LetteR 2 BC GovT: PROTECT SKAGiT VALLEY! [UPDaTed]

KEY UPDATES ON THIS HEINOUS PROPOSAL:
The Narwhal: Coalition Determined to Save Skagit Valley
&
The Narwhal: U.S. Senators to BC: Clean Up Your Mining Mess!

To write your own letter, use this LINK:
Wilderness Committee's tool to save Skagit Valley from logging


Here's my letter (sent to Premier Horgan & MLAs)

I am writing to express my horror upon learning of BC Timber Sales' plans to log in Silverdaisy Valley & in 26 Mile Valley this year.  This is devastating news for one of BC's most biodiverse ecosystems & key conservation imperatives..

Both of these valleys, the areas being targeted, encompass beautiful old-growth forests within the Donut Hole (surrounded by Manning & Skagit provincial parks) which contain critically endangered species' habitats & provide clear clean water to the Skagit River system, renowned for its abundant wild fish populations.  Logging this thriving ecosystem --one of the last old-growth forests in BC's interior-- would have calamitous effects on all living species in this area & beyond..

More than ever now, as our survival depends on Nature-friendly non-violent activities, we have a duty to uphold our responsibilities as stewards of the land (per our Constitution) by protecting wildlife & their habitats from severe human-caused degradation which cannot be mitigated.

I am asking the BC government to act now to cancel current AND future logging plans in Silverdaisy & 25 Mile valleys, to place the entire Donut Hole off-limits to logging.. & to extinguish ALL logging & mining tenure in the Skagit watershed immediately.

Please uphold BC's best interests & First Nations Reconciliation with a public show of faith by LEGISLATING protection of the Skagit watershed & surrounding lands, ASAP, to instate a critical addition to BC’s protected area system supporting Manning & Skagit Provincial Parks.  Our future depends on retaining such protective zones to avoid dire loss of biodiversity & critical eco-health, as well as honoring previous agreements with Washington re. groundwater health.

It cannot be stressed enough, strong legislation protecting this important WILDLIFE HABITAT from all forms of development is required by the BC Govt. immediately, in order to ensure reversal of any & all pending destruction via logging--> water pollution etc.

SAVING OUR FORESTS & WILDLIFE HABITAT IS CRUCIAL TO BC's SUSTAINABLE FUTURE:  please prioritize conservation & protection of this key BC wilderness, before it is too late.  Time is of the essence with this urgent initiative!

Thank you very much.

YESS! GoV'T said 'NO' to Prosperity Mine!

Course, i was (and am) over-the-moon @ the Federal announcement (government’s announcement) that Taseko Mines Ltd. will NOT be allowed to go ahead with its proposed 'Prosperity Mine' - a project which i and many others, including the Council of Canadians, David Suzuki Foundation and Friends of Nemaiah Valley, had vehemently opposed due to the environmental destruction it would cause.

Prosperity Mine would have decimated old-growth forests, wildlife habitat (of grizzly bears, cougars, wolves - even the last of North America's wild horses) as well as the sustainable livelihoods of local First Nations people, guest ranchers etc.  Aside from the fact that Nemaiah Valley - a remote wilderness in BC's Chilcotins - is one of my fave places in the world...

Here's the Nemaiah Valley i know and love:

If the Federal government HAD approved the mine, it would have been the first time they had acted against the recommendations of its Environmental Review panel (CEAA) - which formally denounced the Prosperity proposal for its many adverse environmental effects that would be "irreversible, longterm and impossible to mitigate". So why the announcements - within a day or 2 - of Campbell's resignation as BC's premier, along with Jim Prentice stepping down as Minister of the Environment?  If these events ARE related it's no doubt because the BC Liberals, led by Gordon Campbell, had already given Prosperity Mine their provincial seal of approval back in 2008 - which flew in the face of Campbell's pre-Olympics Action Plan 2007 promise to support tourism, particularly small-business entrepreneurs, in every way possible.

Federal approval of this heinous project would also have insulted the First Nations people (Tsilhqot’in) who have lived in this region and managed its wilderness as responsible stewards for centuries:  Despite Premier Campbell's promise to prioritize better relations with BC's native people  in all future land matters, the Tsilhqot'in  were not properly consulted on this matter.  Never mind the fact that trout-rich Fish Lake (the location of the proposed gold/copper mine, which would have had to be drained to make way for a mine-waste tailings pond, right at a main watershed to the Fraser River) is situated in an area literally surrounded by protected areas, ecological zones, provincial parks and wildlife habitats (see Google map of Cariboo-Chilcotin). Zoom out of Fish Lake on a map and you can see it's flanked by Big Creek Provincial Park, Nunsti Provincial Park, Tatlayoko Protected Area, Ts'ylos Provincial Park - behind which lies Spruce Lake Protected Area and, beyond that, Churn Creek Protected Area.

As is obvious looking on a map, the Cariboo-Chilcotin is not called BC's 'last frontier' for nothing: just up to the north of Nemaiah Valley and Big Creek Provincial Park you can see the devastating results of BC's forestry industry, with vast treeless chunks or patches testifying decades of clearcutting:  the price paid by BC's wilderness.

If Taseko Mines Ltd. (owned by Hunter Dickinson, a company well-known in places like Tibet for its ruthless mining activities) plans to redouble its efforts to make Prosperity Mine a reality, resistance by those who recognize the priceless value of BC's wilderness territories will be - justifiably - even fiercer than ever, gold/copper open-pit mining being one of the most environmentally destructive human activities on the planet...

Here are some further useful links on the topic:

http://www.fonv.ca/

http://www.miningwatch.ca/
.