10,000 Voices for BC Rivers‏

[Rick Baerg]

On Thursday March 26 2009, join thousands of British Columbians in standing up for BC's rivers. On that day, thousands of people from around the province will be contacting their MLA and the Premier calling for a moratorium on river privatization.

In 2002, the BC government banned BC Hydro from developing new sources of green power, decreeing that all new hydropower must come from private companies. This has lead to a gold rush mentality, with private operators staking almost 600 creeks and rivers throughout BC. Each one of these projects involves building river diversions, dams, powerhouses and many kilometers of roads and transmission lines.

The BC government's rush to develop private power has resulted in a chaotic situation where cumulative environmental impacts are ignored, regional planning is non-existent, our energy security is jeopardized and local governments have been silenced.

Thousands of people have taken action to protect their rivers and streams throughout British Columbia. People have written letters, attended information meetings, and told their family, friends and neighbours about the threat of private river diversions to BC's waterways. Now it's time for all of us to speak up together.

The Wilderness Committee has launched a campaign called "10,000 Voices for BC Rivers." We're calling for a moratorium on private power projects until they are regionally planned, environmentally appropriate, acceptable to First Nations, and publicly owned.

We like our rivers wild and our power public, we hope you do too.

Go to www.10000voices.org and sign up for our mailing list. We'll keep you up to date on the 10,000 Voices project, tell you about other people taking action on this issue, and give you a reminder leading up to March 26th to take action.

If you'd like some of our 10,000 Voices flyers, an action kit for holding a small event, or just want more information, please feel free to email andrew@wildernesscommittee.org , or call toll-free 1.800.661.9453 or 604 683 8220 in the Lower Mainland.

Let's find out how powerful all of our voices can be.

[phearless]

Well folks, this is another one that should be hitting all of us close to the heart.
This all came to a head with the Upper Pitt ordeal we went through last year.
As stated there are over 600 more on the books.
That is potentialy 600 more dammed, diverted, dewatered, altered or otherwise defiled rivers and streams.
We cannot, and the salmon and all other species that have a relationship to them cannot stand for this.

Please do your part.

As a user of the resource you have a responsibility to protect it.

On top of that after the initial contract period we lose the right to our own power as it will be able to be sold to the highest bidder.
On the upper pitt project we are going to be charged higher than the going rate as well. Almost double if memory serves.

Come on folks it is up to us.

[chauchey]

I was pretty shocked when I found out about this last summer. I couldn't believe that such little planning and oversight had gone into this. I'll be doing my part come the 26th.

[Rick Baerg]

10,000 Voices for BC Rivers- Events update
On Thursday March 26 join thousands of British Columbians in standing up for BC's rivers. On that day, thousands of people from around the province will be contacting their MLA and the Premier calling for a moratorium on river privatization. Go to www.tenthousandvoices.org today!

We've got a lot of 10,000 Voices for BC Rivers events upcoming over the next few weeks. These events will feature Rafe Mair, Joe Foy from the Wilderness Committee, and speakers from local groups discussing the private power issue in BC.

March 17 at Douglas College in Coquitlam, 7-9 PM
March 18 at Bonsor Recreation Complex in Burnaby, 7:30 - 9:30 PM
March 24 at Brooks High School in Powell River, 7-9 PM
March 25 at Centennial Pavilion, Queen's Park in New Westminster, 7-9 PM

You can find them all at http://tenthousandvoices.org/events.htmlWe'll be adding more events over the next few days.

If you'd like to host an event in your community, please contactme at 604 683 8220, or andrew@wildernesscommittee.org Let's find out how powerful all of our voices can be.

Cheers!

Andrew Radzik | Outreach DirectorWilderness Committee | Canada's largest membership-based wilderness preservation organization