SEAS calls for government action to purchase West Beach property near the Adams River and other news…

Re: West Beach : SEAS has decided to encourage everyone to contact George Abbott and encourage him to use his cabinet influence to expedite the current negotiations so that this property can be purchased this year before more damage is done. Currently, there is a pile of concrete forms, tiles and lumber there and two excavators are parked near the house. See sample letter to George Abbott below. Here is his contact info:
George Abbott, george.abbott.mla@leg.bc.ca , (250) 833-7414 or toll free, 1- 877-771-7557

Dear Honourable Minister George Abbott

Most Shuswap citizens continue to maintain a keen interest in the future of the West Beach property. It is crucial that the property be placed into public hands in order to protect the viability of the sockeye salmon run and the ecologically sensitive Roderick Haig-Brown Park.

While we were disappointed to learn that the provincial Government ‘remains interested in purchasing the land but not at this time for the appraised value,: we were encouraged to learn that the government is interested in working with partners. While these economic times are difficult, the purchase represents an invaluable investment in the salmon fishing industry, the Interior tourism industry and the environmental sustainability goals of the government – a legacy at least as important as the 2010 Olympics, the Vancouver Convention Centre and BC Place stadium that are costing many hundreds of millions of dollars.

Most recently, Minister Barry Penner has revealed that talks have begun with the developer. Please represent the wishes of your constituents and help ensure the purchase of the West Beach property remains a priority that will hopefully happen before the election this spring.

Sincerely,

In other news, BC Nature magazine reports that the provincial budget released last month is bad news for the environment. Funding for the Environmental Stewardship department of MOE, which supports Crown lands, wildlife and habitat was reduced by 15 percent. The parks and wildlife management areas budget was reduced by 14 percent. And other MOR department budgets were also reduced. Meanwhile, there is no news yet about any funding for SLIPP implementation.

Here is what the local media has to say about these issues:

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Editorial, Salmon Arm Observer
March 24, 2009

Like rivers at freshet, the Liberal government’s press service has been rolling out releases, sometimes as many as 30 a day, many of them funding announcements.
Over the past several weeks, the funding tap has poured out sometimes huge sums.
The City of Salmon Arm was one of many B.C. communities to benefit from last week’s funding spree, receiving more than $500,000 to support infrastructure expansion, deliver community services, improve community safety, revitalize green spaces and invest in local jobs.

On the same day, the Salmon Arm Elks were advised they would be getting $97,000 in gaming grant revenue to build a new community hall.

Earlier in the week, $1.4 million in joint provincial-federal funding to improve Sorrento’s water system was announced. In recent weeks both the Shuswap and District Arts Council and Haney Heritage Village and Museum were the recipients of welcome funding.

While all of this is good news, there seems to be a disconcerting silence emanating from certain ministries.

Despite vigorous local support for the Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process (SLIPP), spearheaded by the Ministry of Environment with approval from the highest levels, the environment minister’s office has chosen to ignore repeated requests from the Observer for a statement regarding its funding fate.

This despite the fact, a SLIPP report sets out sound recommendations to prevent further deterioration to the lake that provides our water and a livelihood for many.

Chief among them is the need for increased monitoring to pinpoint contamination sources.
This is particularly important given last year’s huge algae bloom that stretched from Salmon Arm Bay to Sicamous.

And water samples taken at the mouth of the Salmon River have shown water quality deterioration, not improvement, as originally stated in this year’s Fraser Basin Council Report.

Also frustrating is the silence surrounding the fate of the West Beach property near the mouth of the Adams River and its world renowned salmon run.

Despite earlier assurances the environment minister would investigate the possibility of purchasing the property from the developer, whose plans created public furor, no word has been heard here.

Reviewing the province’s news releases, it becomes evident that environmental issues are not a Liberal priority in the upcoming election.

But the state of Shuswap Lake is a top priority among many voters in the in the area, voters who deserve to hear some answers : even if they are not likely to like them.

