West Fraser’s Recently Announced Caribou Logging Deferral Potentially Little More Than Public Relations Ploy

Company must make real changes in order to protect Woodland Caribou

Edmonton --Though West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd recently announced a deferral of logging in caribou habitat, the company is ramping up intensive logging in old growth and other pine stands, leading the Albert Foothills Network to question whether the company’s announcement is little more than a public relations ploy. Though the increased logging is claimed to be an effort to slow the spread of the mountain pine beetle, the approach is scientifically unproven and will not help caribou recovery. The temporary deferrals announced in caribou habitat are far short of what is required to maintain caribou and other ecological values in the Alberta Foothills.

"We are pleased that West Fraser is beginning to consider the impact of its logging, and we encourage the company to show real initiative by publicly supporting the permanent protection of caribou habitat and other endangered forests in their tenures in both Alberta and British Columbia,” said Candace Batycki of ForestEthics.

In order for West Fraser to become an environmentally responsible company, they will need to do more than establish a limited caribou deferral in one small part of the Hinton Forest Management Area (FMA) pending results of their enhanced planning process. This deferral could be nullified at any time by the Alberta government as part of the pine beetle strategy, even though such action would contravene recent recommendations of Alberta's Caribou Committee. The Hinton announcement does not address the other woodland caribou populations such as the Slave Lake herd, identified on West Fraser’s website as being in decline, that are affected by other West Fraser operations in Alberta.

"West Fraser has an ideal opportunity to demonstrate good faith and maintain caribou through formally communicating to Alberta’s Caribou Committee that they support legislated protection for the remaining caribou ranges in the Alberta Foothills Natural Region," said Helene Walsh, of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Northern Alberta Chapter.

Several of these caribou ranges have been so seriously fragmented and logged by industry, including West Fraser, that an industry report states the Foothills region "...does not currently provide habitat conditions sufficient to maintain stable caribou population growth.” West Fraser and its subsidiaries control more than half of the Alberta Foothills Natural Region, and are the largest logger of mountain caribou habitat in BC. In order to have a truly effective strategy for maintaining caribou and other ecological values, they need to address these issues across their holdings in Alberta and in British Columbia. West Fraser must support legal protection of caribou habitat and ensure that other ecological values like grizzly bear, bull trout and old growth forests are maintained across the landscapes they manage.

"In the past we have commended Canfor for its deferral in one of these caribou ranges because it was meaningful for caribou, but given the timing and caveats with this announcement, we're afraid it's nothing more than a public relations effort and that the true conservation value is suspect," said Glen Semenchuk of the Federation of Alberta Naturalists. "If West Fraser is serious and demonstrates good faith, we look forward to working with company representatives from Hinton and Vancouver as well as with other stakeholders to move this deferral into legal protection, and to identify and secure legal protection and other solutions for caribou and other ecological values in Hinton and the other areas controlled by West Fraser and their subsidiaries in Alberta and BC."

For more information on West Fraser and caribou management see http://www.cpaws-edmonton.org/CPAWS-ResourceR.html

The Alberta Foothills Network is a collaboration of local, provincial, national and international voices that are committed to the protection, restoration and the establishment of Protected Areas, and socially and ecologically sustainable development in the Endangered Foothills Natural Region of Alberta.
Members:  Alberta Wilderness Association, Athabasca Bioregional Society, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society- Northern Alberta Chapter, Federation of Alberta Naturalists, ForestEthics, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Natural Resources Defense Council.

Hinton Forest, Alberta: Logging in Threatened Caribou Habitat

The Issue: Logging in Threatened Caribou Habitat

Critical habitat for two of Alberta’s most threatened caribou herds, the Little Smoky and A La Peche, is being clearcut by logging companies in Western Alberta, Canada. Much of the wood from these forests is being used by 'West Fraser' in their Hinton pulp mill which supplies pulp to tissue product giant Kimberly-Clark. Logging continues in the face of multiple scientific reports that have concluded that if logging continues to occur, the caribou herd will decline rapidly, resulting in possible extinction within 37 years.

The Location: Western Alberta, Canada wilderness

West Fraser is logging in an area of boreal forest located in the Rocky Mountain and Foothills wilderness areas of western Alberta, Canada. This forest has been intact since the last Ice Age, approximately 10,000 years ago.

The Species at Risk: Caribou, Grizzlies and other Rare Wildlife

Over the last 20 years, the Little Smoky woodland caribou herd has declined by 20 percent. A 2004 University of Alberta study found that “the caribou population would be seven times larger without development in its habitat.” In addition to woodland caribou, many species, including cougar, lynx, grey wolf, and grizzly bear are threatened by logging in this region. The Foothills contains close to 20% of Alberta’s grizzly population, which is not only itself endangered, but also an important umbrella species for conservation. In fact, statistical modeling by the University of Alberta has shown that grizzy bear habitat will be entirely displaced in the next 30 years, if logging, oil and gas companies continue with current practices. The area also provides crucial habitat to raptors that are dependent on old-growth forests, including the barred owl. Almost all of these species are listed under Canada’s federal Species at Risk Act and the Alberta Wildlife Act due to their need for vast undisturbed habitat and their slow reproductive rates.

The Major Players: West Fraser, Kimberly-Clark and the Alberta Government

-West Fraser Timber Company Ltd-
West Fraser is a forest products company that produces lumber, plywood, and pulp to make tissue paper and newsprint. The West Fraser pulp mill in Hinton, Alberta, produces approximately 468,400 tons of pulp each year. Many of the old-growth trees that 'feed' West Fraser's mill come from forests containing the habitat of endangered caribou. In 2004, West Fraser conducted its own caribou habitat assessment report which concluded that logging was hurting caribou populations, yet the company continues to use trees from caribou habitat for its mill.

West Fraser claims that it is committed to responsible stewardship of the environment, relying heavily on their certification by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI). Both of these groups receive more than 80 percent of their funding from forest industry associations; their ecological standards are simply not credible. For example, West Fraser’s logging plans certified by CSA and SFI would, over time, eliminate 80 to 100 percent of older trees that are between 80 and 160 years old.

-Kimberly-Clark-
Kimberly-Clark purchases pulp from the West Fraser pulp mill in Hinton, Alberta, despite claims that it holds suppliers to high standards of sustainability. Kimberly-Clark buys most of its pulp from logging operations that have not been certified under the Forest Stewardship Council's management and certification system -- the only credible measure of sustainability.

-Alberta Government-
The Alberta government awarded West Fraser a forest management area for the period of June 15, 1988 to June 14, 2008, consisting of 999,559 hectares of publicly owned land (more than 2.4 million acres). In June 2005, the Alberta government decided to ignore the recommendation of a committee of industry, government, scientific and environmental representatives—a committee assembled by the government itself--calling for an end to new logging in critical caribou habitat.

The facts at a glance

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