British Columbia Environmental Research Articles

The Carbon Tax Effect on British Columbia Economy and Carbon Emission

A carbon tax is the most common carbon emission control policy widely used. British Columbia is the first Canadian province to use a carbon tax and implementing a carbon tax will impact British Columbia's environment and economy. This paper analyzes the scale of the carbon tax, energy consumption, GHG emission, and government revenue in British Columbia to evaluate the effect of the carbon tax. This paper finds that a carbon tax has no impact on dramatically reducing GHG British Columbia emissions, but it can help the government get more revenue. Although the carbon tax has little effect on reducing carbon emissions in British Columbia, the carbon emissions in British Columbia have been significantly reduced compared to other provinces. Therefore, we believe that the British Columbia carbon tax has a significant impact on controlling CO2 emissions, and the value of carbon emissions can be further controlled by increasing the carbon tax.

Throughput Legitimacy and the Duty to Consult: The Limits of the Law to Produce Quality Interactions in British Columbia's EA Process

AbstractThe duty to consult mandates that the Crown must consult affected Indigenous parties when Crown action may negatively impact Aboriginal rights or title claims. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has emphasized that the duty should be characterized by honourable dealings and good faith negotiations. This article argues that the concept of throughput legitimacy can help evaluate the Crown's conduct in consultation. By analyzing 131 British Columbia Environmental Assessments (BC EAs), this article finds that the Crown struggles to uphold throughput legitimacy from the perspective of Indigenous peoples, particularly in the areas of transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

The Sustainability Dilemma: Essays on British Columbia Forest and Environmental History. By Robert Griffin and Richard A. Rajala. Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum, 2016. xvi + 426 pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, glossary, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Paper $34.95.

<i>The Sustainability Dilemma: Essays on British Columbia Forest and Environmental History</i>. By Robert Griffin and Richard A. Rajala. Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum, 2016. xvi + 426 pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, glossary, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Paper $34.95.

Characterization of Four Novel Bacteriophages Isolated from British Columbia for Control of Non-typhoidal Salmonella in Vitro and on Sprouting Alfalfa Seeds.

Alfalfa sprouts have been linked to numerous North American outbreaks of Salmonella in recent years. Conventionally, treatments involving chlorine, heat, and irradiation are used for alfalfa seed sanitation. However, such treatments may be highly variable in their efficacy for pathogen control and/or detrimental to sprout quality, therefore negatively perceived by consumers advocating for natural alternatives. The usage of bacteriophages for pathogen control in sprouts has been previously explored, although with conflicting and inconsistent results. Lytic phages, viral predators of bacteria, represent an attractive approach as they provide several advantages compared to conventional treatments, such as their high specificity for bacterial targets and their ubiquity in nature. In this study, four Salmonella phages were isolated from British Columbia, Canada and characterized with respect to host range, burst size, latent period, and environmental stability to assess their potential to control Salmonella. Phage isolate SI1 showed the greatest host range, highest burst size and shortest latent period, greatest stability across all pH and temperatures and was the most effective in control of S. Enteritidis in vitro. Therefore, SI1 was chosen for treatment of sprouting alfalfa seeds artificially contaminated with S. Enteritidis with a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of ∼110 PFU/CFU. A significant (p < 0.05) reduction of 38.3 ± 3.0% of viable Salmonella cells was observed following two h of phage treatment. On days two to six of the sprouting process, reductions of Salmonella were also observed, but were not significant compared to the control (p > 0.05). It was further demonstrated that the sprout yield was not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by phage treatment. These results highlight the potential of phages recovered from the British Columbia environment for use as biocontrol agents against Salmonella, although differing efficacies in vitro was observed. Moreover, the effectiveness of SI1 to significantly (p < 0.05) control Salmonella on sprouting alfalfa seeds on day 1 of treatment was demonstrated. Although promising, future work should aim to optimize this treatment to achieve more effective, and longer lasting, biocontrol of Salmonella in sprouting alfalfa seeds.

