forestry. I then showed him some of my video of logging on public land in old growth forests here on Vancouver Island, an area that is under the highest regulations afforded by the BC government, under the designation of ‘Special Management.’ Xavier was completely awestruck by the devastation and sheer scale of the clear-cuts. He had never seen such wasteful and destructive logging operations in his entire life as a logger.

Congo and BC have very different rainforests that are both being destroyed by international corporations with little regards for local citizens. In BC private logging companies log public land at the invitation of the ruling political party while regulations are monitored by industry. Very little of the profits reach the public and yet the citizens allow these practices to continue. In Congo the International Monetary Fund gave billions of dollars to the ruling dictator, with very little of this money reaching the public. Today the IMF wants its ‘loans’ back, but the money is gone so international companies are now cutting down the rainforest for cash, while the local population gains very little.

When I returned home, via the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, I was greeted by a sign kiosk stating: “British Columbia is a world leader in sustainable forest management, conservation and protection.” Below the heading: “British Columbia’s Forests – A World Leader in Forest Management,” the sign states: “An independent academic study confirmed that British Columbia has among the most stringent forest regulations in the world. More than ¼ of the province’s forest are protected or under special management. Less than 1% of the forest is harvested each year – always promptly reforested with native species.”

I encourage you to include a bit of reality in your greetings to family and friends around the world. Don’t let the myth continue, its time to face the truth. I wish you all a Happy Winter Solstice!

WE ALL LIVE DOWNSTREAM

2008-11-05T20:23:00.000-08:00

I have hiked along trails worn through the bush on road allowances in Errington and Coombs for most of my life. Some of these are more established than others, and some have become part of the Regional District of Nanaimo’s trail systems. These trails provide a unique look at private properties and their approaches to water management.

A trailer park with more than 10 RVs, where people live year around, has no proper sewage treatment system. I have watched, and smelled, the raw human sewage flow on the surface of the ground onto the neighbour’s property. The RDN has been notified about this problem numerous times but refuses to do anything to correct the situation.

One trail runs along ditches that drains industrial seepage from the Errington Cedar Mill. These ditches were dug when children were still playing in the field adjacent to the old Elementary School. The well I drank water from as a student at that school became contaminated when the Mill began operations. To date, many of the local property owners still can’t drink water from wells near this ditch.

A number of industrial saw mills somehow managed to expand in my community, along with many car wreckers, trailer parks, and other industry. All this despite bylaws under the Official Community Plan (OCP) for Electoral Area ‘F’, which zone most of these properties as ‘rural-residential.’

The OCP for Area ‘F’ was adopted in 1999 after public consultation, making this area one of the very last in British Columbia to introduce bylaws that regulate land- use for private property owners. There has been strong resistance to these bylaws in this area by business owners, who have responded with none-compliance and legal battles with the RDN.

Since the early 1970’s many local residents have lobbied for bylaws that would protect landowners from industrial sprawl, development, and public health concerns such as contamination of drinking water. Area ‘F’ encompasses most of the land directly uphill from Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Water flows downhill and many contaminants flow with surface water. Much of the drinking water in these urban centers is taken from surface catchments like Englishman River and the Little Qualicum River.

Local municipal elections will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2008 along with a regional referendum regarding water. Vote for protection, help your neighbour get to the polling station, and help change the local government.

This year there are two candidates running for the position of Regional Director for Electoral Area F. The incumbent, Lou Biggemann, has shown his colors as a supporter of development, private business, and commercial industry since 2002. I have met Biggemann at several public events where he has verbally expressed displeasure with my writing and my stance on the environment while himself defending industry and development in this area.

Ceri Peacey is also running for the position of Regional Director of area F, she is a director with the Friends of French Creek Conservation Society in charge of the Hamilton Marsh Committee. I have heard her speak to the regional board in Nanaimo, with passion and articulation, calling for action to protect the watershed. She has put a great deal of time and energy into public awareness of the environment and she asks for input from others. Peacey is calling for change and understands the importance of the OCP to the residents of this community.

The RDN’s referendum will ask voters in Electoral Areas A, B, C, E, F, G and H to support ‘Action for Water.’ This bylaw focuses on improving public awareness, and promotion of existing resources. The hope is that this will eventually lead to regulations and enforcement, which can protect drinking water in this region.

WATERSHEDS NEED PROTECTION FROM PRIVATE OWNERS

2008-10-22T21:28:00.001-07:00

On a recent walk around Labour Day Lake, I was enchanted by the mycological world that erupts with the return of the rains. I spent the entire day examining mushrooms with a wide range of colours: bright yellow, orange, red, dull purple, green, white, and every variation of brown. Some were so tiny they made the evergreen needles look big, while others were the size of soccer balls. They grew on rotting logs, amongst the evergreen needles, and high up on dying trees. Some looked extremely delicate and others hard shelled.

I particularly enjoy hiking at this time of year because of the profusion of life that comes out of death. Decaying wood and the thick layers of humus that have accumulated over the years, forming a rich forest floor, dotted with a diversity of mushrooms. I have only seen such an abundance of mushrooms in old growth forests where centuries of vegetable matter decaying into soil provides a lush environment for fungi.

Mushrooms that appear on a wide variety of surfaces in the forest are actually the fruiting bodies of fungi, which for the most part are hidden below the surface and can stretch out for great distances. They are an indication of a healthy and vibrant forest ecosystem. Water is purified through soil, which is stabilized by tree root systems, that live in a semiotic relationship with fungi.

Labour Day Lake is the main water source for the Cameron River, which flows into Cameron Lake at Cathedral Grove and then into the Little Qualicum River. This water becomes the drinking water source for Whiskey Creek and the Town of Qualicum Beach. Human Resources Development Canada invested in the recreation site around Labour Day Lake by hiring out-of-work forestry workers to build trails around this sub-alpine lake.

Island Timberlands owns the land around Labour Day Lake and has plans to log this old growth forest in the near future. In 2005 a Federal court ruling stated that the BC Liberal government must have meaningful negotiations with Hupacasath First Nation before Island Timberlands could privatize 70,300 hectares of forestland in TFL 44. The deal went through anyway and now the land is being logged with no regards for the public or the environment.

Public drinking water is being threatened from many different angles including: logging, mining, residential developments, insecticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, sewage, ditching of roadways, farming, golf courses, and wetland diversions. At some point the interest of water protection must come first. Private land owners cannot be allowed to destroy the watersheds that provide the public with drinking water.

Every level of government, municipal, provincial, and federal must work together in order to establish laws that are able to supercede the rights of private landowners, when it comes to protecting the safety and quality of drinking water. Today water does not have any real protection under the law, because our society is based around private ownership of land.

What you can do to change the status quo is to make water protection an election issue by asking your local candidates what they plan to do about private destruction of public water. Local municipal Elections are fast approaching on Saturday November 15, 2008 and the BC Provincial elections will be on May 12, 2009.

I live in the Nanaimo Regional District area F where there are two candidates running for the position of area director. The incumbent, Lou Biggemann, has shown his colors as a supporter of development, and commercial industry. I have met Biggeman at several public events where he has verbally expressed displeasure with my writing and my stance on the environment.

Ceri Peacey is also running for the position of director of the RDN area F, she is a director with the Friends of French Creek Conservation Society in charge of the Hamilton Marsh Committee. I have heard her speak to the regional board in Nanaimo, with passion and articulation, calling for action to protect the watershed. She has put a great deal of time and energy into public awareness of the environment and she asks for input from others.

Vancouver Island is a rock in the ocean, which dries out completely during the long draughts of summer and fall. Some years are exceptionally dry while others include sporadic rains that dampen the moods of many locals, but do little for the water table. Aside from human consumption, fresh water is essential for salmon, fresh water fish, tourism, forests, plants, and animal life. Water is the essence of life! Where’s the protection?

CHAINSAWS ROAR IN CATHEDRAL GROVE

2008-10-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday October 5, 2008 Rally protesting logging in Cathedral Grove by Island TImberlands, owned largely by the BC Government.

Cathedral Grove is under attack again, this time by a company that the BC government owns 25% of through a numbered company in Manitoba. Does the public know that the same government responsible for protecting this unique old growth forest is logging adjacent to this world famous provincial park?

Scott Fraser, MLA for Port Alberni-Qualicum said; “The BC government is the single largest investor in Island Timberlands, which is putting the public at risk by logging along the boundary of the park. The government has a very important responsibility to protect public safety in Cathedral Grove. I need to know what the government is doing to protect the trees in the park from wind-throw caused by adjacent logging.”

The province of British Columbia has thousands of employees, who contribute a portion of their earnings to a pension fund. The BC government has established an agency to invest this money. According to their website, www.bcimc.com “The British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) provides funds management services for public bodies and publicly administered trust funds. Public sector pension plans constitute the largest client group.”

The workers who contribute to these trust funds in recent years have included: B.C. Association for Schools, Teacher’s Pension Plan, Union of BC Municipalities, Saanich Police Board, British Columbia Pension Corporation, just to name a few. This same website states: “bcIMC has a limited partnership investment in Island Timberlands, a private timberland company located on Vancouver Island.”

Premier Gordon Campbell was at the Olympic games in China when he announced that his government was increasing the salaries of many CEOs of government companies. Doug Pearce, CEO for bcIMC was given a raise from $599,013 in 2007 to $726,737 for 2008 along with considerable raises to other executives in the firm. Meanwhile Brookfield has moved most of its holdings for Island Timberlands to Bermuda.

“The government is supposed to look out for the public interest, meanwhile a company the BC government has invested in heavily has established an off-shore company in Bermuda to minimize Canadian taxes,” said MLA Fraser.

In fact the BC government is the largest single investor in Island Timberlands, since bcIMC bought 25% of all shares for Island Timberlands in 2005, when the logging company was first established by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. However, Brookfield is listed under the heading of Real Estate on the bcIMC website not as Forestry. The investment is being made through a numbered company based in Manitoba.

In 2005 Island Timberlands was created with private land holdings that had previously been publicly owned as part of Tree Farm License #44. Despite the fact that Madam Justice Lynn Smith of the BC Supreme Court in Hupacasath First Nation v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests) found that the Province had a duty to meaningfully consult the Hupacasath about their claimed rights and concerns in regard to 70,000 hectares of private timberlands within their ancestral territory before deciding whether, at the request of then-owner Weyerhaeuser, to remove those lands from Tree Forest License 44 (TFL 44)

The old growth forest that is about to be logged by Island Timberlands is separated from the main trailed park by several meandering canals of the Cameron River. Due to the steep slopes to the south, this leaves little room for the 300-meter buffer the logging company claims they will be leaving between their clear-cut and the park boundary.

A wind-assessment conducted for BC Parks states; “…the sheltering effects of the stands to the south and west should be maintained. This could be accomplished by acquisition of adjacent lands as noted in the park Master Plan.” This same forest has been considered for purchase by The Nature Trust of British Columbia.

In the past week there has been a public outcry that reflects the local, national, and international passion for the Old Growth forest of Cathedral Grove. The locally elected representative for this riding has tried to raise public concerns. MLA Fraser explained; “I couldn’t question the government directly because they have cancelled the fall session of the legislature. So, I went into the offices for the Minister of Environment and the Minister of Transportation but they weren’t there.”

Government effects environment and that why I’m a green voting NDP federally so I don’t split the vote, thereby electing a conservative in my riding. Proportional representation would be much better.Monday October 6, 2008 Rally to protect Cathedral Grove at Island Timberlands' NorthWest Bay Division south of Parksville, BC

FEAST TO CELEBRATE THE TRADITIONAL HARVEST

2008-09-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Qwaxsistalla stands overlooking his family’s Tekilekw. He points out three distant ridges on surrounding mountains which, when triangulated with a single wooden post, mark the corner of a root garden that has been cultivated by his family for thousands of years. He looks over a grassy floodplain thick with a multitude of colourful flowering plants.

Chief Adam Dick is sharing this knowledge with the people of Kingcome Inlet and the world by hosting a traditional harvest, pit-fire cook, and feast to celebrate this year’s crop. This type of feast, honoring the traditional ways in which his people tended, harvested, and relied upon the plants that grow on the flood plain estuary, has not been held in over seventy years.

In order to document this historic event he invited several leading academics, graduate students, and myself. Abe Lloyd, a graduate student at the University of Victoria, with the guidance of Chief Adam Dick has spent the past year cultivating the family plot of land using traditional methods.

Several small boats brought everyone down to the Tekilekw and the harvest began using traditional yew tools to dig out the edible roots used as a food source by coastal first nations. Three of these plants have root strands, which vary in thickness and must be cooked properly to avoid indigestion while providing proper nutrients. Springbank clover (Tuxsus), Pacific silverweed (Dliksem), and Nootka lupine (Kwani). The fourth plant harvested was Riceroot lily (Xukwem), which has a bulb which divides into small ovals, some of which must be replanted to allow the plant to regenerate.

Elders, adults, and children participated in the harvest, which was bountiful. Stones from a nearby landslide were collected for their fire resistant properties. Sword ferns, Salal bushes, and Thimbleberry bushes were gathered. The roots were cleaned and tied together in small bundles using plant stocks. The riceroot bulbs were wrapped in pouches made from Thimbleberry leaves. A hole was dug in the sandy soil. A fire was built with cedar and rocks were laid in the coals.

After a ceremony, hosted by Chief Adam Dick and elders from the village, an alder post was held up in the middle of the pile of hot rocks. Whole Salal bushes were thrown on top of the rocks. Next a layer of Sword fern fronds was placed to cover the entire pit. Whole potatoes, carrots and onions were placed on the ferns. More ferns were laid on top. Then the traditional roots, wrapped in Thimbleberry leaves and contained inside a cloth bag for each of the 4 types of roots, were placed on the ferns. Whole Thimbleberry bushes were placed to cover the entire pile. Two large canvas tarps covered everything and water was poured into the hole left when the alder post was removed. The entire pit was covered with a thick layer of sand.

Pit cooking of the harvested roots took three hours. A ceremony with elders in traditional regalia honored the opening of the cooking pit. A wonderful feast commenced inside the Big House, followed by a dance that celebrated the animal kingdom with drumming, masked dancers, and a teller of the story.

The events of this week-end were documented by Dr. Nancy J. Turner, an ethnobotanist and professor at UVic, along with Dr. Douglas Deur from the University of Washington. Between them they have written many books on the subject of first nations along coastal British Columbia and their relationship with the environment. They are changing the perception established by early anthropologists, which claimed that local first nations were hunter-gatherers who ‘randomly’ accessed the land’s resources. This theory is being replaced by evidence that first nations actively cultivated the land in order to reap larger crops, altering the natural landscape to increase plant productivity.

Together they published “Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America” based on information provided by Chief Adam Dick who now resides in Qualicum Bay.

Known traditionally as Qwaxsistalla, he is the Clan Chief of Kawadillikala (wolf) Clan of Kingcome Inlet and was educated in the ways of his people by the Chiefs and his grandparents who sheltered him from the residential schools imposed on his generation. This system, imposed by the Canadian government, strictly prohibited indigenous language, culture, and beliefs. The knowledge that remains is now being passed on through events like this harvest celebration.

All along the coastline of British Columbia, rivers run through estuaries that were traditionally cultivated by First Nations. Many of these have been destroyed or are being threatened by development, pollution, and other human activities. Locally the estuary floodplains of Englishman River, French Creek, Little Qualicum River, and the Big Qualicum River as well as smaller estuaries such as those of Craig Creek, Shelly Creek, Morning Star Creek, and Kincade are no exception. This Sunday help celebrate BC River's Day.

WHEN A FOREST IS CUT DOWN IN THE WILDERNESS DOES ANYBODY HEAR?

2008-09-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

View from a seaplane over the mouth of Klaskish Inlet heading towards East Creek Valley, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Flying out of Coal Harbour, over Quatsino Inlet on the northwest corner of Vancouver Island, I looked down at a coastline dotted with fish farms, tree farms, and clear-cuts. We headed south along the rugged Pacific coast and flew past Red Stripe Mountain, logged from the waterline up and over its peak at 639 metres (2096 feet).
Back in May I wrote of my journey by logging road into the Upper East Creek Valley where I discovered that the highest standards of logging in the province, much flaunted by government and the logging industry, are nothing short of clear-cuts and environmental destruction on a massive scale.
We flew up Klaskish Inlet and over the estuary of East Creek with its beautiful tidal fields and interwoven channels. The lush forest below carpeted the valley floor and swept up the steep slopes to the tops of the surrounding mountains. It was difficult to keep track of the meandering creek as we soared higher into the watershed and the valley split into several narrow canyons.
Suddenly the thick foliage was ruptured by a gapping hole that ripped open the canopy to reveal bleached stumps and crushed wood debris. The clear-cuts became more recent as we circled the upper valley of East Creek, below I could see a grapple-yarder at work, a fully loaded logging truck driving over a bridge, an excavator building a new road, and vehicles parked at the edge of a cut-block which still contained fresh cut trees. The upper watershed looked like a patchwork quilt of destruction woven together by sparse threads of trees.
I was glad when we finally drifted back down over the pristine rainforest and made our descent towards the ocean. The pilot skillfully landed the Beaver Seaplane behind an island and taxied towards a sandy beach. I jumped into the water and helped position the seaplane while my friend and the pilot unlashed our kayaks. We waded onto shore and the pilot took off, leaving us alone in the wilderness of Klaskish.
Having obtained permission from their descendents, the Quatsino First Nations, we entered the ancient village site of people who lived here for nearly 10,000 years prior to contact with western civilization. We spent the afternoon marveling at culturally modified trees, which had been altered by first nations hundreds of years ago.
The forest was dense from the ground up into the canopy. Life flourished on every surface with diversity that boggled my mind. This feeling continued throughout our trip as we explored the estuary of East Creek, paddled up past the tidal surge, and spent time examining some of the giant trees that grow close to the shoreline.
One of these was a massive Pacific Red Cedar which measures 54 feet in circumference and was hollowed out by fire many years ago, creating a cave which could easily shelter several people. Sitka Spruce, which appeared to be relatively short for this typically tall species, were surprisingly wide and numerous.

We paddled north along 8 km of rugged coast exposed to the Pacific Ocean. Luckily there was little wind but swells and rebounding waves make for a rough ride with chaotic wave patterns that took us 3 hours to navigate. We were impressed by the abundance of healthy kelp gardens along the way. When we reached the safety of Heater Point and entered into Klaskino Inlet, we were greeted by several Sea Otters, and realized they are likely the cause for the healthy kelp.
These rare and endangered species were nearly trapped to extinction for their furs and were completely wiped out along the west coast of Vancouver Island. Sea Urchins are one of the main food sources for this cute furry mammal and the main food for Urchins is kelp.
This is significant because kelp beds are the breading grounds for plankton, as well as many small fish, which provide the base for the entire marine food chain. Biologists were noticing that the kelp beds were disappearing and they acted with an experiment that included transporting Sea Otters from Alaska and releasing them along the west coast of Vancouver Island. This project began in 1969 with 89 adults, which have established a healthy population between Tofino and Cape Scott where approximately 3,000 were counted in 2004.

UNITY NEEDED TO WIN BACK THE WOODS

2008-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Monday August 18 at 6:45 am I pulled on my steel-toed cork boots, buttoned up my timber-cruising vest, and put a hard hat on my head. With a firm grip on my video camera I climbed up a steep embankment following two fallers headed for the timberline. Hiking through the debris of the slash-cut we followed a ribboned route, which they had cleared of many branches, by balancing along logs bucked to length. We regrouped at the edge of the old-growth forest and discussed the practicalities of my videotaping them at work.

While the 24-year old, with 5 years falling experience, cut away the huckleberry bushes and small saplings, the older faller talked with me about the reality of his industry. According to him Weyerhaeuser and TimberWest had left workers out to dry and couldn’t care less about the local communities. He blamed the downturn in forestry on the greed of those same corporations who continue to flip Tree Farm Licenses with the help of government to turn a profit.

He was outraged by land deals being made by Western Forest Products and TimberWest that are to turning timberland into real estate. His thoughts were that the land belongs to the people of this province and it should be illegal for multinational investment corporations, backed by banks, to sell it out from under the public for profit. Sounds a lot like what I’ve been writing about for years.

I was placed in a safe zone and the older faller stood behind me ready to pull me out if there was trouble. First the young faller determined the lean of the tree, then he cut out a wedge of wood with an undercut, and then he moved to the other side of the tree for the back-cut. With the help of a wedge he tipped over the 4-foot-in-diameter Western Hemlock, pulled out the chainsaw, and walked back 10 feet where he watched the tall tree crash to the ground with a thundering boom. Then he cut down 3 more trees. Two giant Sitka Spruce trees towered over us but it would take these men most of the day to clear the smaller trees in the area before tackling them. However, they did want me to videotape the Sitka being felled and asked me to return the next morning.

The rest of the day would take a novel to describe in detail. On the way down to sea level I drove past several excavators building new roads and a blasting crew preparing their drilling machine. At the log dump I watched a massive log boom of prime old-growth cedar logs being loaded onto a barge, which can hold 16,000 cubic meters of wood. Two giant towers dropped gargantuan claws into the water and pulled up massive bundles of logs while sidewinder tugs pushed more wood into their range. You’ll have to wait for the film to get the full effect.

In the afternoon I climbed into the cab of a Super Snorkel about 15 feet off the ground and watched the operator swing the massive claw out into the clear-cut and grab a log. With ease, he manipulated the levers so that long cables pulled the massive timber down the steep slope onto the road where he threw it onto a pile. A Hoe-chuck excavator crawled through the slash across the steep slope in search of logs, which he could toss down the hill to the claw of the Super Snorkel.

That evening, in the loggers’ bunk house, as I gathered signatures on release forms for my film entitled “Such Great Heights”, the men were very intrigued by my production. The Hoe-Chuck operator, sitting on his cot beside a laptop computer, copied down my website: www.islandboundmedia.ca promising to check up on me right away.

I decided that I had to leave without videotaping the giant Sitka Spruce being felled because it was no longer safe for me to be there. Today we live in a world where local residents from different walks of life may have very similar convictions about the fact that multinational corporations are destroying our world, but we are separated by the spin created by those very same corporations. Government and big business continue to pit the workingman against environmentalists, First Nations, and the general public, while they run away with the cash.

Together we need to create the future for our communities, island, province, country, and planet. We can’t leave it up to greed. We must unite to demand an end to corporate control of our forests. I have left the people and places in this article anonymous out of respect for the men who showed me their work, up close and personal. To them I am grateful. Let us dispel the myths.

ISLAND TIMBERLAND LOGS MOUNT ARROWSMITH ON VANCOUVER ISLAND

2008-08-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

LOGGING ON UPPER SLOPES OF MT.COKELEY BY ISLAND TIMBERLANDS LEAVES 50% OF WOOD TO ROT photo by Gary Murdock
RECENT LOGGING BY ISLAND TIMBERLANDS BESIDE FAMOUS JUDGE'S ROUTE photo by Peter Rothermel

One of my favourite places to hike has always been Mount Arrowsmith. The first time that I ventured up the mountain I was eleven years old and hiked up to the ‘Saddle’ between Mt. Cokley and Mt. Arrowsmith, with 2 friends and one adult. We tried to hike up to the main massif but snow made it too difficult so we resorted to sliding down the steep slopes, which was lots of fun.

Since then I have hiked every approach to the mountain that I know, including up and over Mt. Cokeley starting at the ski slopes, the saddle route, the Judge’s route, and several others that you’ll have to find on your own. The views of the many peaks of the mountain from the ‘saddle’ are extraordinary with steep cliffs falling off to an emerald coloured lake, which hold ice until well into summer.

The hike up to the alpine ridges is through forests that are shadowed by the steep mountain slopes, have extremely short growing seasons, and are covered by snow through much of the year. Yellow Cedar (Cypress), Mountain Hemlock, and Alpine Fir are the dominant tree species. At higher elevations the rocky ridges are dotted with very old trees that take on the appearance of Bonsai, due to the extreme conditions and short growing season.

In spring and summer the alpine meadows and slopes are covered with a multitude of flowers of every colour imaginable. These include blue listed endangered species like: Olympic mountain aster, Lance fruited draba, Sand dwelling wallflower, Woodland Penstemon, and White wintergreen. Heather and flowering berry shrubs grow in abundance along the trails.

On one of my first hikes I watched a pair of young marmots browsing along the slopes near the lake. This colony of the most endangered species in Canada has now disappeared, likely due to logging on the slopes all around Mt. Arrowsmith. The value of Yellow Cedar for export to foreign markets is now so great that logging companies are clear-cutting the alpine forests. Yellow cedar is usually only found at higher elevations and is the oldest tree species in our region growing with documented living trees dating back 1500 years.

A small park exists with the name of Mt. Arrowsmith Regional Park, but it is located on Mt. Cokeley and does not protect any of Mt. Arrowsmith. The entire forest surrounding these two mountains is privately owned by Island Timberlands who continue to log higher up the slopes each year. In 2006 senior management from Island Timberlands assured the public that they would buffer the important hiking routes to Mt. Arrowsmith. Since then they have heavily logged the areas in question with no regard for preservation of the trails.

The slopes beside the Judge’s route have been clear-cut extensively in the past year and the slopes of Mt. Cokeley, beside a small lake on the road to the old alpine ski lodge, have also been heavily logged. Almost half of the trees that were cut down appear to have been left behind. Much of the wood debris that is being left to rot has suffered the fate of long butting, a logging practice where only the prime part of the trees is taken, leaving the rest behind in order to save on transportation costs. This practice is not allowed on publicly owned land but there are no penalties for this type of waste on private land.

The European Union has stipulated that they will only buy lumber that is certified as meeting with environmental standards. Island Timberlands claims they are meeting these standards but do the buyers really know what is happening on the slope of Vancouver Island’s mountains? Trees being cut on Mt. Arrowsmith are over 4000 feet above sea level, with a growing season so short that it takes hundreds of years for a tree to reach only 18 inches in diameter.

These sub-alpine forests are extremely important for our local aquifers and streams because they slow the melting of snow and prevent evaporation. The shade from these trees allows for a slower run off from the mountain and extends the flow of water into the lands below well into the dry months.

For more information and to support the preservation of Mt. Arrowsmith check out: www.mountarrowsmith.org

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BC LIBERALS SHUFFLE FORESTRY MINISTER

2008-07-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Back in January I wrote an article entitled “LAND GRABS AFFECT US ALL”, about the privatization of BC crown forestland. Last week the Auditor General of BC released his report, slamming the Ministry of Forests’ handling of publicly owned land, which was given to Western Forest Products (WFP) for private development.

Here is a quote directly from the report by John Doyle, Auditor General: “Overall, the report concludes that the removal of private land from TFLs 6, 19 and 25 was approved without sufficient regard for the public interest. The report notes that: the decision was not adequately informed — it was based upon incomplete information that focused primarily on forest and range matters and the interests of the licensee, with too little consideration given to the potential impacts on other key stakeholders; consultation was not effective and communication with key stakeholders and the public about the decision was not transparent; and the impacts of previous land removal decisions were not monitored to help inform future decisions.”

