Elizabeth calls for ministers to recommend an emergency protection order under section 80 of SARA to protect Marbled Murrelets in Fairy Creek, BC

Please read the following letter sent by Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich–Gulf Islands and Leader of the Green Party of Canada, to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Hon. Steven Guilbeault, and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, regarding the need to recommend an emergency protection order under section 80 of SARA to protect Marbled Murrelets in Fairy Creek, BC:

Link to pdf of the letter

The Honourable Steven Guilbeault

Minister of Environment and Climate Change

 

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

 

January 22, 2025

Re: Recommend an emergency protection order under section 80 of SARA to protect Marbled Murrelets in Fairy Creek, BC

Dear Ministers, 

I am writing on behalf of Canadians who are concerned about the survival and recovery of Marbled Murrelets, which are facing imminent threats from the ongoing loss of old-growth forest nesting habitats. This is a particularly urgent request as the moratorium on old-growth logging in the Fairy Creek watershed will not be extended when it ends on February 1.

The Marbled Murrelets are migratory birds protected by the Migratory Birds Convention Act and they have been listed as “threatened” under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) since 2003. The Murrelets nests are virtually undetectable, making existing protections insufficient particularly when industrial forestry operations fail to uphold reporting obligations within proposed cut blocks. Evidence is irrefutable that there is a strong causal correlation between the number of Marbled Murrelets using a watershed and the area of suitable old-growth nesting habitat within those watersheds.

Additional logging is slated to destroy the last remnant habitat of the Marbled Murrelets. Under section 80 of SARA, you are able to act in your powers as ministers to “ make the recommendation if [you are] of the opinion that the species faces imminent threats to its survival or recovery.” It is clear that if logging is permitted to continue, there will be an immediate threat to the species. British Columbia’s recent Management Plan #5 and Draft Forest Stewardship Plan 2022 of Tree Farm License (TFL) 46 (Teal Cedar Products Ltd.) plainly state the licensee’s intention to harvest the remaining old-growth forest. The province and the licensees are blatantly ignoring the Migratory Birds Regulations as well as BCs own Forest Planning and Practices Regulations.

Please urgently recommend the emergency protection order and immediately stop all logging in TFL 46 until sufficient Marbled Murrelet nesting habitat has been protected to meet the government’s stated Recovery Strategy goals. I urge you to take action and make the recommendation to Cabinet prior to February 1.

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

Sincerely, 

Elizabeth May, O.C.

Member of Parliament

Saanich–Gulf Islands

Cc: The Honourable Tamara Davidson, British Columbia Minister of Environment and Parks