Umpteenth plea to SAVE BC's FORESTS

Yup I was pushed --again-- to pen another impassioned plea to the BC Govt to save our priceless forest ecosystems -- which are dwindling disastrously due to cont'd CLEARCUT LOGGING:  THE major cause of worsened Climate catastrophes like the insane wildfires we saw this past summer!  No hyperbole needed - all is 100% verifiable.  You too can customize your own message, via https://sierraclub.bc.ca

                   Pic by me:

My fave old-growth

forest grove in BC

Dear Minister Ralston and Premier Eby, 

The 3-year anniversary of your govt's promises to implement all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Report has come & gone without meaningful measures taken.  This is unacceptable, since the extreme Climate impacts of 2023 -- & cont'd clearcut logging -- have further imperiled BC's communities & globally-rare rainforest ecosystems.

It's now crystal-clear that protecting BC's last intact unlogged primary, old-growth & mature forests is crucial to maintain natural carbon sinks, reduce Climate impacts & protect biodiversity that depends on these ecosystems.

Yet your govt. has stalled progress on the most fundamental, urgent calls to action -- eg. petitioning the federal govt NOT to issue an Emergency Order to save the last critically endangered Spotted Owl in the Spuzzum watershed (!) -- & instead allowed catastrophic clearcutting of its essential habitat, highlighting your govt's sinister true intentions.      

* * * *

The double whammy of industrial logging & Climate impacts means our iconic forests -- i.e. the ecosystems that draw tourists from all over to experience "Super, Natural BC" -- are fast shrinking, while industrially-degraded forests become parched 'dead zones' that fuel fast-spreading wildfires & jeopardize whole communities as well as entire wild foodchains. 

All so logging corps can keep reaping their outsize profits while denying BCers our Constitution-backed rights to benefit from & steward these irreplaceable LIVING LEGACIES, without which our lives will drastically decline.

* * * *

Your govt. ought to resign 'en masse' for its cont'd failure/refusal to protect the public's interests!

* * * *

In just 50 years much of the interior’s once-bountiful forests are gone, with horrendous consequences for endangered wildlife species such as woodland caribou, who need all that the forest contains, & where a “low-quality” tree for lumber is the highest-quality tree for lichen, without which caribou cannot survive.

The additional forest losses associated with Climate change & its role in fueling more prolonged & intense wildfires, tree-killing droughts, insect attacks & tree diseases, are exacerbating this ecological & economic crisis.

Surely as BC's official representatives in charge of managing our most invaluable (PUBLIC) natural resources on our behalf, you recognize the sheer folly of stubbornly keeping the (obvsly broken, harmful & unfair) status-quo -- along with the urgent need to save what’s left of our critically key forest landscapes!??

By banning ecocidal clearcut logging, protecting & restoring existing forests, & reforming forest practices (for starters), your govt. has the power to fulfill its stewardship responsibilities of supporting critical biodiversity & the health & safety of BC communities!?

* * * *

Therefore I'm calling on you to ACT NOW on your govt's promises to implement aLL 14 Old Growth Strategic Review recommendations, before it becomes even harder to save (once-'Beautiful') BC's life-saving Lungs of the Earth.

The entire world is waiting & watching, in mortal dread of the consequences of cont'd ill-advised corporate ecocide on the futures of those who will inherit the worst of its inevitable disasters:  our kids, & their kids.. & the many priceless benefits BC's native (unlogged & unsprayed) forests bestow on aLL our lives.

Allowing them to be systematically wiped out -- along with their myriad life-sustaining benefits/ biodiversity -- by greedy polluting billionaire corporations (/for export!?) is a crime worse than demolishing the Great Pyramids for the price of their stones:  & one to which your dishonest money-grubbing govt. CANNOT POSSIBLY BE ENTITLED!

Sincerely,  

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

CC: Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Nathan Cullen; Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman

URGENT: SAVE BC's OLD-GROWTH FORESTS! (Letter #50 to Govt)

Photo (from TheNarwhal article): Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program

Fellow BCers, it's become V. clear our Govt officials ("public servants") CANNOT be trusted to carry out their sworn duties as Stewards of our --globally rare-- ancient 1,000++-yr-old primary forests, as they continue to allow clearcutting & to violate all their Old-Growth agreements --eg. It's been 3 years since Premier Horgan made his election promise to implement their Strategic Old-Growth panel's 14 recommendations, & his Govt has yet to act.  The Narwhal recently updated the dire state of Spotted Owl habitat & the case in which Ecojustice, representing the Wilderness Committee, revealed the BC-NDP lobbied to prevent the federal Govt. from issuing an Emergency Order to #EndClearcutLogging to save the Spotted Owl from extinction.  Details on that key case here:

Canada’s last wild spotted owl gets its day in court | The Narwhal

Under the link below is my latest appeal to the BC govt - done via Sierra Club BC's letter-writing tool, which you can access to write one of your own at this link:

Tell the B.C. government to accelerate action on old growth protection - Sierra Club BC

Dear Premier Eby & Minister Ralston, 

I'm writing to express my utter disappointment in your Government's failure to protect BC's invaluable forests & act on the (urgent) Old-Growth Strategic Report of 3 years ago.

The resulting extreme impacts of continued clearcut logging across BC - as well as driving the last of our endangered Spotted Owl to extinction due to habitat loss - make the urgent need to save our forests impossible to ignore.

You ought to know by now that protecting primary, old-growth & mature forests is our best (if not only) hope to maintain natural carbon sinks, reduce climate impacts & protect the biodiversity that depends on these ecosystems. (Throwing $$ at more useless 'C02 capture' research is a proven waste of taxpayer dollars!)

Dismissing public concerns about worsening Climate catastrophes like wildfires, while continuing to serve the rapacious greed of industry co's, is a dereliction of duty by Govt. This summer's disastrous fires show we're facing an emergency that requires action to resolve!

The only way your Govt can show it cares about BC's communities & people is to DO ITS PART to prevent extreme Climate breakdown from wreaking unmitigated havoc throughout once-named 'Beautiful BC'.  Therefore I call on you to:

- Implement all 14 recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Report, on this its milestone 3-year anniversary - IN ADDITION TO: 

- Immediately require all logging co's to harvest burned timber before allowing ONE MORE healthy intact forest to be clearcut!  (Must be done before the 2-year harvestable deadline).

It's no longer economically feasible to allow the status quo of existing preference given to logging co's over protection of the biodiverse-rich natural ecosystems that provide us all with invaluable services such as clean water, emissions reduction, fire prevention... the list goes on of reasons to protect BC's forests NOW.

Please follow through on your promise of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Health Framework legislation, with a clear timeline for at-risk ecosystems & critical species habitat.. PLUS provide transparent, detailed information on ALL BC forestry activity.

Our very survival depends on immediate application of these measures. 

Sincerely, 

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

Vancouver, BC

CC: Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Nathan Cullen; Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman

Emergency in BC's Forests NOW

(Situation:  CRITICAL)

As warned in previous articles on this blog, BC's forests are in deep trouble now due to Govt's dereliction of duty in the cont'd clearcutting --i.e. mismanagement-- of the precious forest ecosystems that make 'Beautiful BC' & which support myriad species of [at-risk] biodiversity, fight climate change/ wildfires, store CO2, clean watersheds:  their lifesaving benefits are countless -- & threatened..

With wildfire season starting earlier, spreading faster & continuing to grow to record sizes throughout summer as never before, we need to ACT NOW & urge our govts to do their duty to protect these last globally-rare forests -- before they've all been logged for TP/woodchips.. (& emitted all their stored C02 into the atmosphere)

To understand what's at stake, quoted from the experts at https://sierraclub.ca:

"Our forests are our best ally in fighting climate change. Old-growth temperate rainforest has the largest carbon storage capacity per hectare on earth. Halting logging of endangered old-growth forest will help reduce BC’s carbon footprint and allow salmon, bears, wolves and many other species a fighting chance to adapt to a warming world." Learn more about forests and climate here.

Clearcut logging -- esp. of Old-Growth forests -- as well as dire SPRAYING OF GLYPHOSATE (= Bayer's Roundup) in forests throughout BC is the #1 cause of rapidly-spreading wildfires, as evidenced by the countless forest fires ripping thru cutblocks, endangering not just invaluable trees but numerous dependent flora & fauna, incl. Species At Risk that should be protected by law..  

We're fighting a war VS. big-industry timber corps (backed by OUR GOVT!) & SO FAR, LOSING.. Forests need us now.  So I'm compiling links to helpful allies defending BC forests, with ways you can join the fight to #SaveOldGrowth, #EndClearcutting & #StopTheSprayBC :

Good intentions aren’t enough to save the last old-growth - Sierra Club BC

Protect Nature - Greenpeace Canada

Tell BC: stop logging spotted owl habitat, permanently | Wilderness Committee

https://stopthespraybc.com/ 

(More will be added)

Following is my latest letter to Govt --1 of MANY-- customized via SierraClubBC's letterwriting tool here: 

https://sierraclub.bc.ca/tell-bc-forest-minister-to-protect-old-growth-forests-now/

Dear Minister Ralston, 

RE:  STOP SPRAYING BC FORESTS NOW! 

