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Watershed Sentinel Summer 2015 Summer 2015 Vol. 25, No. 3

Land & Wildlife 6 Cry Wolf Habitat losses, not wolves, are killing caribou 12 Nature Needs a New Pronoun What we speak defines how we think 33 Blue Orchard Mason Bees 35 BC’s Great Blue Heron Water & Fish 7 Tanker Barges on the BC Coast Fuel deliveries routed through the Inside Passage 14 BC’s Expensive Fish Farms Briony Penn sums up the subsidies and costs

Forests Society 8 Drought and the Trees 16 Lost in the 21st Century Joyce Nelson explores the link between George Monbiot on the alternative to stuff deforestation and the “invisible river running above us” 28 Young Voters New survey shows that younger Canadians are 11 Not That Professional more progressive Jim Cooperman tells us about a new BC study that shows problems with professional reliance 29 Why I’ve Gone Green Paul Manly on the case against the NDP Soil Feature Section 30 Greens – A Long Shot 19 The Year of Soils Stuart Parker makes the case for Pro-Rep and against voting Green 20 NASA’s Soil Satellite 34 Northern Trappers Alliance 22 For the Love of Peat Metis and Dene speaking out against resource 24 Ancient Carbon in the Air extraction in Saskatchewan 25 Companion Planting with the Garden Giant

26 Microbes in the Arctic Cover Photo by Ian McAllister News & Other 4 Letters 3, 5 News Briefs 12 36 Wild Times Joe Foy on Not a Subscriber Yet? occupied lands Look for the subscription form inserted for your convenience. Printed on Enviro 100, post consumer recycled, 25 FSC®-Certified paper, with vegetable inks. EDITORIAL Growing Goodness In this issue, we salute the UN’s International Year of the Soil, Publisher Watershed Sentinel with stories about the life in the soil, microbes and fungi, the release Educational Society of ancient carbon due to bad land practices, and the beautiful ecologi- Editor Delores Broten cal function of bogs. Managing Editor Susan MacVittie Associate Editor Don Malcolm But as we were going to press, we learned of an astounding study, Graphic Design Ester Strijbos Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change, from the Renewals Manager Dawn Christian Rodale Institute, peer-reviewed science that offers immediate hope for Special thanks to Adrian Raeside, Ian dealing with the intractable climate/fossil fuel dilemma and political McAllister, Karen Birch, Norleen Lillico, Patricia Robison, Arthur Caldicott, Gloria mess. We can grow our way out of this stalemate! Jorg, Dyane Brown, Norberto Rodriguez “Simply put, recent data from farming systems and pasture trials de la Vega, Anicca de Trey, Mike Morrell, around the globe show that we could sequester more than 100% of Kathy Smail, Ray Woollam, the writers, current annual CO emissions with a switch to widely available and advertisers, distributors, and all who send 2 information, photos, and ideas. inexpensive organic management practices, which we term “regenera- Deep thanks to our Board of Directors: tive organic agriculture.” These practices work to maximize carbon Anicca de Trey, Alice Grange, Mike Mor- fixation while minimizing the loss of that carbon once returned to the rell, Norberto Rodriguez de la Vega, Susan soil, reversing the greenhouse effect.” Yates, and Lannie Keller. Published five times per year. As is so often the case with ecology, the science confirms what Subscriptions: Canada $25 one year, our hearts tell us. The organic gardener’s mantra is “Feed the Soil, $40 two years; US $35 per year, Not the Plants.” Electronic only $15 a year No fancy gadgets, no high end geo-engineering, no expensive Distribution by subscription, and to new devices, and, best of all, no poisonous legacy. Friends of Cortes Island and Reach for Unbleached! Free at Vancouver Island Just hard work and common sense, producing healthy food for all and Vancouver area libraries, and by spon- and tending the earth. sorship in BC colleges, universities, and Delores Broten, Comox BC, June 2015 eco-organizations. PS: You can read the study at www.rodaleinstitute.org. If you want to just Member Magazine Assn of BC and Magazines Canada roll up your sleeves and get right to work, we recommend Building Soil: A ISSN 1188-360X Down-to-Earth Approach, from Cool Springs Press (March 2015).

Publication Mail Canada Post Agreement PM 40012720 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: At the ’Shed Welcome! If you have picked up this magazine as part of our new circula- tion initiative on the Langdale ferry, welcome. We hope you find something in these pages that inspires you and that you want to read more. The free distribution is time-limited so if you want to stay in touch, use the subscription form enclosed, or order online at www.watershedsentinel.ca Watershed Sentinel New Masthead: We decided to change up the masthead on the cover and Box 1270, Comox since more and more of our stories are about the junction between environment BC, Canada V9M 7Z8 and social justice, we figured it made sense to emphasize the Sentinel in Water- Ph: 250-339-6117 shed Sentinel. We all live in a watershed...... Email [email protected] http://www.watershedsentinel.ca When you want your message to reach thousands of concerned and active readers, please contact us for our ad rate sheet at: 250-339-6117 Disclaimer: Opinions published are not necessarily those of the publisher, editor or other staff www.watershedsentinel.ca or email: [email protected] and volunteers of the magazine. Next Issue Ad and Copy Deadline: July 20, 2015

Watershed Sentinel Summer 2015 NEWS

Compiled by Susan MacVittie

The Pope Speaks Out ing program. In May, the Sea Shep- tivity has increased since 2009 in the Pope Francis is a strong advo- ard Society filed claims against Ja- central and eastern United States. The cate on behalf of the world’s poor and pan’s Institute for Cetacean Research increase has been linked to industrial vulnerable. He speaks out to protect (ICR) in a US District Court, seeking operations that dispose of wastewa- the environment so as to ensure food a declaration that ICR’s whaling in the ter by injecting it into deep wells. production. The Heartland Institute, Southern Ocean near Antarctica is il- USGS’s studies suggest that the ac- funded by the Koch Brothers, sent legal under international law. tual hydraulic fracturing process is delegates to the Pope’s summit on cli- —Sea Shepherd Society, May 27, 2015 only occasionally the direct cause of mate change, in April, to tell him that earthquakes. “humans are not causing a climate cri- — US Geological Survey sis on God’s green Earth.” The Pope’s April 23, 2015 advisor, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, chastised US climate de- Spain’s Initiative niers, blaming capitalism for their Sharon Mollerus Street lights powered by their views. own wind turbines and solar panels — www.ecowatch.com May 13, 2015 are lighting up a section of Barcelo- na’s sea front as part of the city’s bid Cancer-Causing Glyphosate to become energy self-sufficient. The International Agency for Re- — Reuters, May 26, 2015 search on Cancer has concluded that there is sufficient evidence of carcino- Storing Ice Samples Water Saving Techniques genicity in glyphosate, based on labo- Scientists are planning to ship ice The Millennium Drought in ratory studies. Glyphosate is touted to the Antarctic. They’re afraid that southeastern Australia forced Great- as a low toxicity chemical safer than mountain glaciers around the world er Melbourne, a city of 4.3 million other chemicals. It is widely used in are melting as a result of climate people, to successfully implement food production and on lawns, gar- change and want to store samples of innovations that hold critical lessons dens, parks, and children’s playing ice in a new vault in the coldest place for water-stressed regions around fields. Monsanto brought glyphosate on Earth. “We are probably the only the world, according to findings by to market in the 1970s under the trade scientific community whose archive UC Irvine and Australian research- name Roundup. is in danger of disappearing from the ers. Integrated outreach by utilities —Beyond Pesticides,March 20, 2015 face of the planet,” says Jerome Chap- and agencies working together led to pellaz, of the French National Centre a culture shift among ordinary water Japan Whaling for Scientific Research, which is in- users. An International Whaling Com- volved in creating the new ice storage By the time Australia’s worst- mittee report concludes that Japan in the Antarctic. drought ended in 2010, one in three had not demonstrated that the culling — www.bbc.com, May 27, 2015 Melbourne households had a rainwa- of up to 333 minke whales a year for ter barrel. Many had built retention 12 years was necessary to meet the Ground Shaking ponds to contribute to the urban water research objectives of obtaining more A US Geological Survey (USGS) supply, for which they still earn cred- information on minkes. Japan was report outlines a preliminary set of its on their bills and highly treated forced to suspend its scientific whal- models to forecast how hazardous sewage water was used to irrigate ing program following a landmark ground shaking, triggered by man- farm fields. International Court of Justice rul- made practices, could be in the areas — www.sciencedaily.com ing in 2014. Japan has said they will where sharp increases in seismicity May 26, 2015 continue to pursue a scientific whal- have been recorded. Earthquake ac-

Watershed Sentinel 3 Summer 2015 LETTERS

Foreign Affairs & Mining I just came across your November-December 2014 issue, and I wanted to thank you for David Ravensbergen’s article on the evolution of Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and Canadian mining companies. This article is a clear, quick-to-read piece I can share when informing folks on this topic. I was working for a small Alberta-based non profit called Sahakarini from 2010-2012; they and their excellent international partners lost their Bob Cotter funding in the ideological shifts. Sahakarini continues, but their capacity has been altered drastically. It’s a shame; With your help, the Watershed Sentinel will be pre- their interpretation of international development is so much cious cargo on the BC Ferry Langdale-Horseshoe more appropriate than that of our current government, to Bay run for six months. put it mildly. Thanks again for keeping these examples of The Keep Us Afloat online fundraising cam- political and social changes on the radar. paign hopes to raise the money needed to pay for Tif McNaughton, Terrace, BC BC Ferry placement and the additional print run. We aim to reach some much needed new subscribers with this campaign. And keep our com- Electoral Reform mittment to be the voice of Canada’s environ- Barbara Berger puts forward some well-thought/con- mental movement by spreading the news from vincing arguments for electoral reform in Canada [WS leading thinkers and community members working March/April 2015]. She makes a good argument for some hard on the issues. form of proportional representation over the devastating We will send an email to subscribers with a link to effect of our first past the post system that elects a “major- the online campaign when it goes live. ity” government with less than 40% of the vote. I am, how- For now, we thank you for your support and encour- ever, a bit disappointed that in naming the federal parties agement. that endorse proportional representation, she states that the Together, we will keep print and independent Liberal Party is not in favour of proportional representa- media afloat! tion without letting readers know that the Liberal Party does support preferential ballot as an alternative to first past the post. Such an omission leaves the impression that the tal devastation of the Conservatives, must find a way to Liberal Party is not in favour of electoral reform – which it cooperate for the good of us all – even in the face of op- definitely is – just not the particular brand of electoral re- position by party leaders – by looking for commonality, not complete agreement or merger, by asking what do we have form that she advocates. in common rather than what divides us. We have no big money to pressure the Liberals, New Norm Reynolds, Courtenay, BC Democrats, Greens to find some kind of electoral coopera- tion, so we who are appalled by the social and environmen- The Watershed Sentinel welcomes letters but reserves the WSES AGM - June 22, 1 pm, Comox, BC right to edit for brevity, clarity, legality, and taste. Anonymous letters will not be published. Send your musings The Watershed Sentinel Educational Society (WSES) and your missives to: Annual General Meeting. The WSES publishes the Water- shed Sentinel. This meeting is open to the public. For Watershed Sentinel, Box 1270, Comox BC V9M 7Z8 more information email [email protected] or online : [email protected] or call 250-339-6117. www.watershedsentinel.ca

Watershed Sentinel 4 Summer 2015 NEWS

Compiled by Susan MacVittie

No Ocean Dumping Kinder Morgan Opposition Transport Canada has abandoned Unifor has filed evidence with proposed regulatory changes that the National Energy Board that dem- would have allowed small vessels to onstrates that the proposed Kinder dump sewage just one nautical mile Morgan Trans Mountain expansion from shore, bowing to pressure from for Burnaby, BC poses serious risks local health authorities, water users, to the economy and food security of and water quality advocates. British Columbia. The union is criti- — Fraser RiverKeeper, May 14, 2015 cal of the threat to the commercial fishery and job losses in the refining Haida Win Herring Case industry. Burnaby Mayor Derek Cor- Ester StrijbosEster A federal court has ruled that the rigan is also opposed to the project, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans can- as well as the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Fungicide Review Ignored not open a fishery in Haida Gwaii this who published their own report on the Ecojustice has reactivated a law- year. An injunction was given to the dangers to their traditional territory. suit for the David Suzuki Foundation Haida Nation, against the federal gov- Economist Robyn Allan quit as an ex- and Équiterre challenging the Canadi- ernment, to prevent the re-opening pert intervenor for the NEB saying the an government for shielding the fun- of a commercial herring fishery on review process was “a broken system gicide, difenoconazole, from review. the nation’s north coast. In November and enables the pretence of due pro- The federal government cancelled 2014 the Department of Fisheries and cess where none exists.” plans to carry out a mandatory review Oceans recommended that the herring — Unifor, May 28, 2015 of products containing the pesticide fishery be opened in all five major -ar difenoconazole after Syngenta, the eas of the Pacific Region. The Haida LNG First Nation Decisions manufacturing company, asked the argued that herring stocks had not re- The BC government has revenue- Pest Management Regulatory Agency built enough to support the opening, sharing agreements in place with 28 to terminate the review. Difenocona- and that the department’s manage- First Nations for planned pipelines zole is used in several neonicotinoid ment process was flawed. meant to supply LNG plants on the coast products that are toxic to bees. — Global News, March 6, 2015 of BC. However, an LNG information — Ecojustice, May 14, 2015 meeting in Kispioux was interrupted Appealing GM Salmon by some Gitxsan First Nation members Big Deal on the Mackenzie Ecojustice lawyers, representing opposing the TransCanada Pipeline Alberta and the Northwest Ter- Living Oceans Society and the Ecolo- through their territory. Lax Kw’alaams ritories have signed a legally binding gy Action Centre, have filed evidence First Nation, near Prince Rupert, BC agreement to share and protect the against the federal government’s ap- unanimously rejected a $1-billion cash Mackenzie River watershed, which is proval of genetically modified (GM) offer from Pacific NorthWest LNG. The one of the largest in the world, cover- salmon. The court case was initiated Canadian Environmental Assessment ing 20% of Canada. in 2013 but was delayed because the Agency, is expected to rule on the Pacif- Threats to the watershed include government did not provide its docu- ic NorthWest LNG project by October. climate change, the tar sands and ments until 2015. Environment Can- In May, Premier Christy Clark BC’s hydro dams. ada approved the development and inked a new LNG industry agreement The unique deal makes water lev- manufacture of GM salmon by Aqua- in Vancouver with Malaysian gas giant els and quality the top priority, meas- Bounty in Prince Edward Island in Petronas. uring contaminants and limiting with- 2013. — www.globeandmail May 13, 2015, drawals from the Slave River to 1.9% — Living Oceans Society, www.vancouverobservor.com of annual flow. May 5, 2015 May 20, 2015 — Macleans, March 18, 2015

