nationalobserver--2020-04-30--B.C. expands COVID-19 testing to islanders with mild symptoms

Island residents with cold or flu symptoms can now be tested for COVID-19 as B.C .
health authorities shift their focus to fighting community spread of the virus and identifying and investigating new clusters .
The province ’ s testing strategy has expanded to include anyone with cold or influenza-like symptoms , however mild , the Island Health authority announced Tuesday .
Island Health , one of five regional health authorities in B.C.
, covers Vancouver Island , adjacent island communities , such as Quadra and Cortes islands , as well as a section of B.C.
’ s central coast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was limited to health-care workers , residents and staff at long-term care facilities , people who were seriously ill with respiratory symptoms and people who were involved in a cluster of cases .
Quadra Island physician Dr. Stephen Hughes says the expanded testing will help identify new cases and outbreaks locally and provincially .
• Long-term care homes were in crisis well before politicians woke up to the problem • Ontario has a COVID-19 reopening plan , but it comes with big caveats “ I think it ’ s a good step .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus did widespread testing , but the problem in B.C .
previously has been having the resources to do it , ” said Hughes .
“ But , hopefully , now we ’ ll have a clear idea of who has got it in the community.
” B.C .
has conducted a total of 83,425 tests , for a per capita testing rate of 14,042 per million people , according to figures as of Wednesday afternoon .
That was significantly below the reported national per capita rate of 20,176 per million people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been 12,259 total tests to date , with 433 new tests reported on Wednesday .
 “ I want to reiterate , we are changing and modifying ... based on the circumstances we have in British Columbia and our testing strategy will continue to evolve , '' B.C .
health officer Bonnie Henry on easing limits to those getting COVID-19 testing .
The B.C .
testing regime has shifted as the pandemic progressed in the province .
In March , during the initial weeks of the crisis , provincial health authorities , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and resources , focused on source transmission by testing travellers returning from countries with known outbreaks .
As community transmission of the virus began , B.C .
began prioritizing tests for people at highest risk , such as health-care workers and people with underlying health conditions .
On Wednesday , B.C .
health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said testing protocols will continue to change .
 “ I want to reiterate , we are changing and modifying ... based on the circumstances we have in British Columbia and our testing strategy will continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ symptoms , even mild signs , will help identify and investigate clusters of the virus in the community , Henry said , citing recent outbreaks at the Mission Institution correctional facility and two Lower Mainland poultry processing plants as examples .
“ We have taken an approach of having very broad testing in those types of environments to make sure we catch everybody , even people who have very mild or no symptoms at all.
” However , Henry stressed widespread testing in general is not a reliable mechanism to understand what is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Random testing in the community of anybody with no symptoms is of very little value to us with the current tests that we have , ” Henry said .
“ In fact , that type of testing leads to both false positives and false negatives.
” Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that B.C .
's testing protocols have and will continue to change as the pandemic moves forward .
Photo : B.C .
Gov .
As such , with the new protocols , people won ’ t be tested unless they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or flu , such as chills , sore throat , runny nose , nasal congestion , pain when swallowing , loss of the sense of smell , headache , muscle aches , fatigue and loss of appetite .
“ If people don ’ t have any symptoms , they don ’ t need a test , ” stressed Hughes .
“ It ’ s only for people who are ill. ” Individuals who are tested but who get negative results shouldn ’ t think they are immune from having to follow pandemic protocols @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not uncommon to get a false negative with a test , he noted .
“ I ’ m always a bit wary of negative swabs , ” Hughes said .
“ You can ’ t always rule out infection … if someone has got symptoms with a negative swab , they still need to keep social distance.
” Quadra and Cortes residents must get referrals for testing through their doctor , said Hughes , or failing that , contact Island Health ’ s Call Centre at 1-844-901-8442 to be assessed .
People can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or collections centres to get swabbed without appointments , Hugh stressed .
Testing centres across the Island Health region vary by community .
Some are drive-through centres , others are based in trailers or in repurposed buildings .
The nearest Island Health collection centre for Quadra and Cortes island residents is in Campbell River .
The centre is in a tent adjacent to the Campbell River Hospital emergency department and is set up as a drive-through operation .
Anyone with symptoms of illness is being asked to put on a mask before entering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , Quadra Island residents have some opportunity to get swabbed at the Quadra Island Medical Clinic , said Hughes .
Patients can call the clinic to discuss symptoms and book a time to get swabbed in their cars on Wednesdays or Thursdays , so the samples can be taken off island Fridays when the laboratory technician visits .
Cortes Island patients also have some access to testing at the Cortes Health Centre .
People must phone the clinic first and speak with a doctor before being allocated an appointment for swabbing outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Dr. Keith Graham of Harbourside Medical Clinic on Quadra said patients can call the clinic to be evaluated and referred to the Campbell River collection centre .
However , Graham noted that health-care workers or people who work indirectly in health care , in areas like food preparation or cleaning services , can self-refer and book an appointment through the call centre .
People who are referred to a centre for a test will be given necessary instructions at that time .
Public health authorities will follow up with people and their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test comes back positive , Hughes said .
With flu season on the wane and overall indications that the COVID-19 curve is being flattened in the province , Hughes doesn ’ t anticipate there will be rush by Quadra residents to get tested .
“ Hopefully we will see less and less people with symptoms now , ” he said .
His clinic has only done one or two swabs since the change in testing protocols took effect , Hughes said .
And given prior restrictions around testing , and since Quadra has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only a handful before that , he added .
On Wednesday , B.C .
reported 34 new cases of COVID-19 , one of which was reported in the Island Health region , for a total 2,087 cases to date .
Of that total , 120 have been in the Island Health region .
Four new COVID-19 deaths were reported , for a total within the province of 109 fatalities .
Four of those confirmed deaths have occurred in Island Health .
Of those who tested positive for the virus , 1,305 people have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Island Health .
There are currently five people hospitalized in the region due to the virus , but none are reported to be in intensive care .
But the number of tests and the COVID-19 case tally across the province and in the community do not represent the whole picture about the prevalence of the virus , Hughes cautioned .
“ Those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg , ” he said .
“ The safest thing is to continue assuming everybody is at risk of catching the virus , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ People experiencing a medical emergency should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department .
People without a doctor can call Island Health ’ s call centre at 1-844-901-8442 to be assessed for testing .

Quadra Island physician Dr. Stephen Hughes says the expanded testing will help identify new cases and outbreaks locally and provincially.
Previously, testing in the province was limited to health-care workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, people who were seriously ill with respiratory symptoms and people who were involved in a cluster of cases.
Island Health, one of five regional health authorities in B.C., covers Vancouver Island, adjacent island communities, such as Quadra and Cortes islands, as well as a section of B.C.’s central coast.
The province’s testing strategy has expanded to include anyone with cold or influenza-like symptoms, however mild, the Island Health authority announced Tuesday.
Island residents with cold or flu symptoms can now be tested for COVID-19 as B.C. health authorities shift their focus to fighting community spread of the virus and identifying and investigating new clusters.
B.C. has conducted a total of 83,425 tests, for a per capita testing rate of 14,042 per million people, according to figures as of Wednesday afternoon.
“But, hopefully, now we’ll have a clear idea of who has got it in the community.”
“I think it’s a good step. Countries that have done well against the virus did widespread testing, but the problem in B.C. previously has been having the resources to do it,” said Hughes.
In March, during the initial weeks of the crisis, provincial health authorities, in part to conserve limited testing supplies and resources , focused on source transmission by testing travellers returning from countries with known outbreaks.
The B.C. testing regime has shifted as the pandemic progressed in the province.
Within the Island Health region, there have been 12,259 total tests to date, with 433 new tests reported on Wednesday.
That was significantly below the reported national per capita rate of 20,176 per million people.
“I want to reiterate, we are changing and modifying ... based on the circumstances we have in British Columbia and our testing strategy will continue to evolve.
On Wednesday, B.C. health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said testing protocols will continue to change.
As community transmission of the virus began, B.C. began prioritizing tests for people at highest risk, such as health-care workers and people with underlying health conditions.
Testing people showing COVID-19 symptoms, even mild signs, will help identify and investigate clusters of the virus in the community, Henry said, citing recent outbreaks at the Mission Institution correctional facility and two Lower Mainland poultry processing plants as examples.
“We have taken an approach of having very broad testing in those types of environments to make sure we catch everybody, even people who have very mild or no symptoms at all.”
However, Henry stressed widespread testing in general is not a reliable mechanism to understand what is happening in the wider community.
“Random testing in the community of anybody with no symptoms is of very little value to us with the current tests that we have,” Henry said. “In fact, that type of testing leads to both false positives and false negatives.”
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that B.C.'s testing protocols have and will continue to change as the pandemic moves forward. Photo: B.C. Gov.
As such, with the new protocols, people won’t be tested unless they demonstrate COVID-19 symptoms similar to the cold or flu, such as chills, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, pain when swallowing, loss of the sense of smell, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite.
“If people don’t have any symptoms, they don’t need a test,” stressed Hughes. “It’s only for people who are ill.”
Individuals who are tested but who get negative results shouldn’t think they are immune from having to follow pandemic protocols, said Hughes.
It’s not uncommon to get a false negative with a test, he noted.
“I’m always a bit wary of negative swabs,” Hughes said. “You can’t always rule out infection … if someone has got symptoms with a negative swab, they still need to keep social distance.”
Quadra and Cortes residents must get referrals for testing through their doctor, said Hughes, or failing that, contact Island Health’s Call Centre at 1-844-901-8442 to be assessed.
