A14- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 24, 2000 Plan nearly finished Land-use table to weigh © protection of bears, jobs By JEFF NAGEL TALKS leading toward a consensus land-use plan for this region are now hit- ting the prickly question of whether the plan should put more emphasis on the protection of grizzly bears or forest industry jobs. An impact assessment Teport presented at a Kalum Land and Resource Management Plan meeting May 15 initially suggested the most conservation-or- iented of a range of op- tions proposed to protect grizzly bears would come at a cost of hundreds of jobs. The most development- oriented scenario would maintain or increase jobs but pose a very high risk to maintaining current popu- lation. lévels of grizzly bears, said process coordi- nator Eamon 0’Donaghue. But. part way through the meetings last week er- TOTs were uncavered thal has forced a re-crunching of the numbers and pos- sibly major changes to the projected effects, That has put off a deci- sion on. grizzly bear man- agement, which was to be tackled at the May meet- ing; to the next round of meetings slated for June 20-22. Table members are eager to see the revised impact assessment. City . councillor Val George, one of the table members, said hopes are high the new numbers will show it will be easier to protect grizzlies’ wilhout the major loss of jobs initi- ally projected. “If it’s a case of 400 “If it’s a case of ‘400 jobs in Ter- race versus griz- zly bear manage- ment then we've got a major issue on our hands.” jobs in Terrace versus grizzly bear management then we’ve got a major issue .on our hands,” George said. Grizzly management, a component of the plan re- stricting forestry to ensure biodiversity, and a compo- nent on enhanced forestry are among the major wire- solved items in the nearly complete plan. The finished plan, near- ly 10 years in the making, was to have gone cut for public review in June, but the delay has prompted the table ‘to contemplate more meetings in July. O’Donaghue said the table is trying to achieve stable grizzly bear popula- tions of around 1,000 ~— up a bit from the current esti- mated population of.500 to The large uncertainty in estimates of current bear numbers has Renee Mikal- off of ‘the Skeena Valley Naturalists pushing for the scenario that would go the farthest to protect griz- zhies, “The numbers don’t make. .me. comfortable,” she said. “To have the least -risk for the bears, that’s what I*m going for.” She: doubts that will be achieved because of what she calls the heavy forest industry-connected pre- sence at the table. Most of .the protected areas recommended by the table: are in areas well down the Douglas Chan- nel, south of Kitimat. The only one in close proximity to Terrace is Sleeping Beauty Moun- tain, Other areas, such as the upper, Kilsumkalum and the upper Copper —- origin- ally proposed as protected areas ~ aré now earmarked for special management by means other than outright When you can't breathe, nothing else matters. | BRITISH COLUMBIA LUNG ASSOCIATION 731-LUNG or 1-600-855-LUNG protection. “We had to fighi tooth and nail for those little areas down the Douglas Channel,” Mikaloff said. Mikaloff is alsa con- cerned about @ zone in the plan for enhanced forestry, ‘which allows relaxation of some requirements of the Forest Practices Code. “Enhanced forestry is a very dangerous animal,” ‘she said, “It gives so much leeway for the forest indu- stry to practice their agro- business and all the other values fall by the wayside.” While large obstacles still loom the table has! © achieved a lat. Debate last Wednesday about wording of an objec- tive on biodiversity, which would help protect wild- life, had some members vowing not to sign, But agreement was eventually reached, Val George The biodiversity section ealls for clearcuts to at- tempt to mimic the pat- terns and sizes of natural forest disturbances like fires and land slides. That means an area where natural disturbances are very small would call for smaller than typical logging patches. ' The biodiversity Jan- guage allows for anywhere fram tiny patches up to 250-hectare forest open- ings, depending on what would be found naturally in that type of area. Some industry reps feared that would mean re- quiring extraction of single trees for biodiversity, while others, like regional district director Les Wat- mough, felt it raised the spectre of massive clear- cuts and protest from en- vironmental groups. “A 250-hectare block is one square mile,” Wat- mough noted. “It’s huge.” The outer ranges of what’s allowed would be extreme cases, table members were assured, and what’s indicated is the direction forest planners should lean towards in pro- tecting biodiversity. a ae ty lly. by Mushroom, Beef & Vegetable 85 4/8 1 BURGERS Works out to 50¢ each S 1. O29 Grimms 500 gr fw NEW SUMMER HOURS 2 ~ OPEN 24 HOURS - iw 7 DAYS A WEEK BADQUARTEWS!? REEL IN A DEAL ON e BREAKFAST ¢ CAPPUCINO Catch your lunch by ordering one of * our great subs! 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