Plan to build pipeline from Alberta oilsands to BC Port of Kitimat

Plans are in the works for an oil pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to the BC port of Kitimat. To many this sounds wonderful: jobs for locals, profits for the companies involved and taxes for the BC and Alberta governments. To many, however, the nature and scope of the project is a disaster - in process and in consequence.

If the plan goes ahead, the Gateway pipeline will be the largest petroleum pipeline project undertaken in North America in more than 50 years; at a cost of over $4 billion, it will be among the largest private infrastructure investments in B.C. history. Planned to begin construction in 2008, . . . that pipeline will employ 5000 full-time workers for two years, generating $25 million in taxes each year between B.C. and Alberta. In B.C. alone, the underground pipeline will be engineered to cross at least 1000 streams, rivers and lakes, each necessitating a separate file by Transport Canada.

Read: Massive Gateway project faces serious legal obstacles. A special report.

Alarm for the northern spotted owl

Alarm bells are ringing loudly as the northern spotted owl population drops to near extinction levels. According to Larry Pynn in the Vancouver Sun:

The number of known mating pairs of Canada's rarest bird, the northern spotted owl, has dropped to three from six and the overall population to 17 from 22 since last year, says the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.

The organization is urging the B.C. government to act immediately to save the endangered species. "If 17 birds doesn't constitute an imminent threat to survival, nothing does," staff lawyer Devon Page said in an interview.

"If they don't step in to save the spotted owl, they won't step in to save any species."

Native activists protect the North-west's natural heritage

In the 1950s, Dr. Edward Teller ("Father of the H-Bomb") championed a scheme to use nuclear weapons to carve out a harbor in Arctic Alaska. Successful resistance to "Project Chariot" united native villages.

says Joel Connelly in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The North-west's beauty is continually under threat. Under that beauty lies much mineral wealth and on it many trees. Without outspoken environmentalists and an increasingly activist native population, we would be left with a lot less of that natural beauty than we have today. You can imagine the scorn that was heaped by its protagonists on those who opposed using a nuclear bomb to change the Alaska coastline. We hear that scorn today directed at "tree huggers" etc. Yet it often takes that kind of activism to put the brakes on the land and resource hunger/greed.

and, again from Connelly:

In British Columbia, native leaders in ceremonial robes blocked logging trucks on Lyell Island in the Queen Charlottes. The protest helped create Canada's Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.

According to Connelly, without the public exposure of the 2010 Olympics, we might be without most of the South Chilcotin Provincial park.

Vancouver newspapers love to depict B.C. environmentalists as strident and unreasonable, while putting industry's plans in the friendliest focus. With natives, however, the sneering stops.

British Columbia Day greetings from Inside British Columbia

August 7, 2006

Alarm sounded on coalbed methane in BC

Merran Smith in the Smithers Interior News:

We are concerned that B.C.’s regulations for coal bed methane are inadequate. Unlike mines such as Blue Pearl, coalbed methane developments are not subject to environmental assessments. There is nothing to address cumulative impacts. And compliance and enforcement monitoring is largely conducted by the company itself, not the government.

Read the article

Wild Strawberries

Today I harvested our wild strawberries.


Yes, they are big. Thanks to Shadow, our previous dog, his squirrel chase-path flattened a piece of ground that the wild strawberries really took to. So this is one of Shadow's many legacies. I played my part by lightly weeding the patch once or twice a year and adding a little water when the land got very dry. Each year the patch expanded and the strawberries were always big - about twice the size of those in other parts of our land.

And, yes, they are delicious - the taste of summer in the Cariboo.
Next: the quickly-ripening raspberries.

Latest Chilcotin fire update from BC Forest Service

Ministry of Forests and Range, BC Forest Service, Cariboo Fire Centre:

FIRE SUPPRESSION CONTINUES IN THE CARIBOO

Precipitation and cooler temperatures have helped to suppress fire activity and reduce the fire danger rating to low to moderate throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre. This weather pattern is expected to continue over the weekend, allowing fire crews continued success with the recent fires.

