By RYAN JENSEN

’ Smithers Interior News:

AS THE Canadian goverm-
ment trumpets the conclusion
of the softwood lumber
dispute with the U.S., the

. picture for the Northern B.C. .-
- lumber industry is not the

rosy one painted in Ottawa. |
--The Terrace _
Company is still not opera-
tional and has in fact begun
returning some of their logs
to loggers, who- harvested
them before the mill’ s in-
definite shutdown.'was an-
nounced more than - two
weeks ago. And it is still
waiting to hear what, if any,

money willbe returned to it

Lumber.

from the nearly 20 per cent. ES

' duty. it has been paying on

shipments to the U.S.-since
it started up operations Aug.
-29,2005.

The high Canadian dol-
lar, soft international lumber

prices and a decadent timber _

profile in the region have all
conspired against the: suc-

» cess of the forestry industry
' in this area. And it’s start- ©
ing to be felt in the interior.
”. where the rush to cut wood
from the ‘pine beetle epi- .
demic has created a surge of”

wood on the market. *
- Jeff Giesbrecht, a hauler

in Grassy Plains, said since

the new Forest Practices

Act came into effect, this is.

From front

‘LOGS are not moving in the Terrace Lumber Company anymore since it shut down

its operations indefinitely. Other sawmills are also feeling the crunch.

the first year he’s noticed a
slowdown in summer log-

_ ging operations.

“Vd say about one-third

“of people are. out of work.

People had taken advantage

of the opportunity to buy |
_ More equipment but now the

dollar is.going up and the?
price of lumber going down.

* Shifts will be cut: Right now

there’s a tremendous amount

- of trucks parked.

“TI work for. a] smaller

“mill. With the price of lum- .

ber going below $300 [per -.
thousand board feet], if they

shut down then I’m out. of
work fike everybody else.

_ And there is no work out
there.”

Former

the business last year for

what he sees as a terminal -

decline in available work for
independent truckers. Still

an outspoken niember of the.
Burns Lake Truckers’ Asso-.
ciation, he feels drivers have .

been hit by. a slowdown, |

but blames that.on the local
mills, not the climate of the
industry. .

“The softwood lumber is-

" sue probably ‘has something,,
logging truck :
driver Bob. Schneider ‘left .

to do with [the slowdown],

_but, I mean, the big mills _
-have made it clear over the |

past ten years that they’re °

‘going to get rid of the small
However, he -
adds, “Drivers with the larg- .

contractor.

er contractors don’t have
it as good as they'd like ei-

“ther... things have been a

Forestry takes a region-wide hit

- little slow.” ;
At the Houston Canfor

mill, that high Canadian
dollar and low timber pric-
es have forced a reduction
.in shifts from three to two
which’ will translate into
the layoff of 28 workers.
At the end of June, Can-
for announced a number of
short-term mill shutdowns
in Mackenzie, Chetwynd,
Radium and Vanderhoof
which will take Place this
month.
“We're going. to be
watching our pennies very
carefully,” said Canfor pres-
ident Jim Shepherd. “There
is just too much wood in the
marketplace.” Mills » were

~ chosen for shutdowns either

because they had’ excess
7 inventory, he said, or their,

“costs were, out of line with -

the economic reality.” .
But Lee Coonfer, Man-

ager of Public Affairs, Can-

for said the Northern B.C.

mills will be busy harvesting ...

_ mountain pine beetle infest-

ed wood for years to come.”
“We’re nowhere near_
the peak of the pine beetle, ©

“we're going to: be harvest-
ing that fibre for about 10
years,” he said. .

Bender, Arthur Williams:

and Sarah A. Zimmer- -

_ man.

Loggers look to second growth trees"

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - A3”

News In Brief

With files from Quinn |

Bill Sauer is hearing similar feelings from his —
“ members at the Northwest Loggers Association

which represents people and businesses from nu-

-- merous sides of the forestry industry.

' He’s hearing a call for more help to address

issues such as silviculture and logging road main-

tenance here. 3

. “Road infrastructure is really, really bad,” he’.
says, adding not all companies or licensees can
‘afford the upgrades required given the high ex-,

tractions costs in the area.

Former minister. of state for forest operations
Roger Harris says the province needs to focus
more attention on reforestation and infrastructure
in the northwest in an effort to accelerate the onset
of second growth and ease the costs of harvesting
.in the interim..*"

“If we were to aggressively approach silvicul-
ture in this part of the world we could be seeing
volumes of the second growth on line 20 years

SECURITY SYSTEMS:

MP. are investigati

June 3 and June 5

on Po

‘RCMP at 638-7400 or Crimestoppers at 635- S477.

» the theft: of 3,032°
at $3,390.10 from the Esso gas. station: .

ade: Fate when someone stole p
e Ave: and then used. it at the gas %

Those with information on on this theft are asked to call the :

sooner but that requires . an investment today.””_

_says Harris.

