Golden Wildsight and Council of Canadians Co-host Rivers at Risk Presentation
February 21, 2009
Golden, BC — Wildsight and the Golden chapter of the Council of Canadians today announced that Joe Foy, National Campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, will be in Golden to inspire listeners with the successful campaign that stopped river diversion project transmission lines for the upper Pitt River from bisecting a provincial park.
“ The Pitt was shut down by raw people power, “ recounts Foy.
The Golden meeting will focus on controversial local proposals for private power projects, like the Blaeberry River/ Thompson Falls and a new proposal on the remote upper Wood River, a pristine wilderness currently protected through community agreement with the forest licensee.
“ Years of consensus building between Wildsight and Wood River Forest LTD. resulted in a precedent setting agreement, “ said Ellen Zimmerman of Wildsight.
After years of negotiations, the B.C. government in November 2006 announced a legal variance to the Kootenay-Boundary Higher Level Plan. The change (variance) is a result of careful discussions between Wood River Forest Inc., a Revelstoke based logging company, Wildsight, the East Kootenay's leading environmental group, and the provincial government.
The decision means that three drainages located north of Golden, the Upper Wood River, Jeffrey Creek and Pacific Creek, will not be available for logging. This unique move, heralded by all involved as a positive agreement, means the historical wilderness and wildlife values of the area will be protected.
“This is the one place that David Thompson explored that he would still recognize today. Now, a private developer, without community consultation, can propose a project that would see a substantial road built and transmission lines in a pristine and historically intact wilderness, ignoring previous hard won community agreements.” said Zimmerman.
Trevor Hamre of the Golden chapter of the Council of Canadians thinks that Foy’s insights can motivate local river users and river lovers to come out and join the fight.
“The community must take ownership of the rivers of the region, and say “NO” to privatization of this valuable shared public resource.”
Please join Joe Foy, council of Canadians and Wildsight at a Rivers at Risk meeting on March 3 at the Golden High School
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For more information
Ellen Zimmerman, Wildsight
Telephone: (250) 348-2225
ellen@wildsight.ca
Trevor Hamre, Council of Canadians
Telephone: (250) 344-4668
thamre@hotmail.com
Joe Foy, Wilderness Committee, National Campaign Director
As a child growing up in the still-wild Fraser Valley, Joe loved to hike and fish in the backcountry surrounding his home - but it was his love of the Stein Valley wilderness that led him to begin volunteering with the Wilderness Committee in 1984. In 1987 Joe became the Wilderness Committee's first paid campaigner and initiated the Lower Mainland Pocket Wilderness Campaign. Since then, Joe has been the driving force behind many of our campaigns, and has led the Wilderness Committee to successfully protect spectacular areas such as Boise/Pinecone/Burke, and the Stein, Carmanah and Lower Walbran Valley. Joe's passion for the wild shines through in his speeches at rallies, to media, and to the public. In all of his front line work, Joe is inspired and informed by his love for wilderness and the thousands of hours he has spent exploring BC’s wild places.
About Wildsight
Wildsight works locally, regionally and globally to protect biodiversity and encourage sustainable communities in Canada's Columbia and Southern Rocky Mountain region. This area is internationally recognized as a keystone to conservation in western North America. Wildsight received the 2005 Canadian Environmental Award for Conservation in recognition of its successful work to protect the region's wildlife and wildlands. For more information, please visit www.wildsight.ca .