If there is no provincial funding forthcoming, let the voters hear the reasons why this government has chosen to act on something as crucial as the fate of Shuswap Lake. This is hardly the time for ostrich-like behaviour.

B.C. permitting snowmobiling in sensitive caribou habitat despite the concerns of biologists… 

Caribou protection plan falls short
By Jim Cooperman
A Shuswap Passion column for the Shuswap Market News
March 13, 2009

The provincial government recently made an announcement about the progress made with its British Columbia’s Mountain Caribou Recovery Implementation Plan. The Ministry of Environment’s Information Bulletin boasts, ‘More than two million hectares off limits for logging and road building, and one million hectares of alpine caribou habitat out of reach for snow machines in the B.C. Interior.: A coalition of environmental groups called the Mountain Caribou Project applauded the news but pointed out that much of the plan can be termed an ‘IOU: because more efforts are still needed in order for the plan to succeed.

The ten-member coalition, which includes the Shuswap Environmental Action Society, points out that habitat is still at risk from mineral exploration development and motorized recreation. As well, logging restrictions contain too many loopholes. Even though logging and road-building is apparently banned from ‘protected: caribou habitat, it will still be allowed if the blocks are 2 hectares or smaller, if it is needed to address ‘forest health factors,: if there has been a mapping error, or if a road is needed to access timber adjacent to the protected area. Also, it appears that heli-ski and snow-cat ski operations may be able to log in caribou habitat to provide more areas for skiing.

According to the coalition, the provincial government still needs to: ‘act on all the science-based recommendations to close mountain caribou habitat to winter motorized recreation; boost caribou numbers in threatened herds with animals transplanted from elsewhere to ensure herds achieve critical mass for self-sufficiency; ensure that any activities within designated habitat support the recovery goals and require a caribou biologist’s review of any development; ensure that large areas of critical caribou habitat that were missed through mapping errors are protected; and ensure that predator strategies are transparent and that wolves and cougars are not the scapegoats for incomplete habitat protections.:

Here in the Shuswap, approximately 40 percent of the habitat for the three remaining herds totalling some 60 animals is protected from logging. Efforts to protect this habitat began during the Okanagan Shuswap Land and Resource Management planning process that provided the direction for 6 years of research that culminated in the identification of approximately 10,000 hectares of additional old growth forest habitat. However it was the government’s caribou initiative that helped to convince the forest licensees to give up their rights to logging these forests.

Although more habitat has been protected from logging, the government’s plan to restrict snowmobile use is flawed. The Ministry of Environment intends to make an exception for the snowmobile closure in the Mt. Grace plateau to accommodate the desire of the Seymour Arm snowmobile club to continue riding in this area. Announcing a snowmobile closure, while making an exception behind the scenes has been a political decision that was not supported by government wildlife experts.

In a 2005 report, wildlife scientists reported that the Mt. Grace area contains a large portion of the late winter range of the Columbia North subpopulation that have not been previously exposed to snowmobile activity. The report goes on to warn, ‘there is potential that future snowmobile activity could be detrimental to the large numbers of caribou that use this area.: The Queest Mountain area is also caribou habitat, however snowmobile activity occurs south of the closure area that is just west of North Queest.

Most snowmobiling is done by individuals not connected with the clubs, yet the government is signing management agreements with the clubs to control where the riding takes place. These agreements are expected to be self-monitored by the clubs, although the Ministry does intend to also do some monitoring on a rotating basis. Yet the environment ministry that is reeling from an 11 percent cut in their budget is hardly in any shape to watch over thousands of hectares and prevent snowmobilers from disturbing caribou.

It is a sad state of affairs that the provincial government can allocate hundreds of millions of dollars to the Olympics, BC Place stadium, highways and bridges and another giant convention centre; yet it pleads poverty when money is needed to protect the environment. And why are the recreational desires of a few snowmobilers a higher priority than the need to safeguard an irreplaceable legacy by protecting the rapidly diminishing population of mountain caribou?