The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
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High school fundraiser rakes in money
Tiny fish entering Fraser River now
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No access to lands without consent: Kinder Morgan Alina Konevski The Progress
The Fraser Valley Regional District has confirmed that although it voluntarily approved a corridor study for the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project in the Cheam Lake Wetlands Regional Park, FVRD has not taken an official position with respect to Kinder Morgan’s potential pipeline twinning. “The Board’s authorization to allow access onto the three parcels in question is not any indication of whether the Board endorses the project — that has yet to be determined,” wrote FVRD actingChief Administrative Officer Suzanne Gresham in an email. The board will have that discussion “in due course.” Kinder Morgan is surveying parts of the Cheam Lake Wetlands in preparation for their application to the National Energy Board. “The balance of Cheam Lake Regional Park is not being impacted by this proposed corridor study,” wrote Gresham. FVRD confirmed that the federal government “provides the authority for Kinder Morgan to access lands for purposes of undertaking survey work.” However, Kinder Morgan Canada has confirmed that it would prefer to obtain voluntary consent, and the company has not had to resort to using the NEB Act trump card. “Although the NEB Act provides the authority to access any land for our surveys, we have not used that authority, but instead our objective is to work cooperatively with land owners, locals governments, municipalities and stakeholders on all aspects of the project,” wrote Carey Johannesson for Kinder Morgan Canada in an email. The NEB Act, under Section 73, legislates that a private company may enter any Crown or private land “lying in the intended route of its pipeline, and make surveys, examinations or other necessary
Boxes help protect at-risk species of bats Jenna Hauck The Progress
A group of young naturalists are helping several species of bats after building special boxes for nursing female bats and their babies, known as pups. Of the 10 species of bats in the Fraser Valley, half of them are at risk of being endangered, and one, the little brown myotis (also known as the little brown bat), is federally listed as endangered due to a fatal fungal disease called white nose syndrome. The Eastern Fraser Valley Young Naturalists Club (EFVYNC), along with volunteer leader Cynthia Berg, are helping to save the small creatures — the only true flying
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Members of the Eastern Fraser Valley Young Naturalists Club search for worms and insects after the installation of three bat boxes on Saturday morning. One of the black boxes is seen here atop a decommissioned hydro pole. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
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mammal in the world. Coincidentally, the local initiative to help save our bats comes at the same time as a federal one. With an announcement Friday from the federal government stating that Environment Canada is giving $330,000 in funding over the next four years to a wildlife health centre in Saskatchewan to study and monitor white nose syndrome, Berg says “we are really on the right track here.” The funding comes in addition to an initial $50,000 awarded earlier this year to the same centre, the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. “We take our role in protecting and conserving species in
Canada very seriously,” said environment minister Peter Kent in a press release. “By providing for national coordination of Canada’s response to the disease, we will be able to maximize the contributions of our provincial, territorial and private sector partners, as well as ensure consistency in our approach.” “I think it’s great that we are on top of this and that there will be some funding. It’s absolutely fabulous,” says Berg. White nose syndrome is quickly spreading to Canada and killing hibernating bats. The disease stays dormant in bats during warmer months, and when the temperature drops while hibernating, the fungus grows. The disease causes infected bats
to rouse frequently and early during hibernation and they essentially starve since they cannot find their diet of insects during the cold winter months. After building seven bat boxes in February — making sure the screws were well-tightened, the sides all lined up, and the edges sealed — the kids with EFVYNC finally got to see their little bat houses installed on Saturday. The entire process was, undoubtedly, a community effort. About 25 members of the EFVYNC gathered on a sunny, but cool, Saturday in mid-winter to build the shelters for bats. Biologist and fellow Chilliwack Field Naturalist member Denis Knopp helped organize the Continued: BAT BOXES/ p5
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