Ecological risk of pesticide residues in the British Columbia environment: 1973–2012

An updated ecological risk assessment was conducted to re-evaluate and review the overall risk of pesticide residues to certain aquatic life. The focus was the impact on offsite non-target, freshwater organisms of pesticide operational sprays in British Columbia from 1973 until 2012. The values of risk quotients for pesticides of selected indicator organisms were determined to measure the effect. When compared with organophosphorus, carbamate, and other miscellaneous pesticides, this risk assessment analysis suggests that the historical use of persistent and highly toxic organochlorine pesticides posed, and continue to pose, a deleterious ecological risk. The risk is both short-term acute and long-term sub-acute, chronic toxicity to offsite, non-target aquatic invertebrates and juvenile salmonid fish. Data indicated that these organisms were, and remain, subjected to harmful effects of pesticide residues to varying degrees. Most vulnerable were, and also are, benthic organisms inhabiting bottom sediments. This substrate is the natural sink for persistent pesticide residues, predominantly organochlorine pesticides from historical use, as well as dioxins, furans, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from wood preservatives, and other sources. Environment Canada's main aquatic protection strategy was a 10 metre no-treatment buffer zone, augmented with an additional appropriate setback along shorelines of fishery and wildlife resource-sensitive water bodies. This study discusses why this guideline was necessary, useful and effective, but was only partially successful. The physical-chemical properties of pesticide residues, from either an individual compound or different compounds in combination, also influence the nature of biological impacts on non-target, aquatic organisms. Few studies have been conducted in British Columbia aquatic environments to investigate the significance of this aspect.

Industry and government perspectives on First Nations' participation in the British Columbia environmental assessment process

Research was conducted with West Moberly First Nations, Halfway First Nation and the Treaty 8 Tribal Association (located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada) on effective engagement in environmental assessment processes. As part of this research, we examined the perspectives of a subset of resource industry proponents and their consultants, as well as staff from the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office on their experiences with the requirement to consult with Canada's indigenous peoples. Research into the perspectives of industry proponents and consultants is almost non-existent, yet industry and governments are key participants within environmental assessments. This research found that industry proponents were disenfranchised by the British Columbia environmental assessment process and its mechanisms for consulting with First Nations, and that they sought changes to that process. Their concerns and their implications are documented and some recommendations are offered for addressing those concerns. Understanding industry and government views on First Nations engagement could suggest not only potential improvements in EA processes that facilitate all parties but provide common grounds for mutually engaging to resolve challenges.

Tracking Grizzly Bears in British Columbia's Environmental Politics

Geographers and others have written many words about British Columbian environmental politics. Stories about this place often revolve around conflicts between the government, the forest industry, First Nations, and environmentalists, battling it out to secure their vision of appropriate land use on the ground. This paper examines a particularly heated conflict over land use in the Great Bear Rainforest region, a large tract of temperate rainforest blanketing the central and north coasts of British Columbia. But this essay takes a different cut into understanding this particular political event, in that it tracks an often-unrecognized actor through the politics there: the grizzly bear. Drawing inspiration from scholarship that challenges the primacy of humans in our understandings of politics and social life, I argue that the grizzly bear influences and inflects BC's coastal forest politics; it is an important player in the transformation of the Great Bear Rainforest. I tell the story of environmental politics there by tracing the grizzly bear's shifting relationships with others, including with settlers, conservation biologists, environmentalists and money, all of which are consequential for the grizzly bear, and for others in the region.

The creation of a grey literature database for the British Columbia Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network (BCEOHRN): lessons learned and next steps

This paper outlines the steps that led to the creation of a grey literature database for the British Columbia Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network (BCEOHRN), particularly an MLIS student’s involvement in the project during the summer of 2006. The paper makes suggestions for the continued involvement of a professional health librarian as the project grows in size and importance for BCEOHRN researchers. BCEOHRN is one of eight networks funded by the Michael Smith Foundation in early 2005, as part of its Networking Infrastructure Program. Its aim is to “build capacity, facilitate and enhance B.C.’s ability to address health issues, and align health research in the province with national and international research and funding priorities to improve competitiveness for external funding” [1]. As part of this initiative, BCEOHRN works specifically to support research in occupational and environmental health in British Columbia. The scientific director of BCEOHRN, Dr. Susan Kennedy, a professor in the School of Environmental and Occupation Hygiene at the University of British Columbia, ambitiously supports new and innovative initiatives to put BCEOHRN at the forefront of the eight networks. One of the network’s goals for 2006 was to create an environmental and occupational health-related grey literature database, which led to the author’s involvement in the project.

