Liberal MLA vows to block logging in bid to save grizzlies
Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman says she is willing to stand in front of logging trucks and be arrested to save the grizzlies in the Castle Crown Special Management Area.
“I am willing to do it for the grizzlies,” she told reporters at the legislature. “I want to be able to see a grizzly bear in the wild in my lifetime and more than that I would like to see my niece get that opportunity.
Blakeman slammed t he Conservative government Thursday for not doing anything to protect the giant of the Canadian forests despite the fact there are fewer than 700 grizzly bears remaining in the province.
She said the logging operation in the Castle area wipes out grizzly habitat and endangers hibernating bears and their cubs. She said the operation must be shut down.
Rather than arresting protesters at the site, the government should be utilizing their expertise in locating bear dens and ensuring loggers keep a distance from them.
She questioned why the area was designated a special area if it is open to forestry.
“You would think there would be no logging in a so-called ‘special place,’” she said. “But there’s no legislation to make that mean anything. It is a designation without any protective teeth.”
She said she doesn’t blame the logging company for wanting to log the area, but puts the onus firmly on the Tory government for issuing the permit to such a sensitive area.
She said the government dragged its heels on designating grizzlies as a threatened species and should be listing them as endangered.
Blakeman noted that 80 per cent of the region’s residents have stated they oppose logging in the Castle area and wondered when the premier will “do the right thing.”
“Once the grizzlies are gone, they are gone forever,” she said.