People cannot just show up at medical clinics or collections centres to get swabbed without appointments, Hugh stressed.
Testing centres across the Island Health region vary by community. Some are drive-through centres, others are based in trailers or in repurposed buildings.
The nearest Island Health collection centre for Quadra and Cortes island residents is in Campbell River. The centre is in a tent adjacent to the Campbell River Hospital emergency department and is set up as a drive-through operation.
Anyone with symptoms of illness is being asked to put on a mask before entering any Island Health facility for testing.
However, Quadra Island residents have some opportunity to get swabbed at the Quadra Island Medical Clinic, said Hughes.
Patients can call the clinic to discuss symptoms and book a time to get swabbed in their cars on Wednesdays or Thursdays, so the samples can be taken off island Fridays when the laboratory technician visits.
Cortes Island patients also have some access to testing at the Cortes Health Centre. People must phone the clinic first and speak with a doctor before being allocated an appointment for swabbing outside the clinic on Monday or Wednesday afternoons.
Dr. Keith Graham of Harbourside Medical Clinic on Quadra said patients can call the clinic to be evaluated and referred to the Campbell River collection centre.
However, Graham noted that health-care workers or people who work indirectly in health care, in areas like food preparation or cleaning services, can self-refer and book an appointment through the call centre.
People who are referred to a centre for a test will be given necessary instructions at that time.
Public health authorities will follow up with people and their families to conduct contact tracing if a test comes back positive, Hughes said.
With flu season on the wane and overall indications that the COVID-19 curve is being flattened in the province, Hughes doesn’t anticipate there will be rush by Quadra residents to get tested.
“Hopefully we will see less and less people with symptoms now,” he said.
His clinic has only done one or two swabs since the change in testing protocols took effect, Hughes said. And given prior restrictions around testing, and since Quadra has no reported clusters of the virus, only a handful before that, he added.
On Wednesday, B.C. reported 34 new cases of COVID-19, one of which was reported in the Island Health region, for a total 2,087 cases to date.
Of that total, 120 have been in the Island Health region.
Four new COVID-19 deaths were reported, for a total within the province of 109 fatalities. Four of those confirmed deaths have occurred in Island Health.
Of those who tested positive for the virus, 1,305 people have fully recovered, 90 of them within Island Health.
There are currently five people hospitalized in the region due to the virus, but none are reported to be in intensive care.
But the number of tests and the COVID-19 case tally across the province and in the community do not represent the whole picture about the prevalence of the virus, Hughes cautioned.
“Those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
“The safest thing is to continue assuming everybody is at risk of catching the virus, but not everybody will be terribly unwell.”
Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative
People experiencing a medical emergency should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
People without a doctor can call Island Health’s call centre at 1-844-901-8442 to be assessed for testing.


nationalobserver--2020-04-30--Corporate greed knows no bounds, even during a global pandemic

These examples of corporate behaviour reflect an era in which the `` free market , '' or neoliberal paradigm , has dominated the economic policy landscape over the last four decades .
Its essence is captured in former U.S. President Ronald Reagan 's famous maxim : `` Government is not the solution to our problem , government is the problem . ''
What is the solution : unleash market forces ; get government off the back of wealth creators .
How to accomplish it : through deregulation , privatization , austerity and untrammeled corporate globalization .
• Long-term care homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to the problem • Ontario has a COVID-19 reopening plan , but it comes with big caveats Singularly motivated by costs and shareholder value , devoid of ethical underpinnings , the paradigm has compromised the safety of workers and communities , leading in extreme cases to industrial disasters such as Lac-Mégantic , Westray Mine , listeriosis and Walkerton .
It has funnelled income and wealth upward to the few , spreading insecurity , poverty and suffering amongst the many .
It has eroded democracy and thrown the planet into a climate emergency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a corporate coup d ’ état in slow motion as described by Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul — government ’ s countervailing power as custodian of the public good was systematically eroded .
Public institutions were diminished , their resources and regulatory powers stripped .
Crown corporations — energy , telecom , transportation , etc .
— were privatized and deregulated .
Long-term care facilities — where shocking numbers of residents have died of COVID-19 — were privatized and deregulated by the provinces .
Publicly owned Connaught Laboratories , which pioneered treatment for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ smallpox and polio vaccines , was sold off to a French pharmaceutical multinational , its Canadian remnant deprived of its former research capacity .
The Trudeau government ’ s recently created Canada Infrastructure Bank has morphed into a public-private partnership with Wall Street financiers , increasing costs to taxpayers and the risk of public infrastructure falling into private hands .
`` While the corporate practices have been marginally reined in during this pandemic , their DNA remains unchanged .
Corporate power , and the architecture of persuasion that sustains it , will still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
The pandemic has dramatically shifted the terrain , suspending for now the neoliberal framework .
Criticism of massive fiscal stimulus has practically disappeared from policy discourse , as has the Bank of Canada ’ s unprecedented engagement in quantitative easing .
Government is firmly in control , mobilizing resources to stem the spread of the virus ; ensuring essential medical equipment for patients and protection for front-line workers ; shoring up a tanking economy ; and supporting workers and businesses facing financial collapse .
Reagan ’ s aphorism has been inverted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; it is the solution to our problem . ''
While the corporate practices have been marginally reined in during this pandemic , their DNA remains unchanged .
Corporate power , and the architecture of persuasion that sustains it , will still be in place when the crisis ends .
Big Business will not cede its place willingly .
Contrary to expectations , the dominant paradigm weathered the 2008 financial crisis unscathed .
Already , there is evidence of corporate jockeying to maintain its ideological hegemony going forward .
A secret memo to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Petroleum Producers — leaked to Environmental Defense — reveals the oil and gas industry is seizing advantage of the crisis to pressure the government to grant it exemptions from safety and environmental laws and regulations .
Its proposed rollbacks would put Canadians ’ health and safety at risk , and guarantee Canada ’ s inability to meet its climate change targets .
This cynical ploy echoes right-wing economist Milton Friedman ’ s famous dictum : “ Never let a good crisis go to waste.
” There are three possible scenarios going forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or transformation to a new model for managing our economy — one that integrates values of empathy , equality , democracy and sustainability ; that rebalances public and corporate power and the ideology that perpetuates it .
The first two scenarios will play out at our peril .
In the words of Leonard Cohen : “ I 've seen the future , brother .
It is murder.
” The next crisis barrelling down upon us is the climate catastrophe , which unlike coronavirus , will end with either the extinction of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by transitioning to a carbon-free world .
Which of these possible futures will prevail ?
The coronavirus crisis is having a profound consciousness-raising effect on our society in terms of the urgency of addressing global threats .
The notion of community and collective action has come to the forefront .
Canadians have a long history of supporting public enterprise , publicly funded services and regulating markets .
Public trust in government leadership , blemished in recent times , is being restored , especially when compared with the disastrous scenario playing out south of @ @ @

Singularly motivated by costs and shareholder value, devoid of ethical underpinnings, the paradigm has compromised the safety of workers and communities, leading in extreme cases to industrial disasters such as Lac-Mégantic, Westray Mine, listeriosis and Walkerton. It has funnelled income and wealth upward to the few, spreading insecurity, poverty and suffering amongst the many. It has eroded democracy and thrown the planet into a climate emergency. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions The product of corporate hegemony — a corporate coup d’état in slow motion as described by Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul — government’s countervailing power as custodian of the public good was systematically eroded.
Public institutions were diminished, their resources and regulatory powers stripped. Crown corporations — energy, telecom, transportation, etc. — were privatized and deregulated. "While the corporate practices have been marginally reined in during this pandemic, their DNA remains unchanged. Corporate power, and the architecture of persuasion that sustains it, will still be in place when the crisis ends." Long-term care facilities — where shocking numbers of residents have died of COVID-19 — were privatized and deregulated by the provinces. Publicly owned Connaught Laboratories, which pioneered treatment for diabetes and played a prominent role in smallpox and polio vaccines, was sold off to a French pharmaceutical multinational, its Canadian remnant deprived of its former research capacity. The Trudeau government’s recently created Canada Infrastructure Bank has morphed into a public-private partnership with Wall Street financiers, increasing costs to taxpayers and the risk of public infrastructure falling into private hands. The pandemic has dramatically shifted the terrain, suspending for now the neoliberal framework. Criticism of massive fiscal stimulus has practically disappeared from policy discourse, as has the Bank of Canada’s unprecedented engagement in quantitative easing. Government is firmly in control, mobilizing resources to stem the spread of the virus; ensuring essential medical equipment for patients and protection for front-line workers; shoring up a tanking economy; and supporting workers and businesses facing financial collapse. Reagan’s aphorism has been inverted: "Government is not the problem; it is the solution to our problem."
While the corporate practices have been marginally reined in during this pandemic, their DNA remains unchanged. Corporate power, and the architecture of persuasion that sustains it, will still be in place when the crisis ends. Big Business will not cede its place willingly. Contrary to expectations, the dominant paradigm weathered the 2008 financial crisis unscathed. Already, there is evidence of corporate jockeying to maintain its ideological hegemony going forward. A secret memo to federal government ministers from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers — leaked to Environmental Defense — reveals the oil and gas industry is seizing advantage of the crisis to pressure the government to grant it exemptions from safety and environmental laws and regulations. Its proposed rollbacks would put Canadians’ health and safety at risk, and guarantee Canada’s inability to meet its climate change targets. This cynical ploy echoes right-wing economist Milton Friedman’s famous dictum: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”


nationalobserver--2020-04-30--'No imminent risk' that Athabasca River floods will reach oilsands tailings ponds, regulator says

Rising floodwaters along northern Alberta ’ s Athabasca River are not in danger of breaching the massive ponds holding toxic waste from the oilsands , the province ’ s energy regulator said Wednesday .
