Island News & Views
General · 1st December 2008
Ray Grigg
When all else fails, take legal action. This is the strategy being employed by dozens of environmental groups across Canada in a last effort to save endangered species.
Ironically and sadly, the legal action should not be necessary because endangered plants and animals in Canada are supposed to be protected under the comprehensive terms of the federal Species At Risk Act, or SARA as it is known. But, time and time again, the agencies of this country's national government have refused to implement the terms of the act, leaving species in dangerous decline.
Consider the greater sage-grouse that is found only in southwest Alberta and southeast Saskatchewan. Naturalists call it a "spectacular" bird because of its extraordinary mating dance, "one of the most amazing spectacles of the animal world," said Dr. Mark Boyce, a Canadian expert on the bird. In mating season, 20 to 30 males normally meet in a single location known as a "lek", where they dance competitively for days. They inflate their brilliant white chests, display wing and tail feathers, and make a popping sound with special air sacs. The winner of the protracted competition is the one that eventually dances the others to exhaustion and claims the centre of the lek. This bird then claims the nearby females as mates.
The population of the greater sage-grouse has declined from 6,000 to 600 in just a few decades. In 1998, the bird was listed as an endangered species so its habitat should be protected under SARA. Since that time, however, human encroachment together with oil and gas drilling, has diminished its habit range by 96 percent and its active dancing sites from 82 to 17. Ecojustice, an environmental legal group, is leading several other green organizations to federal court to force the federal government to save the bird by protecting its habitat.
Similar legal action has been filed to save the spotted owl in BC. Its original historical population of about 1,000 had plunged to 200 by 1992. Despite numerous passionate appeals by environmentalists, no action was taken. Now, due to continued habitat loss, fewer than 20 birds inhabit BC's southern, old-growth forests, the only ecosystem where the birds can live. Despite a $3.4 million program to capture, breed and release the birds, the government continues to "liquidate" the forests critical for the bird's survival, claims Andy Miller of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. Along with other environmental groups, WCWC has filed legal action under SARA in a final effort to save the last few of the owls.
The Nooksack dace is a very different species living in a very different place. It is an innocuous little fish of less than 10 centimetres long that inhabits only four murky streams in BC's Fraser Valley. It is, however, a unique creation of nature and a crucial indicator species for the health of coho, cutthroat and other fish. It shares the same plight as the greater sage-grouse and the spotted owl. So Ecojustice has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), alleging that the federal ministry has failed to protect the habitat of the Nooksack dace. The lawsuit hopes to establish precedent for at least 20 other endangered species that are not being adequately protected under SARA legislation.
Yet another lawsuit by six environmental organizations is being filed against DFO because of its failure to protect the habitat of resident BC orcas. The lawsuit alleges that PCB contaminants are impairing the health of these orcas and shortages of salmon are causing them to starve. Hydroelectric projects that damage salmon rivers and military sonar testing are related factors. A Killer Whale Recovery Team, composed mostly of orca scientists from Canada and the US, made several "must-do" recommendations two years ago that were apparently disregarded by DFO bureaucrats and political leaders in Ottawa. Said Gwen Barlee of the WCWC, "DFO's decision not to protect critical habitat of resident killer whales is symptomatic of the federal government's widespread failure to implement the Species At Risk Act" (Courier-Islander, Oct. 10/08}. Adds Lara Tessaro, staff lawer at Ecojustice, the lawsuit is only being used as a "last resort" after an unsuccessful two-year battle between concerned scientist and federal government about the need to apply the Species At Risk Act to whales' habitat.
Meanwhile, biologist Alexandra Morton has filed a lawsuit challenging the legal authority of the BC provincial government to regulate fish farms – the lawsuit contends that the responsibility belongs to DFO and this federal agency is not authorized by law to cede its obligations to the province. Because "the responsibility is split between two agencies," contends Morton, "nothing gets done" (Globe & Mail, Sept. 29/08). "The 1988 MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]," says Morton, "is based on the premise that fish farms have no impact on the marine environment" (Ibid.), a situation that is clearly not the case considering the likely devastating impact of sea-lice on wild salmon stocks.
Sea-lice are not the only disturbance linked to open net-pen salmon farming along BC's West Coast: polluted benthic environments, drowned seals and sea lions, shot wildlife, orcas driven away from traditional feeding areas by sonic scare devices. So, although Morton's legal challenge addresses a technicality, it belongs to a pattern of ongoing and widespread environmental abuse that connects to other lawsuits in Canada. As government agencies continue to abdicate their responsibilities under SARA and other legislation, environmental conditions continue to deteriorate, thus provoking environmentalists into the courts as a last resort.
Key wins in the courts could save literally hundreds of endangered species in BC and across Canada. And, as we are slowly learning, the fabric of life on our planet weaves us all together in one indivisible whole. So think of these proliferating legal challenges by environmental groups as the heroic efforts of a few to rescue us all. The complexity of these legal manoeuvres is really that simple.
