OTTAWA (CP) - Five environmental groups are suing Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, accusing her of refusing to protect the Northern spotted owl - said to be Canada's most endangered bird.
The court challenge is intended not only to protect the few remaining owls but as a test of the federal Species at Risk Act, said Devon Page of the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.
Surveys this year found only 17 spotted owls in British Columbia, the only place in Canada where they are found. There were 100 pairs as recently as 1997.
The five environmental groups are asking federal court to overturn Ambrose's ruling in August that the spotted owl is not facing an imminent threat to its survival.
"Really, if 17 owls, which have undergone an 80 per cent decline in the past 10 years, aren't under an imminent threat to their survival, what's the threshold for the act ever applying?" asked Page.
"The spotted owl is a symbol for the implementation of the Species at Risk Act."
Environmentalists blame logging of old forests for the drop in the spotted owl population. They say the federal government has an obligation to intervene.
The Species at Risk Act was passed by the Liberals in June 2003 after more than 10 years of debate, and was heralded as a powerful science-based tool for protecting Canadian wildlife.
But the act has not been enforced, said Page.
"It's striking to see how little has been done. We're at the tipping point. The steps that the government takes in the next few months will determine whether the act lives or dies.
"The federal government has shown great reluctance to applying the powers they have under federal law so the environmental groups have gone to court to compel the minister to do so."
Federal governments have been slow to challenge provincial authorities over failure to protect endangered species, said Faisal Moola of the David Suzuki Foundation, another of the five groups.
"The act is very clear that in the absence of provincial action to protect endangered species facing extinction, the federal government must step in and use the powers bestowed to them under the act to protect the species."
The Northern spotted owl is also found in the United States and has given rise to a great deal of litigation there.
"The U.S. strategy resulted in significant protection of the old growth forest habitat of spotted owls to the benefit not only of spotted owl but the multitude of biota that share the habitat of spotted owls," said Moola.
A spokesman for Ambrose declined to comment on the case because it's before the courts.
Also involved in the court challenge are the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, ForestEthics and Environmental Defence.
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/NationalNewsArticle.htm?src=n092053A.xml
The court challenge is intended not only to protect the few remaining owls but as a test of the federal Species at Risk Act, said Devon Page of the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.
Surveys this year found only 17 spotted owls in British Columbia, the only place in Canada where they are found. There were 100 pairs as recently as 1997.
The five environmental groups are asking federal court to overturn Ambrose's ruling in August that the spotted owl is not facing an imminent threat to its survival.
"Really, if 17 owls, which have undergone an 80 per cent decline in the past 10 years, aren't under an imminent threat to their survival, what's the threshold for the act ever applying?" asked Page.
"The spotted owl is a symbol for the implementation of the Species at Risk Act."
Environmentalists blame logging of old forests for the drop in the spotted owl population. They say the federal government has an obligation to intervene.
The Species at Risk Act was passed by the Liberals in June 2003 after more than 10 years of debate, and was heralded as a powerful science-based tool for protecting Canadian wildlife.
But the act has not been enforced, said Page.
"It's striking to see how little has been done. We're at the tipping point. The steps that the government takes in the next few months will determine whether the act lives or dies.
"The federal government has shown great reluctance to applying the powers they have under federal law so the environmental groups have gone to court to compel the minister to do so."
Federal governments have been slow to challenge provincial authorities over failure to protect endangered species, said Faisal Moola of the David Suzuki Foundation, another of the five groups.
"The act is very clear that in the absence of provincial action to protect endangered species facing extinction, the federal government must step in and use the powers bestowed to them under the act to protect the species."
The Northern spotted owl is also found in the United States and has given rise to a great deal of litigation there.
"The U.S. strategy resulted in significant protection of the old growth forest habitat of spotted owls to the benefit not only of spotted owl but the multitude of biota that share the habitat of spotted owls," said Moola.
A spokesman for Ambrose declined to comment on the case because it's before the courts.
Also involved in the court challenge are the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, ForestEthics and Environmental Defence.
http://start.shaw.ca/start/enCA/News/NationalNewsArticle.htm?src=n092053A.xml
