PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

Another Sell-Out of British Columbia's Ancient Temperate Rainforests
Possible

EcoEarth.Info & Forests.org, projects of Ecological Internet
http://www.ecoearth.info/ and http://forests.org/ with
Valhalla Wilderness Watch

October 9, 2007

TAKE ACTION

Rare mountain caribou threatened by further closed door, secret forest
negotiations; survival depends upon ending logging in the full range of
their ancient temperate rainforest habitat

http://www.ecoearth.info/alerts/send.asp?id=mountain_caribou

If you did not like the negotiations that signed away two- thirds of
British Columbia's (BC) Great Bear Rainforest for first time industrial
logging of priceless ancient temperate rainforests, you will want to
know that something even worse is happening in BC, Canada's Inland
Temperate Rainforest, home of the world's only mountain caribou. These
special caribou are totally dependent upon large areas of intact old-
growth forest for their survival. But they are critically endangered and
declining rapidly, with only about 1,800 animals left. The reason is
that there has been too much logging and road building in their
habitat... The caribou spend most of the year at high elevations, but
twice each year they must descend to the valley bottoms to find shelter
and food in the lush inland temperate rainforest. It is critical to
their survival. This forest type contains ancient cedar trees commonly
over 500 years old, and a spectacular array of rare and endangered
lichens and plants. The cedar trees are storing huge amounts of
carbon... The agency is now conducting backroom negotiations between the
timber industry, winter recreationists and businesses, and environmental
groups ForestEthics and Wildsight...  If the past is any guide, the
likely outcome will be unrepresentative, foundation based environmental
organizations compromising away vast areas of intact ancient temperate
rainforest for vague promises that industrial logging will be "ecosystem
based" or some other such nonsense. Prompt global citizen response is
needed to continue advocating  to end ancient forest logging.