| The B.C. Wildlife Federation does not support the extraction of gravel from the Upper Section of the Vedder River, which already has a gravel deficit from decades of over-extraction. Development decisions that affect our rivers must not destroy vital salmon habitat. Especially, one that carelessly aims to destroy crucial pink salmon habitat, it is simply unacceptable.
This commercial aggregate harvesting project as proposed is unprecedented in scale and carries significant risk of damage to salmon rearing habitat, disturbing eggs and larvae, and has potential to erode the stream bed. The proposal to remove 360,000 cubic metres of gravel will have untold consequences on pink salmon spawning for years to come. It is misleading to represent this project as a method of flood control. There has never been a sediment removal this large in the history of Chiliwack. The BCWF Executive Director Jesse Zeman, said it best, “The fish really can’t afford this.”. Jesse and BCWF President David Lewis have sent a joint letter to the Minister of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen, and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman. They recognize and applaud last year’s cancellation of the gravel removal in the Vedder River, but are concerned for the return of the removal, along with the suddenly enlarged scale. The Vedder River is already over-extracted. While requesting to meet with both the ministers, Jesse and David concluded their letter with “We urge you to cancel all gravel mining in critical salmon habitat.” If you are concerned about gravel extraction in key salmon habitat on the Vedder River, please contact the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, as well as local government officials: Honourable George Heyman Kevin Jardine |