The Valhalla Wilderness Society was founded in 1975, in the small village of New Denver, British Columbia, Canada. It started as a group of local residents who wanted to save the forested slopes of the Valhalla Range in southeastern B.C. from logging. After an intensive eight-year campaign, Valhalla Provincial Park was won.

The Registered Charity became involved in other provincial, national, and international environmental projects. It spearheaded protection of the Khutzeymateen Valley (Canada's first sanctuary for grizzly bears) and Goat Range Provincial Park. Eighteen years ago the Society initiated the campaign to preserve a sanctuary for the white Spirit Bears of Princess Royal Island. This work has made the Spirit Bear and its need for a sanctuary renowned all over the world. In February 2006, the B.C. government and First Nations agreed to protect a large spirit bear sanctuary. Valhalla has spearheaded campaigns that now protect over 1.25 million acres. The Society also played a key role in the creation of South Moresby National Park Reserve.

Over the years its Board of Directors and Staff have included a diverse mixture of scientific expertise, political strategists, public spokespersons and literary/artistic talent. Colleen McCrory, who was one of VWS's chief activists and its longtime Chairperson, passed away suddenly in July of 2007. Supported by intense team effort, she had received the following awards:

• Goldman Environmental Prize (top international award)
• Governor General of Canada’s Conservation Award
• United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honour
• Equinox Citation for Environmental Achievement
• IUCN Fred M. Packard International Parks Merit Award
• Vancouver Island Human Rights Coalition Citation for Outstanding
  Contributions to Protection of the Environment

VWS continues to be one of the province's leading voices for wilderness and wildlife preservation. We invite you to find out more about the Valhalla Wilderness Society’s work, and how you can make a difference.

For Cell Phone Hazard reports, please scroll down

Recent Issues:

Commercial Mountain Biking Application Raises Serious Concerns among Slocan Valley Recreationists

The Integrated Land Management Bureau (ILMB) is now considering an application by Rilor Wilderness Mountain Biking (RW) for a commercial mountain biking tenure in the Slocan Valley, around Mt. Idaho and near Nelson.

The Valhalla Wilderness Society (VWS) directors believe that low-impact commercial mountain biking on backroads (not in parks) is the kind of tourism business our valley needs. However, every kind of recreation, even hiking, can be very destructive if it isn't carefully limited.

The Slocan communities have built up and maintained a precious resource of trails in this area over many years. The Rilor application could, under some conditions, impact the user experience, the trails themselves, alpine terrain and wildlife very negatively.

To view the final comments from the Valhalla Wilderness Society, for information that can be used to help write letters:

Download VWS Final Submission on Rilor Application

Download the Information Bulletin

VALHALLA COMMITTEE
For Environmental Health
Committee Chair: Richard Caniell

Cellular Phones and their Transmission Towers: Radio Frequency Radiation (RFR)

Disqualifying Flaws in the Interphone Report
Important documentation and links about the inadequacies and flaws of the Interphone Report

Cell Phone Transmission Towers and Ill Health Effects
Compilation of medical and scientific studies – media reports.

Conflict of Interest in Health Canada
Examples of Heath Canada relying on Industry-funded scientists and experts for policy decisions (regarding transmission towers). A 15 page excerpt from document sent to the Auditor General of Canada. Petitioners: Sharon and Dennis Noble, Victoria, British Columbia

Reports - Letters - Fact Sheets

Electro-Magnetic Radiation - a Toxin?
Medical Practitioner's Information Package - Scientific reports and resolutions compiled by Penelope Bonnett, New Denver.

Children and wireless technology
Scientific reports, official resolutions, and media articles about the especially hazardous effects of EMR on children. Compiled by Penelope Bonnett, New Denver

Open Letter to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell on the Killing of Wolves and Cougars to Save Mountain Caribou

Sixteen environmental organizations have signed a letter to Premier Campbell listing the reasons for their strong opposition to the killing of large carnivores (wolves, cougars, bears, wolverines) as a means to save the mountain caribou. Wolves and cougars are currently being trapped and shot as part of the Mountain Caribou Recovery Plan. The government has proposed to escalate the elimination of wolves by shooting them from helicopters.

Download the open letter (May 3, 2010) to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell

Update on Wolf Kill Situation in Mountain Caribou Range

The BC government has apparently received a large volume of letters in opposition to killing wolves to save caribou, and has recognized the overwhelming public opposition in the press. An article in the Vancouver Sun by Larry Pynn (“We’re a never kill wolf province, public says,” March 18, 2010) summarized the current situation:

“The public has rejected the idea of an aerial wolf kill in B.C. to benefit threatened mountain caribou, even before the first gun has been loaded.

