"Recollections _ of Sweden — Beetle’ Mountain brings to. mind another mountain in H. erby Squish's past as: the forester searches for_an acceptable posi- - tion “— personally as well as professionally. ~~ to take on the ‘practical and ethical problems presented by his. ‘employer, . | Milton: Jovial,-.and. the opera- tions Ce Jovial Logging. “quish” “tepeated, the: words of professor Rees" 7 S in his mind: "Are We - most concerned in managing the , woods of B.C.?" he asked. "In ‘maintaining’ happy shareholders ° ‘in Zurich and New York and so on? Or ought we to be con- cerned with maintaining sustainable communities. within " our Own population?" It’s a'decision that needs to be made, And it’s a decision that. about in confusion, ¢ each waiting - for the other to make a decision. If the decision was bad, they would be the Sacrificial goat, If the decision: was : good, others could jump on ‘the band wagon and claim it as their own. . "It’s a silly game,". Squish _Teflected. "Much: like playing chicken." Squish tured | the key in the _ ignition and shifted ‘into drive. The clock was ticking away on. his day of solitude and he. still had a lot of thinking to do, He- twisted; bounced and turned up the side of Beetle Mountain until he ran out of road. He wasted little time to take in the view from this Jofty when you know what’s broken it’s generally not that difficult to fix, But this was different. There were a lot of heavy weight Players stumbling around the ‘Stage and none of them. were ‘willing to follow common sense advice. ' Milton Jovial was a good example. It didn’t take long for his venture to enter the inevi- table: downward slide. Inevitable was perhaps a poor choice of words, Squish decided, It would clicked, warning of Herby’s. advance. Squish loved the out- doors. The smell; the sounds... No amount of money could’ create what Mother Nature does. As Squish worked his way up the slope the wilderness environ- ment helped take his mind off the task he had been struggling with all day. The dilemma of the forest industry was soon. pushed aside by much more pleasant thoughts, — . Bectle Mountain was a very "In ‘Canada it’s just plain money. Just cut the trees down and take the _ Money and go somewhere else and cut the trees down. You cannot do that in needs to be acted on immediate Sweden. The penalties are very, very high. Even for very, very small damages. That’ 's not true in Canada. ” . ly, Rees, had said. Because, "At the present time, international financing favours happy stock- holders... The communities. be _ damned." | | That was three . years ago. . Today, he feflected, it’s as though a crossroad had. been, reached and people” representing " ; forest companies, financial insti- tutlons, and government milled SRMAAPAACAAPRNORDAIRSDROAOE ASG RAAIEAY BA RAAB ABLAPASSAARESAP COR AAAPMRE POM BIOS IRI EARL MEASAARASBBIBRAARMASBONG PENTSAL AMARA REALM DADE BR AALAA GY BO vantage point. It. was still a 45- minute hike to the top, so he headed . immediately up the mountain Side through a short section of clear cut into virgin forest, col Stine "4 The solution. ‘Where is’. the ‘solution? Squish knew what was wrong. He had for years. And be difficult working within the existing system, but a corpor- ation, a boara of directors with a commitment to the land, could do it. He was. certain of that fact, But you can't dictate.com- yen ‘mitment, It has to come “from. within. Somewhere a chipmunk Local people should have major role in decisions on Kitlope. | ‘To the Editor; my _ We have been noting with interest the many articles in your paper and others about land use in ‘the Kidope Valley. Whatever decisions are made on the use of this large land area, they will: impact the residents of Northwest- em B.C. Eco-Trust (an international environmental group based in Ore- gon) will be meeting with the . Haisla natives to discuss land use ‘in this area this week. Greenpeace, has also taken interest in this area and has travelled to Scandinavia . and’ Germany for input on-manag- ing the land use decisions? | “Should foreign-based environ- mental groups dictate land man- agement in B.C,? Our group is not saying that alternative plans should be discounted, but we are ‘Legion Ladies choose executive for 1992 To the Editor; . The Legion Ladies of Branch 13 in Terrace have ended ‘another very successful year. At our December meeting the Sal- vation Army received food for thelr food hamper program, along with unwrapped gifts for. the necdy and $300 for the Kettle Campaign. The 1992 slate of officers is and Addie Ryan. president Marj Cromarty, first . - vice-president Bev Dickie; sec- ond vice-president Hazel de- Frane, secretary Lissi- Sorensen, : treasurer Jean