To add to the 2 letters I've recently sent to your govt. re. the perilous state of BC forests, I strongly urge you to STOP THE SPRAY PROGRAM YOUR GOVT. IS ABOUT TO IMPLEMENT -- TODAY -- which, along with clearcutting, jeopardizes our natural ecosystems & the many dependant species therein.

Are you aware the destructive spraying of glyphosate (a toxic carcinogen) increases wildfire risks & kills off sensitive flora & fauna that help protect our forests -- & our communities -- against Climate change, pollution, water contamination, wildfires ETC?

The triple whammy of development, industrial logging & severe climate impacts means intact forests -- & esp. Old-growth carbon sinks -- are shrinking faster than ever, while ecological recovery of industrially degraded landscapes is failing.

Drenching these struggling natural biospheres with harmful chemicals that kill off all but the species pegged for harvest by logging co's -- eg. Lodgepole pine -- turns cutblocks into drought-prone wastelands & tinder fuel for spreading fires, devoid of the essential lifeforms found in healthy forests (incl. C02-absorbing ferns & fungi, & fire-resistent deciduous native trees like alder & birch). 

With far too many BC forests felled & sprayed this way by logging co's focused solely on max profits (& blind to the resultant ill effects on harvest trees themselves, apart from the wholesale destruction of beneficial wilderness habitats), vast areas of BC's once-thriving natural landscapes are thus degraded & vulnerable to further harms. 

Global heating is putting the health & safety of communities in danger, & clearcut logging -- esp. of old-growth forests -- is making things much worse, increasing instances of flooding, erosion, fires & landslides.  Adding toxic chemicals exacerbates the number & size of these disasters.

David Eby promised to "accelerate" action on old growth when he became Premier in 2022 -- but to this day, NONE OF THE PANEL'S 14 RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED, & AT-RISK OLD-GROWTH FORESTS CONTINUE TO BE DESTROYED AT AN ALARMING RATE!!

You must act quickly to save our remaining intact forests, as they're our best hope for maintaining natural carbon sinks, reducing climate impacts & supporting the wildlife species that depend on healthy ecosystems for their survival.

I implore you to STOP THE SPRAYING OF BC'S FORESTS TODAY.  Not doing so violates Canada's constitution, which outlines forest stewardship as a key responsibility.  Stop allowing industrial practices to dictate your inaction on the Climate crisis, which is 'the Challenge of our Time' & the biggest threat to our thriving future..

It's your govt.'s responsibility to support the health & safety of communities.  Please do your job, by BANNING THE SPRAY immediately -- before the situation becomes even more untenable!

Thank you very much, 

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

CC: Premier David Eby; Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman; Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Nathan Cullen; and my local MLA. 

*Readers, I know it's hard to admit that Climate change is real & caused by us, & that the crisis has only gotten worse due to Big-Industry's outsize influence over our corrupt leaders.  Thanks for caring -- please add your voice to as many forest-saving campaigns as you can, & share widely with your networks!  With enough people-power, we can change the outlook for endangered biodiversity & irreplaceable forests in BC.  But it's urgent -- Govt needs to know that we won'T let our remaining forests be decimated by greedy, profiteering & polluting co's that DONT BENEFIT US AT ALL:  their giant machines do most of the work & employ as few workers as poss while destroying irreplaceable wilderness faster & more thoroughly than ever B4.. But WE NEED OUR FORESTS MORE URGENTLY THAN EVER B4!!

🫒💚🐾

PS. VOTE GREENS in upcoming elections:  the onLy Cdn party that cares about our future, & works for US not for polluting megacorps -- see their website here:  https://www.bcgreens.ca/ 🌿 

#1 ECO-ACTION: BAN CLEARCUT LOGGING & PROTECT FORESTS!

Me @ Hayward Lake park, by Frank V.

Here's a letter to Govt. I customized thru Sierra Club BC - & encourage you to write your own, at this link;

https://t.co/JPeTvZWs7U

Dear Minister Conroy, 

RE:  PROTECT OUR PRECIOUS FORESTS NOW!

