The BC government’s Species at Risk Task Force report makes weak recommendations that fall far short of the legal protection needed by BC’s 1,900 at-risk species, Ecojustice, Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee said today.

The groups called on the provincial government to stop wasting time and introduce a strong endangered species law to protect BC’s species at risk and the habitats and ecosystems they depend on.

Read our press release.

“The recommendations in the report could be a welcome complement to an endangered species law but on their own, without that clear commitment, they simply won’t protect or recover endangered wildlife in BC,” said George Heyman, executive director of Sierra Club BC. “It’s too little, too late for endangered species. If BC’s government uses this report to distract from and delay long-needed legislation it will be a damaging result.”

Read the story in the Vancouver Sun and the Times Colonist.

The 34-page report takes pains to point out the threats to wildlife at risk in BC and the difficulties in managing growing numbers of endangered species. Highlighted concerns include climate change, degraded ecosystems, limitations to current conservation approaches and difficulties in protecting species on private land. Surprisingly, the report does not call for a stand-alone endangered species law.

BC has over 1900 species at risk, including grizzly bears, American badgers, wolverines and burrowing owls. BC and Alberta hold the dubious distinction of being the only two provinces in Canada without stand-alone endangered species legislation.

Learn more about Sierra Club BC's work to protect endangered species.

Public polling has shown that almost 90 per cent of British Columbians care deeply about endangered wildlife and believe that the province needs to enact a strong law to recover species at risk, and to prevent species from becoming at risk in the first place. The BC government has repeatedly baulked at introducing an Endangered Species Law in the province.

Species protection is increasingly urgent in the face of climate change, which is placing additional pressure on species and their habitats.

Learn more about  our work to create a climate change refuge for wildlife and flora in the Flathead River Valley.

Pressure is building for the BC government to take action to protect species at risk. In June over 200 scientists signed an open letter to BC Premier Christy Clark, urging her to move ahead with approving a National Park in south Okanagan-Similkameen region, home to one third of BC's endangered species.

Sierra Club BC's 2010 Annual Report celebrates a year of environmental accomplishments. From the Flathead River Valley and Great Bear Rainforest to endangered orca whales, we made major progress with your support.

Our dynamic local groups worked hard to protect the Courtenay River estuary from a gas station, to save a heron nest in Powell River, and to stop the Raven coal mine in the picturesque Comox Valley, which would be Vancouver Island's first new coal mine in 20 years.

We thank our many supporters for a successful year -- we couldn't have done it without you!

Click here to read or download our annual report.

A coalition of environmental groups welcomed a Private Member's Bill that was reintroduced into the British Columbia Legislature on June 1 by New Democrat MLA Rob Fleming. The Bill seeks to establish long-overdue legislation protecting the province’s endangered species.

Read our press release.

"We know that British Columbians treasure the outdoors and the range of wildlife in this province," said Susan Howatt, Managing Director of Sierra Club BC. “This legislation is a necessary step, because it protects our high standard of living and something that people both in BC and abroad treasure about our unique corner of the world.”

Read the story in the Times Colonist.

BC has over 1900 species at risk, including grizzly bears, American badgers, wolverines and burrowing owls. BC and Alberta hold the dubious distinction of being the only two provinces in Canada without stand-alone endangered species legislation.

The proposed Species at Risk Protection Act, if passed, would protect species at risk as well as their habitat. It would require a suite of measures including scientific assessments of species legal listing,  protections against killing individuals of the species and protection of their habitat, and the development of recovery strategies.

Public polling has shown that almost 90 per cent of British Columbians care deeply about endangered wildlife and believe that the province needs to enact a strong law to recover species at risk, and to prevent species from becoming at risk in the first place. The BC government has repeatedly baulked at introducing an Endangered Species Law in the province.

Species protection is increasingly urgent in the face of climate change, which is placing additional pressure on species and their habitats.

Learn more about our work to create a climate change refuge for wildlife and flora in the Flathead River Valley.

In addition to this new bill, pressure is building for the BC government to take action to protect species at risk. Last week over 200 scientists signed an open letter to BC Premier Christy Clark, urging her to move ahead with approving a National Park in south Okanagan-Similkameen region, home to one third of BC's endangered species.

Provincial parks in British Columbia hold many stories. From tales of rarely-seen creatures or the singing silence in the depth of a forest, British Columbians hold a special place in their hearts for these wild spaces. But these days, the parks themselves have a sad story to tell – about a decade of government neglect eroding the integrity of our parks system.

