News Leader News for October 07, 2008
FOREST CRITIC VISITS PRINCETON
Should the NDP form the next provincial government, Forest Critic Bob Simpson will likely be appointed Minister of Forests thanks to the homework he has done through a series of tours throughout the province.
Simpson says the tours he has taken over the past three and a half years involved a lot of conversations with British Columbians and their thoughts on forestry.
"I've been on tour to get some insight and feedback on what direction the industry should go."
Oddly enough, in the four tours he has taken across BC, his first stop in Princeton, what many would consider a forestry town with history built on and a future hinged on lumber, was last week.
Simpson, the MLA for Cariboo-North, was accompanied by Yale-Lillooet MLA Harry Lali and spoke to a handful of Princeton residents September 30th at the Skills Centre.
The basis of Simpson's new forest management document revolved around a single, simple fact: every economic activity is created from the Earth.
"We need to understand our land base is changing," he explained citing forest fires, bug infestation and climate change are impacting the forests and emphasized the need to invest in land rehabilitation.
Simpson says there is a need to re-inventory BC's forests, factor climate change into the plan and create 25, 50 and 100-year plans.
"We have to start thinking about the forest industry as lumber and pulp." He said suggesting a wood substitute to fossil fuels and the use of wood fibre in the creation of other products along with the development of a bio-mass industry. The latter of which Simpson said would attract young people drawn to the
'green' concept, which would drive that industry.
Another point he made was the requirement of removing forestry decisions from the hands of government where forest stewardship decisions would replace economic decisions.
Simpson agreed it would be a tough transition to help position the province for the future.
"If we do this right, it'll be the most exciting thing to happen in this province."
LOGAN ISSUES REPORT FROM AREA H
Well another Union of BC Municipalities Conference is over. This year it was held in Penticton and over 1,700 local government and Provincial politicians attending.
I was able to obtain an appointment with Minister Penner, Ministry of the Environment to discuss the issue of Coal bed Methane. Below are the briefing notes that were submitted along with the requests that were made of the Minister.
Purpose of Meeting:
To inform the Province of potential risks to the environment and public safety due to coal bed methane exploration and extraction and to request that a moratorium on any exploration and extraction until such time these can be assessed.
Overview:
Recently there has been interest expressed by a petroleum based company to begin testing for coal bed methane and then potentially begin extraction of the resource. While there may be economic benefits to the community, these benefits may be far outweighed by the potential health, environmental and social impacts that such an extraction process may entail. Some of the damages to the groundwater supplies could be irreparable. The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen is concerned about these impacts and would like to ensure the health, safety and well being of our respective communities before any work begins. While we understand that an Environmental Impact Assessment may be required once the proponent decides to pursue the mining of the resource, we are also concerned about the damages that could occur through exploration.
Issues:
Studies show that there is a positive connection between ground water and methane in the Princeton area. Dr. Gilles Wendling showed that 50% of some 16 wells spread over the Princeton area contain methane gas. The geology in the area may not be conducive to exploration or extraction as identified in Dr. Hughes report "The Local Princeton Ground Formation." The ground formations asserted by the petroleum company are not what we believe are to be factual and may not be based on any sound science. Given the possible risk to public health and the environment, we believe that a risk assessment should take place before any exploration is considered and a full Environmental Impact Assessment should occur should any methane extraction be considered.
As a consequence of these concerns the RDOS Board has resolved: "THAT the RDOS support the resolution passed by the UBCM which requested a moratorium in the Province of BC on coal bed methane drilling and development until such time that the safety and well being of the residents of those affected areas can be guaranteed." Also, we have applied for a Federal/ Provincial grant under the "Water Supply Expansion Program" in order to assess groundwater and surface water supplies in the area and their vulnerabilities. Should you decide to permit the exploration of methane gas in our communities we believe that the following should be at minimum considered due diligence: Prior to Exploration, a Risk Assessment of the Areas being Considered (this should consider, but not be limited to the following): - Each of the drilling locations should be identified and a review of the specific geology of a drilling site should be completed. This should include a geophysical survey and must be completed prior any drilling. The assessment should include local well logs and a litho logy literature review.
- A risk assessment should be completed based local site information to ensure that any risks are properly mitigated, or to ensure that exploration does not occur in areas of high risk.
- Any wells that could have potential risk of contamination, and other areas of risk to public health and the environment should be identified and tested prior to any drilling.
- The litho logy should be reviewed as any exploratory well is being drilled to confirm any assumptions. This should be reviewed before any groundwater activity occurs.
- Testing should occur after any exploratory testing or drilling to ensure that any nearby wells or sources of risk to public health (i.e. rivers) and to the environment have not been adversely affected.
- The proponent should be prepared to pay for any damages caused by his or her activities.
- This should be an independent review paid for by the proponent and controlled by the Ministry of Environment.
Environmental Impact Assessment should occur prior to any project being approved.
- This should include all Social Impacts positive and negative
- Identify land uses being considered and its compatibility with existing land use bylaws
- Native claims
- All economic impacts positive and negative
- All potential Environmental Impacts
- All potential Health Impacts
I also conveyed to him the feeling of the Similkameen Valley regarding Coalbed Methane drilling in the Princeton area, and that our communities have been in turmoil since early spring. As well I found it irresponsible that the Province of BC would be satisfied with the assurances from the proponent themselves on the safety of the drilling process. I told him that Petrobank had offered up a very limited information session at the Legion from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and that this was wholly inadequate. At the very least Petrobank must return as well as the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Oil and Gas Commission. Mayor McLean was scheduled to attend this meeting with me but he had a meeting conflict and could not. However he did take me by surprise when he asked that his name be removed from the briefing notes given to Minister Penner. He stated to me that he and his council did not agree with what I was asking of the minister and their stance was that they did not want any coalbed methane drilling in the area at all.