Several rivers in the region are flooding this week as chunks of spring ice melt and block waterways , a phenomenon known as an ice jam .
The swelling waters have flooded downtown Fort McMurray , upstream of the oilsands , raising concerns about what could happen if the rivers breach the ponds where oilsands `` tailings , '' or waste , are stored .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and gathering information , ” the Alberta Energy Regulator ( AER ) said Wednesday .
“ At the present time , and based on current information , there is no imminent risk of floodwater breaching any tailings ponds.
” Oilsands tailings are a thick , yogurt-like mixture left over from the process of mining and extracting bitumen .
The goop is toxic , containing hazardous naphthenic acids alongside clay , water and leftover remnants of bitumen .
• Long-term care homes were in crisis well before politicians woke up to the problem • @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but it comes with big caveats Oil companies store the rapidly accumulating waste — with a total volume of more than one trillion litres — in reservoirs that now cover an area larger than the city of Vancouver .
Some tailings are stored in former mine pits , while others are enclosed by earthen dams , which industry says are secure .
Spring ice jams are common along the Athabasca River , which flows through Fort McMurray and the oilsands before emptying into Lake Athabasca in northeastern Alberta .
But this spring ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alberta Premier Jason Kenney calling them a once-in-a-century event .
Two maps that compare the location of oil sands tailing ponds and flood zones that are continuously studied in the area .
Left - Tailing ponds - including dry tailings ( orange ) and wet tailings ( light yellow ) Right - Fort McMurray flood zones # ableg # rmwb # cdnpoli # YMM pic.twitter.com/dhkK0tq9RJ — Kavi Bal ( @ kavibal25 ) April 28 , 2020 The current ice jam along the Athabasca is centred in Fort McMurray , some 30 kilometres away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ north .
And although the floods have devastated Fort McMurray , causing one death and widespread evacuations , the rising waters don ’ t appear to have come close to spilling into tailings ponds — a scenario that could have a catastrophic impact on the land and Indigenous people living nearby .
Flooding in Fort McMurray has raised concerns that the rising waters could breach toxic oilsands tailings ponds .
The Alberta Energy Regulator says all tailings ponds are intact , however , and teams are monitoring them closely .
# ableg There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a First Nations and Métis community in the oilsands north of Fort McMurray , that flooded some low-lying areas , Alberta Environment and Parks said .
That blockage cleared on April 28 , though the area remains under an `` ice jam watch . ''
The floodwaters may rise before the river fully clears , but experts say the tailings ponds are not expected to be at risk , the AER said Wednesday .
Flooding from the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers covered downtown Fort McMurray on April 27 , 2020 .
Photo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Athabasca River empties into the Peace-Athabasca Delta , a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its wood bison herds and its importance for flocks of migratory birds .
And many of the Cree , Dene and Métis people in the region hunt and trap along the river .
Some Indigenous people in the area are worried about what could happen if these floodwaters or any future ones were to reach the oilsands , as several tailings ponds are relatively close to the river , said Jesse Cardinal , the interim executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an Indigenous-led conservation group .
“ Because of climate change , we ’ re going to start seeing more flooding , ” Cardinal said .
“ Really , what could you do if a tailings pond breaches ?
” A breach could be even more devastating because more Indigenous people are relying on hunting and trapping to avoid using grocery stores during the COVID-19 pandemic , Cardinal said .
“ We ’ re directly tied to the land .
We ’ re tied to the environment , ” she said .
“ So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to us.
” Though studies have suggested for years that oilsands tailings may be seeping into groundwater and the Athabasca River , a full breach of an oilsands tailings dam hasn ’ t happened .
Industry says the dams are safe and a collapse would be very unlikely .
Tailings dams have breached in other Canadian mining industries .
In 2014 , a tailings dam of Imperial Metals Corp. 's Mount Polley copper and gold mine collapsed , sending 25 billion litres of contaminated slurry into nearby waterways .
And in 2013 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mountain Mine in Hinton , Alta.
, sending 670 million litres of wastewater into tributaries of the Athabasca River .
The Obed spill in particular shows how dangerous a similar incident in the oilsands could be , said Cardinal .
“ It was so big , it flooded out some of the forest , ” she added .
“ The lesson from Mount Polley is that those dams can breach , ” said Dale Marshall of Environmental Defence , a green non-profit .
If it were to happen in the oilsands , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the water and sediment at the bottom of the river and accumulate up the food chain .
“ The big picture on this is that there are really negative impacts to oil and gas development that should be taken into account as we think about future energy development , ” Marshall added .
“ It does further reinforce the need to transition away from these energy sources that have all kinds of risks , environment and health.
” A fence blocks off a Suncor oilsands tailings pond north of Fort McMurray , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Photo by Codie McLachlan/StarMetro Edmonton The Alberta Energy Regulator inspects tailings dams annually , and says a breach of any of them would have “ extreme consequences.
” In 2018 , the most recent year for which inspection results are available , the regulator said it found one breach of its rules at an oilsands dam , and companies voluntarily disclosed three other issues ( it wasn ’ t clear if the issues were identified on tailings dams or other types of dams in the oilsands ) .
None of the problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
The same year , the regulator audited dam safety at five oilsands facilities .
All were rated “ very good , ” the regulator said .
The regulator also requires companies to have emergency response plans ready in case of a breach and says it has crews ready to help if the unimaginable was to happen .
Those protocols aren ’ t posted publicly , however , which Cardinal said adds to the uncertainty .
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation — in Fort Chipewyan , about 200 kilometres north of Fort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conducting its own flyovers to ensure the tailings dams haven ’ t breached , Cardinal said .
( A spokesperson for the First Nation said they were busy supporting members affected by the floods and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic , and weren ’ t able to respond by publication time . )
Oversight of companies ’ management of oilsands tailings have been an issue in Alberta for decades .
Despite years of promises that the ponds would stop growing , they have continued to swell .
And successive governments have allowed industry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the toxic mess , an indication that officials have no idea how to effectively clean up the waste .
Occasionally , tailings ponds make headlines after flocks of migratory birds die after landing on the toxic lakes , mistaking them for natural bodies of water .
They can also emit air pollutants .
In August 2018 , the Commission for Environmental Cooperation — a NAFTA organization composed of officials from the U.S. , Mexico and Canada — announced it would investigate tailings ponds and the threat they pose to surrounding groundwater and rivers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oilsands mining operations facilities could reach an estimated $ 130 billion , with tailings ponds making up the largest but unknown amount of the figure , according to internal AER calculations revealed in a joint investigation by the Star , Global News and National Observer .
That ’ s $ 100 billion more than the province had disclosed publicly .
The AER later apologized , saying the estimate had been an `` error in judgment . ''

Oilsands tailings are a thick, yogurt-like mixture left over from the process of mining and extracting bitumen. The goop is toxic, containing hazardous naphthenic acids alongside clay, water and leftover remnants of bitumen.
“At the present time, and based on current information, there is no imminent risk of floodwater breaching any tailings ponds.”
“Staff are on site conducting field verifications and gathering information,” the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) said Wednesday.
Several rivers in the region are flooding this week as chunks of spring ice melt and block waterways, a phenomenon known as an ice jam. The swelling waters have flooded downtown Fort McMurray, upstream of the oilsands, raising concerns about what could happen if the rivers breach the ponds where oilsands "tailings," or waste, are stored.
Rising floodwaters along northern Alberta’s Athabasca River are not in danger of breaching the massive ponds holding toxic waste from the oilsands, the province’s energy regulator said Wednesday.
Spring ice jams are common along the Athabasca River, which flows through Fort McMurray and the oilsands before emptying into Lake Athabasca in northeastern Alberta. But this spring’s floods are exceptionally bad, with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney calling them a once-in-a-century event.
Some tailings are stored in former mine pits, while others are enclosed by earthen dams, which industry says are secure.
Oil companies store the rapidly accumulating waste — with a total volume of more than one trillion litres — in reservoirs that now cover an area larger than the city of Vancouver.
There was an ice jam near Fort McKay, a First Nations and Métis community in the oilsands north of Fort McMurray, that flooded some low-lying areas, Alberta Environment and Parks said. That blockage cleared on April 28, though the area remains under an "ice jam watch."
The current ice jam along the Athabasca is centred in Fort McMurray, some 30 kilometres away from the nearest oilsands plant to the north. And although the floods have devastated Fort McMurray, causing one death and widespread evacuations, the rising waters don’t appear to have come close to spilling into tailings ponds — a scenario that could have a catastrophic impact on the land and Indigenous people living nearby.
Two maps that compare the location of oil sands tailing ponds and flood zones that are continuously studied in the area. Left - Tailing ponds - including dry tailings (orange) and wet tailings (light yellow) Right - Fort McMurray flood zones #ableg #rmwb #cdnpoli #YMM pic.twitter.com/dhkK0tq9RJ
The floodwaters may rise before the river fully clears, but experts say the tailings ponds are not expected to be at risk, the AER said Wednesday.
Floods expected to increase with climate change
Downstream of the oilsands, the Athabasca River empties into the Peace-Athabasca Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its wood bison herds and its importance for flocks of migratory birds. And many of the Cree, Dene and Métis people in the region hunt and trap along the river.
