CANADIAN NATURE FEDERATION NEWS RELEASE
The following news release is from Greg Sheehy of the Canadian Nature Federation.
October 16, 1984.
The Canadian Nature Federation, which represents 150,000 Canadian naturalists,
has called on the government of Quebec to carry out an independent public review
of the recent drowning of some 10,000 caribou in the Caniapiscau and Koksoak rivers. Because the drownings occurred in a drainage system affected by water control structures operated by Hydro Quebec, the Natrue Federation stresses the need to
_ determine whether the utility is responsible for the loss of the caribou.
In an October 16 letter to Quebec Environment Minister Adrien Ouellette, the Federation stated that "the significance of the loss of wildlife and the possibility that it could have been avoided make it essentail that an independent body conduct a public review of the disaster“.
The caribou were carried to their deaths by flood waters during a period of heavy rain at the end of September. The animals, which were part of the 400,000 strong George River herd, were making a crossing in the annual migration to their winter feeding grounds.
As part of the massive James Bay hydroelectric development, Hydro Quebec.
Imaintains a dam and diversion system several hundred kilometres upstream from the crossing site. .
Greg Sheehy, a spokesman for the Nature Federation, stated that"we certainly believe that Hydro Quebec should be considered innocent unless proven guilty,_but the facts must come out so that, if at all possible, such a tragedy can be avoided in the future" - .
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IN THE NEWS
Ornithologist William Gunn, who has probably recorded more bird sounds than any other Canadian, died in October at the age of 71.
Until WWll, Dr. Gunn was involved in public relations and accounting.When he enlisted in the army, he was assigned to the ordnance corps. and in 1945, he was sent to the Arctic on Exercise Muskox- a research pperation— where he represented the Canadian Wildlife Service. After his discharge from the army in 1946, he started researching the relationship between bird migrations and weather systems , earning his PhD from U. of Toronto in 1951.
He was the first executive director of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (in 1952) and was called upon to advise the designers of the CN Tower to help reduce the hazard to migratory birds: also to help reduce collisions between birds and Canadian aircraft. His work will be missed by many.
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