Reply #2: The CBC version [View All]

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A coalition of B.C. environmental groups may launch a new court challenge of the federal government's most recent decision not to use the Species at Risk Act to protect B.C.'s northern spotted owl.

The Sierra Legal Defence Fund had asked federal Environment Minister Rona Ambrose to use the legislation to override the provincial government, and to stop logging in the owl's habitat in the the southwest corner of the province.

However, Ambrose wrote a letter to the group rejecting that course of action, saying the owl "does not currently face imminent threats to its survival or recovery."

'Time is running out' for spotted owls

Sierra Legal Defence spokesman Devon Page says he is disappointed but not surprised at the minister's decision.

"They never entrench on provincial jurisdiction. And we've had laws in Canada for over 35 years that have empowered the federal government to act in the provinces to protect the environment, and not once have they ever been applied."

He adds that with only 17 spotted owls left, time is running out. Ten years ago, there were 100 breeding pairs, and there is concern that the birds will be extinct by 2010 if logging in their habitats isn't stopped.

"It's always a choice between what's easy and what's right, and here the federal government has gone with the easy choice," Page said.

The group had launched a legal action last December to force the federal government to take action, the first such action in Canada under the Species at Risk Act.

That case is still before the courts, and Page says the groups involved have not yet made a decision whether to proceed in the wake of Ambrose's letter, or whether to launch a new legal challenge.

The B.C. government maintains that it has taken significant steps to protect the spotted owl, and that while it allows logging in spotted owl habitat, it's carried out to a high standard.