YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON - PROPOSED WILDLIFE CORRIDOR (1999 - revised 2004)

 

The Chamber is very concerned by the Wildlands Project’s Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative - Y2Y).  The mandate of the Wildlands Project seeks to protect and restore the ecological integrity and biodiversity of North America through the establishment of a connected system of conservation reserves.  The Y2Y initiative is an effort to develop a series of core protected areas, connected by movement corridors for wildlife and surrounded by buffer zones, from the south of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming to the north end of the Richardson Mountains in Yukon Territory. 

 

This is an area some 2900km long that covers approximately 35% of the geographic area of BC.  A wide corridor covering the area from the BC-Alberta border west to such cities as Grand Forks, Vernon and Quesnel are included.  Immediately north of Prince George the proposed area flares west to cover most of the northern part of the province. 

 

The Y2Y concept is not a provincial government initiative.  Rather, it is a proposal by an independent group of environmentalists with input from non-Canadian conservation groups such as the Washington, D.C. based Wilderness Society. Much of the advancement has been through the US federal and state agencies, NGO's (non government organizations), and international organizations.  Unfortunately, BC’s population along the Rocky Mountains seems to be held hostage to this project – despite its being driven by external forces.

 

Dave Forman Chairman of the Board of the Wildlands Project (and a director of the Sierra Club), was the principle founder of the eco-terrorist group Earth First.  He defines legitimate wilderness as “vast landscapes without roads, dams, motorized vehicles, powerlines, overflights or other artifacts of civilization.”  Reed Noss, another director of the Wildlands Project, has been quoted as saying 50% of North America needs to be set aside to achieve the Wildlands Project objectives.  He has also said “the collective needs of non-human species must take precedence over the needs and desires of humans.”

 

With such proponents, the Y2Y concept is not friendly to the resource industries.  In fact, it appears to seek the curtailment or elimination of resource industry activities within its boundaries, which could have a devastating effect upon the economy of the province of BC.  If the provincial government supports this initiative it will allow the potential de-industrialization and de-population of the Rocky Mountains.

 

The impact of this is enormous.  The Y2Y area includes approximately 35% of the provincial annual timber harvest (i.e. the Annual Allowable Cut). For example, it includes approximately 90% and 72%, respectively, of the Annual Allowable Cut in the Nelson and Prince George Forest regions. Given that the economic base of these regions is resource-based, any significant reduction in timber harvesting would have an extremely negative effect on the affected regions and the province as a whole.  A study by The Chancellor Partners has shown that the potential cumulative impacts from the forest industry alone could be as high as 80,000 jobs, $3.9 billion in personal income annually, $1.2 billion in provincial government revenues annually and $5.4 billion in GDP.

 

This does not even include calculations about the mining industry.  The coal mines in the Elk Valley, for example, are a major economic driver in the region and are already overburdened with regulations and red tape.  Conservationists discount these claims.  A report prepared by the Wilderness Society implies that an economic base could instead be provided by “business owners, retirees and entrepreneurs who have decided that living in the Rockies is important to their quality of life.”

 

The provincial government has implemented a number of local land use planning strategies such as the Land and Resource Management Planning (LRMP) process which allow all interested parties to participate in the decision-making process. In the East Kootenays, for example, the CORE process has already protected some 16% of the land base, well above the 12% target set by the provincial government.  Consequently, a radical non local, independent approach which could gut the economy of the province is not appropriate. 

 

THE CHAMBER OF RECOMMENDS:

 

That the provincial government:

 

1. continue to follow and honour making local land-use decisions inside the existing provincially-sponsored initiatives such as the LRMP process; and

 

2. oppose any action by the proponents of the Y2Y concept which seek to alter or negatively affect the existing processes.