Some Indigenous people in the area are worried about what could happen if these floodwaters or any future ones were to reach the oilsands, as several tailings ponds are relatively close to the river, said Jesse Cardinal, the interim executive director of Keepers of the Water, an Indigenous-led conservation group.
“Because of climate change, we’re going to start seeing more flooding,” Cardinal said. “Really, what could you do if a tailings pond breaches?”
A breach could be even more devastating because more Indigenous people are relying on hunting and trapping to avoid using grocery stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardinal said.
“We’re directly tied to the land. We’re tied to the environment,” she said. “So what happens to the land, happens to us.”
Though studies have suggested for years that oilsands tailings may be seeping into groundwater and the Athabasca River, a full breach of an oilsands tailings dam hasn’t happened. Industry says the dams are safe and a collapse would be very unlikely.
Tailings dams have breached in other Canadian mining industries.
In 2014, a tailings dam of Imperial Metals Corp.'s Mount Polley copper and gold mine collapsed, sending 25 billion litres of contaminated slurry into nearby waterways. And in 2013, a tailings dam broke at the Obed Mountain Mine in Hinton, Alta., sending 670 million litres of wastewater into tributaries of the Athabasca River.
The Obed spill in particular shows how dangerous a similar incident in the oilsands could be, said Cardinal. “It was so big, it flooded out some of the forest,” she added.
“The lesson from Mount Polley is that those dams can breach,” said Dale Marshall of Environmental Defence, a green non-profit.
If it were to happen in the oilsands, he said, toxic materials would likely remain in the water and sediment at the bottom of the river and accumulate up the food chain.
“The big picture on this is that there are really negative impacts to oil and gas development that should be taken into account as we think about future energy development,” Marshall added.
“It does further reinforce the need to transition away from these energy sources that have all kinds of risks, environment and health.”
A fence blocks off a Suncor oilsands tailings pond north of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Sept. 13, 2018. Photo by Codie McLachlan/StarMetro Edmonton
Regulator says tailings dams are safe
The Alberta Energy Regulator inspects tailings dams annually, and says a breach of any of them would have “extreme consequences.”
In 2018, the most recent year for which inspection results are available, the regulator said it found one breach of its rules at an oilsands dam, and companies voluntarily disclosed three other issues (it wasn’t clear if the issues were identified on tailings dams or other types of dams in the oilsands). None of the problems posed a significant risk, the regulator said.
The same year, the regulator audited dam safety at five oilsands facilities. All were rated “very good,” the regulator said.
The regulator also requires companies to have emergency response plans ready in case of a breach and says it has crews ready to help if the unimaginable was to happen. Those protocols aren’t posted publicly, however, which Cardinal said adds to the uncertainty.
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation — in Fort Chipewyan, about 200 kilometres north of Fort McMurray along the river — has been conducting its own flyovers to ensure the tailings dams haven’t breached, Cardinal said. (A spokesperson for the First Nation said they were busy supporting members affected by the floods and dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, and weren’t able to respond by publication time.)
Oversight of companies’ management of oilsands tailings have been an issue in Alberta for decades.
Despite years of promises that the ponds would stop growing, they have continued to swell. And successive governments have allowed industry to pursue unproven techniques for dealing with the toxic mess, an indication that officials have no idea how to effectively clean up the waste.
Occasionally, tailings ponds make headlines after flocks of migratory birds die after landing on the toxic lakes, mistaking them for natural bodies of water. They can also emit air pollutants.
In August 2018, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation — a NAFTA organization composed of officials from the U.S., Mexico and Canada — announced it would investigate tailings ponds and the threat they pose to surrounding groundwater and rivers.
The cost to clean up the oilsands mining operations facilities could reach an estimated $130 billion, with tailings ponds making up the largest but unknown amount of the figure, according to internal AER calculations revealed in a joint investigation by the Star, Global News and National Observer. That’s $100 billion more than the province had disclosed publicly.
The AER later apologized, saying the estimate had been an "error in judgment."


Preventing Extinctions

About 1,200 kilometres south we reach Kingman Reef , which barely grazes the ocean surface .
It ’ s the pilot ’ s cue to start our descent into the dense fog of the equatorial convergence zone .
Our tight fuel budget allows one shot at landing ; a second circuit after an observational fly-by is simply not possible .
The relic-crushed coral runway rushes out of the blur and provides a terrifyingly violent landing as we pound and plough along it .
The commotion spooks fleets of tropic birds and flushes red-footed booby colonies into the sky .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is thick with wheeling birds .
We have arrived at Palmyra Atoll .
Jointly managed by the U.S .
Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nature Conservancy , the atoll is a unique collection of natural reefs and engineered islets and lagoons .
It may look like a postcard paradise , but 10 years ago Palmyra was in ecological freefall , with bird populations and native forest diminished - all because of the human introduction of rats nearly a century ago .
A trophic chain collapse was gaining momentum and action was required @ @ @ @ @ @ @ today Palmyra is exploding with wildlife , a case study for the successful rewilding of our damaged natural world .
The recovery shows that an anthropogenic crisis can be reversed , and that a biodiverse future can be realized if we act in a timely manner .
On arrival day , our crew of six visiting conservation scientists doubles the population of the coral atoll .
As we settle into base camp , Dr. Alex Wegmann , the chief scientist who oversaw Palmyra ’ s recovery briefs us on the atoll ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the landscape to ensure our safety and , most importantly , the protection of biosecurity .
It ’ s a long way from help here , Wegmann warns us wryly .
The 235-hectares of land consists of the major island Cooper , where the runway is located , and a surrounding ellipse of 25 islets that create inner lagoons , some of which are connected by engineered causeways .
Biosecurity is top of mind for Wegmann and Stefan Kropidlowski , Refuge Manager for Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge , and we get a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and freezing our clothes when we return from the outer refugia islands to the main atoll .
This is to avoid infestation from invasive insects ; ants have made a small foothold on Palmyra , and the protocol is aimed at preventing their spread before eradication .
The USD $ 5-million restoration of Palmyra took place a decade ago .
Rats destroying the islands were removed , and the flora and fauna has now rebounded .
Wegmann is rightly proud and defensive of this achievement , which could so easily be lost with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in protocol .
I am grateful to Kropidlowski because several pre-trip calls have prepared me , and I am fully equipped to explore the outer islets .
Over dinner on our first evening , Wegmann sets a 5:30 a.m. start for the next day .
He wants to get me out into the forest before sunrise .
The hour comes , and it ’ s a rude awakening after a hot , humid and restless night .
Blurry eyed , I haul my 30 pounds of camera gear and we meet at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ready to go .
I stumble behind him as we disappear into the dark undergrowth of the pre-dawn forest .
The forest floor is littered with land crabs .
When Wegmann first arrived on Palmyra , the atoll only had seven of the larger species .
But now 10 different species are flourishing , from giant coconut crabs to the almost translucent and tiny ghost crabs .
This is because when the rats reigned the atoll , the crab larva would drift from their spawning grounds on the southerly Line Islands to wash @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crabs , they ’ d be eaten by the rats .
But with the rats gone the crabs now thrive upon landfall , just one hallmark of a vibrant ecosystem .
My eyes are glued to the ground , desperate not to crush a crab with a poor footfall , and I can barely keep up with Wegmann as he seemingly floats through the forest .
An hour later we arrived on the western beach of Strawn Island .
I am totally disorientated .
Wegmann laughs and explains that this is the perceived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perhaps , as he suggests , the strange evocative light that sometimes appears is simply the ghost of a missing and presumed murdered past island dweller .
I am not falling for the tales of the islanders , but the atoll ’ s history is steeped in myth and murderous truth .
Our bushwhacking has not been filled with idle chit-chat .
Wegmann has given me a crash course in the island ’ s ecology and its multi-century trophic chain collapse .
It ’ s a fascinating perfect storm set against the complexities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first warm light of sunrise illuminates the trees , a flock of red-footed booby seabirds take to the sky , a glorious sight , and Wegmann rejoices — this is the reward of a rewilded atoll .
Wegmann came to Palmyra in 2004 as a greenhorn botany PhD candidate with a mandate to understand why the island ’ s endemic trees , the Pisonia , were in decline .
The trees are critical nesting habitat for native birds , and it was feared that their decline was also harming bird populations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a field site , a stepping-stone on a conservation scientist ’ s career path .
But with time the island ’ s importance as a global case study crept into his soul , and he remains director of science for Palmyra at the Nature Conservancy .
After three years of tramping through the undergrowth and conducting rigorous and carefully deployed seedling trials , Wegmann saw the fuller picture .
He realized that a trophic collapse far more complex than any envisioned by his PhD supervisor was underway on Palmyra , one that had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it was like a freight train hitting a wall .
Waves of invasive species had carved out an existence on the atoll .
It started with the Polynesian introduction of coconut trees , followed by waves of European settlers who tried their luck at cattle ranching and intensive coconut farming .
These endeavours left early negative impacts that would soon be amplified .
The attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 resulted in a massive re-engineering of Palmyra ’ s structure .
Coral reefs were dredged and desecrated to form runways as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monitoring outpost on the islands , a first line of defense against imperial Japan .
Precipitously , the Americans also introduced rats that stowed away on the supply ships .
The uninvited rats were bequeathed a paradise with abundant food to satisfy their voracious appetites , and their population exploded .
