B.C. group fights for Peace, lower Fraser and Elk Rivers

The location of the proposed Site C Dam on the Peace River

This year, instead of naming the top 10 endangered rivers, as it usually does, the the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia has tightened the focus to just three: the Peace, lower Fraser and Elk.

LINK (via: The Globe and Mail)

Act now to protect BC’s Sacred Headwaters

In 2008, the B.C. government placed a moratorium on fracking plans for coal bed methane in the Sacred Headwaters. This remarkable region is the shared birthplace of three of B.C.’s great wild salmon rivers: the Skeena, Nass and Stikine.

The government moratorium on coalbed methane drilling in B.C.'s Sacred Headwaters is set to expire tomorrow.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT THE SACRED HEADWATERS.

B.C. urged to block planned run-of-river project

Photo: Craig Pettitt

An Alberta company is proposing to build a run-of-river power facility in a globally significant interior temperate rainforest near Revelstoke renowned for its grizzly bears, ancient trees and rich biodiversity including rare lichens and at-risk bull trout.

Environmentalists fought logging plans in the upper Incomappleux River several years ago and are now asking the B.C. government to stop TransAlta’s hydro proposal in its tracks and declare the area a park to complement adjoining Glacier National Park to the north.

LINK (via: The Calgary Herald)

Kettle River tops BC’s Most Endangered Rivers List for 2011

This is the 19th year the the Outdoor Recreation Council of Britsh Columbia has published B.C.'s Most Endangered Rivers report.

For the second year in a row the Kettle River was identified as the number one most threatened river due to new water extraction proposals near its source. The river is already suffering from excessive water withdrawals, so unless greater measures are taken this river may never recover, foreshadowing what many other streams in the region will face with continuing climate change.

BC’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2011

1. Kettle River (water extraction, development)
2. “Sacred Headwaters” of Skeena, Nass and Stikine (coalbed methane)
3. Peace River (hydro-electric dam proposal)  
4. Fraser River, “Heart of the Fraser”(urbanization, industrial development, habitat loss)
5. Kokish River (IPP proposal)
6. Morice (pipeline proposal)
7. Taku River (mining development, road proposal, leachate concerns)
8. Similkameen River (cross border dam proposal)  
9. Elk River (development, increasing selenium levels, wildlife migration issues)  
10. Coquitlam River (excessive sedimentation, urbanization)
11. Bute Inlet Rivers (IPP proposal)
12. Atlin River (impacts of dam and Whitehorse, Yukon energy proposal)

LINK (Via: Spring Creek Film)