“This decision will do nothing but waste time and tax dollars. In the long run this will further tarnish the reputation of the Canadian mining industry as a group that doesn’t give a hoot about protecting the environment or about human rights, whether it be here or abroad,” said Joe Foy, Wilderness Committee National Campaign Director.

“The New Prosperity Mine proposal is even more environmentally risky that the old proposal that was rejected last year. The request for a new environmental review should have been denied, especially in the face of the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s clear opposition to the project and the certainty that if this mine proceeds, Fish Lake and surrounding waters will be polluted and despoiled beyond recognition,” said Foy. “This decision will cast a very dark pall over the entire mining industry that will take years to clear – if it ever clears,” predicted Foy.

The Wilderness Committee has pledged to support the Tsilhqot’in Nation in the defence of their lands and waters from despoilment by Taseko Mines Ltd.

The Canadian Environment Assessment Agency (CEAA) is scheduled to decide by November 7 whether to accept Taseko’s revised “New Prosperity Mine” project in B.C.’s interior for review — a project the company itself has said would wreak more damage than its first proposal. Taseko’s first $1 billion proposal was rejected by the federal government last November, following initial approval by the B.C. government.

“The federal government’s own environmental review panel pointed out that a Fish Lake mine would cause irreparable damage to both First Nations rights and the environment, including to fish stocks and grizzly populations,” said Sierra Club BC Executive Director George Heyman.

Photo: Lee-Anne Stack

Taseko’s revised project would surround Fish Lake with the proposed open-pit mine, and Fish Lake would be unusable for the life of the mine (up to 33 years). Little Fish Lake, which is crucial to the ecosystem that supports the 80,000 rainbow trout that live in Fish Lake, would still be destroyed and used as a toxic tailings pond.

Changes to the federal Fisheries Act allow metal mining corporations to use Canadian lakes to dispose of the millions of tonnes of toxic waste rock and tailings they generate. Environmental groups are asking Ottawa to close the legislative loophole that allows destruction of Canada’s freshwater bodies for toxic mine tailings, and to ensure the intent of our Fisheries Act is no longer undermined.

Groups supporting the Tsilhqot’in National Government and urging the CEAA to reject Taseko’s most recent request for review of its Fish Lake mine proposal include the Canadian Boreal Initiative, Sierra Club BC, West Coast Environmental Law, ForestEthics, Wilderness Committee, Greenpeace, BC Spaces for Nature, Georgia Strait Alliance, Sierra Club Canada, and Wildsight.

Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) has been a subject of great controversy at the provincial and federal level.  Located southwest of Williams Lake, BC, Fish Lake is not only important environmentally as a watershed and rainbow trout habitat, but also important culturally to many First Nations groups.  The isolated region first came into the spotlight in January of 2010, when the BC provincial government approved a mining proposal by Taseko Ltd.  The project would have seen Fish Lake reclassified as a “tailings impoundment area” and then used as a dump site for the proposed Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine.

Throughout 2010, Chief Baptiste, along with many other groups and activists, worked to educate the public about the importance of Teztan Biny and the many negative impacts that would accompany the mining proposal.  These effects included loss of fish and wildlife habitat and damage to the local ecosystem.  The federal government of Canada rejected the project in November 2010, citing environmental concerns.

The Wilderness Committee gives out the Eugene Rogers Award annually at its Annual General Meeting in remembrance of its namesake, a local BC resident who worked tirelessly to protect BC’s local wildlife and natural spaces.  The award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to environmental protection.

If passed, the new proposed NDP bill would significantly improve upon existing laws by adding legal protection to the habitats of species at risk, requiring scientific assessment of at-risk species and developing new recovery strategies to promote survival of threatened species. The bill also includes an element which encourages voluntary environmental stewardship.

BC has an estimated 1900 species which are at risk or in decline throughout the province. Species as diverse as burrowing owls and grizzly bears are threatened from habitat loss, climate change and a growing human population. As Dr. Faisal Moola, Director of Science at the David Suzuki Foundation points out, “Over four dozen plants and animals have already been driven to extinction in B.C., such as the Vancouver Island wolverine and Viceroy butterfly.” Without a dedicated plan in place for the protection of currently endangered and at-risk species, their future remains uncertain.

At the moment, British Columbia relies on the Wildlife Act and the Forest and Range Practices Act to protect the province’s wildlife. In Canada, only BC and Alberta remain without stand-alone laws for endangered species protection. The current BC laws are considered outdated and ineffective by many as they do not specifically deal with endangered species, making the new proposed bill even more important.

Rob Fleming represents the riding of Victoria-Swan Lake and currently acts as the NDP’s environment critic. He has attempted to introduce other private member’s bills in the past, including one which would have restricted the use or sale of cosmetic pesticides.

It was announced on April 22 — Earth Day – that some of that information including environmental data like sea surface temperature, vegetation cover, rainfall, and snow cover will soon be used to help us better understand the impacts of climate change on plants and animals. NASA is partnering with four other federal agencies—the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Smithsonian Institution—to provide $18 million in funding for 15 new climate change research projects over the next four years.

According to the NASA press release, the studies will use long-term observations of earth from space to study the intersection of climate and biological studies. According to Woody Turner, manager of NASA’s Ecological Forecasting Program in Washington, very little is known about how the majority of species and ecosystems will respond to environmental changes related to changing climates.

Researchers around the US will examine things as diverse as bird populations and extreme climate events; coastal salt marshes; hummingbird diversity; native tree species; and polar bears, in an effort to first detect and then perhaps better manage biological responses to environmental changes.

