For immediate release—September 24, 2007

S&M Creek Spotted Owl Research Camp Comes Down
Guided Tours Of Clearcuts and Owl Site To Begin Immediately

Vancouver, BC – The Wilderness Committee established the Spotted Owl Research Camp at S&M Creek near Pemberton, BC to document and compile information on BC government-approved clearcutting within the territory of the S&M Creek Spotted Owl. Never before has the BC government knowingly planned and orchestrated a logging operation so close to an active spotted owl site. All of the approved clearcuts are within the territory of this spotted owl and some are within metres of the owls current roost. If the BC government had listened to its own hand-picked spotted owl recovery team, who argued for the protection of such sites, this logging never would have been allowed.

At the research camp, the Wilderness Committee spent 2 weeks collecting data, photographs, and b-roll film of the logging operation. This information has been posted on the Wilderness Committee website and will be relayed to Federal Environment Minister John Baird in anticipation of Federal intervention to stop the logging.

To date, one clearcut has been felled and contractors are currently taking the logged trees to Blind Channel in Squamish, and to Ainsworth Lumber Ltd. in Lillooet. The Wilderness Committee estimates that logging operations will be completed in this first of 13 clearcuts by October 1, 2007. Logging at the remaining 12 approved clearcuts could occur at any moment.

To access the other, as of yet un-logged clearcuts, Wilderness Committee researchers scoured the mountainside on foot with maps. They located many of the planned cuts and recorded information about the quality of the forest to be cut. Having compiled adequate information to present to the federal government, the Wilderness Committee removed the camp and has now begun offering tours of the site.

The first tour of the site was for a BC Member of the Legislature (MLA).

The threat to the S&M Creek spotted owl is still acute. “The 12 planned clearcuts remaining at S&M Creek are like a cocked pistol pointed at the head of this spotted owl – the trigger could be pulled at any moment,” said National Campaign Director Joe Foy.

The Wilderness Committee has been consistently calling, to no avail, for the BC government to stop the logging at S&M Creek. “Now we have escalated the battle to save this owl and are appealing to the federal government for immediate intervention. The future of the S&M Creek spotted owl, the ability of this site to be used as a home for captive-bred spotted owls, and the health of the old-growth forest ecosystem in BC comes down to tough decisions such as whether logging the S&M Creek spotted owl site is right or wrong,” said Wilderness Committee staff scientist Andy Miller.

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FREE TOURS can be arranged by calling:
Andy Miller, Staff Scientist, @ 604-992-3099 (cell) or 604-683-8220, or
Joe Foy, National Campaign Director @ 604-880-2580 (cell) or 604-683-8220