News Room

Clearcut raises concerns for threatened caribou

An aboriginal community is outraged after discovering that a Vancouver mining company conducting coal exploration in B.C.'s Rocky Mountains has cleared a mountain ridge near Chetwynd that is critical wintering habitat for threatened caribou.

Chief Roland Willson of the West Moberly First Nation said his people were shocked to learn that about 17 hectares have been damaged for coal exploration. "They've cleared off the site ... and damaged critical core habitat," he said.

Willson said the First Coal Corp. site, known as the Goodrich Property, is among a slew of resource-related developments, including wind turbines and oil and gas, occurring in the midst of caribou habitat in the region.

"It's to the point these caribou are probably going to become extinct in this area."

West Moberly land-use manager Bruce Muir said the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources has not adequately explained why the ridge near Mount Stephenson was stripped and what B.C. plans to do about it.

"The conservation of a species is supposed to be the No. 1 priority according to the law," Muir said. "The second legal priority is supposed to be first nations.

"So why is it that a mining company gets to skip to the front of the line?"

Ron Bronstein, acting regional director of mines in northeast B.C., said from Prince George that the company has received various permits to allow for road construction, trenching, ground-water exploration, and drilling as part of the initial exploration process.

The ministry is seeking further information from the company regarding work conducted on the ridge to date.

"My understanding is that [cleared] area exceeds some of the approvals they have received," Bronstein said.

"If that's the situation, we've asked them for a reclamation plan for the site."

He said he has no current plans to seek charges in the case. "Why would we need to? You don't necessarily just run out and charge somebody right off the bat for doing something."

First Coal president Doug Smith said from Vancouver his company has been operating in the area since 2005 and is awaiting approval of a bulk-sampling permit allowing the removal of up to 100,000 tonnes of material as the next stage in the mine's development process.

He agreed the current issue is whether First Coal went too far in clearing the site. "We're reviewing that with the government now as to what work was done and what work was permitted," Smith said.

Dale Seip, a wildlife ecologist with the Ministry of Forests and Range, who has been conducting radio-collar work on caribou in the region since 2003, warned of coal-related damage to caribou habitat in a September report.

"This proposal will directly destroy core winter range of a threatened caribou herd," Seip wrote. "It is also possible that it will displace caribou from a significantly larger area of core habitat."

The exploration site is habitat for the Burnt Pine herd, whose population is just 16 to 37 caribou. Studies have shown caribou will stay as far as six km away from mine sites in the area.

"These core winter-range areas represent windswept alpine ridges where caribou can obtain lichens for winter forage and have limited exposure to predators and human disturbance," Seip wrote.

"The recommended management objective for these areas is no destruction of lichens, no winter disturbance that will displace caribou, and no improvement of access for humans or predators."

The area is protected by the province as an ungulate wintering range against forestry activities, but not other forms of resource activity.

Mines Minister Richard Neufeld refused The Sun's request for an interview.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun