. - . - 7 es somes infect trshatiey Spann enn sicniystn gi cesemr art a 4S TR 3 Sh a a 1 ES PS i Mae ein Bet ey Ty Reale es a eae nae Et erin Sg ea gpa gk eo eS ree nee ene Bm See ees penal ae ace rs ieee Eat oe a ee Sve ee cee Capital, Se Ey PR wae aE MR PT AE ERE cb AER N eg ie Bae RL AE ene comet di DE hatte re ar: natural | and man-made In.which intrepid but confused — forester Herby Squish continues to wrestle with the great philo- sophical issues of our region ‘and our time... . aggers of sunlight D forced Squish to screw up his face. Lost in thought, he had wandered out of the secure environment of the tiny forest surrounding Gearbox Lake, .ill-prepared for what he knew was there... seedlings Struggling for a hold on life, in _ & recent clear cut that offered no - protection at all. “"No. I’m not a fool," he decided. "This problem facing the forest industry is not mine alone. It’s universal." And this turned his mind back to the wisdom of professor Rees. Sustainable development involved a lot more than just a few trees, It was man’s link back to a world he had tried to ignore. "I think it is very important in the connection of this world: ‘approach to reforestation," Rees had told the Standing Committee on Environment, "that we recog- | ‘nize that it is only an interim step, that we can only use refor- estation in an attempt to control carbon dioxide increase during a brief period while we phase out the use of carbon fuels al- together.” Another good point, Squish ~ concluded. He wondered if man- kind Teally knew what they were doing. "Are we simply forging ahead in ignorance with a desire to know everything about every- thing except the truth?" he won- dered. "If Rees was right, and we need to plant 472 million “acres of trees by the year 2000 just to maintain our environ- . ment, can we afford to harvest a single tree?" Squish remembered Rees’ 8 answer: "In order simply to compensate for the current levels of carbon. dioxide emissions from carbon fuels, you would have to plant every year, and not harvest it, an area equivalent in size to the continent of Austra- lia." | . He knew this was silly. Mother Earth doesn’t possess the real estate to follow Rees’s direction. But he understood the message. Planting what little we can, and not harvesting any of it, will only buy us another few years or decades to replace carbon fuels. With what? As yet undeveloped methods of mass energy gener- ation like hydrogen fuel cells or solar energy? Rees, he recalled, didn’t include nuclear energy as an option. One committee member had been sceptical. He“ had visited B.C. a short time before and had been told B.C. was planting 800 million trees a year. An impres- sive number. "Is that a correct figure... Or within reason?" he had asked Rees. "Or is it not nearly ‘enough?" Rees’s answer was simple. He Terrace Review —— Wednesday, January 8, 1992 : 7 by Tod Strachan, in consultation with Rod Amold and Doug Davies said, "No." And qualified that terse answer at length by saying, "B.C. is chronically insufficient- ly restocked.’ The number of trees that are planted is a measure of nothing, because we do not even monitor the survival rate of new replantings." - "Many people who actually do the replanting can tell you of areas that they have replanted three and four times in which the new plantings have never taken because of the severe soil erosion and other problems that have resulted from clearcut logging. "The reality is that we are a long way from having a sus- tained yield from the forests of B.C. I gather the situation is similar elsewhere in Canada, because we have never managed them as ecosystems. We have ‘managed them simply as stocks of a valuable resource called wood. fibfe“There has been. no concept of the soil as a ‘Part of that system." Herby’s right boot ‘suddenly skidded off to the south, "Damn," he cursed, The moose droppings he had so artfully avoided on his walk to the lake had caught him by surprise, "He who walks blindly through ‘Cadets dined and promoted To the Editor; The 747 Squadron, Terrace, of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets were treated to a lovely dinner in mid-December by the Legion. ladies of Branch 13, In atten- - dance were 117 parents, cadets and their brothers and sisters, president Howard Cromarty of the Legion Branch 13 and presi- dent Marj Cromarty of Ladies’ Auxiliary, along with Theresa Brinkac, representing Big Brothers and Sisters of Terrace. She presented chairperson Lissi Seniors’ Games gives some of it back To the Editor; We are pleased to announced the "400 Club" winners to date from the B.C. Seniors’. Games Zone 10 (Terrace-Kitimat-Prince Rupert): June, #205, Barry Mc- Kenzie; July, #186, Reg Badge; August, #211, Glen Thomsen; September, #166, Dave Bell; October, #181, Michelle Zlokii- kovits; November, #70, B. G. O’Boyle. These are our first $1, 000 recipients, _to seniors’ Zone 10 has also given $500 to the Lions’ Club Timmy’s Christ- mas Telethon in aid of crippled children. Zone 10 wishes everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year. We are deeply appre- ciative for all the support given activities by our fellow northern citizens. Bob Goodvin, Terrace Sorensen with a certificate of appreciation for help the Big Brothers and Sisters received from the 747 Squadron. The following promotions were given at the dinner: N. -Papais, Leading Air Cadet to Corporal; M. Urbanowski, LAC to Cpl.; S.R. Vanderwal, LAC to Cpl; R. Boehm, Cpl. Sergeant; K. Kreuger, Cpl. to Sgt.; A. Hill, Sgt. to Flight Sgt.; Bergeron, Warrant Officer 2nd Class to Warrant Officer ist Class. Two months ago Air Cadets began selling raffle tickets, with first prize being a one-ounce gold wafer and second prize $50 in cash. At the dinner the raffle winners were announced: first prize went to Debbie Wright and second to Matthew Janzen. Many thanks and the best of the new year to all who sup- ported our cadet squadron by buying tickets. Lissi Sorensen, chairperson 747 Ait Cadet Squadron Terrace ‘the forest, ‘mumbled. doesn’t come. out like a rose," he "Wonder if anyone ever said that?” After scuffing the sole of his smelling boot clean on a nearby stump, Squish continued his pace up the | Shallow, barren hill, and his thoughts returned to the words of Rees. To this point, Rees had been doing nothing more than taking careful aim. Now it was time to fire the shot. Rees was obviously a man far more interested in the truth than in making influential friends, Squish concluded. In essence, Rees had told the com- mittee we had allowed large corporations to convert our for- ests into cash and. then leave us to foot the bill. — "My kind of man," Squish said aloud. "An inspiration to us all." He retraced from memory Rees’ words: "Traditional neo- classical economics’ ‘Has ‘treated ' forests, fisheries, agricultural soils as so-called ‘natural capital’. Out philosophy has been that it is perfectly all righ to liquidate that natural capital, provided you invest the funds gained in that liquidation in at least an equivalent amount of man-made capital. This. is the notion of substitutability _ (of capital. "If you look at the pattern of investment by the B.C. forest sector, they see the old-growth forest as capital, which they draw down, and rather than te-investing in the rehabilitation of the ecosystem there, they use much of the proceeds to pur- chase additional capital outside the country... Everywhere from Tasmania to the Philippines.” "I guess that pretty well sums up Jovial," Squish concluded. "Get in, turn a profit, and get out. He’s more interested in the future of his corporation than he is in the future of our resource. And it’s going to take a lot of professor Reeses* to make’ that perfectly clear and then demand of the Jovials in this world a commitment for change." ° Fear of steep rise in law enforcement cost put to rest TERRACE — In at least one respect, city council can enter the new year with a sigh of relief. Late last summer mayor Jack Talstra expressed concern for the future level of policing in the municipality — a 20-year policing agreement had ended and the federal government threatened to reduce their contri- bution of expenditures, a move that would place a greater share of policing costs on’ provinces and municipalities. A couple of suggestions from Talstra: raise the rent on the city-owned RCMP building in Terrace, or cut the number of RCMP officers stationed here by two or three. On Sept. 12 of last year, how- ever, there was a glimmer of hope. Federal, provincial and territorial representatives reached an agrecment-in-principle that would have renewed contracts for RCMP policing in 191 muni- cipalities and all provinces and territories except Ontario and Quebec. And in December that glimmer of hope blossomed inlo some- thing much more substantial. Federal solicitor general Doug Lewis announced in a press release that he was working at finalizing a new 20-year agree- ment that would not raise the cost of policing to Canadian municipalities. The cost would remain the same and ensure that the red serge of the Mounties would remain a familiar and important symbol in commu- nities from coast to coast. "The bottom line for me is that Canadians feel safe, secure and confident in the ability of their local police force to meet their needs," said Lewis. "For mil- lions of Canadians, that force is the RCMP. The new agreement reflects my absolute commitment to ensuring that these commu- nities benefit from an equitable, long-term agreement." The federal cabinet has approved the agreement, and most of the provinces and terri- tories have also accepted the federal offer. A number of issues are still being discussed, but Lewis says he expects all provinces and territories to be onside later this month. At that time, says Lewis, a new agree- ment will be drafted which will take effect by March 31, 1992.