BC Creek Protection Society

We are faced with a threat few of us have considered. We’ve been distracted, and deliberately, by governments, most particularly by the Campbell government, into ignoring the real environmental issues that face us. Full story (external link to thetyee.ca)

Letter from Gary Diers (Purcell Alliance for Wilderness) Dear Supporters, The time clock is now ticking on the fate of Glacier and Howser Creeks. Early last week the final application for the project was submitted by Purcell Green Power, affiliate of AXOR Group of Montreal, to the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO). Upon submission, legislated timelines kick in. The EAO has 30 days to review the application. Then there is a maximum 180 days for public and agency review. Following this the BC Ministers have a maximum 45 days to make the final decision. (more…)

Klinaklini River at Risk The Klinaklini River is part of the remote Coast Range wilderness. For 200 kilometres, it winds its way from the Chilcotin Plateau past majestic peaks and glaciers toward Knight Inlet. It is one of the few rivers in the coast range that originates from the nutrient rich Interior Plateau and rich the river is: The Klinaklini hosts one of the most important eulachon runs of the Pacific West Coast. Steelhead and salmon spawn in its waters and bears gather here drawn by the abundant food. In the surrounding forests and estuary, many red listed species such as Marbled Murrelets can still be found in numbers. (more…)

Dear Editor, the recent article “Much heat, little light in river power debate” raised some interesting concerns about politicizing this important problem. However, the closing remarks of this article raised significant concerns with us. The author suggests that RoR projects are the energy option with the least environmental impact and a viable option for supplying future energy demand. We would like to challenge this point of view in the following. (more…)

Dr. Richard Hebda, Schools of Earth and Ocean Sciences and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria and a respected, published author and presenter on climate change speaks about carbon sequestration in BC forests, and the risk of land developments which may disrupt this and release significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Forests, in particular, old-growth forests in complex ecosystems sequester large amounts of carbon compared to replanted seedlings in a clearcut. Carbon stewardship and full cost accounting, and eco-footprint analysis should be a pre-requisite to province-wide developments of power projects. Do we release more CO2 through the construction process, or modification of the landscape? Do we reduce the environment’s adaptive capacity by changing the way rivers run? Do we influence fish stocks and the way fish use rivers? Disturbing the landscape weakens its capacity to make adaptations. Landtrust Alliance
Full Report Video (external link to Google Video) Videography: Damien Gillis Save Our Rivers Society

In the below video, Jack Woodward explores potential impacts of aboriginal title and rights with regard to private power licenses. Video by Damien Gillis (externam link to Google Video)

Below is the press release form BC Hydro for the newest call for tenders. The call is for approximately 10% (5000 GWh) of the current energy demand in BC. In our view, acquiring such large amounts of power is highly irresponsible by the government. The detrimental ecological impacts that will be associated with such development will be vast since it can be expected that major power sources will be located in wilderness areas. For example, Plutonic Powers proposal for Bute Inlet will require approx. 400 km of new transmission lines. Further, the claim that these power projects are carbon neutral is highly questionable since environmental impacts are not accounted for. Cradle to coffin concepts are also non existent in the calculations that are used as the basis for the advertising of these projects. (more…)