. SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN HE PUBLIC relations division of the - Aluminum Army has been working hard to allay public fears over the im- pacis of Kemano II. Armed with data provided by rental scientists, Alcan’s PR people have been buying newspaper Space to give their spin on some of ihe issues swirling around phase two of the greatest environ- mental imbroglio in the history of the province. Facts about KCP, Number iI asks, ‘‘ What im- pact would. KCP’s reduced flows have on fresh. - water fish in the Nechako River?’’, then declares there is more adult trout habitat available in the Nechako River than there are adult trout to use it. It attributes this to pressure from fishermen and low productivity in tributary streams due to the Stresses of agriculture and ‘‘activilies associated with population growth in the region.”’ To attribute the demise of the Nechake fishery to anglers and farmers and make no mention of the grealest force upen the river since the early fifties seems awfully convenient. Given federal scientists have been working overtime to discover the eftect of allered flows on juvenile salmon, that the scientific community frecly admils little is known about the com- plexities of the river’s life, and that even less is known about the survival requirements of Nechako rainbow trout, the claims made in Alcan blurb #11 look preity shaky. -” Even the Tin Men must admit the habitat of the Nechako has been profoundly altered by Kemano “'¥.-Yet they want us to ignore the very plausible possibility that profound changes to the Nechako . as a result of the original Kemano project may have had a devastating effect on juvenile rainbow wilh a consequent reduction of adult fish. Alcan also ‘wants us to believe’ ‘studies ‘indi- cale..any loss of habitat related to KCP will not reduce {he mainstream population of trout which are already small for the above reasoms.”’ © Anybody spending a lot of time’ fishing and caring for rivers will be hard pressed to believe up to 83 per cent of a tiver’s flow can be drained away without seriously impacting its denizens, volumes of data notwithslanding. Abelson worries the loss of 65 per cent of Nechako rainbow trout habitat will halve their numbers. The largest Nechako inhabitant is the white ‘sturgeon. No problem here, say the power hungry friends of aluminum. These old, whiskercd fel- lows are highly mobile and live on the bottom. “As KCP will have little effect on the mean water depth in the lower Nechako, their habitat will be virtually unchanged.’ Dennis Abelson, a fisheries biologist who has spent most of his professional life near and study- ing the Nechako, disagrees. ~ Citing the Kootenai River where white sturgeon living below a Hydro-regulated river similar to the Nechako have not been reproducing for the last quarter century and are about to be declared endangered by the US Wildlife Service, Abelson argues here is a high possibility Nechako Sturg¢on will become functionally extinct. As for rainbow trout, he worries the loss of 65 per cent of thelr habitat after Kemano I will reduce their numbers by half. While the debate rages, the Nechako Reservoir ges little. attention. The impoundment is. im- mense, yet only eight per cent of it gels any print in volume 20 of the environmental studies cém- _ Missioned by Alcan. ; ‘The key to the productivity of a large body of fresh waler is its litoral zone, the area adjacent to the shore line where one finds the greatest _ abundance of life. '> Environment — ministry biologist Dionys deLeeuw has calculated 930 hectares of the pro- ductive litoral zone will be lost by the end of the KP wilh a significant long term impact on the fisheries values of the reservoir. The Nechako reservoir lies at the heart of an im- . mense ecasystem straddling Tweedsmuir Park. The. cffect of the drawdown might well have “devasialing long tenm effects on the wildlife values too. According to deLeeuw, there are many vital questions ‘that must be addressed and - much study to be done in this area. Though it is large and thorny, the effect of KCP on freshwater fisheries is but a small part of this mega project. : ” Factor in anadromous fish, wildlife impacts, the question of political interference, cultural impact, the question of pollution downstream and the very - serious issue of whether the province will be Sacrificing historic access by long-term users . “ranging from industry to native bands to commer- cial fishermen so a private company can realize | > billions from Hydro sales, and you will appreciate hen need for lenglhy and thorough re review = RRACE STANDARD | PORTS . The lrerrace Standard, Wednesday, January 19, 1994 - C1 ae ~ SECTION C MALCOLM BAXTER 638-7283 Moser, Perkins dominate SMITHERS AND Prince George ski clubs split golden honours Jin, 8-9 as Shames Mountain hosted a weekend of Giant Slalom racing. Alyson Moser took lop. spot on both women’s events, posting fastest times in each of the four . Tus, more Falling, the Smithereen built up a comfortable lead in Satur- day’s first run. She followed that with a 51.16 second, the fastest women’s run of the weekend, io clinch gold. A full second and a-half back was number one ranked Tara. Williams .of Blackcomb’ while Prince George's Riki Richter held off icammate Angela Engsirom for the bronze. Moser was sharp again in Sun- day’s slower conditions, her 33.27 first run giving her a half Racing on fresh snow and with Clocking the weekend’s fastest time of 49:56, he finished with a combined time of 1:40.18, a sec- ond and a half clear of Webber. ’ Stefan Moser of Smithers took bronze despite being one of