Watershed Sentinel 5 Summer 2015 WILDLIFE

Wolves blamed for caribou decline, though

Photo by Ian McAllister by Ian Photo studies point to habitat loss

by Susan MacVittie

he first year of the controversial BC wolf cull Indeed, killing wolves has yet to be linked to an in- ended in mid-April. Government-contracted crease in caribou populations. In Alberta, a wolf cull has hunters killed 84 wolves from helicopters, below claimed more than 1000 animals since 2005. An analysis their target of 184 wolves. published in the November, 2014, Canadian Journal of Zo- TThe cull began January 15 in the South Selkirks and ology found the Alberta caribou are just maintaining their the South Peace regions of BC where the BC government numbers, not increasing. says wolves prey on caribou herds with declining popula- There, caribou have been listed as threatened since tions. The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Re- 2002, mainly because much of their boreal forest habitat source Operations says the caribou population in the South has been sliced into small fragments by a web of roads, Selkirks declined from 46 to 14 between 2009 and March, pipelines, clear-cut swathes, and well pads. Moose and 2015, and in the South Peace wolves account for 37 per cent other deer species do well in these open areas, and their of all adult caribou mortalities. Previous methods, such as populations have boomed – supporting an increasing popu- hunting and trapping of wolves have not effectively reduced lation of wolves, which have learned to use the roads and caribou populations. The Ministry reported that 11 wolves pipelines to access caribou in the deep woods. had been shot in the South Selkirks and another 73 killed in Companies in Alberta’s tar sands are scrambling to the South Peace when the hunt ended. find a way to reclaim tens of thousands of kilometres of Ian McAllister of Pacific Wild is one of many who are seismic lines cut into the boreal forest, before provincial critical of the hunt, saying the real problem for caribou is regulations mandating the recovery of endangered caribou habitat destruction. “Killing top predators will harm the habitat are implemented in 2017. Yet the Alberta govern- whole ecosystem and not miraculously save the caribou in ment is still selling off caribou habitat to oil and gas com- the absence of habitat protection.” panies. The province came under fire in March for putting Pacific Wild and Watershed Sentinel were two of 60 21,000 hectares of energy leases in caribou habitat up for Canadian and international signatories to a letter opposing auction, and quickly put the sale on hold – for now. the wolf cull. The letter asked government to halt the wolf Meanwhile, advocates to stop the wolf cull in BC, such cull and put the cost of the slaughter, $575,000, towards car- as Pacific Wild, are using donations to fund an ad campaign ibou habitat protection. It fell on deaf ears and the wolf con- to educate the public about the wolf cull. Though the wolves tinues to be a bloody scapegoat for poor decision making. are safe for now, BC’s wolf cull is meant to be a five year A new report, Witnessing Extinction, studied five BC project and will resume again next winter. caribou herds over 11 years and found that caribou, which If there was ever a time to cry wolf, it is now. are displaced by clearcuts, pipelines, and seismic cut-lines, have had extreme habitat loss due to industrialization. The Action: Letters can be written to the BC Minister of two University of Northern BC scientists and the govern- the Environment. Email: [email protected] ment biologist who authored the report stated that we may Sign petition: www.change.org/p/save-b-c-wolves observe the extinction of the South Peace herds in our life- t time, if industrialization continues at its current rates. Susan MacVittie is managing editor of the Watershed Sentinel.

Watershed Sentinel 6 Summer 2015 OCEAN

Fuel deliveries are routinely routed through the Inside Passage

by Delores Broten

American tanker barges with- vessels are not tankers, but Articu- fic carrying petroleum supplies was out Canadian pilots make dozens of lated Tanker Barges (ATBs) where historical on the coast from the early trips through the Salish Sea, John- the tug is pinned into a large notch in logging days, and that the tug and ston Strait and BC’s northern Inside the transom of its barge, from where barge crews know the local waters so Passage every year, under a waiver it pushes, rather than tows, it through well that they are the main source of granted to the companies by the Pa- the water. The barges are under the recruits to be trained as pilots. cific Pilotage Authority. The 10,000- 40,000 ton deadweight limit (the size ton barges are making fuel deliveries of the Exxon Valdez spill) that the Clean Up from the Anacortes Refinery near TEZ specifies. There is great concern that a spill Bellingham, Washington. Ingmar Lee, who lives on Denny from tankers travelling near the coast Aviation fuel goes to the Kinder Island near Bella Bella, BC, began will do irreparable damage to the Morgan Westridge terminal in Burn- checking ship traffic in his area, us- marine ecosystem. The original drift aby, BC, and then by pipeline to the ing the Automatic Identification Sys- study of oil spills which led to the Vancouver airport. The barges con- tem [the tracking system for marine creation of the TEZ calculated that it tinue up the coast to deliver gasoline would take tugs 18 hours to reach a and diesel to communities in BC and tanker off Estevan Point, midway up Alaska. Each barge carries about 10 Vancouver Island. million litres of gasoline and diesel on Meanwhile, the Western Canada their journey, which occurs three to Marine Response Corporation (WC- four times each month. MRC), funded by shipping companies and oil handling facilities that oper- Tanker Exclusion Zone? ate along the West Coast, is certified Some members of the public mis- to deal with spills up to 10,000 tons, takenly believe the area is protected vessels] (AIS) and is concerned by with a response time within 72 hours. by the voluntary Tanker Exclusion the tankers carrying fuel on the In- Their primary area of concern is the Zone (TEZ) instituted by the Cana- side Passage. Lee said, “I first noticed lower mainland and southern Van- dian government in 1985, after stud- them about three years ago, and I have couver Island, although they do have ies of the impact of a potential oil spill been tracking them regularly over the some equipment in Prince Rupert and off Canada’s west coast. The TEZ is past year as they make their way up run spill response training along the intended to keep oil tankers out of the and down this coast.” [See www.mari- coast. [See wcmrc.com/vessels/] Inside Passage and 100 kilometres off netraffic.com] From the recent experience of a the BC coast. It has been respected by Captain Kevin Obermeyer of the spill in Vancouver, the lack of equip- the US and Canadian Coast Guards Pacific Pilotage Authority told the ment nearby, and the six hour response and the shipping industry for 30 Watershed Sentinel that 26 Ameri- time before booms were deployed, years, although lately petroleum and can and 30 Canadian companies had fears about a spill in the remote coast- condensate for the tar sands have been waivers which exempt them from al areas are justified. shipped across the zone from Prince the requirement of a Canadian pilot, t Rupert to the open Pacific Ocean. including three companies that run Delores Broten is editor of the Technically, the Texas-based oil ATBs. Obermeyer explained that traf- Watershed Sentinel.

Watershed Sentinel 7 Summer 2015 FORESTS

by Joyce Nelson

North America has been in the grip of a weird weather pattern that keeps a high atmospheric pressure system locked in place over the Pacif- ic. This blocking ridge of atmospheric pressure disrupts wind patterns and prevents rainstorms from reaching California, while sending warm, dry air up the West Coast and re-routing the rainstorms farther to the north. Meanwhile, cold air has been moving down from the Arctic and across the northeast, keeping temperatures low and bringing higher precipitation across the East Coast. According to the Globe & Mail (April 3, 2015), “Some climate scientists have suggested that the persis-

A Millwatch Special Report tence of such weather patterns is the From result of a jet stream that has been Reach for Unbleached! www.rfu.org weakened by global warming.” A weakened jet stream could have dire consequences for weather patterns

Forests breathe out the invisible river running above us Photo Hudsön by worldwide – locking in unusual atmospheric patterns for years.

ExxonMobil’s “Solution” with the theme “Water Export: Should British Columbia’s Water Be For Sale?” which attracted delegates from across On June 27, 2012, Rex Tillerson, Chair and CEO of the continent. One of the papers presented by Montana ExxonMobil, gave a speech to the Council on Foreign Re- delegates assessed Canadian legislation pertinent to water lations entitled “The New North American Energy Para- export, naming three pieces of legislation “likely to come digm.” In it, Tillerson discussed the shale oil/gas industry. into play” to impede export – the Navigable Waters Pro- During question time, Tillerson was asked about the mas- tection Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Canadian Environ- sive volumes of freshwater used in fracking – in the midst mental Assessment Review Process. of a severe drought across much of America. Twenty years later, the majority Harper government Tillerson gave a revealing answer. “Water is a big re-wrote the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, concern, I know, to a lot of people,” he said. “They’re wor- made major changes to the Fisheries Act and the National ried about water scarcity. There is plenty of water. It’s just Energy Board Act, and replaced the Navigable Waters not in all the right places. That’s the issue. It’s not that we Protection Act with the Navigation Protection Act. have a water resource problem; we have a water distribu- In January 2013, Greenpeace and the CBC revealed tion problem.” a December 2011 letter from the oil and gas industry re- Tillerson cited freshwater in Canada that flows into questing that the Harper government make changes to the the oceans, implying that it is therefore wasted. Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries The timing of Tillerson’s June 2012 remarks is im- Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act, the National portant, and in order to fully grasp the import, we need to Energy Board Act, the Species at Risk Act, and the Migra- recall a Vancouver conference that occurred in May 1992 tory Birds Convention Act. —J.N.

Watershed Sentinel 8 Summer 2015 FORESTS

Scientists call the atmospheric cycle, long assuming that rain clouds Nobre reported that the 600 ridge that is currently blocking rain form because of evaporation over wa- billion trees in the Amazon forest from California “the Triple R” (the ter-bodies. Instead, they are now re- (through transpiration) transfer “20 Ridiculously Resilient Ridge). Stan- alizing forests and other “greenbelts” billion metric tons of water” into the ford University scientist, Bala Raja- are central to rainfall patterns because atmosphere DAILY in this “river of ratnam, told Counterpunch.org that of “transpiration.” vapor that comes up from the forest such large-scale atmospheric condi- As water expert Maude Barlow and goes into the atmosphere” – an tions “are far more likely to occur told CBC’s “The Current” (March 3), amount greater by volume than the now” because of “large amounts of “the air moving over rainforest carries entire Amazon River. Nobre calls it greenhouse gases” from producing twice as much rain as air coming over “this invisible river running above and burning fossil fuels. a desert or a cut-down forest. So the us.” The Union of Concerned Sci- forest gives off vapours that are called But in the past twenty years, entists recently issued a statement flying rivers – huge areas of humidity the Amazon has lost 763,000 square claiming, “This pattern of intense [that] then travel thousands of kilome- kilometres of forest – an area the size rain and snowstorms and periods of tres. That’s what deposits rain when of two Germanys – and another 1.2 drought is becoming the new normal it’s needed in Sao Paulo [Brazil] and million square kilometres have been in our everyday weather as levels of other places. That is the key here.” degraded. This has decreased for- heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere Barlow is basing that comment est transpiration and has contributed continue to rise.” on the work of Brazilian scientist An- to the lengthening of dry seasons. It But other scientists are factoring tonio Donato Nobre and his team of is also likely a factor in the severe in a different dimension of human ac- researchers at Brazil’s Earth System drought affecting southeast Brazil, tivity that is contributing to drought Science Centre. Nobre issued a report where Sao Paulo (the biggest city in (and weird weather) worldwide. in October 2014 warning that defor- South America) is facing the worst estation of the Amazon is contribut- water shortages in a century, with Flying Rivers ing to droughts and extreme weather water-rationing affecting some six Apparently, western scientists events through the disruption of the million residents. have misunderstood the hydrological “vegetation-climate equilibrium.” Continued on Page 10 

A Horrible Vicious Circle industry uses approximately 50 million barrels of oil (or NGL shale gas equivalent) each year. The “shale gas revolution” prompted the plastics and Truthout reported on March 14, 2014, that Pennsyl- petrochemicals industry in North America to switch away vania regulators determined that between 2008 and 2012, from crude oil as the source of its ethane – the component fracking and other oil/gas development contaminated the used to make ethylene for common plastics like polyethyl- drinking water supplies in at least 161 locations in that ene. The new source for ethane became natural gas liquids state. The people in those locations (and in many other (NGL) derived from fracked shale gas. fracked communities across North America) are now Natural gas liquids (ethane, propane, butane, pentane, forced to rely on bottled water – including those huge isobutene) should not be confused with liquid natural gas plastic “water buffalo” containers – for their everyday (LNG), which is natural gas that has been chilled for tank- water needs. er transport. Obviously, a horrible vicious circle is being created: The leading producers of ethylene include Chevron, fracking increasingly ruins the drinking water of entire ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Dow Chemical and Nova Chemi- communities, who are forced to rely on water bottled in cals. The leading users of ethylene include three beverage plastic made from shale NGLs produced by fracking. companies: Nestle, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. Many of the parent companies contracting the frack- According to the Huffington Post (July 29, 2013), by ers are themselves “vertically integrated” with the plastic 2012 the world-wide bottled water industry was selling makers as petrochemicals businesses – for example, Shell, 50 billion bottles annually. To create the ethylene used for Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and others – so they are profit- those 50 billion plastic bottles, the plastics/petrochemicals ing from all sides of this situation. —J.N.

