by Jason Herz, SCCA Chair

The SCCA was granted the right to hold conservation covenants under Section 219 of the Land Titles Act. In the fall of 2010, the Sunshine Coast Regional District inquired as to whether the SCCA would consider holding such a covenant on Cliff Gilker Park.

The request was brought about by people’s comments during the development of the Cliff Gilker Management Plan, which was prepared in 2007, and more recently reaffirmed in the Roberts Creek OCP process. The board and our executive directors felt that this was a great opportunity to merge the wishes of the community with our mandate for the protection of biodiversity.

Upon review of the original covenant presented by the SCRD, it was decided that we would attempt a rewrite to make the document more suitable to the long-term goals of the community, the SCRD parks department and the SCCA. To do this, we enlisted the assistance of retired SCRD head of planning Judy Skogstad and the legal assistance of Lois Potter. It has been a year-long adventure and education in legalese and the language of conservation covenants.

Wade Davis will speak and share photographs from the book The Sacred Headwaters: The Fight to Save the Stikine, Skeena, and Nass on Sunday, May 6 at 2 pm at Chatelech Secondary School Theatre in Sechelt. This book is a visual feast and plea to save an extraordinary region in North America for future generations.

Tickets are $15 (adults) and $12 (students), and are available at the Festival of the Written Arts office, Fresh from the Coast in Sechelt and Coast Princess Books in Gibsons.

This event is co-sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, and Greystone Books in association with the David Suzuki Foundation

Information: 604-885-9631 / info@writersfestival.ca / www.writersfestival.ca

The SCCA's Spring 2012 newsletter is out!

This gangbuster 16-page edition features articles and updates on wild salmon, logging on Mt. Elphinstone, fisheries sensitive rivers, sponge reefs, the mining proposal at McNabb Creek, invasive holly, jellyfish, and much more! Click our link for a PDF version, or keep an eye out for the paper copies being distributed up and down the coast.

Thanks to newsletter editors Margot Grant and Andrew Scott for another great production.

Spring 2012 Newsletter

Forty Canadian groups, including West Coast Environmental Law, the David Suzuki Foundation, the Council of Canadians, Greenpeace and the SCCA, have endorsed a statement confirming their support for strong federal environmental laws that protect our national values.

The groups warn that they will not stand by if the federal government moves to short-circuit environmental reviews for projects like the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil tankers and pipeline project, and they have rallied behind a statement of 10 principles they say form the basis of environmental assessment for a healthy, secure and sustainable Canada.

“Strong environmental laws protect the air, water and land we need to be healthy and keep us safe from pollution and toxic chemicals,” said Devon Page, Executive Director of Ecojustice. “These federal laws are the backbone of every Canadian’s right to a healthy environment, and are as important to our well-being as laws that promote peace and democracy.”

More information is available at envirolawsmatter.ca. The House of Commons' Review of the Environmental Assessment Act can be downloaded here.

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