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"NEWS BYTES"

Environmental = Trends

In January, the Ministry of Environment, Land = and Parks=20 released its long awaited Environmental Trends in B.C. Report that = looks=20 at 12 indicators to provide an snapshot look at the state of the=20 province=92s environment. This project is the work of the State of = Environment Reporting Office and is, in part, a response to the = 1995=20 Auditor-General=92s report which recommended that performance = measures focus=20 on the outcomes of government efforts rather than the efforts = themselves.=20 The 12 indicators include protected areas, solid waste, species at = risk,=20 forest species, and toxic contaminants in biota. Also, the results = are=20 compared with other jurisdictions, which indicates that B.C. is = faring=20 better in regards to environmental protection. While this report = indicates=20 that the percentage of parks is increasing, air pollution is = decreasing,=20 the quantity of waste disposed is decreasing, and dioxin levels in = Great=20 Blue Heron eggs are decreasing; the indicators for water quality,=20 greenhouse gases and wildlife do not look promising. As well, a = more=20 critical look at the indicators provided shows lack of important = details=20 and a reliance on strategies that are not yet being implemented or = are=20 insufficient. Also, some of the information has been disputed, = such as the=20 status of grizzly bear populations on the mid-coast. The Trends = reporting=20 project is ongoing, and the Ministry welcome comments and = suggestions for=20 how to improve their monitoring work. For example, an analysis of = the=20 protected area strategy implementation should look at how well low = elevation, forested ecosystems are being protected, as these areas = are=20 most at risk and contain the highest levels of biodiversity. =

The full report can be viewed or downloaded from this website: = www.env.gov.bc.ca/sppl/soer= pt =20 or to provide comments contact: Risa Smith, State of Environment=20 Reporting, 356-2191, rbsmith@executive.env.gov= .bc.ca=20

Rhodes Report=20 Recommends Overhaul

A report commissioned by the Premier at = the request=20 of the B.C. Wildlife Federation that recommends sweeping changes = to the=20 Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks is provoking some support = and=20 some concerns and other suggestions from many sectors, including = the=20 environmental community. The impetus for this report, prepared by = Frank=20 Rhodes, stems from a recommendation in the earlier Heywood Report = that=20 resulted in the formation of the Ministry of Fisheries last year. = Rhodes=20 recommends that the Ministry of Fisheries be restructured to = include the=20 following programs now included in the Ministry of Environment, = Lands=20 & Parks: Regional fisheries program, Wildlife programs, = Habitat=20 Protection programs, and Enforcement programs (Conservation = Officer=20 Service). He also suggests that enforcement programs should be = transferred=20 as an entire unit to the Ministry of Fisheries and, through = administrative=20 protocol arrangements, provide inspection and enforcement services = for all=20 MELP programs as required. To accomplish these changes, he advised = that=20 administrative actions are needed to integrate the organizations,=20 facilitate efficiency, and provide protocols and MOUs for sharing = support=20 services and meeting the needs of clients. While there is support = from the=20 environmental community for the need to keep fisheries, wildlife = and=20 habitat programs together, concerns have been raised about whether = the=20 Rhode=92s recommendations are the best approach. Many questions = remain=20 unanswered and there clearly is a need for further consultation = and study=20 before any changes are made.

For more information, contact: Gary Wouters, B.C. government,=20 604-775-0001 or Doug Walker, Executive Director, BCWF,=20 604-533-2293.

Endangered=20 Species Update

Recent developments add to the urgency = for an=20 effective federal law to protect endangered species. Late in = February,=20 more than 600 scientists signed a letter to Prime Minister Jean = Chretien=20 urging him to significantly strengthen the government=92s planned=20 endangered-species bill or risk passing legislation that is = meaningless.=20 The letter shows that many of Canada=92s researchers believe that = Ottawa=92s=20 approach to endangered species is seriously flawed. These = scientists are=20 particularly concerned that species that range or migrate will not = be=20 protected under the new legislation. Grizzly bears, for example, = are=20 protected in the U.S. but would be in danger once they cross the = border=20 into Canada. Mark Colpitts, a spokesman for Environment Minister = Christine=20 Stewart, said that a greater emphasis would be put on habitat = protection=20 in the new bill, as well as encouragement for Canadians to look = after=20 species on private land, but insiders say it will not veer far = from the=20 course set in 1996.

Meanwhile, the U.S. federal government recently announced new=20 protection measures for nine threatened salmon populations in the = Pacific=20 Northwest, which could become the largest and most expensive = rescue effort=20 in the 26-year history of the Endangered Species Act. The effort = will=20 inevitably require higher taxes to clean hundreds of waterways and = buy=20 open space in crucial watersheds. As well it will impose tough=20 restrictions on new construction, farming and logging, and may = even=20 require the costly decommissioning of dams that impede salmon runs = but=20 also supply the region with cheap power. The early response from=20 politicians and citizens has been extraordinarily positive, as = salmon are=20 not only economically important but are also a cultural icon. = Already,=20 Vice President Gore has promised a special appropriation of = $100-million=20 to underwrite a "cooperative restoration effort." Contact: = BC=20 Endangered Species Coalition, ksmallwood@wcel.org ,=20 604-601-2507 

