The ups and dunes of preserving Sable Island

Oliver Moore, Globe & Mail, June 9, 2008

Oliver Moore’s story in the Toronto Globe & Mail was a response to the June 6th announcement of funding for Sable Island. It contains many factual errors, and Mr. Moore confirms that his principal source for the information presented in the story was the Sable Island Preservation Trust.

Contrary to the views expressed in the news story, Environment Canada is to be congratulated on its efforts to secure long-term funding for the Sable Island Station. Environment Minister John Baird’s June 6th announcement demonstrates that the federal government clearly recognizes the importance of the year-round human presence provided by the Station.

Corrections:

Moore: “The trust that administers Sable Island is concerned that new federal funding won't be available for crucial conservation work on the fabled sand island in the Atlantic.”

The Sable Island Preservation Trust does not administer Sable Island, nor does it oversee the island’s welfare.

The Canadian Coast Guard administers Sable. Both Coast Guard and Environment Canada oversee the island’s welfare, assisted by a community group of government, university, and citizens’ organizations, embodied in the Sable Island Stakeholders Advisory Committee.

Moore: “"Most of the funding being committed to [will be] consumed by the overheads of the meteorological station," predicted Rick Welsford, a biologist and executive director of the Sable Island Preservation Trust.” 

For many years, there's been widespread agreement in the Sable Island community that the Sable Island Station is essential to all research and conservation programs on the island. During the establishment of the Sable Island Preservation Trust, the Trust’s board repeatedly endorsed that view. It's not clear whether the Trust’s Board of Directors has changed its position, or if Mr. Welsford is simply unfamiliar with island issues.

Over the years, the Station has been far more than a “meteorological station”. The Station’s role had greatly expanded to include provision of year-round environmental stewardship, as well as infrastructure and expertise enabling a wide range of programs relevant to issues of sovereignty, safety, terrestrial, marine and atmospheric environment, and heritage. Without the capacity and capability provided by the Station such programs would be prohibitively expensive and, in some cases, logistically impossible, and most, if not all, would be terminated—including research and conservation programs.

The Minister has allocated the bulk of the funds for the Sable Island Station and Environment Canada recognizes that the human presence is the fundamental conservation issue on Sable Island.

Moore (quoting Welsford): “"The trust's focus, from day one, was not to run a [meteorological] station but get on with the issue of conservation."“

Mr. Welsford appears to know little about the history of his own organization.

In the mid-1990s, during its Program Review, the Meteorological Service (Environment Canada) determined that it did not have the resources to fund the entire cost of the Sable Island Station. However, in 1997, following much concern expressed by private citizens and researchers from across Canada, Environment Canada negotiated an interim shared-cost funding arrangement while pursuing a longer-term solution. By early 2000, Environment Canada had assisted in the formation of a not-for-profit charity, the Sable Island Preservation Trust. The purpose of this organization was to raise funds to cover some of the operational costs, and to assume some of the management responsibilities for the Station. Environment Canada would also maintain some staff at the Station, while Coast Guard retained responsibility for the Island as a whole.  

So, the primary reason that the Trust was established and supported was to maintain the Sable Island Station. The Trust was not set up because there were shortcomings in research and environmental protection. At the time, the single greatest threat to conservation of Sable Island was loss of the Station, and the many concerned groups and individuals supported the establishment of the Trust in order to achieve security for the Station. That was the role of the Trust from “day one”, i.e. beginning in 2000. But by 2004, it was clear to all that the Trust was unable to meet the financial and operational requirements, and in 2005 the federal government reassumed full responsibility for the Station operation.

Moore: “Which is why Mr. Welsford has reservations... He said conservationists will still be trying to raise money to study and protect the fragile island...” 

This suggests that study and protection is not already being done. Regardless of the Trust’s lack of progress, study and environmental monitoring of Sable Island began decades before the Trust was established. The wide range of programs—conducted by university, government, and private researchers, from both Canada and abroad—are still underway.

Moore (quoting Welsford): "Our whole job is to root out support and partnerships so we can send young researchers to get a better understanding of Sable's uniqueness," he said last week in a telephone interview." 

Students and “young researchers” have been working and studying on Sable Island for at least four decades, with universities and government organizations. The training of young scientists within programs run by Dalhousie University and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, for example, have produced, and continue to produce, highly accomplished graduates and a great deal of knowledge about Sable.

Moore: “It's expensive for conservationists just to get to the island... the round trip costs $8,000 by chartered plane, he explained, plus another $1,000 for one of the island's few full-time residents to rake the beach where the plane lands, returning it each time to pristine condition.”

Mr. Welsford has not yet flown to Sable Island. No one on Sable gets paid $1000 to rake the beach. Logistical support for landing aircraft involves finding a suitable section of beach—flat, solid, dry, and long enough, and oriented correctly with respect to the wind direction during the day of the flight. Once chosen, the runway is marked out. If a flight is delayed by weather, the procedure is repeated each day until the flight gets in. Aircraft landings also involve analysis of aviation weather, consultations with the pilot and passengers, communications with flight following services, and ground transport for personnel and cargo.

The comment that this apparently highly-paid beach-raker then returns the beach to “pristine condition” after the landing, is simply ludicrous. This notion of beach-raking appears to be a misunderstanding of the landing fee which covers Environment Canada’s costs to provide the flight support mentioned above. The landing fee is not $1000—it’s $500 per flight, even if it takes more than one day to get the flight in.

Errors such as those above can take on a life of their own—repeated until they are taken as fact. Mr. Welsford’s comments about the “meteorological station” undermine the primary goal of the ten-year campaign to have the critical role of the Sable Station recognized, and accepted as essential to all research and conservation programs on the island.

The Sable Island community welcomes Minister John Baird’s June 6th announcement about funding for the island, and applauds Environment Canada’s commitment to the Sable Island Station.