Much media attention has been given to the land around Jordan River, just west of Sooke, where 28,273 hectares of land was taken out of the publicly owned tree farm by the Ministry of Forests and given to WFP without any financial compensation. However that only accounts for lands privatized within TFL25 while lands privatized in the other TFLs have gone mostly unnoticed. TFL19 is much larger and is located around Gold River, Tahsis, and Zeballas while TFL6 lands are located around Port McNeil, Port Alice, Coal Harbour, and Winter Harbour. The market value of ocean side property in these areas will equal massive profits for WFP and will alter the landscape forever.

The intention of the Tree Farm License system was to legally bind the timber to the land so that logging companies would be obliged to provide work in those areas for generations to come. The spiraling downturn in the forestry industry is as a direct result of these obligations being altered by the current BC government. Raw log exports, mill closures, and privatization of land are allowing logging companies to profit without putting back into local communities for the future.

At the heart of this controversy is the fact that Minister Rich Colman’s older brother, Stan Coleman, works for Western Forest Products where he is their Manager of Strategic Planning. Public outcry has been growing since this story first surfaced. As a result, Premier Campbell shuffled Rich Coleman from his cabinet position as the Minister of Forests, Range, and Housing to the Ministry of Housing and Social Development on June 23, 2008.

Pat Bell was appointed as the new Minister of Forests and Range from his last posting as Minister of Agriculture and Lands and Minister of State for Mining. A government website states; “Prior to becoming an MLA, Mr. Bell owned a trucking company and co-owned a logging company.” Bell has been defending the actions of his predecessor since his appointment.

None of this scandal should come as a surprise to the voting public, after all the BC Liberal party came to power in 2001 with millions of dollars in financial contributions from the largest logging companies in BC. These companies are mostly owned by multinational investor groups. Waterfront property is already at a premium on the international real estate market and the Winter Olympics will shine a light on BC real estate. Placing publicly owned land in the hands of private investors will mean the average BC citizens will be left out of the deal.

According to the government’s website Gordon Campbell was a developer before becoming the mayor of Vancouver. The same site states: “Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Coleman ran a real estate management and consulting company.” The privatization of public resources in BC has become the hallmark of the Gordon Campbell Liberal government: BC Rail, BC Ferries, BC Hydro, BC Forest lands, and now they are working on BC water.

What is needed now is a judicial review to follow the auditor general's report. This would mean that the BC Supreme Court would investigate allegations of any wrong doings and the consequences could merit legal actions. Otherwise the Campbell government will continue to shuffle cabinet and flood the media with spin in the hope of sliding yet another issue under the carpet so that they will be elected again Tuesday May 12, 2009.

BC LIBERALS CONTINUE TO PRIVATIZE PARKS

2008-07-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

Strathcona Park was established in 1911 as the first provincial park in British Columbia; to this day it is the flagship for the entire park system. What happens in Strathcona usually sets precedent for parks throughout the province.

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort (CWR) has requested that BC Parks amend the Master Plan for Strathcona Park to allow horses into the protected lands. CWR would like to build a horse trail 14km into Strathcona Park through the pristine Bedwell Valley to You Creek. There they plan to build tent platforms, corrals, and toilets for their exclusive clients. This camp will be located to provide easy access to Cream Lake and Bedwell Lake. The trail would start at their main resort on Bedwell River at the head of Bedwell Inlet, which is in the heart of Clayoquot Sound.

The general public will not benefit from this deal, since the resort is only accessible at great costs and the price for a stay there is very expensive. 3 Nights=$4,750 or 7 Nights=$9,450. The cost of barging horses from Tofino to the mouth of the Bedwell River, where CWR is located, is $3000 and rising with fuel prices. Last fall a group of hikers from Friends of Strathcona Park paid $500 for a water taxi so that they could hike into the Bedwell Valley. As a result of these costs the proposed horse trail would be for the exclusive use of CWR guests.

BC Parks creates Master Plans for all provincial parks after consultation with the general public as well as groups that represent park users. The policies established in these plans are then upheld by government staff and reviewed publicly every few years. Today the policy from the Master Plan for Strathcona Park clearly states that no horses are allowed in the Bedwell Valley.

One of the main reasons for not allowing horses onto parklands is that they eat hay, which often contains seeds from invasive species resulting in the spread of noxious and exotic plants. Horses can spread the seeds from foreign grasses, thistles, genetically modified canola, alfalfa, clovers, and other non-native plants which then grow into seeding plants. In this way an entire ecosystem can be destroyed because rare native plants can no longer compete with newly introduced species, which spread like wildfire.

The digestive system of a horse can be very slow, allowing seeds to remain inside the stomach for as long as a two weeks. An online report from National Parks in the Austrian Alps states; “Studies have shown horses can retain weed seeds in their gut for up to 14 days and these can then germinate in manure in national parks.” CWR claims they will use sterilized food for the horses, however this is next to impossible to monitor. There are also very few suppliers of sterilized hay and what little is available is extremely expensive.

Other concerns include: soil erosion from steel-shoed horses, trampling and grazing impacts on a delicate ecosystem, and damage to the banks of streams, rivers, and lakes.

The Bedwell Valley is a wilderness that provides habitat year around for Bear, Roosevelt Elk, Cougar, Wolf, and many smaller mammals. It is a safe haven for animals that are hunted everywhere else. Interaction between horses with people and these wild animals is inevitable with a trail that will be frequented by SWR guests. The standard response by BC Fish and Wildlife, when wild animals ‘threaten’ people, is to shoot the animal.

Situated in the heart of the Vancouver Island Mountain Range, Strathcona park was established in part to protect significant and environmentally sensitive areas such as alpine meadows, moss beds, alpine wetlands, snow grass and sub-alpine forest communities. The occasional group of hikers who makes it all the way to the Bedwell Valley will cause very little damage to the environment. Regular groups of multiple horse riders will significantly impact this sensitive ecology. Allowing horses into Strathcona Park may establish a precedent for all parks in BC.

Please let BC Minister of Environment Barry Penner know about your concerns. Phone: 250 387-1187   PO Box 9047 STN PROV GOVT Victoria BC V8W 9E2 env.minister@gov.bc.ca

GARRY OAK ECOSYSTEMS NEED PROTECTION

2008-06-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week I hiked up the Nanoose Notch in search of the beautiful purple Camas flowers that grow in fields under the Garry Oak and Arbutus. The purple Camas was an important staple in first nation’s diet and only grows in the rainshadow climates. I was disappointed because I had missed the bloom by a few weeks. However, I was impressed by a large group of flowering Death Camas, a cream colored cluster of flowers, which also grows from a bulb but is deadly poisonous.

I started my hike after turning right off Fairwinds Drive onto Anchor Road, then Chain Road, and finally onto Link Road. After walking past a large holding tank for water built by Fairwinds I noticed new construction. A building site has been leveled next to an existing house. Several carcasses from Arbutus and Garry Oak trees lay in piles surrounded by newly exposed rock and debris.

The view from the south face of the Nanoose Notch is spectacular, overlooking Nanoose Bay and the surround 2nd growth forest with Mt. Moriarty and Mt. Arrowsmith off in the distance. I can understand why someone would want to build a house there. How many more houses will be built on this slope? How much of the Garry Oak ecosystem will be blasted and leveled to make way for buildings and roads? Where they will get their water from?

On the other side of the hill Fairwinds continues to blasts roads through similarly rare ecosystems and many more are planned. In their most recent newsletter Fairwinds states: “The 1350 acre oceanfront community of Fairwinds has 700 acres remaining to develop which translates into 1600 to 1800 units depending on density. In order to meet the changing times and evolving needs of the community, a detailed masterplan is being prepared with an emphasis on Community and the Environment.”

Public input is needed to protect the rare and endangered Garry Oak ecosystems found on the Nanoose Peninsula. There is an opportunity to significantly change the status quote by developing plans that protect key sites like the Nanoose Notch. Significant buffers around the two lakes, bluffs and meadows should be protected from development while enhancing the quality of life for those who live in the community. Nanoose is one of the last strong holds of the Garry Oak ecosystem, which has been brought to the brink of extinction in British Columbia by agriculture and housing development.

Nanoose Notch is owned in part by Fairwinds with the remainder falling under the jurisdiction of the Federal Department of Defense for a submarine and weapons testing facility. To their credit Fairwinds has built trails or maintained old ones to allow the public to walk on their private land around Enos and Dolphin Lakes as well as onto the slopes of the Nanoose Notch. A joint private and federal partnership should establish an ecological preserve rather than a park, where the emphasis is on human recreation, which can do great damage to such a delicate plant community.

Garry oak ecosystems support high numbers of blue and red-listed species of flora and fauna. These plant communities are red-listed by the BC government and listed as rare and endangered by the federal government of Canada. The Nanoose peninsula is unique because it hosts all of the rare ecosystems that are associated with the Garry oak include maritime meadows, coastal bluffs, vernal pools, grasslands, rock outcrops, and mixed transitional forests.

The designation of plant communities is usually identified by the dominant species, in this case the Garry Oak. However, the entire ecology is dependent upon the other parts that make up the whole. Many bulbs and smaller plants die out if the trees that protect them from the elements are removed. The BC Conservation Data Centre concluded: “At least 694 species, subspecies, and varieties of plants have been identified in Garry oak and associated ecosystems in British Columbia. Garry oak ecosystems are home to more plant species than any other terrestrial ecosystem in coastal British Columbia.”

Send email to livehere@fairwinds.ca or contact the Fairwinds Administrative Office 3455 Fairwinds Drive, Nanoose Bay, BC, V9P 9K6 Phone 468-7054

GREEN WASHING THE BLACK OUT OF OIL

2008-06-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

I spent several days in Vancouver for the premier of a friend’s film titled “Up the Yangtze” which has been held over in every major city in Canada. The thirst of the audience across North America has surpassed the numbers attending any Canadian Documentary Theatrical release. All these people want to see the largest dam in the world at the head of the Yangtze River, in China.

Then I attended the ‘Building Green’ conference in Courtenay where I spoke to one of the keynote speakers, who is a highly respected engineer. He told me that the largest man made dam in the world is actually in northern Alberta, around Fort McMurray. This massive structure was built to hold back the toxic waste tailings from the processing of the tar sands. A massive reservoir continues to grow because the extraction process destroys between 2 to 6 barrels of water for every barrel of raw oil. This water becomes toxic and is being stored along the Athabasca River behind an ever-growing dike constructed from rock, sand, and gravel.

An ‘out of sight out of mind’ attitude is allowing the Canadian public to buy into the economic boom that is being heralded as a great success. The processing of oil from tar sands is the most inefficient way to produce energy in the world.

A newly released book by bestselling investigative journalist William Marsden is dedicated to Alberta’s Energy Industry and is titled: ‘Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn't Seem to Care)’ The author stated; "They're going to be the architects of their own destruction." One scene describes fishermen along the Athabasca River, downstream from the tar sands, who had complained that all the fish tasted like gasoline but then the fish began to disappear.

Canada cannot sign any international environmental agreements while the extraction of the tar sands continues. We can’t have both, its one or the other. The Harper government has made its choice and if firmly behind the oil companies. The public has very little information about this catastrophic environmental degradation being perpetrated in the of interest profits.

The Boreal forest, one of largest in the world, is being destroyed at a horrific pace to make way for open pit mines to extract the tar sands. The forest that is being leveled and scraped away has been scientifically proven to form the weather patterns that affect much of eastern Canada. While some of the wood is being used for pulp and other purposes much of the forest is simply being leveled to make way for massive machinery, which scrapes the earth away to extract the tar sands.

In British Columbia Gordon Campbell’s Liberal continues to work towards lifting a long-term federal ban on offshore oil exploration. On Vancouver Island they continue to replace hydro electric with gas burning energy sources, both of which come from the area around Fort St. John. The BC government is also increase the amount of coal burning in this province with surplus energy destined for the USA market.

Yet, the spin-doctors for the federal Conservatives and provincial Liberals continue to claim that they are going green. Ignoring scientific evidence by advocating economic prosperity at the expense of the environment. These political parties would have the public believe that they are fighting global warming, combating climate change, protecting clean water, and working towards a sustainable future. What is actually being done?

Ask questions of your provincial and federal elected representatives and let the Prime Minister know you have concerns about the reality of claims that the government of Canada is working to protect the environment.

OLD GROWTH LOGGING INCREASES WITH FORESTRY DOWNTURN

2008-05-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

Photo #1 - BC Ministry of Forests approved the logging of Klaskish Creek by LeMare Lake Logging between 2003-2006
Photo #2 - BC Ministry of Forests approved LeMare Lake Logging for Upper East Creek 2006-2008 The single trees along the bank which may not survive seasonal winds are considered a watershed buffer
Photo #3 - BC Ministry of Forests has approved logging of the Lower East Creek Valley by Western Forest Products Fall 2008

I just spent two weeks in one of the last ancient rainforests on Vancouver Island, west of Port Alice. After passing over the last mountain ridge, where a bulldozer had plowed a tunnel through 10 feet of snow, we descended into the East Creek valley, which has been pristine since the last ice age 10,000 years ago.

In the past few years LeMare Lake Logging has blasted over this mountain ridge and felled most of the old growth forest in the upper watershed of East Creek. Massive stumps from ancient Cypress (Yellow Cedar), Mountain Hemlock, Pacific Red Cedar, and Balsam Fir trees are all that remain in clear-cuts devoid of life. Thin strips of trees separate the roads from the main water tributaries.

We watched as more trees were being felled. Hundreds of truckloads of logs lie on the sides of the roads, waiting for the snow to melt so they can be hauled to the boom yards for shipping. The public has been led to believe that logging is kept away from the watershed of creeks, but that is not the case.

Western Forest Products will be moving in to replace LeMare Lake Logging in the next couple of months and they will destroy the lower valley. As far as the BC Ministry of Forests is concerned this is a done deal with no public process for approval.

East Creek is designated as a Special Management Zone by the Vancouver Island Land Management Plan and was considered a Natural Disturbance type #1 by the Forest Practices Code. The public was promised that the highest standards of logging regulations would be upheld in this ancient forest. However, the ‘Results Based Forestry Code’, introduced by Gordon Campbell’s BC Liberal government, leaves it up to the logging companies to report on their logging activities with no public approval process in place to monitor environmental or ecological degradation in the old growth forest.

A few weeks before my trip to East Creek, I went to Victoria to find out information about logging in the area from the BC Ministry of Forests. When I arrived at the Forest Service’s office tower I found no waiting room, no receptionist, and no index list of personnel just a security guard inside a plexi-glass cubicle who spoke to me through a metal speaker. He made several phone calls, but was unable to find someone to help me at the Forest Services office and finally instructed me to go to another building where I would find the Forest Practices Board.

The elevator opened to 4 locked doors with panels for security swipe cards and no nameplates. Several minutes later a man got out of the elevator and slid a card in the security panel. I asked him if this was the Forest Practices Board and mentioned the name the security guard had given me. The man told me to wait and locked the door behind him.

Eventually a woman opened the door and asked me to sit in a tiny lobby partitioned off from a maze of cubicles by wall dividers. Ten minutes later a man appeared with a rolled map of the entire province with zones indicating Tree Farm Licenses. This map is so vague that it is of no use for navigation. As I asked questions two more men appeared but none of them had very much information to provide. I was referred to an online website where I would have to register for a BC identity number in order to access government maps.

A decade ago when I was doing similar research about the Walbran Valley I went to the Forest Ministry office in Victoria. The lobby walls were covered with racks full of detailed logging road maps from across the province, available to the public free of charge. A registered forester explained detailed logging plans for the area provided at the expense of the logging company. He then photocopied several maps for me and e-mailed me a digital version of the entire proposed logging plan. A complete copy of the Forest Practices Code arrived at my home a few days later. The logging plans were subject to public review, input, and ministry approval prior to the company blasting roads and felling trees.

Today the old growth temperate rainforest of East Creek is being blasted for logging roads, trees are being cut down, yarders are dragging the logs across the watershed, and the ecosystem is being destroyed.

Based on what I witnessed, the public does not know that this is happening today, and the Ministry of Forests has approved it. Take action to protect Vancouver Island's Ancient Forests by joining the online petition at: www.wcwcvictoria.org/petition_vi

MULTINATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PUSH BILL C-51

2008-05-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

The most personal environment of all is the individual human body. In order to stay healthy many of us make specific choices about what we eat, drink, and take for medicine. Personally I have eaten a vegetarian diet for the past 15 years and I try to eat mostly organic produce. When I am faced with an ailment I search for the most natural health products available, although when push comes to shove I listen to my doctor and take what he prescribes.

On April 8, 2008 Bill C-51 was introduced to the House of Commons in Ottawa. It has just passed through its first reading, which means that it is not law yet! This bill will allow Health Canada unprecedented powers over the public in terms of what we can consume for our own health benefits. Through regulations, fee structures, and taxation this bill will put many smaller companies out of business allowing for large multinational pharmaceutical companies to take over completely regarding the sale of natural health products.

Basically, C-51 changes the definition of the word drug to include all natural health products. This means that Health Canada will be given the power to force natural health products off the market. All such products will be treated as drugs that must face the same fees, regulations, and taxation as pharmaceuticals.

To date no death has been attributed to a natural health product. However, the Federal government of Canada has been trying for decades to regulate this growing industry to ‘protect’ the public from the unknown. In 2004 the Federal government introduced natural health product regulations, which required anyone selling these products had to conform to a licensing requirement. To date 60% of license applications have failed and it is expected as much as 75% of all Natural Health products currently sold in Canada will become illegal if Bill C-51 is passed.

Under the new law Health Canada would be able to act outside the court system by entering private property without a warrant, seizing property at their discretion, and without reporting seizures to a Court. They will be able to levy fines up to $5 million and/or seek 2 years in jail. Primarily this will apply to natural health practitioners, producers of natural heath products, and retailers. Health Canada is currently hiring more enforcement officers and has been holding recruitment meetings at universities across the country.

In recent years the natural health product have become more readily available to the general public. North Americans consume by far the largest portion of natural health products in the world, although many of these products originated from Asian and European sources. These produces are in such demand that the profits have become substantial and have attracted the attention of Multinational pharmaceutical companies. These investment-driven giants are able to put up millions of dollars to meet regulatory demands as well as clerical devices such as Drug Identification Numbers. These scan-based serial numbers must appear on all packaging of drugs and costs tens of thousands of dollars per product. They will become mandatory by Federal law if Bill C-51 passes.

Many suppliers and producers of natural health produces are small businesses, which cannot afford the exorbitant fees needed to meet Federal licensing requirements. The science behind these products are sound and the produces are healthy, having proved themselves for years, but meeting the criteria for ‘drugs’ means that they will have to spend millions to prove that the public should continue to be able to buy them.

Dr. James Lunney, Member of Parliament for Nanaimo-Alberni, was a vocal supporter of a private members bill to protect supplier of vitamins during his first term in office as a member of the Alliance Party of Canada. As a Doctor of Chiropractic he seemed to understand that the body needs natural products to heal and thrive. Today Lunney has fallen silent and appears to be towing the party line with his vote in the coming decision regarding Bill C-51.

Let your local MP know about your concerns with Bill C-51 and please send letters, free of postage, to: Prime Minister Stephen Harper & Health Minister Tony Clement, House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6

DRAINING THE LOCAL WATERSHEDS

2008-05-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Pacific tree frogs are singing in the wetlands, after a long winter of hibernation in the mud. Their eggs laid, in balls of transparent gel attached to twigs or grass stems, these tiny amphibians will climb into the trees and spend the summer eating insects.

Rough-skinned newts, commonly mistaken for Salamanders with orange bellies, can be seen crawling slowing from their nests under logs towards pools of still water. They will mate and then the females will lay individual eggs on the leaves of submerged vegetation. The hatched larvae take 4-5 months to reach maturity and rely on standing water for survival. The adult will stay in water for as long as possible and then move to the damp shade under logs and rocks.

The natural drainage of the Oceanside region, for that matter much of the east coast of Vancouver Island, is such that water was retained in wetlands. Although it rains a great deal during the fall, winter, and spring months the summers are usually dry. These annual extremes between flood and drought demand that water be held back for several months in order for life to prosper.

Wetlands by definition retain water throughout the year, several types are found in this area including: Marsh, Fens, and Woodland Swamps. Marsh areas have an abundance of grass and other vegetation along with open water, which combine with peat moss to act as a sponge that maintains water levels throughout the year. Hamilton Marsh is the only local wetland that qualifies for this distinction and it is owned by Island Timberlands who plan to log the forest around it and develop the land for real estate.

Fens, or peat-forming wetlands, can be found at a variety of locations from the lowlands up into the sub-alpine. The ridge overlooking Oceanside is currently covered with large patches of white snow. Those are clear-cuts: the result of logging in the past few years where there were once an abundance of fens.

By far the most abundant wetland type, in this area, are forest swamps. Historically, surface water has been retained in low spots under the shade of trees where thick sword ferns cover the moist soil, even during a prolonged draught. Many landowners drain these areas to allow for development. The run-off is then accelerated during the rainy season leaving very little or no moisture in the summer, particularly if the wetland in covered with backfill.

Currently many government agencies have limited jurisdiction over water but none of them have the clout to make private and corporate landowners comply in order for local drinking water to be protected.

The BC Ministry of Environment and Minister Responsible for Water Stewardship and Sustainable Communities has not enacted any legislation with regards to water. However they have named their water action plan: “Water for B.C. — Safe, Sustainable, and Valued by All” According to Minister Barry Penner’s website: “The plan is built around three broad goals: public health and safety, healthy watersheds and responsible use, and encourages British Columbians to adopt a sustainability ethic around caring for and protecting water resources and aquatic ecosystems.”

No mention of corporate responsibility, although big business uses by far the largest amounts of water in this province to flush mines, cool pulp mills, drill for oil, and cool metal smelting plants. Oceanside has 7 golf courses, with several currently under construction. Each 18-holes uses more than 1 million liters of water every summer’s night. Logging corporations, like Island Timberlands continue logging the ‘aquatic ecosystems’ such as the banks of Hamilton Creek as seen on Highway 4A between the town of Qualicum Beach and Coombs.

The BC Ministry of Health can intervene in the case of extreme situations. The Regional District of Nanaimo has very limited authority over water. The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans prescribes 30-meter setback from Rivers and Creeks but does not enforce these limitations on private lands.

Ironically, the BC Ministry of Transportation has the most control over the flow of local surface water. Ditches have been dug along every roadway to drain surface water. The goal of this Ministry is to discharge the water to the ocean as rapidly as possible. This in direct contradiction to nature, which seeks to retain the water for the dry season so that life can exist during the summer droughts.

AGRICULTURAL LAND RESERVE UNDER ATTACK - ONLY CONSUMERS CAN SAVE ALR

2008-04-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

HARVEST MOON RISES OUT OF THE COASTAL MOUNTAINS - ACROSS THE STRAIT OF GEORGIA FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND

In days gone by Grafton Avenue ran through orchards and field of berries. Royalty in England ate jam from Errington on their scones and crumpets with afternoon tea. During the early part of the twentieth century Vancouver Island farms produced 85 percent of the food that was consumed locally.

Over time the petroleum industry has dominated the food industry by providing increased transportation networks as well as cheap chemical fertilizers. So then suppliers could ship produce around the world and monopolize on cheap labour forces in other regions. Limitations of weather dictated by the seasons could be overcome by ordering produce from thousands of kilometers away, even from the other side of the equator. Consumers began to depend upon these supplies and the low prices with little thought for the cost to the planet.

In other countries pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, genetic modification, can be used with little or no regard for standards or regulations in place where the consumer is buying the produce. People working the fields, preparing the food, and packaging it for transportation are faced with extremely low wages, dangerous work conditions, and long work weeks.

The Brazilian rainforest is being cut down and burned to make way for Soya beans, beef cattle, or corn to produce bio-diesel. The soil is so poor that it has to be abandoned after a year or two and the process is repeated. The lush jungle of the rainforest will take tens of thousands of years to grow back. The produce is then shipping around the globe to provide consumers with cheap food or fuel.

Located around lakes and rivers that can provide water for cultivation, low valley bottoms and estuary deltas have provided humanity with fertile soil to grow the majority of food needed for the growth of civilization. Populations grow with the abundance of food and increasingly demand more land to build houses and commercial structures. This balance between farmland and development has been going on for as long as civilizations have conquered the natural world.

Today some people in British Columbia, and in particular around Oceanside, want to remove land from the Agricultural Land Reserve in order to subdivide their land for housing development, building golf courses, and industry. Their claim is that the land is standing fallow so it should be put to use.

The fact is that the land can bring in more immediate cash today with a heightened real-estate market than if could in the short term as a hay field or low yielding farm. For the most part farming has become a losing proposition locally since it is extremely hard to complete with the global market controlled by multinational corporations.

On April 18, 1973 BC’s Land Commission Act came into effect. The Provincial government appointed a new Commission, to establish a special land use zone to protect agricultural land. The "Agricultural Land Reserve" was established in collaboration with local governments and protected 5% of BC, which was the most critical to the province’s food production. The ALR was very popular for many years because the public saw that development was slowed and farms were being protected.

Today Vancouver Island is almost completely dependant on the rest of the world for food. Try going to any grocery store locally and find an item that was produced on Vancouver Island. If you find one buy the item and tell your friends. A few local markets during the summer provide local farmers with the opportunity to sell their produces.

Cormie’s farm on the south side of Parksville has been growing and selling produce grown either on their own land or by mostly local farmers for over thirty years. There are other examples of local success including Little Qualicum Cheese Factory, Blueberry Fields Farm in Coombs, and the Coombs Country Market with a few local items including the goats on the roof.

Consumers are the only ones who can change this trend by demanding that local farmers be represented in local stores. Paying more for local produce makes sense when you factor in the costs to the plant.

Please let your Mayor and Council, MLA, and Regional Director know how you feel about allowing Agricultural Land to be developed locally.

MANAGING WATERSHEDS

2008-04-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

LOGGING ALONG RIVER BANKS CAUSES EROSION WHICH RESULTS IN SILT PLUGGING UP THE WATER

Walking down by the ‘Clay Banks’ along Englishman River I look up at the bottom of the steep bank that has been eroding into the water for as long as I can remember. Today, just a few spindly trees, teetering on the edge of the vertical drop, roots dangling in the air, top this massive clay monument. Half way down the 40 meter bank is the latest casualty, balanced at a strange angle, rootball exposed to the elements, waiting for the next heavy rains to dissolve the clay before this tree slides down into the river.

Over the last few years TimberWest has logged a massive clear-cut to the edge of this sheer drop-off. Island Timberlands has also been using feller bunchers to cut down the fifty year old tree farm that runs along Englishman River. The forest lands on the south side of the river are privately owned and therefore the BC Ministry of Forests claims no responsibility for ‘forest management’ and the BC Ministry of Environment leaves it up to the companies to do the right thing.

The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans does have jurisdiction along the river corridor and has considerable clout to prevent damage to the river. However, as is the case with many other rivers like it across the province, the DFO have approved this logging on the banks of Englishman River.

Directly across the river, is a large salmon enhancement project. Water has been diverted from the natural flow of the river, into man made channels that have been designed for rearing salmon. Local First Nations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Salmon Foundation, BC Ministry of Environment, Human Resources Development Canada, Stream keepers, The Nature Trust of BC, and other agencies have all been involved in this ongoing project.

Salmon returns have increased but nothing like those prior to the 1980s when multi-national logging companies began to clear-cut 2nd growth forests/tree farms on privately owned land along the river. Englishman River continues to be listed as one of the most endangered rivers in British Columbia, due to logging and real estate development.

