Jeffsurtees

Has anyone walked up Hidden Creek to see where the slumping occurred? Does it looking like Spray Lakes is doing anything to mitigate the damage?

Hey folks, thanks for the interest in what TUC is doing. I have a couple of comments: First, that picture of me is way too big. Second, TUC is definately not sitting on the fence on the changes to the Fisheries Act, SARA, and the Environmental Assessment Act. We are opposed to the overall effect that we think these changes are going to have and we have told the federal government that. I've spoken directly to Minister Ashfield about the Fisheries Act changes. I've met with Minster Kent. We are collaborating with a number of other conservation organisations to try to work out the best way to minimise the damage. We are going to continue to try to influence the government on Bill C-38 to the extent there is any opportunity to do that. We continue to hold the view that the best way to achieve change is to try to work co-operatively. We will not take a completely negative position on the bill because it does contain a couple of good things (increased penalties, better invasive species provisions). We won't engage in general govenment bashing because we don't think it accomplishes anything. We aren't going to put any effort into complaining about the implementation process because we don't think that is our role. We believe, at this point, the best place to focus our efforts is on trying to influence what goes into the the regulations that are going to be needed under each of the Acts. Third, as a charity TUC is limited to spending 10% of our funds on advocacy. The rules about what counts as advocacy and how you calculate the 10% are unclear. We will always try to have a positive effect on policy but we want to concentrate our efforts on improving habitat. Finally, I want everyone on this forum to know that any of you can pick up the phone and call me whenever you like. My number is 403 221-8363. And we will be a better organisation, a stronger organisation with people like you involved. If you aren't a member, consider joining or rejoining and getting involved with your local chapter. This organisation was designed to be strong from the bottom up and I would like to see it get back to that. Jeff

I wanted to let everyone know that we are deeply concerned about what has happened on the Spray River and have met with Trans Alta to discuss the situation and express our views. Unfortunately the harm has been done and there is no obvious short term solution. We are currently waiting to see what the regulatory authorities are going to do. It is possible that Trans Alta will be obligated to mitigate the damage that has been done and TUC will be available to assist with that mitigation. Yes, we have received funding from Trans Alta in the past. We have worked co-operatively with the company over the years, as we have with many other other companies. We believe that our co-operative approach should lead to longer-term habitat solutions. The funding we receive does not affect how we react to events like this. If anyone wants to discuss this, just call me at 403 221-8363. Also see http://www.tucanada.org/TUC_newsitem.php?item=000203 Jeff Surtees Trout Unlimited Canada CEO

Hey guys, Kim has been away for the last couple of weeks and we have been short-staffed on the phones. Things should be back to normal this week. If anyone has any problems they can call me directly at 403 221-8363. Jeff Surtees