Members of Spuzzum First Nation are B次元官网网址渇uriousB次元官网网址� after the federal government reversed course on an emergency order to protect the endangered northern spotted owl.

Spuzzum Chief James Hobart said his nationB次元官网网址檚 anger comes after the Canadian Wildlife Service, a branch of the Department of Environment, informed him that the federal government would not carry out an emergency order to prevent logging in two watersheds in the Fraser Canyon.

B次元官网网址淐anada got it wrong. They followed the cue of the B.C. government and yet it doesnB次元官网网址檛 have a credible plan when it comes to the spotted owl nor proper consultation with First Nations about what happens in the owlB次元官网网址檚 habitat,B次元官网网址� sad Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart. B次元官网网址淭he provinceB次元官网网址檚 own logging agency, BC Timber Sales, continues to tell companies itB次元官网网址檚 business as usual and they can cut old-growth even in areas targeted for deferrals, that itB次元官网网址檚 up to them to decide. B.C. has turned its back on the last spotted owl.B次元官网网址�

Earlier this year, the Federal Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault said that he would recommend the emergency order to cabinet to protect the spotted owl from imminent threats to its recovery and survival.

However, in a letter announcing the reversal, the federal government is instead endorsing B次元官网网址渁 collaborative approachB次元官网网址� with the Province and Indigenous communities after considering factors such as B次元官网网址渟ocio-economic and legal impacts.B次元官网网址�

The decision comes after an eight month delay, from Guilbeault, to make an emergency order recommendation to cabinet. In January of this year, after Wilderness Committee (WC) petitioned Guilbeault in October 2022, the minister determined that the 2,500 hectares of spotted owl habitat was at risk of being logged within the year. The logging, which takes place in the Fraser Canyon, poses a threat to the birdB次元官网网址檚 wild population recovery B次元官网网址� which Guilbeault acknowledged.

Despite this, the WC said that Guilbeault B次元官网网址渇ailed to make an emergency order recommendation to cabinet for eight months,B次元官网网址� forcing them to launch a court case in June to challenge the delay.

Now, after the cabinetB次元官网网址檚 decision, WC B次元官网网址� represented by Ecojustice, an environmental law charity B次元官网网址� is heading to court next Wednesday (Oct.18) to determine if the ministerB次元官网网址檚 delay in recommending this emergency order to cabinet is permitted under the federal Species at Risk law.

B次元官网网址淭he minister has been required by law since January to recommend an emergency order,B次元官网网址� said Ecojustice lawyer Andhra Azevedo, who is representing WC B次元官网网址淚nstead, the minister spent months B次元官网网址榚ngagingB次元官网网址� with B.C., while B.C. made no new commitments to protect habitat and instead continued to approve logging. To state the obvious, we have emergency orders under the Species at Risk Act to respond to emergencies B次元官网网址� what weB次元官网网址檝e seen by the minister and now cabinet is nowhere close to an emergency response.B次元官网网址�

Currently there are three spotted owls, two males and one female, in the Fraser Canyon. The female was born in the wild. Meanwhile the males, named B次元官网网址榮铆tistB次元官网网址� [te-syst] and B次元官网网址榳铆kcnB次元官网网址� [week-chin], were released on July 25 into the protected habitat in the Fraser Canyon.

Their release, the second to take place, is part of a partnership between the provinceB次元官网网址檚 Spotted Owl Breeding and Release Program and Spuzzum First Nation, to help recover the wild northern spotted owl populations in B.C. S铆tist was originally released in August 2022, with two other males, as part of the programB次元官网网址檚 first release. Unfortunately, he was later found injured near train tracks in the Fraser Canyon. After being rehabilitated by the Orphaned Wildlife Society, he was returned to the programB次元官网网址檚 breeding facility in Langley.

Later, in May of this year, ministry staff confirmed that the two other males had died from unknown causes.

The spotted owls, who are known in SpuzzumB次元官网网址檚 language as Skel煤le? (Northern Spotted Owl is the name given by settlers of Canada), are seen as important relatives of the First Nation community, whose B次元官网网址減resence are indicative of the healthB次元官网网址� of the B次元官网网址渞egionB次元官网网址檚 old-growth forests becasue of its independence on their ecosystems for survial.B次元官网网址�

In the time leading up to the first release, the province worked with the First Nations in B.C. to protect more than 280,000 hectares of spotted owl habitat in the Cascade region under the Spotted Owl Management Plan B次元官网网址� a territory that can support 250 owls. And, in hopes of supporting their populationB次元官网网址檚 recovery, an old-growth logging ban was also extended for part of the Fraser Canyon (where the birds were released) for another two years.

Despite this, WC said that they documented sites where logging took place during the summer. And, with the emergency order rejected, it is believed that continued logging will prevent the recovery of the spotted owlB次元官网网址檚 wild population in B.C.; though the owl population faces a dire situation, Canadian Wildlife Service scientists said that the speciesB次元官网网址� recovery is possible through the reintroduction of the owls into the wild. However, the success of this reintroduction depends on the birds having enough of their old-growth habitat to establish a stable population.

B次元官网网址淒espite scientists and the federal environment minister identifying that B.C.B次元官网网址檚 approved logging posed an imminent threat to the spotted owl, the BC NDP government wants to continue old-growth logging and they have effectively pressured the federal cabinet to allow it,B次元官网网址� said Torrance Coste, the National Campaign Director for WC. B次元官网网址淚f we do lose the spotted owl in Canada, responsibility will sit with Premier David Eby and B.C. ministers like George Heyman and Nathan Cullen B次元官网网址� and the federal cabinet that went along with them.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址� With files from The Canadian Press

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