My input on BC's 'B.E.H.F.' draft - Spring 2024

Here's my official input on the draft BC Biodiversity & Ecosystems Health Framework - to be finalized in Spring 2024.  If you care about saving BC's (fast-dwindling, due to clearcut logging & overdevelopment) wildlife habitats -- & who doesn't -- please write to the BC Govt to let them know your views (though the deadline has passed, it wasn't well publicized).  I've included the Ministry's reply below it)

To: biodiversity.ecosystemhealth

Ministry of Water, Land & Resource Stewardship (Ministry of WLRS)

Re:  DRAFT B.C. BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH FRAMEWORK

.

Please include this letter as my input on your well-intentioned Biodiversity (BEHF) framework currently before us.

I had a whole lengthy, carefully researched & well-worded essay -- on which I'd spent hours compiling, duly including points as recommended by the hard-working eco-orgs of which I am a member & remembering to commend your Govt's upstanding efforts in drafting the BEHF.

But I've deleted it, recognizing my optimism felt entirely false -- & my well-considered arguments were mostly repeats of other heartfelt letters I've directed to your offices 'ad infinitum', ever since your BC-NDP Govt was elected in 2017 on promises of Climate action & --yes-- protection of our invaluable ecosystems against Big-Industry extractive pipelines & projects that your leader(s) vehemently denounced & vowed to oppose "using all the tools available"... or some such pre-election hype from your party's promo toolbox..

And it's been one giant disappointment after another observing the reality of your Govt's non-progress on aLL its avowed plans/ promises on Climate action -- ESP. your constant scathing & very vocal derision of the newly-hated Clark-led Liberals, amid non-stop claims that the BC-NDP were different & would overturn the Libs' reckless pro-pollution policies & champion publicly-clamored Climate action instead, like heroes!

How wrong we've been to keep hoping for a sign that our love of, & pride in, "Super, Natural" BC's clean waters, iconic wildlife habitats & globally-rare ancient forests was shared (& protected) by our new Govt!

Instead, despite overwhelming growing public support for fresh new nature-restoring -- desperately-needed -- paradigms of Climate-balancing/ forest-protecting/ wildlife-conserving laws & policies that brought hope for a better, more sustainable future (bolstered by many letters of encouragement to 'do the right thing') your Govt has squandered each & every opportunity to make good on your promised intentions for ecosystems.

Even as evidence of -- & public demos/ protests/ opposition to -- irreversible harms of your pro-BigIndustry stance compounded (which you are finally -- belatedly -- addressing in this BEHF) your party has violated its own newly-adopted UNDRIP laws by fast-tracking clearcut logging (=decimation of our most beneficial & biodiverse primary forests) & fragmented threatened wildlife habitats.  

Your Govt is also to blame for -- but won't admit -- extinction of our last rare Spotted Owls by permitting logging of habitat that should have been protected at all costs.  You've also backed RCMP-led armed raids against indigenous land-defenders' rightful opposition to CGL & TMX violations of their hereditary rights & title.. to the extreme point of violently arresting them & overturning previously-hard-won legal recognition of their hereditary land rights..

More recently, your Govt had the gall to stand by & do nothing for the Fairy Creek forest protectors who were -- shockingly -- criminalized by a judge for their non-violent & publicly-backed defence of an important & beloved old-growth watershed from being unlawfully wiped off the map:  a crime against these Climate-balancing C02-sinking eco-heroes, the best of which still stand unprotected against loggers, thanks to your inaction..

Notably, one of those selfless Fairy Creek defenders is a member of the upstanding Green party (an admirable org. whose generosity & leadership aided your party's political ambitions by legitimising election promises to save old-growth in 2020).

If these caring, committed eco-activists & FN land defenders continue to be shamed for their lawful pro-Nature activism, we'll know for sure just how fraudulent your Govt's BEHF intentions are..

Meanwhile, delaying any beneficial Climate/ eco-measures (& publicly claiming otherwise -- in pricey TV ads touting NON-EXISTENT 'CLIMATE CAPTURE' TECH no less!) has pushed BC's biodiversity/ natural habitats to the very brink of Climate disaster.. & many of your already-approved extractive nightmares have yet to be built!  If/ when they're up & running, if your govt continues allowing these reckless new monuments to rising emissions --  eg. Site 'C' dam, LNG (fracked-gas) development, clearcut logging/ old-growth destruction, Ingerbelle expansion, Blackwater Gold mine, to name but a few -- the colossal damage to biodiversity & ecosystems will be locked in & unmitigated -- ALL ON YOUR WATCH.

