Dear All,

Thank you for the support of these Peregrine Falcons/chicks! I just emailed the Premier of BC, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Naural Resource Operations, and Rural Development, plus I copied the legal advocacy group, Ecojustice, and the local newspaper, AbbyNews whose reporter Vikki Hopes has been reporting on the situation.

My letter said the following if you're interested in reading it. Let's keep our fingers crossed and say a prayer that the BC Government will extend the suspension of work by Mountainside Quarries at that site at least until those eggs/chicks are grown to maturity and fly away..

Letter:

Dear Premier Horgan, Honorable Ministers, Sirs & Madams of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development and District Contacts,

I sincerely plead that you maintain the temporary suspension of approval that was granted in January 2021 for Mountainside Quarries, Inc. of Abbotsford "to move a rare peregrine falcon nest to allow the dormant quarry to resume operation." (Vikki Hopes, May 21, 2021, Abbotsford News, online article "Wildlife permit suspended for operator of Abbotsford quarry with peregrine falcons"). In fact, I represent an online petition I started asking this quarry to suspend their intrusive, loud, destructive work until the current Peregrine eggs and chicks are grown and fly away on their own; see http://chng.it/BQZwsm5g
I have heard that for every person that signs a petition there are at least 12 more that would do so if they either knew about it or had access to it. That means this current petition has 378 signatures (and growing), represents closer to 4536 people asking the same thing. We are all very distressed how business and development seem to take precedence over the care of our wildlife and their habitats and ask that this quarry suspend their work until the Peregrine Falcon eggs/chicks can develop safely to adulthood and fly away.

I would like to remind you that 10 years ago, according to Ecojustice (a non-profit organization that "...goes to court and uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change, and fight for a healthy environment for all." (Ecojustice, Website), BC promised to protect more of our wildlife at an international convention in Aichi, Japan where we and "other parties to the convention set a series of targets to conserve the planet’s wildlife and natural systems by the end of 2020." (Ecojusice, May 20, 2021, Online report "BC gets failing grades on biodiversity targets...") Recently, Ecojustice released a "report card" on the status of that commitment, and it says, "If it (BC) continues on its current trajectory, the B.C. government is in danger of ‘blowing it’ when it comes to protecting nature and biodiversity, warns a new report card released today by Ecojustice and the Wilderness Committee." (Ecojustice, May 20, 2021, online report, BC gets failing grades on biodiversity targets...)

By suspending the approval for Mountainside Quarries, Inc. from continuing their work until the Peregrine Falcon eggs/chicks are grown to maturity and fly away would go a long way to reversing the above trend reported by Ecojustice.

We appreciate your time reading this and hope sincerely in our hearts you will not disappoint us and the Falcons we aim to protect.

Thank you and sincerely,
Dawn Walker & Change.org Petition Signees