Dixon, sergeant- at-arms Jessie Gowe, and direc- tors Claire Irwin, Evelyn Baxter Royal Canadian Legion Branch 13, Tetrdte A agi Lissi Soresen, . Secretary, Ladies’ Auxillary, very concerned that other local interest groups have so far had no say in the land management of this area, Forestry decisions in this ing the area, Are these organiza- area have a direct financial impact . tions the ones that should be mak- ’ on all Northwest residents. Many local interest groups have begun taking an active role in the plan- ning of our resource areas, and we believe that this is the route to go. Local residents should have a major say in land use-decisions, as they may have the clearest under- standing of the impact of these ' decisions. We believe that British Columbians must work together to ‘decide land management in B.C. ‘Making these types of decisions will never be easy, but British Columbians will be making a lot of them during the 1990's, It is extremely important that.these - decisions are rational ‘ones made by people who have truly consid- cred all. sides of the issue. - Dianne Smith, . Canadian Women in Timber, a ~-Tetrace Branch. Special. place for Squish. There was something unique about the contours of the land he couldn’t quite put a finger on. But it always reminded him of Slidvik Hill in;Sweden. In the § summer of 1990, Squish 7 and = fellow forester ‘Svenson had spent the better part of a week exploring Slidvik and ‘the surrounding area. Slidvik was actually much more than a hill. If it were in B.C. it would have been called Slidvik Moun- tain. But the Swedes have a much different approach to life than Canadians do. The Swedes are proud of their forests and have learned to man- age the land. And so in Sweden, it’s Slidvik Hill, Because a hill is much less intimidating than'a mountain... Much more approachable .as ‘a part of every day life. At least that’s -how Svenson had explained it. Squish had never really decided if. he was serious, though. Sweden. It brought back a lot of memories. He and Svenson had explored Swedish and Cana- dian forestry inside out and . Probably the most important Sven “Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 22, 199 eT ‘thing Squish had learned was that there is no Swedish solution for us, in part because of what -_ ‘we have already done. 7 Sweden, of course,. has iad forestry disasters equal to or. greater than our.own. But Swe- den’s problems are many gener- ations in the past. The forest — industry in Sweden is more than 700 years old and Sven will. tell you their management practices -- are the best in the world. To some extent, Squish had-to . agree. But not entirely. Sweden still has its fair share of prob- lems. In Sweden, however, they © at least have a long-established way of dealing with problems as they arise. It’s. called commit- ment. The honesty to face the truth, and the will to do some- thing about it. When it comes to forestry, you won’t find. that in the Jovials of this world, = Squish remembered his. first Meeting with Svenson.wellsIt — was: .in ‘the late’ 1980’s"-at® ‘an. » international forestry conference in Vancouver. Both had a couple © of drinks under their belts at. the hospitality bar and . talk. was uninhibited. "I’m not really convinced Swedish forest practices are any better than: ours," Squish ‘had » said. He still didn’t understand why. In truth, he believed quite the opposite and was a little jealous of his Swedish peer. The glow of scotch and water ‘in Svenson’s face deepened to bright scarlet and Squish new ‘instantly he had made a mistake. “We're doing it much. better than in Canada," Svenson had shot back in surprisingly good’ English. "Because there are rules to replace the forest. In Sweden it’s against the Law to cut a tree down if you-do not plant new one, You have to do it. If you _ Continued on page 8 Former Skeena MP has chance to be chancellor. Tona Campagnolo, who repre- sented the Skeena riding as MP in the 1970's, is one of four people who have been nominated: for the position of Chancellor for the University of Northern B.C. Chancellor is an honourary and unpaid position that involves the university’s public image and usually goes to an individual with a prominent public profile. The Chancellor represents the university at important public events, attends meetings of the, board of governors, » awards degrees and is expected to play a lead role in raising money for the university, — Aiso nominated for Chancellor were Charles Henry Gairns, a professional forester, Jack G. McKenzie, a medical doctor, and Ray Gillis Williston, a a lawyer Members: of the UNBC convo- cation will vote in the. election by mail up to March 2. The elected Chancellor will. take ‘office May 23.