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MiningWatch files charges against Mount Polley and BC government
November 3, 2016
A mining watchdog has filed a private prosecution against the BC government and the Mount Polley Mining Corporation, nearly 30 months after the collapse of the tailings dam at the gold and copper mine became one of BC’s worst environmental disasters in history.
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UBCM passes resolution to protect old-growth
October 20, 2016
The Union of BC Municipalities has voted to pass a resolution to protect old-growth forests in BC after a lengthy campaign by the Ancient Forest Alliance.
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Old-growth clearcutting discovered near Port Renfrew
October 6, 2016
Members of the Ancient Forest Alliance have discovered two clearcuts in the old-growth forests of Edinburgh Mountain, and plans for four new cuts are also in the works by logging company Teal Jones.
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Norway bans deforestation
June 30, 2016
Norway made history in late May when it became the first country to ban deforestation. This latest move was one in a string of decisions by the Scandinavian country to protect forests from clear cutting.
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Walbran old-growth logging begins
November 26, 2015
Friends of Carmanah/Walbran keep an eye on the start-up of logging of the last unprotected stand of old-growth in the Walbran Valley.
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Mount Polley Report - the told and untold
February 19, 2015
The Mount Polley Independent Review report investigates the tailings dam collapse and provides recommendations for changes in mining practices - it raises more questions than answers.
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Walbran Valley at risk of old-growth logging
February 5, 2015
Survey tape indicates that parts of the ancient Walbran forest are at risk of logging. Photo shows where.
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Canada’s Mining Record Abroad Not Golden
February 5, 2015
David Suzuki discusses the Canadian mining industry and takes a look at the sometimes unethical practices of our companies abroad.
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Mount Polley - Regulation & Aftermath
September 4, 2014
Patrick Brown tells us how the Mount Polley tailings pond dam failure has shaken public, investors’, and US confidence in ‘self regulation’ of mines. The BC government is scurrying to set up inquiries into the catastrophe, to review the safety of all 98 other dams, and to review it’s own procedures.
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Mining without worry
August 21, 2014
Patrick Brown discusses the tailings pond dam collapse at Mount Polley Mine. Did the company’s practice of building the dam higher compromise its strength?
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Woodlots threaten Gambier
August 7, 2014
The proposal of two new woodlots on Gambier Island not only threatens the island’s wilderness and recreation, but also adds to the growing danger of the re-industrialization of Howe Sound and the loss of marine life we have been struggling to protect, locals say.
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Environmentalists work to protect McLaughlin Ridge
August 7, 2014
Diverse organizations fight to stop Island Timberland from logging old-growth forests on McLaughlin Ridge, an important habitat and watershed.
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Fish Lake mine turned down again—but not finally
March 6, 2014
After 10 years, joy of First Nations and NGOs over second New Prosperity Mine turndown was shortlived. Proponent Taseko will appeal, BC government says it will help Taseko.
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Raven coal mine environmental submission rejected
June 6, 2013 | Patrick Brown
Compliance Coal Corporation’s environmental submission was turned down on its initial screening by the BC Environmental Assessment Office. The company received a 144-page list of deficiencies. Compliance posted an operating loss of $1,255,000 for the 2012 fiscal year.
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Saving BC’s old growth trees
April 11, 2013
Sonora Island residents are trying to save some 160 of the remaining old growth trees on the Island from clearcut logging. There aren’t many left of the Douglas fir and Cedar, estimated to be 700 years old.
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Islands Trust: no mining claims
February 14, 2013 | Patrick Brown
BC’s obsolete mining legislation and online claims trump ‘preserve and protect’ mandate, leading to nuisance activities on the Gulf Islands. Should staking of claims require First Nations consultation?
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Forest policy: more than one approach
February 14, 2013 | Patrick Brown
Is granting a corporate Tree Farm License the answer to wood supply for BC’s Burns Lake mill? Opponents fear a policy roll-over away from volume cutting and provincial stewardship of forests. Would community stewardship be a better option?
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Regional district opposes coalmine process until aquifers mapped
December 13, 2012
Comox Valley Regional District wants to see comprehensive aquifer mapping, a baseline study, and a federal review undertaken before the Compliance coalmine application proceeds.
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Groups ask Trust to act on Fanny Bay coal mine threat
November 1, 2012
Local groups urge Islands Trust Council to more actively protect Baynes Sound from potential impacts of the proposed Raven coal mine, which would operate just outside the Islands Trust Area.
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Logging BC’s forest reserves to solve timber shortage?
July 12, 2012
The BC government is considering opening protected forest reserves to logging in order to maintain production levels that spiked in response to the pine beetle epidemic. Mill workers and conservationists alike are calling it a ‘short sighted’ move. The public comment period closes July 20.
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New evaluation for Taseko mine
May 31, 2012 | Patrick Brown
The federal government will consider a new proposal for the gold and copper mine. This time, the tailings pond has been moved 2 kilometres upstream of Fish Lake. Will this make a difference?
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Another view of another coal mine development
February 9, 2012 | Graham Brazier
It looks as if Campbell River will continue to be a coal-mining town, although mines are failing to deliver on jobs as projected. Denman's Graham Brazier recounts the town’s mining history.
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Taseko tries again for Prosperity mine
November 17, 2011
Despite a turn down, Fish Lake mine is on the table again. Although the developer previously claimed that the tailing pond must be side by side with the mine, a smaller upstream lake is now proposed for the tailing pond.
