The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) says highways workers did not take the proper steps to control erosion around Maple Creek, and disrupted a fish habitat when they dug a gravel pit in the Adaire Creek near Wolseley.
Average rainfall in the Maple Creek district is around 12″ per year.
If the matter proceeds to a hearing, the province could face fines of up to $300,000 for each charge.
Of course, federal laws protecting “fish habitat” do not require that actual fish be present – a convenient oversight. Creeks on the Saskatchewan prairies are fed only by precipitation. They generally stop flowing after spring run-off and freeze to the bottom in winter.
     Moose Mountain Creek |
In the 1980’s, the Saskatchewan government ran headlong into federal environmental laws when they began building the Rafferty-Alameda dam project. To put it mildly, all hell broke loose. The feds demanded environmental impact studies, David Suzuki jetted out to speak on site about the Great Evils Of Dams, while critics alternated with dire warnings – “the dam will never fill!” ….. ” the dam would result in destructive flooding of fragile habitat!” |
I remember Valerie Pringle interviewing then Premier Grant Devine for the CBC at the height of the contraversy;
Pringle: “But Premier Devine, don’t you understand? It sounds as though the people of Saskatchewan don’t care about the environment.”
Devine: “With all due respect, Valerie, why don’t you get off your chair in Toronto and come see Moose Mountain creek for yourself. You could stop it with your briefcase.”
Today the dam provides a much needed resort area for the water starved southeast, and helps to control the occassional, but serious flooding that can occur further downstream in years with heavy run-off.
No word from David Suzuki lately.
No fish. Want seals? Nfld’s got a serious surplus of the beasties.
Stock the creek with ’em and claim it’s rare endangered “prarie seal”. (Seeing as there nothing to eat for seals there, except reporters, endangered is the correct word, no?)
Then you have the enthralling fun of saving them and trying to reintroduce them and create an ecosystem to support from them from scratch at taxpayer expense.
PhD will be given for “The decline of the Prarie seal environment” that nobody noticed, and how “gun totin’ rednecks” -that’d be you Kate- were reponsible for covering up the existence and killing them surreptitiously.
The fun’ll last YEARS.
Have a good weekend.
Gadzooks. Is this one of your pictures? If so, you really need to post more of them.
Yeah, it’s one of my pictures. I have some up on my main website – intro page is at http://www.katewerk.com/photoindex.html
Have you considered taking some photography courses? Your composition is outstanding. I think you could make make some money off your work.
I’ve sold a couple here and there. Taking courses would just take the fun out of it. When I started sculpting small dog figurines out of clay, I was approached at a show by a fine art student who was keenly interested in my technique, asking all sorts of technical questions.
I replied, “Beats me. I just got the mud and started making dogs out of it.”
Ah, then you’re one of those rare few gifted with natural talent. This also means that I now have a love-hate relationship with your photography. 😉
You’re going to laugh, but I hadn’t looked at your artwork until now. No wonder your composition is so exquisite. My compliments.
Thanks. 🙂