Years of funding cuts have stripped interpretive programs, and decimated maintenance and ranger staff. In the absence of enforcement, parks and wildlife are at the mercy of poachers, and there have been incidents of damage by off-road vehicles and even logging in parks. Click here to read about some of the threats facing B.C.'s first park, Strathcona Park, founded in 1911.

2011 is the 100th anniversary year for B.C.’s parks, which protect over 14 per cent of our province’s land base and shelter the many creatures that live within their boundaries. But the 2011 provincial budget chopped $660,000 from parks and protected areas, following last year’s cut of $655,000 and a whopping $2.5 million cut in 2009.

The loss isn’t just about money. It’s about the school classes that can no longer take field trips to provincial parks to learn about tide pools from naturalists. It’s about children who don’t have park interpreters to show them the magical phosphorescent specks that are best seen at night, lying belly-down on a wooden dock with the slap of waves sounding nearby. It’s about making sure we have feet on the ground, walking trails and watching for dangerous areas or illegal use.

Sierra Club BC would like to hear your stories of how our neglected parks have affected you. Have you had an experience like Coastal Programs Campaigner Caitlyn Vernon, whose hike in Manning Park was marred by a lack of information about trail conditions? Have you seen a beloved park closing essential facilities, shortening its season or leaving its infrastructure to decay? Or are you worried about encroaching development, like the sprawling resort threatening the beloved Juan de Fuca park?

We want to hear your stories, because 2011 could be the start of a century of reinvestment in parks. Send your stories to nori (at) sierraclub.bc.ca, with “BC Parks Stories” in the subject line. We’ll feature some of the best ones on our website and in our communications materials.

Your voices make a difference. Already, you have helped us establish new conservation models like the Great Bear Rainforest agreements, which support local First Nations and bring a range of stakeholders together to create lasting solutions. You are working with us to protect vital wildlife corridors like those found in the Flathead River Valley. Now, you can help us turn the tide from environmental degradation to environmental responsibility. Share your stories today.

Learn more about our work to create a connected network of wilderness areas that will help BC's wildlife weather climate change.

Make a donation to help restore our BC Parks system.

The B.C. government has announced it will remove controversial parking meters from provincial parks. It's a welcome step, but does not erase the damage done to our parks system following years of major funding cuts.

The government will also make $500,000 available to community groups for trail improvement and other recreational and conservation projects in parks. However, that amount is less than the $650,000 cut this year alone from the B.C. parks budget.

Sierra Club BC's tongue-in-cheek bake sale for parks outside the Legislature on Parks Day 2005. Sierra Club BC and partners have successfully campaigned against privatization of parks for lodges and Hydro projects, and continue to call for restored funding and programs in all provincial parks. Photo: Taylor Bachrach

Our province and country are blessed to have a rich system of provincial and national parks where people can hike, camp, canoe or picnic, places that we celebrate every year on the third Saturday in July: Parks Day. As Caitlyn Vernon says in her Parks Day blog: “Manning Park, the Stein Valley, the Southern Chilcotin, Juan de Fuca, Naikoon, Garibaldi… these places form part of my memories, part of my mental map of this province.”

Just as Caitlyn can recall a childhood spent in parks, most British Columbians could also tell you stories about the wild spaces that have touched their hearts. The connection that Canadians feel with parks has been honoured on Parks Day since 1990, with this year’s celebration happening on Saturday, July 16th. Thousands of people are expected to attend special events in provincial and national parks across the country, including guided tours, hikes, educational activities and historical demonstrations.

Alouette Lake, Golden Ears Provincial Park. Photo: Kyle Pearce, unifiedstream.com

This year, on the 100th anniversary of both B.C. Parks and Parks Canada, there should be an added reason to celebrate. However, years of funding cuts in B.C. have stripped interpretive programs and decimated maintenance and ranger staff from our parks system. In the absence of enforcement, parks and wildlife are at the mercy of poachers, and there have been incidents of damage by off-road vehicles and even logging in parks. Click here to read about some of the threats facing B.C.'s first park, Strathcona Park, founded in 1911.

