YOU MIGHT HELP INFLUENCE A KEY ALBERTA MINISTER WHO IS TOURING AUSTRALIA RIGHT NOW.
PLEASE HELP PROTECT CANADA’S GRIZZLIES, WOLVES, CARIBOU …. and AUSTRALIA’S CLIMATE!
Minister Ted Morton in Australia from January 11 to January 24.
Good afternoon, Friends and Colleagues
Until last week, two episodes connected me to your wonderful country. The first was our fantastic visits a number of yeas ago to Kakadu, the Blue Mountains, Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, the Little Desert, Lamington, Grampians and other places, communities and people too numerous to mention. Needless to say, we long for a return to the sights, sounds, smells, experiences and people we remember so dearly.
The second was a visit from a Wilderness Society campaigner here in Canada a few years back. We discussed mutual challenges and occasional successes. Clearly we have a lot in common.
Now, a third connection as Alberta’s Minister for Sustainable Resource Development — Mr. Ted Morton — travels to Australia to “gather information on a wide array of natural resource management and land-use practices.” Of course, it’s brutal winter here and height of summer there, so the party of officials and spouses likely will be enjoying other aspects of your countryside as well…
And this is the rub. Minister Morton has on his desk today, a large stack of official government plans and recommendations, proposals from stakeholder groups, suggestions from conservation, landowner and civic organizations regarding wildlife, land use, water conservation, etc. To date, most of these recommendations largely have been ignored.
For example, the government waited for a full TEN years before “accepting” it’s own government panel’s recommendations on mountain caribou recovery. Even then it deliberately and publicly disregarded the sections that indicted roadbuilding as the central factor in caribou declines. So roads for oil, gas, timber and recreation continue to reach into caribou habitat, while this government brags about its killing of 200-300 wolves and its paltry caribou calf protection program as Alberta’s contributions to caribou recovery. More at: http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/biodiversity/wilderness/endangered-species/woodland-caribou.pdf .
The government has been similarly indifferent to the plight of the province’s remaining imperilled grizzly bear population. Less than a decade ago, official numbers placed Alberta’s provincial grizzly bear population at more than 1,000 animals. Recent studies find fewer than 500. Other than suspending the annual grizzly bear hunt, nothing significant has been done to protect the province’s grizzly bears or their habitat. The plan was completed and submitted to government in February of 2005, but not “accepted” until more than three years later. In the meantime, habitat loss, roadbuilding, delays and missed opportunities were the main markers of “recovery.” More at http://actiongrizzlybear.ca/ .
The story is much the same for overall land use practices, water conservation, habitat protection, assessment of cumulative effects, and cost-benefit analyses of resource development proposals here in Alberta. Yes, I suppose this litany may well apply to virtually every jurisdiction on the planet, including many of the places and treasures you are working so hard to protect. The irony of course — and the element that brings us together — is the simple fact that while Minister Morton has a tall stack of official plans and public recommendations at his disposal, yet he wanders off to Australia for a winter holiday under the guise of investigating other solutions to Alberta’s land management problems.
Of course, the 2,000 pound water buffalo in the room is Alberta’s shameful record on oil sand development and carbon emissions contributing to global warming. Suffice it to say that the province has no intention to reduce carbon emissions, and that Australia’s dry interior and low coastlines will be among the first to suffer because of our indifference and arrogance. More at: http://www.oilsandswatch.org/
Bottom line, the Minister has plenty of recommendations regarding caribou recovery, grizzly bear recovery, wolf conservation and management, and a host of other issues on his desk right now. Most are official, commissioned by provincial government. Most are NOT implemented, funded, or taken seriously.
If there might be any way you could deliver our concerns to colleagues who might be meeting with Minister Morton (itinerary below), or might have the opportunity to pose these questions on your own, we very much would value your help. We realize that your plates are full, but this may be a chance to leverage a little effort for a lot of good. Hope you might take a minute or two to join us.
Please feel free to contact me (in Canada) at 403-678-0016 or [email protected] for additional information.
Thanks much,
jim
James Pissot, MSc
Canada Field Representative
Defenders of Wildlife
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Resourceful. Responsible.
January 6, 2009
Alberta seeks best practices on natural resources and land use
Edmonton… Australian land-use practices may have application in Alberta under the province’s new Land-use Framework.
Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton will lead a three-member delegation to Australia January 12-16. The delegation will gather information on a wide array of natural resource management and land-use practices in Australia and assess how they have been used to help address economic, environmental and social pressures in that country.
“Australia has developed world-renowned conservation and stewardship tools to deal with land-use and resource pressures,” said Morton. “Learning these Australian practices first-hand will help us implement the Land-use Framework.”
Travelling with Morton are his Parliamentary Assistant Evan Berger and Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale.
The Alberta delegation will meet with various levels of government, along with representatives from the farming, forestry and industry sectors and the scientific community. Morton and his colleagues will assess the viability of Australian practices related to water, conservation banks, renewable energy, carbon sequestration projects and public transit initiatives in and around the Sydney and Canberra urban areas.
Total costs for Morton, Parliamentary Assistant Berger and MLA Drysdale are estimated at $26,000.
Costs for spouses travelling with the team and for additional personal time will be covered privately.
-30-
Itinerary attached
Media inquiries may be directed to:
Carol Chawrun
Sustainable Resource Development
Phone: 780-427-8636
http://alberta.ca/home/NewsFrame.cfm?ReleaseID=/acn/200901/25073AD765160-DCFE-F0AA-55B5408E7916140F.html
++++++++++++++++++++++
Minister Ted Morton’s general itinerary*
Sun, Jan. 11
Arrive Sydney, Australia.
Mon, Jan. 12
Meetings include the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists (natural
resource policies), New Forests (discussion of investment programs) and
State Forests of New South Wales.
Drive to Canberra, late afternoon, early evening.
Tues, Jan. 13
Meetings include the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Forestry; the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization (CSIRO) Division of Land and Water (Murray Darling Basin
discussion), Australian National University; and the Department of
Climate Change.
Tour Parliament Building.
Evening function hosted by Canadian High Commission.
Wed, Jan. 14
Depart Canberra and drive to Yass, visit dryland agriculture, then
carry on to Tumut and visit State Forests of NSW timber plantations,
then carry on to Wagga Wagga for overnight.
Evening dinner with Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority (CMA).
Thurs, Jan. 15
Meetings with Murrumbidgee CMA, Wagga Wagga Council, then travel west
to Griffith with one or two stops at points of interest, including farm
visits. Evening in Griffith – dinner with Murrumbidgee Irrigation Corp.
Fri, Jan. 16
Visit Murrumbidgee Irrigation offices and three or four farm properties
to inspect irrigation, vegetation management and new
agriculture/irrigation systems. Travel to Barren Box Storage and
Wetland.
Return to Murrumbidgee Irrigation offices.
Sat, Jan. 24
Return to Canada.
*This itinerary is tentative and subject to change.
-30-
Media inquiries may be directed to: Carol Chawrun
Sustainable Resource Development
Phone: 780-427-8636
