Interior Lumber Manufacturers Associaton

June 17th 2007

Nelson, BC - The ILMA is carelessly spreading false information to local BC politicians about endangered mountain caribou the Mountain Caribou Project charged today.

“There’s a big difference between getting a few facts wrong and deliberately attempting to mislead local politicians about the issue of endangered mountain caribou,” said Candace Batycki of Forest Ethics. “The presentation that the ILMA has been making to local councils throughout the Interior looks like a con job.”

The Mountain Caribou Project today released a list of the myths that the ILMA has presented to local councils, along with the real facts. These fabrications include:

The ILMA stated that the plan from the BC Government’s Species at Risk Coordination Office calls for the closure of heli-ski, cat-ski and ski resorts. This is false.
The ILMA stated that climate change was not considered in the mountain caribou recovery plan. This is false.
The ILMA stated that Mountain Caribou went naturally extinct from the Queen Charlotte Islands in the 1930s. This is false.
The ILMA provided the following quote from the Forest Practices Board Special Report on Mountain Caribou:
“Experts predict continued declines, and expect that the most southerly populations in BC will likely disappear regardless of conservation efforts to date or in the future.”
The quote was falsely attributed to experts at the Forest Practices Board and does not represent the view of the FPB with respect to conservation efforts and the future of the southern herds.
The ILMA stated that there was “no support at all” by the Ktunaxa First Nation for augmentation of the southern herds with animals from larger herds. This is false.
The ILMA reported that recovering caribou at Kootenay Pass would come at the expense of other animals in the region. This is false.

“It appears that the denial industry is alive and well in British Columbia,” said John Bergenske from Wildsight. “Major oil companies give big bucks to obscure groups to try and muddy the waters on climate change. The ILMA is trying to do the exact same thing with the science on mountain caribou. The Mountain Caribou Science Panel was appointed by the provincial government. They’ve done good work. The science is clear and we need to act.”

The Mountain Caribou Project is urging the provincial government to accept the higher level recommendations of their own Science Panel to leave a legacy of self sustaining mountain caribou populations for future generations.

For more information please call:
John Bergenski, Executive Director, Wildsight – 250-422-3566
Rob Duncan, Forestry Specialist, Sierra Club of Canada, BC – 250-386-5255
Joe Scott, Conservation Northwest – 360-671-9950
Candace Batycki, BC Endangered Forests Program Director – 250-352-3830