“I would expect a northwest strategy that may

‘include government participation in things like

infrastructure costs,” he sayso.. -

“So maybe they contribute somehow. to log- |
_ging road’construction maintenance or put some.

resources to it so the companies aren’ t doing it.”
In the meantime, companies such as Houlden’: s

‘are working as much as they. can with what ° is

available. °

He says the one area where. policy changes
have benefitted companies such as his is in the
diversification of tenures in the region.

“We’ ve always felt we wanted diversity 1 in ten-
ures,” Houlden says.

““SCI held 75 per-cent of. the timber i in the
northwest,.so when SCI went down that was three
communities that went down.”

‘Though the reallocation of the province’s 20

per cent take back strategy has been slow in com-
ing, it is starting to crank up, he says, pointing to

the three aboriginal groups in the region who have .
licenses. ‘Those include Kitselas, Kitsumkalum

and the Lax Kw’allams.
“If one of those goes broke, there’ s still two

others operating -- rather than.when we had SCI -:
_.they went broke and. the whole northwest went

down with them”:

; Houlden has contracted his’ services” to both:
*.Kalum Venutres out of Kitsumkalum and Lax .
Kw’ allams. “Tt’s definitel y going but it’s not ata -

rapid pace,” he says. -
And where the real benefit lies is in training

aboriginal people to work in the industry which
has been hard hit by the loss of qualified workers

to places such as the oil sands.
“We are getting First Nations employment 0
ing,” Houlden says.
_ “There’s a a good labour pool there.”

‘Thieves target vehicles

TERRACE RCMP report that a number of vehicles
were broken into in Terrace and Thornhill between
June 28 to July 5.

' Police say that in most cases, the vehicles were left

unlocked. In the other incidents, the vehicles were

locked but valuables could be seen inside and thieves.

smashed a window to gain entry.
Vehicle break-ins were reported in the city on Sou-
cie Ave., Lazelle Ave., Tuck Ave. and Evergreen St.
Reports from Thornhill said break-ins were along

Desjartins Ave., Hawthorn Ave., Cypress St., Aspen:

Ave., Juniper Ave. and Walnut Drive.
' In'two cases, someone attempted to use stolen credit
cards at local stores, police say.

Terrace RCMP say it’s believed that most, if not all,

of these crimes are related. 0

The public is reminded to keep vehicles locked even
in driveways and to always remove valuables or keep.

them out of sight. Police continue their investigation.

_ Fishing: rods stolen’.

VISITORS from Smithers and Quesnel lost rods and
reels to thieves while on a fishing trip near Exchamsiks
campground west of town on Hwy 16 June 30.

Terrace RCMP say the total loss is believed to be .

around $4,000 to $5,000. Some of the rods reported sto-
len are Fenwick, Loomis and Diawa and some of the
reels are “Ambassador and Garcia.

The two separate incidents of theft are believed to be To

related, say police. »

_-Beware of canvassers.

LOCAL POLICE are warning the. public to be wary.

of anyone asking for donations for the Terrace Anti-
Poverty Society.
The person, or persons, may attempt to use chari-

‘table: receipts, numbered from 63193 to 63269, to show

a legitimate involvement with the charity but Terrace
RCMP say that donations given to people issuing these
receipts will not go to the rightful group.

The Terrace Anti-Poverty Society is not currently
engaged in any door-to- door canvassing ‘campaigns,
according to police.

It’s important to ask for identification, such as an ID

ity.

Anyone with any. information about this possible:
fraud is asked to call the Terrace RCMP detachment at |

638- 7400 or Crimestoppers at 635- 8477.

; TERRACE RCMP arrested a man at his Lakelse Lake .

residence: after learning he had*allegedly. threatened
"a Vancouver area Crown prosecutor who was here to

prosecute him.

Police arrested James Richard Byrne, 32, on July 6.

at the request of Vancouver city police. -

Byrne has been charged with uttering ‘threats, ob-
struction of justice and intimidation and remanded in

custody until his next court date. .

badge, from those. who claim to be. canvassing for char-

Nass

SUMMER |
SPECIAL

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and we support the people |
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== DUMP BROKEN INTO | os .
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Bx June 12 providing them with access to the location. | 2 that happen to be our friends as. well! f

_ They were then able to enter the area witha small vehicle _
“and take a.red Honda water pump and various wrenches.
“« Those with information on this theft are asked to call the

FARE SAVINGS

PURCHASE A REGULAR >

We mean something in the
northern communities .

“RCMP at, 638-7400 or Crimestoppers at 635-8477...

‘ie you have information about via or any other: crime or ou , AND YOUR COMPANION and they mean ,
know the identity of the person-or person's responsible for this, CAN FLY WITH 9, FOR everthing fo us!
‘6 or any other crime - Crimestoppers would like to hear from you. A n d . th asa

. . oe. ;
Crimestoppers offers a cash reward of up to $2,000.00 for Information |. T
“| leading to the arrest and charges being laid against this or any other | . ft Cat. eels: 99 :
- | unsolved Crime. If you have any information call CRIME STOPPERS at 635- |:
.{ TIPS, that’s 635-8477. Callers will not be required to reveal their identity or |+
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‘ testify in court. Crmestopn= does not subscribe to call cisplay.

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{ Call 1-800-487-1216. Approud Hawkalr employee
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