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This. week —

Jovial gets out
on the ground »

Part Il

In last week’s Foresiry Insights,
Milton Jovial got his first look at a
logging operation — his own. He
also got a look at a few problems
when his forester Herby Squish
discovered that the contractors
were not following his operational
instructions and maps.

"Nobody follows those maps,"
Skidmore and Nicholl said in
unison.

"My dad knows how to log,"
Archie junior said defensively.
*He’s been doing it for years and
he told me, “Junior, take the
shortest route, and if there’s some-
thing in the way drop the blade.
Time is money and it takes far to
much time and fuel to follow a
foresters map.’

"And he told me, ’Foresters don’t

‘care about production. What do

they know about the real world of

logging anyway?" That's what he

told me.”

"Shut up junior!" commanded
Skidmore senior.

“But...”

*I said shut up!" a

Squish ignored junior’s recital of
his father’s insulting remarks. To
Skidmore and Nicholl, he said,
"They follow the plan here, Any-
body working for Milton Jovial
follows the plan."

"No way. Nobody follows those
silly maps anywhere," Skidmore
repeated. "We're here to cut the
trees down. To make money for
Mr. Jovial here. If we followed
your plan it would take twice as
long and eat up good portion of
my profit."

Squish ignored him. "Milton.
You should shut this operation
down... Immediately. As soon as
Skidmore repairs the damage he’s
done, he can go back to work."

"Shut down for what! What
damage are you talking about?”
Skidmore was beginning to scream
again. "You quack, You're the one
that should be shut down. Follow
your plan and I'd be bankrupt. If I
knew I was going to have to fol-
low your silly little map Mr. Jovial
would be ‘paying me a lot more
money."

Jovial swallowed hard. He hated
such negative phrases that used the
word money.

"There’s a copy of the PHSP
attached to your contract," Squish
pointed out.

"Doesn't say I have to use it,
though,” Skidmore fired back in a
childish voice.

"Milton," Squish said calmly.

The Way I

See It...

by Stephanie Wiebe

Each year, the residents of Ter-
race, Kitimat and Prince Rupert:
enthusiastically compete in a tri-
city Fitness Challenge. The idea
is to see which city can recruit
the highest percentage of its —
citizens to engage in 15 minutes
of physical activity. This year’s
Fitness Challenge is next Wed-
nesday, May 29.

Last year, Prince Rupert came
in first, with fifty cight percent of
the population actively involved.
Terrace achieved second place
(38 percent) and Kitimat took
third (30.5 percent). This has
traditionally been a friendly com-
petition — until now. This year,
the residents of Terrace will get
down to serious business and
claim their rightful position at the
top of the list. It’s a matter of
pride. I’ve got our plan of attack
all mapped out. With my simple
seven-point outline, victory is
outs,

First off, as in any athletic com-
petition nowadays, there’s always
the question of steroid use. How
can we be assured that Prince
Rupert residents are not taking
steroids to boost their Fitness
Challenge performance? ‘You

a
Pifer —
Continued from page A6

follow the Socred leadership
stakes is Mike Harcourt in his
red silks.

At this stage, it looks like a
foolish waste of money to bet
against him and his NDP stables
to take the crown.

Annnnd they’re off!!

guessed it — urine samples. We
want urine samples from cach
registered athlete in this north- —
western port. Vials will be dis-
tributed at all major access points
— city politicians could handle
this.

Second, being the landing point
of ferries, Rupert does have the
sneaky advantage of possibly im-
porting athletes from all over the
world. This year, we want docu-
mented proof of residency. Sim-
ply attaching a Prince Rupert
Library card to each urine sample
vial will be sufficient proof. It’s
not that we don’t trust them, we

just want to make sure all the
bases are covered.

Third, the altitude differences
must be determined and adjust-
ments made in compensation.
Prince Rupertarians and Kiti-
matites, living just above sea
level, naturally breathe more
oxygen, thereby increasing their
athletic ability. It’s much more
difficult to be active for 15 min-
utes at 217 metres above sea
level in the thin-aired high aiti-
tudes of Terrace. We should have
a three-minute handicap on the
15 minute rule for that.

And about that 15 minute time
measurement. Being slightly
north of the other two cities,
there may be a teeny-weeny,
almost undetectable time differ-
ence. Oh, we don’t notice it, but
it could make a big difference in
a "borderline" athlete. Fifteen
minutes is definitely longer here
than it is there. Another minute
off the total time will compen-

sate.

Now, with a higher population,
Rupert enjoys another major ad-
vantage over its competitors. It’s
a known fact that people are
easily caught up in any move-
ment where. many others are
involved. This is evident in the
excited spectators of large sport-
ing events in major centres. The
audience gets caught up in a
"wave", pulled in by the actions
of the huge crowd. Ever try
doing a wave with five people? It
doesn’t work. Similar conditions
exists during Fitness Challenges
in small towns — the larger
populations have the advantage of
numbers, which attract more
participants. Three minutes off
the total will compensate for this
— four for Kitimat.

