A10 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 25, 1996

Howe Creek getting
a beauty treatment

HOWE CREEK is to get a
new look as it winds along
the foot of the bench thanks
to the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans.

The plan is to redirect the
ercek where it runs through
the greenbelt area set aside
by the cily.

In doing so, the creek will
do a U-turn where it
emerges from under the fish
hatchery at the foot of Eby
St

From there, it will
meander along the greenbelt
trail, through the forest and
into some shallow ponds,

The creck will then
emerge from the ponds be-
hind Christie Park and flow
through an existing culvert
back to where it currently
crosses bencath Eby Street.

“The pond area won't be
too deep,”’ says DFO com-
munity advisor Martin
Forbes who is overseeing
the project. ‘But it will be
good cnough for frogs and
sticklebacks (little fish).””

Labour is being provided
by a group of students
originally hired to monitor
the commercial fishery at
the mouth of the Skeena.,

With the fishing season
aver, they’ve been assigned
other duties.

The students will work to
clear a rough path for the
creek this fall. Then, heavy
machinery will help dig the
ponds and excavate some of
the creek beds in February,
when the city plans to move
a water line thal passes un-
der the area.

“I think it will look really.

sharp and enhance the
whole city,’” Forbes says.

MARTIN FORBES cuts down a small tee near Howe -

Creek. Forbes is a community advisor for the DFO,
He and some summer student workers are planning
to redirect the creek to make it more scenic.

DFO is always looking for
volunteers and sponsors to
help with the project. And
he hopes the support that
has been received so far will
continue for what he consid-
ers to be an important city

“Terrace is one of the
fastest growing com-
munities in B.C.,’’ Forbes
says, “‘But sometimes the
important things get forgot-
tea with development and
people don’t realize what

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Forbes points out that the Jandmark.

they have.”

Bear hunt ban plan

up against the wall —

By DAVE TAYLOR
CONSERVATIONISTS have started their
campaign to force the provincial govern-
ment to hold a public referendum to ban
bear hunting in the province.

Members of the Western Canada Wilder-
ness Committee and volunteers have 90
days in which to gather signatures from 10
pet cent of eligible voters in each of the
province’s 75 electoral ridings — more
than 210,000 names.

That’s what's required under the pro-
vince’s Initiative and Recall Act, and
campaign organizer Anthony Mar says the
rules are too strict.

“Its a bureaucratic nightmare,” he says,
“The system is really stacked against the
proponents.”

Marr points out that Californian legisla-
lion only calls for the signatures of five per
cent of voters, and proponents are given
150 days to gather them.

“It is very tough in B.C,,’’ he says. ‘We
are working against great odds."’

Marr and his supporters are trying to
have bear hunting banned to help stave off
what Marr says will be a dramatic increase
in bear poaching as the Asian market for
bear parts grows.

Marr also points out that a 1995 Angus
Reid poll found that 78 per cent of the gen-
cral population opposed the trophy bunting
of bears,

The WCWC currently has more than
1000 volunteers working to gather signa-
(ures, but Marr recognizes that he will need
many more.

“The real opposition seems not to come
from bear-hunting activists, but from the
apathy of the anti bear-hunting majority,”
he says,

However, many groups in the province '
don’t agree with Marz. So far, 69 organiza-
tions and 38 individuals have registered as
opponents of the initiative,

One of those groups is the BC Wildlife
Federation. In the federation’s literature,
members are asked to oppose the ban and
encourage others to do the same.

BCWF executive director Doug Walker
even went as far as lo call WCWC terrorists
in the latest edition of the federation's mag-
azine, The Outdoor Edge -- something he
tow admits was a mistake.

“The BCWF apologizes for any such
comparison,” he says, ‘‘We will print that
in the next edition of our magazine.’’

Ironically, Walker himself is upset with
the way he says the anti bear-hunting
campaign compares hunters to poachers.

‘We must differentiate between a highly
trained and Ilcenced hunter, and a poacher
who obeys no laws,”’ he says. “To think
that banning hunting will prevent poaching
is complete folly. It’s like saying that in or-
der to get rid of drunk drivers we have to
take licences away from all the legitimate
drivers.”’

Walker says that hunters are, in fact, the

best conservationists since they have a
direct interest in conserving the resource.
He also points out that if the hunters are
taken out of the woods, there would be no
one to repart poachers.

But Marr disagrees with that claim,
saying that hikers and campers outnumber
hunters in the field, and poachers would be
easy to spot since anyone hunting bears
would be obviously be poaching.

Marr also disagrees with BCWF literature
‘suggesting that the bear ban is just the be-
ginning of an attempt by conservationists to
ban all hunting, including fishing, in the
province.

