When the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) tries to detect violations of BC’s forest laws, do they put their efforts into detecting violations by large logging companies or small-scale operators? It turns out that small-scale operators and individuals get over half of the attention of government inspectors,
Environmental Law Alert Blog
Through our Environmental Law Alert blog, West Coast keeps you up to date on the latest developments and issues in environmental law. This includes:
- proposed changes to the law that will weaken, or strengthen, environmental protection;
- stories and situations where existing environmental laws are failing to protect the environment; and
- emerging legal strategies that could be used to protect our environment.
If you have an environmental story that we should hear about, please e-mail Andrew Gage. We welcome your comments on any of the posts to this blog – but please keep in mind our policies on comments.
Through that contested landscape runs the Peace River, which drains east from the Rocky Mountains into the Slave River, a tributary to the Mackenzie. Thanks to the sunny southwest aspect of its slopes and long northern summer days, the valley the Peace River cuts contains a unique microclimate that makes it the only lands north of Quesnel capable of producing the widest range of food crops possible in BC, including fruit and vegetables.
[Update, 23 January 2014 - We have just posted further analysis of this data, examining the extent to which the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has shifted compliance an
The BC government yesterday released the names of 18 businesses and 155 individuals who have not paid court fines for environmental offences committed between 2004 and 2012. (
If a disaster strikes in the forest, the question is not does it make a sound, but does the government have a legal duty to tell someone?
The following is an opinion piece written by West Coast Environmental Law staff lawyer, Anna Johnston, which was published on November 11th in the Hill Times. It is reprinted he
The current public consultation on a new BC Water Sustainability Act (until November 15th) represents a perfect opportunity to ask: who should benefit from BC’s water? Because right now the proposed Water Sustainability Act focuses on ensuring that private benefit
About one out of every four British Columbians relies on wells for drinking water. Groundwater is also essential to BC’s agricultural sector and is critical for habitat for
Imagine a lake, stream or river that you love. Or perhaps rely upon for your drinking water or livelihood. That’s what the current government consultations on a new Water Sustainability Act are about – that, and is the government doing enough to protect our lakes, streams and wetlands. It may seem like BC has an abundance
British Columbians have been waiting for a new Water Act (our current one is 104 years old and has its problems), and now that wait may be finally coming to an end with t