Tag Archives: Clearcutting in BC

Animals

Canada betrays its ‘Species at Risk Act’ while province wipes out mountain caribou habitat: VWS

By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The nation’s Species at Risk Act is no law at all, says a local environmental group.

The Valhalla Wilderness Society contends that the Species at Risk Act (SARA) does not provide protection under the law for the endangered mountain caribou and its habitat, 30 years after Canada signed an accord — at the UN Convention on Biodiversity in Rio De Janeiro — to protect biodiversity, which spawned the enactment of SARA. 

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Energy, Indigenous Nations

Blueberry River First Nations beat B.C. in court. Now everything’s changing

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Apart from a little pocket of land on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Blueberry River First Nations territory is an industrial wasteland. At a walking pace, it only takes about three minutes to stumble onto some kind of development. It’s a land of pipelines, clearcuts and gas rigs. But things are about to change.

After winning a hard-fought case before the B.C. Supreme Court in 2021, the Treaty 8 nation reached a final agreement with the province on Jan. 18. The agreement charts a path forward from a past where the province excluded the community from resource decisions and infringed on the nation’s constitutionally protected rights. Two days later, B.C. signed agreements with four neighbouring nations: Doig River, Halfway River, Saulteau and Fort Nelson. Collectively, the agreements represent a way out of conflict and a shared goal to heal the land. 

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Environment, Indigenous Nations

The keepers of Cheewaht: Restoring an ecosystem for generations to come

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Cheewaht Lake, BC – Off the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, inland from the West Coast Trail, is a quiet and remote lake brimming with vibrant ecosystems. From trumpeter swans to black bears, the Cheewaht Lake watershed provides a home for dense and rare biodiversity.

The Cheewaht Lake watershed is on the traditional territory of Ditidaht First Nation, who, for thousands of years, managed the area from villages along the coast at the mouth of the Cheewaht River.

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Forests

The Quadra Project: A Trillion Trees

Planting a trillion trees would be a major contribution to solving our global climate change crisis, a remarkably simple solution since trees absorb and sequester the excess carbon from fossil fuels that we have been emitting into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution.

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Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

DFO provides $30 million for salmon restoration projects

By Melissa Renwick, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Gold River, BC – In April Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced over $30 million dollars in support for 22 projects under the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF).

The investment from the federal and provincial governments is designed to support monitoring, research and planning to better understand what’s impacting wild salmon populations.

Of the 22 projects, 18 will be led by or conducted in partnership with Indigenous organizations and communities, according to the province. 

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