B.C.’s parks protect over 14 per cent of our province’s land base and shelter the many creatures that live within their boundaries. Parks benefit people too: they help to clean the air, offer sources of clean drinking water, and provide spaces for outdoor recreation. But the 2011 provincial budget chopped $660,000 from parks and protected areas, following last year’s cut of $655,000 and a whopping $2.5 million cut in 2009. Our parks are in trouble. For Parks Day 2011, restoring adequate funding to our parks would really be something to celebrate.

Sometimes park status is not enough even to protect parks from gross encroachment by development. Just this week the Capital Regional District passed a by-law that opens the doors to a sprawling resort development right next to the internationally renowned Juan de Fuca park.

The responsibility lies with a flawed voting process within the CRD, compounded by the province's legacy of removing Crown land from Tree Farm Licenses and subsequent failure to act.

However, it is not too late! The B.C. government can still save Juan de Fuca Park if there is political will to do so.

Take Action! This Parks Day head to Juan de Fuca Park with a camera and take a picture of your favourite spot or activity. Then email the pictures to Premier Christy Clark and Minister Ida Chong with a note asking them to take urgent steps to protect the park.

Whether it's a family trip to Manning Park, a beach hike on the Juan de Fuca trail or a back-country adventure on the remote Spatsizi Plateau, British Columbians love to spend time in our parks. We are justly proud of the 100-year legacy that has seen over 14 percent of BC's land base protected, along with the creatures that call it home.

But ongoing government neglect is eroding the integrity of this BC treasure, as years of funding cuts have stripped interpretive programs, and decimated maintenance and ranger staff. In the absence of enforcement, parks and wildlife are at the mercy of poachers, and there have been incidents of damage by off-road vehicles and even logging in parks.

The 2011 budget chopped $660,000 from parks and protected areas, following last year’s cut of $655,000 and a whopping $2.5 million cut in 2009.

“We have only one regular full-time park ranger for every 1.3 million hectares of BC parks and protected areas, far less than jurisdictions like Alberta," said Sierra Club BC's executive director, George Heyman. "Yet this budget cuts conservation officer services by a further $408,000. It also does nothing to protect BC’s 2,000 at-risk species.”

Read the article in the Times Colonist.

Sierra Club BC is calling on the Premier-elect, Christy Clark,  to make a clear commitment to fund parks and protected areas, protect species at risk, and take meaningful action to reduce BC’s carbon emissions.

Read Caitlyn Vernon's blog about her recent disturbing experience in Manning Park.

“The BC government continues to spend millions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies for the prosperous oil and gas industry, rather than making a significant investment in a green economy that will benefit all British Columbians," said Heyman.

Learn more about our work to protect BC Parks, and create a connected network of wilderness areas that will help BC's wildlife weather climate change.

The B.C. budget fails to deliver a single new cent for parks and protected areas, even though 2011 is the 100th anniversary of the B.C. parks system. Sierra Club BC was in the February 15 budget lock-up and issued this press release.

The budget chops $660,000 from parks and protected areas, following last year’s cut of $655,000, and a whopping $2.5 million cut in 2009.

“B.C. parks have endured years of devastating cuts and this budget contains absolutely zilch to remedy that,” said Sierra BC Executive Director George Heyman.

“The B.C. parks budget is only slightly larger now than the budget for the government’s public affairs bureau. There appears to be money to spin the 100th anniversary of B.C. parks, but not to protect or improve them,” said Heyman.

The February 14 Speech from the Throne mentioned renewed interpretative programs in parks, yet the budget contains no dedicated funding for enhanced interpretative programs even to fill the gap from programs cut during the past decade.

The budget also cuts conservation officer services by $408,000, even though B.C. has only one regular full-time park ranger for every 1.3 million hectares of parks and protected areas.

Read the Times Colonist column by Jack Knox.

Sierra Club BC is calling on the next Liberal leader to make a clear commitment to fund parks and protected areas, protect at-risk species, and take meaningful action to reduce B.C.’s carbon emissions.

“The clock is ticking for B.C.’s species, parks and the environment as the government waits for the next premier to be chosen and does nothing,” said Heyman.

The B.C. government is poised to make a decision about the controversial Jumbo Glacier Resort proposed for the wild  Jumbo Valley. The 6,500-bed resort, on a receding glacier, would fragment critical grizzly bear habitat and threaten river flows.

A new Globe and Mail article explores the issues surrounding this proposed development. Read it here and add your comments to the discussion.

