By Megan Grittani-Livingston
Copy rights www.whistlerquestion.com
May 6, 2009

Whistler – Activists from the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) and other countries are setting up camps around Fire Mountain and the Lillooet River Valley to protest logging and development for run-of-river hydro projects near what the Wilderness Committee calls “critical spotted owl habitat.”

Supported by three activists from the U.K. and Japan, WCWC staff and volunteers set up their protest camp at several locations in the Lillooet River Valley last weekend (May 1 to 4) to call attention to the Fire Mountain site about 75 kilometres southeast of Pemberton, which the Wilderness Committee says is one of the last active spotted owl sites in B.C.

The WCWC protesters will be back this weekend (May 8 to 11), with other activists from around Europe, said Andy Miller, the protest camp leader and a WCWC staff scientist.

“We’re asking (Environment Minister Barry Penner) to stop the logging operations in the spotted owl territory at Fire Mountain, which is right down there in the middle of the valley,” Miller told The Question.

According to Miller, most local First Nations residents and recreational users of the area who came by the camp expressed support for the protesters’ work.

“Of the people who stopped by or slowed down to honk or stick their thumb up, I think probably 80 to 90 per cent of the people are happy we’re there,” he said.

According to a WCWC statement issued on Tuesday (May 5), “only four owls remain in the wild in B.C., down from a historic estimate of 1,000 owls.” The statement calls for the spotted owl habitat at Fire Mountain to be completely protected, along with the owls’ other remaining high-quality habitat areas.

WCWC has set up similar protest camps in the past two years, including one last year attempting to stop road building at Fire Mountain and another in 2007 at the S&M Creek spotted owl site.

A spotted owl recovery team established by the Province predicted that the spotted owl would be extinct in B.C. by 2010, Miller said, and he said the signs point to the fulfillment of that forecast.

“Most scientists now think there’s no chance for the recovery of the owl, (but) we’re not going to give up hope until they’re finally gone,” Miller said, adding that he thinks it’s important to continue to protect habitat areas.