Saskatoon, May 17, 2010 -- The Saskatchewan Environmental Society today called on Environment Minister Hon. Nancy Heppner to reconsider her proposed amendments to the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act and withdraw the bill from deliberation during the current legislative session.
“Our Society has a strong preference for retaining as Crown land the 3.5 million acres currently under protection” said Allyson Brady, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. “We do not support the provincial government’s plan to sell off hundreds of thousands of acres of this land to private individuals. We believe the bill now before the Assembly will lead to further habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, thus adding stress on wildlife populations, such as grassland bird species, several of which are already in sharp decline.”
“Not only do these lands provide essential habitat for wildlife in our province, but they contribute to the provision of water quality, air quality, pollination of plants, cycling of nutrients and other essential ecological services” said Peter Prebble, Director of Energy and Water Policy with the Environmental Society. “One of the immediate impacts of the provincial government’s amendments is that between 200,000 and 350,000 acres of previously protected land will be available for sale very quickly, with all previous provisions of protection removed completely.”
Examples of changes the Saskatchewan Environmental Society would like to see the legislation include are:
1. No wildlife habitat lands belonging to the Crown should be sold in Saskatchewan’s forest fringe, where there are significant pressures to see wildlife habitat lands cleared for agricultural purposes or wood harvesting.
2. In other parts of Saskatchewan, when any provincial crown land with good wildlife habitat on it is sold, a conservation easement should always be attached and that easement should be enforced.
3. A policy of “no net loss” of Crown lands with good wildlife habitat should be retained in every eco-region of the province.
4. Wildlife habitat withdrawals should not be done by government regulation, as proposed in Minister Heppner’s bill. Rather, they should only be done by legislation.
For further information or interviews contact:
Allyson Brady, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Telephone: 306-665-1915 in Saskatoon
or
Peter Prebble, Director of Energy and Water Policy, Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Telephone: 306-665-1915 in Saskatoon
Allyson Brady, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Telephone: 306-665-1915 in Saskatoon
or
Peter Prebble, Director of Energy and Water Policy, Saskatchewan Environmental Society
Telephone: 306-665-1915 in Saskatoon
Posts
