AR-News: ENDANGERED SPECIES THREATENED BY BC GOVERNMENT

[Barry Kent MacKay]

P R E S S   R E L E A S E

*For Immediate Release - May 17, 2004 *

EAST KOOTENAY ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY

 
      Endangered Species Threatened by BC Government
 

The East Kootenay Environmental Society is very disappointed about changes
to the Wildlife Act that the BC Liberal government claims will allow it to
better protect Endangered Species. Amendments to the Wildlife Act do not
provide for mandatory protection for species at risk, leaving this at the
discretion of cabinet.

 

"The government's announcement creates the illusion of protection when in
fact there is none," according to East Kootenay Environmental Society
Spokesperson John Bergenske. "The public is very concerned about the plight
of Endangered Species, but the government has bought forward legislation
that requires no action to protect Endangered Species, nor does it require
the use of science independent of political interference to make the
critical decisions necessary to designate and protect these species."

 

Citizen groups from across the country have been calling on both the federal
and provincial governments to enact Endangered Species legislation based on
scientifically demonstrated criteria and recovery actions. The provincial
government has responded, but with legislation that makes listing of species
and recovery actions totally up to the politicians, with no legal
requirement for scientific input or review. The Committee on the Status of
Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) and the BC Conservation Data Centre (CDC) are
scientific bodies that evaluate threatened and endangered species. Both are
respected and recognized for the use of accepted scientific criteria. These
types of independent science bodies and scientific criteria have no required
role in the province's legislation. 

 

"The BC Liberal government is itself the greatest threat to species at risk
in this province," claims Bergenske. "Both Mountain Caribou and Spotted Owl
have been listed as Endangered Species in British Columbia by COSEWIC and
CDC. The provincial government is responsible for the destruction of the
habitat necessary for their survival by continuing to permit logging,
industrial and commercial recreation uses that destroy critical habitat.
Timber Sales BC, the government's own agency, continues to log critical
habitats."

 

It is not just pandas and gorillas on the other side of the globe that are
going extinct according to East Kootenay Environmental Society.  The society
claims that the actions of BC's government has created an extinction crisis
right here in British Columbia. 

                                                            -30-

 

Contact: John Bergenske, EKES Land Use and Forest Spokesperson       

(250) 422-3566  jbergenske at telus.net



East Kootenay Environmental Society
2 495 Wallinger Kimberley V1A 1Z6
Ph: 250/427-9325
Fax: 250/427-3535

_________________________

  Barry Kent MacKay
  Canadian Representative
  ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE 
  www.api4animals.org