When Weyerhaeuser bought out MacMillan Bloedel in the late 1990s it took the Chief Forester of BC’s recommendation that the rotation of a tree farm be 80 years between harvesting, and cut it in half. 40 years is now the standard rotation time for logging on Vancouver Island by all the logging companies. Much of this land can be logged with feller-bunchers, which means that very few people are employed while vast tracts of land can be clear-cut in a very short time. Island Timberlands, TimberWest, and Western Forest Products own the majority of private land on Vancouver Island.

Many questions arise when managing land: Is the land privately owned, managed by the crown on behalf of the public, and have first nations been consulted? What are the most important values for this land? Should we see the land as forestry, watershed, recreational park, Jurisdiction is key, since much of the time several agencies are responsible and they do not always consult with each other, and plan management together.

Stream Keepers are planting trees to fill in gaps in the forest made by excavators as part of the Englishman River Watershed Recovery Plan. Over the past few years large logs (referred to as large woody debris) have been placed along the river and tied to trees and/or piles of blasted rock with steel cable. The hope is that these log jams will slow the flow of water and create pools, which will provide habitat for fish fry. In the process excavators removed trees and the under-story of brush in order to access the riverbanks. A few months after Stream Keeper volunteers had done their planting, at one site along the bank, excavators returned and crushed all of these seedlings.

Managing nature has been left up to government and private industry for many years in British Columbia. Each election changes the priorities and most initiatives are undertaken on a project-by-project basis. Many different agencies, working on their priorities, overlook the bigger picture in order to complete specific tasks. As a result complimentary projects are not united, and often one project fundamentally undermines another.

ALTERING NATURE FOR PARKS

2008-03-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

WHEN A TREE IS FELLED IN A PARK IS IT ANY DIFFERENT FROM A TREE FELLED IN THE FOREST?

Using dynamite to blast the trunks of trees into smithereens may make falling a 600-year-old Douglas fir safer for the humans doing the work. That’s is the contention of the workers compensation board with regards to the contractors working for BC Parks and the Ministry of Environment in Cathedral Grove. According to media reports there are 9 danger trees that must be felled in order to make it safe for tourists to walk on the paths in the Provincial Park.

Spring is here, birds are nesting, Elk are in the valley with calves, and small animals are giving birth to their young. A tour of the area, with parks manager Dave Foreman and several key participants in the falling, revealed that more like 40-50 old growth trees would be blasted along paths, the highway corridor, and anywhere BC Parks identified as a threat. There will be no straight cuts left by chainsaws so the counting will be difficult.

Parks have always been designed by human beings for humans, and when their needs change so do the parameters of the parks. However there is a point where parks are altered by humans to the point that they no longer reflect the nature that they were designed to preserve.

Strathcona Park, the first and oldest BC Provincial Park established in 1911, has been dissected and compromised over the last century. Logging, highways, and mining have been allowed to alter the integrity of this park. Portions of the initial parkland have been pulled out of the protected area by government and sold or traded to logging companies.

Parks can also play a key role in rehabilitating a compromised ecosystem while providing recreational and educational opportunities for the public. A prime example locally is the Englishman River Regional Park, which runs upstream from Top Bridge to Morrison Creek. Officially opened to the public last fall by the Regional District of Nanaimo, the Nature Trust of British Columbia, and several other partners this park includes second and third growth trees ranging in age from freshly planted to approximately 50 years old depending on the age of the cut block. The park compliments the Salmon Enhancement Project, Englishman River Watershed Recovery Plan, and several other rehabilitation projects along the Englishman River. This park combines public needs with restoration presenting many opportunities through stream keepers and other groups that help to educate the public.

The needs of people and nature are interwoven and continue to be linked but society tends to try managing nature in order to tame it. Controlling nature may seem like a practical solution to societies fear of the wild but managing parks for people tends to compromise nature to the point that is destroyed. The BC Parks Act makes no bones about the fact that most parks, with the exception of certain components of a class “A” park, have been set aside for the public to use for recreational purposes.

Carmanah Provincial park, directly across the Island from Oceanside due south on the west coast, was protected in 1989 and the lower Walbran Valley was added in 1991. The public demanded this protection to save some of the last ancient temperate rainforest as well as to establish a reserve for the Marbled Murrelet to nest.

Logging has continued all around the Carmanah/Walbran park and today the clear-cuts run directly along the boundaries. All access to the park is on industrial logging roads and when the trees licensed for logging are gone from the companies that built these roads will have no reason to maintain them. In fact, 2 years ago TimberWest threatened to remove a key bridge so they could move it to another location. Already, the roads entering the park are in such bad shape that it discourages the public from visiting. With fewer and fewer visitors the government is already beginning to grumble that the primary purpose for a park is to provide the public with recreational opportunities. Industry has already built the roads in and would like to continue logging. Where is this leading? No people in the parks, unused timber just standing there rotting, roads in place, need for economic stability in a declining forest industry…

BUILDING GREEN IS THE WAY TO GO

2008-03-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

This week I took a journey into unknown territory, in an environment that kept me out of the sun. I spent two days listening to architects, construction engineers, designers, municipal planners, authors of building codes, certification administrators, energy consultants, and building contractors of every discipline. I learned a great deal as one of 400 participants in the ‘Building Green in a Changing Climate’ conference and trade show held in Courtenay.

Public demand for environmental standards and accountability has sparked change in the construction industry and some companies are complying with tough standards in order to attract customers. Rising material costs, as well as an increase in operational costs for all buildings, have combined with skyrocketing energy costs. The result is that the construction industry is beginning to realize that it must seek out alternatives. In today’s market place building ‘green’ makes sense economically.

A great deal of creative and technical innovation is being generated with amazing results that will effectively revolutionize the building industry. However, only a small percentage of industrial, institutional, or residential construction projects are currently being built using green thinking and materials. The ground swell has begun and now it is up to the public to move it forward so that industry follows through with this green trend.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a market driven system, which is attempting to prove to consumers that building construction meets with the highest environmental standards. LEED is an internationally recognized rating system that encourages the construction of green buildings, administered by the Canada Green Building Council. Accredited professionals are trained and certified to monitor projects in order to award buildings with coveted ratings.

LEED has 5 principle categories by which it assesses construction projects for environmental sensitivity: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality. Certification is based on the number of points awarded for their compliance with these standards. Innovation in the design process can win additional points and negative points from noncompliant areas can be off set by points gained in other areas of the overall project.

One contractor admitted that they separated all of the construction waste material, went to great lengths and expense to transport it to the proper facility, and then discovered that it was all dumped into the same land fill. None of the material was recycled because the governing authorities had not implement any recycling at that facility. However, the building received LEED points based on the fact that the contractors had done their part to recycle the material. Other large projects reached targets of 95% recycling of waste materials where the proper facilities were available in larger urban centers.

In today’s real-estate market on Vancouver Island, with the potential for massive returns on investment dollars, entire communities are being built from scratch. The theory is that environmental devastation, caused by bulldozing large tracts of land, can be off-set by the ability to plan an entire town based on platinum rated ‘green’ standards. On paper it may work to move environmental points from one area to another, but on the ground when the road is blasted in and the trees are cut down the ecosystem is changed forever.

The term ‘Net-Zero’ refers to the energy consumption of a building, this along with ‘carbon neutral’ were catch phrases used repeatedly throughout the conference. In the forefront of my mine was the term “Green wash!” However, I truly believe that many of the professionals who made presentations at ‘Building Green’ want to change construction and are working towards a green future.

A strong argument was presented about sustainable building practices, since current construction practices tend to produce homes which may only last 30 to 40 years. European models have proven that residential buildings can exist for hundreds of years by using the proper care and attention to design, construction, and materials. The call was for building standards that will increase the longevity of buildings so that they are accountable to the amount of energy and resources put into them, thereby effecting environmental sustainability.

BC LIBERALS & POLICE PAVE WAY FOR DEVELOPERS AT SPAET MOUNTAIN

2008-02-14T01:22:00.000-08:00

Wednesday February 13 morning, before first light 70 police officers arrested 7 people dedicated to protecting the Langford Cave and Garry Oak ecosystem near Goldstream park. Swat teams stormed over the forest arresting 2 tree-sitters and 5 others at gunpoint (many shotguns, hands guns, and rifles) A great deal of force was used, although no charges were laid and it appeared difficult to find a judge who would go along with this police action.

Last week I was giving a tour of the area to a TV crew from France when 2 RCMP officers approached me for my name. I reminded them of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that entitles every citizen in Canada to privacy, association, and freedom of the press.

I began to talk with one officer about the Gary Oak Ecosystem that was going to be destroyed by the planned highway interchange. He didn’t think it was a problem and then related his own personal story. He wanted to build a second garage beside his home and found the local bylaws prevented him from simply cutting down 2 massive Garry Oak trees in his backyard. He was forced to hire an accredited arborist who wrote a letter stating the trees had to go before the garage could be built. Then he had to acquire a permit to remove the trees which was only issued after he provided a receipt for 2 replacement Garry Oak trees over 6 feet tall. He was obviously upset that he couldn’t simply destroy the ecosystem that was in his way but the result was the same. No more ancient Garry Oaks in his backyard, just young seedlings.

Garry Oak Ecosystems are endangered according to the BC Ministry of Environment, who state: “Restricted to southwestern British Columbia, these ecosystems are among the rarest in the province.” They contain a diverse array of animal and plant life, including Northern Alligator Lizards, Easter Lilies, Camas, and Shooting Stars. This unique grouping of species only occurs within the Coastal Douglas-fir Zone on south eastern Vancouver Island and some of the gulf islands. Over 97% of the Garry Oak ecosystems have been destroyed by development.

Oceanside’s Nanoose notch is a rare example of an intact hillside, however a walk along those bluffs will reveal development on all sides where the rocky outcroppings are being bulldozed. Hopefully Fairwinds and the Department of National Defense will be encouraged to protect this rare ecosystem.

First Nations named the mountain SPAET, long before wealthy athletes dubbed it Bear Mountain, and it played a significant part in their culture. Garry Oak flourished on this mountain providing important medicine and food plants such as camas. Several sacred caves are concealed below SPAET; tiny entrances open up into massive chambers hidden below the surface. Vancouver Island has many hidden caves, due to a phenomenon known as Karst, whereby rainwater seeps though the hard rocky topography wearing away the softer limestone.

When First Nations tried to protect one of these caves they met with strong residence by Bear Mountain developers who filled it in with tires, debris, and rock before collapsing it with dynamite. Police and government downplayed the situation and the courts approved an injunction to prevent key First Nations from visiting Bear Mountain property.

Between 1998 and 2001 the BC Land Reserve Commission rejected several attempts by Western Forest Products to transfer crown land from the tree farm license on Skirt Mountain to private ownership.

The BC Liberal party came to power May 2001; 2 months later BC granted 44 hectares of Crown land on Skirt Mountain to Western Forest Products for $1.05 million. This land is adjacent to Goldstream Provincial Park. 6 months later the Land Reserve Commission allowed several hundred hectares to be taken out of the Forest Land Reserve, which WFP sold for $7.5 million to private developers. A few months later the District of Langford re-zones this property allowing large-scale development.

Between 2002 and the present, the Bear Mountain Parkway was built through the former Forest Land Reserve lands. An 18-hole golf course was built on the former Crown lands and WFP lands, along with a village-centre of shops, condominiums, an hockey arena, and a high-rise Westin hotel. Several hundred luxury homes were built on terra-formed platforms, formed by blasting the mountain in long troughs and then leveling the rubble into flat pads, where Garry Oak and Arbutus meadows once stood.

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BC LIBERAL LAND GIFTS EFFECT US ALL

2008-01-17T10:10:00.000-08:00

Growing up in Errington, my neighbour across the road was a grumpy old man who lived with his wife in a doublewide mobile home. He was the only person in the area who posted a Social Credit sign at the front of his driveway during every provincial election.

From 1952 to 1956 Robert Sommers was Forests Minister of British Columbia. On his watch, and with the persistence of Commissioner Gordon Sloan who investigated the logging industry, the Tree Farm License system was established. The basic concept was that large tracts of publicly owned land would be divided and managed by the Ministry of Forests. Each TFL would assure a timber supply for a particular logging company. In exchange the company would have to provide mills, jobs, and stumpage fees. The TFLs were tied to the communities and were supposed to provide sustainable logging and economic security in perpetuity for future generations.

In 1958 Robert Sommers was convicted of bribery and conspiracy. He went to prison. Premier W.A.C. Bennett and his Social Credit government were able to dodge accusations that they were involved in the selling of large tracts of publicly owned land sold to individuals and corporations. These sales were made before the lands were put up for public action, as required by provincial laws. Bob learned to tune pianos in prison. The land sales were final. Some people got rich. Forests were clear-cut as far as the eyes could see. The forestry industry boomed for many years.

Then the Youbou Mill was shut down after 73 years. 200 people lost their jobs along with approximately 400 people who lived by those people. The village of Youbou, on the shores of Cowichan Lake, was devastated. Clause 7 of the BC government’s timber agreement with TimberWest legally tied the TFL to the community. The Ministry of Forests waved that clause in 2001, allowing TimberWest to shut down the Youbou Mill and export raw logs from that TFL.

In 2002 the BC Liberals allowed 3.7 million cubic meters of raw log to be exported, this was the highest amount on record and translates to 100,000 full truckloads. According to the Youbou Timberless Society (www.savebcjobs.com) these exported logs would be enough to employ almost 4000 people and run 6 sawmills for a year.

Since then many more mills have been shut down around the province. The BC Liberals have been taking apart the TFL system and giving crown land to private corporations. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that First Nations must be consulted before any land is changed from crown to private, but to date the BC Liberals have not complied with these rulings.

Logging companies have obviously realized that their methods are not sustainable even after reducing the harvest rotations from 80 years, as recommended by the Chief Forester of BC, to 40 years. TimberWest, Western Forest Products, and Island Timberlands (Brookfield Asset Management) have all become land developers on a grand scale.

Honourable Rich Coleman is the Minister of Forests and Range and Minister Responsible for Housing. According to the ministry’s website: “Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Coleman ran a real estate management and consulting company.”

His older brother, Stan Coleman, works for Western Forest Products where he is their Manager of Strategic Planning. In 2007 the BC Liberals pulled 28,273 hectares of land, just west of Sooke, from a TFL and gave it to Western Forest Products without any financial compensation.

In June 2005 Stan Coleman was working for Cascadia Forest Products when private land was removed from TFL 44, near Port Alberni. Rich Coleman was appointed as Minister of Forests in June 2005. Today, this newly privatized land is owned by Brookfield Assets Management Inc. through its subsidiary Island Timberlands.

The Auditor General of BC is conducting an inquiry into the lands pulled out of the TFLs and given to private corporations. He needs your encouragement to put a stop to this blatant corruption. John Doyle Auditor General of BC 8 Bastion Square Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 Tel: (250) 387-6803 Fax: (250) 387-1230 comments@bcauditor.com

WATER AND FORESTS SHARE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP

2008-01-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

I was soaked by blasts of mist blown into my face by the intense pounding of water on rock at Englishman River Falls during the last high water event. The relatively narrow cleft in the rock, carved out by the constant onslaught of water, funnels the river down into a deep canyon worn over the course of centuries.

A swirl of mist sprayed into the air with a chaotic pulsating rhythm. The moisture either dropped back into the foaming rage of the waterfall or became airborne and drifted high up into the canopy of the forest.

Heavy rains combined with the rapid melting of a recent snowfall combined to swell the river to the point that it spilled over its regular banks at several places along the length of the river. A thick mat of tree and shrub roots covering the forest floor, help slow the flow of water during heavy rains and retain moisture during the dry seasons. This dual function allows the forest to survive through all the seasons of the year and prevents massive erosion during extreme weather.

I remember watching the miracle of clouds being created by the ancient rainforest in the Walbran Valley. It was late spring, heavy rains had been pouring down for several days, when the weather broke into a beautiful clear sunny day, which warmed the air and my bones.

From my perch on a massive cedar stump in a clear-cut provided by TimberWest, I had a perfect vantage point of the entire low valley bottom forest surrounding Anderson Lake. The ancient rainforest is intact for several kilometers between the clear-cuts of TimberWest, on the south side of the valley, and Weyerhaeuser on the north.

Unlike a second growth tree farm, the canopy of this primeval forest is far from uniform. Much of the forest is made up of a mixture of Western Pacific Hemlock, Balsam Fir, with a few thousand-year-old yew trees as well as a smattering of deciduous trees along the river. In the foreground I could see thousands of old growth Pacific Red Cedar trees, with their broken crowns and bare wood exposed, poking out of the canopy.

Many of these Cedars have been recorded as being over 1000 years old with a few veterans noted at over 1800 years old. In the distance I could see the towering trunks of Sitka Spruce, dwarfing the other tree species by reaching to nearly double their height. A stand of these massive Sitka, registered as being between 700-900 years old, grows in the fertile soil along Walbran Creek.

I could see everything with perfect clarity through the clear air when I first sat down. Then slowly I began to perceive a slight haze forming over the treetops. I watched a humming bird work the salmon berry bushes below me for the pure sweet nectar of their pink flowers for a while, when I looked up the haze had turns into a soft mist.

Slowly, wisps of mist drifted between the treetops and began to form swirls of delicate clouds. Small pockets of dense fog were forming all across the valley, and some of them were blending into each other. Soon the tops of the giant Sitka Spruce were obscured completely by the rising fog.

Then things began to change rapidly. A blanket of thick fog formed over the entire valley and soon I could not see any of the trees below. In a few hours the entire valley, several square kilometers, was socked in by dense fog, reaching from one mountain ridge to another.

The forest had pumped the moisture from the ground back into the atmosphere. The roots had sucked up a large volume of water, dumped by rain clouds blown in from the Pacific Ocean. The water was then pumped up through hundreds of thousands of trunks to the needles of the predominately coniferous forest and released into the atmosphere with the help of the sun. The resulting bank of fog remained in the Walbran Valley until the next day when an off shore wind picked up and blew the massive cloud into the next valley and beyond.

HARPER BRINGS SHAME TO CANADA

2007-12-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

This year the winter solstice brings ill tidings to us northern folk. Canada was seen by the world as one of worst adversaries of environmental change.

At the Bali Climate Change Summit nations met to work towards a new global treaty, which would include setting carbon emissions for rich countries. Canada teamed up with the United States to block the consensus reached by all the other countries present at the global summit. Then a group of countries, all of which had signed the Kyoto treaty, tried to move forward without the USA but they were blocked by Canada.

In just a few days 110,000 Canadians joined a petition to let our political leaders know that they were not acting upon the wishes of the general public at the Bali summit. Thousands phoned, faxed, wrote, and e-mailed members of the government. At the 11th hour Canada finally backed down. All countries present at the summit booed the USA. At the last minute the USA finally reversed their negative stance.

600,000 signatures from 192 countries were presented to politicians at the summit demanding they recognize that the citizens of this planet want to work towards global climate solutions. However, as a result of Canada’s negotiations, massive compromises were established at the end of the summit. Regulations for emissions and other environmental standards were lowered significantly to meet the demands of Canada and the USA.

The European nations talk big but they also, are not meeting the regulations to reduce emissions set for the world. The Bali summit has merely established that countries in attendance have agreed to the framework for a Climate Change Treaty, which will be formulated and voted upon at a later date.

At home the Harper government claimed victory at Bali and continues to talk enviro-jargon after putting up a massive fight that has compromised efforts to reduce emissions and environmental damage to the atmosphere of this planet. Meanwhile the vast majority of Canadians want to reduce the environmental footprint we are making upon this planet.

Then again, checkout the malls. How many SUVs, massive trucks, single occupancy vehicles are in the parking lots? Consumerism is the number one threat to the environment. On an individual basis we all have an obligation to reduce the amount we consume. Most products contain plastic, deprived from oil and a great deal of oil was burned to deliver most items to the consumer. How long will the individual actually use the item?

Canada chooses to extract the mostly costly source of oil on Earth, while our government blocks international efforts to reduce green house gases. Many scientists agree that this economic oil boom will become our worst nightmare by destroying the atmosphere that provides us with life.

The largest deposit of tar sands on Earth is located in the Athabasca oil sands of northeast Alberta around Fort McMurray. Tar-sand oil extraction projects do the most damage to the environment of any energy source on the planet. First massive open-pit mining is used to remove the tar, which is fused with sand. As part of the extraction process vast amounts of clean water are used in a process called Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage. The water is then discarded as polluted muck. Today in Alberta natural gas, primarily from northern British Columbia, is piped in and burned to generate electricity used to separate the oil from the sand. Plans are underway to build nuclear power plants to produce the electricity to meet the demand.

More than 80 kg of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere for every barrel of synthetic oil produced in Alberta, each refined barrel of oil weighs 130 kg. Gasoline refined from tar sand extraction is estimated to result in five times more carbon dioxide than conventional "sweet crude" oil production. The Boreal Forest Ecosystem, recognized as a vital part of Canada’s oxygen production and weather stabilization, is being destroyed by massive excavators scraping the topsoil away to dig down into the tar sand.

You can make a difference by joining the global movement which helps to bring the public’s message to the attention of international decision makers, for more information about public input into climate change check out: www.avaaz.org

NATURE TRUMPS HUMANITY

2007-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

THIS LEDGE NORMALLY HANGS 5 METERS OVER ENGLISHMAN RIVER IT IS KNOWN AS 'THE NOSE' AT TOP BRIDGE

Recent storms have once again proven that nature sets the rules of life. No matter how hard we try to divert water with roads, ditches, dams, causeways, dikes, and culverts a little bit of snow and a few drops of rain wreak havoc over our designs. Human beings are the weakest link in the natural scheme of things. The environment is in control yet we constantly claim supremacy over the world.

As development continues to put pressure on the natural world the attitude that we can manipulate nature to meet our needs seems to prevail over the reality that the natural environment provides for us. The dilemma humanity faces is that we have to learn to protect ourselves from the brutality of nature without destroying the environments that allow us to exist.

An idea such as building a concrete wall with buttresses along Parksville Beach to meet up with the rock dike built by Surfside RV will further change the natural shore line. This ‘solution’ to the problem of erosion flies in the face of the fact that the Englishman River estuary and adjacent floodplains have flooded, receded, and changed for centuries. That is how nature works. There will be serious consequences to altering the coastline to meet economic needs for commercial developments.

Humanity’s attempts to control nature sometimes appear to work, but in the long run devastation is the end result. The planet earth always prevails.

Surfing the web for information about how we, as a society, are addressing the many environmental issues we face, I was not surprised to find that it all comes down to money. Under the heading ‘Environmental Protection’ Statistics Canada lists everything according to revenues and expenditures. Perhaps this is because the information gathered is primarily from tax reports or perhaps it is because money is all that really matters to government.

It’s interesting to note that while the last statscan report was released to the public in September 2007 and all of the information dates back to 2004. Therefore there is no information about any changes that have occurred while the Conservatives, under Stephen Harper, have led a minority government.

To make absolutely sure that the public has no one to hold accountable the statscan website includes the following disclaimer: “In no event will Statistics Canada be liable for any direct, special, indirect, consequential or other damages, however caused.”

It would appear that ‘environmental protection’ has become a major industry in Canada. That may appear to be a good thing but what are the results? That information is much harder to uncover, access, or define. In search of some answers I checked out the websites for both the federal and provincial ministries of environment.

I was amazed at how biased the information has become. The tone is heavily slanted by partisan politics and reinforces the parties in power. Information comes across more like public relations propaganda than statistical information based on scientific evidence.

Both the BC Ministry of Environment and the Environment Canada’s websites read like a series of accomplishments painting a glowing review of the government’s actions on behalf of the Environment. Its almost as if the environment is being used as a public relations ploy that will bring voters to support the political party with the most advertising savvy.

Barry Penner was appointed BC Minister of Environment and Minister Responsible for Water Stewardship and Sustainable Communities on June 16, 2005. His title reads like PR spin and his time seems to be spent on a lot of photo-opportunities which appear to be carefully constructed to provide the biggest bang for the public’s bucks. John Baird was appointed President of the Treasury Board in 2006 before becoming Minister of the Environment for Canada. The website contains lots of sound bites and rave reviews about this politician with no acknowledgement that anything is wrong with how we, and our governments are treating the environment.

Don’t simply rely upon my interpretation of this research check out: www.statscan.ca If you’d like to find out about the BC Environment through the eyes of the BC Liberal government check out: www.gov.bc.ca/env For the Federal view of the Environment check out: www.ec.gc.ca

LOG & FLOG DISPLACES FOREST LAND

2007-11-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

I just walked through the ‘not-a-clear-cut’ logged area between Qualicum Beach and Coombs. The second growth forest, once considered a buffer from previous logging, has just been leveled. ‘Single stem variable retention logging’ at its finest. Like sentinels left standing on a bleak and desolate landscape, a few deformed trees remain. A jumble of stumps, exposed root-balls, shattered trunks, branches, and exposed ground cover are all that remain.

Water from Hamilton Marsh flows directly into this wasteland on its way into French Creek. Heavy rains are flushing the silt, mud, and debris exposed by this logging operation into the tributaries of French Creek. Down stream are salmon enhancement projects, community water intakes, housing for thousands, and banks subject to erosion and collapse when run-off swells the creek.

This area is owned by Island Timberlands, which is owned by Brascan, which has changed its name to Brookfield. This “Global Asset Management Company” has just come out of a long strike with local forestry workers. Having logged this area they will be selling the land to a real-estate firm. In order for the unnamed developers to sub-divide and sell this land for residential and commercial uses they will have to apply to the Regional District of Nanaimo for rezoning permits to take this land out of its forest management designation. This will likely be approved unless the public takes a stand.

According to the Official Community Plan, established by the RDN and dedicated members of this community, this land is specifically reserved for forest management. The logged area closest to the Inland Highway is part of the RDN Area “G” while the clear-cut along what was once the ‘Coombs cut-off’ is in Area “F.” Rezoning would have to be approved by the RDN Board of Directors, which includes both local mayors.

The forest around Hamilton Marsh is also owned by Island Timberlands, which recently rejected a fair market value offer from the Regional District of Nanaimo in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada to purchase the land and protect it as park. Based on the direction Brookfield is taking, all forestland in the area will be logged and sold to real estate developers.

The provincial governments - the NDP initiated this legislation and the BC Liberals boast they have completed the task - claim they have protected 12% of the land base as parks. However, the majority of people living on Vancouver Island are concentrated along a thin corridor along the east coast from Campbell River south. In that area less than 7% of the land has been protected as parks. The primary reason is because industry and private people own most of the land.

All of the land between Victoria and Courtney along the East Coast of Vancouver Island, along with all land West to a line that runs between Port Renfrew and Port Alberni, is privately owned. In 1884 Prime Minister John A. Macdonald convinced coal magnate Robert Dunsmuir to build the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, something he had promised the citizens of British Columbia in order for them to join confederation in 1871. The government in Ottawa paid Dunsmuir $750,000 cash and 2.1 million acres of land on Vancouver Island along with all mineral rights.

Over the years the E&N lands were sold to small and large companies as well as to private individuals. As a result this entire Dunsmuir land area is not accessible to the general public and remains out of the jurisdiction of all levels of government. Most streams, lakes and swamps on the east side the island are held privately, including the bed of the water body.

