Logger limbo | The beginning One last race Even small operators are held up by a supreme court land claims - decision\NEWS Ald | Caledonia’s 1998 graduates step -boldly into the start of a new life\COMMUNITY B1 : After 10 years of competitive swimming, Julie Vanderlee is retiring\SPORTS B5 WEDNESDAY JULY 1, 1998 Fish ban prompts anger ANGRY SPORTS fishermen here say a ban on all salmon Gishing on the lower Skeena River to take effect July 26 is about politics, not saving coho. They claim there’s no evidence that endangered coho are in the river that carly and that angling could easily be allowed to continue until at least Aug. 6. “The decision was made not to preserve coho but for political reasons to appease commercial fishermen who are feeling such pain right now,’’ said Bruce Hill, a Terrace angling guide and past president of the B.C. Steelhead Society. _ “It’s human nature to say I’m dying and I want you to die with me,” Hill said. ‘“But we can’t figure out why they’d do something this stupid, frankly.’ : More than 30 people took up the call for a relaxation of the restrictions at a rally in Fishermen's Park Saturday. Skeena Reform MP Mike Scott, one of the speakers, said he was disappointed nobody from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans showed up at the rally to listen to what was being said. The July 26th closure cuts out two of the best weeks for the chinook salmon fishery downstream of Terrace, which draws hundreds of anglers here from out-of-province and over- seas. ‘That is the peak period for local tackle shops, guides, and all the businesses in Ter- race,” said angling guide Steve Nickolls. “That's a lot of money we're talking about and they’re not going to save one coho by doing it.’’ Nickolls says coho don’t show up until later in August. ‘Last year the first coho the test fishery caught was on the 19th of August and they’re closing us an the 26th of July — not just for coho but for all species of salmon,”’ he said. DFO recreational fisheries coordinator Elmer Fast, in an interview late last week, said the de- cision was based not on last year’s data — when coho stocks collapsed — but earlier years that showed the fish entering the river as carly ‘as mid-July. ; He said fishermen might not hook many fish in late July and carly August, but there are some coho present then, and the fishing ban is to pre- vent any of them from being killed. “Ié there’s any doubt about the timing, we're going to place the doubt in the advantage of the fish,’’ Fast said. To Hill and others, however, DFO allowed commercial fleets ‘to kill millions of coho in recent years after sportfishing lodges had voluntarily stopped taking them in recognition of their declining numbers, Now, they say, the sport fishing industry is being sacrificed when it is responsible for only aliny fraction of the fishery. — “Its simple plain insensitivily and in- Cont'd Page A2 ae i wii nt SUNNY DAYS. At least that’s what they are now for anglers such as these testing the Skeena River waters off of Ferry Island. Coming salmon _ 936 PLUS 7¢ GST. VOL. 12.NO. 12° There’s food, fun tomorrow IF YOU’RE looking for food and things to do tomor- row, July 1, there’s plenty of opportunity bere. Check out the pancake breakfast at the Terrace firehall between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Local firefighters are the hosts and proceeds go toward a provincial firefighters’ burn survivors fund. It’s belping Robyn Morris, a local girl, with surgery she'll undergo this summer and in attending a summer camp for burn survivors. And if lunch interests you, head to 3341 River in Thornhill where the Church of God congregation is holding its first ever salmon barbecue, Events run from 12 noon to 5 p.m. and Pastor Miller and his wife Faye insist everyone is welcome, Or drive east on Hwy16 3km past the Usk Chapel to the Usk Hobby Fam. Frdm 10 a.m, to 6 p.m. there'll be games, a petting zoo, music, dancing, horses and llamas, Crafters and musicians will be present. There is an admission charge. | School district told _ it can cut big bucks - and balance budget . SCHOOL DISTRICT: spending" could. be. cut by more than $3 million, states a special report commissioned by education minister Paul Ramsey. In a series of sweeping recommendations designed to balance the district’s budget in _ three years, the report says senior adminis- the school district's office in Kitimat and music education in Terrace trators, could be ellminated. The report was ordered by Ramsey tw months ago after the Coast Mountains school district reported a deficit of $1.345 million for operations this year. A three-member team ‘hired by Ramsey concluded the total deficit was closer to $2,226 million and indicated there would be even less money in the years abead from the provincial government. “T think they’ve done a fairly good job of trying to identify different areas fto cut],”’ school district chair Roger Leclerc said last week of the 67-page document. Implementing each of the report’s sugges- tions isn’t mandatory. They are being referred ta as recommendations for the board to consider. Paul Ramsey. positions. one assistant fishing closures have local anglers, resort owners, guides and commercial operators upset over the future of their livelihood on the river. The board meets tonight but before making any decisions it will hear a full teport from a session yesterday between su- * perintendent Frank Hamilton and vice chair Linda Campbell and cducation minister In order to help rid the