Find out how you can help keep industry out of BC
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- Published on Wednesday, 05 March 2014 13:20
- Written by editor
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Help keep industrial activity out of BC's provincial parks
Hi PAOV,
For over 100 years British Columbians have fought to protect BC’s special wild places from bulldozers, chainsaws, pipelines and development. Today, after many decades of work, 14% of our province – from alpine meadows to old-growth forests – is now safeguarded by our park and protected area system.
Today that system is under threat.
On February 13, 2014, with no public consultation, the BC Government introduced Bill 4: The Park Amendment Act. The Bill is dangerous because it expressly provides for industrial activity within BC’s parks and protected area system, and opens the door for removal of land from these areas for industrial purposes.
Section 3 of the Bill also allows permits to be granted for “research” purposes. This sounds innocuous, but the term “research” is undefined and would enable the government to issue park permits for studies related to pipelines, transmission lines, logging roads and other industrial activities. “Research” could also include bulk ore sampling, clearing activities and other industrial activities that are clearly inconsistent with park purposes.
Additionally, the proposed legislation would dramatically reduce protection for parks under 2,032 hectares in size – smaller parks that are most vulnerable to industrial activity.
What makes Bill 4 even more concerning is that it is part of several government policies and reports, including the Park Boundary Adjustment Policy, which explicitly paves the way for removal of land from BC’s parks and protected areas to facilitate industrial development.
In December 2013, the Wilderness Committee uncovered government documents which alarmingly showed “the Ministry of Environment is anticipating applications for boundary adjustments to at least 35 parks and other protected areas to accommodate industrial pipelines, transmission lines and resource roads.” You can read the front page Vancouver Sun article here.
Opening up our parks to pipelines, logging roads, transmission lines and other industrial activities is simply unacceptable. The BC government should be working to uphold our park and protected area system, not working to erode it.
This Bill is moving quickly and could become law by the end of May 2014. The BC government has put up a "public consultation" web page for online comments on the legislation, but we believe this issue is so important that your comments should be sent directly to BC's Environment Minister.
Please take a few moments to write to Environment Minister Mary Polak and ask for Bill 4 to be immediately revoked and for the BC Government to ensure that industrial activities do not take place in our park and protected area system.
Click here to write your letter >>
Together, we can keep pipelines and logging roads out of BC’s park system.
For the wild,
Gwen Barlee | Policy Director
Wilderness Committee
P.S. If you’re in Vancouver this week, please join the Wilderness Committee, Sustainable SFU and the SFU Wildlife Conservation Club on Friday for a Film Screening & Dialogue about BC’s endangered species! This is a special chance to view our series of short wildlife films, and participate in an important discussion with experts about the threats facing BC’s at-risk wildlife. You’ll also find out how you can get involved in the campaign to achieve stand-alone provincial endangered species legislation in BC. r0