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International standards for Canadian mines?
September 8, 2011
Our government endorses corporate social responsibility standards for international mining operations, but neglects approval processes at home. Patrick Brown contrasts Peru's situation with the Raven Coal Mine proposal on Vancouver Island.
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Comments for Raven proposal set record
July 14, 2011
The comment period for the the proposed Raven Coal Mine project on Vancouver Island set a new benchmark for public participation.
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Editorial: Red Herring Railway
Mar 24, 2011
A rebuilt railway from Fanny Bay to Port Alberni is a coal-fired smoke screen. It could never be a community trade-off for a coalmine.
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Just under the environmental radar
Feb 10, 2011
As long as the extraction rate is below 250,000 tonnes/year no environmental assessment is required. No matter that the limestone mine will be producing for 400 years. The absurdity of the situation has Texada's Friends of Davie Bay calling for a judicial review.
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Provincial government resource plans upset by Prosperity mine decision
Nov 11, 2010
The federal environmental panel has turndowned the William's Lake area Prosperity mine. The BC government okay'd the project earlier this year, saying economic benefits outweighed environmental damage.
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The gold rush returns - this time it's the water
Oct 28, 2010
BC government proposes more 'flexibility' by changing the Water Act, which dates from the gold rush. Public meetings have introduced many unanswered questions. Page 2, also letter 'Water Modernization Act'
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Raven Coal prospects downgraded, criticized
Oct 28, 2010
Proposed mine’s potential yield reduced; quality also questioned. Transportation and shipping concerns continue.
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Editorial: None So Deaf As Those Who Will Not Hear
Sept 16, 2010
The public is ill-served if comments are not published online.
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Thirty days for Raven mine comments
Aug 19, 2010
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) has opened the first public comment period about the proposed coal mine near Fanny Bay on Vancouver island. It is intended to identify which aspects of the project must be considered in the assessment. The deadline for comment is September 10, 2010.
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Another limestone quarry proposed for Texada
Aug 19, 2010
Texada Island already has three quarries operating well below capacity and a fourth that is inactive. Lehigh Hanson has proposed a fifth quarry near Davie Bay, a potential park and centre of a rockfish conservation area, and access point to a network of karst caves, halfway along the southwest coast of the Island. Despite owning 3.5km of waterfront, Lehigh have applied to use Crown land at Davie Bay for a loading facility.
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Public concern grows about Raven Coal mine
April 1, 2010
A coalmine proposed for mid-east coast Vancouver Island could result in the pollution of Baynes Sound. Area-residents are organizing to defeat the proposal.
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Jordan River TFL removal breeds chaos for CRD
March 26, 2009
The dumping of 2,500 hecares of forest lands on to the southern Vancouver Island real estate market has community planning in disarray, and in the courts; a background to forestry on Vancouver Island is revealing.
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Provincial auditor criticized release of Jordan River lands
March 26, 2009
Southern Vancouver Island TFL forest release was ill-informed, inadequately researched, and lacked clear procedure or guidelines, said Provincial Auditor's 2008 review.
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Old growth worth more while growing
Sept 18, 2008
Leaving British columbia's old-growth forests standing may make more economic sense than cutting them down for timber, suggests study.
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Logging the last
May 29, 2008
An on the ground look at the logging destruction of old-growth forest in remote East Creek valley.
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Editorial: Will The Canary Sing?
November 15, 2007
Local governments across Vancouver Island will be watching as the Islands Trust Executive considers a revised Forest Zone bylaw for Galiano Island.
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The Great PMFL Tax Scam
October 18, 2007 | Commentary by Jerry Azevedo
Four years ago this month, then Minister of Sustainable Resource Management Stan Hagen announced the creation of a public/private corporation to oversee forestry on private lands in BC. His press release trumpeted: ‘Sustainability Boosted On Private Managed Forest Lands.’ Last month the community of Galiano found out exactly what he meant by ‘sustainability.’
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Editorial: Respect and Dissent
March 22, 2007
Betty Krawczyk is back in jail again at age 78, sentenced to ten months as a ‘repeat offender’ after being convicted of criminal contempt of court.
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Landowners angry over mining claim staking, say Greens
June 29, 2006
On a three-week road tour of BC, Green Party leader Adriane Carr has uncovered province-wide anger with the BC Liberals for encouraging claim staking on private lands, stripping away people’s property rights.
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Proposal to mine limestone threatens Skookumchuck Narrows
May 4, 2006
The FOSP is a group of coastal citizens organized to protest Pan Pacific Aggregates’ (PPA) plans to create substantial open-pit mining along the west side of the Sechelt Inlet.
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New private forest land tax break for 903,000 hectares
September 9, 2004 | Patrick Brown
A series of announcements from the provincial Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development in late July and early August have put in place a new regime for the exploitation of privately owned forest lands.
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Forest Land Reserve gone; communities denied role
August 26, 2004 | Carolyn Canfield
On August 3, as the last step in dismantling the Forest Land Reserve, the provincial government put into force new rules for privately-owned managed forest.
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Bill 46: ‘Working Forest’ Legislation Goes Forward Despite 97% Opposition
September 11, 2003 | Patrick Brown
Despite public consultation in which 97% of 2700 respondents opposed the provincial government’s ‘Working Forest’ discussion paper, the government appears set to go ahead with Bill 46, the enabling legislation.
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