“But whether the B.C. government listens to the public, or to the scientists who say the kill is vital for caribou recovery, remains to be seen.

“Chris Ritchie, manager of species at risk recovery for the ministry of environment, said Wednesday the response has been overwhelmingly negative since the proposed aerial wolf kill became widely known in February.”

Thanks to the many letter writers, the BC Ministry of Environment has sent several kinds of reply letters to people who sent in their comments. The Valhalla Wilderness Society has sent a detailed rebuttal to the Premier and the Ministry of Environment.

Download the VWS letter (April 21, 2010) to the BC government

WOLF SLAUGHTER FROM HELICOPTERS
COULD BEGIN SOON IN BC'S
INTERIOR WETBELT

Sources wishing to remain anonymous have told the Valhalla Wilderness Society (VWS) that the provincial government will make a decision very soon on whether to begin slaughtering wolves from helicopters. The use of helicopters is an escalation of the wide-spread slaughter of wolves and cougars that has been happening over the last three years under the excuse of saving mountain caribou. Prey species that attract wolves are also being targeted for increased killing, especially moose. One knowledgeable source told VWS that hunters are now allowed to shoot cows and calves. Cougars are being eliminated in some areas.

See Action Alert

See Press Release

Download the Ministry of Environment Report

VWS Review of Shoreline Management Guidelines for Slocan Lake

The draft guidelines presented by the Slocan Lake Stewardship Society at a public meeting on January 31 would classify 94% of the shoreline of Slocan Lake for development such as docks and marinas. Here you can download the Society's nine-page review of the guidelines.

Download the review

The Farce of Environmental Assessment

Many members of the public are fooled into believing that development will not harm the environment if it has a formal review under the BC or federal Environment Assessment Acts. A VWS director tells why this is not so in an article published by the Watershed Sentinel.

Watershed Sentinel article

SPECIAL ALERT

Please go to the link below and sign the petition against hunting bears in British Columbia.

The spring bear hunt begins on April 1st and we need everyone to register their objection to the legal killing of these beautiful animals for sport (pleasure).

Bears are already under tremendous pressures. Let's push for an end to this barbaric practice.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/trophyhunt

NDP MLAs "OVERWHELMED" BY ANCIENT FOREST OF THE UPPER INCOMAPPLEUX VALLEY – CALL FOR PROTECTION

Two NDP MLAs, Michael Sather and Guy Gentner, are calling upon the provincial government to take the initiative to protect BC's rarest inland temperate rainforests. They are making the call after a tour of the Incomappleux River valley in southeastern BC hosted by the Valhalla Wilderness Society.

See press release

Top: Incomapleux forest, lush forest undergrowth. Photo by Alan Watson

Bottom: VWS director Craig Pettitt (left) with Michael Sather, NDP Deputy Environment critic
Photo by Anne Sherrod

June 30 deadline for public comment on the Morkill Falls IPP

The Morkill River is near Prince George. It is the site of the proposed Walker Wilderness, one of the most important areas for wildlife in the whole BC Interior Wetbelt. Now Robson Valley Power Corporation wants to dam and divert the river, destroy a beautiful and ecoogically important waterfalls, and log rare old-growth inland temperate rainforest - all to make a fortune selling electricity to BC Hydro. At stake: imperilled Chinook salmon and bull trout, endangered mountain caribou, blue-listed grizzly bear and many species of old-growth lichens associated with inland temperate rainforest. Please write a letter to the Integrated Land Management Bureau. You can find the address and the key issues in VWS's submission to government.

Download the submission

VALHALLA MILE ADDED TO VALHALLA PROVINCIAL PARK

Success! The Valhalla Foundation for Ecology and Social Justice, The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC) and BC Parks joined forces to raise $1.5 million to purchase a 155-acre parcel of private land along Slocan Lake, surrounded by Valhalla Park. The land was threatened with development for a resort or private summer homes. Thanks to a huge outpouring of public support and donations from across Canada and internationally, the Valhalla Mile was successfully purchased and transferred to BC Parks in April of 2009, to become part of Valhalla Provincial Park. Celebration events are planned in Silverton, BC, on July 1. Click below for more information.

About the Valhalla Mile

Invitation and details on main celebration event on July 1

Poster on evening dance celebration on July 1

(All celebration events are privately funded.)

