Lightning lights t two > fires LAST WEER’S thunder storms recorded 932 positive lightning strikes in the Kalum forest district. But despite the high risk of wildfire danger, the storm resulted in only iv-o minor fires. The Kalum region forest fire centre successfully fought a fire near Kitimat River.and.one near Williams Creek caused by lightuing strikes. Dense clouds made it difficult for forest firefighters to spot any new fires. But patrols over the weekend didn’t find any new fires. Campers found A FAMILY that was reported missing from Lakelse Lake campground Saturday was found the following day in Terrace. Local RCMP members briefly had a mystery on their hands when the family failed to return to their campsite after a fishing trip Aug. 20. However, the family was located safe and sound Aug. 24 at a Terrace residence. Instrument fault in spill A FAULTY instrument led to a small spill of anhy- drous ammonia which caused a brief evacuation of the Methanex plant site in Kitimat late Thursday afternoon. A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 27, 1997 FAGAN MURDER RCMP seize vehicle, question owner POLICE ARE scouring a vehicle impounded last week to find out if it involved in the murder of Daniel Fagan. Terrace RCMP are saying little about the vehicle, other than that it fits the description provided by the only witness to the murder. | Police discovered the vehicle out- side the Terrace area and had it towed to the local detachment Aug. -18.- “We're going over it very thor- FROM FRONT oughly,” says Sergeant Doug Wheler of the Terrace detachment. The owner of the vehicle is being questioned, but Wheler says no arrests have been made yet and he points out that the impounded vehi- cle could be a “blind lead.” Daniel Fagan, 34, was gunned down on the Copper River Forestry Road August 14. According to the only witness, he and Fagan were standing at the side of the road near their car, facing rowan Highway 16. Another car drove past the two, then stopped about 144 metres fur- ther down the road and turned side- ways to block passage. A man with a rifle then got out and opened fire. The first shot hil the dirt in front of the men, another blew through their car window and one hit Fagan. The witness says about five shots were fired in all, The man managed to get Fagan back into the car and drove him to Mills Memorial . Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. ‘ “ o cy a “ Police are still looking for the * public's help in this case, Anyone who may have seen alone — male driving a light coloured vehi- cle, possibly a Chevrolet, probably — driving fast and erraticatly, leaving — the Copper River Forestry Road at. about 7:30 Aug. 14 is asked to call . the Terrace detachment. Deadline looms for SCI deal A meeting between the two sides ended last Wednesday with virtually no common ground. Although the union has accepted the idea of around 219 jobs cut in concert with technological change provi- sions, they are refusing to reo- pen the collective agreement and make changes allowing contracting out and “full flex- ibility” of the jobs workers perform, Company officials say that’s Schwartz added. “For the banks to commit this kind of money they need more than a promise to live up to the current agreement.” No deal means the possible permanent closure of the pulp mill, and potentially long shut- downs of the sawmills. It would also mean atea contrac- tars and suppliers lose any hope of ever seeing money owed them by Skeena Cellulose. Kerley was to meet with the PPWC Tuesday and said he would be prepared to help introduce some third party to acl as an intermediary bet- ween the banks and the union if that’s what is desired. Schwartz is also warning residents in places like Terrace Not fo assume that the saw- mills can still function without the pulp mill, He confirmed the company did succeed in selling leftover chips at its sawmills to Canfor shutdown. But he says it must be remembered that a large por- tion of the northwest forests consist of low-value logs good only for pulp. Disposal of pulp logs will be at a loss, he said, adding sawlog profits are not enough to cover that loss and generate the necessary capital to build Toads, “You need the pulp mill,” he said, “There’s an umbilical cord. It’s a symbictic relation- ship. This forest is different. . You require the pulp mill and . you require sawmills.” ‘ bankrolled some road building for Skeena Cellulose. B.C. in July agreed to pay $2.5 million to open up a road into the Kwinageese vailey, east of Meziadin Lake, so bug- infested timber there can be salvaged before it’s reduced to pulp quality. That is providing The province has already some work for contractors in |: the Stewart area. safety valve to vent. were never at risk. munity advisory committee. Acting plant manager Chris Cameron said the instru- ment -called a level-control valve transmitter- failed causing an ammonia vessel to overfill and a pressure She noted the fact it was raining at the time helped hold down the risk of the ammonia vapour and officials believe the plume did not travel beyond the plant’s fence so the communities: of Kitimat:and Kitamaat Village The contaminated water was contained within the ammonia plant’s dike and effluent treatment systems. Cameron said the incident was over within 15 minutes but neighbours at Eurocan and Alcan, as well as it’s com- The company also reported the incident to the Ministry of Environment as a spill but Cameron noted it didn’t cause the plant to exceed any of its permit requirements. critical to getting a deal that the banks will