Logging Damages=20 Watersheds Forever

At a speech to the Biology and Management = of=20 Species and Habitats at Risk conference held February 15 in = Kamloops,=20 Ministry of Environment=92s watershed restoration manager, Pat = Slaney said=20 most of B.C.=92s watersheds that have been damaged by logging may = never be=20 adequately rehabilitated. "For years, the forest industry has = logged=20 hillsides right to the banks of streams," Slaney said. That = practice,=20 disallowed in 1988, has caused land stability problems that will = be felt=20 for decades. He explained to the audience that because of a FRBC = target of=20 completing 25 percent of high priority or key watersheds over the = next 5=20 years, it will take 20 years at a minimum to "actively" = rehabilitate the=20 high priority one-third of damaged watersheds. Funding for = restoration=20 will be about 50 percent lower starting in 1999, owing to reduced = stumpage=20 revenues. As well, the current multi-year agreements with forest = licensees=20 restricts the number of watersheds that can be worked on. He then=20 explained how the remaining two-thirds of the watersheds will, by = default,=20 receive largely "passive" restoration where an effective Code is = to be=20 relied on to curtail any further damage. In a 1997 article for the = Water=20 Quality Resources Journal, Slaney and Al Martin estimated that the = total=20 cost to repair B.C.=92s damaged watersheds was between one and = four billion=20 dollars! For more information, contact: Pat Slaney,=20 604-222-6761.

Zero = AOX at=20 Threat

On March 10th the first public broadside = was=20 launched against B.C.=92s most important piece of pulp pollution = legislation=20 with the release of a Price Waterhouse Coopers report that claimed = enforcement of the law would bankrupt the pulp industry and shut = it down.=20 The 1992 Pulp Mill and Pulp and Paper Mill Liquid Effluent Control = Regulation (the "Zero AOX" law) gave chlorine-bleaching mills in = this=20 province 10 years to make the necessary investments to eliminate=20 organochlorines from their effluent. The industry opted instead to = invest=20 in half measures and economic blackmail. It is now demanding, both = in=20 public and behind closed government doors, that the law be = overturned.=20 This is the third time the pulp and paper industry has claimed = pollution=20 controls would bankrupt it and bring about the closure of every = mill in=20 the province. When the chlorine-bleaching mills were told to = reduce AOX to=20 2.5 kilograms, they said they=92d go broke. When they were told to = meet an=20 interim Zero AOX target of 1.5 kilograms, they said they=92d go = broke.=20 Instead, they have had some of the most profitable years in = decades.=20 That=92s why they were given 10 years - so they could take = advantage of the=20 good years in the economic cycle.

Overlooked in the frenzied gloom of the Price Waterhouse = Coopers report=20 is the fact the Zero AOX law affects only those mills which bleach = with=20 chlorinated compounds. One-third of the pulp in this province is=20 manufactured without these chemicals - and this one-third is = currently the=20 most profitable sector. Despite recent polls which show how = popular the=20 Zero AOX law and its goals are with workers and the public, there = are=20 concerns that government staff are getting ready to cave in. The=20 government needs to be reminded again of their pledge = categorically that=20 the Zero AOX law was not up for negotiation.

Contact: Jay Ritchlin, Reach For Unbleached, Vancouver, = 604-879-2992,=20 e-mail ritchlin@uniserve.com=20

Protecting=20 Canada=92s Water

The federal government=92s recently = announced=20 strategy for preventing the bulk export of Canada=92s water is = notable for=20 what it doesn=92t do as well as for what it does. What it does is = expose=20 just how vulnerable our water is under free trade and NAFTA. What = it=20 doesn=92t do is protect Canada=92s water from interbasin transfers = by=20 pipeline, trenches or super tankers. Canadians have good reason to = be=20 concerned about the future of their rivers and lakes. Americans = are=20 amongst the most profligate users of water in the world. = California,=20 thirsty and getting thirstier, uses 80 percent of its water in=20 agriculture, most of it to subsidize low value crops. In effect, = Canadians=20 would be giving up their water so American agricultural = corporations can=20 grow rice in the desert. The threat to our water is not = hypothetical. One=20 California company, Sun Belt, has already served notice that it is = seeking=20 compensation from Canada of up to $300- million using NAFTA to = challenge=20 B.C.=92s law banning water exports. The federal government=92s = strategy smacks=20 of desperate measures, by tossing the ball to the provinces, with = the hope=20 they will all declare moratoriums on water exports.

Both these strategies provide only false hopes. The Quebec = Environment=20 Minister Paul Begin, has already stated that Quebec will not = cooperate in=20 any national moratorium. And the International Joint Commission = could=20 easily rule that water diversions do not harm watersheds, thereby=20 providing justification for such diversions. The federal = government=92s=20 approach tacitly acknowledges that if it passes legislation = banning bulk=20 water exports, it will have the perverse effect of admitting that = water is=20 a commodity that can be traded. And if any province issues a bulk = water=20 export permit, the floodgates will be opened across the country.=20 Ultimately, Canada=92s commitments in NAFTA will prevail over any=20 legislation banning water exports. But in the immediate term, = Canada=20 should ban water exports because it would stop the provinces from = issuing=20 permits. Following such legislation, Canada must negotiate a clear = and=20 unequivocal exclusion for water from NAFTA.

Murray Dobbin, Council of Canadians =

A = Tribute to Irene=20 Abbey

Environmental, peace, and social justice = activist=20 Irene Abbey, one of the founding members of the Raging Grannies, = passed=20 away in late December 1998. Irene devoted many years of loyal = service to a=20 variety of B.C. community groups. In the summer of 1993, Irene was = arrested defending the forests of Clayoquot Sound along with more = than 845=20 other defenders. She eloquently defended her actions before = B.C.=92s Supreme=20 Court that fall. Irene Abbey=92s commitment to community is aptly = portrayed=20 in her appearance in the video, Fury for the Sound: The = Women of=20 Clayoquot. As one observer honouring her passing aptly put = it,=20 "Irene didn=92t rust out, she wore out."

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