BC Government is Making Misleading Claims about Environmental GroupsFeb 12, 2009 - New Denver B.C. (submitted) BC Minister of Forests Pat Bell has been making erroneous, politically-slanted characterizations of a number of environmental groups in the media. On January 13, the Minister made untrue, disparaging claims about the Valhalla Wilderness Society (VWS) in the Nelson Daily News. On January 27 VWS notified the Minister that his comments were untrue, and sent him a detailed refutation of his claims (see www.vws.org.) But a few days later Bell made a similar attack on the Wilderness Committee (CBC News, Jan. 31, 2008). Both organizations have been advocating an end to logging the province's oldest trees and forests.
In both cases, the Minister praised specific organizations, including ForestEthics, Wildsight, Dogwood Initiative, Greenpeace, and Sierra Legal Defence Fund (now Ecojustice). "The Minister's praise inferred that these groups supported the government's policy of logging old-growth forest," says Anne Sherrod, Chair of the Valhalla Wilderness Society. "This should not necessarily be taken as friendly or accurate."
For instance, ForestEthics, Wildsight and Greenpeace are partners in government conservation programs that allow extensive destruction of old-growth forest. These programs are under intense criticism from other environmental groups. However, Dogwood Initiative and Ecojustice have never known to be part of such partnership agreements. Minister Bell claimed that Dogwood Initiative was involved in a backroom deal to continue logging old-growth mountain caribou habitat. Dogwood Initiative has firmly stated in writing that it had nothing to do with it. Almost all of the groups praised by Bell have written one form of letter or the other repudiating the Minister's remarks."This should be recognized as abnormal and improper government behaviour," says Sherrod. "If the government wishes to praise environmental groups for specific meritorious achievements, that's one thing. But in these cases the government has merely used the names of specific groups to attack others as lacking equal credibility. These attacks are clearly related to the issue of logging old-growth forest. It appears the logging industry is getting a free PR campaign from the Minister, while the government greenwashes itself with names such as Ecojustice and Dogwood Initiative, whose owner's may not appreciate the favour.
"Mountain caribou are endangered today because the BC government would not protect enough commercial old-growth forest," says Gary Diers, head of the West Kootenay-based Purcell Wilderness Alliance. "Some of the grassroots groups in the this part of BC naturally expected that a mountain caribou recovery plan would protect a substantial amount of commercial forest. Imagine our shock when the government announced a backroom agreement that the new plan would involve 'no net loss' to the logging industry. Two of the organizations praised by Bell were part of that deal, and the taxpayers are now paying Pat Bell's salary to promote them."
"Local people in the Robson Valley have worked for decades to protect mountain caribou and old-growth," says Rick Zammuto of Save-the-Cedar League. "But very little of the protection is of old-growth commercial forest. As the logging becomes more severe, our caribou will suffer. We have worked for many years with Valhalla Wilderness Society, Wilderness Committee, and other groups to protect ancient Inland Rainforest, but we have never received any help from the groups being promoted by Minister Bell. We have huge community support in the Prince George Timber Supply Area for preserving old-growth Inland Rainforest, yet the Minister isn't even representing the thousands in his own riding that want an end to Inland Rainforest logging east of Prince George."
"In attacking the Wilderness Committee, Bell said B.C.'s old-growth trees are already sufficiently protected," says Glada MacIntyre of Applied Ecological Stewardship Coalition. "That's the most untrue thing he said. British Columbians know about the massive clearcutting that has nearly annihilated many species. In logging these forests, we are releasing huge amounts of carbon into the air, whereas standing old-growth rainforests help to mitigate global warming by keeping that carbon out of the air In short the public and the scientific community are starting to demand an end to logging old-growth. Their reasons are scientifically valid and urgent, and their voice is growing stronger. The government should not be stooping to this kind of tactics to stop it."Link to Valhalla Wilderness Society http://www.vws.org/
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