British Columbia's Environmental Forestry Policy Record in Perspective

Abstract Some environmental groups and US forest companies, each for their own reasons, have criticized forest policy in British Columbia as lax, and the US Congress and media have taken up the call for stricter regulations in Canada. A comparison of BC forest policy with the policies of the USDA Forest Service and six major softwood-harvesting states reveals that British Columbia has more stringent regulations than has been supposed. Focusing on clearcutting, riparian zone management, and protected areas, we find that BC policy in spring 2001 was generally comparable to that of Washington State and Oregon; only the Forest Service had stricter rules. State practices in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia were less stringent.

Implementing biodiversity conservation through the British Columbia Forest Practices Code

The Canadian province of British Columbia supports a diverse biota, including a significant proportion of the planet's temperate forests and the majority of coastal temperate forests of western North America. The majority (81%) of land is under provincial jurisdiction and classified as crown provincial land. Productive forest land contributing to the allowable annual forest cut represents 45% of the provincial land base or 43.3 million hectares. Public awareness of biological diversity and understanding of the need for conservation has greatly increased in recent years and has led to the creation of a policy to double the amount of protected area in the province from 6% to 12% of the land base by the year 2000. This paper describes the Forest Practices Code which came into effect on June 15 1995 and is intended to help promote the conservation of biological diversity within the province. The development and effective implementation of the Code is significant and of wide interest to forest and land managers because it applies to all crown lands outside of protected areas. Biodiversity conservation is addressed in the Code by way of landscape and forest stand level planning. Landscape level planning begins with the establishment of a landscape unit. These units are based on ecological boundaries, watersheds or groups of watersheds rather than administrative boundaries and may encompass public and private land. They range in area from around 5000 to 100 000 hectares in which the future desired forest conditions can be spatially planned. There are three guidebooks that are intended to be used together to provide a coordinated strategy for the conservation of biological diversity under the Code: the Riparian Management Guidebook (British Columbia Forest Service and British Columbia Environment, 1995c), the Managing Identified Wildlife Guidebook (British Columbia Forest Service and British Columbia Environment, 1995d) and the Biodiversity Guidebook (British Columbia Forest Service and British Columbia Environment, 1995b). The Biodiversity Guidebook provides a ‘coarse filter’ for retention of habitat diversity. The riparian management reserves and management zones provide protection to the large number of species associated with those restricted, but biologically diverse and productive, habitats. There are also provisions in the Code for managing habitats for single species, subspecies, and ecosystems known to be threatened, endangered or regionally important. The Forest Practices Code truly signals a major change in forest management within British Columbia. The retention of old growth forest and mature forests for biodiversity is a new practice. The science behind the recommendations in the biodiversity guidelines must be monitored to evaluate whether forest practices are effective at meeting their conservation objectives.

Pacific and American Golden-Plovers Breeding in Southwestern Alaska

British Columbia. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Provincial Museum. Handbook number 44. 102 p. McALLIsTER KR. 1995. Distribution of amphibians and reptiles in Washington state. Northwest Fauna 3:81-112. NUSSBAUM RA, BRODIE, EDJR, STORM RM. 1983. Amphibians and reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, ID: University Press of Idaho. 332 p. SPALDING DJ. 1995. The sharp-tailed snake: A British Columbia rarity. Cordillera 2:20-25. *SPALDING DJ. 1993. Status of the sharp-tailed snake in British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: British Columbia Environment, Wildlife Branch. Wildlife Working Report number WR-57. STEBBINS RC. 1985. A field guide to western reptiles and amphibians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 336

Some Socially Relevant Applications of Elementary Calculus

Colin Clark, Professor of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1958. The author of about twenty research papers, his most current interest is in the area of mathematical economics. He is also active as vice-president of both the British Columbia Environmental Council and the Vancouver Natural History Society.