‘That's total B.S.” he says. “F’ve made
it very clear that we are not anti-use. Some
of us are fishermen, for godssake.’’

Meanwhile the environment ministry says

that the bear Population in the province is
not currently in danger.

Sean Sharp, head of the ministry’ 5 wild-
life division for the Skeena region, says
bears are closely monitored for fluctuations
in populations, And while he admits that
his figures are not exact, Sharp says that
poaching takes far fewer bears than does le-
gitimate hunting,

“If numbers were really high we'd be
finding way more carcasses in the woods
and losing more radio-collared animals,”
he says,

According to Sharp, there are some
120,000 black bears in the province and
10,000 grizzlies, The bears are not evenly
distribuled, so some areas have relatively
high concentrations of animals, while other
areas are quite low,

Sharp says that the ministry monitors
these populations and closes hunting in
areas Where the numbers appear to be
decreasing.

"*We've had some concerns with grizzlies
and have closed areas like the Kitlope when
the numbers are low,’’ be says.

But Marr says that as poaching increases,
the ministry and the tiny number of conser-
vation officers in the field will nol be able
to keep up with the poachers,

‘“B.C. is a poachers’ paradise,” he says,
“We are on the Pacific Rim, with easy ac-
cess to Asian markets and just about every
comer of the province is accessible by log-
ging roads,”’

The BCWF will continue to oppose the
referendum, and Doug Walker thinks his
group will prevail —- so the tradition of
bear hunting will continue. But he does add
that any initiative of this size has to be
taken very seriously,

In the meantime, the environment minis-
try will continue to regulate bear hunting as
it sees fit,

“The bottam line is that we won’t let the
bear population get anywhere near the
brink of extinction,” Sean Sharp says. “It
doesn’t matter whether it is a tradition or
not.

fwd

ome ASsey Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal

7
* ;
bg fo) Affair
: as
I - PUBLIC MEETING -
al Wednesday, October 2, 1996 starting at 2:00 p.m,
a Skeena Room 1
| onen Terrace Inn
! Sry es a 4551 Greig Avenue

. . TERRACE | dente he
. Treaty Negotiations Process: It’s
ia
a

Our Future and
Your Chance to Participate

The public is invited to attend an open meeting Mr: Harry Lal HNILA (NDP Yale- ‘Lillooet) -

i ; ; en Deputy Chair
} of the Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Af- i Ten Stevenson, MLA (NDP Vancouver-
‘a fairs to present their views on the Nisga’a Agreement- Burrard)’:
lm| in-Principle. . [Mr Glenn Robertson, MLA (NOP North Is-
: The all-party committee is seeking public com- © [land)
| ment on how progress can be made towards treaty NB Goda, MAG (NDP - Bulkley

settlements with aboriginal people in a manner bene-
ficial to all British Columbians. The Select Standing

. Ms; Erda Walsh, MLA (NOP - Kootenay)
a
: Committee on Aboriginal, Affairs will make recom-

-|Ms. Cathy McGregor, MLA (NDP - Kamloops)
Mr. Bill Barisof, MLA (BC Lib - Okanagan-

mendations to the Legislative Assembly of British Boundary}

Columbia. Mr, Murray Coell, MLA (BC Lib - Saanich
North and the islands)
This is an opportunity to have your views Mr. Mike de jong, MLA (BC Lid - Matsqui)
heard and recorded ! Mr. Geoff Plant, MLA (BC Lib - Richmand-
Individuals and organizations wishing to ap- [Steveston): =
M| pear before the Select Standing Committee on Abo- [Mr Jack Weisgerber, MLA (Re Peace River
riginal Affairs should contact the Clerk of Committees .[5°uth) .

at the number listed below, indicating the topic of
their brief.

Intervals of 10 minutes have been set aside for
presentations with an “open microphone” near the
end of the day’s proceedings for those who have not

previously been scheduled to speak, a
Written submissions should be.sent to the Clerk

For further information about the work of the.
Committee, please contact:
_|Mr, Craig James -
{Clerk of Committees and Clerk Assistant
Room 224.
Parliament Buildings
Victoria; BC VAVAX4
Telephone: (604) 356-6318 (collect)
: (Facsimile: (604) 356-8172”
of Committees as Soon. as Poss ible. Committee Email: la_clerkcom@galaxy.gav.b¢.ca
For a copy of the Committee's initial public consul-
tation schedule and terms-of. reference, ‘please contact the Py
. “Clerk of Cominittees, i :

WAAL beihenc! ’ ui fF .

wid

2 non wR oe .2 8 5 8 0 8

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