A delegation from the Ktunaxa Nation came to the B.C. legislature November 15 to voice their traditional values for  the Jumbo Valley - or Qat'muk for the Ktunaxa.

On Nov 17, the Ktunaxa published this ad in the Province and the Vancouver Sun.

"The grizzly bear is sacred in Ktunaxa culture. The central Purcells are a place that the Ktunaxa have respected as the home of the grizzly since time immemorial," said Ktunaxa Nation chair Kathryn Tennessee.

The proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort is a "recreational city" that would house more than 6,500 people in single-family chalets, townhouse units, and condo/hotel buildings, complete with all amenities, a network of ski lifts and access roads.

The B.C. government will soon make a decision on the future of the Jumbo and the trans-boundary grizzlies.

Take action now.  Please send a letter to the B.C. government and add your voice to support this globally significant ecosystem and wildlife corridor.

The impact on grizzly bears would be severe. The resort city would fragment a crucial wildlife corridor between the northern and southern Purcells, blocking wildlife access to the Purcell Conservancy. Grizzlies depend on this connected habitat to maintain healthy populations in the region.

Peer-reviewed studies by renowned grizzly bear researcher Michael Proctor demonstrate that the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort will severely fragment the Purcell Mountains, one of the continent's most important grizzly bear corridors.

According to the government's own scientific committee on grizzly bears, "the size and nature of the development will result eventually in the loss of bears locally and will diminish the viability of the regional population of grizzly bears.”

Other large carnivores and ungulates such as moose and caribou would also be severely impacted.

Photo: Danny Laroche

Professor David Schindler of the University of Alberta has warned that river flows in summer on the eastern slopes of the Rockies have decreased by 30 to 85 percent in the past century. In the same period, the climate in the region has already warmed by 1-4 degrees Celsius, and a further 6-8 C warming is predicted during the remainder of the 21st century.

Kootenay residents have opposed this project for twenty years. The permitting process has been shrouded in secrecy: there has been no official involvement of the local government, let alone a public consultation process.

Please help stop this destructive development. Let the B.C. government know that you support keeping Jumbo wild!

Learn more.

See what it's all about. Watch this short documentary.

In less than a decade, British Columbia’s Forest Service has lost about one-quarter of its workforce, opening the door to abuses of our resource management system and the loss of valuable forest, says a study released December 8 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and Sierra Club BC.

Read the press release.

“Axed: A Decade of Cuts to BC’s Forest Service” describes how a dramatic thinning of personnel – due to layoffs and budget cuts, along with recent changes to ministry structures – has meant that Forest Service staff now supervise more hectares than ever before: more than seven times the area each for which a comparable US National Forest Service staff person is responsible.

“The deep job cuts — combined with October’s cabinet reorganization that cleaved what was left of the old Forest Service in two — are completely contrary to the public interest,” says Ben Parfitt, a researcher with the CCPA and author of the report. “The work load that we have saddled the Service’s remaining men and women with is past the point of absurdity.”

Parfitt notes that today in the U.S. there are 30,000 national Forest Service employees, each responsible on average for nearly 2,700 hectares of forest. B.C.’s Forest Service staff is one-tenth that of the U.S., yet the area of land to be covered per employee is 7.4 times higher, or 20,000 hectares. The disparity is even worse in northeast B.C., he says, with 232,000 hectares per employee, or more than 580 Stanley Parks each.

The B.C. Forest Service, which is nearing its 100th anniversary in 2012, has a long history of protecting one of our province’s most important resources. At a time when insect attacks have killed hundreds of millions of trees, forest fires are of increasing number and severity, we face an unimaginable reforestation challenge, and climate change is becoming more pressing, the province needs more Forest Service workers, not less.

“Between 2001/2002 and 2004/2005, field inspections by Forest Service compliance and enforcement staff fell by 46 per cent, opening the door to a range of potential abuses, including illegal logging and log theft, unmarked logs and therefore unpaid provincial stumpage fees, and environmentally destructive logging operations,” says the report.

In addition, October’s cabinet reorganization and the creation of the new Natural Resource Operations Ministry meant that entire sections of the Forest Service were disbanded, including its renowned 83-year-old research branch, whose remaining scientists (60 per cent fewer than a decade ago) are now scattered among the Natural Resource Operations, Environment, Agriculture and Forests and Mines ministries.

