Thu 21 Sep 2006
Date: Thursday, 21 September 2006, at 10:12 a.m.
SPIRIT BEAR UNDER IMMEDIATE THREAT AS LOGGING BEGINS
Dear Friends of the Spirit Bear,
It is the e-mail we hoped would never have to be written, but as of this week, despite promises to save the spirit bear, the British Columbia government has permitted one third of the bear’s last intact ecosystem - the Green wilderness - to be logged. And the trees are starting to fall.
Two-thirds of the spirit bear’s last intact habitat was set aside for protection by the BC government as a part of an historic land-use agreement last February; however, while the deal accomplished a great deal for many coastal stakeholders, it did not save the spirit bear.
While black bears usually can adapt to change, in this one case, if the Green is logged, bears that do not carry the unique gene that produces the white bear will be forced to migrate to areas where they do, diluting the gene pool and rendering the areas already protected - in the name of the spirit bear - useless.
If we destroy the fine ecological balance that results in these white bears, we risk losing the spirit bear forever. The world needs these bears to survive not only for the role it plays in its globally important ecosystem, but also as a symbol to what youth and citizens can achieve when they work together. If we fail, there is no turning back, no reintroducing white bears: we have one chance and this is it.
We feel that our track record is one of being positive, cooperative, engaged, and pragmatic; not one of being alarmists or dogmatic ideologues in addressing this issue. We have always tried to find positive solutions to meet this bear’s bottom line without compromising the economic bottom line.
Despite the fact that the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition has pledged to help address the economic concerns associated with protecting the Green - an area only 200 times the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park - with the forthcoming CGI Hollywood animated movie THE SPIRIT BEAR, its release date in 2008 will be too late to aid in the bear’s protection if logging doesn’t cease immediately. But make no mistake: this movie will be made and if the money cannot help the people of Klemtu offset the cost of protecting the Green watershed, the money will go towards an international campaign to showcase what went wrong and what we must never do again - to ensure the voice of our membership and young people in all corners of the world continues to be heard.
It is a case of the present shouting and the future whispering. We can cross our fingers, log, and hope the bear lives, but run the risk of losing the bear and certainly lose the opportunity to create a more broad-based, stable economy for coastal communities. Or, for the sake of two or three years, in .005% of the entire coast’s total operating area, the government can help the affected community defer logging until the release of our movie and allow us to put our money where our mouth is and really build a new paradigm between ecology and economics.
We’re not anti-logging, anti-jobs - this isn’t about the environment on one side and the economy on the other. We’re for a rare bear and its last chance of survival. Our responsibility is great and the actions we take today will be our legacy for our future, and the bottom line is if logging in the Green does not cease immediately, not only do we run the risk of losing the spirit bear, we run the risk of failing a generation. Millions of young people from urban Vancouver to war-torn Iraq have passionately made their voice heard on behalf of the spirit bear in the hopes of making a difference, but if we do not heed their message, we will serve only to prove the skeptics right and confirm to young people the worst lesson of all: their voice doesn’t matter
Premier Campbell, on behalf of all British Columbians and as a global steward, has the responsibility to err on the side of caution when speaking of the last chance to save an animal as unique to Canada as the Panda bear is to China - especially when we have placed an economic alternative on the table. Just as we would never ask the Premier to run a budget deficit to save this bear, he cannot ask us to run an ecological deficit in the last place the spirit bear can call home. Yet, with every tree that falls - trees that act as bear dens for their winter sleep - that is exactly what is happening.
Everyone, everywhere who believes in a world where the spirit bear will forever be wild and free needs to stand up and make their voice heard today. This is it. This is the final battle, the culmination of all our efforts - we have nothing left to lose…
…Except the spirit bear.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY - YOUR ADDED VOICE HAS NEVER BEEN SO URGENTLY NEEDED.
1. To all our supporters worldwide: write, fax, and e-mail Premier Gordon Campbell and urge him to intervene immediately to protect the 80, 000 hectare Green wilderness in order for him to honour his word to save the spirit bear for “generation after generation”.
2. Contact 25 people you know and ask them to make their voice heard today by writing a letter to Premier Campbell and urge them to spread the word to 25 people they know.
3. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper - no matter where you live - expressing your support for the immediate halt to logging in the Green to save the spirit bear.
4. If you live in British Columbia, write to your MLA and demand that they represent you by taking a stand to protect the Green to save the spirit bear.
5. If you live in Canada, write to your MP and Prime Minister Stephen Harper and ask that they represent you by urging the BC government to immediately intervene to stop the logging in the Green.
This crisis may seem huge and it may seem unstoppable. But it is not. We have protected two-thirds of this remarkable bear’s habitat thanks to you standing up and being counted on this issue over the last decade. We need your help this one last time and if we all do our part, like ripples in a pond, one by one, our voice will never have been stronger and, together, we will save our spirit bear, truly, for generation after generation.
