FRIENOS OF ECOI OCICAT RFSERVES NEWSLETTER Victoria, B.C. March 1992 EDITORIAL Pathways to Protection "The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the cogs and wheels." Aldo Leopold The public now knows and cares about the disappearance of our forest heritage. That's good news — but from recent reports on the state of British Columbia's temperate rain forests and endangered wilderness areas, detailed later in this issue, the message is frightening. In the last 36 years more than half the ancient interim report by the Vancouver Island Mapping rain forest of Vancouver Island has been liquidat• Project of the Sierra Club of Western Canada and ed, according to Ancient Rainforests at Risk, the The Wilderness Society. Of 103 park proposals on the Valhalla Society's IN THIS ISSUE 1988 map, B.C.'s Endangered Wilderness, 14 have Our Place On the Marbled Murrelet Recovery since been partially logged. Team & Other Friends' Business 2 One-third of the 122 areas proposed for protec• Applications for Friends' Funding 5 tion on the 1992 Endangered Wilderness map have Thanks To Our Helpers and Supporters 5 been invaded by logging or are scheduled for Spring Field Trip and Program Calendar 6 development in the next three years, while Exploring the Kyuquot Sound Region 9 mineral exploration is active in at least five of the Marbled Murrelet Activity in the Walbran 12 areas, and three are threatened by dams. Murrelet Research at UVic 18 The land-use decisions of B.C.'s new N.D.P. Killer Whales Under Water 19 government in the next four or five years will be Counting Sea Otters 20 The Road Through Mt. Tuam Reserve 22 critical to the establishment of protected bench• Tahsish-Kwois Logging Impacts 24 mark ecosystems and the maintenance of British Khutzeymateen Valley Coming Before Cabinet 26 Columbia's natural diversity. British Columbia's The Prospects for Protection 32 Endangered Wilderness: "In great part, the reserves Ancient Rainforests At Risk 28 which exist hundreds of years from now will be B.C. Parks' New Home & Personnel 30 those which we will protect in the next few South Coast Region Planning Invitation 30 years." We hope the new government will seize Letters and Reviews 32 this opportunity to protect representative and Wildlife Species in Old Forests 34 unique ecosystems for tomorrow. »> ED,TOR.AL tppfigsg^g^^^l^pij^^^ The consensual Draft Old Growth Strategy for the preservation of this fabulous ecosystem proposes a framework for conservation in terms I and its famous bears. We have asked for a meet• find heartening: "to ensure that the full spectrum ing with the new government to discuss estab• of old growth values is sustained for the benefit lishment of an ecological reserve and hope that of future generations." I'm hopeful that the protection and designation will soon be a reality. deferral process is only the beginning of a large Please write to Premier Mike Harcourt, Parlia• initiative to identify and protect old-growth ment Buildings, Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4, to ask forests around the province. The first round of that an ecological reserve be established to deferrals produced few results, and some of the protect the entire Khutzeymateen Valley. areas we spoke for are now being logged. The Friends have been active on several fronts Clearly, the political will that was lacking then in conservation and ecological research. I hope must be summoned now to take that initiative. you will renew your membership and show your We are waiting with great anticipation the commitment to preserving British Columbia's results of the province's three-year study of the natural heritage. Join us for exciting field trip Khutzeymateen Valley. Friends of Ecological explorations, and please attend our annual Reserves, the Valhalla Society and World Wildlife general meeting in April. Fund have been particularly active in lobbying Trudy Chatwin FRIENDS'BUSINESS M» & jfi >ft*t A Seat on the Marbled Murrelet Kelson. I believe our support of these dedicated but funding-strapped researchers has helped Recovery Team them make significant contributions to knowl• In September the Friends were invited to join edge of the forest-nesting sea-bird. the Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team for the In its second phase, the team is supposed to second phase of its work. The Committee on the shift from general to specific murrelet habitat Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada issues, and we hope to be able to send a represen• (COSEWIC) registered the species as threatened tative to future meetings to provide advice on in April 1990, and the recovery team was estab• conservation and research efforts. lished by the Canadian Wildlife Service to ensure Please contact me if you are interested in that the poorly-understood seabird's population finding out more