BC Creek Protection Society

Attachment: Letter regarding Renewable Portfolio Standards legislation The BC Creek Protection Society and several other NGOs from BC have written a letter to the California Government. The letter is a result of a collaboration with the Hydro Reform Coalition and was triggered by a recently released study by the major utility PG&E. (more…)

The Victoria Fire Fighters Charitable Foundation donated $1,500 to the BC Creek Protection Society. The donation was in the name of Jeff Strang, a Victoria Fire Fighter. Strang was a good friend to many of the Fire Fighters in the department. In fact, some refer to him as a brother. He was also an avid white-water paddler and passed away in a tragic accident on a local river in January 2007. Jeff strongly believed in the values of free flowing rivers and was a close friend of many members of the BC Creek Protection Society. We often discussed our ideas about a dedicated river stewardship society on the long drives to the rivers we loved to kayak together. After Jeff passed away, his friends, colleagues, and family donated close to $10,000 to our society. We have been very fortunate for having this support and consider it an honor to be standing up for British Columbias free flowing rivers in Jeff Strangs name. Jakub Drnec and Jan Dettmer Jan Dettmer (left) accepts the cheque from Kirk Corby:

This year’s second annual BC Rivers day at the Goldstream provincial park was a great success. As a continuous stream of visitors poured into the park throughout the day (total about 500 people), volunteers had very full hands helping out at the different stations. (more…)

PUBLIC MEETING: RIVER AWARENESS When: SATURDAY OCTOBER 18, 7: 00 PM Where: Great Hall in the New Community Centre, 7390 Cottonwood Dr., Pemberton, BC

Pemberton’s Ryan River along with many other free flowing rivers in BC face pressure from large-scale, fast-paced hydro power development.

The BC Creek Protection Society and a special guest speaker will present and discuss potential impacts of hydropower development in the Pemberton area and in British Columbia.

Guest Speaker: Gwen Barlee, Western Canada Wilderness Committee

The presentations will be aimed at educating the public on proposed Independent Power Projects in the Sea to Sky corridor. These local projects will also be shown in a broader context of independent hydroelectric development occurring across the entire province. An invitation is extended to the Lil’wat First Nation, N’Quatqua First Nation, Samahquan First Nation, Skatin First Nation, Douglas First Nation and any other interested parties.

Everyone Welcome!
7:00-9:00 PM: Presentations, public Q & A

Damien Gillis and Rafe Mair produced a video on the impacts of Salmon Farming on wild Pink Salmon. This ties into our concerns of RoR development on free flowing rivers since industrial development in wilderness areas is inherently linked to ecological impacts. We believe that the impacts due to currently proposed and carried out RoR development in BC are so poorly understood that it is impossible to gauge future impacts on our ecosystems. We therefore try to stress the need for a precautionary approach to any industrial/commercial use of free flowing rivers and their ecosystems. It is also interesting to note that the Glendale River flows into Knight Inlet, close to the Klinaklini River. Please watch the video on “Collapse of Salmon From Fish Farms - Glendale Grizzlies: In the Absence of Salmon” Damien writes: “Save Our Rivers Society is pleased to present a new film by POWERPLAY producer Damien Gillis, teaming with Save Our Rivers’ official spokesperson and longtime wild salmon advocate Rafe Mair. The film, “Glendale Grizzlies: In the Absence of Salmon” is a preview of a forthcoming series, S.O.S.: The State of Our Salmon, that will discuss the importance of salmon for our environment, economy, and cultures - as well as examining historic impacts on our wild salmon, culminating in fish farm devastation on the coast, and new threats on the horizon, including the pine beetle and private river power projects on potentially hundreds of our rivers and streams. Time to start saving our wild salmon - as Rafe Mair says, “the soul of our province.” That means no more salmon farms, no urban sprawl developments on top of prime fish and wildlife habitat (see Silverdale in Mission), and no private river power!”

BC CPS presented at the More Power To You Conference on Oct 04 in Vancouver. The conference was a productive and interesting event. Many environmental NGOs were present and presented. BC CPS focussed on the Klinaklini River project and other, ecologically concerning, large-scale projects. Please feel free to download the slides (PDF, 13 MB) of our presentation.

The open-house hosted by the BC CPS on Friday the 26th in Tofino was a positive step forward.  The BC CPS will now work towards presenting to the Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousat Band Councils and Clayoquot Regional Board.   Please stand-by for a list of contacts which will be useful for public imput on the issue of RoR in Clayoquot Sound.  Thank-you to all those who attended.