DAVE TAYLOR SKEENA. ANGLER. ROB BROWN Helifishing two ere, atop Grassy Movntain, miles from anywhere, snowmobile tracks Share the snow fields with the tracks of goats. There is no Sanctuary anymore, I think. Here we are invad- ing their air space after someone else has harried the poor animals on the ground. Darrell, our pilot, comes in over the head- phones; ‘‘Those guys were definitely out of bounds,”’ The tops of these mountains are a long, dangerous way from roads which themselves are a long way from the nearest town. The snow mobilers travel in groups for safety. According to our pilot, the clubs obey the boundaries, but how can you prolect animals — moose and goats and wolves — that need every drop of ca- ergy to survive the long winter, from harass- ment at the hands of renegades who come from as far away as Terrace and Prince George? We fly over the Reiseter Valley. “That's where Al Fletcher shot his world record goat. At the back end of the valley, right?’’ asks Mark. still around. You see him in town from time to time.” Darrell alerts us to some decr browsing the largest natural lake. I.R.s — Indian Reserves are scattered along the lake’s 110 kilometre Iength: Casdeded, Clotalairquot, Alphonse Tommy, Babine. Ils possible that these peoples exploited the fish riches and abundant game of the area, but more likely that the Department of Indian Af- fairs laid out these plots then squeezed First Na- bureaucratic tangle, We're over the north end of the Lake. It’s al- most the end of May yet there’s still a thin skin of ice on much of the water. As we swing up the Water Branch have determined that last winter's snow pack was as heavy as the record setting fall of the winter of 1972. adds,.‘‘The river will be high.” We're a few miles up the creek. Darrell fits the machine to its contours. Spongy swamp and sinall lakes are everywhere. The creek water is the colour of strong tea. I’m thinking trout when Mark hooks the first fish of the day. There is no screaming reel, no tackle- rattling leaps, just a hiss, a crackle, and a number display on the tiq- uid crystal of the receiver. But there is excite- ment and satisfaction, Before this high tech hookup nobody knew that some of the summer run steelhead of the Babine used this creek, If there is one fish here it is certain there are two; and if there are two it’s likely there are more. This is catch and release in it’s most saphisti- cated form. Actually our Buscher Creek (ish has been caught and released before, for this is the second phase of two phase fishing. Phase one consisis of capturing fish and im- planting transmilters. The Ministry of the En- vironment uses a number of methods to capture and tap steelhead. Seine boat operators were contracted to sift through their catches for steel- head which were then tagged. Last year some fish intercepted in the Tsimshian fish wheel in Kitseclas Canyon were tagged by environmental contractors, But, 60 of the 72 fish we are track- ing today, were angled, which has proved by far the best way to intercept the beasts, That rod and reel would be the most effective way to catch fish destined for tagging was by no ihe Fish and Wildlife Branch of the Ministry of ihe Environment were trying to understand how steelhead fit into the dynamics of the market fishery. Back then everybody knew that the most prized of west coast salmonids, summer stecl- head, were running afoul of the commercial fisheries bent on netting large runs of pink and sockeye salmon at the mouths of the Fraser and Skeena Rivers. How many of magnificent fish were being gilled or scincd? According to ibe skippers in the commercial flect and the cannerics, almost none. The decline in sport caught steelhead, test ‘fisheries, fewer fish on the spawning beds, and the reports independent observers wha saw bins of steelhead Which went unreported in the can- ning plants, indicated otherwise, Every gear restriction and time reduction flowing from conservation measures meant in- come reductions to the fleet. Obviously, the tnarkel fishery was going to be less than forthcoming when reporting steelhead landings. Next week. Radio Telemetry, the early days. “Yeah in 1949,’ answers Darrell. ‘‘Fletcher’s | first shoots of the year. I iook up, down, then ‘ back to the map of the Babine, the province's * tions Peoples into them to expedite some Buscher Creek, Dana remarks that the people in ° “It was a nuclear winter, for sure,’ Mark wg Calm and collected GOTHIC TAKES his rider Lisa Webber smoothly through a Basic IIA dressage test at the Totem the Forest Service last year. Saddle Club Spring Show, eartier this month. The show tested riders and horses as they competed in A plaque has been erected at the the jumping ring, in trail classes and flat classes. High Point senior went to Corea Anderson. Pam trail-head by the club in Vicky's Gavronsky captured Hi Point Jr. A&B, and Hi Point Senior went to Rachel Muller. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 19, 1996 - B5 HIKING CLUB HASSLES THE TERRACE HIKING Club may be getling too popular for its own good, according lo some mem: bers. “We've become overwhelmingly popular,”* says Helen Haselmyer of the club. “On one hike we © had 43 people.”’ Haselmyer. says ...that. this popularily is nice, but it is causing some worry because many of the people are not prepared to handle the hikes. “People bring their dogs and their three-year-old children,” says Haselmyer. ‘‘That’s not: a good idea.’” Another worry for the club is that the large number of people becom- ing involved means a greater chance for a lawsuit — especially when the people aren’! prepared for the hike. Club members point out that the group consists of amateur hikers only. There are no expert trail guides along and no first aid available, so people hike at their own risk. AI hikers must sign waivers before the trip, Haselmyer also reminds hikers to bring all-weather clothes, adequate food and water, and know their fit- ness levels, A hiking video, Hiking Safely, is available at the library and could prove informative for beginners. The Hiking Club has also recent- ly dedicated a trail to one of its for- mer members. The popular Thornhill Trail will now be called Vicky’s Trail, in memory of Vicky Kryklywyj, an avid member of the Terrace Hiking Club who passed away in January OL1993, eae a “Vicky was.a key person: in the club,’’ says Kelly Kline of. the Hiking Club, “She showed all the other members where the trails were.”? ; The club adopted the Thornhill trail, a favourite of. Vicky’s, from honour. Terrace getting set to host games SOME 2,500 athleles from eight northem regions will converge in Terrace from February 7-9 next year as the cily hosts the Northern B.C. Winter Games. The athletes will compete in about 30 dif- ferent events, from luge and skiing, to bad- minton, basketball and boxing, Games coordinator Diana O’Brien. says the games will be an exciting and lucrative time for Terrace. ment locally, and when it’s over, we leave the equipment locally,’’ The events are funded by corporate sponsors, Friends of the Games and cash donations. The games will kick off with | opening ceremonies that will likely be held at the arena. All the local ‘schoals will be closed on the Fri- ‘day of the games, as many.of the events will lake place al the schools, Other venues ‘for events include the aretia, the Legion Hall and means obvious a lillle over a decade ago when . “It should really boost the local cconomy,’? the Happy Gang Centre. she says. ‘‘We're trying to buy alf our equip- Great gymnasts Peaks girls boast peak performances in Victoria TERRACE PEAKS Gymnastics Club had an impressive finish to the gynminastics scason at the Gar- den City Invitational in Victoria, May 25-26. Six Terrace Peaks youths com- peted with 250 other athletes at the meet, which was the last of the year. “Tt was our first time at the Gar- den City meet,’’ says Maria Mateus of the club. ‘And it was a greal way to finish the season.”” Two local gyninasts in particular stood out from the class. In the - Provincial A level, fourteen-year-old Eva Mateus: took gold in both the vault and beam events wilh stellar performances, Eva also took silvers for excellence on the vault: and) in ber Qoor routine. Eleven-year-oald ' Annie Wittkowski had an equally. im- pressive performance as an Arpo at the Provincial B level. Annie took gold for the vault and a near perfect floor routine. She also took silver for her performance on the bars and placed seventh on the beam. ~~ “Annie’s scores ‘were high enough to give her the highest overall score of any age group in the Provincial B Level. She finished with an im- pressive 35.40 points, . And in her first major mect, nine- year-old Jocelyn. de Walle wound up fourth overall. “That was really exciling for her,” says Mateus who was pleased with the way the event turned out. “The whole meet was great. The girls performed vreally well, and they were up against some good competitors, like a huge group from Washington State,” she says. Mateus adds that the trip was fun for the girls as it pave them a chance to shop, a5 weli-as compete, ‘We were staying near a mall, which the girls loved,” she says. The club will now focus on pre- paring ‘for it's annual. summer ‘camp. The camp is for all ages of gymnastics enthusiasts and all skill levels are welcome to altend, The camp will hold weekly ses- ‘sions Crom July 2 to July 26. Registration takes place at. the Skeena Mall on: Saturday June 22 from 10-4 p.m.. For more information call the gym at 638-0447, O’Brien says there will be close to 2,000 volunteers working the games as well, and a staff will be hired for the last couple of months prior to the gamics. Most of the athletcs will be billeted in lacal homes, while: coaches and slaff will stay in hotels. O’Brien is optimistic aboul tbe impact of bringing so many high-qualily athletes to Ter- race, “Tvs going to be a really exciting time for the city,”’ she says, 638-7283 TWO PROUD gymnasts display their medals. That’s Eva Mateus and Annie Witkowski at the Garden City meet.