: This week:
‘An independent
-commission’s

‘trials and tribulations.

four big

n our discussion on the forest
I tenure system in B.C. over

the past nine weeks we have
raised some important points. And
once considered, these facts raise
some even more important ques-
tions. | For example: Does the
present system of tenure help to
promote the government’s long-
sought-after goal of “sustainable

— Letters to the Editor

worries

yield"? And is the system fair? Is

it fair to the government, forest -

companies and the loggers? Is it
fair to the land owners (you and I)
and future generations (our
children)? Under the present sys-
tem of tenure, is everyone getting
a fair return out of our number one
resource?

In summarizing tenure, we would

by Tod Strachan, in consultation with Rod Arnold and Doug Davies

like to take a different approach
than rehashing what we have
already been said. Therefore, we'll
take a look at the preliminary
recommendations of the B.C.
Forest Resources Commission this

Bravo for the Twin River crew

To the Editor;

I think the time has come to

| ‘say thank you to the organizers,

the doers and all the board of
directors who have made the
Twin River Estates housing
complex a reality.

They have striven to get this
project off the ground and have
seen the results of all their
voluntary labour and energy.
They have a great deal of which
they can be proud.

This was not done without
There
have been a:lot of doors slam-

. med, blockages, and disappoint-

ments. But being the determined
people that they are, they per-

severed and we now have a hous-
ing complex of which any city
can be proud.

This could not have been done
without some controversy now
and then, but because of the
foresight of the people involved,
this has not been a deterrant.

Pioneering in anything has
never been an easy job.

Now that Phase II is nearing -

completion, I’m sure there will
be more problems, both serious
and minor, but we hope in work-
ing together they can be re-
solved.

Mention should be made of
the patience and tolerance of
Dennis Palmu of Impact Con-

struction Ltd. and Cliff
Johnson, his superintendent,
who showed such concern ‘in
dealing with all of the glitches
that show up in any new
building program. Some things
that may have seemed petty to
them at times were treated with
the same. concern as that of
larger and many more important
incidents.

_ Again, many citizens join me
in expressing our thanks to all
board members of this Twin
River Estates complex, Past and
present. © js

Bettye Crosina,
Terrace, B.C.

A few things we didn’t explain

To the Editor;

In your September 19 full
page report of the sod turning
for Hazelton’s new high school,
the presence of informational
picketers is noted this way:

“A group from the Terrace
carpenters’ union handed out in-
formation sheets to everyone.”

From that, it would appear

several bored individuals sought |

to break the tedium of their un-
employment by driving 50 miles
to Hazelton early that Friday
morning, to stand beside a ditch
in-the rain recycling paper sheet

- by sheet.

‘In fact, the 12 Terrace men
(average. age, 50), members of

. the Building Trades, represented |
- the Carpenters’ Union, Tunnel .

and Rock Workers, and other
construction unions.

‘We set up an information
picket at the ground-breaking
site to. protest the loss of local
jobs; the school contract has
been awarded to Stuart Olson
Construction, an Edmonton
firm.

A journalist would have
spoken to us to ascertain our
grievance.

Your account also fails to
mention that Ardythe Wilson,
the representative of the Gitskan
Wet’suwet’an hereditary chiefs
and elders, had not been invited
to take part in the formalities.
Nonetheless Ms. Wilson figured
prominently in the ritual, as
your photo of her holding the

shovel proves. She also shook
hands with each of us, and later
publicly acknowledged that
Natives must learn from the
Building Trades how to
demonstrate effectively for set-
tlement of their land claims.

As the father of a Langara
College journalism graduate,
I’m aware journalists must be
impartial.

If they are to remain im-
partial, they never join a
political party; they never run
for elected office; and they
always try to report both sides of
an issue.

Otherwise, they might as well
admit their bias and work for

B.C. Report. Gene Sandecki,
Terrace, B.C.

Soccer parents need to get involved

‘Yo all Soccer Parents;
. As our 1990 season winds

down, the executive of the Ter-
race Youth Soccer Association .

thank all those parents who
helped'in any way to ensure the
success of the past soccer year.

Terrace Youth Soccer is the

largest sports organization in the -

city, having registration of
almost 500 children. We are now
inthe process of completing the
soccer fields at Christy Park
which, when finished, will allow
us to boast of one of the best
sports facilities in B.C.
Like most sports groups in

.fortunately,
-parents who are willing to

Terrace, Youth Soccer is run
completely by volunteers! Un-
the number of

volunteer some time, by assist-

. ing in organizing Youth Soccer

for all our children, is very

small.