With thanks for your continuing support,
Simon Jackson, Founder and Chairman
Salimah Ebrahim, Founding Member and Executive Director
P.S. We will be keeping you posted on how you can help in the weeks and months ahead as this crisis unfolds and we urge you to visit our web site www.spiritbearyouth.org for the latest updates as we launch an international campaign to save the Green to save the spirit bear.
–
Spirit Bear Youth Coalition
www.spiritbearyouth.org
Spirit Bear Youth Coalition
October 30th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
The Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei) is a rare and elusive subspecies of the North American black bear in which approximately one in every 10 bears is white or cream-coloured. The Kermode bear is endemic only to the unique temperate rainforest region off the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. Biologists estimate a population of 1,200 kermode bears, of which less then 400 are white phased. These white phased bears are known locally as “spirit bears”
The kermode bear faces extinction due to habitat loss as a result of logging and mismanagement, restricted range, low and declining population numbers; and hybridization with mainland subspecies of black bear which do not carry the unique genetics that produce the rare white “spirit” bear. Under the provisions of Canada’s Species At Risk Act which became a law in June 2003, the kermode bear meets all requirements to be listed as endangered. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) is federal Cabinet that decides whether a species should get legal protection under the Act. U. a. kermodei meets all of the provisions under the Eligibility of a Candidate Species and needs further protection to ensure this unique subspecies survival.
Table 1. Determining eligibility of species for status assessment;
Table 2. COSEWIC quantitative criteria and guidelines for the status assessment of species,
Table 3. Guidelines for modifying status assessment based on rescue effect;
Table 4. Policy for modifying status assessment based on quantitative criteria;
Table 5. COSEWIC wildlife species definition and status categories,
Table 6. COSEWIC definitions associated with quantitative criteria.
Despite the provisions under the Great Bear Rainforest Agreement which was declared Feb of 2006, The kermode bear is still granted no legal protection and habitat destruction continues making the future for this genetically rare subspecies grim. I believe that it is necessary to warrant protection and grant the status as Endangered (E) - A wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction, so further research and management can be done in order to preserve this most valuable ambassador of the Great Bear Rain Forest.
You can voice your concern for the spirit bear to COSEWIC by filling out this questionaire:
http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct6/sct6_quest_e.cfm
May 19th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
[…] Our government need to step in and act quickly to protect the entire population and the environment for this amazing white bear. The Kermode bear is known to live in an area called the Green watershed. This area began it’s logging process last fall. The black kermode bear that produces these amazing bears should be protected and ensure habitat. Action needs to be taken now. The beauty and grace of these bear truly leaves me in awe. B.C. has truly been blessed with these creatures. […]
November 14th, 2007 at 2:58 am
i will pray for the spirit bear. they are GODs creation. now more than ever we need to be good stewards of what there is left of GODs creation.
STOP SENDING JUNK SNAIL MAIL AND THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO LOG THESE FORESTS !!!
December 13th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
2007 It make me made to see all the Kermodeis bears around being killed. We got a few good picture of a big she bear and her cubs be for they go shot.
December 17th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
We do not need all this wood that they cut. It is not absolutely necessary that we have abounding amounts of every resource possible. And we do not kill these bears to survive. We kill them because we can, and we kill them because we lust for power.
We seek this power through the currency, and through our social connections. For some reason, we gain money, pride and, some think, happiness from this wreck less killing spree. But a life, or more than one life, is too big a price to pay for one soul’s immediate happiness.
If we value our lives more important than any others, if we live with no love, no caring for other beings, other animals, we render our lives and this world worthless. It does not exist for us, it exists for everything, every living, breathing, moving creature that walks, swims, or flies on this Earth. We must serve it, or it will not serve us.
Why do some find it so difficult to be selfless and think of others? I may never understand how some truly believe their comfort and well-being is more important than the life of any creature. It is a mystery to me, and we must stop this killing, of Spirit Bears, of trees, even of other human beings, because, eventually, it will all catch up to us, and then where will we be?
December 28th, 2007 at 10:57 am
I saw spirit bear its my second favorite movie,the movie really inspired me,i didnt even realize these bears existed,it just shows you that the government has to do more to let people know what mother earth has to offer.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:04 am
SO how do i get ahold of the jerk who said it was ok to log the spirit bear habitat. If he put it under law that they are to be protected and then gave the ok to log the green. Ugh well i will address the porblem to other fellow alaskans and see if we can change that.
October 21st, 2008 at 5:45 am
i cannot belive those idiotic people that are possibly still hunting i mean who would want to hurt a poor innocent bear and i agree with you chelsea w. i would like to get a hold of that jerk that said ok to log the spirit bear please help them as much as we all can i am working on that too thankyou –sophie