Mock Ecosystem-Based Management Plan will Mask Logging Devastation of Great Bear Rainforest.

Recent helicopter high-grading of ancient cedar on the BC South coast. This is destroying critical den habitat for black bears and grizzly bears that hibernate in the hollows of large, old trees. Many centuries old trees are cut down and left in slash piles to burn. The clearcut , approved next to a natural landslide on steep, unstable slopes, caused another landslide out of the clearcut that ran down the mountainside into the salmon river below.

Government agencies that approved this logging on unstable mountain sides in bear denning habitat do not monitor the landslides or prosecute the company for silting up a salmon river.

Without drastic changes, the new proposed Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Logging for the coast will allow the continuation of this type of logging and destruction of bear denning and other critical wildlife old-growth habitats.

See press release

Download the entire VWS submission to government

BC Government's Misleading Claims about Environmental Groups

The BC government has been avoiding the public demand for a halt to logging old growth forest by attacking the environmental organizations bringing the message, and by promoting groups that support government programs that will lead to extensive old-growth logging.

See press release

See Letter to Pat Bell

BC GOVERNMENT'S
WOLF SLAUGHTER PROGRAM

Shocking articles in the Vancouver Sun and Globe and Mail reveal government programs that have been killing wild horses and using the carcasses to trap wolves with snares and leghold traps. Wolves have been exterminated afterwards, all in the name of predator control to protect mountain caribou.

The Valhalla Wilderness Society strongly urges the BC government to stop the slaughter programs immediately with a 10-page submission based on extensive research. Submission uncovers failure of BC government to meaningfully protect mountain caribou and the fallacy of predator control as an effectively option.

Submission to BC Government

FIFTY-ONE SCIENTISTS URGE FULL PROTECTION OF OLD-GROWTH FOREST TO SAVE MOUNTAIN CARIBOU

Fifty-one biologists and botanists have signed a petition urging British Columbia and Canada to fully protect old-growth forest across the range of the endangered mountain caribou.

Fifty-one Scientists' Petition to Government

The Urgent Need to Protect BC's Ancient
INLAND TEMPERATE RAINFOREST

A Valhalla Wilderness Society
Conservation Report

See 8-page colour tabloid

VALHALLA WILDERNESS SOCIETY OPPOSES ROCKY MTN. ADVENTURES APPLICATION FOR HUNTING CABINS IN CARIBOU HABITAT

The Valhalla Wilderness Society, composed of hundreds of members throughout the province, is strongly opposed to the application of Rocky Mountain Adventures for three hunting camps along the Morkill River. There should be NO cabins along the river. Our concerns include:

See letter to Integrated Land Management Bureau

CENTRAL SELKIRK MOUNTAIN CARIBOU ASSIGNED CLEARCUTS WHILE INDUSTRY LOGS THE OLD-GROWTH

Very little is left of the old-growth forest habitat of the Central Selkirk Mountain Caribou. If logging of it continues, this important herd will disappear forever.

See Backgrounder.

UPDATE ON IMPLEMENTATION
OF BC MOUNTAIN CARIBOU RECOVERY PLAN

On October 16, 2007 the BC Government announced its new plan to save the mountain caribou. The Valhalla Wilderness Society was not part of this agreement, had nothing to do with setting its terms, and is strongly opposed to it. An implementation process was set up to determine how the new habitat protection will be distributed. It is now being carried out by five Habitat Teams in eight planning units. VWS has been added to the consultation list. Our aim is to monitor and provide input on location of the new protected habitat. By participating in this way, VWS in no way means to lend our support to the overall plan.

Full Update (6 pages .pdf)

Planning Participants Must Sign Confidentiality Agreement to Obtain Copy of Final Implementation Plan for Saving Mountain Caribou

The public process on a recovery plan for the endangered mountain caribou isn’t public anymore. The BC government is forcing people to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to obtain a copy of the final draft implementation plan.

Press Release

Valhalla Wilderness Society’s submission to SARCO

FORTY-TWO SCIENTISTS URGE FULL PROTECTION OF
OLD-GROWTH FOREST TO SAVE MOUNTAIN CARIBOU

Forty-two biologists and botanists have signed a petition urging British Columbia and Canada to fully protect old-growth forest across the range of the endangered mountain caribou.

Press Release
Petition

Valhalla Wilderness Society Proposes a New Park
to Protect Old-Growth Forest in the
Central Selkirk Mountains.