One way out of this land squeeze is to limit re-zoning of land to that of the OCP. As it stands, the land Island Timberlands has logged is not zoned for housing or commercial development. Should they decide to ‘donate’ the entire forest around Hamilton Marsh to the RDN as a park, then their development firms may have a chance for re-zoning. Until then the limitation of forestland remains in place.

Contact Electoral Area “F” Director Lou Biggemann and Area “G” Director Joe Stanhope at Regional District of Nanaimo 6300 Hammond Bay Road Nanaimo, BC V9T 6N2 as well as Community Planning 954-3798 E-mail: Planning@rdn.bc.ca

HUMAN INTERVENTION CAUSES BEACH EROSION ON PUBLIC COASTLINE

2007-11-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Oceanside prides itself on the fact that it is located along some of the finest beaches in British Columbia. People from around the world come here to enjoy the coastline and many of them retire here after multiple vacations. As a result the population is growing rapidly and demands on the shoreline have increased.

Parksville Beach has changed a great deal since I graduated from high school. Over time pavement, fences, grass fields, and blasted rock have taken over from the natural aquatic grass and sand. A hovercraft, operating from the coast guard station at the end of the point, regularly drove out over a flat beach at low tide and launched itself into the water. Today a massive gravel bar has emerged just off shore from this same point.

According to some experts the erosion of the Parkville’s shoreline may be the result of tidal and storm pressures being deflected into the bay by this large gravel bar. As a result the city has installed sections of blasted rock to prevent the paved road from being washed away. The City of Parksville is considering more changes to the shoreline in an attempt to stop this type of erosion.

The main change to that section of coastline is the massive blasted rock causeway built by Surfside RV Resort, dividing the Englishman River Estuary Floodplains from the Strait of Georgia. Man made changes to the natural coastline effect the flow of water by redirecting tidal and storm surges. All along the coast private land owners have installed dikes, concrete walls, and other barricades in order to alter the natural erosion of the shoreline.

An area known as the ‘Queen’s Land’ along all waterways was once protected from development but today it is very easy to obtain a license which allows property owners to alter the coast. Governments at all levels have abandoned the protection of the shoreline in exchange for increased tax revenue from expensive waterfront properties. However, there remains a legal right of way along all waterways which is accessible to the general public which can not legally be blockaded by private property owners because the ‘Queen’s land’ belongs to all citizens of Canada.

In September the Stewardship Centre for British Columbia announced that it had been awarded a grant of $100,000 by the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia for the Green Shores sustainability project. With a focus on social and economic development, the Green Shores Project aims to promote healthy coast and marine ecosystems by planning a design while working to benefit the environmental. It provides positive examples for property owners, developers and design professionals to address environmental and sustainability issues associated with increased waterfront development. Unfortunately, as a non-profit society it cannot enforce it’s recommendations but does provide information and tools to assess shoreline property and habitat protection.

“The need for sustainable approaches to waterfront development in the Georgia Basin and Strait of Georgia is accentuated by unprecedented residential and commercial growth,” said Project Coordinator Patrick Walshe. “Frequently we try to immobilize shorelines with cookie cutter solutions, yet too often this destabilizes the shore and its ecosystems, jeopardizing our coastal resources as well as the beauty and character of our coastal communities. There are many green alternatives in our tool kit, which can be catered to solve site specific issues more effectively.”

The project team will help to educate land managers, designers, planners, developers and builders working on ocean front development on Vancouver Island and the Georgia Basin, in an effort to develop alternative design concepts.
For more information visit the Green Shores website at http://www.greenshores.ca

PLASTIC! PLASTIC EVERYWHERE!

2007-10-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

I do a lot of hiking around the Oceanside area and it always amazes me, when at the end of a long series of logging roads or trails, to find garbage. Primarily plastic garbage. The most common are shopping bags, potato chip bags (plastic lined with aluminum), plastic used to hold aluminum cans together, car tires, and cigarette-pack-wrappers. Just take a look over the cliff on little mountain where the garbage has been piling up for years. Clean-up crews along the highway seem to be on endless duty picking up what people throw out of their cars. Littering is illegal and punishable by fine.

Most of these items are produced from petroleum, which has been refined, and then processed into products that take a very long time to disintegrate. Refining crude oil is a process whereby the most toxic and noxious chemicals are burned off into the atmosphere. A great deal of CO2 emissions are emitted prior to any oil products reaching consumers, these pollutants contribute to global warming by building on the green house gases effecting the planet’s atmosphere.

What is really astounding is finding garbage bags, twist tied and full of house hold garbage, that someone has taken this much care and attention to dump at the end of a long road in the wilderness rather than take it to a transfer station or a dumpster. Even worse, I’ve witnessed people burning plastic in their campfires as well as in barrels to get rid of household trash. Sure, it may seem easy to toss plastic bags, plastic utensils, styrofoam plates, and other plastics into the fire but the toxic fumes do contribute to green-house effects in the atmosphere. Like the canary in the mine, many species of birds have been dying due to toxins in the air we breath.

Of course the best way to avoid problems associated with plastic is to reduce the amount of plastic we consume as individuals. An easy start is at the grocery store, where millions of plastic bags are given away free. In Europe the standard has always been for people to bring their own hardy bags to the grocery store to put their products into for the trip home.

As most tourists who have visited Europe will attest, if you have no bag with you the store will sell you one for a minimum charge of $0.50 per bag. As a result most Europeans provide their own bags, this has become the norm rather than the exception. If local grocery stores began to charge for every plastic or paper grocery bag how long would it be until everyone brought their own bags. Which grocery story will start this trend? Perhaps they need some encouragement from you, their loyal customers. Many stores already provide strong durable bags at a small price.

Fleece and other polyester clothing is now available made primarily from post consumer recycled plastic materials. After all polyester is merely plastic spun together to make threads, which are then woven together into garments. Buying these recycled cloths supports an industry that is using up those plastic bags we need to reuse. By extending the use of these plastics you are preventing more crude oil from being refined to make polyester thread, less toxins in the atmosphere, less plastic to disintegrate.

Plastic containers are turned into building materials, which are now available at your local lumberyard in the form of studs and other forms of structural products. The Regional District of Nanaimo and all local municipalities have adopted a zero waste strategy, which allows the public to include plastic containers in their blue box for recycling. Those very same blue boxes are made from recycled plastic. For collection rules and more information contact: www.rdn.bc.ca

It is a well-known fact that much of the CO2 emissions are produced from car engines burning gasoline, but there are many other ways that we use oil derivatives in our daily lives. Every drop of oil represents a landscape devastated by extraction, drops spilled along the way, gases emitted into the atmosphere in the refining process, and transportation costs including oil spills. Take care with how much plastic you consume and be careful how your deal with your garbage. If you would like to report illegal dumping contact local RCMP or the RDN toll free 1-877-607-4111

If you live elsewhere I can garantee you will find similair problems on any backroads. Please let your local government know.

SAVE OUR RIVERS NOT OUR IMAGE

2007-09-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today society struggles to strike a balance in watersheds that have been battered for the past 150 years by logging, development, gravel mining, and road building. Despite this, and the fact that water is a precious resource, the destruction continues.

For many years now the Englishman River has been considered one of the top most threatened rivers in BC according to the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia, with a total of 120,000 members. (www.orcbc.ca) Englishman River is considered to be an example all of the rivers on the east coast of Vancouver Island, that flow into the Strait of Georgia Basin. All of these rivers are in a serious state of stress and decline.

The indicator species used by many biologists to determine the health of these rivers is the Steelhead Salmon, a species that returns to spawn many years in a lifetime. Snorkel teams counted 471 adults in February 1985, which was cause for alarm at the time since the returns once numbered in the thousands. By the year 2000 the winter count was 15, a count that went up to 43 in 2006.

A lot of attention has been directed at the Englishman River to try to bring the salmon back. A ‘salmon enhancement’ program has involved diverting water into excavated channels, ditching, egg and milk extraction, incubation pens, and fry release.

Multinational logging companies, TimberWest and Island Timberlands, continue to destroy the banks of local rivers with tree removal and road building. The resulting landslides, land erosion, and surface disruptions lead to massive amounts of dirt and debris in the flow of water. Heavy rains flush silt, loosened by logging equipment and dragging of logs, into rivers. Buildup of silt is known to suffocate salmon eggs buried in gravel. Channeling of water results in higher floods, which further erode riverbanks and level out pools.

Over the years governments have addressed some of the issues that face the watersheds locally but they tend to avoid drawing attention to the root causes of the damage. Instead, they claim that logging corporations provide valuable money for rehabilitation. These logging companies get massive tax breaks in exchange for money that is put into river restoration projects.

In the case of Englishman River attempts have been made to recreate pools and safe refuge for small salmon fry that get washed away when the river gauges out straight wide expanses between ever widening banks. These projects involved massive excavators, dump trucks, blasted rock, steel cables, logs with rootballs purchased from logging companies, chainsaws, and of course manpower paid with provincial and federal tax dollars.

River restoration, while logging the banks of the very same river, is similar to sticking a knife into your stomach and then trying to cover it over with band-aids rather than pulling out the knife and then attending to the wound.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada manages fish. The BC Ministries of Forests and Environment do not regulate logging on private land. The Regional District of Nanaimo is responsible for the dam at the source. Logging companies, various developers, and private landowners all stake their claim to the land on the banks of the river. Who is looking after the interests of the river and watershed?

On BC and World Rivers Day Sunday, September 30 much attention will be directed at the new Top Bridge Crossing where the Regional District of Nanaimo will be kicking off the grand opening of the new Englishman River Regional Park. Having spent $500,000 on a steel suspension bridge you can be sure to find many politicians.

Meanwhile a group of dedicated volunteers will be providing tours along the floodplain of the Little Qualicum River where Chinook Salmon are currently spawning. Sarah Casley, Education Coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada will be performing a salmon dissection beginning at 11:30am. The largest Sitka Spruce on the east coast of Vancouver Island is hidden inside this jewel of a forest. Access is at the end of Kingkade Road just north of Qualicum along the Island Highway. The Little Qualicum River has received very little attention from local, provincial or federal government and continues to be threatened by development and logging.

AERIAL GARDENS IN THE ANCIENT CANOPY

2007-09-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

On the Labour Day weekend I climbed the largest Douglas fir tree in the world, actually I took the elevator up. In order to operate my video camera I work with a team of professional tree climbers, all of them arborists, who rig the ropes. They hook my harness up to a rope while another climber, who has climbed up the tree beforehand, is attached to the middle of the same rope. A pulley allows him to act as my counterweight and a ground crew uses the rope to pull him down to the ground. I am lifted gentle up into the crown of the tree.

Moving up along the massive trunk of this Fir tree reveals deep grooves woven randomly in the bark, some as deep as 6 inches. Spider webs span these ravines, shimmering in the light. Many species of lichen adorn the brown/grey bark with bright splashes of white, green, and yellow. I float by the remains of a nest made by a tiny bird, perhaps a winter wren, fitted snuggly in a hole bored by a woodpecker.

At about 100 feet a lush aerial garden is wedged into the crotch where the first branch juts out from the trunk. Licorice ferns pock out of the thick mat of moss and lichens that clings to the top of this massive bough. The bright red dots of huckleberries contrast with the various shades of green and yellow moss as 3 huckleberry bushes stand firmly in the breeze. A 4-foot hemlock tree dominates this suspended paradise.

The Red Creek Fir is a ‘World Champion’ tree with the greatest volume of its species in the world. This is according to the Big Tree Registry of British Columbia, which lists the top 10 trees of every species. www.env.gov.bc.ca/bigtree For some reason this Fir was allowed to stand while the forest around it was completely leveled by clear-cut logging, in fact the old logging road runs past the base of this incredible tree. This giant is 13.28 m (43’7”) in circumference, 73.80 m (242’) tall, with a crown spread of 22.80 m (75’)

I continued up the elevator to approximately 150 feet where the view of the San Juan Valley is incredible. Unfortunately gaping holes in the forest below reveal recent clear-cut logging in second growth forest. The entire valley has been logged and now Western Forest Products (WFP) is logging the area for the second time, faster, with larger machinery, and fewer workers.

We then moved to the other side of the valley where the San Juan Sitka Spruce grows. This is the largest Spruce in Canada with an 11.66 m (31’5”) circumference, height 62.50 m (205’) and 23 m (75’) crown spread. The massive trunk branches into several adjacent trunks, which are larger than many large trees.

Once the ropes were rigged I had to do some work and climbed a rope 200 feet to the top of this tree. Along the way I stopped frequently to admire the many aerial gardens along the way. Many large branches protrude from the trunks of this tree, providing platforms of moss, ferns, and small bushes. These platforms are ideal habitat for Marbled Murrelet, a red listed endangered sea bird which nests only in old growth forests.

Looking down at the San Juan river I am surrounded by many aerial gardens teeming with life. I am astounded to see two 3 foot tall ‘bonzai’ Douglas Fir trees growing out of the top of the main trunk which was blasted off by lightening many years ago. A 14 foot tall hemlock grows off another trunk, along with many smaller trees, bushes, ferns, moss, and lichens.

I’ve been climbing trees for a few years, pulling together a team that is allowing me to shoot a film about the canopy of the ancient rainforest of Vancouver Island. The climbing system we use allows me to move into the canopy with the least amount of damage to the tree since the gigging ropes are what my team and I climb on with only a few points of contact with the tree itself.

I have climbed with several researchers, including a team of Entomologists from UVIC who have been climbing into the canopy where they have discovered no less than 125 species of insect that were previously unknown. For more information: http://web.uvic.ca/~canopy

This abundance of evidence proves that we know very little about the ancient rainforests. 85 of 91 watersheds on Vancouver Island have been heavily logged and less than 5% of the low valley bottom forest remains intact.

FEDERAL ENVIRONMENT MINISTER PROMISES CHANGE - LETS HOLD HIM TO IT

2007-01-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Canadians are demanding immediate attention to protect the environment and Prime Minister Stephen Harper claims to be listening. He has appointed a new Minister of Environment, John Baird, to address the many concerns Canadians have about the environment.

In anticipation of an upcoming national election the rhetoric is flying and promises are being made. Today the iron is hot and any input will receive some attention from the office of the new minister. I encourage you to contact him. It is always wise to send a hard copy by snail mail but remember that e-mail, fax, and phone will each be processed by a different civil servant. The more people in the office that are made aware of your concerns the better. CC to related ministers at the same mailing address. Here is my letter welcoming the new minister:

The Honourable John Baird
Minister of the Environment
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 996-0984
Fax: (613) 996-9880
E-Mail: Baird.J@parl.gc.ca

Dear Minister,

I am glad to hear Prime Minister Harper is finally beginning to listen to the people of Canada with regards to the Environment, and has appointed you to this important portfolio. It is time that the federal government of Canada fully implements the Kyoto Protocol to which Canada is a signatory.

Living in British Columbia I am very concerned about three key issues that are currently being initiated by the provincial government and which should be stopped by your office, since they affect the country as a whole and therefore must comply with Canadian standards for the environment.

The public has been led to believe that offshore drilling in the coastal waters of British Columbia has been put to rest by the federal government’s continued support of a moratorium. However, the BC government continues to allow sonic testing on the ocean floor and acts as if the moratorium will be lifted in the near future. I encourage you to stand firm by maintaining the moratorium on offshore oil and gas explorations in BC. In 2004, the federal government asked British Columbians their views on the moratorium through a public process that involved 3,700 individuals, many of whom work and live on the coast of B.C. Seventy-five percent of the participants told the federal government they wanted the moratorium on offshore oil and gas maintained. 70 BC First Nations were involved in this review, all of them support the moratorium. BC voters continue to says no to offshore oil and gas.

Put pressure on the BC provincial government to stop plans to build 2 coal-burning power generated and associated open pit mines. On December 21, 2006 Environment Canada released new greenhouse gas emissions data showing that across Canada in 2005, coal-fired generating plants belched out 280 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and remained among the nation's biggest polluters. Since your office is committed to reducing gas emissions you must stop the BC government from building new coal-burning generators.

Stop all logging in what little remains of old growth forests in Canada. Science has determined that forests are extremely important to the life cycles and functions of this planet. Trees filter air by taking carbon, nitrogen, phosphates, and other airborne chemicals in the atmosphere and fixing them into the soil where they can provide nutrients, in turn producing vast amounts of oxygen. Rainforests redistribute water, functioning as huge sponges to retain water and pumping vast quantities of water back into the atmosphere. Large tracts of intact forest help to stabilize weather patterns both locally and globally. Biologists have also determined that a ‘healthy forest’ is made up of trees that are multi-aged, multi-species, multi-sized, and multi-layered. These types of variations are only found in old growth forests and are not found in tree plantations. In fact scientists have determined that the rainforests found in the low valley bottoms on the west coast of Vancouver Island have a biomass greater than anywhere on earth, meaning that the density of living organisms per square meter surpasses even the famous Amazon rainforest. On Vancouver Island less than 10% of the original old growth forests remains, they must be protected.

It is time that our federal government gives priority to protecting the environment. I encourage you to act as do most of the people that I know.

Sincerely, Richard Boyce, BFA, MFA
Errington, British Columbia

cc. Gary Lunn - Minister of Natural Resources (Lunn.G@parl.gc.ca)
Stephen Joseph Harper - Prime Minister (Harper.S@parl.gc.ca)

BC ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMARY 2006 - YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE

2006-12-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

“We affect the environment - for better or for worse”
2006 was a big year for environmental issues, both locally and provincially.

In April Environment Minister Barry Penner announced that his government would not proceed with plans to build a parking lot in Cathedral Grove. Logging along the sensitive Cameron River floodplain has not commenced, neither has the expansion of the park been publicly marked with new signs, and no legislation has been passed to formerly protect this sensitive ecosystem.

The logging of Hamilton Marsh has been put on hold while the RDN negotiates with Island TImberlands (owned by Brookfield formerly Brascan)

A Parksville Qualicum Water Conference entitled “Our Water, Our Future” looked at the local and global issues facing drinking water, a follow-up conference in 2007 will work towards solutions.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for protecting riparian corridors, along the waterways of this region, in order to protect key fish habitat. Timberwest has logged to the banks of the Englishman River across from Morrison Creek and the Salmon Enhancement Canals. Island Timberlands Helicopters have logged the narrow steep banks of the Cameron Rivers, in an area know as Cathedral Canyon. Island Timberlands also plans to log the steep slopes directly above Englishman River Falls Provincial Park.

A private land owner built a house in Squitty Bay provincial park, on Lasqueti Island. After a public outcry Barry Penner, Minister of Environment responsible for BC Parks, gave notice to this squatter and allowed her 6 months to move out. Today the house remains as does the squatter. The BC Liberal government continues to move towards the privatization of BC Parks which will allow private operators to build and charge for services within publicly owned parks. Who will grant these rights and monitor that the parks remain accessible to the public?

East Creek, Carmanah Valley, and three watersheds in Clayoquot Sound are all that remains of the intact ancient rainforest on Vancouver Island. This year logging began in East Creek and the Clayoquot Sound watersheds, despite the fact that most people believe that these areas are protected by the BC government. Logging licenses on these publicly owned lands have been granted by the BC Ministry of Forests.

The Great Bear Rainforest deal was signed at the beginning of the year and was to protect the largest intact temperate rainforests in the world. A public relations campaign initiated by the BC Liberals has worked to win over BC voters and tourists alike as is evident by the ‘artistically’ painted Spirit Bears found all over Victoria and Vancouver. The reality is that the deal to preserve 1.8 million hectares of land along B.C.'s Central and North Coast is falling apart as Timber companies increase the rate of clear-cut logging to unprecedented levels.

More trees were cut down in 2006 than in any year in the past. Raw Log Exports have increased, the annual allowable cut has increased, and the number of forestry job has been cut dramatically. BC Ministry of Forests sells our trees at extremely low prices to logging companies. Low stumpage fees allow for the price of exported wood to be considerably lower than competitors south of the border. Ironically Timber companies continue to post massive profits. The soft-wood lumber agreement, being signed and negotiated by provincial and federal Forest Ministers, does not include raw logs. The closing of many saw mills through-out BC is directly related to the disagreement and has allowed for the increase in raw log exports.

Fish Farming expansions continue to be approved by the BC government despite evidence that escapee’s, sea lice, excess feed, and contaminants produced by these fish pens are causing the death of wild salmon stocks.

The abundant shellfish found on the beaches around Hartley Bay have been contaminated by diesel fuel that continues to leak from the sunken BC ferry Queen of the North, once again proving that disasters do happen in the coastal waters of BC. The lifting of a federal moratorium on off-shore oil explorations has been a priority for Premier Campbell’s government who plan to have oil rigs and massive oil tankers navigating these same waters regularly.

The United Nations called for a ban on all dragnet fishing. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has thus far ignored this pleas to protect the ocean floors, despite scientific evidence that show that coral and other bottom dwelling organisms provide the basis for the existence of life in the ocean.

Premier Gordon Campbell’s government has said no to wind and solar energy, instead pushing forward plans to build two massive coal burning furnaces and associated open pit mines. Despite the PR spin put on this issue, scientists conclude that coal burning furnaces to generate electrically is the single dirtiest (in terms of pollutants such as NOx, SOx, mercury, etc.) and highest generator of CO2 of any form of power generation.

You may have already had an impact on these issues, or you could help to change them in the future. Individuals do change the world. Let’s make 2007 a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PRIVATE MILL WREAKS HAVOC OVER ERRINGTON

2006-11-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

LOGS FROM YELLOW CEDAR TREES THAT GREW FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS ARE BEING MILLED BESIDE RESIDENTIAL HOMES IN ERRINGTON, B.C.

7 am - the beep of my alarm clock is drowned out by the piercing beep of several massive front end loaders backing up, their engines roar as they lift massive logs, their tires spinning in the mud. I listen to the Errington Cedar Mill, a full 500 meters away, as the giant wood chipper grinds into action. A loud noise similar to standing beside an old blender grinding nuts or a belt sander tearing into a piece of wood. Very loud, very grating on the nerves, with bursts of 1 to 2 minutes every 10 to 15 minutes between 7 am and 5 pm wee days and often on week-ends. Each time the chipper spins to a halt, it is drowned out by the constant drone of saws, edgers, and planers. Trucks honk, chain saws roar, and the log loaders continue to roar and beep incessantly.

Years of public consultation, during which countless residents voluntary dedicated their time and energy, resulted in the official community plan (OCP) for Area F, which was legally drawn up by the Regional District of Nanaimo in 1999. This document designates most of Errington as Rural/Residential with the “Village Centre” being the most densely populated as well as the cultural and social hub of activities since the early 1900s. However the RDN has allowed heavy commercial industry to grow unchecked in the heart of Errington. In fact industry is consuming the heart of this community.

I regularly meet fully loaded logging trucks on Grafton Avenue, which has no paved shoulder and is not designed for heavy commercial traffic. I can only imagine the choice left to a school bus driver when facing one of these massive logging trucks. The rural residential make-up of Errington means that Grafton is frequented by horses, cyclists, children, and parents with infants in strollers.

These logging trucks bypass the old Alberni highway, designed for commercial traffic, in order to dump their logs at a new dry land sort leased out by the Errington Cedar Mill. The logs are then reloaded and once again driven through the heart of this community seven days a week including holidays. Chip trucks, logging trucks, and loaded flatbeds all make a very wide turn at the Errington store taking up several lanes at this busy intersection, which most residents of Errington must drive through daily.
Officials at the RDN admit that no changes have been approved for the property yet the original zoning mentions only a single sawmill as the permitted principle use. Albert Orcutt started Errington Cedar Products with Brad Meeker, owner of Meeker Lumber Ltd. of Mission, B.C. Together they have been able to secure 5 million board feet of old growth Western Red Cedar and Yellow Cedar logs annually.

While attending Errington Elementary School my class took field trips to the 14 acre farm next door where we observed a large sow pig with a litter of tiny piglets, cows being milked, and other animals in the barnyard. The ALR allowed the land to be stripped of most of the topsoil, watched a massive mill be built, and much of the area to be paved. After all of this the ALR approved the removal of this property from farm status on the grounds that the property could no longer support a farm.

This summer all of the trees at the back of the property were removed, the soil piled up, and a new road pushed in along the property lines of several long time residential homes. Ditches were gouged out along Christian Road to increase the drainage away from the mill. The dust retardant promised by the Ministry of Transportation was never applied as fully loaded trucks roared up and down the new road, sometimes well into the night. Some arrangement has been made so that logs are being sorted and scaled in downtown Errington, surrounded by residential homes, at a new land sort.

Designated industrial zones allow for residential and environmental concerns to be addressed while providing industrial grade infrastructure, safe highway access, and better emergency response. An OCP is meant to be strictly monitored and enforced.

If you have concerns please contact RDN Community Planning (250) 954-3798 E-mail: planning@rdn.bc.ca and/or local MLA Scott Fraser Toll free: 1-866-870-4190 E-mail: scott.fraser.mla@leg.bc.ca and/or Ministry of Transportation Barbara Thomas (250) 751-3126 E-mail: barbara.thomas@gov.bc.ca

WATER FLOWS INTO PEOPLE’S FUTURE

2006-11-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

EMERALD LAKE FROZEN OVER BELOW MOUNT ARROWSMITH

Many of the trails I frequently use to walk along the banks of Englishman River were flooded as I made my way along the swollen waters near Top Bridge municipal park. “The nose” was level with the roaring water, brown with silt from fresh logging cut-blocks up stream. The week before I stood on top of the same rock shelf and noted that I would not want to dive for fear of hitting the bottom because the water was so shallow. That means the water rose approximately 5 meters in about 2 days. What a difference a week-end can make!

After many months of drought the rain finally came on the same week-end when water was the focus of a Parksville Qualicum Water Conference entitled “Our Water, Our Future”, attended by more than 350 people at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre. Opened by Qualicum Chief Kim Reculma-Clutesi, who welcomed everyone and encouraged people to come together to protect water, the importance of drinking water as a global and local issue was raised.

According to the leaders at Kyoto: “We are water warriors.” This is a human issue and only human beings can resolve the vast number of problems, most of which we have created. Act locally, think globally is an old catch phrase that is appropriate.

Severn Cullis-Suzuki pointed out that a litre of water can cost more than gas and produces a plastic container that is added to the 2.5 billion discarded every year. She suggested that using a personal reusable cup to drink coffee would help reduce the number of throw away cups which, if placed end to end, would circle the planet 7-8 times annually. 45,000 gallons of water are used to produce a single car. Cullis-Suzuki inspired the crowd with her stories of people from around the world coming together to protect the environment.

The largest aquifer on the planet lies under Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. When private corporations and government tried to privatize the drinking water in Uruguay, three million people protested. As a result the constitution was re-written after a 67% plebiscite to stop privatization and protect water. The constitutional amendment states:” Water is a human right.”

A statement from the UN indicated: “The wars of the 21st century will be fought over water!” Tony Clarke, Executive Director of the Polaris Institute, ended his speech with: “Water must never be completely controlled. Water must flow freely.”

Tofino councillor Michael Tilitzky explained that bylaws now make it mandatory to use dual flush toilets which use 3 litres per flush rather than the traditional 13.5 Why is this not a provincial law? Tofino is thinking beyond pipes and pumps by focusing on conservation as the solution to the problems of water shortages and increased demand on the limited drinking water supply.

