Endangered plants unprotected, critic says

Lindsay Kines, Victoria Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, January 21, 2006

VANCOUVER ISLAND I The province's independent forestry watchdog is accusing the B.C. government of dragging its feet on protecting endangered and threatened plants on southeast Vancouver Island.

Forest Practices Board chairman Bruce Fraser chastised the Ministry of Forests this week for hiding behind technicalities instead of acting to protect the Pacific crabapple, trembling aspen and more than 20 endangered and threatened plant groups in the coastal Douglas fir forest.

Fraser said the issue requires urgent attention as only 700 to 800 hectares of this rare forest remain undeveloped on the island.

The board issued a report last fall calling on the government to inspect for threatened and endangered plants before approving logging on Crown land.

"It seems to me quite straight forward: If you have a government department called a Conservation Data Centre that says you've got endangered plants and plant communities on the very small amount of Crown land that's left, you should go look before you log," Fraser said.

The forests ministry responded by saying that it doesn't have the authority to order a licence holder to inspect for red-listed plants, nor can the ministry reject an application on that basis.

The board, however, didn't buy the ministry's answer.

"What the forest service is basically doing is standing back on technicalities," Fraser said.

The board believes there are ways to do the checks before approving logging.

Forests Minister Rich Coleman said his officials took the board's recommendation seriously, have not approved any additional logging in the area since the report, and are working with the Ministry of Environment on protecting biodiversity.

But NDP critic Bob Simpson said the issue highlights a much larger problem across the province. The Liberal government, he said, has eliminated regulations, left the forestry industry to police itself, and appears willing to ignore the advice of its few remaining watchdogs.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006