The Valhalla Wilderness Committee says it's prepared to sign a declaration of no-confidence against ForestEthics, one of British Columbia's most influential environmental groups. In an exclusive interview with Public Eye, committee chairperson Anne Sherrod said, "This is a very delicate subject to talk about publicly" because "we are not aware of any other situation previously in the province where one environmental group has publicly criticized the other." But Ms. Sherrod said she has strong concerns about the tactics ForestEthics uses in its campaigns to protect wilderness areas, brokering conservation deals with the forest industry and government behind closed doors.

"They waged - at least they did here in the Interior - a very visible and very good campaign to protect the mountain caribou." But "they use all of the visibility they gained through the press and through their market campaigns" to put ForestEthics "in a priority position to have these private negotiations about public resources" - negotiations Ms. Sherrod says have resulted in deals that make too many compromises to forest companies.

ForestEthics program director Tzeporah Berman hasn't yet responded to a request for comment placed yesterday.