Annie L. Booth

WE ARE FIGHTING FOR OURSELVES — FIRST NATIONS' EVALUATION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROCESSES

This article presents results from research into the perspectives on environmental assessments of Canadian indigenous peoples, in particular British Columbias West Moberly First Nations, the Halfway River First Nation, and the Treaty 8 Tribal Association. This collaborative project interviewed First Nation government officials and staff as well as community members to determine their analyses of what worked and, more significantly, what did not work in engaging and consulting indigenous people. This research identified significant failings in Canadian and British Columbia environmental assessment processes, including substantive procedural failures, relational failures between First Nation, provincial and federal governments, and fundamental philosophical differences between assessment processes and indigenous worldviews. Based upon their review of environmental assessment failings, the collaborating First Nations recommend a fundamental revision of environmental assessment processes so as to protect into the future their Treaty and Aboriginal rights and to ensure their survival as distinct and viable cultures upon the land.

An environmental justice analysis of caribou recovery planning, protection of an Indigenous culture, and coal mining development in northeast British Columbia, Canada

Environmental justice theory postulates that communities that predominately consist of minorities and those of a lower socioeconomic status are compelled to bear a disproportionate distribution of burdens resulting from land use decisions. In this article, we present a case study of West Moberly First Nations (an Indigenous group) in British Columbia, Canada, and their fight to protect a threatened herd of caribou from coal mining activities. We examine the role of caribou in maintaining the First Nations’ cultural integrity and the adverse effects of several decisions made by the Provincial Government of British Columbia that would allow a mining company to destroy the critical habitat of the species. Analysis shows that the decisions negate federal law, disregard the best available scientific and traditional knowledge, and fail to uphold the constitutional and treaty rights of the First Nation to meaningfully exercise its cultural practices and customs. A disproportionate share of environmental burdens was therefore placed onto the shoulders of the First Nation while the interests of the government and the mining industry were protected. We conclude that the decisions are a clear case of intentional environmental injustice on the part of the British Columbia government.

Environmental and Land-Use Planning Approaches of Indigenous Groups in Canada: An Overview

Environmental and/or land-use planning with or for Indigenous peoples is not well studied. This is true for the First Nations in Canada as well. In this article, we review what literature exists with respect to environmental/land-use planning for Indigenous peoples and then review the types of land-use plans that First Nations in Canada have created on their own behalf. We conclude that planners, First Nations and governments need to turn greater attention to this understudied issue and advocate for the development of a field of Indigenous planning, which is planning created by Indigenous peoples to meet their own purposes and needs rather than pursuing planning done to First Nations.

We are the Land: Native American Views of Nature

This is how one Native American presents her interpretation of the indigenous understanding of nature. As we will see in this article, many Native Americans present similar understandings. Their reciprocal relationships with nature permeated every aspect of life from spirituality to making a living and led to a different way of seeing the world, what they might call a more “environmental” way of seeing the world. But is this a true picture? Increasingly there has been debate over the nature of the Native American’s relationship to the land, both past and present. This article will examine this debate and the way in which Native Americans view nature.

“How far do you have to walk to find peace again?”: A case study of First Nations' operational values for a community forest in Northeast British Columbia, Canada

In this paper we report upon research conducted with two First Nations located in British Columbia, Canada (Saulteau First Nations and West Moberly First Nations) on their preferences regarding forest operations within their community forest license. We confirmed the forestry‐related values previously documented in other research, and we are able to determine specific parameters with regard to the protection or integration of these values, particularly those that are ecologically based. In addition, we identify significant cultural values expected in forestry planning and management, their parameters, as well as values not commonly discussed within the literature, such as concerns over non‐indigenous access and conflicting, overlapping resource tenures. We conclude that further research, which accounts for and readily accommodates indigenous values and preferences, is needed to examine North American indigenous participation in both community forest tenures and in developing forest operation planning.

