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Environmental AlertsDecember 2011OIL SUPER TANKERS, EACH CARRYING TWO MILLION BARRELS OF OIL, will travel from Kitimat to Asia, RIGHT PAST ISLANDS THAT ARE HOME TO BRITISH COLUMBIA'S "PROTECTED" SPIRIT BEAR!This photo of the two Spirit Bear cubs was taken less than a mile from the oil super tanker route!
Our MLA has asked for letters from clients and other concerned citizens, expressing your opinions on this project.. the more emails the better. If you have traveled with us before and/or are booked to travel with us again, please include the amount you have spent or will spend, from the moment you leave home to the moment you return home. If you have traveled with us before, it would be wonderful to include WHY you think this soul stirring area should be saved from pipelines and oil super tankers!
Send email to:
MORE YOU CAN DO: TRAVEL WITH US ALONG THE ROUTE OF THE PROPOSED OIL SUPER TANKERS (June 23 - 29, 2012) and WE WILL DONATE 10% TO AN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP THAT IS WORKING TO STOP THIS PROJECT! LEARN MORE: Visit the website of Pacific Wild and see the documentary film "SPOIL" that just won an award this year at the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival. Like most of the people who saw "SPOIL" at a recent BMFF screening at Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver, you will undoubtedly be moved to take action! http://www.pacificwild.org/site/dispatches_from_the_rave/1296589563.html Heavily invested in Alberta's tar sands and shunned by the U.S. over the Keystone pipeline project, our provincial and federal governments and the oil companies are more determined than ever to have Enbridge build a pipeline from Alberta's tar sands to our coastal port of Kitimat!!
Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... traveling in smaller boats along the oil super tanker route would be dangerous, at best. Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... whales and other marine life would be imperilled from the first oil super tanker entering these waters. Whether their sonar location is destroyed by the loud sounds of the ships or marine life is simply run over by them, destruction of whales and other marine life, is unthinkable! Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... the thriving eco tourism companies... including local aboriginal eco tourism... would end!! Millions of dollars are spent by people from around the world, on eco tours in the very area where the oil super tankers will travel.
Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... we take our protocol agreement very seriously with the aboriginal peoples whose traditional lands we offer trips in. We will definitely stand behind them as they fight to stop the pipeline and oil super tankers. Did you know that... the oil super tankers (Very Large Crude Carriers) are MORE THAN 3X THE SIZE OF THE LARGEST B.C. FERRY?? Did you know that... the oil super tankers have to travel at least 15 knots... 2X the speed of our ship, Great Bear II?? Did you know that... the oil super tankers WILL CARRY 2 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL, EACH?? When I spoke with many many people at intermission and at the end of the screening of the winning films at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, they were OUTRAGED that this project is even being contemplated!! Most of those people wanted to know what they could do. Again, we suggest the following:
April 2011This music video was written and sung by Ta'Kaiya, a 10-year old Sliammon aboriginal girl who now lives in Vancouver. I hope it touches you like it has touched us.
The proposed Enbridge pipeline from the oil sands to Kitimat and the oil super tankers that would carry the crude oil through some of B.C.'s most important ecosystems cannot be allowed.
March 2011Allowing OIL SUPERTANKERS each with carrying capacities of 2 million barrels of oil into the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, Wright Sound, and Douglas Channel would jeopardize the $1.7 billion Pacific coast fishery, the 13,000 commercial fisheries jobs, the approximate 10,000 jobs in the cruise ship and recreational tourism industry, and entire coastal cultures from the threat of oil spills.
More than 12 years for Trish and a lifetime for Eric of traveling on B.C.'s central and north coasts could not have prepared us for how little time the iLCP took to capture the essence of these lands and waters of immeasurable beauty. The International League of Conservation Photographers spent 2 weeks in the Great Bear Rainforest documenting what is at stake should the proposed oil super tankers be allowed to transit the Hecate Strait, Wright Sound and Douglas Channel... waters that proved fatal for B.C. Ferries, "Queen of the North" when she foundered and sank on Gil Island.
Tonight as I write this piece for our "Enviro Alerts", the central and north coasts of British Columbia marine forecasts read "Hurricane Force Winds with Freezing Spray". "Storm Force" winds and "Freezing Spray" were forecast for the very narrow Douglas Channel and Wright Sound... narrow channels that have.. and will continue to... test even local mariners. Reports by friends who work through the winter on the central and north coasts, speak of the spray from sea water, building up as ice on their boat... of sea spray swept onto islands at the edge of the Hecate, freezing and turning trees into ice and killing them.. and of people who live here having their travel suddenly curtailed in the wake of these powerful and unforgiving storms. The locals that have lived and worked on this coast their whole lives understand the severity of these storms and respect these waters for all that they produce... and for all that they can just as quickly take away... Recently, our newly elected Premier Christy Clark said that the economy of the Province of British Columbia would benefit from the proposed Enbridge pipeline from the oil sands in Alberta to the Port of Kitimat on B.C.'s north coast... and... from the oil SUPER tankers that would travel to Kitimat to pick up the oil to transport it to new markets in Asia. Ms. Clark has also stated that she wants to listen to the people of British Columbia! Time will tell if she is listening to:
Allowing oil supertankers, (each with carrying capacities of 2 million barrels of oil) into the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, Wright Sound, and Douglas Channel would jeopardize the $1.7 billion Pacific coast fishery, the 13,000 commercial fisheries jobs, the approximate 10,000 jobs in the cruise ship and recreational tourism industry, and entire coastal cultures from the threat of oil spills. Enbridge has proposed the construction of two pipelines and a marine terminal in Kitimat to send tar sands oil to export. The 1,170 kilometers of pipeline will carry an average of 525,000 barrels of oil per day west from Bruderheim, Alberta, and 193,000 barrels per day of condensate east to thin oil for pipeline transport. From the marine terminal, tar sands oil would be loaded onto approximately 225 oil tankers per year, which would then navigate the Douglas Channel and around the coastal archipelago to the sea. The proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline crosses rough, mountainous terrain through the sensitive watersheds of the upper Fraser, Skeena, and Kitimat. There are serious concerns about the risks of oil spills. On July 26, 2010, an Enbridge pipeline spill in Michigan released four million litres of oil into the Kalamazoo River. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for California, hit the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil. The oil eventually covered 2,100 km of coastline and 28,000 km2 of ocean.
Is the government aware that Canada is virtually alone among oil-producing countries in not having the means to supply our own needs? Ontario and Quebec in particular are completely landlocked from oil supplies. The government likes to talk about how Canada is open for business and how we need to attract foreign investment in Canada, when in fact, the effect of all these pipelines is to guarantee long-term investment in foreign countries, not in Canada. The processing facilities are in the U.S.A. and Asia, not in Canada. The processing jobs are in the U.S.A. and Asia, not in Canada. I would love answers on how this foreign investment is good for Canadians. Should we not be securing these jobs for Canadians? After all, is this not Canadian oil?
The Conservative government's recent reinterpretation of the moratorium has meant that Methanex and Encana have been allowed to import condensate in tankers to the port of Kitimat. Since 2006, over 30 tankers carrying condensate have been allowed to travel through the inside passage to Kitimat, B.C. For those who do not know, condensate is a highly flammable hydrocarbon used to thin the tar-like oil extracted from the tar sands. It is classified as a dangerous good by the federal government and is so toxic that it kills marine life contact! WHAT IS ENBRIDGE UP TO NOW??
Enbridge is trying to counter this risk with advertised assurances of employment, safety and prosperity. But the "economic growth" promised for Northern BC is temporary, most jobs will disappear once the pipeline is built.
Enbridge is spending millions of dollars sponsoring TV and Radio ads, sponsoring athletics and a host of other "community friendly" events, including the "Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer"! As Enbridge offers even more money to pay off the Aboriginal Peoples along the proposed pipelines and oil SUPER tanker route, they continue to insult not only the First Nations people, but all British Columbians! **ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT** Almost all of our trips take place in areas along the route of the proposed oil SUPER tankers (each with carrying capacities of up to 2 million barrels of oil)! If the proposed Enbridge pipelines from the oil sands in Alberta to the Port of Kitimat are built, the oil SUPER tankers will be the single largest threat EVER to our coast.
Ocean Adventures has DONATED A 5 day/ 4 night TRIP TO THE HEART OF THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST to raise money for one of the most important campaigns in the history of our province... to STOP these oil SUPER tankers.