One of the more ambitious projects, led by Walter Jetz of Yale University, will focus on land-based mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Using a global inventory of data from about 1,000 species, merged with satellite and ground-based observations of the environment, the study will assess climate’s impact on biodiversity during the past 40 years in two 20-year increments.

On the same day that NASA made their funding announcement, the US Fish & Wildlife Service launched a series of 50 stories in 50 days on their Open Spaces blog.  Each day they will share a new story from a different state about the impacts of climate change. The aim is to “show the broad scope of changes and emerging trends… as well as collaborative efforts to respond across the nation.” These stories help highlight the worthiness of the 15 NASA research projects.

A complete list of all 15 research projects can be found on NASA’s website.

One million acts a year are taken by Earth Day Network planting over 1 million trees in 16 countries under the Avatar Home Tree Initiative. Locations where reforestation is most urgently needed include Haiti, Brazil, Mexico and urban areas of the US.

The Network is also bringing the voices of accomplished people to the Earth Day movement. Olympic and professional athletes are being called to the environmental movement in a campaign titled Athletes for the Earth™ which has a proven track record of connecting popular athletic activities with environmental stewardship.

The Network is also engaging women business, government and NGO leaders in its “Women and the Green Economy” (WAGE™) campaign. Their goal is to create a policy agenda for Rio+20 and to create national initiatives to promote the green economy.

200 entrepreneurs are also being convened to help solve climate change and create a new green economy.

The Earth Day Network is also at the forefront of the national green schools movement.

You can purchase the winning t-shirt from the environmental artistic Acts of Green contest, starting today. You can also download hundreds of free Earth Day themed songs from the Earth Day Network’s website.

Let’s all dedicate ourselves to helping save our planet in the next year by doing green acts and investments.

Many large companies, such as Apple, already offer recycling programs. But a new state law which came into effect this past Friday in New York makes it mandatory for all producers to provide free recycling services for their electronic products. Aimed at being environmentally friendly, simple, and convenient, the New York Times reports that efforts may be getting off to a slower start than initially hoped due to lack of information and advertising.

The new rules require manufacturers to pay for the collection, handling and recycling of electronic products, such as cell phones, computer hardware, TV’s, and other goods, which will be enforced by the State Department of Environmental Conservation. While companies may use any combination of pick-ups, mail or drop offs to collect goods, many companies are partnering with local organizations to coordinate drop-off sites for consumers.

With this new law, New York joins about two dozen other forward-thinking states who have committed to reducing e-waste.

Leisure magazine further explains that the proposed Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site Project incorporates the traditional lands of First Nations and protected areas in Ontario and Manitoba such as two large wilderness provincial parks. Indeed, the boreal lands that make up the Pimachiowin site are diverse, critical habitats where thousands of species reside. The Pimachiowin describe the area as home to one of the largest herds of endangered Woodland caribou south of Hudson Bay and one of the largest intact forest and wetland ecosystems remaining on earth.

Efforts to prevent industrial development in the area through the UNESCO World Heritage bid could be in danger, however. A proposed hydro transmission corridor could cut through the forested Pimachiowin Aki site rather than along the official preferred route west of Lake Winnipeg, reports Nature Canada. Pimachiowin and Selinger continue to fight in order to protect one of the last truly uncultivated places in Canada. They will be awarded the Environmental Leadership Award by various environmental groups and will hopefully inspire others to stand up for life, wilderness and heritage.

While the responses to these questions are of particular interest to people living in Colorado, the questions have worldwide significance. These questions serve as reminders of what we all should be asking our own politicians and what we should consider as we examine what each candidate represents.

Consequently, these nine questions carry immense weight as a reminder that in order to help our environment, we must take it to a government level. In educating ourselves about the electoral candidates and asking them to prove that they will take action to help conserve our environment, we can do our best to ensure that the most environmentally conscious candidates win and keep their promises.

The nine questions are listed, with the Colorado candidates’ responses, in a special report. They include questions about transportation, tourism & recreation, and renewable energy. Land conservation and environmental safeguards to protect air and water quality, fish, wildlife and public health are accounted for. Water and natural resources are considered. The final question asks simply, “How would you define success for your administration at the end of four years?’.

Look over these questions and be ready to apply them to your community.

Over 400 people attended the listening session in the Hudson Valley including citizens, conservation leaders, kayak outfitters, park managers and many others, reports the timesunion.com. 

Hudson Valley farmers supply the majority of fresh fruits and vegetables sold at markets from the Capital Region to New York City.  But as in other places, agricultural land is being taken over by development.  Having lost nearly 100,000 acres of farmland to suburban housing developing in the last 10 years makes it one of America’s 10 most threatened agricultural areas.

17 Hudson Valley land trusts are campaigning to protect 65,000 acres of the most scenic, ecological and agricultural significant land in the Valley.  The program is mainly funded privately, and slated to take a generation to complete.  Federal funding could speed up the process and complete their goals in about a decade, suggests the TimesUnion.com.

The Hudson Valley was one of the first American region to be designated as a National Heritage Area by Congress.  Its natural environment and related beauty are attracting people to the growing suburbs.  As often happens, this is starting to destroy the very character that originally attracted people.  Hopefully the campaign to save it will be successful, and safeguard the remaining farms, water resources, river and Valley.

The Mid-Hudson News Network has an article about the actual listening session if you’d like more details.