The last remaining habitat for a herd of 100 endangered mountain caribou in the Central Selkirk Mountains is open for continued logging in the coming year. Although the provincial and federal governments are conducting a recovery process for the mountain caribou, they have done nothing to prevent another year of destruction that will take the animals’ life support out from under them. Finally, the Valhalla Wilderness Society has proposed the Selkirk Mountain Caribou Park, as well as Recovery Areas for the rehabilitation of habitat that has already been clearcut.

Download the press release
Download the Fact Sheet
See photographs and maps

Scientists discover numerous species new to science in BC’s endangered Inland Temperate Rainforest

Researchers have recently discovered thirteen tree-dwelling lichen species previously unknown to science in British Columbia’s inland rainforest. They are currently studying about 40 more species that are potentially new to science. Most of them come from endangered, ancient cedar-hemlock forests. These discoveries mean that BC’s inland rainforest has one of the richest tree-dwelling lichen floras in the world. “Such rates of discovery of new species are basically unparalleled in northern conifer forests,” says botanist Toby Spribille. “We are definitely looking at a major center of lichen diversity at a global level that we haven’t even begun to fathom or explain.”

View full presentation with photos

Download Press Release

Nineteen Environmental Groups Declare State of Emergency for B.C.’s Mountain Caribou

Nineteen environmental groups signed a joint submission (Nov/06) to the Species at Risk Coordination Office and have now declared a state of emergency. Mountain caribou populations are declining rapidly, the recovery process has almost run out of time, and the current draft Strategy is very far from what is needed to save the mountain caribou.

See Joint Caribou Submission (Download .pdf 28k)

Crisis for Wildlife of Southeastern BC

The BC government released a report by its Mountain Caribou Science Team containing recommendations that could lead to shocking consequences. Options are presented that are based primarily upon increased killing of the predators and competitor species of the mountain caribou, with little or no new protection of habitat.

VWS bulletin on Mountain Caribou Science Team report (696k .pdf)

Large Carnivore Conservation by the Valhalla Wilderness Society (712k .pdf)

ONGOING ISSUES

Jumbo Wild Update

Submitted by Rowena Eloise, Argenta, for the West Kootenay Coalition for Jumbo Wild.

Jumbo Update Autumn (PDF)
Jumbo Wild Forever (PDF)

Jumbo Regional Recreation Area being considered
by the Regional District of Central Kootenay

The West Kootenay Coalition for Jumbo Wild presented a proposal to the RDCK to create a Jumbo Regional Recreation Area, which would protect important wildlife values while assuring continued local use for that portion of the Jumbo wilderness that falls within RDCK  (area D) boundaries.

See full press release

See VWS proposal to RDCK

Great  News - Spirit Bear Conservancy Protected!!

In a Feb. 7, 2006 announcement, the Province and First Nations agreed to significantly increase protection on the B.C. north and central coast. This is very good news. This includes tripling the size of the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary and creating a new Spirit Bear Conservancy Complex. These are two of the protection initiatives that the Valhalla Wilderness Society (VWS) has spearheaded for nearly 20 years.

Full Press release by

Valhalla Wilderness Society

Park Planning Processes:

Valhalla Provincial Park

The public input phase of the Valhalla Park Master Plan Process ended in the winter of 2005. Only after the process ended did the public learn that three areas in the park had been identified as potential candidates for luxury lodges in the BC Parks Lodge Strategy. (See BC Parks Lodge Strategy documents (PDFs) under Provincial Parks in Peril, below.) BC Parks just released the “Summary of Public Input.” The government committed to strengthen the draft plan to protect against adverse effects due to lodges.

VWS submission on the Draft Plan Feb 22, 2005 (100k)

VWS submission on the Summary of Public Input (To be posted soon)

Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park

Mt. Assiniboine currently has a lodge within the park. It has been identified for a new lodge in the PARKS LODGE STRATEGY. (See BC Parks Lodge Strategy documents (PDFs) under Provincial Parks in Peril, below.) A new Master Plan process is starting now and ending March 31, 2006. Suggestions for issues for discussion due by November 30, 2005. Key stakeholders workshop on January 7th, 2006 in Radium (location to be determined).   Public Open House in Radium on February 15th.

Declaration on the Principles of Parks

Signed by 85 Canadian and US Environmental Groups – Sign your organization or business up now.

At the turn of the previous century, amidst the rapid development of land, trapping and shooting of wildlife and cutting down of forests, there emerged a vision of preserving large areas of wildlands in their natural condition, with little or no modification by humans. This declaration concerns all such wildland protected areas, which are referred to herein as "parks" or "protected areas."