Watershed Sentinel 9 Summer 2015 FORESTS Nestlé

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the current Chairman and former CEO of Nestlé, has stated that “to believe you have a right to water” is “an extreme belief.” He Drought continued has also been quoted as saying that “water should not be a public right” but “should be something only the wealthy have access to.” Nobre told The Guardian (Oct. As the leading supplier of bottled water worldwide, Nestlé is currently un- 31, 2014), “Studies more than 20 years der fire for its water takings at sites in drought-stricken California, and for the ago predicted what is happening with ridiculously low price it will pay for groundwater in BC as of 2016 – $2.25 per lowering rainfall. Amazon deforesta- million litres. According to Reuters (April 2), Quebec currently charges $70 tion is altering climate. It is no longer and Nova Scotia $140 for that amount of groundwater. In 2013, Nestlé bottled about [computer] models. It is about 265 million litres of water in BC and paid nothing for it. Much of that ground- observation.” water was taken from First Nations Sto:lo territory: without consultation. A December 2014 study by sci- Nestlé has dozens of water extraction sites across North America for its entists at the University of Virginia many bottled water brands: Perrier, San Pellegrino, Arrowhead, Ozarka, Ice found that deforestation can disrupt Mountain, Zephyrhills, Pure Life, Deer Park, Poland Springs. The company’s rainfall patterns thousands of miles takings of water in the Great Lakes region alone result in more than $500,000 away. per day in profit. —J.N. Global Forest Watch recently reported that the world lost more than 18 million hectares (650,000 square there’s no more rain, there’ll be noth- caused by the widespread elimination miles) of tree cover in 2013 – with ing to drink, or to eat?” of trees and perennial vegetation like Russia and Canada at the top of the Nobre says he was astounded by Prairie grasslands – “the taking down deforestation list. Because of all this this statement because “we [scientists] of the grasses created the drought.” forest loss, Nobre says the “vegeta- are starting to get to this conclusion, Barlow has written elsewhere, “... de- tion-climate equilibrium is teetering which he already knows!” stroying water-retentive landscapes is on the brink of the abyss.” Nonetheless, Davi Kopenawa’s in and of itself a major cause of cli- declamation bothered Nobre at mate change,” but that fact “is not part “Vegetative-Climate the time because, as he puts it, the of the analysis or discussion in cli- Equilibrium” Yanomami tribal people have never mate change circles,” which primarily In a 2014 speech, Nobre ex- deforested, so how could they know focus on the burning of fossil fuels. plained that while he was researching its effects on rain patterns? The ques- In BC, thousands of hectares of all this, he attended a public decla- tion bugged Nobre until finally he industrial forest land are waiting to mation given by Davi Kopenawa, a met Davi Kopenawa at another event be replanted. Doing this wisely could representative of the Yanomami tribe and asked him, “Davi, how did you have multiple benefits, not just for the who live deep in the Amazon. As No- know that if the forest was destroyed, province but the planet. bre tells it, Davi Kopenawa basically there’d be no more rain?” He replied: The National Gardening Asso- said, “Doesn’t the white man know “The spirit of the forest told us.” ciation website states that on a sunny that, if he destroys the forest, there Nobre says “For me, this was a summer afternoon, an average-size will be no more rain? And that, if game changer, a radical change.” No- backyard maple tree transpires “more bre is now urg- than fifty gallons [of water] per hour” ing the massive into the local climate. All plants tran- replanting of for- spire, and Antonio Donato Nobre re- ests to “reverse fers in his speech to a colleague in In- climate change, dia, Suprabha Seshan, who is involved including global in rebuilding ecosystems. Her motto, warming.” he says, is “Gardening back the bio- As Maude sphere.” Barlow told CBC t Radio’s The Cur- Joyce Nelson is an award-win- rent, scientists ning freelance writer/researcher and now understand the author of five books. that the Dust Photo by Hudsön: https://www.flickr.com/photos/_ Bowl of the Dirty hudson_/4163567741/in/photolist-dywNuP-7kVnCH-9g5Vbg- Thirties was 8z8PX5-aTvmr

Watershed Sentinel 10 Summer 2015 THE LAND Not That Professional New BC study reveals problems with professional reliance

by Jim Cooperman

In 2002, I wrote an article for the Watershed Sentinel are optional, and the failure to apply adaptive management. that sharply criticized the then-new “results based” forestry Yet many of the interviewees said the system is here to stay legislation, because it would entrench corporate control of and simply needs to be fixed to be credible and reliable. BC’s forests. In February, a study Professional Reliance Of particular concern are the regulatory systems for and Environmental Regulation in BC by the University of forestry and riparian development, which are “unduly Victoria Environmental Law Centre, has determined that loose” and fail to address concerns such as proper tree and the province’s deregulation efforts, for most industrial sec- foliage buffers between water bodies and logged areas – a tors, has “gone too far” in moving resource management concern also raised recently by the BC Ombudsperson. decisions to industry. The regulatory system that oversees mining in BC has The goal for the BC Liberal government was to reduce broad discretionary powers that retain a significant degree red tape, ease regulatory restrictions, and thus lower costs of government authority. However, the system also relies on for industry. The principle of professional reliance is now the expertise and diligence of professional engineers to in- applied to most sectors, including forestry, mining, sewage spect and report on tailings dam safety issues. It is unclear management, water supply, pesticide use, landfill use, dam whether they have power or authority to require mining safety, and riparian areas management. operations to make changes needed to protect the environ- The study evaluated eight of the 27 professional reli- ment, which was a factor in the Mount Polley disaster. ance regimes against ten criteria essential to good man- The report recommendations for improving profes- agement. The results vary from poor for such activities as sional reliance, included plugging loopholes, addressing riparian areas management and forestry, to good for con- conflicts of interest, incorporating better checks and bal- taminated site remediation. ances, improving environmental performance, restoring governmental approvals and thereby increasing public Conflict of interest confidence. These reforms should be developed and tested In many cases, professional reliance puts the profes- prior to any further expansion of professional reliance. sional in a conflict of interest. While the professional’s Within the environmental community, the impact of supposed first responsibility is to represent the standards the BC government’s concerted effort to deregulate for- and ethics of their governing association, they also must est management and hand it over to industry has resulted protect the interests of their employers, or risk losing their in what could be termed defeatism. Along with the forest job. With government oversight now gone, decisions are fo- service, the public is unable to have any idea where log- cused on ensuring continued profits rather than on protect- ging will take place or how it will be done. All we can hope ing the interests of the public owners of the resources. for is that the land use plans we worked so hard to create The study was based in part on interviews with biolo- along with industry and gists, foresters, engineers, agrologists, and technicians as government are being fol- well as individuals and representatives of professional asso- lowed. ciations. A government working group in 2012 also raised t many of the concerns identified. Overall, professional reli- Full report: www.elc. ance is seen as a euphemism for deregulation that provides uvic.ca/documents/Pro- industry with too much control over public resources by fessional-Reliance-and- removing important checks and balances. Environmental-Regula- The report identifies a litany of problems, including the tion-in-BC_2015Feb9.pdf loss of expertise within government, lack of confidence in government monitoring and enforcement, inability of the Jim Cooperman is public to access monitoring reports, reluctance of govern- president of the Shuswap ment to investigate environment incidents, user conflicts, Environmental Action an increase in “grey areas” because standards of practice Society, www.seas.ca

Watershed Sentinel 11 Summer 2015 SOCIETY

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Singing whales, talking trees, dancing bees, birds who Indigenous Ways make art, fish who navigate, plants who learn and remem- Objectification of the natural world reinforces the no- ber. We are surrounded by intelligences other than our own, tion that our species is somehow more deserving of the gifts by feathered people and people with leaves. But we’ve for- of the world than the other 8.7 million species with whom gotten. There are many forces arrayed to help us forget – we share the planet. Using “it” absolves us of moral respon- even the language we speak. sibility and opens the door to exploitation. When Sugar Ma- I’m a beginning student of my native Anishinaabe lan- ple is an “it” we give ourselves permission to pick up the guage, trying to reclaim what was washed from the mouths saw. “It” means it doesn’t matter. of children in the Indian Boarding But in Anishinaabe and many oth- Schools. Children like my grandfather. er indigenous languages, it’s impossible So I’m paying a lot of attention to gram- to speak of Sugar Maple as “it.” We use mar lately. Grammar is how we chart re- the same words to address all living be- lationships through language, including ings as we do our family. Because they our relationship with the Earth. are our family. Imagine your grandmother standing What would it feel like to be part at the stove in her apron and someone of a family that includes birches and says, “Look, it is making soup. It has beavers and butterflies? We’d be less gray hair.” We might snicker at such a mistake; at the same lonely. We’d feel like we belonged. We’d be smarter. time we recoil. In English, we never refer to a person as “it.” In indigenous ways of knowing, other species are rec- Such a grammatical error would be a profound act of disre- ognized not only as persons, but also as teachers who can spect. “It” robs a person of selfhood and kinship, reducing inspire how we might live. We can learn a new solar econ- a person to a thing. omy from plants, medicines from mycelia, and architecture And yet in English, we speak of our beloved Grand- from the ants. By learning from other species, we might mother Earth in exactly that way: as “it.” The language al- even learn humility. lows no form of respect for the more-than-human beings Colonization, we know, attempts to replace indigenous with whom we share the Earth. In English, a being is either cultures with the culture of the settler. One of its tools is a human or an “it.” linguistic imperialism, or the overwriting of language and

Watershed Sentinel 12 Summer 2015 SOCIETY

names. Among the many examples of linguistic imperial- earthly relatives. On a crisp October morning we can look ism, perhaps none is more pernicious than the replacement up at the geese and say, “Look, kin are flying south for the of the language of nature as subject with the language of winter. Come back soon.” nature as object. We can see the consequences all around Language can be a tool for cultural transformation. us as we enter an age of extinction precipitated by how we Make no mistake: “ki” and “kin” are revolutionary pro- think and how we live. nouns. Words have power to shape our thoughts and our actions. On behalf of the living world, let us learn the gram- Language – The Path to Sustainability mar of animacy. We can keep “it” to speak of bulldozers Let me make here a modest proposal for the transfor- and paperclips, but every time we say “ki,” let our words mation of the English language, a kind of reverse linguistic reaffirm our respect and kinship with the more-than-human imperialism, a shift in worldview through the humble work world. Let us speak of the beings of Earth as the “kin” they of the pronoun. Might the path to sustainability be marked are. by grammar? Language has always been changeable and adaptive. t We lose words we don’t need anymore and invent the ones Originally published in YES! magazine, Spring 2015. we need. We don’t need a worldview of Earth beings as Robin Wall Kimmerer is the founding director of objects anymore. That thinking has led us to the precipice the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment at the of climate chaos and mass extinction. We need a new lan- SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her guage that reflects the life-affirming world we want. A new book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific language, with its roots in an ancient way of thinking. Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Edi- If sharing is to happen, it has to be done right, with tions) was published in October 2014. mutual respect. So, I talked to my elders. I was pointedly reminded that our language carries no responsibility to heal the society that systematically sought to exterminate it. At Watershed Sentinel the same time, others counsel that “the reason we have held on to our traditional teachings is because one day, the whole Bundle Bargains world will need them.” I think that both are true. English is a secular language, to which words are added at will. But Anishinaabe is different. Fluent speaker and spiritual teacher Stewart King reminds us that the language is sacred, a gift to the People to care for one another and for Sponsor the Creation. It grows and adapts too, but through a careful protocol that respects the sanctity of the language. A bundle of western Canada’s independent environmental He suggested that the proper Anishinaabe word for be- news magazine for your organization, a local gathering ings of the living Earth would be Bemaadiziiaaki. I wanted place, or library. If you want a bundle, we may also be able to match willing donors with eager eco-centres, schools or to run through the woods calling it out, so grateful that this libraries that need sponsorship. The magazines come as a word exists. But I also recognized that this beautiful word bundle to one address for as little as $1.20 a copy. would not easily find its way to take the place of “it.” We need a simple new English word to carry the meaning offered by the indigenous one. Inspired by the grammar of animacy and with full recognition of its Anishinaabe

