Failure to protect endangered species lands feds in court

Environmental groups are in federalcourt in Vancouver todaytrying toforce the federalgovernmentto abide by its own Species At Risk Act.

Ecojusticeis arguing on behalf of five other groups including the David Suzuki Foundation, GreenpeaceCanada, Sierra Club B.C., Wilderness Committee and Wildsight that Ottawa has failed to prepare timely recovery strategies for endangered wildlife threatened by proposed resource development projects, including the Northern Gateway pipeline.

The act recognizes the Pacific humpback whales, Nechako white sturgeons, marbled murrelets and southern mountain caribou as beingat-risk, but the government has delayed the release ofrecovery plans that are mandated by the law.

The group says the government waited until October 2013 4.5years past its due date to produce a plan for Pacifichumpbacks. The strategy identifiestoxic spills and tanker traffic from proposed pipelines and ports as threats to the whales' habitat andsurvival.But the plan was released too late for the Joint Review Panel to consider before giving cabinet its recommendation to approve the NorthernGateway pipeline in December.

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Chronic delays in producing recovery strategies for Canadas endangered wildlife are forcing species already struggling to survive to wait even longer for the protection they desperately need, said Ecojustice executive director Devon Page in a statement released yesterday.

"Not having these recovery strategies in place makes it impossible for regulators to consider the full environmental impact of major projects, said Page.

Ecojustice says the government has released its overdue plans for the white sturgeon and marbled murrelet in recent weeks the latterjust 24 hoursbefore today's hearing. However, recovery strategies are still needed for an additional 160 at-risk species, including the southern mountain caribou.