the few compelitiors to post a slower second ri run time. Sveinson by 6/100ths of a second. A disastrous 57.92 knocked Williams out of contention, telegating her to sixth. Shames Mouniain’s lone entry Carol Kozier finished 23rd on seraeseys improving two spols in Going in ranked at #24, Shames’ Josh McDonald sped to 14th and 19th place finishes. “Sunday’s men’s GS proved a re-run as far as gold and silver were concerned, though Perkins” combined time margin was cut to a half second. second edge over Engstrom and . Williams. That gap opened still further on ihe final descent, leaving her ihree. seconds. clear of Engstrom who held of fellow PGer Stacey \ ‘Sunday's event. Despite being twelveth man out of the- gate both: days,. Prince George’s Ian Perkins ignored that disadvantage and the rankings for his double gold. - Only 1/10th of'a second clear of teammate Joshua Webber after Saturday’s first run, number six ranked Perkins turned it on in the next, Smilhers again took third, Coby Hall’s fastest second run time proving not quite enough to vault him into second, Shames’ challenge was led by Josh McDonald. Going in ranked at #24, McDonald sped to 14th and 19th place finishes. Teammate Graeme Dediluke took 19th Saturday, followed by Alan Trappl (26th) and Christin Mitzimberger (34th). Christopher Paziuk = was knocked out of the race when he failed to complete the course on the first run. Paziuk made no mistake Sun- day, however, finishing in 27th just 2/20ths ahead of Dediluke. ‘Trappl crossed in 34th with Mit zimberg 38th. Top ranked Chad Kinsley of Prince George had a forgettable weekend, failing to complete the , first run both days, Minor leaguers to celebrate NOT THIS TIME. Last time they met, in Quesnel, Terrace PeeWeas defeated Prince George and - were tha only team to do so that weekend. Saturday, PG were in town lacking to‘aven the. score.. Terrace got off to a great start with a goal almost from the opening face-off. However, the visitors _ exploded fn the third period, scoring five unanswered goals for an 8-3 victory. ; Swim camp gets high marks ~ - - Aimee Peacock f perilse across.: AN UNQUALIFIED © success , both for swimmers and their coaches, That was the verdict on the recent training camp conducted a here by Graham Smith. - A one-time member of the ha tional team, Smith holds:the dis-_ tinction of having won more medals at a Commonweallh | Games than any other Canadian athlete. Obviously, therefore, he knows what he’s talking about when it 7 comes fo be successful in the. 7 podl. Just as important for Blueback : also knows, how. fo: Bel that Ck: “He said tt Hn a way, th ha made 7 participants at the camp, Smith. us undersiand,’” Aimee Peacock explained. Smith’s experience was particu- larly valuable because, like Peacock, he was a breast stroker as well, : So he’d been able to give her | tips on improving her stroke and "how to kick properly. Peacock sald she'd -be using | what she’d lcarncd at next month’s provincial senior championships where she hopes to qualify for the nationals. “Exciting end. Informative’? was how Chris Kerman described the three-day session. '-In particular, he recalled: the work done on. ‘‘streamlining’’, — That, hé explained, meant coming. y ite turn nia a way that reduced conker) “Ivan Temple — and McLean, A year later it was, MINOR HOCKEY WEEK offi- _Cially’ slaris this Saturday. and Terrace’s Icagues have some spe- cial events planned to _ help. celebrate it. 7 On Sunday, Jan. 23, Midget. ‘|: -players will take part in an bour- long hockey skills demonstrations beginning at 8 p.m. - Tuesday, Jan, 25 it’s the turn of the Bantanis. From 7:45 p.m. to |. 8:45 pam. they'll be participating in shooting accuracy, rapid-fire goaltending, fastest breakaway relay, hardest shot and rapid-fire shooting events, — The final two days of the spe- cial week see the tempo increase with the Tyke, Novice and Atom divisions all in action. The Tyke’s Spee Dee Printers have a fun day planned Saturday, Jan. 29 with relay races and a full-ice scrimmage. The players will the go up against their parents the following day in another scrimmage ‘ses- sion, For the Woolworth and Legion teams, the players-parents match up takes place on Saturday fol- lowed by a game against Kitimat on Sunday. That will be the first time there’s been an Inter-community game for players at this age level, Atoms will take part in. hockey -. skill contests both days with both .. team and individual competitions and awards, The events will include relay . races, tooter shooter, one-timers; rapid fire, stick-puck handling ..|--and fastest shot. Times for the ~events have yet to be decided. “On the Sunday. the Novice ‘steams will be redrafted into six. “teams, each of the realigned line- “ups playing in.one game’ between ‘|. 8:35 am. and 11:30 a.m. ~The Pee-Wee House and: the Rep teamis will not be taking part _owing to a lack of available ice ~ time, The first Minor Hockey Week _was held about 35. years ago in Trail and was put together’ by Chatlic adopted across the country. ” drag so you didn’t slow down. Another valuable area covered." had been visualization, where” ~~ swimmers use the mind’s eye’ to“ see themselves in the water per-. forming the techniques correctly. **It helps you,”’ Kerman agreed. _ At the camp swimmers also got: a chance to see themselves in ac- tion in a different way —— on | video, Kerman said watching the _ videos helped ‘them pinpoint ex-- catly what they neéded to do to improve their stroke and overall performance, As for Smith, “He was a nice: guy and very interesting.”” «.. Impressed by the number of: _cont’d on page C10. ‘skater, .