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OrderToday – Environmental News from BC and the World roots, might we hear the new pronoun at the end of Be- March/April 2009 Environmental News from BC and the World Newstand Price $4.50 November/December 2008 Newstand Price $4.50 Mega The maadiziiaaki, nestled in the part of the word that means ProbleMs ega - 5 $40 M Fix END of – Changing the Vote ? – Bute Battle PRICE Eat Globally, – Saving Caribou land? Inside: Get Sick – Free Trade with Colombia? E&N – History of a Rip Off Locally Waste Not, Want Not 10 $70 Rights for the Earth “Ki” to signify a being of the living Earth. Not “he” Gordo Goes for Gold! 15 $100 Vol 18 No 5 ISSN 1188-360X or “she,” but “ki.” So that when we speak of Sugar Maple, Vol 19 No 2 ISSN 1188-360X we say, “Oh that beautiful tree, ki is giving us sap again 20 $125 www.watershedsentinel.ca this spring.” And we’ll need a plural pronoun, too, for those 25 $150 Earth beings. Let’s make that new pronoun “kin.” So we or use the insert form 50 $300 Number of copies for five issues (1year) can now refer to birds and trees not as things, but as our Note single copy subscription =$25

Watershed Sentinel 13 Summer 2015 FISH

Government is propping up fish farms despite the high costs

by Briony Penn of federal regulations to allow indiscriminate use of new On the afternoon of February 10, 2015 a whale watch- chemicals to fight the lice, and the continued muzzling of ing boat docked at Port McNeill, BC, packed with 48 Mal- government scientists, there are reasons to be concerned. colm Islanders from the small village of Sointula. On the lower Vancouver mainland, Stolo First Na- They weren’t whale watchers; these were shrimp fish- tion activist Eddy Gardner is gathering steam encourag- ermen, fishing lodge operators, First Nations people, resi- ing groups to boycott Costco, Walmart, and other stores dents, members of local organizations, and biologist Alex with his online Farmed Salmon Boycott kit with easy in- Morton, who were coming to an open house of Grieg Sea- structions for anyone to get started to stage your own boy- food – the company that is proposing an expansion of two cott. The Change.org petition to ban salmon feedlots is at salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago that would set 106,000 and rising. a precedent of replacing shellfish tenures with finfish. The Back in Port McNeill, Curry pointed out the obvious reason the islanders were delivered by a whale watching to officials, given that one of the recommendations of the boat was because the meeting was scheduled at the time Cohen Commission was to put a moratorium on salmon when the ferry only carries dangerous cargo. farm expansion in the Discovery Islands – south of the Some might argue that the residents were the dangerous Broughton-Archipelago – to assist the Fraser sockeye cargo. According to Gord Curry of Living Oceans Society, migration: “It isn’t a stretch of logic that what’s good for the islanders, determined to have their voices heard, found Fraser salmon is good for Knight Inlet salmon.” And that their own transportation to Port McNeill and delivered their is what’s at stake with the Grieg applications: a safe mi- message loud and clear: No more open net salmon farms; gratory route for the Knight Inlet salmon, and the loss of closed containment systems are the answer. Locals pointed productive shrimping grounds. Fishermen of Sointula who to the Namgis First Nation down the road that has set up the rely on that productivity stand to lose their livelihoods with first land-based closed containment systems in the region no compensation.” and has been delivering farmed salmon for nearly a year with no risk to wild salmon. The open house was intended Fish Farm Expansion to be a little tête-à-tête with industry representatives, but Meanwhile, over on the west side of Vancouver Island, it quickly changed into a town hall meeting where people Clayoquot Sound fish farm watchers, like Clayoquot Ac- voiced their concerns collectively. tion’s Bonny Glambeck, continue to tussle with the planned The same calls of alarm are echoing around the coast expansion of two new Atlantic salmon feedlots in Millar as the industry is poised to expand open-net salmon farm- Channel and Herbert Inlet. There are currently 21 fish farm ing four-fold. With the recommendations of the $26 mil- sites in the Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, lion BC Cohen Commission (tasked to find answers to the and Cermaq, a big player in the Sound, wants to add another disappearing Fraser sockeye in 2012) still mostly unimple- farm to Millar Channel, which already suffered major die- mented, the increasing volatility of viruses and other patho- offs from infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) gens, the declining efficacy of sea lice drugs, the slashing in 2012, and from an algal bloom in 2014.

Watershed Sentinel 14 Summer 2015 FISH

Herbert Inlet is at the gateway to the Moyeha River, one Fish Virus and Sea Lice of the last intact watersheds on Vancouver Island, through One of the independent scientists whose questions and which spawning fish enter and smolts leave. According to research have been rejected by the Science Advisory Secre- Glambeck, the issue is simple: “Salmon populations are tariat is Alexandra Morton, who has published extensively crashing in pristine watersheds – coincidentally where all in peer-reviewed journals like Science and posts monthly the fish farms are. So why wouldn’t we be implementing updates on her work with viruses and sea lice. She has been everything we learned from the Cohen Commission before continuously testing for one of the most dangerous virus- we start expanding this industry? The recommendation of es, Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA), a strain of which hit Cohen was not to have farms on migration routes and Her- Chilean fish farms with devastating results in 2007-2009. bert Inlet, for one, is on a migration route.” The Cohen Commission revealed evidence of strains of One of Cohen’s recommendations was for DFO to re- ISA in farms from Clayoquot Sound (reported by a DFO view and change the siting criteria and analyze all current lab). As Morton attests, “We have learned from the Cohen licenses to meet the new criteria. According to the federal Commission that several government labs have produced Department of Fisheries and Oceans positive tests for the ISA virus in BC. (DFO), it is now poised to release its Last fall the Canada Food Inspection new licencing regulations and will be Agency made an announcement that open for business. DFO will now be they couldn’t find ISA virus on the evaluating new marine finfish aqua- coast. I’ve asked them to detail their culture applications (other than the methods but they won’t provide them. Discovery Islands area and the north I continue to do work with the east- coast where the provincial 2008 mora- ern lab [that tested positive results for torium is in place) “through the lens of ISA in supermarket-bought fish] and I environmental sustainability and en- hope to publish the results.” gagement with First Nations and other In order to bring attention to stakeholders.” the severity of the problem, Morton In an effort to expand the social licence for fish farm- launched a lawsuit with Ecojustice last December, based ing, DFO set up the Aquaculture Management Advisory on a 2007 confidential memo in which the provincial vet Committee (AMAC). Craig Orr, long-time advocate with in charge of farmed salmon told the minister that BC is at Watershed Watch, was invited to serve on the commit- low risk from ISA because BC doesn’t import live salmon tee but quickly dropped out, claiming it was “a sham.” He eggs. He wrote that memo at the time when his colleagues stated, “In particular, that there wasn’t a broad enough sci- in DFO were filing reports on the importation of 28 million ence input into AMAC. DFO said that their own scientists live Atlantic salmon eggs into BC. As Morton recounts, “I would be the only representation. The Cohen Commission asked the College of Veterinarians to investigate twice and specifically identified that DFO’s science mandate was too they refused, so I went to Ecojustice.” [Update: In May, the narrow and conflicted in terms of them wanting to expand Federal Court of Canada handed down the decision that the industry and that is exactly what they are doing now.” “DFO has been unlawfully allowing the salmon farming DFO refutes these allegations. It claims the federal industry to transfer farmed salmon into marine net pens government respects the 2008 moratorium in the north and that are carrying diseases with the potential to “severely that it takes a “science-based approach to the management impact” the wild fishery at an international level.” See of aquaculture in British Columbia, including consideration www. alexandramorton.typepad.com] of both DFO and non-DFO research.” Morton’s early research focused on the sea lice issue. Glambeck also turned down a seat on the advisory As she notes “The salmon fish farm industry is in a drug committee which hosts seven industry reps, two industry war with sea lice that they are losing around the world. associations, two local government reps, seven First Na- There is a myth in BC that says sea lice are not a problem tions and, ostensibly, three environmental non-governmen- here, but it is not true. They are currently using drugs to tal organizations’ (ENGOs) representatives. No ENGOs suppress them .... But a life on drugs never works. Compa- have accepted the invitation. Why? The advisory commit- nies are certainly looking for new drugs.” tee is tightly controlled, as are the questions that come be- In response to diseased fish invading Norwegian sport- fore it for review. fishing waters and apparently intractable sea lice drug prob-

Continued on Page 27 

Watershed Sentinel 15 Summer 2015 SOCIETY Photo Ester by Strijbos

Consumerism has by George Monbiot broken its promise. A woman walks into a department Perhaps now we can is an emergent property of a world reliant store. She takes in the racks and stacks begin to reconnect. on rising consumption to avert economic of stuff, the sugared music, the sale signs, collapse, saturated with advertising and the listless customers shuffling through framed by market fundamentalism. We in- the aisles, and is moved – suddenly and to her own astonish- habit a planet our ancestors would have found impossible ment – to shout, “Is this all there is?!” An assistant comes to imagine: seven billion people, suffering an epidemic of round from behind his till. “No madam. There’s more in loneliness. It is a world of our making but not of our choice. our catalogue.” Now it appears that the feast to which we were invited is only for the few. Figures released last week show that This is the answer we have been given to everything, wages in the United Kingdom are lower than they were 13 the only answer. We might have lost our attachments, our years ago. A fortnight ago, Oxfam revealed that the top 1% communities, our sense of meaning and purpose, but there now possesses 48% of the world’s wealth; by next year it will be more money and more stuff with which to replace will own as much as everybody else put together. On the them. Now that the promise has evaporated, the size of the same day, an Austrian company unveiled its design for a void becomes intelligible. new superyacht. It will be built on the hull of an oil tanker, It’s not that the old dispensation was necessarily bet- 918 feet long. There will be 11 decks, three helipads, thea- ter: it was bad in different ways. Hierarchies of class and tres, concert halls and restaurants, electric cars to take the gender crush the human spirit as effectively as atomiza- owner and his guests from one end of the ship to the other, tion. The point is that the void that was filled with junk is and a four-storey ski slope. a void that could have been occupied by a better society, In 1949, Aldous Huxley wrote to George Orwell, to built on mutual support and connectedness, without the sti- argue that his dystopian vision was the more convincing. fling stratification of the old order. But the movements that “The lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by helped to smash the old world were facilitated and co-opted suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging by consumerism. and kicking them into obedience .… The change will be Individuation, a necessary response to oppressive con- brought about as a result of a felt need for increased effi- formity, is exploitable. New social hierarchies, built around ciency.” I don’t believe he was wrong. positional goods and conspicuous consumption, took the place of the old. The conflict between individualism and Lotus Eating egalitarianism, too readily ignored by those who helped to Consumerism is at odds with common purpose: you break the oppressive norms and strictures, does not resolve could pay your taxes or you could spend the money on a itself. new car. It stifles feeling, dulling our concern for other people. Freedom to spend displaces other freedoms, as lotus An Epidemic of Loneliness eating allows us to forget our losses. Most forms of peace- So we are lost in the 21st Century, living in a state of ful protest are now banned, but no one stops us from de- social disaggregation that hardly anyone desired, but that vouring the resources upon which future generations will

Watershed Sentinel 16 Summer 2015 SOCIETY

depend. All this helps the global oligarchs to rip holes in the the natural world. It is looking, for example, at new models social safety net, find relief from the constraints of both defor urban living, based on sharing rather than competitive mocracy and taxation, and enclose and privatize our com- consumption: the sharing not just of cars and appliances mon weal. and tools, but also of money (through credit unions and Just as human society has been pulled apart by con- micro-finance) and power. This means community-led de- sumerism and materialism, pushing us into an unprec- cision-making, over transport, planning and, perhaps, rent edented Age of Loneliness, so ecosystems have been shat- levels, minimum and maximum wages, municipal budgets tered by the same forces. It is the consumer- and taxation. Such initiatives are not a sub- ist mindset, raised to the global scale, that stitute for government action – like David now threatens us with climate breakdown, Cameron’s Big Society they are meaning- catalyses a sixth great extinction, imperils less without facilitation from the state – but global water supplies, and strips the soil they can bring people together with a sense upon which all human life depends. of shared purpose, ownership and mutual But nor do I believe that the acceptance support that centralized decision-making of servitude Huxley envisaged is a perma- can never provide. nent state. Wage stagnation, the brutality Friends of the Earth also supports the of the new conditions of employment, the empathy revolution championed by the au- breaking of the link between educational thor Roman Krznaric, and lifelong educa- attainment and social advancement, the im- tion that might counter the ever narrower possibility, for many young people, of find- schooling now inflicted on our children, ing good housing, all these confront us with whose purpose is to prepare people for jobs the question that could be deferred only they will never have, in the service of an during conditions of rising general prosper- economy ordered for the benefit of others. ity: is this all there is? In these ideas and movements we find As the growth of the European anti- the glimmerings of an answer to the ques- austerity parties Syriza and Podemos suggests, we cannot tion: no, this is not all there is. There is attachment. Despite build political movements to challenge these issues unless the best efforts of those who believe there is no such thing we also build society. It is not enough to urge people to as society, we have not lost our ability to connect. change their politics: we must create not only communities of interest but also communities of mutual support, offer- t ing the security, survival and respect that the state will no longer provide. Originally published in the Guardian, February 4, In a remarkable series of contemplations, extending 2015, www.guardian.co.uk beyond its familiar brief, Friends of the Earth has begun to George Monbiot is a journalist with the UK Guardian explore how we might reconnect, with each other and with and blogs at www.monbiot.com