The report calls for the appointment of a provincial commission of inquiry to determine whether the current Forest Service and ministry structure are capable of dealing with the challenges to come for B.C.’s forest lands.

“We cannot continue on this way. The BC government should immediately reverse its dubious cabinet reorganization and halt any further Forest Service layoffs, pending a review by an independent commission,” says George Heyman, executive director of Sierra Club BC.

Read an April 2010 editorial by Ben Parfitt and George Heyman about the Forest Service.

On November 13th, the Haida Nation held a feast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the blockade at Lyell Island - a pivotal moment for aboriginal rights and for conservation in B.C.

In 1985, 72 Haida were arrested for blocking a logging road to stop logging and assert their rights as Haida to make decisions over their own land.  It was a pivotal moment in what had already been a long campaign to save what was then known as South Moresby.  Sierra Club BC was one of many organizations campaigning to protect the ancient trees from logging.

After over 10 years of land use planning, negotiations and court cases, in 1985 the Haida drew a line in the sand at Lyell.  The world watched as elders in regalia were arrested on a logging road.  The courageous stand of the Haida tipped the balance and by 1986 the federal and provincial governments had agreed to a National Park Reserve: Gwaii Haanas.

Read the article in the Vancouver Sun.

Today, there is more to celebrate.  With the creation of the National Marine Conservation Area Reserve for Gwaii Haanas, the original vision of protecting both the land and sea has finally been realized.  It is the first place on this planet that is protected from mountaintop to sea floor.

Caitlyn Vernon from Sierra Club BC was at the feast in Skidegate. Read her blog for the Tyee.

Haida dancers take the floor at the Athlii Gwaii celebration in Skidegate. Photo: Mike Ambach

A new website has been launched to ensure that environmentally and socially sustainable Forest Stewardship Council wood will be inluded in Olympic venue construction.

The website will track the use of "good wood" in Olympic venues in the coming months. Vancouver, in its bid to hold the winter Olympics,  committed to showcase green building design and construction techniques for new buildings and infrastructure required for the  games.

A coalition of environmental groups behind the website, including Sierra Club BC, is calling on the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) and all Olympic venues to use FSC-certified wood in their building construction. The FSC is an internationally recognized standard for environmental and socially responsible management of forests.

The launch of GoodWoodWatch.ca marks the beginning of a survey of FSC wood use in Olympic venues. The results, to be released in the coming months, will give Canadians and the international community a way to assess the footprint of the Vancouver Olympic Games on the world's forests.

Sierra Club BC and our allies are alarmed by Canfor Forest Products’ decision to sell its Howe Sound Pulp and Paper operation to Paper Excellence BV, the Netherlands-based unit of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group. In a letter to Canfor, we are urging the company to not sell Howe Sound Pulp and Paper to Paper Excellence, but instead explore alternative ownership scenarios.

“Sinar Mas represents everything we are working against in B.C. and other parts of the world: rainforest destruction, use of violence against Aboriginal people and unbridled corporate greed,” said Jens Wieting, forest campaigner with Sierra Club BC.

Sinar Mas, in particular its pulp and paper arm Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), is known globally for massive environmental destruction for palm oil and pulp and paper, including logging intact rainforests and peatland, wiping out Orangutan habitat, human rights violations and financial scandals in Indonesia.

Read our press release.

"The pace and dimension of the destruction of biologically rich tropical rainforest on Sumatra is mind-boggling and there is no company in the pulp and paper business with a worse reputation," said Wieting, who worked several years campaigning for the protection of Sumatra's rainforest.

"There was already a state of ecological emergency when I visited their operations in 2004 but instead of downsizing APP's focus is expansion, globally," Wieting said.

Logging devastation in the province of Riau, Sumatra. Photo: Jens Wieting

Internationally, environmental and human rights organizations have condemned Sinar Mas operations. In July 2010 a group of 40 non-governmental organizations released an open letter to the marketplace alerting any company doing business with APP that this would pose a serious risk to their respective brands. Greenpeace International has a major marketplace boycott campaign against Sinar Mas/APP.

Howe Sound Pulp and Paper’s joint owners, Canada's Canfor Forest Products and Oji Paper Co Ltd. of Japan, agreed in July to sell the operation to Paper Excellence / Sinar Mas for an undisclosed price. Finalising the deal could take until October. Howe Sound Pulp and Paper is the Dutch company’s second purchase in BC this year, in what an industry publication has described as a “buying spree.”