Logging continues to effect local water by reducing the natural forest filters, eroding top soil, and reducing snow packs. Water flows without regard to boundaries yet is treated differently depending if it flows through private or public land. The ‘Private Forest Land Management Act is currently under review. This legislation establishes logging, road building, development, and other regulations for private land. Public input is needed. Voice your concerns to: BC Forest Minister Rich Coleman FOR.Minister@gov.bc.ca (250) 387-6240

Near the end of the workshop portion of the conference people came together to come up with positive tasks for people to work on to change the current status of water. Some of these included: Amending the Canadian Constitution to include “Drinking Water is a Human Right” This would create protection for water from the highest level and trickle down to every aspect of Canadian living. Lobby the local Health Authority to enforce water protection, particularly industry. Call for legislation to protect the water aquifers and ground water in this province.

Consensus was to hold a follow-up conference which will focus entirely on building solutions to the many issues facing water. Keep an eye out for information and checkout www.arrowsmithwatersheds.org

WHERE IS THE FALL SESSION OF THE BC LEGISLATURE PROMISED BY CAMPBELL'S LIBERALS?

2006-10-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

CATHEDRAL GROVE REMAINS UNDER THREAT FROM BC LIBERAL UNTIL LEGISLATION IS PASSED

To date the boundaries of internationally renouned Cathedral Grove Provincial Park, located between Qualicum Beach and Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, have yet to be written into legislation. The sign welcoming people into the park has not been moved 3 km towards Port Alberni to reflect the new park boundaries.

The fact that BC Minister of Environment Barry Penner has made several public announcements regarding the park, none of these statements are reflected in law today. According to the BC Liberals this park has doubled in size, no parking lot will be built on the much protested location, and parliament will be held in the spring and fall of every year in order to legally pass legislation into law.

Political debates that are supposed to mark democracy in this province have somehow faded away. The Fall session of the legislature has been canceled with no fanfare and the Legislative Assembly remains silent.

When the BC Liberals were elected in 2001 they made many promises. They guaranteed that the Legislative Assembly would hold both a Spring and Fall session, establishing a parliamentary calendar which scheduled 11 week in the spring between February 14 and May 18 and 7 weeks in the fall between October 2 and November 30. This year there will be no fall session. The BC Liberal government has stated very little publicly about this major omission in how government is run in BC. Mass media seems to have missed this story completely.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) each hold a parliamentary seat in the House where they meet in order to debate how this province is governed. All government policy and laws must be approved by a majority of MLAs. On average each MLA in B.C. represents a little more than 47,000 people. The current, 38th parliament has 79 MLAs of which 34 are members of the NDP and 45 are of the BC Liberal party.

While browsing www.leg.bc.ca I read through a document entitled; “Discover Your Legislature Series” and was able to glean a few important quotes; “When the House is sitting, MLAs are responsible for studying, debating and voting on all bills (proposed laws) put before them.”

Under the heading ‘Introduction of Bills’ it is stated; “Throughout each session, new legislation is debated through a series of ‘readings’ before finally being voted on and, if approved, given Royal Assent by the Lieutenant Governor... Debate on government bills can last any length of time, but passing them before the end of each session is crucial. If that cannot be done, then the bill will “die on the order paper,” meaning it will have to be reintroduced in the next session and go through the legislative readings all over again.”

Today, with a slight majority government and no fall session of the Legislative Assembly, the BC Liberals continue to act on issues that are of great significance to the future of all residents of British Columbia. A few examples include Canada’s soft-wood lumber agreement with the USA, treaty negotiations with Tsawwassen First Nations, salmon farming, a return to the burning of coal, off-shore oil exploration, health, welfare, education, transportation, raw log exports, privatization of BC parks, and many more issues that are not being debated this fall by representatives elected by BC voters.

Political assurances are only as good as the paper they are written on and all bills must have Royal Assent before they become law. A parliamentary session must be held in order for government to act on any new legislation. Voice your concerns with the Lieutenant Governor of BC the Honourable Iona Campagnolo GHInfo@gems6.gov.bc.ca and/or Premier Gordon Campbell premier@gov.bc.ca phone: (250) 387-1715 and/or Minister of Environment barry.penner.mla@leg.bc.ca phone: (250) 387-1187

ENVIRONMENT TRUMPS DEVELOPMENT WATERSHEDS CONTINUE TO BE DESTROYED

2006-09-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

The district's main reservoir on Meares Island has nearly been drained and not enough water is coming across the inlet to Tofino. The town council ordered that all commercial use of water would be banned as of September 1, 2006. Resorts, restaurants, fish plants, and other businesses would have to shut down.

Big bucks from a private company standing to loose a great deal more provided a temporary solution by trucking water in from Ucluelet which bailed out the local businesses for the long week-end. The fact remains that the environment provides a finite amount of drinking water and no amount of financial expansion through development will change that fact.

With a year-round population of 1,500 people the town of Tofino swells to 22,000 during the summer months. Private financial gain is based on an environment that must be respected rather than ignored. The provincial government has been increasingly allowing private commercial corporations to regulate their own development.

Drinking water for Tofino comes from the old growth rainforest on Meares Island which was protected by protesters in 1984 who challenged a logging corporation’s right to log on public crown land. These protests were the first of many that followed in attempts to protect the rainforest of Clayoquot Sound. In 1985, the Nuu-chah-nulth were granted a court injunction to halt logging until their land claim was settled. To date this has not happened and no treaty has been negotiated by the BC government.

Logging continues to increase in Clayoquot Sound from a low of 17,000 cubic meters (1 cubic metre = 1 telephone pole) in 1998 to 145,000 cubic meters (4,400 truck loads) in 2002. This was the latest available statistic due to cut-backs within the BC Ministry of Forests.

This year is worse than most. The typical summer and fall in this area brings drought and water shortages. Numerous golf courses, logging of watersheds, unrestricted housing developments, industrial run-off into ground water, unlimited well drilling, and massive drainage ditching are some of the contributing factors to drought in this area.

I was outside during much of the short rainfall of Tuesday August 29, replacing garbage pails under the downspouts of our eavestroughs. I was able to bucket water onto many of the trees in our orchard, in my attempt to catch every drop and direct it toward wilting vegetation. The sword ferns that flourish in the usually wet area in the backyard have shriveled up and fallen over as they have dried up during the unforgiving drought.

Our well provides drinking water year-round but there is never enough water for the garden because the natural cycle for this area is that we have an annual drought between June and October every year. The climate is described as ‘Mediterranean’ and we have to live with both the good and the bad of that distinction. The water resources in this region are finite. Water runs out and always has, despite what developers try to spin. This area is such a prime destination because at least four months of the year are dry and seldom bring any rainfall, even though we are know as the raincoast of Canada.

In BC any privately owned land, despite a lack of resolution regarding claims by first nations, is off limits to government officials. The Ministry of Forest is very clear that its employees are not allowed to walk on private land because they have no authority of private logging practices. On private land there are no limits or regulations for logging, mining, road building, or other forms of environmental destruction. Ownership allows destruction with no consequence even if these actions are effecting society as a whole. Both the Ministry of Environment and Transportation have little to no authority over private land owners.

A prime example of how this lack of regulation can effect residents, and the flow of water, occurred in the Alberni Valley earlier this year. Timberwest logged the steep slopes above the small rural community of Cherry Creek, just outside of Port Alberni. As a result, residents suffered three ‘boil water’ advisories over a few months. Today logging activities continue on these slopes despite landslides and drinking water problems. The watersheds of Englishman River, Little Qualicum River, and French Creek continue to be logged despite the fact that they provide drinking water to the majority of residents in Oceanside.

EAST CREEK ON THE CUTTING BLOCK

2006-08-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

VIEW OF KLASKISH INLET FROM NEW ROAD INTO EAST CREEK

I just returned from a week-long trip into the wilderness on the north-east corner of the island just north of the Brooks Peninsula. My goal was to return to the ancient rainforest of East Creek to begin shooting a film.

East Creek is one of only six watersheds that still remains pristine out of an original ninety-one on Vancouver Island, the other eighty-five have been clear-cut logged. East Creek, Carmanah Valley, and three watersheds in Clayoquot Sound are all that remains of the intact ancient rainforest we know so little about.

Geographically the primeval rain forest on the shores of East Creek is isolated by rugged mountains, long fjords, a wind-swept coastline with steep, exposed cliffs and thousands of dangerous reefs. The annual rainfall is more than 3500 mm. The rain forest of the Klaskish is at the base of Brooks Peninsula, which held off the glaciers during the last ice age, and is inaccessible by land. The people of the Kwakwala plied these waters for over 10,000 years, moving goods and people between the village sites protected by the many inlets along this rugged coast. The remote and rugged location of this rain forest has protected it from one hundred and fifty years of industrial logging, until today.

I drove a small Subaru station wagon loaded with gear and topped with two 6 meter sea kayaks past the concrete mass of the fume belching pulp mill at Port Alice which was built in 1910. We then drove 75 km of logging road labyrinth through Christmas tree plantations, clear-cuts leveled for the second time for cheap pulp logs, and onto fields of stumps cut from the mountain ridges right down to the ocean’s edge.

As soon as we had crossed a bridge over Klaskish Creek the logging road began a series of steep switchbacks where, according to my topographical map the road into East Creek rises nine hundred meters over one kilometer. This extreme road winds through clear-cuts on Crown land in what is designated as sensitive management by the BC Ministry of Forests. Suddenly the entire road ahead was filled by a fully loaded off-road logging truck roaring towards us with 100 tons of enormous ancient logs stacked twice as high as the truck. Luckily I was able to pull off where a grader had widened the road. It was truly heartbreaking to see this massive truck drive past us loaded with 1000-year-old yellow and red cedar from the highlands of the East Creek valley.

Unable to drive up the steep logging road we decided to try accessing the ancient rainforest of East Creek by paddling our kayaks to the mouth of the Klaskino Inlet and then along the open coast for 8 km in the Pacific Ocean. Amongst the rocky reefs and associated kelp beds we watched several Sea Otters swimming, diving, and squealing in their high pitched tones. Through binoculars I gazed at an adult smashing a Sea Urchin with a stone and a tiny young pup scrambling onto her belly to eat the tasty treat.

We camped on a well protected sand beach at Heater Point. The next morning we hiked out to the open coastline of the Pacific Ocean to check out the surf. We watched waves pound into the steep granite cliffs of the rugged coast dotted with offshore rocks. For the next three days the coast guard weather report called for gale force winds in Brooks Bay.

We paddled back the way we had come, stopping at an ancient village site standing alone in the midst of massive clear cuts which have devastated most of the shores of Klaskino Inlet. We marveled that the five foot deep midden along the shore and ventured into the tiny stand of old growth forest where we looked at examples of trees that were Culturally Modified several hundred years ago for a variety of uses by First Nations. Massive planks split off living Cedar trees which continue to grow, Sitka Spruce with massive holes burnt into them so that pitch could be harvested, totem and canoe trees left behind due to splitting.

On the way back we sighted ten bears, several of them cute and very curious cubs, foraging below the tide line. All the while we paddled closer to the extreme logging road over the ridge into East Creek through piles of debris, exposing blasted rock, and scares created by landslides. BC Forest Minister Rich Coleman FOR.Minister@gov.bc.ca

CANYON GEM HIDES ANCIENT FOREST

2006-05-03T23:34:00.000-07:00

There is a jewel hidden at the base of Mt. Arrowsmith. A place so secluded that most people do not know that it exists. Since the last ice age the flow of water known as the Cameron River has cut a deep canyon through the stone ridge many know as ‘the Hump.’ The Cameron Canyon reaches a depth of 250 meters and runs for 6 kilometers between the Cameron logging road mainline and the Alberni Highway at the base of the hump.

Last week-end I left behind the massive clear-cut and single species tree farm that makes up the Cameron Valley, with the exception of the old-growth trees of Cathedral Grove, and hiked down into the Cameron Canyon. I should say I clambered, scaled, and climbed between the sheer rock faces by skirting along the moss covered rock-slides which had fallen off the sides of Mt. Arrowsmith.

I started my descent into the Canyon down the east face. The forest showed signs of a forest fire approximately 200 years ago which had opened the forest canopy to allow the growth of many tall, slender western red cedar and western hemlock trees. Moss and lichens covered almost every surface in this dense forest. Colours blended into one another, yellow green over the rocks, gray and green hanging from the trees, with spatters of red or orange created by lichens in bloom. Despite the rugged location this dense forest is so lush that any open spaces are covered with ferns, Salal, and Salmon berry.

Between the dense growth of younger trees, most over 150 years old, I came upon the occasional massive old-growth Douglas Fir. Remnant survivors of the fire, the thick bark of these trees had protected these fir trees for six to eight hundred years.

Then I saw the first freshly cut stump. I lost count of the rings at six hundred and forty because the growth was so slight towards the outer edge that I could not distinguish between the years. I later counted thirty stumps and twenty more old growth trees marked for logging by Island Timberlands on the east side of this steep canyon.

The next day I hiked/climbed down the west face of the Cameron Canyon, where the ‘hump’ falls off into the deep ravine. Steep cliffs are topped by a series of clear-cuts and tree farms ranging in age from 50 years to this winter when Island Timberlands cut down the last of the big trees. I skirted an almost vertical drop down to the Cameron River where I found a very narrow floodplain with rick soil and massive Cedar Trees.

Both sides of the river are lined with some of the finest specimens of Western Red Cedar that I have seen in my entire life. They are about two meters in diameter, straight with no spiral, clear with few limbs until the top which reach heights of sixty to eighty meters. The forest floor is covered in moss, lichen, ferns, salmon berry, and devil’s club. Most of the big trees, some growing directly out of the river’s bank, are ribboned and spray-painted for logging by Island Timberlands.

Single stem heli-logging involves a faller climbing the tree while cutting off any branches and then the top of the tree with a chainsaw. He then climbs down and cuts the tree from both directions with no wedge cut until there is only a very narrow piece of wood holding the tree. Then he runs for cover as a helicopter grabs the top of the tree with a claw, snaps off the tree trunk, and flies away with the log.

Is it any wonder that more fallers are killed every year than any other occupation in BC? This type of logging allows access into the places that have never before been logged and trees are being cut down in the most fragile and sensitive locations. This is not sustainable. After all, how long does it take to grow an eight hundred year old tree? The Cameron Canyon needs to be protected not logged.

For details contact: Jim Sears, Island Timberlands 468-6810

Let the Federal Department of Oceans and Fisheries know that this type of logging on river banks is not acceptable by writing to Minister Loyola Hearn at Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

WATER BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER

2006-04-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

For the third time in as many weeks more than a hundred people rallied on ‘the hump’ of Mt. Arrowmith in order to stop dozens of fully loaded logging trucks that leave the Alberni Valley every five minutes. Mill workers, log scalers, environmentalists, union reps, the Mayor of Port Alberni, the local MLA, along with citizens from Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, and other parts of the Island were all speaking the same language. They have had enough of massive corporations reaping all the profits and leaving the local communities without resources, long term benefits, or the essential ingredients of life such as clean drinking water.

In Alberni mills have shut down, the entire Sprout Lake division has been shut down, and the Franklin division has been reduced from 500 to 100 employees due to raw log exports and mechanization. TimberWest recently logged the watershed forests that feeds into Beaver Creek causing massive erosion and mudslides that have directly impacted local residents who have had to suffer no less that four boil water restrictions in the past few months.

The situation in Oceanside is much like that of the Alberni Valley. Englishman River and the Little Qualicum River provide drinking water for the residents of Parksville and Qualicum as well as several outlying communities. The forests that provide the watersheds that feed into these rivers are being heavily logged by both TimberWest and Island Timberlands (formerly BRASCAN renamed BROOKFIELD)

In a symbolic gesture of respect Island Timberlands and TimberWest allowed their logging trucks to be stopped briefly at the brake check on ‘the hump’ before moving on to log sorts in Nanoose and Crofton. Jim Sears, manager for Island Timberlands, refused to speak with me while he monitored the situation and made sure that the logging trucks kept rolling past the people.

A cougar hunter was much more talkative, and explained that he walked the ridge from the hump to Cathedral Grove every morning with his dogs. A few days earlier he had come upon a survey crew that was plotting a logging road for Island Timberlands from Loon Lake across the slope above Cathedral Grove. The plan is to log the entire ridge, which is primarily old growth forest, including heli-logging the giant trees adjacent to the provincial park that grow between the highway and the railway.

When I mentioned this to BC Parks manager Chris Kissenger he claimed that he knew nothing of logging plans along the park boundaries. The Master plan for the Provincial park states; “BC Parks BC will ensure its goals are met by: working with adjacent landowners to ensure compatible land use decisions which consider the park as an integral park of a larger land area setting.” When Island Timberlands logs the ridge above Cathedral Grove the wind tunnel effects alone will dramatically effect the trees inside the park through ‘edge effect’ and ‘blowdowns.’

Down in the valley a camp that was built over the course of 26 months was dismantled in a matter of days and the sensitive forest was returned to the same condition as it was five years ago when public protests began. The citizens who protected this delicate ecosystem from being destroyed removed all signs of their presence as a sign of good faith towards an announcement made in the legislature by the Honourable Minister for the Environment Barry Penner who said; “At this point, I can inform members of the house and the public that B.C. Parks does not have any intentions at this point of proceeding with the new parking lot option at Cathedral Grove.”

Despite the fact that Minister Penner said “at this point” twice, the onus now lies firmly upon the BC government to work with the public towards an alternative solution in Cathedral Grove. The environment is not safe until the status of a class “A” park is extended to the 21 hectares currently zoned as a recreation area in order to allow for logging, road building, and bulldozing. Scott Fraser, MLA for Alberni-Qualicum, will raise this issue in the legislature and the public will hold the government to its word.

COASTAL DOUGLAS FIR ENDANGERED

2006-02-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

Most of us living in Oceanside know what a Douglas-fir looks like, after all they are the most common tree species found in this area.Trees support entire plant communities, and only mature trees provide the complexity needed for the full range and diversity of plants. The simple fact is that these massive trees were strong, abundant, close to the sea, and therefore they were logged to the brink of extinction along with the vegetation they support. As a result the Douglas-fir/Salal and Douglas-fir/Sword Fern are both red listed as rare and endangered plant communities on Vancouver Island.

The British Columbia Ministry of Forests references forest types by designating them into specific biogeoclimatic zone. Identification is base on three points of reference: “Bio” indicates the biological nature of the ecosystem based on the vegetation, “Geo” indicates the use of soils and geology, and “climatic” refers to the climate. The entire province has been classified into 14 biogeoclimatic zones. This system should not be confused with the scientific identification of all ecosystem in British Columbia because these terms have been established by foresters, working for the BC government, who are primarily interested in identification of trees for logging by private corporations.

The Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone is limited to a very small region of BC. A thin strip along the east coast of Vancouver Island from Deep Bay south to Victoria, several of the Gulf Islands, and small patches around Powell River and the Sunshine Coast. The rest of Vancouver Island is designated as Coastal Western Hemlock or Mountain Hemlock. These forests are completely different with regard to tree types, ground cover, and most notable moisture. The most extreme rainfall is found along the north west coast of the Island where the annual average is 4.5 meters according to statistics Canada. The Oceanside area, being in the rain shadow of the Vancouver Island Mountain Range, is usually much dryer with annual rainfall less than 1 meter. Most of Vancouver Island maintains some moisture through the summer with early morning fog that rolls in off the Pacific and the occasional rainfall but in the Coastal Douglas-fir zone there are long periods of drought .

Take a look around at the limited number of old-growth Douglas Fir trees in Oceanside and you will likely notice that the bark is blacken like charcoal. Older Douglas-fir are able to survive fires because they have very thick bark which helps to protect them from the heat and flames. Thin barked trees such as cedar, hemlock and most deciduous trees burnt to the ground in naturally occurring fires during past centuries. The cones from Douglas-fir that remained standing in a blackened and charred landscape would colonize the surrounding area which was devoid of competition. It would take many millenia for the process of succession to allow shade tolerant trees like hemlock and cedar to become dominant. Then fire would start the process over again leaving only a few remnant Douglas-fir giants as seed trees.

With the exception of a few remnant old-growth Douglas-fir, most of the trees that surround us in Oceanside are in the very early stages of their lives, anywhere from seedlings to 80 years old. Considering that a Douglas-fir reaches it climax at approximately 800 to 1000 year, then the trees around here are not even ready to attend kindergarten. The Coastal Douglas-fir zone is one of the smallest of British Columbia’s 14 biogeoclimatic zones yet it contains some of the province’s rarest vegetation with a diversity of ecosystems that is unparalleled. This fragile environment is seriously threatened by continuing human development.

The rest of BC has 12% of the land base set aside as protected and/or park thanks to the hard work of many dedicated citizens who convinced the NDP government of the 1990s that this was a priority. Granted much of this land is mountain tops, rock, and ice but it far exceeds the protection for land on Vancouver Island. Please write to Gordon Campbell and let him know that 6% forest protection is NOT ENOUGH for Vancouver Island! premier@gov.bc.ca The BC Liberals require that you include your full mailing address so they know you are a voter.

GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST CHANGES THE GAME

2006-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Several times a day for the past week I have found myself jumping up with joy to shout that the Great Bear Rainforest (GBR) has been protected, then I sit back down and remember all of the practical implications. A lot has changed over the past 15 years when the social-environmental struggle was dubbed ‘the war in the woods’ by the media. The struggle of the people to protect the environment of this planet has changed, as have the rules, lets hope the results change too.

1.8 million hectares of land along B.C.'s Central and North Coast will be preserved to protect the largest intact temperate rainforests in the world. The GBR is home to the Kermode or "Spirit" bear, a rare, white variation of the black bear as well as one of the world's last large populations of grizzly bears.

This initiative was spearheaded by First Nations and environmentalists who have been in negotiations for the past 10 years with the forest industry and the BC government. After large well organized public protests at Clayoquot Sound the government and multinational logging corporations refused to attend the negotiations for the GBR until environmental groups signed onto a list of very stringent rules. The non-profit groups agreed that they would not make demands for land protection anywhere else in the province or the other parties would walk away from the GBR table forever. This meant no lobbying for public support, no public relations campaigns, no advertising, no boycotts, no rallies, and definitely no roadblocks. As a result the groups with the largest public support, best organizational skills, and the biggest political clout did nothing about the many atrocities being perpetrated upon the environment in British Columbia. All the eggs were in one basket, the Great Bear Rainforest.

Limited’ logging will be allowed in the GBR under the new land-use plan. I have heard the words limited, selective, and special management used by foresters to describe their methods of logging. I have seen what the BC Ministry of Forests allows logging companies to do out in the wilderness. Variable retention logging is flaunted as being different from clear-cutting. I have witnessed ‘new age’ logging that goes on today in some the most sensitive forests, managed under strict government supervision. The results include: steep slopes with all the trees cut down except a few left on the top of the ridge to blow down in the first winter, river banks exposed by log-yarding and road building that forces silt into Salmon bearing streams, patches of trees left as wildlife corridors that blow down and are then ‘salvaged’ a few years later, and devastation beyond the imagination left behind in the ‘unclear-cuts.’

Today, with the change from the Forest Practices Code to the Results Based Code implemented by the BC Liberal government, logging corporations are expected to monitor their own adherence to environmental policies.

Environmental organizations will contribute $60 million in the hope of changing the economic focus of communities located around the GBR, from resource extraction to eco-tourism. The province will add $30 million and ask Ottawa to match it. This financial shift is very significant because it means that nonprofit organizations will be paying half the cost while tax-payers take the back seat in the preservation of parks. The question is who will set the rules? For example the rules of protection have been modified repeatedly in Strathcona, established in 1911 as the first BC Provincial Park, when government allowed mines, logging, road building, private resorts, and dams to alter the environment inside the park.

At the end of last year, environmentalists spent $1.35 million to buy the trophy-hunting rights in an area now known as the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary. The most valuable guide outfitting territories in B.C. transformed into eco-tourism overnight. Foreign hunters are no longer welcome to shoot bears and wolves in a 20,000 square kilometre area of B.C.'s Central Coast, they are now encouraged to bring cameras instead. Sounds great, but in the GBR all BC residents with a regular hunting license can still shoot bears, wolves, cougar, deer, moose, elk, grouse, ducks, and just about any creature they like within the proper hunting season. This is also the sad fact in most provincial parks in BC.

Today I rejoice that a significant park has been established. This may mean that I can see a white black bear someday. I also know that all those places that have been left out of these negotiations are still worth fighting for and must be protected. On Vancouver Island: Cathedral Grove, East Creek, Upper Walbran Valley, Little Qualicum Floodplain, Hamilton Marsh, and the Nahmint Douglas-fir just to name a few. Lets make sure that the public does not get PRed into thinking that saving the GBR means the moratorium on off-shore oil explorations can be lifted or the 'working forest' legislation can be implemented to limit the amount of land protected as parks. I feel that we must take this opportunity to move forward and at the same time start anew to protect what we can of this delicate environment we call earth.

ENGLISHMAN RIVER ESTUARY THREATENED

2006-01-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

The flow of water in Englishman River was calm as I took a walk along the estuary. The wet banks were exposed and newly created sandbars and piles of stones lay exposed in the middle of the river, recently emerged from the water. An eagle, perched high in a giant Black Cottonwood, watched over a seasonal nest which looked like a massive bundle of large sticks wedges between the limbs of the tree. The tidal flats exposed by the low water was alive with an abundance of bird life. A gull dropped a clam on the stoney beach then swooped down upon the fresh meal.

Ten days ago, during three weeks of almost constant rain, the scene was completely different. The murky brown water was roaring and swollen high up onto the banks of the river. At several places the banks had been eroded by the water raging by at high speed and a number of large trees had been washed into the middle of the river. The tide was up, holding back the river, causing much of the estuary to be flooded by fresh rain water flowing over areas that normally look like grassy fields.

My father and I launched a canoe into the water gushing out of a concrete and steel storm drainage that slows the surface water coming off the streets of the City of Parksville. We floated with the current into a series of swollen canals that separate the community park from the wildlife reserve which is protected and managed by Nature’s Trust. Along the shore we could see the landfill that has been dumped by Surfside RV in order to expand their parking space for RVs and mobile homes.

We drifted slowly in the canoe through the unique ecosystem that is an inter-tidal floodplain, a place were the fresh water of the Englishman River watershed meet with the salt water of the Strait of Georgia. The constant ebb and flow of the tides mix with the replenishing flow of river water. An abundance of shoreline vegetation attract many species of birds, even in winter. The near silent movement of the canoe allowed us to approach waterfowl without disturbing them and identify Bufflehead, Western Sandpiper, Surf Scooter, American Coot, Canada Goose, Mallard Duck, Common Merganser, Belted Kingfisher, Common Goldeneye, and Great Blue Heron.

A few days ago the same storm drain ditch entering into the back eddies of the estuary contained a mere trickle of water. The low tide revealed mud flats edged by thick green vegetation teeming with life. This sensitive ecosystem is one of the most endangered on the planet since much of the human development occurs on the estuaries of river systems.