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Watershed Sentinel 17 Summer 2015 fao.org/soils-2015 SOIL

by Tsiporah Grignon

“Eating is an agricultural act” is a simple, yet profound to expect nutritionally deficient soils to produce more and statement from naturalist poet and lifelong advocate of the more food. small family farm, Wendell Berry. Still, the chemical companies convinced governments The UN’s Food and Agriculture Association has desig- they could do better than nature. Genetically engineered nated 2015 as the International Year of Soils. Events are be- food was hailed as a scientific and technological breaking organized in over 30 countries to address the continued through - and “the way to feed the world.” toxic overload and abuse of our soil. At a recent food forum on Gabriola Island, BC, one The process of soil degradation began in the middle organic farmer said that even organic food may be mineral of the 20th century when big business got involved with deficient, due to contamination of the water supply from growing food, creating industrial agriculture. The practice glyphosates that inhibit the uptake of minerals. She remind- of monoculture was widely adopted – growing single crops ed us to focus on what to put back into the soil, to feed and intensively on a very large scale. Today, this is how most encourage the microbes and the friendly life-giving bacte- wheat, corn, soy, rice, and cotton are grown. rias. Another farmer, who uses permaculture techniques, In order to grow a single crop in the same place every referred to industrial farming that has made topsoil “North year, it became necessary to replenish nutrients in the soil America’s largest export in the last hundred years – up to that were depleted by the practice of mono-cropping. In five feet of it in the prairies, truckload after truckload.” this way, chemical One method of soil fertilizers became regeneration being cur- indispensable. But rently emphasized is there was more to no-till farming, which industrial farming. sequesters carbon in the Pests and weeds soil. In essence, plants have always been a release oxygen; when nuisance to farmers. we till the soil, carbon And since a single is exposed to the atmos- crop is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant for pests, it be- phere, allowing some of it it to combine chemically with the came necessary to kill pests through the practice of aerial oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide (CO2). Tilling also spraying of chemicals. This was also done to kill weeds. destroys mycorrhyzae, worms and other soil life, as well as Never before in human history has the drive to sell poi- letting water evaporate instead of returning to the aquifers sonous chemicals for massive profits dictated the future of and hydrating plants. Storing carbon in the soil has other our soil. The system of monoculture, propped up by appli- positive results, such as reducing soil erosion and improv- cation of toxic substances, destroys microscopic creatures, ing the overall health of the ecosystem. healthy bacteria and fungi in the soil, which are nature’s There is a global movement saying “No” to corporate helpers that nurture and maintain life-giving soil integrity. control of food and agriculture, and saying “Yes” to organ- The most widely used chemical herbicide is Monsanto’s ics and soil renewal. In this Year of Soils, may we cultivate notorious Round-up, whose active ingredient is glyphosate. reverence for the living soil that supports and sustains us. There is now ample evidence that glyphosate has become a t serious threat – to the soil, to the plant, and to the health of Tsiporah Grignon writes about our food supply and has those that eat plants treated with Roundup. organized Food Forums on Gabriola Island, BC that bring We recognize that a modern industrial farm has been together Island producers and consumers. described as “a place where petroleum turns into food.” We observe that thousands of years of poor land management, Sponsored by such as over-ploughing and overgrazing, has led to soil ero- glasswaters sion, and ultimately to desertification. Surely it is absurd foundation

Watershed Sentinel 19 Summer 2015 SOIL

NASA begins a three year mission to collect soil moisture data

by Catherine DeLong

Dara Entekhabi, a hydrologist and faculty member at the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, reminds us that “Earth is a unique place.” It is the only planet (that we are aware of) where “water exists in all three phases: liquid, solid and vapor.” This lucky position is maintained because of the cozy distance of the Earth’s orbit to the sun, as well as the protec- tive blanket of our atmosphere. The sun also provides the energy source for these phase transitions; the sun heats the land and liquid water evaporates from the surface before re-condensing as clouds in the atmosphere. Whenever water changes forms, energy is either used or released which, as En- tekhabi points out, means “the hy- drologic cycle is a major conveyor of energy.” Running parallel to the global water and energy cycles is the carbon cycle. The sun’s radiation is used by Earth’s plant community to biochemically combine carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) and water to produce plant matter. The water needed for plants to

Watershed Sentinel 20 Summer 2015 Photo NASA by SOIL

complete this photosynthetic process is stored in the porous Reaching Into the Boreal Forest medium that anchors their roots – the soil. Soil moisture, Perhaps the most highly anticipated contribution of the a component of the water and energy cycles, regulates the soil moisture data will be in the boreal forests, the vast, per- carbon cycle by managing plant growth. ‘Soil moisture is ennially frozen biome which covers the northern reaches of the piece of the water cycle which links the energy and car- Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ja- bon cycles,’ states Entekhabi. And together, ‘these three cy- pan. This region, which spans 16 million square kilometres, cles maintain life on Earth.’ “is the on/off switch for the carbon cycle” according to En- tekhabi. Soils in the boreal forests are very cold and often SMAP Satellite frozen at some point during the year. Cold soils slow down On January 31, 2015 the Soil Moisture Active Passive, the carbon cycle, and frozen soils almost completely stop (SMAP) satellite was launched on a three year mission to the release of carbon into the atmosphere. SMAP, by ob- observe and collect global soil mois- serving the length of the annual thaw in ture data to a 5 centimetre depth. Dara this region and ensuing flux of atmos- Entekhabi is the lead scientist for the pheric carbon dioxide, will be able to SMAP mission, and has been work- gauge the rate at which climate change ing on its realization for over a decade. is occurring. In Entekhabi’s words, SMAP is one of the first satellites to be “the longer you leave the lights on, the developed by the National Aeronaut- more energy goes into the system.” ics and Space Administration (NASA) By orbiting at 685 kilometres in response to a National Research above the Earth, SMAP is gathering Council survey to assess top priority global soil moisture data at a scale that space-based Earth observations. Soil would be unfeasible on the ground. moisture received such high priority The boreal forest, were it a country, because of the insights it may provide would be the second largest after Rus- into the water, energy and carbon cy- Photo NASA by sia. In order to directly measure soil cles. Dara Entekhabi moisture in this massive and remote As the concentration of carbon dioxide and other ener- area, researchers would need to take literally millions of gy-trapping greenhouse gases increase in our atmosphere, ground samples as moisture levels can change every few so too does the amount of radiation. The implications for metres. And because soil moisture varies seasonally, these this influx of atmospheric energy and its effect on the cli- millions of samples would need to be repeated every few mate are unclear. “The large uncertainty,” notes Entekhabi, days. SMAP takes global measurements every three days, “in how we can predict what the extra trapping of radia- and can therefore pinpoint when the freeze/thaw cycles be- tion will mean for climate systems is partly because we just gin. In this way a single satellite can accomplish a task that don’t know how the cycles are linked together. And that’s would require thousands of researchers on the ground. what [SMAP] is trying to address.” SMAP’s mission began just in time to celebrate the Beyond providing the missing piece of the puzzle for UN’s International Year of Soils. Entekhabi agrees that climate predictions, researchers in the United States, Can- “SMAP is timely.” “The soil is a living resource, and it’s a ada, and India are already planning to use SMAP’s data to finite resource; anything we can do to understand the role aid drought monitoring which currently relies on theoreti- of this vital resource is important to communicate during cal models rather than observational measurements. Also, this one year.” Although SMAP is limited to a three year soil moisture data combined with rainfall predictions can mission, Entekhabi is hopeful that the observations gained improve forecasters’ ability to predict flooding, landslides during this time will provide insights for years to come. and improve disaster relief. In fact, the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme already plans to use SMAP’s data t to improve flood warning in data-poor regions. The data Catherine DeLong is a science writer and native of Des will also have major implications for crop productivity, Moines, Iowa who is working with the United Nations on famine early-warning, and crop insurance pricing. In Ger- the International Year of Soils blog. many, researchers are also planning on taking advantage of SMAP’s ability to distinguish between frozen and liquid water in order to track polar ice fluctuations.

Watershed Sentinel 21 Summer 2015 SOIL

Bogs act as carbon sinkholes ... with enough water

by Gerard John Cowan

Traditionally, bogs have been seen as worthless, ugly form a new peat layer, storing large amounts of carbon and pieces of land, holding little or no intrinsic value. Indeed, preventing it from making its way into the atmosphere. It is the phrase “bog standard” is used to denote anything that estimated that a metre of peat takes thousands of years to is basic, ordinary, unexceptional, or uninspiring. Bogs have accumulate. Fresh layers of sphagnum mosses grow on top such a serious image problem that, in Ireland and Scotland, of the peat layer, and the cycle continues until a dome shape the word bog has long been a slang term for toilet. “Going is formed at the top of the bog. to the bog” is synonymous with “going to the bathroom.” Peat has traditionally been used for a number of pur- Bogs may not catch the eye in the way poses. In European countries, including rainforests or coral reefs do, but they hold a Ireland, Finland, and the Netherlands, subtler charm. In recent years, the negative peat was extracted to be used as a fuel image of bogs has started to be overturned. source to heat homes. Peat was never a People are reassessing bogs and discover- major source of fuel in North America. In- ing that they are a fascinating ecosystem, stead, it is used in horticultural composts vital in the fight against climate change. and starter soils. Indeed, the peat extract- The principle reason for this change of ed from Burns Bog, Delta, BC, was used view lies in the chief product of bogs: peat. In recent years primarily for horticultural purposes. bogs and mires have come to be known as peatlands in or- Peat harvesting is now regarded as an unsustainable der to throw off the negative connotations associated with practice, due to the length of time peat takes to form, and bogs. the damage that can be done by extraction over a short period of time. Entire bogs can be erased over a period of What Is Peat? just a few decades. The peat harvesting industry in Burns Bogs have a variety of flora growing in them, the most Bog only lasted from the 1940s to the 1980s, but in that famous of which are sphagnum mosses. Sphagnum has time 40% of Burns Bog’s peat layers had been harvested been credited as “the bog builder” by the Irish Peatland to a depth of two meters, and huge damage was caused to Conservation Council. It is capable of growing in the highly the bog’s hydrology. Something that had taken ten thousand saturated, low-nutrient bog environment because it is able years to accumulate was almost wiped out in just four short to absorb a vast amount of water, and does not need as much decades. nutritional input as larger forms of vegetation. In addition, peat extraction techniques cause enormous Once bog vegetation dies, it decomposes at a much damage to the hydrology of peatlands. The harvesting tech- slower rate than vegetation found in other ecosystems. The niques require the drainage of peatlands in order to gain slower decomposition happens because bog water is acid- easier access to the peat. This is achieved through digging ic and low in nutrients. This is the secret to how peat is ditches to release the water. As a result, peatlands are left formed. The decomposing bog vegetation slowly begins to with a much lower water table than is necessary for a vi-

Watershed Sentinel 22 Summer 2015 SOIL

able future. Remember; peatlands/bogs are still primarily ter table and encourage the growth of sphagnum mosses. wetlands, and adequate hydrology is vital to their survival. This is done through blocking the ditches that were dug when the peatlands were being exploited. Over time, results How Do Bogs Help Prevent Climate Change? have shown that the water table in these damaged peatlands Peatlands help prevent climate change by permanently can return to a sustainable level. With the water table re- absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and pre- stored, conditions are right for sphagnum moss to again venting the release of methane. Figure 1 demonstrates how thrive. Indeed, in some bogs, sphagnum mosses have been a bog with a high water table can act as a carbon sink. Car- planted to encourage quicker growth with positive results. bon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere by the vegeta- In addition, peat is declining as a fuel source, and there tion growing on the surface of the bog. As the vegetation are many alternatives to peat in horticultural soils. So, real- dies, it sinks under the water table and forms new layers of ly, there is no logical reason for continuing to destroy such a peat. Provided the water table remains high, the carbon di- valuable resource. We do not need peat for fuel or compost, oxide and methane produced by the decomposition cannot and by damaging peatlands we would ultimately be harm- be released into the atmosphere. ing ourselves with a worse climate. Contrast that with the low water table bog in Figure In his poem, Bogland, the great Irish poet, Seamus 2. Peatlands generally have a low water table as a result Heaney, marveled at the ability of peat to preserve histori- of human activities. The peat extraction and agricultural cal artefacts for centuries. He referred to it as “kind black industries have traditionally dug ditches in order to lower butter.” Perhaps, peat can perform its greatest act of kind- the water table and dry out the peat. This makes it easier to ness in preventing climate change. extract the peat, or sow a different type of crop. Peat has a history of preserving our cultural past. Per- In Figure 2, the carbon dioxide absorbed from the at- haps its next job is to ensure our future. mosphere, is not trapped under the water table and turned t into peat. As the vegetation dies, it releases methane (the Gerard John Cowan is a research and communications most intensive greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere. The coordinator with the Burns Bog Conservation Society. dry peat becomes aerobic, resulting in carbon dioxide making its way into the atmosphere. In- stead of acting as a sink for greenhouse gases, the bog is now acting as a source. Figure 1 The release of these harmful greenhouse gases contributes to the warming of our atmosphere and the changes in our climate. It is estimated that the peatlands in the northern hemisphere alone store up to 450 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Were this carbon to be released into the atmosphere, it would have cata- strophic consequences for our climate.

