A federal government decision to reverse course on issuing an emergency order for the northern spotted owl has angered the British Columbia First Nation that asked for the protection of the endangered species.
Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart said members of his community are \u201cfurious\u201d after the federal government decision was outlined in a letter issued this week by the Canadian Wildlife Service, a branch of the Department of Environment.
The letter said the federal government will not bring in an emergency order to prevent logging in two watersheds within Spuzzum Nation territory in B.C.\u2019s lower Fraser River canyon.
The logging was an activity that Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault had said posed \u201can imminent threat\u201d to the survival of the species.
Guilbeault said earlier this year in another letter from the Canadian Wildlife Service that he was recommending the emergency order to cabinet to protect the spotted owl.
Hobart said Guilbeault visited Spuzzum in February and saw the situation with spotted owls and their habitat of old-growth forests firsthand.
But there has been no engagement with the nation since then, other than the second letter saying cabinet was instead endorsing \u201ca collaborative approach\u201d with the provincial government and Indigenous communities after considering factors such as socio-economic and legal impacts.
\u201cHere\u2019s a federal minister asking me, \u2018What can I do?’\u201d Hobart recounted of the meeting in February. \u201cThat\u2019s what he said \u2026 so I told him.
\u201cWe needed him to stick up for this. We didn\u2019t need him to bring it on as if it was just another thing in the House. I don\u2019t think that anybody that had been out on the land with us could have gone there and accepted these words (in the decision).\u201d
In a written response, Environment and Climate Change Canada said Guilbeault \u201cfulfilled his obligation under the Species at Risk Act\u201d by bringing his recommendation to cabinet.
\u201cThe Government of Canada recognizes that more needs to be done to support the recovery of the spotted owl,\u201d the statement said. \u201cCollaboration with British Columbia and First Nations is the preferred approach for achieving the species recovery.\u201d
The statement also said the federal government is \u201cworking closely with partners\u201d to make sure initiatives such as spotted owl habitat protection and breeding-and-release programs are supported in a nature-conservation agreement with the province and Indigenous communities that is currently still under negotiations.
Hobart said the spotted owl is not only sacred to a number of First Nations, but is also a \u201cmessenger of the health\u201d of the region\u2019s old-growth forests because of its dependence on their ecosystems for survival.
As such, the health and survival of B.C. spotted owl population is vital for, and a key indicator of, the province\u2019s old-growth ecosystem\u2019s well-being, something that Hobart said extends beyond the value of the lumber if the area continues to be logged.
\u201cRight now, there\u2019s a dollar value on the trees,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m saying that in a way so people get the understanding that it\u2019s the only thing that is important to the government.
\u201cTo us, it would be like a recipe for cake. How many things can you keep taking out of the recipe before it\u2019s no longer cake? That\u2019s what\u2019s happening.\u201d
There is only one known wild-born spotted owl, a female, living in the Fraser Canyon, while two more captive-bred males were released into the wild earlier this year.
Hobart said other First Nations communities that he has spoken to have also expressed disappointment, especially given the federal and provincial government\u2019s recent messaging on reconciliation and working together to manage the natural resources found on Indigenous land.
\u201cInstead of calling upon the First Nations to be part of the team, I think they\u2019re still thinking of us as part of the opposition,\u201d he said.
\u201cRight now, it\u2019s the perfect time for them to get things done with us, but they\u2019re turning their backs on us by doing stuff like this.\u201d
The environmental group Wilderness Committee is asking for a judicial review of the minister\u2019s decision in a Federal Court later this month. It wants the court to determine if Guilbeault or his department acted at odds with the federal Species at Risk Act.
The Wilderness Committee, represented by the environmental law charity Ecojustice, said Guilbeault may have taken too long to make his recommendation of an emergency order to protect spotted owls.
\u201cThe court will be asked, in this case, to determine whether it is reasonable for the minister to delay the recommendation when logging of the owl\u2019s habitat continued throughout the spring and summer,\u201d Ecojustice lawyer Andhra Azevedo said in a written statement.
\u201cIt\u2019s important to bring these issues to court, in order to emphasize that species at risk cannot afford to wait months \u2014 or if we consider the full history of spotted owl decline, decades \u2014 for effective protection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n