So you see, as an informed citizen -- & a Vegan -- I cannot find it in me to commend yet another of your Govt's claims of Climate action/ intentions, since from the start you have repeatedly dismissed/ ignored public calls to action & instead made decisions that:

(A.) SERVE the interests of extractive & polluting corporations, not citizens; 

(B.) DEFY our right to clean air/ water & (govt-pledgd) Climate action; 

(C.) FAIL to meet our Climate goals;

(D.) ADD TO ever-climbing GHGs; 

(E.) DRIVE erosion, flooding, wildfires+++;

(F.) SABOTAGE communities' resilience.

Biologists, ecologists, experts & locals agree:  BC's iconic wildlife is extirpating at alarming rates due to worsening fires/ habitat loss from cont'd clearcut logging & overdevelopment.. as well as the lack of a (promised) proper 'Species At Risk' law.  Science-advised transformative changes are long overdue, yet your Govt's inaction - while siding with polluters - is V worrying. 

I am hoping against hope that this new 'Framework' WILL result in actual, permanent protection of our most at-risk & invaluable old-growth ecosystems with the most threatened wildlife.  But I find it hard to trust a Govt that operates so dishonestly & fails its duties to those who pay your salaries.  That resembles dereliction of your sworn duties, which I cannot pretend to respect or support.

*  *  *  *

One pending disaster in the works I feel duty-bound to mention is the Zincton Resort, proposed for the heart of BC's Inland Temperate Rainforest.  At stake, for starters, is the survival of at least 185 known species at risk in BC’s under-protected Inland Rainforest.

The whole area is prime grizzly bear & mountain goat habitat, which this massive unsustainable development would forever fragment & disable by its sprawling size alone.

At this critical point, ONLY clean-energy/ habitat-restoring/ low-footprint/ off-grid/ renewably-run/ sustainable/ zero-waste projects should even be considered now.  Zincton Resort is none of the above -- its proposal outlines a high-traffic, heavy-footprint, high-profit all-season outfit (1,200+ guests daily!) with NO PLANS to benefit/ enhance/ honor local biodiversity/ ecology/ wildlife:  NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!

The Zincton area is one of BC's few wildlife havens left, home to grizzly bears, cariboo, mountain goats & other native species that NEED large tracts of intact wilderness to survive - & keep away from communities, to prevent more "nuisance bears" from being killed.  Noone wants that.

I - & almost everyone I know - vote for the bears++ to stay, & for projects like Zincton Resort to die before they drive more wildlife to extinction & add more GHGs to our ever-rising emissions (= the very last thing we need now!) 

TXA wildlife impact assessment by registered professional biologist & grizzly bear expert Wayne McCrory has found that the project will significantly diminish, and could eventually wipe out, three provincially blue-listed species: grizzly bears, mountain goats & wolverines. Western toads would also suffer increased mortalities.  This is wholly unacceptable in today's changing climate:  we can, & must, do better!

*  *  *  *

Wolves are another imperiled & unfairly maligned wild species, thanks to misguided (& harmful) 'culling' (= killing) programs implemented by your Govt.  Yet wolves are an important keystone species that help balance ecosystems & biodiversity.  Please watch the documentary 'Return of the Wolves' (2005) which details the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park, a landmark conservation project in the 1990s aimed at restoring natural balance in the park's ecosystem.  The film explores the ecological significance of wolves as apex predators & how their presence has benefitted many species & the landscape itself. As most conservationists agree, CULLING IS NEVER THE ANSWER.  I'd add, it's an embarrassment to your Govt's declared biodiversity goals to continue such cruel & unnecessary barbarism - not to mention hypocrisy.

*  *  *  *

CLEARCUTTING has turned vast areas of BC into dried-out fire accelerant, incLuding our globally rare primary forests - which instead of being protected as they should, continue to be logged & exported to provide PELLETS FOR BURNING FUEL OVERSEAS!! (For example) This unsustainable industry violates all eco-laws & undermines our every effort to save irreplaceable ecosystems, & must end ASAP.

Unknown to most, your Govt continues to issue permits & allow proposals for industrial extraction projects deemed (by ecosystem/ wildlife experts, scientists etc.) to worsen the size/ spread of wildfires & further degrade wildlife habitats.  That the threatened Spotted Owl habitat in Spuzzum was logged instead of protected at all costs, is just one example of extreme malfeasance re. Biodiversity's shrinking habitats driving extinction - proof that both fed & prov Govts have been derelict in their duties to uphold their duties as stewards.  In the end, the onus is on honest Govt leadership to enact the proper expert-advised measures - without polluting corps' vested lobbying input - that will preserve & restore our globally-rare natural ecosystems for generations to come.  The alternatives - worsened degradation, drought & extirpation of our most valuable natural sustainers - are unthinkable.  And unnecessary.  We can do this -- but only with your genuine commitment to renewed good stewardship.