Your govt's announced intentions to protect BC's old-growth forests by deferring logging contracts are a step in the right direction, but recent events have shown we need lasting changes on the ground today, not tomorrow. 

The climate crisis is jeopardizing the health & safety of BC's communities -- & clearcut logging is further increasing the likelihood & severity of droughts, erosion, fires, floods & landslides.  

Yet your govt can effectively mitigate & prevent these catastrophes before the crisis worsens by protecting endangered old-growth forests, restoring healthy ecosystems & reforming forest management.

Without immediate action, not enough old-growth forests will be left to sustain the web of life, support a diverse economy & limit the climate risks communities across B.C. are facing right now. 

As 1 of millions of affected citizens, I demand that you:  

- Do your sworn duty & apply the [sizeable] federal grant $$ to its intended purpose of enacting & enforcing BC's long-overdue Species At Risk law, to support threatened wildlife species & their habitats.

- Immediately commit to adequate funding for forestry workers & Indigenous Nations to address the impacts of logging deferrals, as well as conservation financing for effective Science-based solutions.

- Reform B.C. forestry practices & climate adaptation strategies with actual LAWS that PROTECT healthy forest/watershed ecosystems & REDUCE risks of catastrophic climate impacts -- including BANNING harmful clearcutting & spraying of our forests!  

- Expedite real engagement with [rightful hereditary] Indigenous decision-makers to implement all recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review, in line with the B.C. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. 

Your govt's woeful inaction on these urgent measures defies all logic.  In fact, it's inexcusable that few intact old-growth forests remain standing across BC — & worse, that most are slated to be logged despite clear evidence that these forests are KEY DEFENSES against impacts of the EMERGENCY in our midst.  

These deadly impacts promise only to increase in magnitude unless we transition to Nature-restoring sustainability in all sectors now.  Time is running out.

Science says so.  & Science doesn't lie.

I implore you to do the right thing NOW to save our precious forests -- 'Lungs of the Earth' -- & thereby ensure the health & safety of communities across BC.

Sincerely, 

[your name will go here]

[your email address will go here], [your location will go here]

CC: Premier David Eby; Minister of State for Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Nathan Cullen; Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, George Heyman; and my local MLA.

BC needs to REJECT Tilbury LNG!

In case you haven't heard, the BC govt. is considering a proposal by FortisBC to build new expanded LNG infrastructure @ Tilbury LNG -- another fraught political megaproject that promises increased shipping for the fracked gas along with risky methane emissions & outsize GHGs, as well as exacerbated Climate imbalance -- right between densely populated Richmond & Vancouver, on the Fraser River's threatened habitat of our last few orca & salmon populations.  While the public commenting period is over, the govt's decision is delayed -- so you can still express your opposition to this disastrous project thru StandEarth's letter page.. Click link:  

Tell the BC government to reject the Tilbury LNG jetty (stand.earth)

Here's my own edited letter -- unapologetically lengthy!  Cuz this BC govt needs to WAKE out of its corporate-captured fog & realize exactly what's being proposed by Tilbury LNG..

Dear {contact_data~salutation}{contact_data~lastName},

As a B.C. resident I am appalled that you & your government continue to ignore the overwhelming mass of evidence of the disastrous impacts that will -- not might -- result from approving the Tilbury LNG expansion project, for which this new tanker dock ('Jetty') awaits your immediate permission to ruin BC's future.

How is it that, having received reams of detailed expert opposition to this project's undeniable harms, your govt has not already rejected this proposal & denied FortisBC permits to build another ecocidal monument to climate catastrophe? 

I am tempted to reassert here -- again -- Tilbury LNG's significant cumulative effects & fundamental flaws (including:  Project splitting, Failure to address GHG targets, Methane emissions 86X deadlier than C02, Economic viability incl. dearth of data thereof, Marine shipping impacts incl. likely extinction of southern resident killer whales & salmon populations, Impacts on Indigenous rights & title incl. non-adherence to UNDRIP...) but blah blah right?  You've already read -- & apparently decided to ignore -- the numerous persuasive public comments detailing these ills, including my own posted input, on your govt.'s Tilbury LNG web page.

No, it's clear what you need to read -- not reported by our captured corporate media -- addresses your govt's baseless hopes that future LNG sales will justify BC's expanded natural gas production... & your repeated claims -- echoed by PM Justin Trudeau -- that BC produces “the world’s cleanest natural gas.”

*  *  *

The fiction of BC producing clean fossil fuel originated with Premier Christy Clark’s Liberals -- a claim as dishonest as the one about LNG rewarding the province with one trillion dollars in a “BC Prosperity fund.”  I.E. irrefutably FALSE...

