Nature Canada Bird Conservation Manager Ted Cheskey with Wood Thrush

Great news! Environment Minister Peter Kent announced today that it would deny a proposal from energy giant Cenovus to add 1,275 shallow gas wells and 220 km of pipeline inside Suffield National Wildlife Area!
Suffield NWA is a special space of rare prairie grassland, sand hills and ancient glacial valleys. It’s home to at least 19 federally listed species at risk, including the burrowing owl, the loggerhead shrike, and Ord’s kangaroo rat.
Nature Canada has been on this file since the project was first made public in 2006. Nature Canada supporters raised their voices in alarm over this potentially precedent-setting development as far back as 2008, when thousands of you demanded public hearings into Cenovus’ (then called Encana) plans.  No permit of this nature has ever been granted inside a national wildlife area in Canada, and you reminded the government that’s the way it should stay.

Thanks in part to your letters early in our campaign, we did manage to convince the government to conduct a full and public review of the proposed drilling project. The independent panel that conducted that review found that the project would likely result in significant interference with the conservation of wildlife. Now, nearly three years after the panel recommended rejecting Cenovus’ permit, the federal government has made the right decision and said “no” to Cenovus’ proposal.
When our elected officials make the right call, it’s important that they hear from Canadians. So, please, add your voice.  Send your letter  of congratulations to Ministers Peter Kent and Peter MacKay today.