| Reward offered

TERRACE -- The small tent
lying On the ground was bought at
2 store in Prince Rupert. So were
{wo lawn chairs left at the
“Temains ofa campfire.

These objects and countless
~ empty liquor bottles, rotting food
- and other garbage were left be-
hind last week after a large Vic-
toria Day weekend crowd
destroyed the forest service’s Ex-
stew River campground west of
Terrace,

. Forest service recreation officer
“Bob Childs estimated the crowd
‘Size at'more than 400 and the
“inamber, of vehicles at nearly 100
-all crammed into a space for 20
vehicles,

<.Childs wasn’t surprised at the
size of the crowd made up of resi-
dents ftom Prince Rupert and
from Terrace,

"He estimated the same number
of people were at the forest ser-
vice’s Red. Sand site the same
weekend and. more than 100
people were at the Lakelse River
site, |
' But the extent of damage at Ex-

stew has now convinced Childs

that the only thing left to do to
preserve the location is to dig up
the access road, making it a walk-
in area only,

"It’s kind of sad. I've had
people - Europeans - in this site
and at Red Sand who teft $20 and
$10 tips in our comment box,
thanking ws for having such a
‘well maintained site in a beautiful
* spot," said Childs during a tour of
Exstew last week.

"What we bave here now is a
rec site and you can put a ‘w’ in
front of the rec.”

Childs doesn’t have to worry
about the comment box. It was
destroyed - as were several signs.
Two bear proof garbage recep-
tacles, installed only one week
before the parly, were also
destroyed.

He also doesn’t have to worry
about the tvo remaining picnic
tables of the 10 put in two years
ago, They were cut up with
chainsaws and burned.

Childs estimates it will cost
$4,000 to clean up the damage,
and another four to six thousand
follars fo restore the site to its

4 ' ae

citeenaathaninas

‘are all those people, there’s not

original condition,

But what worries Childs the
most are the empty shotgun shells
strewn around the area.

Firing weapons is not only il-
legal in campgrounds but is
dangerous when combined with
alcohol use.

Childs has scen a
vandalism over the years. He di-
vides it into two ‘categories -
chronic and serious over the
seven campgrounds in his area.

"We always. ask that people
phone us if they see something,”
he says,

But he warns that people should

_ Not confront those doing damage

for fear of physical harm.

"We found out that the party (at

Exstew) was planned a year ago.
All it would have taken was a
phone call so we could have
taken some action ahead of time,"
Childs continued.

"Once it gets going and there

much you can do," he said.

That feeling is shared by Staff
Sergeant John Veildman of the

Terrace RCMP detachment.

"We are limited in our man-
power, If you don’t get it early,

it’s very hard to control - very,
very, difficult," said Veldman,

He did say RCMP will step up
their patrols through campsites
and could set up roadblocks to
seize liquor if they have advance

notice of a party in the making.

Stolen from the Red Sand site

was a custom made ATV trailer.

kk kkk

The damage at Exstew has
prompted Vandal Watch to offer

a $500 reward for the arrest and

conviction of the people in-

volved.

"We're extremely upset by the
Exstew situation. It’s a really nice

campsile lost to the public," said

Vandal Watch spokesman George

Clark last week,

"We're included campgrounds
in owr coverage area exactly for

this purpose," he said.

Vandal Watch accepts
anonymous tips which result in
rewards if the information leads
to a court conviction,

The Vandal Watch phone mun-
ber is 635-5556.

£ : ro

= = ra aa hae

andalism ruins Exstew campsite |

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 27, 1992 — Page A3

Briefs

Group forms

lot of

FILTHY OUTHOUSE was about all that \ was left of the forest service's : Exstew River campsita
after a Victoria long weekend party. The access road to the site is being dug up and a reward has
been posted far intormation leading: ‘to the arrest. and conviction of those responsible.

Sound
Investment
Today...

Over 2500 children under the
age of 15 use our Public Library.

and in the future.

Your support of the June 20th
Library Expansion referendum will help ensure
they have the room in which to grow now

Over 2500 reasons to say Yes on June 20th.

oo A Great

4501 Lakelse Avenue, Terrace, B.C. 638-1158.

/Newly formed is the Junior
Forest. Wardens Association
‘non-profit society.

The Junior Forest Warden
‘program thas been active in
“B.C, since 1930.

Originally created to help in-
form the public of the dangers
of forest fires and to promote
good forestry practices, it has
‘since ‘expanded to also en-
compass ecology, outdoor
“recreation and leadership, ;

Membership in” the new].
society is open to individuals,
‘| corporations or associations
and. its fist annual gencral
-mceting. is set for June 13 in
Vancouver, :

‘For more information, phone
Jack Scrivener at 420-JFWA.

ATVs banned

ALL-TERRAIN ‘vehicles are
now banned from forest ser-|-
vices roads.

That’s not really a change in
policy, but in the past the
regulations were not specific
about the prohibition.

Noting recent amendments
now make the ban quite clear,
forests minister Dan Miller. ex-
plained allowing - logging
trucks and ATVs to use the
same toads was just too
dangerous.

Snowmobilers will still be al-
lowed to use forestry roads
providing they are not
ploughed or are impassable to
other traffic, ©

Fair wages

FAIR WAGES do not in-
crease the cost of construction
projects.

So says B.C. Carpenters
president Colin Snell. Of the
first five projects tendered un-
der the new system, be pointed
out, four had come in under the }
original estimates.

"In total the projects will be
up to $6 million less than
anticipated," Snell said. -

That upheld the Carpenters’
Jong held position fair wages
cost the taxpayer little or no
extra.

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