Feb 25, 2015 — Go to www.pacificwild.org to take action and go to https://www.change.org/p/save-b-c-wolves
OVER SIXTY CANADIAN AND INTERNATIONAL SIGNATORIES VOICE OPPOSITION TO THE B.C. WOLF KILL IN AN OPEN LETTER TO THE B.C. GOVERNMENT (note: 16 new signators added since Open Letter sent to Premier Feb 25, 2015)
‘B.C. Government scapegoats wolves for its failure to protect caribou habitat’
OPEN LETTER
February 25, 2015
Dear Honourable Premier Clark,
The undersigned conservation organizations and concerned citizens oppose the ongoing inhumane slaughter of wolves by helicopter in the South Selkirk Mountains and the South Peace region. We demand that this killing be immediately halted and that the cost of this slaughter ($575,000) to BC taxpayers be put towards caribou habitat protection.
Your government’s claim that killing wolves will save these caribou populations has no scientific basis as proven by the failure of BC’s wolf “reduction” programs, involving the sterilization, killing, trapping and/or poisoning of wolves. For years, these programs have failed to halt the decline in imperiled caribou populations. Killing more wolves will not miraculously save the caribou.
The caribou populations are declining because for decades your government has failed to adequately protect their habitat. In the Selkirk Mountains, the caribou population has crashed because of logging in addition to snowmobilers, heli-skiers and cat-skiers scaring them off their critical winter feeding grounds. In the South Peace, critical caribou habitat has been destroyed and fragmented by logging, oil and gas development, access roads and coal mines. Recreational users and industrial development can increase wolf populations and their access to caribou, however, studies of wolves in BC and Alberta show that wolves prefer deer to caribou and that the greatest stressor to caribou is human activity. Years of scientific studies have also proven that mountain caribou require large areas of intact wilderness habitat to survive.
We, the undersigned, therefore join our voices with more than 173,400 persons who have signed the #SaveBCWolves petition, and call on the BC government:
• to immediately halt the ongoing inhumane aerial wolf slaughter;
• to develop caribou recovery plans in line with procedures for identifying critical habitat under the federal Species at Risk Act. These plans should include the creation of large intact protected areas in high and low elevation habitat that are off limit to logging, resource extraction and recreational users with buffer zones where minimal industrial or recreational human encroachment is permitted;
• to ensure the recovery plans are implemented through a transparent and open process, including the publication of annual reports compiled by government scientists and peer-reviewed by independent conservation experts;
• to increase the immediate protection of the 18 surviving caribou in the Selkirk Mountains by enforcing all snowmobile closures recommended by government scientists, excluding overlapping heli- and cat-ski tenures from protected caribou habitat and its buffer zones and prosecuting trespassers. Ongoing Snowmobile Management Agreements negotiations with snowmobile clubs should be open to public review and comment.
Sincerely,
See List of Signators
CC.
Honorable Mary Polak, M.L.A., Minister of Environment, [email protected]
Tel: 250 387-1187
Honorable Steve Thomson, M.L.A., Minister of Forestry, Lands and Natural Resource Operations [email protected]
Tel: 250 387-6240
Honorable Bill Bennett, M.L.A., Minister of Energy and Mines[email protected]
Tel: 250 387-5896
Sixty-Two Signators to Open Letter to Premier Clark
Canadian Non-Profit Organizations (5)
Animal Alliance of Canada, Ont’90
Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Ont
Bear With Us Sanctuary, Mike McIntosh, Ont’92
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, Ont’65
Coyote Watch Canada, Ont’08
British Columbia Non-Profit Organizations (17)
Bears Matter, Barb Murray, BC’06
Clayoquot Action Society, BC, ‘13
Friends of Clayoquot Sound, BC’ 79
Friends of Nemaiah Valley, BC’00
Friends Uniting for Nature Society, BC ‘08
Lifeforce Foundation, Peter Hamilton , BC’81
Pacific Wild Alliance, BC’06
Pacific Northwest Collective, BC’14
Purcell Alliance for Wilderness, BC
Save the Cedar League, BC
Sierra Club BC,’75
Silva Forest Foundation, BC’92
Standup4Greatbear, Norm Hann, BC
Valhalla Wilderness Society, BC’75
Wilderness Committee, BC’80
Wolf Awareness Incorporated, BC’87
Yellowhead Ecological Association, BC’71
USA and International Non-Organizations (10)
Animals Asia, China/UK’98
Change for Animals Foundation, UK
Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research,MA, USA’07
IFAW- International Fund for Animal Welfare,Ont ’69
National Wolfwatcher Coalition, MN, USA
N. American Wolf Foundation ( Wolf Hollow),MA USA’88
Predator Defense, OR, USA’90
Spectacled Bear Conservation Society-Peru, BC’2007
Wolf Conservation Centre, NY’99
Zoocheck, Ont’84
Canadian Businesses and Individuals (30)
Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bear Tours, BC
Applied Conservation GIS, Baden Cross, BC
Behavioral & Enviro Solutions, Biologist, Else Poulsen, Ont
Bluewater Adventures Ltd.,BC
Brian Brett, Poet and Novelist, BC
Charlie Russell, Bear Specialist and Author, AB
Ellie Archer, Wildlife Viewing Guide, BC
Evelyn Kirkcaldy, Wildlife Artist, BC
Dr. Faisal Moola, PhD – Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto; Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Toronto
Great Bear Chalet, BC
Grizzly Bear Ranch, BC
Holly Arntzen, Conservationist, Musician, BC
John E. Marriott Wildlife and Nature Photography, AB
Kootenay Reflections, Jim Lawrence, Photographer, BC
Dr. Lorna Crozier, Professor Emerita, OC, BC
Maple Leaf Adventures, Kevin Smith, BC
Mark Leiren – Young, Author, Journalist and Playwright, BC
Natural Art Images, Brad Hill – Photographer, BC
Ocean Adventures Charter Co Ltd., BC
Ocean Light II Adventures Ltd., BC
Dr. Patrick Lane, D. Letters, OC, BC
Dr. Paul Paquet, Wildlife Biologist, AB
Remote Passages Marine Excursions, BC
Robert Bateman, Artist, BC
Ross Peterson, Retired Biologist, BC
Steve Williamson Photography, BC
Susan Musgrave, Masset, Haida Gwaii, BC
Sylvia Dolson, B.C. Animal Welfare Advocate, BC
Watershed Sentinel, BC
Wayne P. McCrory, RPBio, BC
Signators Signed After First Open Letter Sent Feb 25, 2015 (16)
David Polster, M.Sc., R.P.Bio, Ecologist, BC
Genevieve Singleton, Nature Interpreter, BC
Mothership Adventures, BC
Peggy Sowklen, DVM, Artists for Conservation, BC
Vicky Husband, CM, OBC, BC
World Animal Protection Canada, Ont’50 (formerly WSPA)
International Animal Rescue, UK
California Wolf Center, CA
Endangered Species Coalition,DC
Epic-Environmental Protection Information Center, CA
Klamath Forest Alliance, CA
Malcolm R. MacPherson, Ph.D.Retired Scientist, NM
Northeast Wolf Coalition, MA
Watershed Watch Salmon Society, BC
Western Wildlife Conservancy, UT
Wildlands Network. WA
