Government report shows logging continues to damage streams years after introduction of Forest Practices Code
Copyright 2001 Canada NewsWire from
SIERRA LEGAL DEFENCE FUND
August 2, 2001
VANCOUVER, Aug. 2 /CNW/ - A new B.C. government report offers fresh evidence that current laws governing the forest industry fail to protect the environment, resulting in an unacceptably high number of streams suffering damage following logging.
"Six years after the Forest Practices Code became law, the Ministry of Forests has concluded that more than one third of government-approved logging adjacent to small streams may violate the Fisheries Act," says Aran O'Carroll, director of Forest Watch, a program of Sierra Legal Defence Fund. "And we believe the situation could be even worse than that given the limited methodology used to generate this report."
The government report suggests that as much as 36 per cent of logging near small Interior fish streams may cause some level of harmful alteration or damage to fish habitat. Under the Fisheries Act, it is a violation to alter or damage fish habitat unless an environmental assessment has been conducted and a permit issued.
The Ministry of Forests concludes that logging occurs in more than two thirds of forests adjacent to small Interior fish streams. B.C. logging companies are allowed to cut down trees right to the banks of these streams, a practice that is illegal in other jurisdictions that have signed the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
"In Washington companies must stay nine to 15 metres back from such streams. In Alaska no-log buffers are 30 metres wide. And on federal lands in the US Pacific Northwest the buffers extend to 90 metres. But in B.C. we continue to allow logging to the banks of small fish streams, which can result in the damage that this report identifies," O'Carroll says.
Sierra Legal fisheries biologist John Werring says the unnerving thing about the latest government report is that it probably understates the extent of potential damages.
"The report's major weakness is that it only looks at small fish streams identified in plans, and it may not reflect what is actually happening across the landscape," Werring says. "We know from existing studies that on average 39 per cent of all small fish streams are not identified or are misclassified in plans. A Sierra Legal study also found that 83 per cent of all streams are routinely logged to their banks. No government report has yet challenged that finding."
"There are many fishing families who have made great sacrifices by not fishing in order to build up salmon stocks, so it's vitally important that we make sure that everybody does their part to help protect and rebuild salmon stocks," says Mae Burrows, spokesperson for the Labour Environmental Alliance.
For further information: Aran O'Carroll, (604) 685-5618; Mae Burrows, (604) 669-1921