Federal, provincial, and city governments have committed to protecting the estuary of the Englishman River. The public must hold them to their word because private developers will always eye this wildlife reserve as a profitable piece of real estate. Encroachment continues as you read this article. One look at the rock causeway built by Surfside RV along the beach, which holds back the tide despite Federal Crown ownership of the shoreline, shows the priority of private enterprise. In the near future encroachment may come under the mask of an interpretive center proposed to build a bridge over the inter-tidal canals encouraging thousands of people to walk through the delicate and fragile environment. Surfside RV is the prime advocate for this project. lobbying city council and other levels of government, and they stand to gain a backyard for their paying customers at the expense of the wildlife reserve.

To show your support for the protection of the estuary please contact the City of Parksville at: 248-6144 or www.city.parksville.bc.ca

Follow-up and Backgrounder

In 2001 I attended a power-point presentation in the CIty of Parksville Council Chambers made by Dr. Glen Jamieson along with the owner of Surfside RV. Together they outlined a proposal to develop an interpretive center, vehicle parking lot, tourism building, and bridges to access the natural wildlife reserve located on the estuary of the Englishman River. They were looking for support from city hall as well as invited guests in attendance who represented Nature’s Trust, Duck’s Unlimited, Environment Canada (The Canadian Wildlife Service - Species at Risk), COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Pacific Region, BC Ministry of Environment, Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Society, Streamkeepers, Arrowsmith Watershed Coalition Society, Save Georgia Strait Alliance, and the Pacific Estuary Conservation Program.

The overwhelming reaction to these plans were negative. Government agencies and none-profit-societies brought up the fact that the wildlife reserve was established to limit the human impact upon a sensitive ecosystem and the wildlife that if provided for in the form of nesting habitat, feeding grounds, and resting areas. The plans were rejected by all levels of government at that time. At the conclusion of that meeting, then Mayor of Parksville Julia MacDonald, made it clear that this was a private issue that would not be effected by city policy.

However, Surfside RV and Dr. Glen Jamieson continue to lobby privately for their development plans in the estuary reserve. In fact they have made false claims to potential investors that they have the full support of the City of Parksville. Any support the city gives to their proposal will bolster their chances and directly effect the future health of the Englishman River Estuary Reserve. The citizens of Parksville believe that the estuary is protected from any further development. Many citizens lobbied hard for many years to raise the money that eventually acquired the land that is now a wilderness reserve in the middle of the City of Parksville. Naturalists, bird watchers, and other outdoors people come here specifically to observe the Englishman River Estuary Wilderness Reserve. They bring economic prosperity with them. Today there are new plans to build a trail accross the estuary to connect the shorline with an extensive trailsystem. The attacks on this limited ecosystem never seems to end.

GARRY OAK/ARBUTUS OF NANOOSE NOTCH A RARE ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEM

2006-01-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

It is the middle of winter and I just had the pleasure of walking in one of the rarest ecosystems in Canada. Clusters of bright red berries hung off the abundant Arbutus trees, with smooth orange bark and twisted limbs, fully covered by lush green leaves. Amongst the living trees stood the occasional stark black tree stripped of all its colour by a blight that has killed many Arbutus trees on Vancouver Island in the past decade. The array of colour was further dampened by the gray bark of the Garry oak which are bare except for bright spots of moss and hanging lichens. Most of the ground was covered by leaves with patches of exposed yellow grass, and in between the trees the green of sharp leafed Oregon Grape in such profusion that I can not recall every seeing that much of it anywhere else. A black-tailed deer popped out of the woods but disappeared after taking one look at me.

Both the Federal and Provincial Ministries of Environment have identified the Garry oak ecosystem as rare and red-listed them as endangered. They are considered to be on the brink of extinction. While a plant community is identified by its most dominate species, the entire ecology is dependent upon the other parts that make up the whole. Many bulbs and smaller plants die out if the trees that protect them from the elements are removed. The BC Conservation Data Centre concluded: “At least 694 species, subspecies, and varieties of plants have been identified in Garry oak and associated ecosystems in British Columbia. Garry oak ecosystems are home to more plant species than any other terrestrial ecosystem in coastal British Columbia.”

Ecosystems that are associated with the Garry oak include maritime meadows, coastal bluffs, vernal pools, grasslands, rock outcrops, and mixed transitional forests. All of these appear in small areas around the Nanoose peninsula. The Notch of Nanoose is that big hill many of us see from a distance as we drive to Nanaimo. The top of this rocky hill and the southern exposed slope is home to a ecosystem known as Garry oak/Arbutus while the gullies in between are Garry oak/ Oceanspray, and the northeastern face, as well as most of the rocky Nanoose point, is made up of Douglas-fir/Arbutus. All three of these distinct but closely related plant communities are present on the Nanoose peninsula.

Over the years I have seen many rare plants on the Notch, in particular flowers that grow only in close proximity to the Garry oak. I have also seen rare birds like the Turkey Vulture which was once considered extinct in these parts. A Golden Eagle allowed me to view it for 20 minutes as it perched on top of a stunted old growth Douglas Fir looking at the open field below for small mammals. The distinct golden feathers on the nape of its neck and fully feathered legs were proof of its species, then it spread its giant wings gracefully and soared away with the breeze. Even in the winter I have heard flocks of Chickadee, Pine Siskin and Kinglet feeding on the many seeds, berries, cones, and insects found amongst the trees.

I have been hiking along the windy paths of Nanoose for over thirty years and still enjoy walking in this rare and endangered ecosystem. I started hiking over this rocky terrain before Schooner Cove or Fairwinds were built. In those days the trenches gauged out by the passing of the glacier were flooded most of the winter but turned into bog wetlands in the summer drought. Dams have changed all that and now the water is held back to supply the golf course with water. Rock has been blasted and crushed to make way for roads and building sites. Its true that the entire area was logged over fifty years ago but in those days the rock outcrops would have been ignored because they had only stunted trees which were no good for lumber. Today those same spots are prized for the view they provide. The delicate balance of water, rocky outcrops, forest, meadows, and wildlife is constantly encroached upon by people.

COURT RULES FOR HUPACASATH FIRST NATIONS AGAINST BRASCAN AND BC GOVERNMENT

2005-12-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

The Winter Solstice marks the point where the Northern Hemisphere of the planet Earth faces the Sun for the shortest time. From now until the Summer Solstice the days lengthen with the coming of the light. Many people are privileged enough to be able to celebrate this season by giving and receiving gifts. In the past year Gordon Campbell’s government has been giving gifts to giant logging and real-estate companies Weyerhaeuser and Brascan. Perhaps in return for millions of dollars in contributions to the BC Liberal’s elections campaigns.

However, a reality check has come just in time for the holidays. Justice Lynn Smith of the BC Supreme Court released her decision in the Hupacasath First Nation lawsuit seeking to quash the decision of the Minister of Forests that approves the privatization of 70,300 hectares of private land in Tree Farm License 44 (TFL 44).

The Court rejected arguments by the Crown and Brascan that Aboriginal Title could not exist on fee simple or private land. Last Winter the BC Liberals announced plans to privatize crown forest land identified as TFL 44 which runs along both shores of the Port Alberni Inlet. This gift of public land to a private corporation is part of Gordon Campbell’s second term commitment to industry.

One week after the BC Supreme Court released its decision BRASCAN changed its name to Brookfield. Coincidence? Fact: November 3. 2005 BC Supreme Court released its decision, November 10, 2005 BRASCAN changed its name to Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

During the proceedings of the court case BRASCAN paid Weyerhaeuser $2.4 billion for its BC coastal logging operations. Weyerhaeuser ran away to the USA with the cash plus the plunder of 7 years of logging while cutting thousands of jobs in BC. In 1999 the US corporate giant Weyerhaeuser, the largest logging company on the planet, bought MacMillan Bloedel and fired thousands of workers. In October 2004 Weyerhaeuser posted third-quarter profit at US$594 million, third-quarter sales totaled US $5.85 billion.

May 30, 2005 Brascan bought Weyerhaeuser's BC coastal timber and gave the name ‘Island Timberlands’ to all logging operations on Vancouver Island. Brascan laid-off thousands of forestry workers around the province, shut down several operations, and increased logging to 7 days per week 24 hours a day. Island Timberlands has closed public access to the roads into the Northwest Bay logging division making it very hard to identify who is doing what. Adding to the confusion this multinational company hires subcontractors which enables them to avoid unions and certain liability considerations. Meanwhile 43 people died at work in the BC forestry industry in 2005. On Vancouver Island 3 men have died in the past 2 months while logging.

Brascan is a development company which had big plans to turn publicly owned crown land designated as forest land into private real-estate. On their corporate website Brookfield states under the heading ‘Higher and better use land sale strategy’:
– Approximately 13,000 hectares of lands are viewed to have greater value in non-timber use, located on Vancouver Island and the Mainland.
– It is expected that the constantly growing rural-urban interface will result in ongoing land sale opportunities.

Brascan Corporation is a global asset manager focused on property, power and infrastructure with $40 billion of assets inter-listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. There is no mention at www.brookfield.com of the court case against the Hupacasath First Nation in Port Alberni.

The courts have once again told the BC Government that they cannot ignore the rights of First Nations while selling, trading, or giving public land to private corporations. As in the case of the Haida, the BC government must negotiate in good faith with First Nations before selling the resources and land that is in question.

Specifically, the court ruled that, “The decision to remove the land from the TFL was a decision with important ramifications for the future of that land.” The court found that the Crown breached its duty to consult with the Hupacasath regarding the removal of the land from TFL 44, and regarding the consequences of the removal of that land on the remaining (Crown land) portion of TFL 44."

WORKERS AND TREES FELLED AS CORPORATIONS REAP PROFITS

2005-12-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

I remember the silence of the winter’s night, the gentle sounds made by the trees swaying in the breeze, the distant thunder of Englishman River Falls, and the occasional hoot of an owl. Today those sounds are overwhelmed by industrial noise. I can hear the sharp whirr of the feller bunch cutter as the blade rips through the trunk of a tree followed by the crash of the tree as it is thrown to the ground. This is repeated every thirty to forty seconds, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

The din of the Errington Cedar Mill’s debarker, chippers, loaders, and saws add a cacophony of noises that grates the very soul from 6 am until late into the night, sometimes 7 days a week. Many times I have heard the metallic crash of chip bins being loaded by beeping loaders at 1 am. Wheaton Industrial Saw joins in with the shrill grinding sound of metal that drones endlessly on in a robotic rhythm that is as repetitious as a sewing machine. All of this heavy industry is going on in a ‘Rural Residential’ zone as designated by the Regional District of Nanaimo.

I was drawn by the noise of industrial logging to cross the Englishman River in hip waders, where Morrison Creek flows into the river. The rushing water drowned out all other noise as I braced myself against the forces of nature and moved my feet slowly between the round stones on the riverbed.

I walked downstream along the bank to the place where the South Englishman river brings water from the Mt. Moriarty watershed to join the water flowing from the Mt. Arrowsmith watershed. At times the ‘riparian zone’ along the top of the River bank consisted of only a single tree. A road had been bulldozed along the top of the river’s bank and at times only 30 feet separated the mud of the logging road from the flowing water. Ditches had been dug into the river bank to drain the roadbed directly into the Englishman River. These ditches will encourage silt, mud, machine oils, and debris being flushed into the river with the heavy rains of Spring.

Along the banks of the South Englishman RIver fisheries signs are posted on several alder trees stating: “Fish Habitat” and “Salmon Enhancement Program.” On the north shore of the Englishman River a well established channel system enters the main river just downstream from the logging road and clear-cut. Millions of salmon fry are release into the wild each year while hundreds of thousands return as spawning adults. Englishman River is still the second most endangered River in BC.

A yarder was pulling logs out of the clear-cut as I walked along the river and in the next section I could hear the sounds of a feller buncher. Mechanical progress has made it so that a single worker can fell many acres of trees per day while another worker can yard the same to the road edge. A couple of truckers and the job is done. An entire forest in exchange for only a minimal number of jobs.

I noticed several old growth veteran trees, likely left behind by the first loggers in the 1950’s for a variety of reasons, they provided the area with seeds for an entire generation of trees. This was standard practice in those days and as a result massive Douglas Fir trees still grow sporadically around the entire region.

Then I heard a chainsaw at the base of a group of five veteran trees which towered to a height of over 250 feet. Each veteran was easily over 6 feet across at the butt. For more than five minutes the roar of the chainsaw continued as smoke billowed from the base of the tree. Then, slowly, the giant began to tilt over, gained speed and made a thunderous crash against the floor of the clear-cut. This process was repeated until only three trees stood in the entire clear-cut spread out over 80 acres. (Crown land) portion of TFL 44."

CATHEDRAL GROVE’S FATE STILL HANGING IN THE BALANCE -BC Liberal's Parking Lot or Public will?

2005-11-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

I have been privileged to walk in one of the rarest and sensitive ecosystems on the planet, an ancient wetland forest growing on the active floodplain of a meandering river. This Douglas Fir/Sword Fern plant community is red-listed as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) and is made even more rare because these giant trees grow in a wetland that is flooded by seasonal rains.

The fact is, Douglas Fir trees do not like their roots to be wet and require drainage in order to survive. Yet some of these trees have been able to survive for over 800 years despite frequent flooding of the entire area. Walking through the forest of Cathedral Grove along the Cameron River, I was impressed by Douglas Fir trees, 6-8 feet across at the butt, perched on mounds and ridges that kept them out of the numerous channels filled by flood waters.

I have given tours of this wetland forest to biologists, forest technicians, silvaculturelists, the BC Minister of WLAP, and BC Parks managers. All but the bureaucrats agreed that disturbing the ground water with gravel, roadways, and an extensive trail system may kill ancient trees that are growing so delicately throughout the wetland forest. When I asked about the kilometer-wide area between the proposed parking area and the present day viewing area the reply from BC Parks managers was that they haven’t done an impact study, environmental study, hydrological study, or vegetation study specific to that site. They did agree that the public tends to stray off designated trails, trampling new paths through the forest.

I have counted seven species of ferns growing amongst Salmon Berry, Cascara, Thimble Berry, and Nootka Rose. Thickets of Devil’s Club grow out of the rich black soil of the bottomlands surrounded by fragrant Stink Current and Red Elderberry. Lichens and mosses hang from the lower branches and trunks of every tree. The variety of tree species, age, thickness, and height creates a living forest that is truly diverse. Standing dead trees provide life to thousands of organisms from fungi and insects to birds.

Massive trees, leveled by the Qualicum Wind of New Year’s Day 1997, lie with their rootballs exposed and covered with a thick forest of seedling trees, Bog Cranberry, Huckleberry, and Trailing Blackberry. Beneath these fallen giants is a reservoir of moisture that endures the drought of summer and provides sanctuary for newts, salamanders, and frogs. A remnant herd of Roosevelt Elk, blue-listed as threatened on Vancouver Island by COSEWIC, winters in the wetland portion of Cathedral Grove. Red-Legged frogs, red-listed as endangered by COSEWIC, live in a pond directly adjacent to the proposed parking lot area. I have also encountered owls, hawks, bear, bats, trout, and many song birds in the wetland forest where BC parks plans to put a parking lot and trail system.

I attended an exclusive power point show where 10 of 11 proposals for parking lots were summarily rejected by the same 7 BC Parks managers making the presentation. This leaves only a version of the original parking lot proposal from 2001 that was rejected by strong public opposition causing years of public protests. I personally handed a petition, with over 10,000 signatures, opposing that very same parking lot location to former Minister Bill Barisoff, yet today it is the only proposal that BC Parks is truly considering.

At the Ministry of Environment’s Port Alberni open house loggers, truck drivers, local government, biologists, and citizens voiced one strong united view point. Don’t touch the park! Resolve issues of safety with an alternate route for the main highway. BC Parks manager Chris Kissinger made it clear that his staff would not be taking notes and that safety issues must be addressed to the Ministry of Transportation, who have ignored numerous requests to present their plans to the public over the past four years. In order to document options from many perspectives, Friends of Cathedral Grove will be holding a round table public meeting, mediated by MLA Scott Fraser. Everyone is welcome on Tuesday December 6 at 7 pm in the Qualicum Civic Centre.

WATER FILTRATION NEEDED - Private Company Ownes Public H20

2005-10-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time only mariners knew the words ‘Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.’ Today we must all heed this very real statement. When e-coli in the drinking water supply for Walkerton, Ontario, killed seven people and made thousands sick, Canadians began to realize just how much we all depend upon clean water. Legal proceedings made it clear to municipalities across Canada that they will be held accountable for any bacteria, virus, or toxins found in the drinking water they supplied to ordinary citizens.

Locally the drinking water supplied to homes is chlorinated but none of the water is filtered in any way. Chlorine kills some bacteria but not e-coli and several other bacteria that may develop when human and animal waste enters the water system. Today the City of Parksville provides water to residents by drawing from wells in the water table, primarily below the industrial zone of Highway 4 and Church Road. Drinking water is also drawn from Englishman River below the orange bridge. The Town of Qualicum Beach relies on wells at several locations including the wetland floodplain along the Little Qualicum River where the new ring road is being completed.

I have hiked most of the rivers and creeks in this area from their sources on Robotham Ridge, Mt. Arrowsmith and Mt. Moriarty downstream to their estuaries. I would encourage you to do the same. All of these waterways thread through different landscapes but have one thing in common; human intervention. Logging companies Brascan and TimberWest provide clearcuts, industrial roads, chemical fertilizer, and some herbicides which run off into the water systems. BC Hydro sprays herbicides along the powerlines which cross all of the watersystems in this area.

Downstream, an increasing number of residential septic fields seep into the water table. Agricultural farms raise livestock and spread manure onto the fields followed by chemical herbicides and pesticides. Surface water from paved roads, ditches, sidewalks, scrap yards, car dealerships, garages, and parking lots is flushed into the creeks and rivers as they flow through the more densely populated areas of towns and cities. Finally, just before the water flows into the Strait of Georgia, the water is pumped into the taps of thousands of residents.

French Creek is unique in this area since their drinking water is not managed by either a municipality or the Regional District of Nanaimo; instead their water is supplied by a private company. Breakwater Enterprises Ltd., a rural water utility located in the French Creek area, provides 1,500 single family homes with drinking water and has being servicing the area for more than forty years. The Edmonton based corporation of EPCOR has applied to the Comptroller of Water Rights to purchase Breakwater and all of its assets.

Lately local residents of French Creek have not been satisfied by the quality of their water, sighting dilapidated storage containers and other faults within the system. EPCOR spokesman David Rector said; “We will implement several capital improvements in the French Creek water system with the priority being a water treatment plant that provides filtration and UV disinfection.” He went on to say that EPCOR plans to stop the use of water from French Creek, reducing demand on the natural resource by some 33 million gallons annually. He is confident that future demands will be met in co-operation with the RDN water supply should the need arise.

EPCOR is holding a public meeting to inform the general public about the possible future of drinking water supplies in the French Creek area. 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Wednesday November 2 at Oceanside Middle School 980 Wright Road Parksville.

Update February 10, 2006 The Comptroller of Water Rights approved the deal and EPCOR took over the entire French Creek water system. Private ownership of water has been raising public concerns.

ISLAND’S TWO UNESCO BIOSPHERES DO LITTLE TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT

2005-10-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Biosphere Reserves are areas of terrestrial or marine ecosystems which are internationally recognized within UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program for promoting and demonstrating a balanced relationship between people and nature.” While this designation does not provide any legal or physical protection to the environment in these areas, it does draw attention to the region and, according to UNESCO, they have a role to play locally and globally.

I attended the opening ceremonies for both the Clayoquot and Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserves where I listened to municipal, provincial and federal government representatives pay lip service to ecological sensitivity and respect for the environment. Today very little has been done about turning these concepts into a reality.

For several years biologists, environmental groups, and local residents have been calling for a wilderness corridor that would connect the only two UNESCO Biosphere reserves in British Columbia with a very real protection zone for the environment. There is an incredible opportunity, in the mid-island region, for such a ‘park’ that would serve wildlife and tourism in a much more comprehensive way than is currently the case.

The Beaufort Range is being brutally logged today while Mt. Arrowsmith and all parts south have already been clear-cut and are now being logged for the second time. There is only a very fine ribbon of forest left that could be protected to allow the free movement of wildlife across the island. What is left of the old-growth forest in the Cameron Valley, provides access across the island for Roosevelt Elk, and other threatened species, who need to travel in order to continue breeding with a diverse gene pool.

This type of protection takes forward-thinking vision on all levels of government. At the unveiling of the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien spoke about his role as Parks Minister in creating the Pacific Rim National Park. The vision to protect that wilderness area was brought forward by local individuals and was turned into a reality by elected representatives at the federal level who provided very real protection for several sensitive ecosystems. Today this park provides the economic drive for two vibrant communities which reap the rewards of a thriving tourism industry.

Tourism is about more than just a pit stop at the side of the road. A destination that draws people from around the world also has the opportunity to keep those people for a day or two with educational tours, scenic train rides, and a variety of other activities based around the attractions of a park. The expansion of Cathedral Grove is a good start but plans to put a parking lot and connecting trail systems in the wetland forest, which is the most sensitive area of this class “A” park show the short-sightedness of the BC Liberal government.

Logging giant Brascan, who bought out Weyerhaeuser, is currently heli-logging the banks of the Cameron River where steep canyon walls have protected the ancient trees for centuries. As this sensitive ecosystem is destroyed it will no doubt have a detrimental effect downstream where fish and drinking water are of concern. Keep a careful watch for activity at the yellow gates on the way to Port ALberni just outside Cathedral Grove Park because Brascan plans to log the only substantial old growth forest which has been left outside the park.

I hope that a recent announcement, by BC Minister of Environment Barry Penner, is true and that he will hold public consultation meetings around the issue of Cathedral Grove. Over the past few years I have seen the lack of public meetings and even blatant attempts to mis-inform the public about the reality of logging in a sensitive park system. The time is now to connect the east coast of Vancouver Island with the west coast with a protected wilderness corridor. Perhaps the time has come for the short term goals of the Provincial government to be replaced by a National Park. Please contact your local MLA, MP, and Barry Penner Minister of Environment Phone: 250 387-1187 E-mail: barry.penner.mla@leg.bc.ca

BC CELEBRATES CRISIS OF RIVERS

2005-09-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Watching the Salmon run up the river while children, parents, and grandparents look on with awe, is truly inspiring to me. The interest that the general public has for the wonders of nature is growing. Today our society, and the government that represents it, acknowledges the value of the river systems in this province by dedicating one day of the year as ‘BC River’s Day.’ This gesture is heartwarming and many people take advantage of the opportunity to celebrate the rivers while learning from the many volunteers who work hard to provide informative presentations and valuable tours.

Federal and provincial governments are joined by large corporations in a public relations blitz that shows off all that is being done to ‘help’ the rivers of this province. The positive input is valuable and needs to grow, however the facts behind what is actually destroying rivers need to be addressed. Change is needed to correct the problems at their root rather than treating the symptoms after the destruction has occurred.

For example, a great deal of time, money, and effort has gone into a restoration project which is intended to help restore fish habitat in the Englishman River. This valuable effort is slowly helping to recreate pools that have been washed out over the years. While this remedy is a good step forward, it does not address the cause for the problems of erosion, siltation, and flood surges in the river that have led to the dismiss of salmon stocks.

Logging continues to degrade and destroy the watersheds that feed BC’s rivers. Clearcuts, now labeled ‘variable retention’ by corporations, remove the forest cover that slows down the flow of water. Trees pump millions of litres of water back into the atmosphere where new clouds are formed. The roots of these trees form a complex and interconnected web that holds soil into place. Roads are blasted in a crisscross pattern across mountain slopes, followed by heavy machinery dragging or yarding logs over soil devoid of trees causing massive erosion. This causes silt to be washed down with the rains into the water ways and eventually into the rivers.

Snow pack, built up under the shade of the forest, melts slowly over time and flows into the rivers in small increments. Exposed snow melting, and rain that is no longer diverted by the forest, result in surges of water that become flash floods downstream as the many riverlets converge and become larger creeks and rivers. Logging debris is flushed downstream by the immense power of water which leads to the erosion of river bank. At times log jams cause rivers to completely change their course.

Logging continues to destroy watersheds locally, around the province, across Canada, and around the world. Brascan has closed the gate to the public at North West Bay Road due to logging 7 days a week, so people no longer have access to the watershed that flows into most of Oceanside. Englishman River is listed as the #2 most endangered river in British Columbia, along with most of the rivers on the East coast of Vancouver Island. #1 is the Fraser River. The Little Qualicum is also suffering from logging in the wetlands upstream. Steelhead Salmon are an indicator species that shows just how degraded the rivers have become. The Englishman River used so show returns in the thousands, today far less than 100 fish survive. Salmon enhancement programs help revive the other species but do not solve the problems.

Development continues to encroach on local watersheds with hundreds of new homes being built along the banks of the Englishman River , and plans for many more along the Little Qualicum River. Beautiful places to live, but sewage always flows down hill and many people remove all of the trees to get a better view. Some agriculture also spreads large amounts of manure, chemical fertilizer, and herbicides onto land that was once wetland but has been drained and cleared. The Regional District of Nanaimo built a dam to control the flow of water. Is it working? Questions should be asked of mayors,councilors, RDN directors, provincial and federal government. How is the water being protected or is it just being repaired?

FORESTRY JARGON MADE SIMPLE

2005-09-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

“Biogeoclimatic Zones” may be hard to pronounce but what are they? The BC Ministry of forests has created a classification system to provide a framework for making forest and resource management decisions, primarily logging. The word breaks down to vegetation (bio), soil and geography (geo), and climate (climatic). This system allows a variety of forest environments to be named based on their similarities allowing the government to create a map that divides the province into 14 different Biogeoclimatic Zones.

Most of Vancouver Island is identified as Coastal Western Hemlock. This may be somewhat misleading since these forest consists of a wide variety of trees including: Red & Yellow Cedar, Balsam Fir, Alder, Maple, and Sitka Spruce to name a few. One very small zone has been identified as Coastal Douglas-Fir which exists only along the south-east of Vancouver Island, the west coast of Texada Island, and parts of the lower mainland. This zone is significant because it is the region that has been most heavily and consistently logged, with some areas being cut for the third time.

Another interesting term is: “endangered plant communities” which no longer applies since last year’s Water, Land and Air Protection Minister Bill Barisoff amended the provincial endangered-species list to remove endangered plant communities.

The provincial Conservation Data Centre classifies all 21 distinct plant communities within the coastal Douglas fir ecosystem as vulnerable, imperiled, or critically imperiled. Many of us who have the luxury of living in this region are familiar with plant species such as: Oregon grape, Pacific crab apple, salal, ocean spray, trailing blackberry, starflower, sword fern, bracken fern, cat-tail moss, and step moss in the Coastal Douglas fir forests. However, these plants living in this type of ecological community are specific to this tiny place on the planet. Thanks to the BC Liberal government they are completely without protection as are the birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that rely on these unique ecological areas.

Less than 1% of the Coastal Douglas fir ecosystem contains what are considered to be old growth trees, over 150 years old. Only a small fraction of the Douglas fir forest remains on Crown land. Almost all of what's left is on private lands owned by logging companies, primarily by Brascan and Timberwest. Recommendations from a recovery strategy ecological report were ignored by Vancouver Island district forest managers last year resulting in the approval of logging in sensitive area around Nanaimo which were an integral part of a limited ecosystem.

This is why it is so important that protection is maintained in the tiny areas that have been protected locally such as; Cathedral Grove, Rathtrevor Park, Englishman River Falls, and Little Qualicum River. These remnant forests still contain old growth trees, unlike the other 99% of the Coastal Douglas Fir Biogeoclimatic Zone.