accept. “The union proposal is a promise of general coopera- tion and basically it’s a pro- mise to live up to the existing collective agreement,” said SCi’s Schwartz. “We kind of assumed that would happen anyway.” He said the union’s reluc- tance to put its promises of cooperation in the form of actual enforcable changes to the collective agreement makes the banks doubt their sincerity. “Upwards of $30 million is needed to restart the pulp mill and conduct operations,” FROM FRONT Needs of hunters, not. wildlife, drives. decisions Bircher also denics the charge that the ministry focuses almost exclusively on game species, saying that such a claim wasn’t true even back in the 1970s. ‘Most people just don’t pay attention to our work with salamanders and birds,’” she says. But the man who was in charge of creat- ing B.C.’s ecological reserves in the 1980s disagrees with that assessment, Dr. Bristol Foster, who is no longer with the ministry, says at first he thought it would be easy fo get proposed ecological reserves (where hunting is not allowed) ap- proved by the wildlife branch of the en- vironment ministry. | He was wrong, “Hells bells, even a small ecological proposal would be vetoed by the people in wildlife,” he says. ‘I got pretty pissed off. They were just gung-ho hunters and they didn’t want to give up one inch of land.” To date, less than 0.1 per cent of B.C. has been classed as an ecological reserve. Nancy Bircher also says she disagrees completely with de Leeuw’s claim that the population of bears is unknown and to al- low their bunt is just furthering a vulnerable species down the road to extinction. “Grizzly bear hunting in the province does not harm grizzly bear populations,” She says. ‘‘We closely control the numbers through limited-entry hunting. And ‘every year we do a close review of population status,"” And she says using habitat suilability to estimate bear populations does work, “Is better than doing nothing,’ she says, ‘We also use a lot of other informna- tion like hunter sightings and harvest in- formation. Doing inventory on secretive animals like the prizzly is very difficult and expensive,”’ But not everyone is as convinced of the accuracy of the ministry’s numbers. report Three years ago, Bruce Hill spearheaded a campaign (which was eventually success- ful) to get a moratorium on grizzly hunting in the Kitlope Valley, south of Kitimat. He says that even after an independent re- searcher clearly demonstrated that the wild- life branch was allowing hunters to exhaust a dwindling number of bears, the ministry was very reluctant to act. *‘We found there to be vested interests in the government to maintain the hunt,” he says, ‘‘Even though there was overwhelm- ing scientific evidence that the bears were in serious trouble.’ ; De Leeuw’s report has won wide acclaim in the scientific and academic community. However, in spite that acclaim and the evi- dence to support at least some of his ac- cusations, it is unlikely the report will see the light of day in Victoria. “The idea of hunters manag- ing wildlife is something that clearly needs to be looked at.” Bircher says there are no plans for report to be critically analyzed by the upper levels of the ministry aad it will likely remain at a tegional level. Meanwhile, Skeena region eavironment ministry director Jim Yardley has little to say about the report -— other than, ““Dionys’s views on the issue do not represent the ministry’s views.'’ When asked if de Leeuw would be reprimanded for producing the report, or if Victoria would consider examining some of its accusations, Yardley was blunt. “T don’t have a comment on that issue,”’ he said. ‘Ultimately I will be reviewing the paper with Dionys. There is no one from Victoria who will enter the discussion.” J : in Prince George following BRITISH COLUMBIA | The Province of British Columbia and Alcan. Aluminium Limited have. signed | a landmark agreement that sets the stage for new jobs and economic . growth i in the province and environmental enhancements i in the north. The agreement includes: New Aluminum Smelter ‘i * Providing Alcan with power for a new $1. 2 billion aluminum smelter i in Kitimat - which could create more than 2, 000 new permanent jobs. B.C. will receive the same price for power as it would on the export market. Alcan’s existing Kitimat operations will be brought up to full capacity by January 1,1998. New Environmental Fund ‘© The agreement confirms the cancellation of the Kemano Completion Project | _ and commits $50 million to an environmental fund to enhance the Nechako eS watershed and protect fish. New Economic Development Fund $15 million economic development fund to promote jobs in British Columbia! s northwest region. The British Columbia government and Alcan are working together, with the communities of northwest B.C., to create new jobs and to protect the environment. For moxe information, call 1-800-784-0055. me Barris COLUMBIA YOU CAN HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. - At the Forest Alliance of British Columbia, we don’t see environmental protection and economic stability as mutually exclusive. And we're not alone. Fact Is, the vast majarity of British Columbians support the direction forest management has taken in recent years. And support is growing for a balanced approach toward the issue, But we need your help, Join us, And have a voice in the most important issue facing British Columbians today. Call 1-800-576-TREE (8733). _ FOREST ALLIANCE Of BRITISH COLUMBIA --Common sense. Common ground, . www.forest.org JOBS #@ BC It's working.