Sign on Letter to Strengthen Canadian ESA Bill
2/12/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 23:41:59 -0500
Subject: SIGN-ON LETTER -- Letter to VP Gore to Strengthen Canadian ESA
Bill
Folks,
The following sign-on letter is on behalf of the Canadian Endangered
Species Coalition, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and the
Sierra Legal Defence Fund. The purposed Canadian Endangered Species
Act is deficient in several areas (as outlined below) and our Canadian
friends has asked us to circulate this letter to vice-president Gore
for signatures.
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Please read the following letter (several groups have already signed
the letter) and the supporting information.
If your groups wishes to sign the letter send your group's name,
address and a contact person to rfeather@clark.net .
The deadline for this letter is Tuesday morning, February 18, at 10:00
am EST. The letter will be delivered to the Vice-president Tuesday
afternoon so this deadline is FIRM!
For more information contact Stewart Elgie at: (416) 368-7533 /
sldfca@globalserve.on.ca or Kevin Scott at (604) 306-8481.
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Sign on letter to Vice President Gore
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February 18, 1997
The Honorable Albert Gore, Jr.
Vice President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Sir:
As you may know, the Canadian Government recently introduced
proposed legislation aimed at protecting Canada's endangered species.
We are writing to urge you to support Canada's initiative on this
important issue, and to encourage the Canadian Government to strengthen
the legislation so that it will ensure protection of the many
endangered species populations that are shared between Canada and the
US.
Canada currently has no federal endangered species legislation
(and only four of Canada's twelve province and territories have such
legislation). On October 31, 1996, the federal government introduced
in Parliament the long-awaited Canadian Endangered Species Protection
Act. The fact that Canada is finally moving to pass endangered species
legislation is quite positive. However, there are several critical
weaknesses with the proposed Act. From a US perspective, the main
weakness is the fact the Bill provides little or no protection for the
many endangered species populations that are shared between Canada and
the US.
There are currently 255 species on Canada's list of "species at
risk." Nearly 80% of those species either migrate or have a range
extending across the Canada-US. border ("cross border species.") For
example, threatened grizzly bears in northern Montana or Idaho range
freely into southern Canada, where they can legally be shot (despite
the fact that they are listed as a `vulnerable species' in Canada)
because of the lack of endangered species legislation. Other notable
cross-border endangered species include the marbled murrelet, swift
fox, eastern cougar, spotted owl and whooping crane. The simple fact
is that the many endangered species that are shared between Canada and
the U. S. can only be saved through effective protection in both
countries - these species do not recognize artificial political
borders.
With the exception of certain migratory birds listed under the
Migratory Birds Treaty (which does not include birds of prey), the
proposed Canadian legislation does not provide protection within Canada
for species that migrate or range across the Canada-US border.
Instead, the Bill merely gives the federal government discretionary
authority to pass regulations prohibiting direct harm to such cross-
border species or their nests. Even if passed, these regulations could
not address habitat destruction (which is the main threat facing almost
all endangered species.) Thus, with the exception of certain migratory
birds, the proposed Canadian legislation will not protect the many US
endangered species that migrate or range into Canada.
Unless the Canadian Bill is strengthened, US efforts to protect
our endangered species will be compromised. The time and energy which
the US is dedicating to recovering species such as the grizzly bear,
spotted owl and peregrine falcon, to name but a few examples, will be
severely hampered if these species are not protected in the Canadian
portion of their ranges.
As the US and Canadian Governments work to liberalize trade
across the two countries' borders, they must also work together to
address cross-border environmental issues - of which endangered species
are a prototypical example. In fact, the North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation specifically contemplates cooperative efforts
to protect endangered species (in Articles 1 and 10, for example.)
The Canadian Endangered Species Protection Act is currently in
the public consultation stage. We urge you to contact the Canadian
Government and support its initiative to enact endangered species
legislation, and to encourage them to strengthen the Bill so that it
will ensure protection of cross-border endangered species and their
habitat.
We hope that you will rake advantage of this critical opportunity
to work with Canada to preserve North America's rich biological
heritage.
Signed,
California Endangered Species Defense Campaign
Stacey Shull
Center for Wildlife Law
Ruth Musgrave, Director
Defenders of Wildlife
William Snape,
Environmental Law Foundation
Tara Mueller, Biodiversity Legal Program
GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network
Roger Featherstone, Director
Natural Resources Defense Campaign
Liz Barret Brown
Northwest Ecosystem Alliance
Mitch Freidman, Director
Sierra Club
Larry Williams - Director, International Program
Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund
Vic Sher, Executive Director
The Wildlands Project
Dave Foreman, Chairman
Western Ancient Forest Campaign
Jim Jontz, Executive Director
AND
your group with hundreds more!