They targeted seabird chicks and eggs , and the seabird populations began to fall .
As their food sources shrank , the ever-adaptive rats learnt to attack almost any fresh biological source .
In ecological terms it was a disaster .
Meanwhile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decline , as were the once numerous land crabs .
For Wegmann , it was an utterly frustrating and bewildering process to unravel .
Dozens of trials of seedlings at different locations failed to illuminate why the forests were failing .
One day in a reflective moment , Wegmann watched as land crabs idled through the forest floor .
As expected , the crabs fed vigorously on the seeds , much like the rats .
But an important difference caught Wegmann ’ s eye .
As the crabs perambulated across the loose soil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many seeds as they consumed .
It was a revelation ; the crabs were forest farmers tiling and sowing the seeds into the soil and being rewarded to do so — a remarkable example of symbiotic evolution .
Camera traps revealed that the rats would devour the entire seedbank and further still predate on the occasional seedling shoot that survived to germinate .
The rats were eradicating the endemic forest because the natural seedbank no longer existed .
It was rat-induced extirpation .
The revelation was hard earned , and the fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little consequence , with the island clearly in ecological free fall .
Eradicating the rats would require significant resources .
Wegmann ’ s work pivoted to rewilding the island .
He reached out to the world ’ s preeminent conversation organizations : Island Conservation , the Nature Conservancy and the U.S .
Fish and Wildlife Service .
They responded , raising funds and resources and mobilizing biologists and technical specialists .
As Gregg Howald of Island Conservation said , “ It takes four years of careful planning and four weeks of intensive ground @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” But a bespoke island specific plan was needed to ensure success , especially if native species were to be protected from unintended impacts of the poison bait .
Helicopters , barges , mechanics , pilots , biologists , medics and cooks — all descended upon the island for the intensive campaign .
As the poison bait fell from the helicopters , the beginnings of a massive reversal in the island ’ s ecological collapse began .
Four weeks later , not a single live rat could be found on camera or in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passed and still no detectable rat activity could be found .
Finally , after a torturous year , the island was declared rat free .
Eight years later , Palmyra ’ s biodiversity has rebounded .
Bird colonies of red-footed boobies and frigate birds abound .
Terns are present in phenomenal numbers .
The island is alive from dawn to dusk and is an absolute thrill to experience .
Diving on the corals is wondrous , as the reefs teem with life .
The healthy reefs nurture plentiful forage fish , which in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The surrounding waters are now home to manta ray — and I gasped when a pair of neon lemon sharks torpedoed past us in the sunlight .
In these moments I believe I felt the same sense of awe that must have enveloped Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace as they immersed themselves on remote islands not unlike Palmyra .
It was a profound moment of awareness ; one I feel privileged to have experienced .
I will be forever thankful to Island Conservation for sending me to this place .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Holmes , director of science for Island Conservation , rallies the team for a week of deploying song meters on the remote refuge islets of Palmyra .
The instruments record bird song at a given sample rate every day .
This assesses both the number of birds and species diversity post-rat eradication , along with helping determine population peaks and the island ’ s natural carrying capacity .
On the dock , as per protocol , we change into our frozen clothes , a delight in the humid 35-degree Celsius equatorial weather .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the equipment to the boats and changing clothes , including backpacks and camera bags , into frozen ones .
By the time we boat out to the islets , over two hours has passed .
Upon arrival we are dismayed to find a critical component of the song meters is broken .
We must return .
I balk at the time loss and convince the team I ’ ll be safe enough on my own to document the biodiversity with my camera .
They leave me in paradise , and not three minutes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in trouble .
As the boat leaves , I spot a pair of brown booby seabirds huddled on the overhanging limb of a coconut tree across the lagoon .
I dump my gear on the shore and wade into the ocean with my camera and telephoto lenses , seeking the perfect photo composition .
The tidal range on small remote islands is only a few feet , and as I traverse the low tide mark the footing becomes decidedly “ suctionous ” — but I stupidly push out to my perceived optimum spot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking the picture , I slowly become locked in the vacuum-powered mud .
I ’ m soon horrified to find that I ’ m seriously stuck .
Suddenly every movement has me pinned and threatens a fall into the water , camera and all .
I have no option but to wait for two hours or lose my camera , and I soon realize it ’ s not possible to last that long in the baking heat .
Some foot-wriggles reveal that my waterproof sandals are the core problem - I have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the week ( they ’ re my “ protocol ” shoes ! )
.
So , with some trepidation , I triangulate my position off three trees , slip my feet clear of my shoes and slowly crouch down into the water .
As I become buoyant , I push my camera above my head and let my legs finally become free .
Like a demented sea turtle , with my face mostly submerged , I waggle towards shore .
Seriously out of breath , I get my camera to the beach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the muck , I retrieve my shoes and wash up in the firm footing of the shallows .
Reflecting on my misadventure and drip-drying in the shade of a coconut tree , my thoughts wander to the rewilding of Palmyra .
This is an extraordinary place – teeming with life it triggers thoughts and notions of evolutionary trajectories and the Hillis plot comes to mind .
The plot is a visual representation of the genetic tree of life , constructed from the DNA of over 3,000 species and inspired by early designs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Professor David Hillis and his team at Texas University in 2003 , the plot is constructed by turning speciation branches in a radial direction , with common ancestral trunks growing outward from the centre ( Science , 2003 , 300:1692-1697 ) .
The evolutionary tree evolves because the common or shared DNA is recorded like a tree trunk growing up , or in this case outward .
When speciation occurs , like a tree branch that splits in two , the path takes a radial or circular path .
Much like heritage trees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s era , but with a profound clarity , the modern DNA tree is a powerful revelation .
All species on Earth are related , and we all share common ancestral DNA .
We are kin and cousin to all life on Earth .
This revelation is a lived experience for many Indigenous Peoples , for their cultures embrace and care for fauna as kin , something that science-based cultures have lost .
Life on Earth is always changing — sudden planetary scale extinction events have occurred , eliminating many higher order life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ millions of years .
However , the re-established lifeforms are often new flora and fauna that are previously unknown .
It strikes me that embedded within the Hillis plot is the notion that evolutionary trajectories are not hardwired and encoded .
Rather , natural ecosystems , when provisioned with resources will expand and adapt the range of flora and fauna to maximise the biological utility of the available resources .
( This wonky jargon is akin to Jeff Goldblum ’ s line in Jurassic Park : “ Life , uh , will find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s fundamentally encoded into the process of evolution — the outer layer of the Hillis plot for different eras and eons would look quite different , but the core ancestral DNA foundation would remain .
That ’ s if and only if , we do not eliminate whole groups of taxa or unique deep genetic lineages .
The tree could be redrawn as if nothing was lost , but the hundreds of millions of years of evolution that are taken out with deep-branch extinctions are never gained back .
Even if new species @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adds short branches at the tips .
Gone is the rich accumulation of genetic adaptations across deep time .
It is this lineage that provides the foundations of our very existence — the global ecosystem , a collection of fully integrated symbiotic flora and fauna .
Looking at Palmyra and remote islands in general , the variation in speciation is different from that of the continents , despite common ancestors .
Indeed , this is the clue that Darwin and Wallace observed , and which triggered their insights .
The fossil record also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also developed at continent scale after each mass extinction event .
Evidence that evolutionary pathways are not specifically encoded .
Each recovery has yielded a different range and type of flora and fauna .
The observation is important because it allows us to imagine an escape from the depth of the ongoing anthropogenic mass extinction that we are currently witnessing .
Blinded by the pursuit of economic growth to the impacts of our existence upon natural security ( or ecosystem services provisioned by a biodiverse planet ) , we are the architects of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we have not escaped our dependency on the world ’ s ecosystems for food , water and clean air .
This is weaved into the Hillis plot , for all life on Earth has symbiotically evolved .
Without a viable natural world , our existence is threatened by our own actions .
The Hillis plot can also be regarded as a measure of biodiversity or ecosystem health .
Systems that are productive will exhibit a full spectrum of species as a full outer ring .
Compromised ecosystems may have missing outer leaves , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may be impaired due to pollution , climate change , habitat loss or even the introduction of an invasive species such as rats .
Reflection on the Hillis plot allows the imagination to consider an Accretocene , an era of rapid biological productivity catalyzed by humanity .
This is in opposition to the current destructive Anthropocene .
The creation of the right conditions allows for nature to rewild impaired and impacted regions .
Rewilding is important language , not to be confused with repair or restore .
Palmyra demonstrates that by creating conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generate ( not regenerate ) .
They may or may not resemble a facsimile of what was once .
This is an important distinction , and it allows us to imagine the possibility of rewilding on a global scale .
Figure 3 attempts to capture this rewilding Accretocene vision .
We just need to create the conditions for natural processes to exploit .
The diagram has a nonlinear timeline displaying a short destructive Anthropocene followed by an enduring multi-eon timescale in which a biodiverse world is rebuilt .
This is fundamentally the work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beautiful aspiring endeavour that provides a truly hopefully and scalable vision for the planet .
The ideas are expanded in Figure 4 to demonstrate multiple pathways .
Three emerge .
The first is a rapid response rewild intervention trajectory catalyzed by humans , preventing deep genetic lineages from being lost .
While extinctions can not be reversed , the world ’ s biodiversity is still sufficiently broad that the existing ecosystem function would be retained .
The second trajectory illustrates the slow multi-million-year response when deep loss of biodiversity occurs .
When deep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of biodiversity and by extension the resiliency of ecosystems is contracted .
