We are facing a full frontal attack on our public domain, that which belongs to all of us, that which we are the stewards of.
A partial list of that attack consists of the following:
Grohman Narrows. They want to pull the plug on Kootenay Lake. No way!
Huge farmland changes made to facilitate everything but farming. What do we want at the end of this story?
Forest privatization, from quota based to land based. The people we elected to defend the public domain are giving it away.
The grizzly bear and the wolverine harvest trophy hunting. We take that which is grand and glorious in the public domain, and turn it into a private personal possession.
The “new” Columbia River Treaty is tentatively slated to be business as usual for the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Liberal government of BC. We should sign no new agreement and work toward the establishment of the Columbia River International Freshwater Institute. Let us give water a voice and the river will tell us what its future should be.
No environmental reviews on natural gas and ski hills. Too much already, said the First Nations, suck that back, and so they did.
We are the people of the headwaters of the Columbia River. We live in the inland temperate rain forest, this is our home, and we must become the stewards of this wonderful land.
Abandon, abolish, get rid of the entire timber management plan that now exists and start over. We will manage our forest locally, watershed by watershed. The inland temperate rain forest, bounded by gravity, ruled by reason. Watershed democracy. Bring democracy home so we can protect and enhance our public domain, our forest and our lives.
May the Great Spirit of the Columbia River guide us on our journey.
Dick Murphy
Nelson