What Can Be Done To Save Bogs? Now that you are aware of the importance of peatlands in preventing climate change, you may be wondering what is being done to save Figure 2 these essential ecosystems. The short answer is, not enough. Many peatlands around the world are still being harvested, developed on, or drained for other purposes. However, things are gradually beginning to change, and efforts are being made to preserve or restore many of our valuable peatlands. In many peatlands, including Burns Bog, efforts are being made to restore the wa-

Watershed Sentinel 23 Summer 2015 SOIL

Soils are the largest repository of carbon on land

washes into waterways, bacteria con- of Environmental and Forest Sciences

vert it into CO2 and it ends up in the at the University of Washington. atmosphere. Now the new research reveals “The release of this aged carbon that human activities are putting sig- is comparable to the burning of fos- nificant amounts of old carbon into

sil fuels,” Xenopoulos said in an in- rivers, which puts additional CO2 in terview. the atmosphere. This means we’ve In undisturbed landscapes, the been underestimating global emis- carbon in rivers is newly formed and sions, said Butman. produced carbon from soils and near- Compared to burning of fossil by plants and trees. Using carbon iso- fuels, which is on the order of 35 bil-

topes researchers determined the age lion tonnes, the amount of old CO2 by Stephen Leahy of the carbon in waterways at many released through land disturbance is locations around the world. They were small but not insignificant he said.

utting forests or building a surprised to find that as much as 9 per This old CO2 from the land is in

road, a dam, a mine, or any cent of the carbon they found was addition to the CO2 produced from other activity that digs up old carbon that would have remained cutting down forests or turning grass- the earth puts old carbon buried except for human activity, she lands into corn and soy fields. Agri- intoC the atmosphere as carbon dioxide said. “The greater the human activi- culture, deforestation and other land (CO2) in a way no one has accounted ties on land the more old carbon we use changes represent about 21% of for. New research shows that wind and found.” all global emissions. water runoff bring this old carbon into Soils are the largest repository The first comprehensive analy- rivers where it’s converted into CO2. of carbon on land – much of it is tens sis of US land use change found that “The IPCC (Intergovernmental of thousands years old. A hectare of seven million acres of new farmland Panel on Climate Change) didn’t con- boreal peatland will hold more than was created from natural areas to feed sider this in their latest assessment. 500 tonnes in the first metre. In grass- the government-subsidized ethanol

It’s not part of the CO2 emission mod- lands, valleys, and deltas it ranges industry between 2008 and 2012. The els,” said Marguerite Xenopoulos, a from 200 to 500 tonnes per hectare. loss of the CO2-absorbing natural ar- biologist at Ontario’s Trent University When a field is ploughed or bulldozed eas resulted in more net emissions, and study co-author. for a building site, some of this soil equivalent to adding 28 million more Fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) are carbon moves into waterways through cars on the road. forms of very old carbon that are dug the actions of wind and water, includ- It wouldn’t be difficult to esti- out of the ground and burned putting ing storm water runoff and sewage mate how much old CO2 is being mo- massive amounts of heat-trapping systems. bilized by specific landscape changes carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmos- In waterways, bacteria break- but it is very expensive to measure, phere. And all that CO2 acts like a down this soil carbon, turning some said Xenopoulos. thick blanket heating up the planet, of it into CO2. In a similar fashion “Building the 407 (a major high- aka climate change. bacteria also breakdown any dead way construction project near To- Xenopoulos and colleagues pa- plant matter – leaves, bits of wood – ronto) will produce a massive flux per, published in Nature Geoscience, that fall in the water. of CO2,” she said. “We could easily reveals that digging up soil, particu- Until recently, researchers measure it but we just don’t have the larly intensive farm cultivation and thought of “rivers as passive pipes funding.” drainage of wetlands and peatlands, funnelling all that carbon into the t liberates carbon that’s been seques- oceans where it eventually ended up Stephen Leahy is an environmen- tered in the ground for thousands of buried on the ocean floor,” said co- tal journalist from Uxbridge Ontario. years. When this carbon is blown or author David Butman, at the School

Watershed Sentinel 24 Summer 2015 SOIL

by Alex Taylor

If you are a mushroom fan you have probably heard of E. coli. Further, Stropharia rugoso-annulata mycelium the Garden Giant mushroom (Stropharia rugoso-annula- produces spiky crystalline-like spherical structures called ta). Or if you heard mycologist, Paul Stamets speak or have acanthocytes. In 2005, researchers at Yunnan University read his book, Mycelium Running, you may also know a and Kunming University of Science and Technology in bit about this species’ role in fungal bioremediation. If you China documented that acanthocytes act as nematode-de- engaged in Garden Giant companion planting last season, stroying microscopic barbs that eviscerate garden pests as then the mycelium is already hard at work helping to pro- they pass by the mycelium in the soil (Hong et al., 2006). tect and groom your garden. The Garden Giant is a delicious and adaptable mush- For those unfamiliar with outdoor mushroom cultiva- room and will thrive in most locations. FMI go to www. tion, companion planting with the Garden Giant mushroom fungi.com is easy. This rich edible mushroom is available from mush- t room supply companies as spawn. Garden Giant outdoor mushroom spawn comes as a bag of sterilized wood chips Alex Taylor is assistant researcher at Fungi Perfecti. that are infused with the white cobweb-like tissue of the mushroom, called mycelium. This mushroom spawn is simply mixed into the mulch layer in your garden to establish a mushroom bed. Among the many fascinating features of this species is a tendency toward tenacious growth on unbelievably diverse materials. From corn stalks to straw, from conifer duff to hardwood chips, the Photo Paul by Stamets Garden Giant can digest them all. It can accomplish this feat primarily because of its unique suite of leaf litter decomposing enzymes. The Garden Giant is unique in that it can grow as either a primary or secondary decomposer. This trait allows it to interface readily between the topsoil and mulch layer in your garden. As spring temperatures warm and your Garden Giant wakes up, it is actively di- gesting and remobilizing last season’s refuse into this summer’s fertility. These benefits may be obvious for the obser- vant gardener, but what may be less obvious is the Garden Giant’s guardianship of the microscopic microbial landscape. In the late 1980s, Fungi Per- fecti founder and mycologist Paul Stamets determined that a serendipitously placed Garden Giant mushroom was responsible for reducing bacteria runoff from upland pasture at his western Wash- ington, US farm. Following this initial inspiration, several years of small experiments, an EPA storm- water management innovative research grant, and some large-scale field trials, have documented that the mycelium of the Garden Giant mushroom can Garden Giant improve the ability of mulch to filter and remove

Watershed Sentinel 25 Summer 2015 SOIL

by Catherine DeLong mental degradation. The energy source of soil microorganisms is carbon; as microbes eat the carbon-rich material of Kate Buckeridge, an decaying plants, animals and other microorganisms, they ecosystem ecologist, has produce organic matter. Organic matter is the “glue” that worked in some of the holds soil particles together. By improving water infiltra- most remote regions on tion and the water holding capacity of the soil, organic mat- earth. Places like Too- ter can also mitigate flooding, drought and erosion. lik Lake in Alaska, La While we know that soil microbes are a vital part of Pérouse Bay, Manitoba, our ecosystem, we do not yet know the extent of their role Thule Air Base in Green- in it. Between 1,000 and 1,000,000 species of bacteria can land and Daring Lake in reside in a single gram of soil. Scientists are working to the Northwest Territories. find, categorize, and understand the functional roles of soil The route to these loca- microbes, but their sheer number, ability to adapt to envi- tions can be arduous. La ronmental conditions, and rapidly transfer genes between Pérouse Bay requires a groups, are obstacles to fully understanding the microbi- long ride in a tundra bug- ome. gy – an all-terrain vehicle In her research, Buckeridge is working to understand Kate Buckeridge sampling with large wheels that how global changes – warmer temperatures, changes in at Thule Air Base in keep passengers safely vegetation or increased snowfall – will effect microbial Greenland. elevated above the frozen cycling of nitrogen. One of the greatest mysteries in soil tundra (and polar bears). science is how microbes will respond to global warming Daring Lake is even more and the many repercussions associated with it. When soil remote. After arriving in Yellowknife, Buckeridge and her microorganisms “eat” carbon, they also produce carbon di- fellow researchers fly 300 kilometres northeast in a small oxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and other nitrogen-containing propeller plane over glacial lakes and ponds, before landing greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide (N2O). If the tempera- on Daring Lake. ture of the soil is increased, will microbes work harder and Buckeridge has been traveling to these arctic locations produce more greenhouse gases? Or will microbes become because she studies the tiny creatures that lie below the overheated and less efficient, therefore leading to a decline snow and ice: soil microorganisms. Soil microorganisms in greenhouse gas production? A third possibility is that are responsible for the most basic functions of our planet. with warming, a new community of soil microbes will be Even in the cold arctic tundra they are busy at work decom- awakened leading to unforeseeable results. posing plant matter, filtering water and recycling nutrients. The Arctic is an ideal location to study the effect of In the early twentieth century Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch climate change on the soil microbial community because it were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work which mecha- is the area where the most rapid changes are taking place. nized the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into a form Permafrost, a great reservoir of carbon and ice, is thawing that can be taken up by plants. Soil microorganisms, such as and the microbes within it are waking up. But who is be- bacteria which form nitrogen absorbing nodules on legume ing woken up and how will these microbes respond to their roots, have been completing the same process for millennia. environment? These are some of the questions that Buck- Contributing to the same search for nutrients, protozoa and eridge is attempting to answer. nematodes cannibalize other nitrogen-containing microbes and convert their biomass into plant-available nutrients. t Mycorrhizal fungi, another important soil microorganism, Catherine DeLong is a science writer and native of Des attach to plant roots and by doing so increase the root’s sur- Moines, Iowa who is working with the United Nations on face area and ability to take up water and nutrients. the International Year of Soils blog. Microbes not only contribute to plant nutrition, they also improve soil health and buffer against broader environ-

Watershed Sentinel 26 Summer 2015 FISH

BC’s Expensive Fish Farms continued is an industry that is detrimentally impacted by fish farm- lems, the Norwegian parliament is tightening up their water ing. If you add the data for the commercial capture fishery, regulations. Unfortunately, that sends Norwegian compa- which still generates $102 million to the GDP and 1,200 nies to the wild frontier of BC where licenses and rents are direct jobs, plus the subsistence fishery for First Nations, virtually free, regulatory oversight is minimal, government aquaculture – which threatens all three – is blown out of the compensation is provided in case of die-offs from disease, water in terms of jobs generation. and the government accommodates industry expansion. One figure the BC Salmon Farmer’s Association In Norway, salmon farm licenses cost $1.69 million doesn’t like to talk about is the number of taxpayer dollars dollars each. With 1,400 of them, substantial revenues are its members get from the Canadian Food Inspection Agen- generated. Compare that to DFO’s proposed flat fee of $100 cy for their diseased fish. Last year, after weathering an in- per license which will come into effect in 2015 for 115 fed- junction against releasing compensation figures, D.C. Reid erally-listed aquaculture licences. reported payments of $2.64 million to Cermaq Mainstream for 959,498 diseased salmon at its IHN-infected Clayoquot The Numbers Sound farms and $201,000 for infected equipment and BC takes $2.50 per tonne of produced farmed fish. supplies. Grieg Seafood’s open-net operation in Sechelt With 787,000 tonnes produced annually, that means about received $1.61 million for 312,032 IHN-diseased fish and $2 million is coming in – not much considering it costs $6.3 $152,000 for infected equipment and supplies. Adding BC million to run the BC Aquaculture Regulatory Program, figures to those in Atlantic Canada, Reid said, “Here’s the $54 million to run the Sustainable Aquaculture Program, bottom line: In little more than a year, the Canadian Food and $6.5 million is spent on regulatory research. The prov- Inspection Agency paid fish farms almost $50 million tax- ince, under the new federal/provincial harmonized Aqua- payer dollars for diseased slaughtered fish across Canada.” culture Application, now just handles the renting of Crown seabed under a farm, a role which the Stolo’s Eddy Gardner Why is the federal government catering to three for- refers to as the “slum landlord of the coast.” He has a point: eign companies which employ few people, bring relatively Industry rents farms at a little over $700 per hectare per few dollars into the economy, and cause high administra- year. With a total of 4,575 hectares, that brings BC another tive and legal costs – let alone the incalculable ecological $3.3 million in annual rent. damage of devastated wild stocks that create far more jobs The BC Salmon Farmer’s Association argues that their and economic benefit? industry “provides 6,000 direct and indirect jobs while con- If Canadians are not benefitting, who is? The share- tributing over $800 million annually to the provincial econ- holders of Marine Harvest, who are mostly European and omy.” It is hard to know where those numbers come from. American banks. In their recent Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector report, BC So is there any good news on the horizon? When Ma- Statistics counts only 1,700 people as employees of either rine Harvest failed to honour their agreement with ENGOs finfish or shellfish farms (at least 20 per cent are in shell- to do a full-fledged land-based closed-containment pilot fish). The report notes both forms of aquaculture contribute project, the Namgis First Nation set up their own and the a total of $61.9 million to the GDP (from $496 million in first harvest took place last April. (See Focus, July 2014). direct sales of farmed fish and shellfish). Other First Nations are exploring Namgis’ lead. According to the government report, the multiplier for Morton is “heartened to see more and more scientists the aquaculture sector is 7.83 jobs per $1 million of direct ending up speaking out. It wasn’t our original role, but if sales of salmon sold, which at $496 million means there you are the person who is on the ground with your hands are, at most, an additional 3,883 jobs. But the numbers seem on these fish and see the effects that the viruses and sea lice high. The award-winning environmental reporter D.C. have on them, if you don’t stand up then who will?” Reid, in his Fish Farm News and Science, claims he could t only find 795 actual employees of all fish farms in BC. Briony Penn, PhD has been reporting on the envi- Regardless of which set of data one uses, aquaculture ronment since 1975 and has completed a biography of Ian doesn’t come close to the economic benefits of sport fish- McTaggart Cowan. ing. This sector contributes $325.7 million to GDP, $936 million in gross revenue with 8,400 direct jobs, according This is an abridged version of the original, published in to BC Stats. The government uses an 11.36 multiplier effect Focus, March 2015. in the sports fishing sector, for 10,633 additional jobs. This Photo:Dru! https://www.flickr.com/photos/druclimb/256098633/in/photolist-bkPH2f-oCzcF-2fCyY7/