This region suffers from extreme drought in the summer time and forest help to retain moisture. The fact that Douglas Fir were the most heavily targeted tree species accounts for the fact that there are almost no old growth trees left today.

Many people are calling for a ban on all old-growth logging on Crown lands within the Coastal Douglas fir zone. Given the limited amount of land left under public control in this limited ecosystem it would make sense to severely restrain logging on all privately held lands around the Strait of Georgia.

If you have concerns please contact your local MLA, Environment Minister Barry Penner, and Forests Minister Rich Coleman through 1-800-663-7867 or www.gov.bc.ca

ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTECT FINITE WORLD ON BEHALF OF PUBLIC!

2005-09-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Flipping through my Webster’s New World Dictionary I found the definitions for a couple of commonly used words that are widely misunderstood.

“Environment - all the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding, and affecting the development of, an organism or group of organisms.”

“Environmentalist - a person working to solve environmental problems, such as air and water pollution, the exhaustion of natural resources, uncontrolled population growth, etc.”

Developers are constantly demanding more land, resources, and opportunities to make a profit for themselves at the expense of the environment that provides for all. When environmentalists attempt to protect an endangered ecosystem they are often put down by catch phrases such as: “they always want more” and “they can’t be satisfied.”

These statements are fitting for the developers. You don’t have to look far to see examples of encroachment and destruction of natural environments for private profit. Beach boardwalks for a high-rise resort, stone breakwater for Surfside RV resort, Englishman River Estuary Flats wildlife sanctuary for Tourism, a ring road in wetland forest to expand Qualicum Beach’s real-estate, pay-for-parking at publicly owned parks, forest and agricultural land turned into residential lots, Hamilton Marsh to be logged and the land sold by Brascan. The list goes on. All these lands are sensitive ecosystems some of which are owned by the public as crown land. These lands effect the surrounding environment and the people who have come to live nearby. The current economic thinking would have us believe that development is progress.

I take another perspective, which is shared by many others around the world, that the world is finite and the more of the natural world that is destroyed by development the less that exists to maintain the world’s environments. Therefore it is in the best interest of humanity to protect the resources that this planet provides rather than to destroy them for the benefit of a few dollars. Cashing in on short term gains may look good on the stock exchange but will completely bankrupt the planet in the not so distant future. Our economic models must be changed to reflect the fact that the planet is running out of resources and therefore the things that make the things that we sell will be gone. No widgets equals no future.

According to a recent study conducted by the United Nations 2/3 of the worlds natural resources (metals, minerals, oil, fish, trees, animals, plants, air, and water) have already been consumed or destroyed by humanity yet we continue to act as if the planet has a limitless supply of these resources.

A wee little park here, a wind blown wilderness corridor there, a dam to hold back some drinking water, and slaughtering a species further down the food chain does not effectively address the concerns of many environmentalists. The big picture needs to be observed in order to realize the equation that makes the world go around. Air, water, and soil qualities are essential to the humanity and all other species living on the planet Earth. These ‘resources’ are interconnected and related to the forests, oceans, mountains and must be maintained in order for us to survive. Weather patterns, quality of life, food sources, and all the necessities of life are directly affected by the destruction of the natural world.

Galileo was executed for proving the Copernican theory that the earth was round not flat as the rulers of the time believed. Yes, the Earth is finite. Yes, the planetary environment supports us all. Yes, we can change our ways, individually in our own ways.

FIRE BAN STILL ON

2005-08-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Swimming up Englishman river from pool to pool, then hopping along the smooth stones and diving into the next pool, is one of my favorite summer activities. Refreshing, scenic, and rejuvenating. I noticed that this year the algae clinging to the rocks below the water is not nearly as thick and robust as last year. Most likely this decline in this slimy growth is due to the cold spring and early summer with all that rain. Branscan and Timberwest are still dumping tons of chemical fertilizers into the watershed.

While swimming up the river I came upon several campfire pits along the shore. Judging by the coals inside a ring of stones a fire had been burning there the night before underneath overhanging branches which were extremely dry. Next I found freshly cut kindling and newspapers beside another makeshift pit in the sand, again beneath tinder dry branches. The wood stacked there was all cedar, which anyone who has spent time beside a campfire knows creates sparks. Finally I found a large ring of rocks piled high with beer cans, cardboard, potato chip bags, and liquor bottles. At the head of the trail down to this swimming hole is a notice put up by the BC Forest Service stating that there is a campfire ban.

This fire ban was put in place on August 5th and is enforceable by a fine of $345. Campfires are banned anywhere south of Campbell RIver on Vancouver Island, this includes all towns, cities, rural communities, and wilderness areas. This fire ban also includes all islands in the Strait of Georgia south of Hernando Island. If you see flames or smoke do not hesitate to phone 1-800-663-5555 or using your cell *5555

All local municipalities and regional districts are in compliance with the Forest Service Ban on Campfires which only allows for gas and briquet barbecues to be fired up until further notice. BC Parks has a policy that allows the warden of any provincial park to decide about fires. This means that private contractors, who sell firewood to campers, can choose to ignore the Ban on Fires within the park boundaries. This is a change made by the BC Liberals that seems to contradict public safety standards aimed at protecting the public from fires.

Many people feel that they can control a fire and based on the fact that they have never had problems in the past, they continue to build fires. The trouble is that the risk is far too great. A little bit of a breeze, sparks from cedar or damp wood, smoldering roots beneath a fire, cigarette butts thrown out of cars, fireworks, and burning paper drifting in the wind. The fact remains that the majority of forest fires are caused by humans.

As a teen-ager I worked around Kennedy Lake when a chain dragging behind a logging truck caused enough sparks to ignite the grass along the road. The result was a forest fire that destroyed hundreds of acres of pristine forest and which took the Mars water bombers and many fire crews several days to subdue.

I have seen many instances where peer pressure plays a part in starting the fire that will become the focal point for a gathering of people, young or old. Someone has to remind the group what the real risks are and ask if anyone is really willing to be responsible for a forest fire that many destroy many homes and has the potential to kill people. You can find out how many fires are burning right now around the province at www.for.gov.bc.ca/protect

We live in a forest that is plagued by seasonal drought. The simple reality is that now until the heavy rains of Fall come, fires are banned. Campfires, fires for ceremonial purposes, fires for heat, fires for cooking, and beach fires are all banned. Please tell your friends.

PARROTS FIND REFUGE IN COOMBS

2005-08-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

One of my earliest childhood memories involves sitting in a neighbour’s yard watching multicoloured birds fly inside a large outdoor enclosure. I was fascinated by the colored feathers, shrill calls, flapping wings, and wide open eyes of these beautiful birds as they moved along the various perches. Today I prefer to watch birds in nature.

However, many birds live their lives in captivity and most people do not have the patience, time, or space to allow for a bird to live the natural span of its life. This is particularly true of parrots who are found naturally in the wilds of Africa, South America, and South East Asia where the larger birds can live to the age of 70 years.

Pet parrots tend to be hatched by humans, who they take to be their parents, and never learn the life skills of a wild parrot. Humans are attracted to parrots because of their talking, beauty, social graces, and loving gestures. Most people do not realize how time-consuming parrots can be and these ‘pets’ end up living solitary lives inside small cages. Parrots are intelligent beings who need to be fully engaged, through-out their lives, mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Birds fly! The natural instinct of parrots is to live in flocks which provide them with a certain amount of protection from predators. Many local eagles, hawks, and humans will remember the ill-fated ‘Bird World’ across from the Mid-Island Co-op where exotic birds were displayed for profit until vandals released them all. Those parrots escaped to a certain death in the harsh environment.

I was glad to find that the World Parrot Refuge takes a completely different approach to the plight of parrots. A charity organization, ‘For the Love OF Parrots Refuge Society’, operates this educational facility providing a home for life for previously owned pet parrots.

My first visit to the veterinary hospital in the World Parrot Refuge was both exhilarating and overwhelming. Volunteers introduced me to some of the birds that are healing after horrendous experiences with past owners who subjected them to all sorts of indecencies.

As soon as I entered the hospital the birds began to talk to me and vied for my attention. Despite their injuries these birds climbed across the handmade wooden canopy to greet me. One hopped onto my arm and climbed up onto my shoulder where it tickled my chin with the top of its head. Another hopped onto my foot and began to use its beak and claws to climb up my pant leg. A volunteer pointed out a few of the birds which might not be so friendly. I watched a Green Macaw rip off chucks of wood from a 2x6 table with its beak then I saw a Gray tear open a hard shelled almond nut in one motion. When treated badly these birds can certainly defend themselves.

Next I took a tour of the flight aviaries where staff and volunteers have created wooden canopies for flocks that include many species living together in free-flight environments where their wings are not clipped. Every time an eagle flies by outside the birds on watch by the window let out a shriek of alarm and the entire flock flies for safety. An abundance of toys, food, and companion birds allows these birds to make the most of life in captivity. International laws, lack of natural environment due to human development, and the extinction of many species of parrot in the wild prevent these birds from being returned to the wild.

Today over 400 birds live at the World Parrot Refuge which is open to the public for educational purposes and is located in Coombs at 2116 Alberni Highway. The grand opening takes place on August 13 at 1 pm. For information phone: 951-0822 or check www.WorldParrotRefuge.org

BC GOVERNMENT KILLS EAGLES FOR MARMOTS

2005-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Local mountains are home to the last of one of the world’s rarest mammals, Marmota vancouverensis, commonly known as the Vancouver Island Marmot. Today less than 80 live in the wild.

These cute fuzzy rodents are indigenous to Vancouver Island and live in sub-alpine meadows above 1000 meters where their preferred food is the flowers of low growing plants. They dig burrows under boulders which protect them from the elements and predators. They only venture out from their burrows at dawn and dusk to feed and play. In winter they hibernate deep below the snow.

Vancouver Island's largest marmot colony during the past 20 years, on Green Mountain near Courtney, went extinct in 2001. A foundation was set up to try and re-populate the region, spending $900,000 annually in this endeavor. 80 marmots have been bred in captivity near Calgary, however raising wild animals in enclosures does not prepare them for survival in the wild.

After being released from cages by BC Parks officials the young marmots are free at last to scurry through the natural vegetation, revel in the abundance of fresh flowers, and look out over the alpine meadow from rocky outcroppings. Then a predator lands on them and they become a part of the natural food chain. This has happened repeatedly.

In 2002-2003 the Ministry of WLAP acted on the BC Liberal’s 30% predator cull strategy to protect the Vancouver Island Marmot. Several deer carcasses were set as bait in the alpine meadows of Green Mountain. Men with high powered guns lay in wait, then shot and killed a total of six Golden Eagles.

Named for its beautiful dark golden brown plumage the Golden Eagle is larger than the Bald Eagle with a wingspan anywhere from 6 to 8 feet. Golden Eagles are protected in the United States through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Possession of a feather or other body part is a felony with a fine of up to $10,000 and/or 10 years in prison.

It is illegal to shoot an Eagle in BC yet the Liberal government contracted men to kill 6 of these birds. BC Parks also trapped and killed 11 wolves and 5 cougar, in the vicinity of Green Mountain. The number of bear shot to protect this colony remains unknown. Island predator count estimates are based on the reports of hunter sightings. Is that sound and solid scientific evidence? Although the Marmot Recovery Team openly supports the culling of predators, they deny any responsibility or participation in the culling process because that was a matter for the government to administrate.

Most government and corporate reports would have the public believe that logging corporations are the saviors of these little critters and government is protecting them by shooting the ‘big bad’ predators. How many predators will be shot before they too are considered endangered? Through the power of ‘spin doctors’ the marmots have become a symbol of the logging industry’s compassion for the environment while the species comes ever closer to extinction.

The reality is that logging has devastated the forests of Vancouver Island. A maze of logging roads, clear-cuts, and eroded slopes has destroyed the natural corridors that connect various mountains. Marmots live in very small colonies of 10 to 20 animals. To avoid interbreeding the young males travel between colonies which are often mountains apart.

These small travelers rely upon the natural forested range to provide hiding places as well as the occasional open area where wild flowers can be eaten during the long journey. Logging has ripped open these natural corridors between mountains making it easier for predators to kill marmots. Helicopter logging makes it increasingly more dangerous for marmots as sub-alpine forests are cut down.

A recent photo opportunity highlighting the release of marmots shows that BC’s newly appointed Minister of Environment, Barry Penner, is very much aware of the ‘spin’ value of marmots. If you have questions please contact: barry.penner.mla@leg.bc.ca

DIRECT ASSERTION BY HUU-AY-AHT FIRST NATION FOLLOWING BC SUPREME COURT RULING IN THEIR FAVOUR

2005-07-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

The mist gently rolled down the mountain side as the drizzle became a steady rain. Standing against the guide beam of a bridge over the Coleman Creek I witnessed the chiefs and elders of the Huu-Ay-Aht First Nation reaffirming the boundary of their territory which has been marked by this creek for thousands of years. They were met by chiefs and elders of other Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, who were welcomed and invited to join in a celebration.

On the road to Bamfield, at the Franklin junction to Carmanah and Sarita, massive ‘off-road’ logging trucks, fully loaded with old growth trees, came to a halt and shut down their engines during a portion of the ceremony. The territory is public land, managed by the BC Ministry of Forests, licensed to Brascan, logged by Hayes.

During the past twelve years Huu-Ay-Aht First Nation have been negotiating in good faith with the Province of BC while logging continued and over six million cubic meters of old growth timber were removed from their ancestral territory, where these people have lived for 10,000 years.

In 1991 the BC government began a process to settle treaties with First Nations. In most parts of Canada treaties had been signed prior to confederation but in BC no such documents or agreements exist. First Nations in BC have never surrendered their lands to the colonialist power of England or the Nation of Canada. In April 2000 Federal and Provincial governments signed the first BC treaty with the Nitsga people. At that time there was hope that many more treaties would soon follow. Then the BC Liberals came to power. No more treaties have been signed to date.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia heard Huu-Ay-Aht First Nation verses The Minister of Forests. On May 10, 2005 The Honourable Madam Justice Dillon ruled; “In this case. The government did not misconceive the seriousness of the claim or the impact of the infringement. It failed to consider them at all. The government acted incorrectly and must begin anew a proper consultation process based upon consideration of appropriate criteria. “

Madam Justice Dillon went on to state; “The level of potential infringement of rights to timber resources is severe given the harvest rate contemplated by third parties over the next five years.”

In her analysis Madam Justice Dillon refers to several recent rulings: Haida Nation v. BC(Minister of Forests) (2004), Taku River Tlingit First Nation v. BC(Project Assessment Director) (2004), Squamish Indian Band v. BC (Minister of Sustainable Resource Management) (2004), Gitxsan Houses v. BC(Minister of Forests) (2002)

There appears to be a pattern emerging with these court cases, which have all ruled in favour of First Nations, whereby the Judge orders the government in the province of BC to follow the rules of law. Negotiations continued, no changes were forthcoming, resources continued to be extracted, and big business continued to make lots of money. No treaties have been signed. Isn’t the government supposed to abide by the law?

“The process itself is to be judged on the reasonableness standard with the essential question being whether the government action viewed as a whole accommodates the collective aboriginal right in question. The government’s process must be reasonable.” Hall J.A. admonished in Musqueam Indian Band v. British Columbia (Minister of Sustainable Resources Management), 2005

Robert Dennis, Chief Councilor of the Huu-ay-aht, said; “We believe our non-native friends have a responsibility of phoning the government and saying: settle that issue....get on with fulfilling your legal responsibility...”

You can find daily updates and more information at: www.huuayaht.ca

BRASCAN (Renamed BROOKFIELD) REPLACES WEYERHAEUSER IN BC FORESTS

2005-06-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

As a young boy I spent many hours paddling my father around in a canoe while he fly fished the lakes in Northwest Bay logging division. Sometimes we camped overnight or brought friends and relatives for picnics, swimming, or skating. This father’s day week-end the roads to Boomerang, Okay, Round, Cottel, Off, and Kidney Lake were closed to the public due to industrial logging on this privately owned land.

One of the largest business deals in BC has gone almost unannounced. Driving down the highway just south of Parksville you may notice that the green Weyerhaeuser sign has been replaced by a blue sign that states “Island Timberlands” Only those in the know would notice that the odd symbol on the left is the corporate logo for Brascan who announced:

“Toronto, CANADA, May 30, 2005 – Brascan Corporation (NYSE/TSX: BNN) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Weyerhaeuser's British Columbia coastal business for approximately C$1.2 billion plus working capital, a transaction which included: 635,000 acres of high quality, freehold timberlands; and five saw mills, two remanufacturing facilities and 3.6 million m3 of associated annual Crown harvest rights. “

Locally, Brascan has just bought land that is under serious contention in Cathedral Grove, Hamilton Marsh, on the Floodplain of the Little Qualicum River, on the slopes of Mt Arrowsmith including the Judge’s Route. Local communities and the public have expressed serious concerns about protecting these sensitive ecosystems.

Will Brascan protect these relatively small areas of privately owned land or will this corporation log these highly sensitive forests for the sake of profits? It is posted at www.brascancorp.com “At Brascan, we pride ourselves on contributing positively to the communities in which we operate. From an environmental perspective, that means we are continually striving to minimize our impact on the environment...”

Will Brascan continue to use helicopters to dump thousands of tons of chemical fertilizer into the Englishman RIver Watershed in the same way that Weyerhaeuser and TimberWest did last year? If you would like to get in touch with Brascan to find out their plans regarding local wilderness managed by Island Timberlands, please contact Reid Carter, Managing Partner at (604) 661-9142 or e-mail: rcarter@brascanam.com

Worthy of note is that, while the corporate change means upper management has been replaced, the middle management positions are still filled by most of the same people who worked for M&B, Weyerhaeuser, and now Brascan. Logs are still being exported while more local workers have been laid off in the past month.

“Brascan Corporation is a global asset manager focused on property, power and infrastructure assets. With $40 billion of assets owned and under management, the company owns 70 premier office properties and 130 power generating plants. The company is inter-listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges.“

The corporate message is often hard to understand such as; “With a focus on strategic investments in fee simple timberlands in Canada, the United States and Brazil, our Fund investments may also include monetization or securitization of crown timberlands in Canada.” My simple translation is: We will cut down trees on private land as well as on publicly owned land to make lots of money.

Brascan goes on to state: “Approximately 13,000 hectares of lands are viewed to have greater value in non-timber use, located on Vancouver Island and the Mainland. It is expected that the constantly growing rural-urban interface will result in ongoing land sale opportunities.”

Weyerhaeuser sold off a lot of ‘timberland’ as real estate, logged many millions of cubic meters of old growth forest on public land, dumped tons of chemicals into the watersheds of this province, and donated millions of dollars to the BC Liberals. Weyerhaeuser also helped to establish new presidents in the Supreme Court of Canada with regards to First Nations’ land claims and helped to galvanize the environmental community. It remains to be seen how Brascan will act in BC.

COMMUNITY HISTORY INSTILLED IN ERRINGTON OAK

2005-06-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

A single English Oak tree stands in front of the ‘old’ Errington Elementary School on Grafton Avenue. Other trees and scrubs grow without the presence of the children they were meant to keep company. I attended all the grades at that school and remember gathering leaves from those trees for art collages. I played around those trees and climbed them after school was out. I even remember the planting of several of those trees because they are significant to many in the community as a reminder of those who have passed on. Thousands of children have similar memories of those trees.

Now that the Navy Cadets of Canada have bought the ‘old’ school property, there is some hope that the trees planted by the community will be allowed to grow and prospers. After all one of these trees is of great historical significance to Canada as well as the community of Errington.

The English Oak tree is of particular historical significance since it was given to the Province of British Columbia by the King of England George VI, upon his coronation in 1936 along with one tree for each of the other 10 provinces in Canada. That Oak tree was planted in Errington by a 12 year old Earl Ware in the spring of 1937.

The very nature of trees is that they can outlive the people that planted them. In fact there are trees growing on Vancouver Island that pre-date even our own calendar. Trees have been used for centuries to mark special occasions, people, and historic events. However, trees remain silent and over time the memories they were meant to preserve fade into the past.

People living in Errington when the school was first built may have thought that the publicly owned land would remain a center piece of the community. A plaque should be established by the tree to remind people why it was planted.

Henry VIII cut down the Oak forests of England to build the man-of-war fleet that expanded the British Empire to all corners of the globe. Today a single oak tree, seeded from the remains of that decimated forest, stands tall before what will become headquarters for navel cadets in this community.

Today the Errington Cedar Mill dominates the center of the community of Errington. The surrounding drinking wells have been poisoned and water runs black in the ditches. The noise of the saws, chippers, debarker, loaders, and trucks can be heard everywhere in Errington from 6 am until late into the night and often on week-ends. Many of the Yellow Cedar logs being cut in Errington today are coming from the Upper Walbran Valley, Crown Land designated as a Special Management Zone.

This spring I hiked through the Alpine forest just outside the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park and looked at those same Yellow Cedar trees. The specific type of ancient rainforest that they live in is a red-listed plant community on Vancouver Island. Extremely steep slopes rise up to a long alpine ridge complete with small lakes and ponds. Some of those trees were over 1000 years old and seeded before the first crusade. Standing beside the stump and log of an ancient yellow cedar tree with growth rings so tight that they can only be distinguished by polishing the wood and using a magnifying glass to count them, we estimate that a 3 foot wide stump is all that remains of an 800 year old Chamaecyparis nootkatensis.

I have been hiking and filming in the ancient rainforests of Vancouver Island for many years and invite you to join me at the Errington Community Hall for a ‘back by popular demand’ screening of my half hour film “THE ART OF RAINFORESTS” Friday June 17 and Saturday June 18 at 8 pm.

DEMOCRACY CAN HELP ENVIRONMENT?

2005-05-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

The new political landscape in BC may provide an opportunity for change in the way we treat the natural environment in this province.

In 2001 Gordon Campbell lifted the moratorium on the trophy hunting of grizzly bears then changed the Ministry of Environment into the Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection.

WLAP introduced pay-for-parking at most Provincial Parks around British Columbia. The result has been a dramatic 25% decline in the number of people visiting our parks. Locally that includes parks at Rathtrevor, Englishman River Falls, and Little Qualicum Falls. Revenue goals resurrected plans to bulldoze the floodplain of the Cameron River to install a 2 hectare parking lot. Intense public opposition and a BC Supreme Court ruling denied the Liberals from removing a protest that has been continuous for 15 months in Cathedral Grove.

In 2004 the Campbell government took full credit for opening or expanding a series of parks created by the former NDP government. BC Liberals plan to put privately financed lodges, complete with long-term leases, into provincial parks. Over 20 million people visit BC parks on an annual basis, contributing half a billion dollars to the provincial economy. Over the past four years the budget to BC parks was cut by 30%.

Provincial parks and protected areas have been opened to commercial logging, protected area boundaries have been rolled back to accommodate mining, and park privatization has increased. The BC Liberals have drafted legislation, the so-called "Working Forest Initiative", which would give logging corporations private property like rights over most of BC's public lands. This proposed legislation would ensure that no more land would be taken out of industry’s hands and given back to the public in the way of parks.

Land and Water BC has doubled the sale of publicly owned land to private developers. This is currently effecting crown land in Qualicum Bay and Bowser where two large golf courses are on hold, as well as public land being sold in Dashwood’s "Lost Trails Wetlands." LWBC has refused to renew the leases held by the Regional District of Nanaimo on regional parks at Little Mountain and Morrison Creek which may soon been up for sale.

Bill 75, Significant Projects Streamlining Act, was introduced and given Royal Assent within one month but did not incorporate the amendments recommended by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Executive on behalf of local governments. This act can be used to override Official Community Plans and land use regulations that reflect local goals for environmental and community sustainability.

Jobs are being sent south of the border as Raw Log Exports have more than doubled, resulting in the shut down of mills and dry-land sorts. The Forest Practices Code was replaced by the Results Based code which leaves the onus upon industrial corporations to self monitor their environmental impact on public forest land.

As a direct result of the actions of the BC Liberals seismic testing will soon be starting off the coast of BC despite a federal moratorium and public opposition. Scientific studies on the East Coast of Canada prove that the traditional migratory paths of marine mammals and some species of fish were disrupted by seismic testing conducted by oil companies which can harm marine larvae and reduce commercial fish catches up to 50%. Whales bleeding from their ears, fish dying from ruptured swim bladders, and other marine life unable to navigate due to exploded sound sensors may effect tourism in BC.

The BC Liberal have increased fish farming dramatically despite scientific studies that prove lice and disease spread into wild populations of salmon and millions of Atlantic species escape into the wild. They imposed a cull (Spring hunt) on cougars and black bears. Campbell opposed the ratification of the Kyoto Accord while promoting the use of coal and gas fired generations plants.

Now is the time for change. Politicians need to be reminded that both parties campaigned hard with the claim that they would protect the environment. You, the citizens of this province, can take this moment of opportunity to let your local MLA know just how important the environment is to you.

DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN! Let politicians know you don't believe their lies about the Environment

2005-05-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Independant polls indicate that BC voters wants to protect the environment and save our province from ruin. Government pre-election advertising, paid for by the tax payers of this province, painted a very pretty picture of the environment. The BC Liberal re-election campaign collected $8.2 million in donations, primarily from large corporations like TimberWest, Interfor, Weyerhaeuser, BC Packers, and Alcan. This financial link may explain why the BC Liberals have pushed open the doors of our province to corporations at great expense to the environment and therefore the public of this province.

Land and Water BC has doubled the sale of publicly owned land to private developers. This is currently effecting crown land in Qualicum Bay and Bowser where two large golf courses are on hold as well as public land being sold in Dashwood’s "Lost Trails Wetlands." LWBC has refused to renew the leases held by the Regional District of Nanaimo on regional parks at Little Mountain & Morrison Creek which may soon been up for sale.

Bill 75, Significant Projects Streamlining Act, was introduced and given Royal Assent within one month but did not incorporate the amendments recommended by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Executive on behalf of local governments. This act can be used to override Official Community Plans and land use regulations that reflect local goals for environmental and community sustainability. In this way the BC Liberals plan to push through massive projects, like new golf course communities and fossil fuel burning generators, with no regard for the many years of hard work by locally elected representatives and community members to create an OCP which suites each specific area within the province of BC.

Jobs are being sent south of the border as Raw Log Exports have more than doubled, resulting in the shut down of mills and dry-land sorts. The Forest Practices Code was replaced by the Results Based code which leaves the onus upon industrial corporations to self monitor their environmental impact on public forest land.

Provincial parks and protected areas have been opened to commercial logging, protected area boundaries have been rolled back to accommodate mining, and park privatization has increased. The BC Liberals have drafted legislation, the so-called "Working Forest Initiative", which would give logging corporations private property like rights over most of BC's public lands. This proposed legislation would ensure that no more land would be taken out of industry’s hands and given back to the public in the way of parks.

The Campbell government took full credit for opening or expanding a series of parks which had actually been established by legislation created by the former NDP government. BC Liberals plan to put privately financed lodges, complete with long-term leases, into provincial parks. Over 20 million people visit BC parks on an annual basis, contributing half a billion dollars to the provincial economy. Over the past four years the budget to BC parks was cut by 30%.