I can understand that to be asking for the above makes it sound as if we are giving in. That if the government can do what we have asked and they can guarantee the safety of our water and environment then we are still going to end up with coalbed methane drilling in our valley.
But we must stay on tract and our history with our opposition to coalbed methane drilling is lengthy. Your Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen has asked twice now for a moratorium on coalbed methane drilling. In 2003 UBCM members endorsed resolution B129 which requested that the provincial government issue no further drilling license, tenures, or other permits for coalbed methane exploration and development until local communities, their local government and First Nations are consulted and their concerns are fully considered and until adequate policies, regulation, and guidelines are enacted to ensure the safe development of coalbed methane in the Province of BC.
In 2007 the UBCM endorsed resolution B149 which requested that the Province "coordinate a community meeting process for all local governments in a watershed potentially affected by coalbed methane development where a balance of government agencies, industry, community groups and environmental organizations make presentations so residents have the variety of viewpoints they need to make a knowledgeable decision about such development."
This year Prince Rupert put through Resolution B42 which was fully endorsed by the members of the UBCM that:
Immediately suspend coalbed methane exploration in the Klappan-Groundhog tenure area;
Engage in comprehensive consultations with all the residents of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine Watershed and estuaries; and
Not proceed with coalbed methane development in the Klappan-Groundhog area until there is compelling evidence of environmental safety, such that the majority of residents in the region are satisfied such development does not jeopardize their values and existing economic activities.
We are certainly not alone in our concerns over coalbed methane. Minister Penner will be reviewing the requests made and will be reporting back to the RDOS board and I will keep you advised and up to date on any developments.
BE THANKFUL FOR OUR FOOD
The first Thanksgiving in the United States has become part of our heritage, as we feast on this special day with foods eaten in that first Thanksgiving. Few of us think about what those early Pilgrims ate but those foods are North American foods, and therefore part of our heritage, too.
The first Thanksgiving featured turkey on the menu. The native people ate turkey on a regular basis, as it was one of the wild birds that was easy to catch and made a good meal. Turkeys we eat today are domesticated, but wild turkeys still roam in North American woodlands. The turkeys at the first Thanksgiving were purely North American. The English did not have turkeys.
Corn was on the menu at the first Thanksgiving. Corn was a grain new to the Pilgrims. What the English called "corn" we would describe as "grain", whereas what we call corn is actually maize. Native American tribes planted three kinds of corn (or more). The corn on the cob variety is one we are most familiar with, but other corn was used for cereal, and still other corn became flour, or meal.
Pumpkin would have been another food the native people brought to the first Thanksgiving. Pumpkin was not only a vegetable, but a food dried and turned into flour to be used for gruel and bread. Along with pumpkins, the native people grew squash. There are many different kinds of squash, all edible, and all good food, but the winter squash was highly nutritious and prized as a vegetable.
Another North American food that was likely at the first Thanksgiving was beans. North America provided a wide variety of beans. The majority of beans were dried and preserved in hide sacks. The English did have one type of bean, the fava bean, but the many different kind of beans we have today stem from North America.
Potatoes would have been on the menu of the first Thanksgiving. Native people had been growing potatoes for at least 1,000 years, although we would not recognize them as the kind of potatoes we grow today. The natives of the east coast did not grow as many varieties as the southwestern tribes, but they did grow a hardy variety.
Tomatoes and tomato sauce are associated with Mexican and Italian foods, but tomatoes would have been available for the first Thanksgiving, as they are a North American plant. Many Europeans would not eat tomatoes until about 100 years ago, as they believed tomatoes were poisonous. because tomatoes belong to a family of plants which number deadly nightshade among them.
There may have been peanuts at that first Thanksgiving, but they would have been obtained by trade with tribes far to the south. There were very few peanuts available in those days. There definitely would have been hickory nuts and beech nuts, which the native people roasted, dried, and ground into flour (or just ate from the shell). Sunflower seeds would likely have been a treat at that first Thanksgiving. Wild carrots were available, but eaten sparingly, as the native people associated them with liver disease.
We seldom think of native people of North America having raisins, but on the east coast, wild grapes grew in most woodland areas where there was a moist clearing. Native people were experts at preserving dried fruits and vegetables. No doubt there were dried berries of various kinds, and probably cranberries among them.
The leaves of many kinds of native North American plants were blended and used as teas, often for medicinal purposes, but we can be sure there would have been a refreshing tea blend to go with the meal, as the kind of tea the English were accustomed to would have been very expensive to import in those days.
The end of the feast, with its abundance bringing the relaxation of full stomachs, probably brought out the pipes and tobacco (the gift or curse of native Americans).
As we go through the list of foods which were probably part of that feast day, we are reminded of the abundance of food the native Americans had at their disposal, foods which have spread their bounty worldwide today. As a final note of things to be thankful for, we can be thankful for the abundance of the land that the original people have shared with the world.
Today we live in a land where we take this abundance of food for granted. Here in the Similkameen Valley, as harvests come off the fields and trees, we can be especially thankful for the abundance produced in our valley.
Whether or not you have a traditional turkey dinner with pumpkin pie to celebrate Thanksgiving, please take the time to be thankful for our abundance and for the people who produce it.
Happy Thanksgiving!