The fire near Wutlus Lake, 60 Km west of Quesnel, is held at just over 8500 hectares is 100% contained. Fire crews will continue working in the fire area to extinguish hot spots and rehabilitate areas affected by the fire. The California Interagency Incident Management Team (CIIMT) is handing over management of the fire to a British Columbian Incident Command Team this weekend. Rocky Opliger, Incident Commander of the CIIMT, would like to express his appreciation for the opportunity to take part in fire suppression efforts in British Columbia. A fire camp will remain in the area for the next week.

The fire camp located at Nazko is supporting crews working on the fires west of the area. The main fire is the Kluskoil Fire north of the Narcosli Ecological Reserve, which is held at 11,500 hectares. This fire isapproximately 25% contained with 90 km of guard constructed. A total of 280 firefighters, 60 fire personnel, 26pieces of heavy equipment and 6 helicopters are involved in suppression of these fires. Crews and equipmentcontinue to construct fire guards, action spot fires, mop-up and patrol the area. The Nazko fire camp is expected to remain well into August.

The Dean Fire near Tezla Lake north of Anahim Lake has been held at just over 11,000 hectares and is approximately 65% contained. There are 118 fire fighters, 64 fire personnel, 6 helicopters, and 11 pieces of heavy equipment. Fire crews continue to work on the fire guard, while infrared scanning is being used to search out hot spots to be extinguished.

A Transport Canada NOTAM restriction is still in effect, limiting aircraft flights over the fires areas. More information can found at www.navcanada.ca. Itcha Ilgatchuz Park is closed until further notice, and the Upper Dean remains closed to all traffic past the 60 km mark to allow unrestricted fire fighting activities.

The Cariboo Fire Centre would like to remind the public to re-evaluate their properties and Fire Smart them. Information on the Fire Smart program, along with fire information and updates can be found on the protectionwebsite at www.for.gov.bc.ca/protect or call toll-free 1-888-3FOREST. If you see a wildfire, please report it to 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on most cellular networks.

Contact Kim Steinbart Fire Information Officer. 250-989-2655

UPDATE - July 17, 2006: B.C. wildfire threat fizzles, for now.

[Feb. 2006: Farwell Canyon bridge fire]

Cariboo Regional District on emergency plans and evacuation alerts

Received today from the Cariboo Regional District:

CRD Emergency Operations Centre in Full Gear

The CRD’s Emergency Operations Plan was deployed for the first time as a result of the wildfires in the Chilcotin and the North Cariboo. The cities of Quesnel and Williams Lake have rallied to help in the relief efforts. Communications and Emergency Response support has been provided by the City of Quesnel while support staff from Williams Lake has volunteered to assist in the CRD’s Emergency Operations Centre.

Today, the CRD rescinded the evacuation orders for Euchiniko and Nazko and replaced them with evacuation alerts. The existing evacuation order for Tezla Lake and Upper Dean, and the evacuation alerts for Anahim Lake and Nimpo Lake remain in effect and unchanged. For up to date fire information, please contact the Cariboo Fire Centre at 250-989-2600. For more information regarding evacuations, please contact the Cariboo Regional District at 250-392-4283.

Nazko (Chilcotin) fire update

From the Globe & Mail:

Nazko evacuation order provisionally lifted

An evacuation order was lifted yesterday for residents who were forced to run from a forest fire in the Nazko area, west of Quesnel.

The order was downgraded because of lower temperatures and torrential rain, which put a damper on many fires in the southern Interior.

The B.C. Forest Service warned, however, that the rain wasn't enough to soak the fuel on forest floors, and another few days of sun could reverse the situation. CP

"Forest fire situation in Anahim Lake is improving"

The forest fire situation in Anahim Lake is improving, says acting Ulkatcho band manager John McCarvill.
"We've got cooler temperatures and the fire isn't burning as it was."

On Wednesday, July 5, McCarvill said the 10,000-hectare fire 15 kilometres north of Anahim Lake, was moving towards the community at the rate of one kilometre an hour.

Read on