The Ministry of Water, Land, Air, Protection (formerly known as the Ministry of Environment) introduced pay-for-parking at most Provincial Parks around British Columbia. The result has been a dramatic 25% decline in the number of people visiting our parks. Locally that includes parks at Rathtrevor, Englishman River Falls, Little Qualicum Falls, and, immediately after the elections, at Cathedral Grove, if the BC Liberals form a majority government.

As a direct result of the actions of the BC Liberals seismic testing will soon be starting off the coast of BC despite a federal moratorium and public opposition. A proliferation of Atlantic Salmon farms has brought disease and sea lice to the local wild salmon, a fishery which is serious danger of collapse.

Campbell has lifted the moratorium on the trophy hunting of grizzly bears, imposed a cull (Spring hunt) on cougars and black bears, and opposed the ratification of the Kyoto Accord while promoting the use of coal and gas fired generations plants.

If you would like to experience a natural old growth forest in its pristine state please join me for the premier screening of my film “The Art of Rainforest.“ 8 pm Friday May 20 and Sunday May 22 at the ‘Little’ Errington Hall.

STV REFERENDUM PROVIDES HOPE FOR THE FUTURE - Proportional Representation Needed!

2005-04-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Many people in the world today are concerned about the future of the environment that provides a life support system for humanity and all living organisms on the planet Earth. I am one of those people and I find it extremely frustrating to deal with politicians who are out of touch with their constituents. I can not reconcile governance in British Columbia today with true democracy. I want a system that recognize the fact that so many people are aware of the plight of the ecosystems that surround us, have realistic solutions, and are willing to work toward sustainability.

For many decades British Columbia’s politicians have been elected by very slim margins of the popular vote, yet they are represented in the provincial legislature by a massive majority. In the last election 42% of BC voters cast their ballots for candidates opposing the BC Liberal party. However, the last four years has seen 97% of the seats in the legislature controlled by BC Liberals under the firm hand of Premier Gordon Campbell. The current BC electoral system has allowed the ruling parties to govern with absolute power.

This brings to mind the phrase “Absolute power corrupts absolutely!” You may have noticed that after an election in BC the ruling party seems to work on its own agenda with little regard for public opinion. The Premier takes on the dictatorial role that most people associate with military authorities in far-off parts of the world. They become untouchable for four years.

Thankfully the coming election comes with a second ballot sheet in the form of a referendum to decide if BC should embrace electoral reforms. For 11 months, 160 ordinary British Columbians worked hard on the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. They came to a near-unanimous agreement to put forward to BC voters a proven system known as the Single Transferable Vote or STV.

This form of proportional representation shifts some power from party bosses to the voter and individual MLAs. STV works in Ireland where voters have twice endorsed this system through referendums called by politicians who were disgruntled by the power that they had lost. Political bosses hate STV because it shifts control to the voters and holds elected representatives accountable to their electorate, not their party bosses.

In Australia STV is used to elect their senate and New Zealand also uses a form of proportional voting to elect their government. Many European countries use electoral systems that allow for representatives from a wide range of political view points to form governments. This allows for real and meaningful debates that provide the voters with a voice that must be respected in government decisions.

This type of governance increases civility and moderation in politics. Coalition governments have proven to be financial prudent and exceptionally productive. Lester B. Pearson was Prime Minister of Canada with a minority government that produced Medicare and old age security which revolutionized public benefits.

The pendulum may swing in BC politics, but there has never been room for alternatives that truly represent the people. By voting Yes in the coming referendum you will help to shift the balance of power so that you might have a say in the future.

FIRST NATIONS STAND UP TO BC GOVERNMENT

2005-04-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

This Cedar is a Culturally Modified Tree that lives on hundreds of years after it was bark stripped for weaving and later burnt for a canoe that was never felled.
The remarkably beautiful beaches of Oceanside have been home to people for thousands of years. Based on archeological evidence an estimated 10,000 First Nation’s people lived in the area now named Oceanside, along the east coast of Vancouver Island from Craig Bay to the Little Qualicum River, prior to contact with Russian, Spanish, and English fur traders. Many thousands more people lived to the north and south on the shores of the Strait of Georgia. By 1849, when the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island was created, most of these people had died from the ravages of European diseases.

Midden and other and other remains indicate that this coast was once alive with a civilization that respected the natural environment that surrounded them. They honoured the fact that the existence of human beings depends upon the well being of the natural world that provides all of the abundance that sustains humanity. Communities moved to different locations in conjunction with the seasons and lived in accordance with the laws of nature. What is truly amazing is how few remains of that civilization are left today, a testament to the low impact first nations had upon the planet.

Today that same coastline is broken by concrete and stone breakwaters while high-rise condominium developments, board walks, and boat basins are planned for the near future. How long will it be before a casino is built on the waterfront?

In May 2000 the Nisga'a became the first group of aboriginal people in British Columbia to sign a treaty with the provincial and federal governments. All other First Nations in BC have yet to negotiate and sign a treaty since they were never conquered, nor have they ever ceded their land to the British, the province or the federal government. "Just because they've come here and done a lot of damage, it doesn't mean they own it," said Guujaaw, president of the Haida Nation. "We don't have any place to go, this is our planet here."

On November 18, 2004 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 7-0 that the Government of British Columbia has a moral and legal duty to negotiate with aboriginal groups before permitting logging, mining or other disruptive activities to take place on disputed land. Haida Nation had won their challenge against the American logging giant Weyerhaeuser and responsibility was put squarely on the shoulder of the BC Government to negotiate meaningfully with Haida prior to allowing logging. The BC government ignored this federal court ruling and continued to allow Weyerhaeuser to log at an accelerated rate on Haida Gwaii(Queen Charlotte Islands.)

Haida claim that Weyerhaeuser has violated five of the six provisions they agreed to in a 2002 accord signed by the company, the Haida, and forestry workers. "Weyerhaeuser was going in and grabbing whatever they could on their way out the door," said Guujaaw, president of the Council of the Haida Nation. "We had a contract with them and they broke it."

On March 20, 2005 Haida said; ”Enough is enough” and blockaded all logging roads and log sorts on Haida Gwaii. Forestry workers showed their solidarity with first nations by refusing to cross these blockades. A week later Haida Nation seized several massive barges full of logs worth approximately $50 million from Weyerhaeuser and are now holding them. "We hope we can use this money to get hospitals here ... all our schools are in debt because they've been funded like everywhere else in the province," said Guujaaw, "We will support language and youth programs and help out recreational programs. After all the years and billions of dollars there's been nothing left by that company.”

This action, named Islands Spirit Rising, hopes to make the changes that are critical to a future that respects the land and the people who live on it. Learn more at: www.haidanation.ca/islands/islands.html

In Port Alberni Hupacasath First Nation Chief Judith Sayers said; “The recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in the Haida case was very clear that consultation must occur where lands could be denuded or damaged.”

Locally and around the province First Nations continue to be ignored by the BC Liberal government, crown land is being sold without their consultation, resources are being extracted before treaties are signed, and rights are being disregarded.

THE FINITE FOODCHAIN THAT FEEDS US

2005-04-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

Walking along the coast of the Strait of Georgia I saw a fine film of tiny herring roe mixed in with the seaweed washed up on the shore. This does not compare to the huge mounds of roe that I have witnessed in past years. They remind me of the delicate nature of the marine ecology and the intricate system that develops microscopic organisms into mammals of all shapes and sizes.

Atlantic Salmon, reared in fish farms by the millions along the west coast of British Columbia, lack the pink colour characteristic of fresh wild salmon. A Seattle law firm has filed a class action suit against the largest supermarket chains charging them with misleading consumers because their salmon labels do not indicate why the flesh is pink.

Salmon flesh is pink because they ingest carotenoids in their food. Carotenoids are antioxidants which are as necessary for fish health as vitamins are for human beings. Wild salmon obtain these antioxidants by eating tiny crustaceans, zoo-plankton, and krill.

Salmon farms add colour to the feed by using manufactured chemical synthesis, the same chemical process that produces the billions of vitamins humans consume every day. They are identical to the molecules produced by biological synthesis in nature, but they are created artificially.

Public backlash against farmed Atlantic Salmon has forced fish farmers to start changing their ways. To escape the stigma created by chemically altering the colour of the Atlantic Salmon, fish farms are now demanding more natural ‘feed.’ In the Strait of Georgia the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is increasing the quotas for fishing krill.

As is the case with most ecosystems, there is a foodchain that begins with very small organisms which are eaten by increasingly larger predators. Humans are at the top of the foodchain but often confuse this with being in control. The survival of humanity is dependent upon the entire system of micro organisms developing into creatures that make up our food sources. Scientists agree that all environments provided by the planet Earth are finite. .

A krill is a shrimp-like invertebrate that grows to be 15mm-30mm long, weights approximately 0.57g, has a pink body, big black eyes, and 6 to 8 pairs of legs. Krill live together in large swarms offshore, diving to 150 meters deep during the day and feeding closer to the surface at night. A krill is a phytonic animal, which is a type of animal plankton that feeds on plankton and converts these tiny particles into protein. krill is the food base for whales, seals, squid, and many fish including salmon.

The production of pellets to feed Atlantic Salmon is devastating the Krill populations around the world. Very fine nets are scouring the waters to ‘harvest’ a cornerstone of the ecosystems that provides food for the rich marine life that inhabits the ocean. Taking a significant percentage of organisms out of the base of the marine environment could devastate creatures higher up the foodchain. This is happening locally in the Strait of Georgia.

Local fishermen, First Nations, conservationists, and Scientists have repeatedly voiced concerns about the negative effects of salmon farms on the marine environment and coastal communities. The ecosystem that supports us may not survive the escape of millions of farmed salmon into the wild, the transfer of disease from farms to wild salmon, or the pollution from fish waste. Then there are the threats to human health from the antibiotics and artificial colourants given to farmed fish.

The economic impacts of industrial salmon farming on wild salmon fisheries and sports fishing is astronomical. Large corporate fish farms are largely automated, providing comparably few jobs, and raise 500,000 to 700,000 Atlantic Salmon. Fish farms undercut the price of wild fish and do not come close to generating the capital that the sports fishing industry reels into the local economy.

What can you do? Ask the seafood department at your local grocery store if they have wild salmon and let them know that you refuse to buy farmed salmon. Contact the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Honourable Geoff Regan E-Mail: Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

STUMPS BOUGHT - WILDERNESS SOLD

2005-03-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

Countless times, over the course of the past year that I have been writing this column, people have thanked me for bringing up issues about the environment and the destructive forces that threaten to destroy the planet. Complete strangers encourage me to continue writing this column because they enjoy learning about subjects that rarely see the light of day. I humbly thank those people for letting me know that they care.

Provincial government ministers, MLAs, city councilors, and civil servants have provided input regarding my column by contacting the editor of the PQ News. At times they question details and provide their point of view, but they do not provide the public with the opportunity to become more informed or to participate in solutions to the problems that I have identified.

A case in point is the Lost Trails Wetlands in Dashwood where the sale of 300 acres of land owned by the public will close next week with little to no public consultation by Land and Water British Columbia. Announcements, made when decisions have already been made do not allow for issues to be discussed in a fair and meaningful manner. For information regarding similar deals around the province check out: www.lwbcwatch.org

I have noticed a trend with regards to the environment since the BC Liberals came to power. Several sensitive areas of ecological significance, that have been identified and earmarked for protection by biologists and other professionals, were allowed to be partially destroyed before any protection was implemented. In the local area I know of at least one marsh, an old growth forest, and the riparian zone along a river that have all suffered this fate.

A very disturbing concept was expressed to me by a government employee whom I cannot name because he or she might be fired. In order to protect a piece of land as park, wildlife corridor, or ecological reserve a price must be negotiated. To meet budgetary constraints, imposed by the BC Liberals, the private corporations that own the land offer to reduce the market value. This generally means that valuable assets will be removed from the equation.

The result is that sensitive ecosystems are logged and the majority of significant trees are removed by the company before the government pays market value for the land and names it a park. Since the land is private, the logs are exported. The government then makes an announcement to the public that they have saved and protected a piece of nature for people to enjoy, calling it a corporate gift. Millions of tax payer dollars are spent on lands where the natural wildlife habitat has already been significantly compromised.

Such is the case with the recent park expansion in Cathedral Grove where BC taxpayers put out $2 million in cash and $3 million worth of tax credits to American logging giant Weyerhaeuser to buy 140 hectares of land that has been logged extensively. WLAP Minister Bill Barisoff called this a Eco-gift. E-mail bill.barisoff.mla@leg.bc.ca

Meanwhile the only remaining stands of old growth Douglas Fir trees outside the park remain in the hands of Weyerhaeuser, who will either log or sell the land to Brascan.

At the same time the BC government is selling lands that the public believed to be protected as parks, while buying land that has been logged to make up for the short-fall in parks. The public outcry after the fact can not repair the damage, therefore people must stand up for their concerns before it is too late.

The first statement at http://lwbc.bc.ca is; “Land and Water British Columbia Inc. manages the allocation of Crown land and water resources on behalf of the Government of British Columbia and its constituents.”

People walk on the land and drink the water. It has been my experience that the public is concerned about the future of the planet. Many people understand that the quality of life enjoyed by humanity is very much connected with the well-being of the natural world around us. Corporations are not human beings, but they can be stopped. Land and Water British Columbia may be a corporation but the people of this province own it.

PARKS SOLD OUT FROM UNDER CHILDREN

2005-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Last week I had the honour of accompanying the grade four/five class of French Creek Elementary School in their exploration of Hamilton Marsh. My last article had sparked a discussion that led to a field trip and I was asked to join them to provide some commentary. The energy and curiosity of more than thirty children wandering through the wetland forest reminded me of my own school field trip along that same trail some twenty-five years ago. I wondered how many classes have explored this unique ecosystem over the years. How many of you remember those tours?

I was inspired by the thrill, joy, and enthusiasm shown by the school children as they hunted for cones from different species of trees, caught then released frogs, and gazed into the water looking for salamanders. Those children reminded me of the inquisitive nature of humanity that many adults have replaced with greed.

Ecologically significant properties around the province have been set aside by regional districts at the request of the local voting public. However, because all crown land is governed by the provincial government (subject to First Nations Treaties which still have not been negotiated or signed), those properties have been leased to local municipalities.

When the BC Liberals took power in 2001 they ordered Land and Water British Columbia to more than double the annual rate of sale by selling-off $77 million of public (Crown) lands each year to private real estate developers. Leases, held by regional districts around the province, were not renewed when their leases expired. This despite the provincial target that 12% of the landbase be set aside for parklands. On the mainland 95% of the land base is publicly owned and managed by the crown. On the east coast of Vancouver island, due to the Dunsmuir Agreement of 1885, only 5% of the land base is crown land.

LWBC is selling off public land in Oceanside. For many years local residents have been assured by the Regional District of Naniamo that Little Mountain, Morrison Creek, and land in Dashwood known as the ‘Lost Trails Wetlands’ have been protected as parks. Recently the leases on all three properties expired and were not renewed by LWBC. That is until local residents began to learn the facts.

In July 2004 Chris Walther, RPF and local resident Ed Jewer submitted a report providing a detailed analysis of the biogeoclimatic variants and aquatic habitats in the Lost Trails Wetlands. As a result LWBC was persuaded to renew a 10 year lease for a small municipal park with the RDN and has committed in principal 3 other parcels. Mr. Jewer is encouraged by this although he would like to see long term protection for these parcels and is still very concerned that there are more sensitive areas that need to be protected. " Of the 11 wetlands identified by LWBC report, only 3 wetlands have full protection, 2 others have partial." In a water assessment document provided to Mr. Jewer by LWBC it is stated that "The water absorption provided by this land likely plays a role in recharging ground water levels and supply of moderating flows to the Little Qualicum River." LWBC currently has the remaining parcels on the market for sale.

These reports, as well as one submitted by LWBC, were assessed by the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection. On January 27, 2005 Ecosystems Officer M. E. Henigman wrote; “As previously advised, the study area lies within the Coastal Douglas-fir, moist maritime (CDFmm) and very dry maritime, Coastal Western Hemlock (CWHxml) BEC zones, within which all forest ecosystems are red and blue listed in the province of British Columbia. As conservation mechanisms to preserve these BEC variants on private land are extremely weak, their protection on Crown land is essential if these ecosystems are to be maintained. Development of the study area, in particular logging the mid-to-older age timber classes, can be expected to accelerate the loss of these ecosystems on Vancouver Island.” This statement is quoted directly from a letter to Mark Hallam - Acting Manager, Major Projects - Strategic Initiatives Division Land and Water British Columbia Inc.

Mr. Jewer is continuing to encourage protection on the remaining Crown Parcels. The limited listing date of March 22 doesn't leave much time. For more information please contact Mr. Jewer at (752-1833) or visit WWW.LTWETLANDS.ORG

WEYERHAEUSER LOGGING AROUND HAMILTON MARSH - Will Brookfield's Timberlands continue?

2005-02-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

Weyerhaeuser has started Timber Cruising at Hamilton Marsh by marking off the forest that they will cut down in the near future. Somehow the Regional District of Nanaimo, which put this sensitive wetland area on a priority list back in their 1995 Parks plan, has failed to protect this ecosystem. Supposedly some sort of negotiations are underway to protect something but the process is being rushed through before anything is made clear. This may seem very confusing and that’s because it is. However, the end result of all this will be the destruction of Hamilton Marsh as we know it.

For six years I was transported on a bus to school through the forest that stood between Coombs and Qualicum Beach. Many times I rode my bicycle along this windy stretch of road and enjoyed the “Sleepy Hollow’ effect created by the tall trees, swampy pools, giant ferns, and thick underbrush. On several occasions I followed the trails into Hamilton Marsh on guided tours where biologists and bird watchers pointed out many species of birds and vegetation. Since then I have continued to visit Hamilton Marsh with friends to check out this unique open water ecosystem which attracts an abundance of waterfowl. One year the ice was thick enough for locals to skate, many people showed up from Errington, Coombs, Hilliers, and Qualicum Beach. A community treat provided by nature.

Hamilton Marsh is a unique environment because it includes a large body of open water which is surrounded by a wetland forest. This marsh performs several important tasks for the surrounding region. It helps to filter, slow down, and store groundwater that flows into French Creek. In doing so it helps to regulate the flow of water into this Salmon rearing creek which supports a salmon enhancement-program as well as providing drinking water for residents downstream. During times of drought and times of flooding, this wetland helps to regulate the flow of water, acting like a sponge that is essential for the watershed around it.

Hamilton Marsh provides a habitat for a wide variety of birds, amphibians, insects, and mammals. Studies have shown that dragonflies are of particular interest due to their abundance and variety of species. Many people enjoy the trails that have been established by volunteers over the years. Members of the public are under the impression that government bodies at several levels have already protected this environmental jewel that is an important part of ‘our’ backyards. Information should be available from your RDN representative: corpsrv@rdn.bc.ca or contact the Chair of RDN Regional Parks Plan Select Committee Larry McNabb (250) 753-2792

Today, much of the wetland forest around Hamilton Marsh has been destroyed by Weyerhaeuser. A stroll down the ‘old Coombs cut-off’ reveals clear-cuts, burn piles, and devastation all around. Weyerhaeuser claims to practice sustainable logging which they call Variable Retention but what do they really care about ‘our’ backyard? Since 1999, when the Canadian company MacMillan-Bloedel was bought by the US logging giant Weyerhaeuser, thousands of workers have been laid off on Vancouver Island. I have seen logging of the most heinous destruction, thousands of acres of land have been logged and flogged for development, the export of raw logs has increased dramatically, log sorts have shut down, helicopters have poured thousands of tons of chemicals into our watersheds, and today Weyerhaeuser is attempting to sell all of its Canadian assets to Brascan. An investment company that deals primarily with real-estate, hydro-electric dams, and nuclear power plants.

On a much smaller scale I have watched two different wetland forests near my home in Errington transformed from shady wooded areas into virtual deserts after Weyerhaeuser logged these parcels of land for development purposes. Small pools, surrounded by a dense understory of ferns and lush undergrowth, held water into the autumn after even the driest summers. The moisture retained by these wetland forests helped to maintain the water table and provided life to a variety of flora and fauna. Today this same area is devoid of trees and the discharge of water during the rains becomes so intense that the soil is washed downhill, silt makes its way into the salmon rearing streams below. Under the heat of the summer sun this same land becomes cracked and the wind helps to parch the soil, turning the area into dry wasteland devoid of life.

ENGLISHMAN RIVER ESTUARY IS A WILDLIFE RESERVE - NOT FOR PROFIT OF FEW

2005-02-04T12:00:00.001-08:00

Is nothing sacred? When is a wildlife reserve truly protected and for how long? Locals worked hard for many years to protect the Englishman River estuary for the good of birds and other wildlife that depend upon that wetland. In 1993, through the Pacific Estuary Conservation Program, the Parksville-Qualicum Beach Wildlife Management Area was established. This victory was a direct result of local citizens who cared, lobbied, rallied, camped out, protested, and persevered.

First Nations once prospered along this coast and centered much of their lives around river estuaries including the Englishman River estuary. In the 1870’s Europeans came to the area and began to farm the Parksville flats and altered the natural flow of water with dikes. They were reminded of the true forces of nature in 1918 when the highest tides of Spring met with seasonal flood waters of the Englishman River. 150 head of cattle were washed out into the Georgia Strait never to be seen again.

In the early 1970’s a stone dike was built, without the approval of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, along the Englishman River to hold back flood waters from washing over privately owned land. Several development proposals followed including a golf course, condominiums, and a RV resort that would encompass the entire area known as the Parksville flats. From the 1980’s on people worked hard to bring on board government and private agencies, raising almost three million dollars to buy out developers, in order to create a wildlife reserve on the Parksville flats.

The first action taken by Nature’s Trust, a not-for-profit organization which manages the Englishman River Estuary on behalf of all those who worked towards its protection, was to return the wetlands to tidal circulation. This included breaking the dike and removing a bridge over the renewed tidal channel that separates the Wildlife Reserve from the Surfside RV Resort and the Community Park. Tidal flow has returned to the flats and a buffer has been established between wildlife and a dense concentration of people. A delicate balance has been established to protect habitat for everyone.

In December of 2001, as a member of the Arrowsmith Ecological Association, I attended a meeting, which was closed to the public, where Glen Jamieson made a power point presentation of his proposed interpretive centre on the Parksville flats. Representatives from Nature’s Trust, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, BC Ministry for Water, Land, and Air Protection, Arrowsmith Watershed Coalition, and Canadian Wildlife Service listened to yet another proposal to develop the wetlands.

Many of those present expressed a great deal of concern about bringing thousands of human visitors to a sensitive estuary ecosystem reserved as habitat for birds and other wildlife. Jamieson finally admitted that his plans involved building a bridge over the same tidal channel where Nature’s Trust removed a bridge in order to protect the wildlife reserve from the direct and negative impact of tens of thousands of people.

Surfside RV Resort has a lot to gain with a bridge, which would effectively expand their backyard. Surfside has already altered the nature of the estuary with a massive stone causeway along the beach and mudflats. Crowds of people from the community park would gain easy access to the wildlife reserve. How would this affect wildlife?

All of the organizations who opposed Jamieson’s plans at that initial presentation were noticeably absent from recent negotiations. They must be consulted before continuing with development plans because they can provide insight into the well-being of this wildlife reserve. If you have an opinion please contact Parksville Mayor Randy Longmuir 954-4661or e-mail: citypark@city.parksville.bc.ca

Millions of migratory birds stop in the Englishman River Estuary to feed alongside several species of resident birds such as King Fisher and Eagle. Many birds nest in this lush, sensitive, and very limited ecosystem. All of these wildlife activities are made possible because this area is protected, primarily from human activities.

Birders from around the world make Oceanside a destination to bird watch and photograph wildlife in this picturesque environment, notably during the Brant Festival. They spend money locally but are here for the birds. The concept of an interpretive centre to educate the public about the sensitivity of endangered ecosystems and the wildlife they support is honourable, but cannot come at the expense of the very ecosystem we hope to preserve. The birds? I think they just want to be left alone.

TONIGHT I LOST AN OLD FRIEND

2005-01-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

While working on my computer in front of the large picture windows in my cabin, I heard a loud crack. Thinking that a branch, high above me in a fir tree, had broken off under the weight of snow I ran to the doorway in case the windows were smashed by the falling branch. A crash followed by a thud confirmed my suspicion but the cabin had not been struck. I shone a flashlight through the front windows and could only see what appeared to be a large chunk of wood laying outside in the snow. We have had about 16 inches of snow fall and stick here in the past few days which is very unusual for our climate.

Later, when I went outside to investigate I saw that the top 60 feet of a 100 feet tall old growth Douglas fir tree had snapped off and was now lying in the snow in front of my cabin.

12 feet in circumference, this tree survived the forest fire of 1885, living to the age of approximately 500 years which is about half of the life expectancy for this species. Many years ago this tree had suffered a lightning strike leaving it with a rotten top composed of several giant limbs. The rest of the upper branches were healthy and grew to be very thick but deformed by the stunted crown. The trunk showed significant conks from a laminated form of fungi, which probably saved if from logging that took most of the other trees in the area. Now only a trunk of about 40 feet is left standing.

My parents and I moved to this property in April 1975 and I have always admired the largest tree for its thick wrinkly bark, shape, and strength. At that time this tree towered over the forest, a giant compared to all other trees in both height and girth. This tree seeded many of the surrounding trees which have grown to be taller than their parent. I have made many discoveries from this tree and have been inspired to investigate the history of forests by its presence.

I have seen many birds spend time on this magnificent wildlife tree including: Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Red-Breasted Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Winter Wren, Mountain Chickadee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Cooper’s Hawk, American Robin, Spotted Towhee, Varied Thrush, Dark-eyed Junco, American Kestrel, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Stellar’s Jay, Pine Siskin, European Starling, Crow, Raven, Bald Eagle, and even a Great Blue Heron landed in it to make some outrageously loud squawking. I watched a female Rufous Hummingbird gather cobwebs woven across the deep cracks in the bark, to use in constructing a nest. One night I listened to a pair of Barred Owls call each other from distant trees, slowly moving closer to each other. They met in the Old Douglas Fir tree in front of my cabin where they began to make noises that I had never heard them make before or since. That was the first year that those owls nested nearby and brought 3 fledgling into this world.

I witnessed the death of a friend tonight, a friend that stood before Europeans came to conquer this continent. I will miss this beautiful tree but it will be decaying for hundreds of years providing life for a multitude of insects, plants, and other trees. Birds will continue to benefit from this fallen giant and the colossal snag that still remains, standing firm. Its carcass will hold moisture during the dry season, providing habitat for amphibians and germinating seeds. We will leave the broken piece to rot where is lies and watch the standing truck decay naturally over time. The cycle continues, the succession of the forest.

In his letter to the Editor “Protection is ongoing” (The News Jan. 14) WLAP Minister BIll Barisoff compares this natural process of the forest to the ravages of clear-cut logging left by industrial corporate giants. A stump field is being offered as a park while a primeval Douglas Fir forest with trees that are hundreds of years old, evolved over millenniums will be logged by Weyerhaeuser in the Cameron Valley. I would like to see Cathedral Grove Park expanded to include all old growth trees in the Cameron Valley but somehow the BC Liberals put politics and greed ahead of the protection of the environment.