Building new and different flora and fauna occurs at a much slower pace defined by evolution and adaption .
This consideration demands for global adoption of conserve and repair polices to be introduced .
The third deep extinction trajectory envisions an almost complete loss of life , requiring billions of millennia for a biodiverse world to return , if indeed possible .
On Palmyra , the rats liquidated biodiversity .
But the eradication project allowed it to rebound .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because of the invasive coconut tree , which grows significantly faster , closes the canopy , and out competes the native trees for sunlight .
Understanding this core ecosystem characteristic allows Wegmann and the team to envision a future in which these forests can be recovered by careful removal of coconut groves and replanting of native trees .
Indeed , this is the next phase of Island Conservation ’ s work , to be carefully considered and orchestrated .
For example , birds currently nest and thrive in the native forests , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nests and chicks by navigating from the open ocean along defined flight paths marked by physical features and characteristics — often coconut trees .
The rapid removal of coconut trees to allow native forests to be replanted might harm the bird populations by preventing them from returning to their nests .
Thus , careful and respectful manicuring will be required .
Rewilding is often critiqued as a notion of playing God with an ecosystem , as a species we already do — just very badly .
The lessons of Palmyra extend to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better .
Island Conservation is a global leader in this endeavour .
Enabling an Accretocene is a simple global human choice .
The team returns to the islet .
Holmes , the science director , looks quizzically at my mud-streaked salt encrusted face , while Wegmann quips “ not too smart sitting underneath coconut trees — they tend to drop coconuts on your head.
” “ That ’ s only a half of it , ” I retort .
A few minutes later they ’ re all laughing as I regale them with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s been 10 years since the rats were removed from Palmyra .
The atoll ’ s bird population is exploding , seedlings are thriving — and the once diminished forest is rebounding .
The islands are feeding the surrounding reefs .
My hope for the next decade is that the work of Island Conservation and its partners is globally recognized , supported and embraced .

About 1,200 kilometres south we reach Kingman Reef, which barely grazes the ocean surface. It’s the pilot’s cue to start our descent into the dense fog of the equatorial convergence zone. Our tight fuel budget allows one shot at landing; a second circuit after an observational fly-by is simply not possible.
The relic-crushed coral runway rushes out of the blur and provides a terrifyingly violent landing as we pound and plough along it. The commotion spooks fleets of tropic birds and flushes red-footed booby colonies into the sky. As we exit the aircraft, the air is thick with wheeling birds. We have arrived at Palmyra Atoll.
After a major restoration effort, today Palmyra is exploding with wildlife, a case study for the successful rewilding of our damaged natural world.
Jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nature Conservancy, the atoll is a unique collection of natural reefs and engineered islets and lagoons. It may look like a postcard paradise, but 10 years ago Palmyra was in ecological freefall, with bird populations and native forest diminished - all because of the human introduction of rats nearly a century ago. A trophic chain collapse was gaining momentum and action was required.
After a major restoration effort, today Palmyra is exploding with wildlife, a case study for the successful rewilding of our damaged natural world. The recovery shows that an anthropogenic crisis can be reversed, and that a biodiverse future can be realized if we act in a timely manner.
On arrival day, our crew of six visiting conservation scientists doubles the population of the coral atoll. As we settle into base camp, Dr. Alex Wegmann, the chief scientist who oversaw Palmyra’s recovery briefs us on the atoll’s geographic structure and the protocols for traversing the landscape to ensure our safety and, most importantly, the protection of biosecurity.
It’s a long way from help here, Wegmann warns us wryly. The 235-hectares of land consists of the major island Cooper, where the runway is located, and a surrounding ellipse of 25 islets that create inner lagoons, some of which are connected by engineered causeways.
Biosecurity is top of mind for Wegmann and Stefan Kropidlowski, Refuge Manager for Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, and we get a strict lecture on the importance of washing and freezing our clothes when we return from the outer refugia islands to the main atoll. This is to avoid infestation from invasive insects; ants have made a small foothold on Palmyra, and the protocol is aimed at preventing their spread before eradication.
The USD $5-million restoration of Palmyra took place a decade ago. Rats destroying the islands were removed, and the flora and fauna has now rebounded. Wegmann is rightly proud and defensive of this achievement, which could so easily be lost with a careless re-introduction due to a lapse in protocol. I am grateful to Kropidlowski because several pre-trip calls have prepared me, and I am fully equipped to explore the outer islets.
Over dinner on our first evening, Wegmann sets a 5:30 a.m. start for the next day. He wants to get me out into the forest before sunrise. The hour comes, and it’s a rude awakening after a hot, humid and restless night. Blurry eyed, I haul my 30 pounds of camera gear and we meet at the main building. Wegmann is buoyant and ready to go. I stumble behind him as we disappear into the dark undergrowth of the pre-dawn forest.
The forest floor is littered with land crabs. When Wegmann first arrived on Palmyra, the atoll only had seven of the larger species. But now 10 different species are flourishing, from giant coconut crabs to the almost translucent and tiny ghost crabs. This is because when the rats reigned the atoll, the crab larva would drift from their spawning grounds on the southerly Line Islands to wash ashore on Palmyra where, as juvenile crabs, they’d be eaten by the rats. But with the rats gone the crabs now thrive upon landfall, just one hallmark of a vibrant ecosystem.
My eyes are glued to the ground, desperate not to crush a crab with a poor footfall, and I can barely keep up with Wegmann as he seemingly floats through the forest. An hour later we arrived on the western beach of Strawn Island. I am totally disorientated. Wegmann laughs and explains that this is the perceived location of a mythical hermit — or perhaps, as he suggests, the strange evocative light that sometimes appears is simply the ghost of a missing and presumed murdered past island dweller. I am not falling for the tales of the islanders, but the atoll’s history is steeped in myth and murderous truth.
Our bushwhacking has not been filled with idle chit-chat. Wegmann has given me a crash course in the island’s ecology and its multi-century trophic chain collapse. It’s a fascinating perfect storm set against the complexities of evolution and island biogeography. As the first warm light of sunrise illuminates the trees, a flock of red-footed booby seabirds take to the sky, a glorious sight, and Wegmann rejoices — this is the reward of a rewilded atoll.
Collapse and Recovery
Wegmann came to Palmyra in 2004 as a greenhorn botany PhD candidate with a mandate to understand why the island’s endemic trees, the Pisonia, were in decline. The trees are critical nesting habitat for native birds, and it was feared that their decline was also harming bird populations. For Wegmann, the atoll was simply a field site, a stepping-stone on a conservation scientist’s career path. But with time the island’s importance as a global case study crept into his soul, and he remains director of science for Palmyra at the Nature Conservancy.
After three years of tramping through the undergrowth and conducting rigorous and carefully deployed seedling trials, Wegmann saw the fuller picture. He realized that a trophic collapse far more complex than any envisioned by his PhD supervisor was underway on Palmyra, one that had started centuries before. In evolutionary timescales, it was like a freight train hitting a wall.
Waves of invasive species had carved out an existence on the atoll. It started with the Polynesian introduction of coconut trees, followed by waves of European settlers who tried their luck at cattle ranching and intensive coconut farming. These endeavours left early negative impacts that would soon be amplified.
The attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 resulted in a massive re-engineering of Palmyra’s structure. Coral reefs were dredged and desecrated to form runways as the American navy engineering corps created a strategic monitoring outpost on the islands, a first line of defense against imperial Japan. Precipitously, the Americans also introduced rats that stowed away on the supply ships.
The uninvited rats were bequeathed a paradise with abundant food to satisfy their voracious appetites, and their population exploded. They targeted seabird chicks and eggs, and the seabird populations began to fall. As their food sources shrank, the ever-adaptive rats learnt to attack almost any fresh biological source. In ecological terms it was a disaster. Meanwhile, the native Pisonia trees were in decline, as were the once numerous land crabs.
For Wegmann, it was an utterly frustrating and bewildering process to unravel. Dozens of trials of seedlings at different locations failed to illuminate why the forests were failing.
It was a revelation; the crabs were forest farmers tiling and sowing the seeds into the soil and being rewarded to do so — a remarkable example of symbiotic evolution.
One day in a reflective moment, Wegmann watched as land crabs idled through the forest floor. As expected, the crabs fed vigorously on the seeds, much like the rats. But an important difference caught Wegmann’s eye. As the crabs perambulated across the loose soil, their legs tended to bury as many seeds as they consumed. It was a revelation; the crabs were forest farmers tiling and sowing the seeds into the soil and being rewarded to do so — a remarkable example of symbiotic evolution.
Camera traps revealed that the rats would devour the entire seedbank and further still predate on the occasional seedling shoot that survived to germinate. The rats were eradicating the endemic forest because the natural seedbank no longer existed. It was rat-induced extirpation. The revelation was hard earned, and the fact that it secured Wegmann his PhD was of little consequence, with the island clearly in ecological free fall.
Eradicating the rats would require significant resources. Wegmann’s work pivoted to rewilding the island. He reached out to the world’s preeminent conversation organizations: Island Conservation, the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They responded, raising funds and resources and mobilizing biologists and technical specialists.
It takes four years of careful planning and four weeks of intensive ground execution to eradicate an island of rats.
As Gregg Howald of Island Conservation said, “It takes four years of careful planning and four weeks of intensive ground execution to eradicate an island of rats.” But a bespoke island specific plan was needed to ensure success, especially if native species were to be protected from unintended impacts of the poison bait.