Watershed Sentinel 27 Summer 2015 ELECTION Young

• 82% of Canadians aged 35 or under said govern- Voters ment should see that everyone has a decent standard of living, compared to 72% of older Canadians. • 72% of younger Canadians said the world is always changing and we should adapt our view of moral behaviour to these changes; 57% of Canadians over the age of 35 agreed. • 56% of younger Canadians said it was more im- Could Shift Election Results portant to protect the environment than create jobs, compared to 46% of those over the age of 35. • Among younger people, those who are university- educated, big city dwellers, Ontarian, or British Columbian tend to lean more to the left. Young people that have not attended university, live in small cities and rural areas, or are Manitoban tend to lean more to the right. • Notably, there are essentially no differences in the Photo Matylda by Study finds opinion of younger and older Canadians on the issue of rais- by the Broadbent Institute that younger ing corporate taxes, with six out of 10 indicating support. Canadians Younger Canadians are more supportive than older Canadi- More than older Canadians, are more ans of tax increases tied to better public services. younger Canadians support increases progressive in taxes tied to better public services, “As we gear up for a federal election, this rich database prioritize environmental protection offers important insights into youth political culture. One over economic growth, support more spending on health of the most intriguing findings of this study is that young and education, and want an activist government that creates people from all walks of life have relatively similar, and jobs, according to a new study. more often progressive, political priorities. Political parties Could a Progressive Platform Capture Canada’s Youth would be wise to take a close look at what could galvanize Vote? is authored by University of Saskatchewan political young people,” said McGrane. scientist David McGrane and published by the Broadbent Added Rick Smith, Executive Director of the Broad- Institute. The study analyses the results from the Compara- bent Institute: “The results are good news for those of us tive Provincial Elections Project (CPEP), a unique dataset championing a progressive agenda. More young people, that probes a wide breadth of opinions through 19 attitudi- more often, support elements of a progressive agenda than nal questions with robust sample sizes in every province. do older voters. And in general, most Canadians – young “While we found that Canadians are broadly progres- and old – hold largely progressive views.” sive on most issues, there is a generational divide on some The study is available online at https://www.broadben- key issues,” said McGrane, a member of a team of political tinstitute.ca/en/issue/could-progressive-platform-ca scientists that received funding from the Social Sciences Research and Humanities Council, to conduct post-election t attitudinal surveys over a complete cycle of provincial elections, from 2011 to the end of 2014. The Broadbent Institute is an independent, non-parti- This is the first time the complete dataset of 8,121 Ca- san organization championing progressive change through nadians has been analyzed to compare the political attitude the promotion of democracy, equality, and sustainability of older Canadians (over the age of 35) to young Canadians and the training of a new generation of leaders. (35 years old or younger). The margin of error for the telephone-based random The study’s key findings include: survey of 8,000 Canadians would be under 1%, and in each • When asked if government should leave it entirely province is +/-3%, 19 times out of 20. up to the private sector to create jobs, 77% of younger Ca- nadians disagreed, compared to 66% of those aged over 35.

Watershed Sentinel 28 Summer 2015 ELECTION Why I’ve Gone Green Paul Manly sums up his progressive case against the NDP

by Paul Manly

People will know from my film work and community raw bitumen export pipeline projects, and my unequivocal activism that I am solid and unequivocal on a number of stand to protect water resources and oppose fracking. issues. Initially, I thought that running to be an NDP MP But I didn’t have to change my views when I joined the would help steer the party in a positive, progressive direc- Green Party. tion. Since the time that I was blocked from seeking the In the Greens I found a party that stands for my views. NDP nomination I have learned how the NDP has aban- I read its policy document, Vision Green, after being ap- doned their own policies on issues that are very important proached by Elizabeth May to run, and was pleasantly sur- to me. prised with what I learned. I knew the Green Party would be strong on environ- Energy Policy mental policy, but it is also has very strong policies on so- I found out that the leader of the NDP supports Energy cial justice, health, inequality, and a range of other social East, a raw bitumen export pipeline that will expand tar issues. The Green Party has a balanced approach to the sands production 40% above the current rate of two million economy, fair taxation and fiscal reform. They also focus barrels per day. This flies in the face of NDP climate policy. on good governance and democratic reform. I am opposed to any new raw bitumen export pipelines. I stand with First Nations that oppose tar sands expansion Principled Base and pipeline expansion. I agree with the Green Party’s six fundamental princi- The NDP leader also supports Kinder Morgan but just ples: Non-Violence, Social Justice, Sustainability, Ecologi- isn’t happy with the environmental assessment process. He cal Wisdom, Participatory Democracy, and Respect for Di- states that with a better process Kinder Morgan would be versity. These values are the foundation for all Green Party acceptable. I unequivocally oppose this pipeline. policies and decisions. I like the fact that it is Green Party policy that MPs Trade Deals cannot be whipped to vote against their conscience or the I found out that not a single NDP MP voted against wishes of their constituents. the Canada Korea free trade agreement this fall. It contains I also like the Green Party because it is the only party the same investor state, corporate rights provisions as NAF- opposed to any further pipeline expansion for the export TA. This went against NDP trade policy, which opposes of raw bitumen from the Alberta tar sands; it supports a such trade agreements. Canada’s largest union UNIFOR, national moratorium on hydraulic gas fracking and LNG of which I am a member, opposed this agreement. Korean export terminals; and it is the only party opposed to any companies are major investors in Raven coal on Vancouver international trade and investment agreements that include Island. This free trade agreement gives those companies Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions. special rights. For those of you who are worried about splitting the vote, it is voter cynicism and vote abandoning that should Marijuana be our focus. I want people to be positive and enthusiastic The NDP leader is also opposed to decriminalizing about politics, and vote for a candidate and party that they marijuana and has stated on national TV that he will not can trust to represent them with honesty and integrity. follow through with NDP policy to decriminalize it. I found out that the NDP supports gas fracking. I am opposed to gas We owe it to future generations to be hopeful and vote fracking and have been for a long time. for what we really want. I heard via an Ottawa insider that it is just as likely I was blocked from entering the NDP nomination race be- t cause of my involvement with the Council of Canadians Paul Manly is a Nanaimo-based filmmaker dedicated and my unequivocal stands against investor state provisions to raising public awareness about environmental, social and in trade agreements, my unequivocal stance against new democratic issues.

Watershed Sentinel 29 Summer 2015 ELECTION

Stuart Parker makes his case for Pro-Rep and against voting Green

by Stuart Parker

In this election, there is going to be another silly debate push them over the top and make them the “first past the about the merits of “strategic voting”. This debate will be post.” But our guesses are sometimes wrong. Sometimes silly because of its very premise, which is that it is possible our guesses are also dispiriting. We look at the lawn signs, to vote without a strategy. You see: on Election Day, every the polls, the results of the last election, media reports, and person thinks about how to use their one vote most effec- conclude that the only candidates close to winning are ones tively to bring about the kind of Canada in which they want we don’t like very much. That’s why academics have ob- to live. And that is their voting strategy. Today, when the served that FPTP reduces voter turnout. fate of our country and our planet hang in the balance, it is I am voting NDP in this election for two reasons. our responsibility to craft the most effective voting strategy First, the NDP has promised to enact PR if they win. Un- we can to bring about a just and sustainable Canada. But it like Greens and Liberals, they are not promising to study is sometimes hard to craft the best strat- it. They are not promising a referendum. egy for doing that. They are promising to legislate PR on The main reason it’s hard is because day one of their mandate. Tom Mulcair of the voting system Canada uses. The and democratic reform critic Craig Scott “first-past-the-post” (FPTP) voting sys- have fought naysayers in the party be- tem will be turning 800 this year. It was cause they understand that PR is a hu- created by the brightest minds England man rights issue. The right to have one’s could assemble in 1215 to design a sys- vote count equally with that of every oth- tem of “ridings” to represent the com- er Canadian is a fundamental one and, moners living in the isolated villages of without PR, we don’t have it. the English countryside. Second, I am voting NDP because I want my vote to affect the outcome in my Voting for Pro-Rep riding. Unless you live in the Southern In most modern democracies, re- Gulf Islands or Greater Victoria, BC, or gardless of where you live, you can pool the Bruce Peninsula and Owen Sound, your votes with other citizens of like Ontario, casting a Green vote is extraor- mind and concentrate them behind candidates and parties dinarily unlikely to affect whom your riding sends to Ot- you all support. In most of the European Union, people tawa. You can legitimately say that there is a small chance casting votes for Green candidates can be separated by hun- I will guess wrong about the finalists in my riding. But the dreds of miles and still pool their votes to elect candidates fact that we might be wrong does not absolve us of the re- who share their worldview and elect parliaments where sponsibility to make our best guess. most parties’ share of the vote corresponds to their share of the seats. Greens – A Long Shot But until we get proportional representation (PR) in Some people will say that they are willing to bet on Canada, we still use medieval England’s voting system, in that one-in-a-million chance that the Green Party of Cana- which the country is carved-up into 338 arbitrary polygons. da will do better than any other Green Party running under So we can’t pool our votes with people whom we agree FPTP ever has anywhere. I might find that argument more with, but instead must pool them with people in our poly- compelling if it could be shown that, when in power, the gon or riding. Greens significantly out-perform other parties on environ- And so, creating a strategy that connects our political mental and social justice issues. But that is not what the re- aspirations to political outcomes through our votes is tough. cord shows. In their thirty-two years, the Canadian Greens First, we have to make a guess about which candidates in have elected less than a dozen people, but they have elected our riding are close enough to winning that our vote could enough that there is a record.

Watershed Sentinel 30 Summer 2015 ELECTION

In 1999, the Greens elected a parks commissioner in not truisms; they are testable hypotheses. Wasting more an- Vancouver and a councillor in Victoria, BC; both crossed ti-Tory votes does not increase pressure on Stephen Harper the floor within months of their election and finished out to ditch FPTP or fight climate change; it makes him an their terms as NDPers. In 2002, they elected a Vancouver even-more committed defender of the status quo. school trustee who, in 2005, was instrumental in defeating If moving votes from electable progressives to une- PR in BC’s nail-bitingly close referendum and, later that lectable Greens resulted in greener policies, Ralph Nader’s year, switched parties to the pro-developer Vision Vancou- presidential bid against Al Gore would have made George ver. In 2013, the Greens sent their first Bush sign the Kyoto Treaty. And moving MLA to Victoria; in office, he voted for votes from Adrian Dix’s NDP to Jane the BC Liberals’ Liquid Natural Gas bo- Sterk’s Greens would have made Christy nanza budget, with its education cuts, Clark less committed to climate change privatization, attacks on worker rights denial, pipeline-building and privatiza- and expansion of the fossil fuel sector. tion. But the reality is that when climate And he remains a shill for oil refinery villains, pipeline shills, privatizers and and pipeline development on BC’s north extreme-right think tanks watch people coast. In 2014, the Greens elected their move their votes from the NDP to the second Vancouver school trustee who Greens, they raise their glasses and or- currently holds the balance of power on der another round of martinis. the board; so far, she has used it to ditch Casting a Green vote in most rid- the progressive incumbent chair and re- ings, in defiance of real, measurable, place her with a Fraser Institute-backed empirical evidence is not a decision not conservative who advocates public-pri- to vote strategically; it is just choosing vate partnerships with oil companies and privatization in a bad voting strategy. It is just voting using a debunked, our schools. disproven theory that flies in the face of the available evi- I would never take away from the strong track record of dence, much like climate change denial. Vancouver parks commissioner Stuart Mackinnon, coun- So, this fall, take time to develop a voting strategy cillor Adriane Carr, or Saanich’s superb MP Elizabeth May. based on the best evidence and a realistic theory that con- I just want to note that electing a Green does not guaran- nects your vote to the kind of Canada you want. tee you a strong advocate for social justice or the environment. And with the party’s opposition to caucus solidarity t a Green Party slate is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. A founding director of Georgia Strait Alliance and Fair Like the Greens, the NDP has good and bad candidates Voting BC, Stuart Parker served as leader of the BC Green and policies. Unlike the Greens, the NDP have a shot at Party from 1993-2000. winning in most ridings. And, unlike the Greens, the NDP has a process for choosing policies and sticking with them. But most importantly, the federal NDP has a strong com- mitment to giving Canadians PR so we can finally put these strategic voting problems behind us.

