‘Heart of the Fraser’ is B.C.’s most endangered river, conservation group says

A prominent British Columbia conservation group has declared the Fraser River as the province’s most endangered river in the province.

The Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. (ORCBC) added the “heart of the Fraser” to its endangered rivers list Thursday, as it called for support from senior levels of government to take action to protect the key habitat.

ORCBC rivers chair and World Rivers Day founder Mark Angelo said there’s no question conditions on some parts of the river have improved in recent decades.

But he said the situation on the ecologically-sensitive part of the river between Mission and Hope, known as the heart of the Fraser, faces a slew of new threats.

1:59 Action needed to protect salmon in the heart of the Fraser River

“Things like agricultural expansion, urbanization, industrial development, but also in recent years the widespread clearing of the islands often right up to the shoreline,” Angelo said.

The group is particularly concerned about the archipelago of small islands in the heart of the Fraser and the critical ecosystem they provide for species like salmon and sturgeon.

That system provides spawning grounds for fish and refuge during high waters, but is now under threat, after recent acquisitions by private land owners who intend to develop them for agricultural businesses.

Runoff, dikes and roads connected with those plans come at the expense of an already dwindling fish habitat, Angelo said.

Currently the area does not have any legal protection or collaborative management plan.

2:15 Efforts ramp up to protect Fraser Valley fish habitat

“The heart of the Fraser is so beautiful, it has these lush backeddies, these side channels, these incredible islands, these massive gravel bars. It supports more than 30 species of fish. Without questions it’s one of the most productive sections of river anywhere on earth,” he said.

“So it’s a place we have to find a way to protect.”

With multiple overlapping layers of government jurisdiction covering the river, Angelo said the simplest solution could be for governments or public agencies to buy the threatened islands.

He said governments have shown willingness to spend hundreds of millions of dollars aimed at protecting Pacific salmon.

Some of that money, he said, would be well spent ensuring the portion of the Fraser that plays such a critical role in their life cycle remains protected.

“We have to look at how that money is going to be spent, and protecting habitat, while not the entire answer, is a key part of the puzzle, given how important the heart of the Fraser is to the future health of the Fraser and the future health of our salmon stocks,” Angelo said.

ORCBC is also calling on all levels of government to use existing conservation tools to protect the area in collaboration with the 19 First Nations through whose territory it runs.

Those tools could include Wildlife Management Areas, federal designations such as Ecologically Significant Areas under the Fisheries Act and Indigenous Conservation and Protection Areas.

Global News has requested comment from B.C.’s Ministry of Forests Lands and Resource Operations on calls to protect the region.