about the recovery team, in does not decline, by improving data about their reading its report, or in assisting with our re• numbers, habitat use and the factors in their search initiatives. mortality and by establishing guidelines for the Trudy protection of murrelet habitat. The team is com• posed of forest company, government and envi• Towards a Megin River ronmental representatives. In its first phase the team prepared a Draft Biodiversity Study National Recovery Plan for the Marbled The Megin River drains the largest (24,300 Murrelet. Western Canada Wilderness Commit• hectares) pristine watershed remaining on tee representative Dennis Kangasniemi under• Vancouver Island. The Friends are committed to lines that the team did not endorse the Ministry the protection to this biologically diverse and of Forests' February 8,1991 memorandum, productive area in the heart of Clayoquot Sound. Interim Recommendations to Protect Marbled (See the article on Peggy Frank's and my explora• Murrelet Nesting Habitat. tions of the watershed in the August 1991 F.E.R. In November I attended a one-day Marbled Neiosletter.) Murrelet research workshop in Vancouver. We Last year we commissioned Jim Darling to co• heard reports from many of the field workers, ordinate a biodiversity study of the Megin. He is including Alan Burger, Irene Manley and John summarizing information and writing up the 2 The Log FRIENDS OF ECOLOGICAL RESERVES NEWSLETTER material he has gathered in a report he will meeting with Canada's Minister of State for the submit this month. Peggy and I continue to write Environment, Pauline Browes (PC - Scarborough up our vegetation plot data and wildlife observa• Centre). She had gathered a collection of "grass tions in our spare time. roots" spokespersons to suggest how to imple• We are trying to organize a multi-conservation ment the Green Plan. With one hour between group workshop to plan the research and conser• meetings in Calgary and Whitehorse, she allowed vation strategy for the Megin watershed. Lorna the fifteen or so of us to air our views. Represent• Walsh of the Clayoquot Biosphere Project, ing the Friends, I suggested she create new Adrian Forsyth of Conservation International, national designations such as Natural Monu• Jim Darling and FER executive will plan the ments, as suggested in the IUCN, to protect areas strategy. The Clayoquot Biosphere Project plans for their ecological uniqueness and significance; to set up research cabins in Clayoquot Sound for areas that do not fall into national park categories use by incoming researchers and year-round and are not protected by the province for one naturalist observers. reason or another. Back came her letter, in a I would like to see an ecosystem mapping modest envelope, on recycled paper, with only a project completed for the entire Megin water• little bit of gold. It began, "Dear Mr. Penn." shed. This would involve mapping and Obviously I made a great impact. She assured me inventoring all the vegetation communities. The that our issues, concerns and recommendations map could be used as a base to overlay research had been noted. I imagine that it will also be observations of wildlife or other features. The noted the last day a grizzly bear or Garry oak is ecosystem map and observations would contrib• spotted in British Columbia. ute to an understanding of some wildlife / forest- I penned a passionate plea to Dr. Bob Brown, habitat relationships and could be used as a base an Independent Green in the Parliament of for determining sample sites in many different Tasmania ever since his campaign that saved the types of research. I estimate the ecosystem map• Franklin River, the great unlogged watershed in ping project would cost between $10,000 and Tasmania. I met him briefly after a lecture in $15,000. Should you feel inchned to contribute to Scotland three years ago. I wrote to ask if he an original and urgent forest research project, would come and speak in B.C. on behalf of the please forward a contribution to F.E.R. with a Friends and meet with some of our politicians to note directing it to Megin Research. Thanks! discuss his experience with resolving conflict Trudy between the extraction industries and the envi• ronmental lobby. Back came his letter, in an old envelope on the back of a redundant legislative Political Notes memo. In his own handwriting he replied, "Dear Briony, I would love to join you in B.C. in March, Since the summer I have corresponded with but that is also the date of our Tasmanian election three politicians over various environmental — forced over the Labor Government's determi• concerns and initiatives. Their three replies nation to log more than 1 million hectares of the suggest that we have as much biodiversity within island's native forests. May 1 keep the invitation the political community as in an old forest.