district of its budget shortfall, the report suggests the elimitation of the Kitimat board office, reducing the number of trustees to 7 from 9, and eliminating 10 full time administrative Jobs recommended for elimination are: superintendent ($133,000), one assistant secretary position ($94,000), one director of instruction ($134,000), district vice principal of music\band ($70,000), custodial foreman in Kitimat ($45,000), district technician ($60,000), theatre technician ($34,000), technology coordinator ($73,000), district resource centre in Kitimat ($40,000), secre-- tarial staff in Kitimat, and secte- tarial/clerical staff in Terrace. The assistant superintendent’s termination package would equal approximately $98,000 while the director of instruction would be entitled to approximately - $164,000, equal to two years pay. Cuts to music programs include eliminat- ing music in kindergarten and Grades 6 and: 7 in Terrace, saving the district $228,000. Ironically the schoo! board itself proposed: this cut (and more affecting band classes) in- early May. Massive protests at that time: ultimately brought about Ramsey’s ef:: ficiency team report. So The report also suggests cutting Physical Education for kindergarten and Grades 6 and 7 in Kitimat, a savings of $37,000. — The report states that the plan “‘identifies potential budget adjustments in excess of what the team considers to be the immedi- ate financial problem facing the district for 1998/1999 ($1,345,318) and a further prob- lem of ($398,000) for 1999/2000,”" _ Those proposed further reductions, says the team in the report, are to assist the board in making further cuts as the need may arise. To raise new revenue, the report suggests instituting parking fees for staff and stu- dents, charging registration fees for all extra-curricular teams and clubs, pursuing corporate sector money for sponsorships and the donation of technology and other equipment, and providing pay roll services to other schoo! disiricts Ike Schoo! District, 87 — Stikine. : The report also states the board should pursue outstanding payments due. It estimated that long overdue payments on the monies sent from the government for First Nations Education results in a loss of . yearly interest revenue of $50,000. position Stewart loggers create their own jobs ‘We formed a management team, kept He describes the co-op as a community “This is a group capitalism thing. It’s originally under licence to Skeena Cel- WHEN IT came to the crunch, when there was no work to be had, loggers and truckers in Stewart went out and created their own jobs. Their troubles began more than a year ago when logging up north began to decline arid Skeena Cellulose, the area’s major forestry player, first showed signs of financial collapse. They held a town meeting, invited | forest district manager Brian Downie to talk about employment aspects, and scon formed the North Kalumi Co-op, “Brian Downie alluded to the pos- sibility that a local group might be able to get some wood,”’ said Mark Edgson, & Stewart village councillor, trucker and co-op president. in touch with forestry and started logging a bug kill area last fall,’’ said Edgson. “We logged 100,000 cubic metres through the winter. Everybody got work right up to March 20. We paid the bills and even made a little profit at the end.”’ The co-op now has 72 members and employed more than 150 people when in. full operations. Members cach pald $500 to create a pool of working capital. Had the co-op not been formed, the economy of Stewart would have suffered more than it has already. “4f we hadn't done what we had last fall, this town would have been empty,” ' said Edgson. effort In which Stewast business people joined with loggers and truckers. “It was a real community push, When there were problems or adjustments to be made, we gathered together and worked things out,'’ Edgson continued. The co-op hired a management firm called Emporium Investments from Pouce Coupe and used Terrace-based All West Trading to market the wood it cut. “We're not tied to anyone, We're keeping at arm’s Length. We can respond to changing circumstances,” said Edgson. oo He’s quick to add that the strength of | ‘the co-op reals with individuals banding together for a commion purpose. not a socialistic enterprise. We're doing what we have to do in order to survive.” That concept of banding together is much different than working for large companies who tend to divide and con- quer among small operators, adds Edgson. The co-op is now concentrating on finding more wood and |s in negotiations with Skeena Cellulose ‘to manage some of its allowable cut in the Stewart area. It also has its eye on two forest licences now up for bid. One is for 15 years at 62,469 cubic metres a year and the other is for seven years at 65,714 cubic metres'a year. The » latter comes from an amount which was: lulose but which went uncut last year. Successful bidders will have to mect; conditions of establishing some kind of: value-added plant with the goal of creat-- ing jobs and stability in Stewart, That’s exactly what the co-op has in mind from its relationship with Emporium Investments, said Bdgson. “‘We want to work closely with a part ner with the expertise in value-added and we're beginning to draw some interest to the area because of what we have done.” "We feel a value-added mill is within ‘ our.capabilities, Last year we had no op- tlons. This year we do have some,”’ Bids on the licences close Aug. 20 and they will be awarded in the fali.