Want to win a trip to the Great Bear Rainforest with Ocean Adventures? Go to: www.sierraclub.bc.ca/campaign-spotlights/great-bear-raffle-2011/ to see where you can buy tickets. (Sadly, raffle tickets can only be purchased by B.C. Residents, that are of age. Visit Sierra Club for further details, or contact us. Visit www.pacificwild.org and see "spOIL", an extremely compelling documentary that shows what is at stake on our central and north coasts should the oil SUPER tankers be allowed to come here. If you've traveled with us before you will recognize some faces and places in this important film! November 2010 There is an island where the rainforest meets the sea, where at low tide mother- nature sets a banquet like no other. Bathed in the nutrient rich waters of British Columbia's north coast, the shellfish that cling to these shores provides food for the locals, including some very wise and resourceful mothers. Along our coast we have observed a few such places... where mother bears bring their cubs to keep them safe from other bears... places that provide them with the opportunity to feed and teach their cubs in peace.
Their tiny paws reach out to the shellfish tentatively at first, but with assurances from their mother, they soon appear to be savoring every mouthful. Interrupted only by the occasional need to nurse, the tiny white cubs and their mother continue to feed in peace... where the rainforest meets the sea. How much longer will the mother bears bring their tiny cubs here? How much longer will the shellfish here be safe for them to eat? How much longer will it be safe for a tiny cub to eat this important protein source, in peace, without being swept out to sea? There is one answer to all these questions! As long as we STOP the OIL SUPER TANKERS from transiting these waters... oil SUPER tankers on their way to Kitimat to pick up their mammoth loads of crude oil sent there on an Enbridge pipeline from Alberta's oil sands! EACH & EVERY VOICE COUNTS! Please write an email about WHY you don't want these oil SUPER tankers on our coast. Send copies of your email to the following:
If you have time to submit your concerns to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency through their website: www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca Thank you for your voice and your support ! The pipeline across our province and the possibility of oil SUPER tankers on our coast MUST BE STOPPED!
Sign the petition to STOP TROPHY HUNTING BEARS IN B.C.
Go to Stop Trophy Hunting Bears in B.C. on GoPetition.com, to sign the petition personally or anonymously, and help us make a difference today. February 2010 Subject: Press Release - Olympic Mascot Under Threat FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - VANCOUVER, BC, February 23, 2010 -- In a few weeks, the B.C. government plans on reopening the trophy hunt of bears in the internationally celebrated Great Bear Rainforest. And the spirit bear, which was featured in the Olympic Games' opening ceremonies, could be one of its targets. The future of the white Kermode or spirit bear is being put at risk because black bears that carry the spirit bear's white fur gene are fair game for trophy hunters. The genetically distinct Haida black bear and the grizzly bear, which is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the Canadian Federal government, can also be killed senselessly for sport. Coinciding with the release of a Vancouver Sun full page ad, supported by over 20 million people from 40 countries, conservationists have released a map showing that less than two percent of the white Kermode or spirit bear range actually protects the bears from trophy hunting in B.C. "How can British Columbia be celebrating the spirit bear in the opening Olympic ceremony and as an official mascot to the Olympics when trophy hunting is allowed in over 98 percent of the animal's genetic range?" asks Ian McAllister of B.C.-based Pacific Wild. "It just doesn't make sense to protect only the white coloured bears when the black bear also carries the gene that produces white cubs." said Kitasoo/Xai'xais bear viewing guide Doug Neasloss. "The spirit bear is a beautiful representative of evolution and we should not be tinkering with nature by allowing black Kermodes to be shot only to be hung on people's walls. This is an archaic and shallow blood sport," said Wayne McCrory, a Valhalla Wilderness Society biologist who has studied Kermode bears for 20 years. Liz Barratt-Brown, an attorney with the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council, is urging the B.C. government to end the trophy hunt. "The spirit bear is important enough to us that it is represented in our logo and our 1.2 million members and activists want to know that bears are protected in the Great Bear Rainforest." "The eyes of the world are on B.C. and the global campaign to end the trophy hunting of bears in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest will continue to escalate until they are protected," said Rebecca Aldworth of Humane Society International/Canada. Contact: Ian McAllister, Pacific Wild: 250-957-2480 or cell 250-882-7246 Liz-Barratt Brown, Natural Resources Defense Council: 202-289-2404 Wayne McCrory, Valhalla Wilderness Society: 250-358-7796 Rebecca Aldworth, Humane Society International/Canada: 514-575-6797 *Douglas Neasloss, Kitasoo/Xai'xais Spirit Bear Adventures:778-839-1241 *Doug Neasloss is in Vancouver at the Pan Pacific Aboriginal Pavilion during the Olympics and is available for television interviews. B-roll footage available. To download recent ads and map of the current black Kermode hunting area visit: www.pacificwild.org Facts: * In 2001, Premier Gordon Campbell overturned a moratorium on the trophy hunting of grizzly bears. Since then, over 2,000 grizzly bears have been killed for sport in B.C. *The globally rare white Kermode bear is protected from hunting, but the black Kermode, that produces white offspring is subject to open season trophy hunting in over 98 percent of its natural range. * A 2009 an Ipsos-Reid poll showed that nearly 80 percent of British Columbians are opposed to the trophy hunt of bears. * The trophy hunt also threatens tourism-based bear viewing operations, which generate considerably more revenue in B.C. than bear hunting. *Coastal First Nations are opposed to the trophy hunt of bears in their traditional territories. List of organizations supporting an end to the trophy hunt: Pacific Wild Humane Society International/Canada Humane Society of the United States Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust Coastal First Nations Greenpeace Sierra Club BC Western Canada Wilderness Committee David Suzuki Foundation The Spirit Bear Youth Coalition Valhalla Wilderness Society Bears Matter Forest Ethics Animal Rights Sweden Freedom for Animals - Croatia Brigitte Bardot Foundation - France Franz Weber Foundation - Switzerland Global Action in the Interest of Animals (GAIA) - Belgium Fundacion para la Adopcion, Apadrinamiento y Defensa de los Animales (FAADA) - Spain Four Paws (International) Respect for Animals - UK Commercial Bear Viewing Association of British Columbia Robin Wood Canopy Friends of the Earth BCSPCA Vancouver Humane Society Natural Resources Defense Council -30 - January 2010Media Advisory from FISHERMENLIST@LISTS.ONENW.ORG From: Alexandra Morton Date: January 26, 2010 2:13:17 PM PST (CA) To: "fishermenlist@lists.onenw.org" Subject: [fishermenlist] We Won again Hello Today BC Supreme Court ruled in our favor once again. Justice Hinkson granted the federal government a suspension order until December 18, 2010 so that Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) can further prepare to assume control of regulating salmon farms. However, Justice Hinkson forbade any expansion of aquaculture during that period. Specifically, the province cannot issue any new fish farm licences and cannot expand the size of any tenure. He recognized the First Nation interest in this matter by granting the Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council intervenor status, which is essential as this case is based in their territory. On the matter pursued by Marine Harvest at the Court of Appeal and sent back to Justice Hinkson to reconsider (that is whether the fish in the farms are privately owned by the companies and whether the Farm Practices Protection Act (FPPA) is still in force), Hinkson confirmed that the FPPA, will no longer apply to finfish aquaculture and thus no longer protect farms from nuisance claims. On the question, does Marine Harvest own the fish in their pens? Justice Hinkson found that this was not the place for this decision. Marine Harvest will have to bring this before the courts themselves. For now, we know that the aquaculture fish are now part of the fisheries of Canada. Today's decision is met by the unrelated announcement by US box store chain "Target" that they have eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen, and smoked seafood offerings in its stores across the United States, because of farm salmon environmental impact on native salmon. There is an enormous amount of work ahead to translate any of this into better survival of our wild salmon, but the courts seem consistently interested in bringing reason, the constitution and the law to bear on the Norwegian fish farm industry in British Columbia. While I am truly sorry that jobs will be lost in ocean fish farming, bear in mind the industry is in deep trouble with mother nature herself in the fish farming strongholds of Chile and Norway. Trying to hold this nomadic fish in pens is never going to work, because it causes epidemics, unnatural sea lice infestations and drug resistance. Salmon farming is not sustainable and ultimately we are better served by our wild fish. Alexandra Morton