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Background
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SIERRA LEGAL DEFENCE FUND
MEMORANDUM
Date: February 7, 1997
From: Stewart Elgie
To: US Environmentalists
RE: Canada's Proposed Endangered Species Act and 'Cross-Border' Species
Canada currently has no federal endangered species legislation
(and only 4 of the 12 provinces and territories have such legislation.)
On October 31, the federal Environment Minister introduced in
Parliament the long-awaited Canadian Endangered Species Protection Act
("CESPA.")
The fact that Canada is finally moving to pass endangered species
legislation is quite positive. However, there are several critical
weaknesses with the proposed Act. Two of those weaknesses are
particularly glaring: first, the Act does nor require protection of
species' critical habitat; and second, it does not apply to most of the
endangered species that are 'shared' between Canada and the US. It is
especially with the latter issue that we would like assistance from the
United States.
The Legislation Must Protect Cross-Border Endangered Species
The ecological situation: There are 254 species on Canada's list of
"species at risk" (i.e. endangered, threatened or vulnerable species.)
Nearly 80% of those species either migrate or range across the Canada-
US. border ("cross border species.") For example, endangered grizzly
bears in northern Montana or Idaho range freely into southern Canada,
where they can legally be shot (despite the fact that they are listed
as a `vulnerable species' in Canada) because of the lack of endangered
species legislation. Other notable cross-border endangered species
include the marbled murrelet, swift fox, spotted owl, and whooping
crane. The simple fact is that the many endangered species that are
`shared' between Canada and the US border can only be saved through
effective protection in both countries.
The Bill. The CESPA only applies to species living on federal lands or
waters, and to migratory birds listed under the Migratory Birds Treaty
(which does not include raptors, such as eagles, owls, hawks or
falcons). Thus, the Bill covers only about 40% of Canada's species at
risk. Probably the greatest disappointment with the Bill is that it
does not protect species that migrate or range across the Canada-US.
border(which are undoubtedly within federal jurisdiction.) Instead,
the Bill gives the government discretionary authority to pass
regulations prohibiting direct harm to cross-border endangered species
or their nests, but not destruction of their habitat (which is the main
threat they face.) Thus, with the exception of certain migratory
birds, the legislation will not protect the many US endangered species
that migrate or range into Canada (and even if future regulations are
passed, those regulations will only address direct harm, not habitat
destruction.)
The political situation. We had expected that the legislation would
protect cross-border endangered species and their habitat. The federal
government's Endangered Species Task Force -- which included
representatives from most major resource industry sectors in Canada --
unanimously recommended that the federal legislation should protect
cross-border species. Over 100 organizations from all sectors of
Canadian society (including the Canadian Bar Association, Canadian
Labour Congress and United Church of Canada) supported this
recommendation. However, there was a good deal of pressure from
certain provinces for the federal government not to protect cross-
border species (because this could affect the management of provincial
lands), which explains the diluted authority contained in the Bill.
How the US can help. The federal Environment Minister, Sergio Marchi,
would like to strengthen the Bill to protect cross-border endangered
species and their habitat, but he is under strong pressure from some
provinces to back down. A letter of encouragement from the US would
give him some much-needed support for his position in Cabinet (and
would help to counter the provinces' pressure.) It would very much
help if Vice-president Gore, or another appropriate US official, could
send a letter congratulating Canada on its decision to pass endangered
species legislation and encouraging the government to ensure protection
of the many species (and their habitat) that are shared between the two
countries. Such a letter would be critically important at this
juncture - in fact, it may be our best hope.
Timing. A letter from the US should come as soon as possible, since
the government is in the process of deciding what amendments to the
Bill it will consider. A final decision on whether to protect cross-
border species, and their habitat, likely will be made by February 14,
1997. This decision will have real impacts on the US, and its efforts
to protect the over one hundred species at risk shared with Canada.
With support from the US, there is an excellent chance that the new
legislation will be amended to ensure protection of cross-border
endangered species and their habitat.
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GREEN
GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network
A project of Defenders of Wildlife
1101 14th St. NW, Suite 1400, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 682-9400 x290 fax:(202) 682-1331 e-mail: rfeather@clark.net
check out our web page at: http://www.defenders.org/grnhome.html
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