Symbolic Meaning Some people say that if we want environmental sustainability or electoral reform, what matters is not whom your vote elects, or whether your vote elects anyone, but the symbolic meaning of your vote. “The more Green votes there are, the greener Canada will become,” people will say or “the more wasted votes there are, the less legitimate our voting system and our government will be and the more pressure there will be for electoral reform.” But these are

Watershed Sentinel 31 Summer 2015 In a typical federal election, more than seven Fortunately, we’re not stuck with the system we have. Most established democracies use other million Canadians, or just over half of voters, voting systems that better represent what voters are saying. cast wasted votes. Canada’s voting system can be changed through a simple majority vote in Parliament… no The United States and the United Kingdom are constitutional amendment required! the only other major Western democracies using But it won’t happen without pressure from all of us. Canada’s version of winner-take-all (first-past-the- As a multi-partisan citizens’ campaign with chapters across the country, FairVote lobbies MPs and post). When the new democracies in Eastern Eu- educates the media and the public to bring Canada’s democracy into the 21st century. rope chose their voting systems, not one adopted Take action today at www.fairvote.ca this system. WILDLIFE

Blue Orchard Mason Bees With a short season and a short range,

the BOB is a very localized pollinator.

lination options, and naturalists who like observing the

o t

o h natural world around them.

P Monika Grünberg, of Green Mountain Pol- linators, has been getting to know the BOB for over 15 seasons: setting out cocoons and clean tunnels, gathering, cleaning and counting cocoons each winter, storing them out of harm’s way and starting the cycle again each spring. by Monika Grünberg She has listened to the crunching of bees ready to hatch, watched and even held the cocoons in What hatches twice, her hand as brand new bees emerge and prepare sounds like Rice Krispies in for flight. She is sharing her knowledge, craft, and, milk, creates no honey, wax or most important, her love for the bees with products, hive, does not sting and increas- instructions, and workshops on befriending the BOB. es fruit, seed, and nut production? Now BOB friends can not only provide appropriate Right here in the Comox Valley? If you housing; they can also watch the life cycle of the BOB, up said, “Mason Bees”, you are right! Specifically, the Blue close and personal: from the first hatching (egg to larvae), Orchard Mason Bees. through cocoon building, then a second hatching and flight The Blue Orchard Bee (BOB) is one of thousands of as adult bee, and, finally, the amazing craft of the female pollinator insects that are native to Vancouver Island, the Mason Bee as she prepares the chambers and summer rest of Canada, and the US. Like hummingbirds and butter- meals for the new season’s eggs. With Observatory Hous- flies, the BOB has been here much longer than people, and es, anyone with a heart open to wonder can safely watch its job has always been to help keep plant life going from and participate in the life cycle of the Blue Orchard Bee generation to generation. (aka Mason Bee). But habitat reduction, intensive mono-crop agricul- Proceeds from this year’s sale of cocoons, Observation ture, and poisons have left the BOB, just like its more well houses and workshops will go to fund our first book, The known cousin the honey bees, in urgent need of human Life of a Mason Bee, to be published in the fall of 2015. In friends. It’s ironic, but true: because humans have invaded simple words and pictures, The Life of a Mason Bee will their world, the bees now need human help. introduce children, parents and grandparents to life as the Fortunately, the BOB is easy to love. It is gentle, and, bee sees it – short, sweet, delicious, exciting, and always in its humble way, beautiful. It has a simple but fascinat- part of the larger story that unites us, big and small, in the ing life cycle. Provided with clean, mite-free tunnels each natural world. spring, the BOB will multiply and pollinate gardens, or- chards, flowers, and all of the early-blooming fruit and t seed-bearing trees of nearby woodlots and forests. With a short season (about 6 weeks) and range (about 200 metres), Monika Grünberg has raised Mason Bees for over 15 the BOB is a very localized pollinator. Urban gardeners years and can be reached at www.greenmountainbees.com and town dwellers especially benefit from helping the BOB. But so do orchardists who experiment with additional pol- See also lifecyclesproject.ca/resources/bee_average/

Watershed Sentinel 33 Summer 2015 FIRST NATIONS Northern Trappers Alliance Dene and Metis trappers speak out against resource extraction in Saskatchewan

by Susan MacVittie the Gunnar mine site along the shore The trappers are in conflict with of Lake Athabaska, with all of the oth- elected leaders to their south, includ- Since November 19, 2014, Dene er uranium mine and mill sites, were ing local governments who are devel- and Metis trappers have been camped abandoned with little remediation and oping ties with industry and making out at a checkpoint on highway 955 no reclamation. The governments of decisions that affect lands beyond their near LaLoche, Saskatchewan in Trea- Canada and Saskatchewan are now jurisdiction. The province is look- ty 8 lands, to stop Cenovus Energy funding the clean-up of these aban- ing to indigenous lands in the north from accessing indigenous lands. doned sites. To the east, a uranium for new bitumen and mineral mines, With temperatures regularly dropping corridor spreading over 250 kilome- a high-level nuclear waste dump site, to –400C throughout the winter, their tres hosts the largest high-grade ura- and the construction of nuclear reac- conviction to occupy the land remains nium mines and mills in the world, tors to encourage “environmentally strong and the trappers have moved with their own stockpiles of radioac- responsible” tar sands extraction by their camp to the Clearwater River. tive tailings and a history of radioac- exporting energy to Alberta. The Northern Trappers Alliance tive spills. The province of Saskatchewan are taking a stand in response to the The trappers say an unprece- has said that it is not required to con- mineral and oil exploration that has dented rise in cancer is the legacy of sult with communities during the ex- grown in the past six years across contamination from nearby uranium ploration phase of a project. Regional their traditional hunting grounds. mines. Uranium is soluble in water politicians note that more consultation They have found roads to traditional and emits radiation until it stabilizes will occur when a mining project is of- hunting grounds gated and blocked, as lead in 4.5 billion years. The World ficially proposed. The Northern Trap- preventing them from entering. This Health Organization says that radon per Alliance requested to meet with has been done without their consent gas, a by-product of uranium, is the the province but they would not meet or knowledge, and in violation of trea- second leading cause of lung cancer. under the alliance’s terms of meeting ties. In the trappers’ remote area, on the land, not behind closed doors. They are very concerned about more than 85 per cent of northern The trappers say that thirty years the unprecedented rise in cancer, Saskatchewan residents are aboriginal of jobs and money is not worth the which they believe is due to contami- and most people speak Dene, often as sacrifice of contaminated land and nation from nearby uranium mines. a first language. In January, 2015 the water. They say the time to stand up Northern Trappers Alliance invited and speak out is now. Potash and Uranium supporters to attend a meeting on the Support the Alliance via their Mining in Saskatchewan centres future of their camp. It drew about 150 Facebook page: Holding the line – around potash and uranium. In the attendees from communities across Northern Trappers Alliance north, 36 abandoned and decommis- BC, Alberta, the Northwest Territo- sioned uranium mines left behind ries, and Manitoba. Aboriginal people t piles of radioactive dust, known as shared similar stories of colonization, Susan MacVittie is the managing tailings. After closure in the 1960s, industrial growth, and ecological dev- editor of the Watershed Sentinel. astation. Photo by Kristin Marie Enns-Kavanagh

Watershed Sentinel 34 Summer 2015 WILDLIFE

by Tamsin Baker Photo by Winnu

You may see them like statues, Unlike other types of herons that the main threats to the Great Blue waiting patiently to catch their dinner who migrate, our subspecies of the Heron are those that impact their abil- along the shoreline. Or admire their Great Blue Heron lives year round on ity to successfully breed. Issues in- huge wings as you spot them flying the coast. They can be found stalk- clude human disturbance and loss of overhead. There is no doubt that the ing their prey in areas ranging from habitat due to development. Bald Ea- Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias fresh and saltwater marshes, beaches, gles, who prey on the chicks of Great fannini) is an iconic bird of BC’s south streams and open grassy fields to or- Blue Herons, have become more of a coast. Its statuesque silhouette is com- namental backyard ponds. While they threat due to their recovering popula- monly used to represent coastal BC’s mostly like to eat fish, they also hunt tions. If bothered enough by humans natural surroundings, as exemplified for amphibians and small mammals. or eagles, Herons will abandon their by the logo of this magazine. At the beginning of every year, nests completely. There are not many other birds the males and females meet up to Part of addressing these threats that the Great Blue Heron can be con- court. While they sometimes find involves establishing a buffer zone to fused with. When standing, this blue- new mature trees to build their nests protect the nesting birds from unex- grey wading bird can be over one in colonies (also known as heronries), pected events or disturbances. Distur- metre in height and when in flight can they typically return to the location bances can include nearby logging or be identified by its almost two metre of a previous colony year after year. loud noises from construction. With wide wingspan. The Sandhill Crane Their nests are usually high above the nesting season lasting from Feb- looks somewhat similar, but the crane ground consisting of large stick plat- ruary to August, noise disturbances has a partially red head and flies with forms and the heronries are gener- should be avoided around this time, an extended neck. The Heron holds its ally located within ten kilometres of particularly during the initial nesting head in an “S” curve. where they hunt for food. Colonies stages. Buffer guidelines can be found Based on its high visibility, you can be quite large with as many as 350 in the BC Ministry of Environment’s would be forgiven for thinking that our nests. While they generally pick quiet 2014 “Develop with Care, Great Blue coastal fannini subspecies of Great forested locations where there is little Herons Fact Sheet #11.” Blue Heron is thriving. However, the human disturbance, some heronries To learn more about coastal Great provincial government has Blue-listed are found near urban areas. The best Blue Herons and find resources, visit the bird, meaning it is of special con- example of this is the heronry found the South Coast Conservation Pro- cern. The federal government has also in Stanley Park in Vancouver with ac- gram’s website: www.sccp.ca. listed it as Special Concern under the tive tennis courts nearby. t Species at Risk Act (SARA). Popula- Monitoring data shows that nest Tamsin Baker is the stewardship tion estimates indicate there are only productivity has been significantly coordinator of the South Coast Con- about 4-to-5,000 breeding birds left. dropping since the 1970s. It is thought servation Program.

Watershed Sentinel 35 Summer 2015 by Joe Foy tial school system. And some first cut off from their travel routes. Today steps towards reconciliation are being the herd is listed as endangered. The any countries – some made. people can no longer use caribou as a of which I have visited But great crimes against First food source – so moose must bear a – have been occupied Nations continue. Certainly the plan greater hunting pressure. by outside forces for at to flood the Peace River Valley in the Chief Willson recently travelled leastM a period of their history. face of their opposition is one such to the legislature in Victoria to unload While on a trip to Vietnam, I crime. I know that the government of 200 pounds of fish contaminated by learned that the country had been oc- BC does not view the Site C Dam pro- mercury leached from the Peace dam cupied by China for a thousand years ject as a crime – but then, occupiers reservoirs. The fish had carried the before it had regained its independ- rarely do consider their iron-rule poli- mercury in their bodies upstream 70 ence, only to be reoccupied by the cies as crimes. kilometres from the reservoirs – to a French, then the Americans – before place that West Moberly fishers had finally regaining it’s independence in been harvesting fish for generations. the 1970s. During times of occupa- I wonder what history will say about But no more. The West Moberly First our behaviour during the occupation tion, nations live on in the hearts and of First Nations? Nation had taken the fish in to be test- minds of their citizens. You don’t have ed and were shocked to learn how tox- to look far to find nations that have ic they had become. Chief Willson’s been taken over, only to rise again – But what else would you call what message to BC’s Premier – “You take Ireland, Philippines, Malaysia, India has been done to the First Nations of them, we can’t eat them any more.” – the list goes on and on. the Peace River Valley? Without their The West Moberly First Nation, You may wonder what does any consent starting in the 1960s the BC along with other local First Nations of this have to do with environmental government’s WAC Bennett Dam and have launched a series of court cases issues in BC. Well, it turns out it has a then in the 1980s the Peace Canyon against the proposed Site C Dam. lot to do with us because our province Dam together flooded the majority of Once again the First Nations are occupies many First Nations territo- the Peace River bottomlands within pitted against the occupiers in Victo- ries. And how we treat the environ- their territory. ria who want to flood the Peace val- ment is all about how much we respect Chief Roland Willson of the West ley bottom lands – this time it’s pretty those First Nations citizens. Moberly First Nation describes how much all that’s left in their country. One statement recorded centuries caribou were once so plentiful in their What else could this be called but a ago in Vietnam goes something like: territory that elders spoke of them crime? If all the trees in China were cut down resembling a swarm of bugs on the to make paper it would not be enough land. For certain months of the year t paper to record the crimes against the West Moberly hunters would rely on Viet people during the occupation. moose, while in other months they Joe Foy is the national campaign I wonder what history will say would shift to caribou to take the pres- director for the Western Canada Wil- about our behaviour during the occu- sure off the moose. This is how the derness Committee, Canada’s largest pation of First Nations? people fed themselves. But the dams citizen-funded membership based Our Prime Minister has apolo- changed all that. The caribou lost ac- wilderness preservation organization. gized for Canada’s shameful residen- cess to the flooded lowlands and were

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