*  *  *  *

One more crucial point:  as a result of BC's increasingly disastrous, record fires - eg. last summer (2023) - long-burning & widespread due to clearcut logging/  spraying cutblocks with toxic glyphosate/ replanting monoculture conifers solely for harvest (& largely preventable by policies akin to what this BEHF draft purports to address) there exist across BC MASSES OF NOW-BURNT TIMBER in degraded ecosystems.  New enforceable laws under this plan should require logging co's to prioritize harvest of these burnt stands before any more intact forests are cut.  AND such operations must be carried out within 2 years of those fires to have any effect.  THIS of course falls under the revive/restore part of this new BEHF initiative.

*  *  *  *

To end this input on a (somewhat) optimistic note for the future of BC's biodiversity/ ecosystems, I'll draw your attention to the ironic ease, efficiency & speed with which legislation banning plastic straws was implemented - the widespread success of which surely proves:  our efforts as individuals on the Climate/ extinction crisis are only effective if bolstered by an accountable & transparent Govt that is not afraid to take charge & make the changes needed to dispel corruption & bring about the better future we ALL deserve & desire!?

The alternatives - incl. Honing same-old backward last-decade concepts/ dinosaurs; degrading, ecocidal, extractive, perpetual-growth & wasteful economies - will only bring more destruction, hopelessness & misery.  Please do the right thing & (finally) PUT THIS PLAN IN ACTION, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE TO SAVE OUR BELOVED NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS & THE BIODIVERSITY WHOSE SURVIVAL IMPLICITLY DEPENDS ON OUR STEWARDSHIP NOW:  let's not let them down! (Please?)

Thank you very much,

Sarah M. Chesterman

AND here's the emailed response I received:

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health WLRS:EX	Feb 2, 2024, 12:50 PM (8 days ago)		Reply
to me

Hi Sarah,

 

Thank you for your email and for taking the time to provide input on the draft B.C. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (‘Framework’). The input received will support the work to finalize the draft Framework and inform planning for implementation. Once the Framework is finalized, it will be released publicly along with an implementation plan.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Biodiversity and Ecosystems Branch

Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship

WHAT'LL iT TAKE for GOVT. to PROTECT BC's BiODiVERSiTY-RiCH FORESTs -- & RESPECT the 1st Nations hereditary chiefs' lawful decision-making rights over their territories??

Here's yet another letter I've recently written to BC's powers-that-be - Premier Horgan, Forestry Minister Katrine Conroy et al.. via Sierra Club BC's aws letter-writing tool (extended & detailed to maximum capacity - without apology..)

Premier Horgan, Minister Conroy et al,

I watched this summer as the RCMP violently policed Indigenous forest protectors at the Fairy Creek/Ada’itsx Blockades & even more baffling, blocking the #Wetsuweten rightful hereditary chiefs & #1stNations members/residents from ACCESSING THEIR OWN LANDS & thereby reneging on all U.N.D.R.I.P. required PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT for forcing the #CGL (COASTAL GAS LINK) O&G PIPELINE THRU SACRED SITES & WATERS OF THE WET'SUWET'EN people-!!??

Such harmful, hateful, hypocritical --& yes, heartbreaking-- violations against promised Indigenous sovereignty (ESP. IN LIGHT OF THIS YEAR'S EXPOSÉ OF THE GOVT-SANCTIONED ABUSIVE/ OPPRESSIVR TREATMENT of Indigenous children kidnapped from their homes suffered at Residential Schools -- LIKE SOMETHING BELONGING IN A DICKENS NOVEL, NOT REAL-LIFE HISTORIC CANADA!!?? -- SHOCKED CANADIANS & BROUGHT A SWELL OF PUBLIC SYMPATHY & SUPPORT FOR BC's NEGLECTED INDIGENOUS SURIVORS.. which promised a newfound respect for their pre-Res-school cultural heritage --& stewardship of Nature at a level that could be THE key to our (humans') ongoing future existence on Earth.

The hopes & wishes for REAL, longed-for #RECONCILIATION (which is now enshrined per #U.N.D.R.I.P. --adopted by #PremierJohnHorgan himself, as well as by federal #PMTrudeau) would seem to become more doable & tangible  by the day, with govt. Leaders across the country forced to pause & recognize the full weight of past Govt-hidden atrocities committed in what at the very least  appears to prove suspected genocide as their gruesome, publicly-suppressed intent.