Eight people are required to
run for positions on the ex-
ecutive at our upcoming annual
general meeting. It is absolutely

essential for the success of the

1991 season that we have some
parents agree to serve a two-year

term. If all eight positions are .

not filled at the A.G.M., then it

will be necessary to eliminate the
five- and six-year-old children
from T.Y.S.A, in 1991, thereby
reducing the workload con-
siderably.

Please mark your calendar
with the date of our A.G.M.:
Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in
the library basement.

Come out and voice your
complaints and suggestions,
vote for any changes, and
generally show your support for
Youth Soccer in Terrace. .

Nora J.-Phillips,
Chairman,

_- * ‘Ferrace Youth
- Soccer Association.

week to get 2 an n idea of what kind
of changes may be in the works.
And next week we'll reflect on the
views of professor William E.
Rees to find out what we're in for
if we don’t make some very dra-
matic changes soon.

he 1i2-member B.C.

i Forest Resources Com-

mission was established
by the provincial government in
the summer of 1989-to indepen-
dently review and make recom-
mendations on forestry related
issues.

Initially, the province asked for
recommendations on four basic
priorities: how our forests might be
managed to protect and enhance
the full range of forest values; the
effectiveness of Tree Farm
Licences as a form of tenure; ways
to improve forest harvesting prac-
tices, giving special attention to the
impact of clear-cuts; and ways in
which. we: can -improve public

_ participation in forest planning and

management.
To do this, the commission exa-
mined our forest industry in depth
by reviewing more than 1,700
corporate and private submissions.
Their final report isn’t due until
next spring but they have filed an
interim ‘report on four issues that

“can and should be addressed

now". All four issues — inventory
information, public input, public
education, and the land claims
question — either affect or reflect
On our present system of tenure.
Following is a summary of these
preliminary findings and the com-
mission’s recommendations:

Inventories of forest values —
The commission found that "good
inventory information pertaining to
the full range of forest values and
to the capacity of the forest land
base to support those values is
seriously inadequate". This isn’t to
say that the information doesn’t
exist. Only that the commission
discovered that even though a

particular provincial ministry might

have information pertaining to
their mandate, their“ information
wasn’t necessarily compatible with
information .compiled by other
related ministries.

In their report, the commission
notes that there are at least 10

different ministries holding incom-

patible forestry- related inventory

“information. These include the

ministries of Forests; Environment;
Agriculture and Fisheries; Energy,

Mines and Petroleum Resources; .
Crown Lands; Transportation and

Highways; Municipal Affairs;

_ Native Affairs; Parks; and Tour-

ism.

these various ; ministries doesn’t all
relate directly to the forest indus-
try, but at the same time all these
ministries hold very important bits
and pieces of information that need.
to be considered together in order
to make intelligent tenure or land

_allocation decisions.

With the present system of data
collection, the report says, “The
result is that decision makers and
the public have a very inadequate
and imperfect information base on
which to base decisions or debate."

In other words, it is impossible to
draw an accurate picture of how
the various forest resources —
trees, water, soil and wildlife —
are inter-related, and then conclude
with any real accuracy just what
will happen to one resource if we
alter another.

The commission has therefore
made a preliminary recommenda-
tion that calls for the development
of a standardized inventory infor-
mation base in the province.

Education — "Throughout all of
it’s investigations to date, the
Commission has become  in-
creasingly aware and concerned at
the woeful lack of understanding
of the importance of the resource
industries to British Columbia, and
of the practices that are carried out

in managing those resources. This

is particularly true of our forests
and of forestry practices.

"Time after time, the commission
has found that public perceptions
are significantly at odds with the
actual facts of a given situation.

‘The Commission is also aware that

in many a debate and often in

decision making, ‘perception is

reality and the current gap between
the two is, the Commission
believes, creating a serious, if not
dangerous, situation in British
Columbia”

On the basis of these findings the
commission has recommended that
the Ministry of Education be
directed to include “significant
information" about the importance
of all resource-based industries,
particularly forests, in their school
curriculum. And this information,
suggests the commission, should
‘include accurate, balanced material
on forest management practices.

‘Timber Supply Area steering
committees — The original intent
of these committees was to include
the public in the decision-making
process, A group of professionals
and private. citizens, for example,
would be given the authority to
make land use recommendations in

their particular Timber Supply —

Area, The commission found,

‘however, that these committees.
were not working well, in general .
. ___ terms, primarily due to a "lack of
Obviously, information. held by .

— continued on page Ag