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December 6, 2005: Environmentalists go to court in bid to protect B.C.'s spotted owl

B.C.

CANOE NEWS

December 6, 2005

Environmentalists go to court in bid to protect B.C.'s spotted owl

By DIRK MEISSNER

VICTORIA (CP) - A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday aimed at preventing the extinction of the spotted owl in British Columbia, now estimated at six remaining breeding pairs.

"If the spotted owl goes extinct it will be the first vertebrate species in British Columbia's history that will have gone extinct as a result of logging," said Ken Wu, a Western Canada Wilderness Committee spokesman.

A lawyer for the groups said the suit filed in Federal Court is the first of its kind in Canada under the Species at Risk Act. The environmental groups want the federal government to step in and use the act to prevent the loss of the spotted owl because, they argue, the B.C. government hasn't taken adequate action.

The B.C. government called the suit frivolous and accused the environmental groups of grandstanding while the province works to find ways to save the owls without completely banning logging in their old-growth forest habitat.

"We take our commitment towards creating the most sustainable environment anywhere in the world very seriously," said Pat Bell, B.C.'s Agriculture and Lands Minister.

"I just find it very unfortunate that a few isolated organizations decide to utilize this opportunity to grandstand," he said. "They know the efforts that this government has put in to the protection of species at risk."

But Bell said the government is considering all options when it comes to the spotted owl, including attempting to breed the birds in captivity and letting them survive or die on their own.

"That's a fair question and that's the question that needs to be responded to as part of our recovery plan," he said.

The B.C. government has been under fire by environmental groups for considering an extinction option for the small remaining mountain caribou herds threatened in B.C.'s Kootenay region.

Wu said the lawsuit is serious.

"It's not grandstanding," he added. "The extinction of a species from a province is a very import concern and the B.C. Liberal government will have it all over their hands."

The environmental groups involved in the legal challenge - which include the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Forest Ethics - believe the suit would benefit all wildlife in every province and territory if they are successful.

The environmental groups said they cannot sit on their hands while the B.C. government permits logging in spotted owl habitat in forests located near Vancouver.

The Seattle Audubon Society has launched a similar lawsuit in the United States. There are about 6,100 spotted owls left in the northwest U.S.

A spokesman for Environment Canada could not immediately be reached for comment.

B.C. government biologists reported that they had found 23 owls in the province this year.

Environment Minister Barry Penner said recently that some logging in old-growth forests may benefit the spotted owls because it opens their hunting territory.

Bell said the government has set aside 363,000 hectares of forest in the Squamish-Lillooet area northeast of Vancouver as a spotted owl protected area, although some logging is permitted.

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee has previously predicted that the owl will be extinct in British Columbia by 2010. About 100 spotted owls lived in British Columbia in 1993.

In 2004, the environmental groups had asked then-environment minister David Anderson to step in with an emergency order under the Species at Risk Act to protect the owl.

The legislation bans the killing or harassing of species listed under the act and sets out procedures for the protection of their critical habitat.

The law, passed in June 2003, applies to species under federal jurisdiction, including marine and migratory species and terrestrial species on federally controlled lands.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/2005/12/06/pf-1341360.html

Topic(s): Forestry News, legal news, Member News , More Enviro News, Poor Performers, Wildlife News

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