Orange shirts of solidarity became the official attire for showing  your respect & sincere shame at learning what 1stNations endured at the hands of BC's colonial leaders-- who, judging from the small but highly detailed handful of books written about this exact segment of BC's history, ruthlessly carried out the UNOFFICIAL & UNSIGNED APPROPRIATION OF NATIVE SACRED & TRADITIONAL TERRITORIES, while forcing the (majority of) native inhabitants onto the tiniest possible reserves -- like rounding up & imprisoning cattle to use & abuse --& of course repress -- at will, as needed.

But since BC's govt. leaders -- unlike the rest of Canada's provinces -- deemed treaties outlining Natives' rights unneeded, today that translates into presumed 'unceded lands' of acknowledged aboriginal historic development/use dating back 1,000s of years.  If you think you can continue to disrespect & violate their most eloquent, science-backed defenses of Mother Nature's complex workings (which noone knows better than 1st Nations hereditary knowledge holders) -- by building UN-ASSESSED & #BCNDP-BACKED TAR-SANDS SUPPORTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE PROVEN TO ENSURE EVENTUAL EXTINCTION OF BC'S RESIDENT ORCAS -- then you have FAILED to grant even the most minimal protection to the land defenders doing all they can to save the precious integrity of their once-priceless --now-threatened-- rainforest ecosystems..

(WHICH ARE, IN TRUTH, SOME OF THE LAST 1-3% OF UNTOUCHED WILDERNESS AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST BIODIVERSITY COUNTS & UNLOGGED INTEGRITY OF ANY IN BC..)

*  *  *  *

FROM Fairy Creek this year, videos circulated online showing officers choking, pepper spraying, punching & dragging activists face down over rocks by their hair. [1] [2] [3] 

Reports further revealed that the RCMP continued to use exclusion zones & block the freedom of the press, long after the B.C. Supreme Court stated this wasn’t permitted by the court-ordered injunction. [4]

And now, Justice Thompson has sided with the forest protectors by denying an extension to the injunction, stating that the RCMP actions at Fairy Creek trampled civil liberties & put the court’s own reputation at risk! [5]

Take notes, because the B.C. NDP government’s reputation is also at risk.

Premier John Horgan: you have clearly stated you want an end to this conflict, yet you've shirked your responsibility to keep citizens safe. [6] Meanwhile, some of B.C.’s best allies in the fight against climate change are on the line: old-growth forests. [7]

After a summer of intense wildfires & record-breaking heatwaves, & now disastrous erosion & flooding jeopardizing B.C.'s communities, you need to keep the promises you made to save our last old-growth forests & end destructive practices like clearcutting, which is exacerbating these crises & threatening our future..

I therefore feel duty-bound to call on your B.C. government to take immediate action as follows:

●Publicly denounce the use of force by the BC-RCMP, while initiating a full & independent investigation into RCMP actions at Fairy Creek;

●Deny further provincial funding or support for RCMP enforcement at Fairy Creek & Wet'suwet'en territory/ 'yintah' (& all waterways) until an independent investigation is completed;

●Enact all recommendations in the provincial report ‘A New Future for Old-Growth Forests’ for an urgently-needed paradigm shift in the management of these rare ecosystems; [8]

●Enact a just transition for forestry workers into a new sustainable economy that doesn’t rely on old-growth logging;

●Cease & desist ALL trespassing over 1st Nations territories!  In a code red climate emergency, it is unacceptable that you continue to put industry profits over our right to a climate-safe future. And in a country that talks a good talk about truth & reconciliation, it is despicable that RCMP trample civil liberties & violently police Indigenous forest protectors on their own land!

Old-growth forests in B.C. are teetering on the brink, in danger of becoming a permanent carbon source rather than a critically important carbon sink & habitat for numerous beloved species of biodiversity, known as the 'Lungs of the North'.  Please stop fast-tracking their demise:  these iconic ancient stands are B.C.'s only valuable natural legacy left - & as you've said before, they're worth their colossal weight in gold INTACT & NOT ON THE BACK OF A TRUCK!  Logging these living protectors to fulfill Asia's demand for cheap quality lumber is the OPPOSITE of the climate action you claim to support with CleanBC..

The research is IN, the studies are DONE -- by your own commissioned Old-Growth Strategic Review Panel no less -- which called for an "urgent" paradigm shift in Forestry mgmt, which you promised to enact in full OVER A YEAR AGO.