Winter 2009Media Advisory from FISHERMENLIST@LISTS.ONENW.ORG From: Alexandra Morton Date: October 26, 2009 4:35:37 PM PDT (CA) To: "fishermenlist@lists.onenw.org" Subject: [fishermenlist] Member of Parliament Judicial Inquiry! Hello All Good News Finally! Peter Julian, Member of Parliament - New Westminster has just launched a petition for a Judicial Inquiry into the Fraser sockeye crash. CONSIDER THIS: If there had been a Judicial Inquiry into the declining North Atlantic cod, we would have rebuilt that fish stock by now because we would have discovered that the critical research by Dr. Ransom Myers of DFO was being suppressed by DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans). Here we are again. DFO is completely silent, they have not even acknowledged that the Fraser sockeye crash pattern is extremely specific and provided the media with misinformation. A judicial inquiry will place people under oath so they can be heard over the politics. Please go to Peter Julian's website: http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/node/864 And download the petition document, and sign: here This has to be a paper copy, there can be 1 signature on a page, or a full page of signatures, the address is on the document and postage to the federal government is free. You cannot say you care about wild salmon if you don't make this effort. This will make a very big difference in the future of BC and the eastern pacific. Alexandra Morton www.adopt-a-fry.org
Fall 2009September 21st, 2009
Hello Mark
We are emailing you from the First Nations village of Hartley Bay on the North Coast of B.C.. Today we learned from the Elders of Hartley Bay of their greatest concern for their village: oil supertankers traveling the waterways of their traditional lands.
This is a land of great abundance... and especially, an abundance of spirit. The Gitga'at People of Hartley Bay rushed to the Queen of the North as she sank to the bottom of Wright Sound, saving most of the lives of the passengers and crew that cold winter night. This is absolutely NOT a surprise to us. We've known these people for over 10 years now.. these are a people that are the very definitions of all that is good and right. Many visitors come to this area of B.C.'s North Coast in search of the Spirit Bear... but aside from this unique and amazing little white bear, there is the awe inspiring spirit of a people that is more unique than even the spirit bears who share their traditional homelands.
Considering the rare and unique people and the white Spirit Bears who share their homelands, how can Enbridge consider a project that will bring oil SUPER tankers to these waters and how can the governments of British Columbia and Canada allow this to happen??
Long ago, we entered into a protocol agreement with the Gitga'at People of Hartley Bay... and we intend to honour that which we have promised... we will stand by their sides as they attempt to protect their lands, their waters, their wildlife, their children, their Elders and their way of life.
May 27th, 2009
Click here to view the NDP/Liberal ridings map.
Click here to subscribe to One North West's Fishermen's Listserve.
"A project proposed by Enbridge would bring oil tankers bigger than the Exxon Valdez right over the heads of the whales and other sea life..."
Click here to read the full document.
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· Queen Charlotte Islands · Haida Gwaii · Great Bear Rainforest · Gulf Islands · Princess Louisa Inlet · · Desolation Sound · Howe Sound · Indian Arm · Whale Watching · Bear Viewing · Wilderness Adventures ·
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Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... anyone living and working along the proposed pipeline and the oil super tanker route, would live in fear every single day that the food they eat, their way of life and their livelihoods could be destroyed.
Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... sport fishing along the pipeline and in the ocean along the oil super tanker route, would likely end. The oil super tankers would make it too dangerous for the little fishing boats to be in the same waters.
Like eco tourists, "sporties" do NOT come to this part of the world to watch oil super tankers... they come for the unspoiled wilderness.
CONSIDER THE FACTS:
ARE CANADIAN ENERGY NEEDS and CANADIAN JOBS BEING TRULY CONSIDERED? READ THIS:
DO WE HAVE LOTS OF TIME? 
And the improved navigation systems for all marine traffic, touted as one of the benefits of developing Kitimat as a busy international oil port, will be necessary because the low risk from present traffic will become high risk with the mass arrival of supertankers. With capacities of 2 million barrels of oil, some will be nearly double the size of the ill- fated Exxon Valdez. As a sobering perspective on the frequency and extent of tanker caused marine disasters, this devastating 1989 spill in Alaska was only the 54th largest.
May 16th, 2009
April 8th, 2009