RESEARCH ARTICLE: The Use of Domestic Goats and Vinegar as Municipal Weed Control Alternatives

This article presents the results of a two year pilot case study of alternative weed control in a northern Canadian community. Investigators tested the efficacy of acetic acid (vinegar) and a domestic herbivore (goats) as invasive weed control alternatives to the use of commercial herbicides in a north central British Columbian municipal setting. Results were positive for using an 8% concentration of vinegar as a control for Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense (L.) scop.), although these results were significant only in the second year of applications. Domestic goats demonstrated significant interest in thistle, as well as hawkweed, (Hieracium spp.), two species of horsetail (Equisetum arvense and Equisetum pratense), oxeye daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare), and the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Cost estimates suggest that over a five year period, both methods are as cost effective as single application herbicides, while posing fewer concerns over impacts on human and ecosystem health. Both are simple solutions easily implemented, with some planning, even by small municipalities and communities.

Food (In)Security Within a University Community: The Experiences of Students, Staff and Faculty at a Sustainable Institution

The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), located in north-central British Columbia, Canada, began the process for developing an institutional Food Strategy in 2014. However a critical missing component of this strategy is understanding the nature of food security within the university’s population as a basis from which to build a comprehensive food strategy. In 2015, research was undertaken to assess levels of food security within UNBC. Unlike other such projects within educational institutions, this project treated the university as the community and assessed food security levels within that community, including not just undergraduate and graduate students, but the faculty and academic staff working at the university as well. The project assessed the reasons for the level of food security within the community (i.e. lack of funds, time, knowledge or easy access); what factors contributed to or exacerbated levels of food security (supporting dependents, being a single parent, employment status, disabilities, socio-economic characteristics, etc.), and worked with community members on identifying solutions which the university, as a community, could undertake in support of that community.

Measuring food waste and creating diversion opportunities at Canada’s Green UniversityTM

ABSTRACT The paradox of food insecurity and food waste existing side by side in developed countries is also widely observed at institutions of higher education (IHEs) across North America. A collaborative faculty, staff, and student-run food waste audit at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) was conducted for the 2 primary foodservice providers at its Prince George Campus in the spring of 2015. Food wastes totaled 1.1 tonnes/week. Food wastes collected in campus composting green bins made up 43% of currently compostable food wastes at UNBC and only 26% of both currently and potentially compostable food wastes.

SUSTAINABILITY AND WASTE MANAGEMENT OF THE2015 PRINCE GEORGE CANADA WINTER GAMES

Urban boosterism is increasingly being employed by cities around the world to garner provincial, national or even international attention. In an effort to rebrand and market itself as a ‘Winter City’, Prince George, Canada hosted the 2015 Canada Winter Games. However, urban boosterism focuses on economic influx and financial sustainability with little attention to environmental sustainability. Hosting mega-events like these results in a significant influx of visitors over a short period of time. To accommodate for this extreme change in a city’s population, it is important to consider the concomitant environmental burden, particularly in terms of waste over the period of time and the need to dispose of it safely and properly. To examine the environmental impact of hosting this event, a waste audit was conducted on four of the venues to determine how much and what types of waste was accumulated. The largest contributor to the waste stream was food waste, occupying more than 1/3 of the entire samples that was accumulated in the volunteer lounges. This study focuses on the consideration of waste types and areas in mega-events.

Wildlife Sightings at Western Canadian Regional Airports: Implications for Risk Analyses

Aircraft collisions with wildlife result in substantial personal and economic losses, requiring airport authorities to utilize all available resources to develop effective management strategies. We surveyed 16 western Canadian regional airports to document the use of wildlife strike and sighting records (WSSRs). Ninety-four percent of airports kept wildlife strike records, 19% kept bird sighting records and 25% kept animal sighting records. Of 12 airports, 33% used WSSRs to identify problem species or trends and 25% used WSSRs for risk analysis and management planning. Our findings suggest that WSSRs are underutilized in risk analyses and ungulate strike risk may be underestimated at most respondent airports. Airport mangers must stress due diligence in record keeping and the application of wildlife data to support risk analyses and sound wildlife management practices at airports.