Helicopters, barges, mechanics, pilots, biologists, medics and cooks — all descended upon the island for the intensive campaign. As the poison bait fell from the helicopters, the beginnings of a massive reversal in the island’s ecological collapse began. Four weeks later, not a single live rat could be found on camera or in a traditional trap. Six anxious months passed and still no detectable rat activity could be found. Finally, after a torturous year, the island was declared rat free.
Eight years later, Palmyra’s biodiversity has rebounded. Bird colonies of red-footed boobies and frigate birds abound. Terns are present in phenomenal numbers. The island is alive from dawn to dusk and is an absolute thrill to experience. Diving on the corals is wondrous, as the reefs teem with life. The healthy reefs nurture plentiful forage fish, which in turn enables the top predators to thrive. The surrounding waters are now home to manta ray — and I gasped when a pair of neon lemon sharks torpedoed past us in the sunlight.
In these moments I believe I felt the same sense of awe that must have enveloped Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace as they immersed themselves on remote islands not unlike Palmyra. It was a profound moment of awareness; one I feel privileged to have experienced. I will be forever thankful to Island Conservation for sending me to this place.
Misadventures
It’s day two and Dr. Nick Holmes, director of science for Island Conservation, rallies the team for a week of deploying song meters on the remote refuge islets of Palmyra. The instruments record bird song at a given sample rate every day. This assesses both the number of birds and species diversity post-rat eradication, along with helping determine population peaks and the island’s natural carrying capacity.
On the dock, as per protocol, we change into our frozen clothes, a delight in the humid 35-degree Celsius equatorial weather. It is quite the effort transferring all the equipment to the boats and changing clothes, including backpacks and camera bags, into frozen ones. By the time we boat out to the islets, over two hours has passed. Upon arrival we are dismayed to find a critical component of the song meters is broken. We must return. I balk at the time loss and convince the team I’ll be safe enough on my own to document the biodiversity with my camera. They leave me in paradise, and not three minutes after their departure, I’m in trouble.
As the boat leaves, I spot a pair of brown booby seabirds huddled on the overhanging limb of a coconut tree across the lagoon. I dump my gear on the shore and wade into the ocean with my camera and telephoto lenses, seeking the perfect photo composition. The tidal range on small remote islands is only a few feet, and as I traverse the low tide mark the footing becomes decidedly “suctionous” — but I stupidly push out to my perceived optimum spot anyway. Standing stationary and engrossed in taking the picture, I slowly become locked in the vacuum-powered mud. I’m soon horrified to find that I’m seriously stuck. Suddenly every movement has me pinned and threatens a fall into the water, camera and all.
I have no option but to wait for two hours or lose my camera, and I soon realize it’s not possible to last that long in the baking heat. Some foot-wriggles reveal that my waterproof sandals are the core problem - I have to ditch them, but I need them for the week (they’re my “protocol” shoes!). So, with some trepidation, I triangulate my position off three trees, slip my feet clear of my shoes and slowly crouch down into the water. As I become buoyant, I push my camera above my head and let my legs finally become free. Like a demented sea turtle, with my face mostly submerged, I waggle towards shore. Seriously out of breath, I get my camera to the beach. Ten minutes later, duck diving in the muck, I retrieve my shoes and wash up in the firm footing of the shallows.
Reflections and Revelations
Reflecting on my misadventure and drip-drying in the shade of a coconut tree, my thoughts wander to the rewilding of Palmyra. This is an extraordinary place – teeming with life it triggers thoughts and notions of evolutionary trajectories and the Hillis plot comes to mind. The plot is a visual representation of the genetic tree of life, constructed from the DNA of over 3,000 species and inspired by early designs of the 18th century.
Proposed by Professor David Hillis and his team at Texas University in 2003, the plot is constructed by turning speciation branches in a radial direction, with common ancestral trunks growing outward from the centre (Science, 2003, 300:1692-1697). The evolutionary tree evolves because the common or shared DNA is recorded like a tree trunk growing up, or in this case outward. When speciation occurs, like a tree branch that splits in two, the path takes a radial or circular path.
Figure 1 Historical Tree of Life Variants
Much like heritage trees of life depicted in Charles Darwin’s era, but with a profound clarity, the modern DNA tree is a powerful revelation. All species on Earth are related, and we all share common ancestral DNA. We are kin and cousin to all life on Earth. This revelation is a lived experience for many Indigenous Peoples, for their cultures embrace and care for fauna as kin, something that science-based cultures have lost.
Figure 2 The Hillis Plot
The Hillis plot was created by David M. Hillis, Derrick Zwickl, and Robin Gutell, at the University of Texas. The tree is from an analysis of small subunit rRNA sequences sampled from about 3,000 species from throughout the Tree of Life. The species were chosen based on their availability, but the major groups, were sampled very roughly in proportion to the number of known species in each. The number of species represented is approximately the square-root of the number of species thought to exist on Earth (i.e., three thousand out of an estimated nine million species), or about 0.18% of the 1.7 million species that have been formally described and named.
Life on Earth is always changing — sudden planetary scale extinction events have occurred, eliminating many higher order life forms. Yet biodiversity becomes re-established over millions of years. However, the re-established lifeforms are often new flora and fauna that are previously unknown.
It strikes me that embedded within the Hillis plot is the notion that evolutionary trajectories are not hardwired and encoded. Rather, natural ecosystems, when provisioned with resources will expand and adapt the range of flora and fauna to maximise the biological utility of the available resources.
And it’s fundamentally encoded into the process of evolution — the outer layer of the Hillis plot for different eras and eons would look quite different, but the core ancestral DNA foundation would remain.
That’s if and only if, we do not eliminate whole groups of taxa or unique deep genetic lineages. The tree could be redrawn as if nothing was lost, but the hundreds of millions of years of evolution that are taken out with deep-branch extinctions are never gained back. Even if new species emerge, the tree of life only adds short branches at the tips. Gone is the rich accumulation of genetic adaptations across deep time. It is this lineage that provides the foundations of our very existence — the global ecosystem, a collection of fully integrated symbiotic flora and fauna.
Looking at Palmyra and remote islands in general, the variation in speciation is different from that of the continents, despite common ancestors. Indeed, this is the clue that Darwin and Wallace observed, and which triggered their insights. The fossil record also reveals that significantly different evolutionary pathways have also developed at continent scale after each mass extinction event. Evidence that evolutionary pathways are not specifically encoded.
Each recovery has yielded a different range and type of flora and fauna. The observation is important because it allows us to imagine an escape from the depth of the ongoing anthropogenic mass extinction that we are currently witnessing. Blinded by the pursuit of economic growth to the impacts of our existence upon natural security (or ecosystem services provisioned by a biodiverse planet), we are the architects of the current extinction era. However, we have not escaped our dependency on the world’s ecosystems for food, water and clean air. This is weaved into the Hillis plot, for all life on Earth has symbiotically evolved. Without a viable natural world, our existence is threatened by our own actions.
Reflection on the Hillis plot allows the imagination to consider an Accretocene, an era of rapid biological productivity catalyzed by humanity.
The Hillis plot can also be regarded as a measure of biodiversity or ecosystem health. Systems that are productive will exhibit a full spectrum of species as a full outer ring. Compromised ecosystems may have missing outer leaves, branches and sections. The damaged ecosystem may be impaired due to pollution, climate change, habitat loss or even the introduction of an invasive species such as rats.
Reflection on the Hillis plot allows the imagination to consider an Accretocene, an era of rapid biological productivity catalyzed by humanity. This is in opposition to the current destructive Anthropocene. The creation of the right conditions allows for nature to rewild impaired and impacted regions. Rewilding is important language, not to be confused with repair or restore.
Palmyra demonstrates that by creating conditions for bio-productivity to thrive, ecosystems rapidly generate (not regenerate). They may or may not resemble a facsimile of what was once. This is an important distinction, and it allows us to imagine the possibility of rewilding on a global scale. Figure 3 attempts to capture this rewilding Accretocene vision. We just need to create the conditions for natural processes to exploit. The diagram has a nonlinear timeline displaying a short destructive Anthropocene followed by an enduring multi-eon timescale in which a biodiverse world is rebuilt. This is fundamentally the work of Island Conservation — a wild, beautiful aspiring endeavour that provides a truly hopefully and scalable vision for the planet.
Figure 3 Evolutionary Trajectories
The ideas are expanded in Figure 4 to demonstrate multiple pathways. Three emerge. The first is a rapid response rewild intervention trajectory catalyzed by humans, preventing deep genetic lineages from being lost. While extinctions cannot be reversed, the world’s biodiversity is still sufficiently broad that the existing ecosystem function would be retained. The second trajectory illustrates the slow multi-million-year response when deep loss of biodiversity occurs. When deep genetic lineages are lost, the range of biodiversity and by extension the resiliency of ecosystems is contracted. Building new and different flora and fauna occurs at a much slower pace defined by evolution and adaption. This consideration demands for global adoption of conserve and repair polices to be introduced. The third deep extinction trajectory envisions an almost complete loss of life, requiring billions of millennia for a biodiverse world to return, if indeed possible.
Figure 4 Variant Trajectories
On Palmyra, the rats liquidated biodiversity. But the eradication project allowed it to rebound. However, the original Pisonia trees are still pressured because of the invasive coconut tree, which grows significantly faster, closes the canopy, and out competes the native trees for sunlight. Understanding this core ecosystem characteristic allows Wegmann and the team to envision a future in which these forests can be recovered by careful removal of coconut groves and replanting of native trees.