Ironically and sadly, the legal action should not be necessary because endangered plants and animals in Canada are supposed to be protected under the comprehensive terms of the federal Species At Risk Act, or SARA as it is known. But, time and time again, the agencies of this country's national government have refused to implement the terms of the act, leaving species in dangerous decline.
Consider the greater sage-grouse that is found only in southwest Alberta and southeast Saskatchewan. Naturalists call it a "spectacular" bird because of its extraordinary mating dance, "one of the most amazing spectacles of the animal world," said Dr. Mark Boyce, a Canadian expert on the bird. In mating season, 20 to 30 males normally meet in a single location known as a "lek", where they dance competitively for days. They inflate their brilliant white chests, display wing and tail feathers, and make a popping sound with special air sacs. The winner of the protracted competition is the one that eventually dances the others to exhaustion and claims the centre of the lek. This bird then claims the nearby females as mates.
The population of the greater sage-grouse has declined from 6,000 to 600 in just a few decades. In 1998, the bird was listed as an endangered species so its habitat should be protected under SARA. Since that time, however, human encroachment together with oil and gas drilling, has diminished its habit range by 96 percent and its active dancing sites from 82 to 17. Ecojustice, an environmental legal group, is leading several other green organizations to federal court to force the federal government to save the bird by protecting its habitat.
Similar legal action has been filed to save the spotted owl in BC. Its original historical population of about 1,000 had plunged to 200 by 1992. Despite numerous passionate appeals by environmentalists, no action was taken. Now, due to continued habitat loss, fewer than 20 birds inhabit BC's southern, old-growth forests, the only ecosystem where the birds can live. Despite a $3.4 million program to capture, breed and release the birds, the government continues to "liquidate" the forests critical for the bird's survival, claims Andy Miller of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. Along with other environmental groups, WCWC has filed legal action under SARA in a final effort to save the last few of the owls.
The Nooksack dace is a very different species living in a very different place. It is an innocuous little fish of less than 10 centimetres long that inhabits only four murky streams in BC's Fraser Valley. It is, however, a unique creation of nature and a crucial indicator species for the health of coho, cutthroat and other fish. It shares the same plight as the greater sage-grouse and the spotted owl. So Ecojustice has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), alleging that the federal ministry has failed to protect the habitat of the Nooksack dace. The lawsuit hopes to establish precedent for at least 20 other endangered species that are not being adequately protected under SARA legislation.
Yet another lawsuit by six environmental organizations is being filed against DFO because of its failure to protect the habitat of resident BC orcas. The lawsuit alleges that PCB contaminants are impairing the health of these orcas and shortages of salmon are causing them to starve. Hydroelectric projects that damage salmon rivers and military sonar testing are related factors. A Killer Whale Recovery Team, composed mostly of orca scientists from Canada and the US, made several "must-do" recommendations two years ago that were apparently disregarded by DFO bureaucrats and political leaders in Ottawa. Said Gwen Barlee of the WCWC, "DFO's decision not to protect critical habitat of resident killer whales is symptomatic of the federal government's widespread failure to implement the Species At Risk Act" (Courier-Islander, Oct. 10/08}. Adds Lara Tessaro, staff lawer at Ecojustice, the lawsuit is only being used as a "last resort" after an unsuccessful two-year battle between concerned scientist and federal government about the need to apply the Species At Risk Act to whales' habitat.
Meanwhile, biologist Alexandra Morton has filed a lawsuit challenging the legal authority of the BC provincial government to regulate fish farms – the lawsuit contends that the responsibility belongs to DFO and this federal agency is not authorized by law to cede its obligations to the province. Because "the responsibility is split between two agencies," contends Morton, "nothing gets done" (Globe & Mail, Sept. 29/08). "The 1988 MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]," says Morton, "is based on the premise that fish farms have no impact on the marine environment" (Ibid.), a situation that is clearly not the case considering the likely devastating impact of sea-lice on wild salmon stocks.
Sea-lice are not the only disturbance linked to open net-pen salmon farming along BC's West Coast: polluted benthic environments, drowned seals and sea lions, shot wildlife, orcas driven away from traditional feeding areas by sonic scare devices. So, although Morton's legal challenge addresses a technicality, it belongs to a pattern of ongoing and widespread environmental abuse that connects to other lawsuits in Canada. As government agencies continue to abdicate their responsibilities under SARA and other legislation, environmental conditions continue to deteriorate, thus provoking environmentalists into the courts as a last resort.
Key wins in the courts could save literally hundreds of endangered species in BC and across Canada. And, as we are slowly learning, the fabric of life on our planet weaves us all together in one indivisible whole. So think of these proliferating legal challenges by environmental groups as the heroic efforts of a few to rescue us all. The complexity of these legal manoeuvres is really that simple.