To the editor;
In regards to Sadie Parr letter, Jan. 22/15 issue, “B.C. wolves running out of places to hide”,.
I agree with Sadie Parr that our plans to kill 184 wolves in B.C. will not do much to protect our caribou. Parr goes on to say that critical caribou habitat must be preserved in the first place”.. This last sentence is key, as the woodland caribou need undisturbed old growth forests to survive.
Even if we now started to set large areas aside, restrict logging, mining, road building, trails and pipelines, installed a strict ban on all potentially harmful human activity, and kill the wolves it would take decades for the environment to recover back to suitable caribou habitat. While wolves may now be the immediate and urgent threat to the caribou; habitat loss, climate change and environmental degradation is the vital cause.
While the government says that it now has plans to protect and restore high-elevation caribou habitat by putting restrictions on logging and recreational activity in habitat areas I can’t help but wonder if this is all too little too late and our wild woodland caribou will sadly; soon become a part of our history.
Reminds me of the song ‘Where have all the flowers gone”, or in this case the Caribou.
When will we ever learn!
Mary MacLennan, Barriere, B.C.