Hot off the presses! Our new Together Against Trans Mountain sticker features five species standing up to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project (TMX): orcas, salmon, Anna's hummingbirds, red-breasted sapsuckers, and the Oregon forestsnail.
Keep scrolling to learn more about how our animal allies, big and small, are doing their part and making a difference in the resistance to TMX.
This sticker was a collaboration featuring work by Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island. Click on the individual images below to check out the artist profiles!
Orcas / Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKWs)
Orcas / SRKWs have been listed as an endangered species since 2001. Their critical habitat includes the main shipping lane of Trans Mountain's tankers, which will increase 700% with the expansion.
Noise pollution from tanker traffic impacts their ability to hunt their favourite food, Chinook salmon, whose spawning rivers are also affected by TMX.
The National Energy Board found that TMX would have ‘significant adverse effects’ on SRKWs, but the project was approved anyway. The Board’s failure to appropriately consider the impacts of marine shipping was one of the reasons the original approval was quashed by the courts in 2018.
Salmon
TMX crosses hundreds of salmon-bearing rivers and creeks, including the Fraser, Brunette, Thompson, Coldwater, Coquihalla, and Nicola.
Trans Mountain was charged for illegally installing anti-salmon spawning mats in 2017.
Dead salmon found in the Hope area caused a pause in construction in August 2022.
Hummingbird
Trans Mountain was caught in the act of cutting down a tree that contained an active Anna’s hummingbird nest in 2021, causing a stop-work order for four months.
The Canadian Energy Regulator initially fined Trans Mountain $88,000 for the violation, but after Trans Mountain appealed, the fine was reduced to $4,000.
Red-breasted Sapsucker
In 2022, an active sapsucker mating site shut down construction in Chilliwack.
Bonus fact about sapsuckers: Hummingbirds often make use of the wells that sapsuckers make for drawing sap from trees, and may rely on them for food before flowers bloom.
Oregon Forestsnail
The snail’s critical (and protected) habitat includes the Abbotsford to Hope area.
Oregon forestsnail are considered endangered under the Species at Risk Act and by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, and red-listed in BC.
Trans Mountain had to file a mitigation and habitat restoration plan as part of their conditions, and secure a permit to relocate snails where mitigation was not possible.
West Coast Environmental Law will be out speaking to folks at community events and farmers' markets around Metro Vancouver throughout the summer – come find us or contact communications@wcel.org to get your own Together Against Trans Mountain sticker!