National Geographic examined “the cleanest liquefied natural gas in the world” & concluded it was a hypothetical notion repeatedly promised by political leaders to build public support for the fossil fuel.. Quoted here:

"There’s no such thing as “clean natural gas.” It’s a fossil fuel, and it releases climate-disrupting greenhouse gases all the way up and down the chain of production, from the wellhead to the burners on your stovetop or in your furnace.

"This is especially true for LNG. In order to ship it, energy companies must first chill the gas to -160°C (-256°F) in giant coastal plants that are essentially industrial-size freezers. The process consumes vast quantities of energy. After it’s shipped across the sea, companies then return the LNG to its gaseous state before shipping it off to customers.

"Because of these extra steps, LNG carries a whopper of an energy and carbon footprint compared to unadulterated natural gas." [End National Geographic quote]

*  *  *

Both natural gas producers & transportation companies conceal the true climate impact of LNG. The New York Times reported that shipping produces as much C02 as all of America’s coal plants combined. The newspaper explained why regulation of shipping emissions by the powerful International Maritime Organization (IMO) is so ineffective:

"The I.M.O. is a regulatory body that is run in concert with the industry it regulates. Shipbuilders, oil companies, miners, chemical manufacturers and others with huge financial stakes in commercial shipping are among the delegates appointed by many member nations. They sometimes even speak on behalf of governments…

"Next week, the organization is scheduled to enact its first greenhouse gas rules since Paris — regulations that do not cut emissions, have no enforcement mechanism and leave key details shrouded in secrecy…

"Although some suggest LNG powered ships could moderate transportation harm, the International Council on Clean Transportation determined there is no climate benefit from tankers burning LNG, regardless of ship engine technology." [End New York Times quote]

*  *  *

The Natural Resources Defense Council states:

"Historically, gas has been considered a “bridge fuel”— cleaner and with lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal or oil— and a potential tool to help address climate change.

"However, LNG is neither clean nor particularly low in emissions. In addition, the massive investments in new infrastructure to support this industry, including pipelines, liquefaction facilities, export terminals, and tankers, lock in fossil fuel dependence, making the transition to actual low-carbon and no-carbon energy even more difficult.

"Our analysis shows that using LNG to replace other, dirtier fossil fuels, is not an effective strategy to reduce climate-warming emissions..." [End NRDC quote]

*  *  *

Your govt. is therefore considering inflicting a dirty polluting megaproject on hapless Lower Mainland residents, which will undoubtedly cause health problems & bring deadly risks into the lives of already-stressed BCers.  How grossly unfair..

Clearly, FortisBC don't care!

You must also realize that the EAO has taken steps to ignore clear evidence of project splitting & has accepted unsubstantiated & misleading representations made by FortisBC about the supposed climate benefits of the Jetty.

I implore you to take into account all of the information before you, to arrive at the only decent decision:  for all these reasons, Tilbury LNG (& this Jetty) should be assessed as NOT in the public interest & should be denied all permits. 

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

PS. For more complete & updated info about methane, check out this article on Norm Farrell's excellent 'In-Sights' blog:

in-sights.ca/2022/02/08/economic-interests-rank-higher-than-human-life/

Time's running out for systemic changes to make aLL BC sectors eco-safe & sustainable -- not just talk about 'Just Transition' while pushing status quo, as BC NDP & BC Liberal Party do (& BC Conservative Party treat #ClimateAction like the joke THEY are). In case you didn't notice, the BC Green Party -- led by Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley -- is the sole entity to consistently hold Govt. to task on its #ClimateAction failures, proving she & her Greens work tirelessly for US & not wealthy corps driven solely by profits. So Sonia & Co. deserve our support -- & esp. our VOTES -- for the chance to deliver Greens' Science-backed V I S I O N for #RealReconciliation & the sustainable future we aLL want!! So E M E R G E from your #MSM-fed FOG & learn the DISCONCERTING TRUTH of the BC Govt's 150 years of abrogation of duty, bigotry & malfeasance--->that still prevails today with ecocidal policies that promise only fast-tracked Climate disasters (heat domes, wildfires➕➕) boosted by increasingly corporate-aligned press. Despite #MSM's baseless derision, the BC Green Party stands out with the integrity & smarts to lead BC out of this mess & transition to a livable, prosperous future for every BCer: Science says so, & science doesn'T lie..🐸🐛🐝🦉

🤞