Since then, reckless & unethical clearcutting has continued at an alarming rate & with even scarier outcomes, with 99%+ of 2021's wildfires occurring in previously-clearcut stands -- including replanted monocultures - where resulting eco-degradation accelerates spreading wildfires & leads directly to calamitous erosion, landslides etc.  

A clear example of destructive logging's disastrous effects occurred just yesterday in Agassiz, where ravaged recent cut-blocks blighting the surrounding mountainsides clearly exacerbated -- if not caused -- the deadly flooding/ landslides brought on by heavy rainfall.. along with the washing-away of bridges & highway all along the Coquihalla Highway.  As our public servants, it's your job to properly assess such events in consultation with experts & scientists whose intensive, on-the-ground research cancels out the lies of corporate/ industry lobbyists -- & take proactive measures to prevent reoccurrences & ensure public safety.

One thing's certain:  continued clearcut logging is putting BC's biodiversity, communities, people & wildlife in dire jeopardy -- to the point of guaranteeing increased risks of worsened fires, flooding & other related catastrophes which we simply cannot afford.  Further degradation of our last intact forest ecosystems is a worst-case-scenario that must be avoided at all costs -- not least because the feared outcomes will be noted as YOUR GOVT's failure.

We've seen how Climate change coupled with unchecked ecocidal/ polluting industrial development has turned places like Australia, Brazil & California into disaster-zones that, in turn, have contributed to further increased global warming & loss of invaluable carbon sinks.  Yet your govt. is failing to take these warnings seriously & learn their critical lessons.

You can prevent these tragedies - but only if you do the right thing today!

Science has warned of the dire effects of deforestation for years, yet your office has failed to take the proper protective measures that are urgently required to prevent these outcomes!!?  80%+ Cdns. made Climate a top issue in this year's federal election, & thousands more have supported the Fairy Creek & indigenous land protectors who risk their own comfort/safety to ensure BC's sustainable future.  You need to follow suit -- LISTEN to those who pay your salaries (US!) rather than the corporations who don't give a damn about anything but their own selfish profits!

Continuing to allow destruction of our most eco-rich & valuable ancient forests by approving cutblocks in these old-growth stands is particularly bloody-minded in light of your adoption of UNDRIP as a reconciliation measure:  your inaction on Old-Growth forest protection is inexcusable, & claiming "lost jobs"/ "lost revenue" is simply unfair, given the subsidies you dole out ad infinitum to the most polluting industries, instead of transitioning to sustainable ops in all sectors, in line with CleanBC/ NetZero claimed goals.

Also shameful is continually refusing to provide the proper funding that will ease indigenous transition to preserving, NOT LOGGING, our precious 1,000-year-old forest ecosystems, given the countless benefits they bring to our environments, biodiversity, healthy tourism, clean water quality & vibrant natural surroundings for which we are (/were?) world-famous.  And which First Nations managed - spectacularly & sustainably - for millenia, before white Europeans came along & almost destroyed the lot in 150 years or less:  SHAMEFUL.

In fact, allowing BC's globally-rare forest ecosystems to be clearcut is like demolishing the great pyramids for the price of their stones:  the seriousness of that calamity is less than what your office continues to greenlight, as if our forests aren't  the KEYS to tackling the worst of climate change - which they certainly ARE.

The time to transition is NOW - as the decisions you make today will impact all of us – including your children & grandchildren.

How do you want to be remembered –  as the ones who violently protected big industry profits at the expense of our planet? Or as playing a significant role in building the sustainable economy that ensures a shared climate-safe future for all?

Your choices matter.  We the people are waiting & watching in fear.  Please rise to the occasion & do the right thing, as leaders in an apparent 'democracy' -- before it's too late to save ourselves & the world from the preventable effects of irresponsible status-quo stasis.

Thank you.

Sarah (Saz) Chesterman

SOURCES:

[1] https://gripped.com/gripped-outdoors/crazy-scenes-from-the-fairy-creek-blockades-in-b-c/

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/08/canada-logging-protest-vancouver-island

[3] https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/09/27/Someone-Going-To-Be-Injured-Killed/

[4] https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/08/16/Judge-Rebuked-Illegal-RCMP-Tactics/

[5] https://globe2go.pressreader.com/article/281492164472706

[6] https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2021/10/04/Horgan-Fairy-Creek-Excuses-Betray-Citizens/

[7] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/logging-climate-change-bc-report-1.5895220

[8] https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/stewardship/old-growth-forests/strategic-review-20200430.pdf

[9] https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/07/05/analysis/under-siege-bcs-forests-have-started-emitting-co2-lots-it

SaRaH C.