AWA and Timberwolf Demand Action on Long Overdue Action Plan
April 10, 2017
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Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) and Timberwolf Wilderness Society, with the Public Interest Law Clinic at the University of Calgary, have written to the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans demanding he publish what steps the federal government has taken to date towards completing an action plan for Alberta’s threatened westslope cutthroat trout. The deadline set out in the federal Species at Risk Act to complete the action plan, which outlines what the government intends to do to recover the species, was March 31 2015 – making this plan more than 2 years overdue.
“We believe that the federal government is failing to take meaningful steps to recover this threatened native Alberta trout. Protecting and recovering this species and its habitat cannot be done without an action plan,” says Joanna Skrajny, AWA Conservation Specialist. “The delay in taking action to protect this species is unacceptable. Even though the government has recognized that westslope cutthroat trout have been in trouble for over a decade, activities that damage their habitat continue.”
At least one population is thought to have gone functionally extinct since westslope cutthroat trout was federally listed as “threatened” in 2013. Most remaining populations are small, highly vulnerable, and exposed to ongoing habitat damage. Activities that contribute to degradation of their habitat include off-highway vehicle use, clear-cut logging, gas field development, grazing, and mining. In addition to habitat threats, invasive rainbow trout are a major threat to the survival of native westslope cutthroat. Recovery requires immediate action.
“This is not the first time we have had to demand that the government fulfil its legal responsibilities under the Species at Risk Act for westslope cutthroat trout,” says Dave Mayhood, aquatic ecologist and director of Timberwolf. “In 2015 we had to retain legal counsel and follow a similar course of action to get the federal government to issue a critical habitat protection order when it was long overdue. There is a pattern developing here. These fish cannot be recovered without an action plan, yet the remaining stocks continue to be threatened by ongoing resource extraction and off-road vehicle abuse.”
For more information:
Joanna Skrajny, Alberta Wilderness Association, 403 283-2025
Dave Mayhood, Timberwolf Wilderness Society, 403 283-8865
Westslope cutthroat trout in spawning habitat, – these fish are part of a pure population introduced into Rawson Lake, Kananaskis Country. Credit: D. Mayhood
This illegal OHV route is located on a pipeline right-of-way and goes into Silvester Creek, which is critical habitat for westslope cutthroat trout. This is clearly marked on the official trail map and with signs saying “OHV Use Prohibited,” yet is heavily used and eroded up to 1m deep in places. There are dozens of eroding OHV crossings in this drainage alone, and hundreds in westslope cutthroat trout critical habitat throughout the Bow and Oldman River basins. Credit: D. W. Mayhood