Having won last year, the city
of Prince Rupert has already
adopted a positive, winning atti-
tude, an element which is statisti-
cally proven to effect overall

performance.

Prince Rupert is a city of hills.
Therefore, by simply walking to
get their mail, Rupertarians are
unconsciously training for the
Fitness Challenge in daily life
throughout the year. It’s not so
easy for the rest of us. We flat-
valley people are much more sus-
ceptible to shin splints. Not to
mention the difficulties of winter
— it’s more pleasant to walk in
the rain than in the snow, and
you can’t do aerobics in a parka.
We'll take another three minutes
off for that.

Now we’re down to two min-
utes of activity, If, on Wednes-
day, May 29th, every Terrace
resident sets down the television
remote control and walks over to
the refrigerator, we've won. Kiti-
mat comes in second. Remember,
you read it here first.

i can hardly wait 'til next year.

Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 22, 1991 Al

"Look at that hillside. It’s a mess.
Right?"

"Dunno," said Jovial.

"Well take my word for it. It is,”
Squish said. “Look at it. Skidmore
began harvesting too soon. The
soil is still wet and soft because of
the rain and melting snow. And
Archie junior here, in his ignor-
ance, has been four-wheeling any
old place he feels like. There are
ruts and grooves going every
which way.

"You're only allowed to use
seven percent of the area for skid
trails, and these guys have used
about 15 percent of the six to eight
hectares they’ve logged so far.
There is far more site disturbance
than your approved PHSP allows.
The are has to be rehabilitated.

"And Archie senior here is right.
It’s not written into his contract.
He’s not legally bound to follow
the plan. You can thank 'Plug’
Nicholl over there for that."

"Plug?" Nicholl frowned.

"That's about what your con-
tract’s worth to your boss," Squish
said firmly. "A plug nickel." Jovial
laughed. But not for long. Without
a pause, Squish dropped the bomb:
"He's the one that’s going to end
up paying the cost of rehabilitating
this site.”

"I am?" Jovial gasped. Nicholl
cringed.

"It'll cost you about $2,000 per
hectare," Squish informed Jovial.
"And if you don’t clean it up, the
Ministry of Forests can either shut
you down or levy a fine. You're

lucky we caught these guys when
we did, It would have cost you a

lot more if this had continued."
Jovial levelled a dagger-like stare
at Nicholl and then the two Skid-
mores. "It will be in the next con-
tract Herby," he said in an even
voice. "Nicholl... ’Plug’, is going
to sit down with Skidmore and
explain to him exactly what a
PHSP is, and why it should be
followed. And you and I will sit in
and listen, just to make sure that
everyone's got it right.”

The Terrace Review

is a member of

CNA

‘ Canadian Community
Newspapers Association

Unique to
Terrace, B.C.

delivering the local story.

"Yes sir," said Nicholl obedient-
ly.

"And when you're finished,”
Jovial continued, “You're going to
visit Hightower and Fairlead and
do the same thing.”

"Yes sir. Uh... About the name
*Plug’..."

"I kind of like it Plug," Jovial
said decidedly as he rubbed an
aching right shoulder. “It fits.”

"Yes sir.”

Then it was Skidmore’s tur.
"This time, I pay," Jovial told him.
"Next time, you’ll fix it yourself...
Or you'll hit the road. I'll get
someone else to do the job. Con-
tract or no contract, you're not
allowed to break the law. And the
way Herby has explained things,
that’s exactly what I think you've
done."

Skidmore didn’t say a word. He
glowered at Nicholl and pawed at
the dirt with his right foot. In the

~ long run, this whole incident was

going to cost Skidmore some
money. =~

"Well. I think we got this thing
nicely sorted out,” Jovial said, in
effect ending their impromptu
discussion on harvesting practices.

Then, turning his back on Nicholl
and the others, "Herby. Give me a
ride over to High Tower’s oper-
ation... It’s on your way back to
Terrace and we can talk on the
way, Nicholl. You follow us."

As Jovial and Squish headed
toward Herby’s truck, Nicholl
could overhear a bit of their con-
versation. “Ever ride with that
guy?” Jovial asked. "He’s insane.
Potholes bigger than any in down-
town Terrace and he can’t even
steer around them."

"That’s another thing," said
Squish. "That road. You're going
to have to have to talk to Rocky
about it. I don’t think Skidmore’s
the only one that’s been cutting costs."

*Rocky Rhodes," mused Jovial.
"Another guy recommended by
Plug Nicholl. What’s the matter
with the road... Other than the
obvious?"

"It’s not ballasied properly,"
Herby explained. "In other words,
the heavy rock that’s supposed to
be below the surface, under the
gravel, is either inadequate or
missing all together. It’s going to
have to be improved soon or
you’re going to have problems
with Wheeler. I don’t expect it will
be long before he refuses to haul
from this site and you'd better
hope that the other roads Rhodes
built were done right.”

"This is not turning out to be a
very good day," Jovial muttered.
"Let’s head for High Tower’s
operation and pray he's doing
something right."

wom.
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