Indeed, this is the next phase of Island Conservation’s work, to be carefully considered and orchestrated. For example, birds currently nest and thrive in the native forests, but they’ve adapted to find their nests and chicks by navigating from the open ocean along defined flight paths marked by physical features and characteristics — often coconut trees. The rapid removal of coconut trees to allow native forests to be replanted might harm the bird populations by preventing them from returning to their nests. Thus, careful and respectful manicuring will be required.
Rewilding is often critiqued as a notion of playing God with an ecosystem, as a species we already do — just very badly. The lessons of Palmyra extend to the whole planet. We could play much better. Island Conservation is a global leader in this endeavour. Enabling an Accretocene is a simple global human choice.
Definition of Anthropocene The period during which human activities have had an environmental impact on the Earth regarded as constituting a distinct geological age. Definition of Accretocene The period during which proposed human activities catalyze rewilding and biodiversity growth on the Earth regarded as constituting a distinct geological age.
My Hope
The team returns to the islet. Holmes, the science director, looks quizzically at my mud-streaked salt encrusted face, while Wegmann quips “not too smart sitting underneath coconut trees — they tend to drop coconuts on your head.”
“That’s only a half of it,” I retort. A few minutes later they’re all laughing as I regale them with the details of my last few hours.
It’s been 10 years since the rats were removed from Palmyra. The atoll’s bird population is exploding, seedlings are thriving — and the once diminished forest is rebounding. The islands are feeding the surrounding reefs. My hope for the next decade is that the work of Island Conservation and its partners is globally recognized, supported and embraced.


nationalobserver--2020-04-30--B.C. says firms can chop down whole trees for pellet fuel if they are ‘inferior’

Companies can cut down whole trees to be ground into pellets for fuel if they are “ inferior , ” says British Columbia ’ s natural resources ministry , a position that has led to concerns the government is `` rebranding '' old growth forests as low-quality in order to justify logging them .
B.C.
’ s Ministry of Forests , Lands , Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development told National Observer on April 27 that “ timber harvesting has evolved over time ” and that the industry is now focusing on sending “ high-quality ” lumber to sawmills .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , can get sent to plants that manufacture wood pellets , a type of biomass fuel that is burned for heating or electricity and is made by compacting together wood material .
“ Inferior logs that are not suitable for manufacturing because they are aged , or charred from wildfire , get directed to other facilities , such as pellet mills , ” confirmed a spokesperson with the ministry .
But that ’ s a disturbing change from how the provincial government has portrayed the wood pellet industry in the past , argued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community group Conservation North , and Tegan Hansen , forest campaigner for the non-profit environmental organization Stand.earth .
• Long-term care homes were in crisis well before politicians woke up to the problem • Ontario has a COVID-19 reopening plan , but it comes with big caveats They say that in past communications , the B.C .
government has talked more about using “ waste ” wood or “ residuals ” from logging or sawmills , like dead timber , tree branches or sawdust , to manufacture pellets , a growing industry in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a year .
Ravi Kahlon , parliamentary secretary for B.C .
's Ministry of Forests , Lands , Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development , appears in a grey coat in front of a Pacific BioEnergy plant in Prince George on Nov. 13 , 2019 .
B.C .
Government Photo Last October , B.C .
Premier John Horgan touted a lucrative Japanese export contract for Vancouver-based Pinnacle Renewable Energy , the third-largest global supplier of industrial wood pellets , by saying the company was “ transforming wood waste into industrial pellets to provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A month later , Ravi Kahlon , parliamentary secretary for the natural resources ministry , announced $ 27 million in grants at a Prince George facility owned by another wood pellet producer , Pacific BioEnergy , to “ help increase the use of wood fibre.
” The government said it would ensure “ more wood waste will be turned into electricity , heat energy and pulp products to help achieve B.C.
’ s and Canada ’ s climate change targets.
” B.C .
says companies can cut down whole trees for pellet fuel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leading to concerns the government is `` rebranding '' old growth forests as low-quality in order to justify logging them : Connolly and Hansen said the government ’ s position on wood pellets suggests it is straying from using areas that have been logged in the past to so-called primary or old growth forests , where ecological processes have not been disturbed .
They say B.C .
holds some of the most carbon-rich forests in the world , but they are in danger of being overexploited .
“ The B.C .
government appears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forests as ‘ waste , ’ ‘ inferior ’ or ‘ low-quality ’ in order to justify allowing companies to level them and grind them into pellets , ” said Connolly .
“ Keeping natural forests intact , in particular old forests , is actually one of our best hopes for addressing climate change .
Exploiting forests for bioenergy will make climate change worse , not better.
” Hansen agreed : “ it seems like the province is calling ecologically rich , primary forests ‘ inferior ’ in order to justify logging them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” she said .
“ From what I 've seen , the province 's communications are potentially misleading the public about the sector 's impacts on forests and the climate.
” Environmental groups have long pointed to evidence that untouched forest , not just waste wood , is being cut down to feed the global pellet industry , and that ecologically important primary forests do not represent a renewable resource since they take a long time to regrow , while pellets release carbon pollution into the atmosphere instantly when burned .
B.C.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ mills take a “ diverse array of wood stock ” that also includes fibre from farms and residential gardens .
The ministry also said the wood pellet industry helps “ reduce the amount of slash pile burning , ” a controversial practice where tree branches and other logging debris are piled up and burned .
“ Full use of fibre provides for an integrated and diverse sector to maximize a log ’ s value , ” the spokesperson wrote .
“ Growing the next generation of forests is key to meeting the province @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commitments .
Much of the land that is targeted to be reforested is the land impacted by bark beetles and wildfire.
” But Conservation North and Stand.earth released a report April 23 that said companies are clear-cutting in the B.C .
Interior “ under the pretence of harvesting insect-infested trees ” and pellet plants have obtained wood harvest due to “ apparent spruce beetle infestation ” despite a 2019 investigation turning up little evidence of a beetle attack .
It also says burning wood pellets for power generation is worse than coal at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the two wood pellet companies highlighted by Horgan and Kahlon , Pacific BioEnergy and Pinnacle Renewable Energy , as using whole trees in their pellet production .
It includes photographic evidence of a logging truck entering the Pacific BioEnergy facility with “ large , old trees , ” as well as recent satellite imagery showing large piles of logs at that facility and another run by Pinnacle Renewable Energy .
National Observer asked questions to Pacific BioEnergy and Pinnacle Renewable Energy on April 22 , April 23 and April 29 as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Association of Canada , on April 29 and did not receive a response before publication .

Companies can cut down whole trees to be ground into pellets for fuel if they are “inferior,” says British Columbia’s natural resources ministry, a position that has led to concerns the government is "rebranding" old growth forests as low-quality in order to justify logging them. B.C.’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development told National Observer on April 27 that “timber harvesting has evolved over time” and that the industry is now focusing on sending “high-quality” lumber to sawmills. Other whole trees, the ministry said, can get sent to plants that manufacture wood pellets, a type of biomass fuel that is burned for heating or electricity and is made by compacting together wood material. “Inferior logs that are not suitable for manufacturing because they are aged, or charred from wildfire, get directed to other facilities, such as pellet mills,” confirmed a spokesperson with the ministry. But that’s a disturbing change from how the provincial government has portrayed the wood pellet industry in the past, argued Michelle Connolly, director of the volunteer-run community group Conservation North, and Tegan Hansen, forest campaigner for the non-profit environmental organization Stand.earth.
They say that in past communications, the B.C. government has talked more about using “waste” wood or “residuals” from logging or sawmills, like dead timber, tree branches or sawdust, to manufacture pellets, a growing industry in Canada that exports over three million tonnes a year. Ravi Kahlon, parliamentary secretary for B.C.'s Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, appears in a grey coat in front of a Pacific BioEnergy plant in Prince George on Nov. 13, 2019. B.C. Government Photo
From 'wood waste' to primary forests Last October, B.C. Premier John Horgan touted a lucrative Japanese export contract for Vancouver-based Pinnacle Renewable Energy, the third-largest global supplier of industrial wood pellets, by saying the company was “transforming wood waste into industrial pellets to provide Japan with clean, renewable electricity.” B.C. says companies can cut down whole trees for pellet fuel if they are “inferior,” leading to concerns the government is "rebranding" old growth forests as low-quality in order to justify logging them: A month later, Ravi Kahlon, parliamentary secretary for the natural resources ministry, announced $27 million in grants at a Prince George facility owned by another wood pellet producer, Pacific BioEnergy, to “help increase the use of wood fibre.” The government said it would ensure “more wood waste will be turned into electricity, heat energy and pulp products to help achieve B.C.’s and Canada’s climate change targets.” Connolly and Hansen said the government’s position on wood pellets suggests it is straying from using areas that have been logged in the past to so-called primary or old growth forests, where ecological processes have not been disturbed. They say B.C. holds some of the most carbon-rich forests in the world, but they are in danger of being overexploited. “The B.C. government appears to be rebranding primary and old growth forests as ‘waste,’ ‘inferior’ or ‘low-quality’ in order to justify allowing companies to level them and grind them into pellets,” said Connolly.
“Keeping natural forests intact, in particular old forests, is actually one of our best hopes for addressing climate change. Exploiting forests for bioenergy will make climate change worse, not better.” Hansen agreed: “it seems like the province is calling ecologically rich, primary forests ‘inferior’ in order to justify logging them for pellets. That is deeply concerning,” she said. “From what I've seen, the province's communications are potentially misleading the public about the sector's impacts on forests and the climate.”