Download Press release pdf (60k)

See the Declaration

Inland Rainforest/Mountain Caribou Information Bulletin

The world’s only Inland Temperate Rainforest and the world’s only mountain caribou are found in southeastern BC. This rare ancient rainforest is disappearing because of clearcut logging, and the old-growth dependent mountain caribou are on the brink of extinction…

Information Bulletin #46

The Incomparable Incomappleux

A botanical perspective on the antique inland rainforest of the Incomappleux River Valley. Reprinted from Menziesia magazine by permission of the BC Native Plants Society. Page design by Rene McKnight.

The Incomparable Incomappleux (1.1 MB)

Reports on botanical surveys by botanist Toby Spribille:
All you ever wanted to know about Lichens (148k)
Oceanic Macrolichens in the Incomappleux River Valley 2002 (180k)
Botanical surveys in the Incomappleux River 2004 (148)
Lichen Survey of the Upper Duncan River Area 2004 (120k)
List of Plants of the Incomappleux Rain Forest (52k)

Analysis of forest development plans for the Incomappleux (To be posted soon)

Inland Rainforest Fact Sheet
While B.C.s coastal rainforest is world-renowned for its splendour and diversity, its interior counterpart, the rare Inland Temperate Rainforest, remains relatively unknown, and is quickly disappearing.
    ITR Fact Sheet PDF (732k)

Inland Rainforest Conservation Design
Dr. Lance Craighead, of the Craighead Environmental Research Institute, has undertaken a massive analysis of wildlife habitat in the Inland Rainforest Region.
    ITR Conservation Design High Res PDF (33 MB)
    ITR Conservation Design Low Res PDF (5 MB)

VWS Inland Rainforest Report
The Need to Rescue the Rare Biological Legacies of Canada's Only Inland Rainforest, 18-pages of photos, map samples and text.
    Inland Rainforest Report High Res PDF (39 MB)
    Inland Rainforest Report Low Res PDF (6 MB)

Other Campaigns:

Jumbo Disaster for the Kootenays
The Proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort Would Put A Town Two Thirds The Size Of Nelson. Download the PDF

Provincial Parks in Peril:
User fees. Commercialization. Private Control. Major changes are in the works to ensure that profit-making, not ecological integrity, is top priority in the management of our provincial parks.

BC Parks Lodge Strategy pages 1-38    (PDF 1.9 MB)

BC Parks Lodge Strategy pages 39-68  (PDF 3 MB)

BC Parks Lodge Strategy pages 69-93  (PDF 2.7 MB)

BC Parks Lodge Strategy pages 94-95  (PDF 1.4 MB)

Download A Park Defender’s Guide to Wildland and Interface Fire Issues.

Watersheds:
B.C.’s domestic-use watersheds continue to be targeted for logging and road-building, despite dangers to ecosystems, personal property, water supplies, and even human life.

The Spirit Bear Sanctuary Campaign:
On British Columbia’s mid-coast lives one of the most rare and beautiful bears in the world — the Kermode, or spirit bear. Found nowhere else on earth, these white-coloured black bears are at risk from logging and habitat fragmentation. A spirit bear sanctuary was announced in February 2006.

Boreal Forest:
Stretching in a continuous belt across northern Canada, the boreal forest plays a critical role in the global ecosystem. Threatened on all sides from logging, mining, oil and gas development and hydro-electric projects, the boreal forest is under siege.

Wildlife Conservation:
British Columbia’s wildlife heritage is rich and diverse, and increasingly under threat from habitat loss due to industrial development, and from poaching and inappropriate hunting. VWS is involved in cougar, grizzly, black bear, mountain caribou, and wild horse conservation initiatives.

Bear Viewing Programs:

British Columbia has a rich and diverse landscape that offers a diversity of bear and other wildlife viewing opportunities that are world-class. The Valhalla Wilderness Society supports responsible wildlife viewing, commercial and public.

Forest Watch:
The Forest Watch program uses on-the-ground research and data to document the damage and danger caused by poor logging practices around the province, and to push for industry accountability. Director Craig Pettitt is the coordinator of the VWS Forest Watch program.

Science and Reports:
Over the years, the Valhalla Wilderness Society has worked with professional biologists, hydrologists, geographers and other scientists to conduct specialized research and mapping projects across the province. Click here for a list of available reports.

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