aeRO Oar MLCT EE IO MOE tN eetgpr ete — Ea Pe gyad MGS Ms: oc. ter. ee ae La Londoners Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 17, 1991 Al5. Last meeting on Thunderbird tomorrow by Tod Strachan The next — and probably the last — public mecting for the Thunderbird Integrated Resource Management Plan takes place at the Inn of the West at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night. Topics for discussion at this meeting are the result of meetings in January and February, at which public concems on the manage- ment of the Thunderbird area were heard. Following tomorrow night’s meeting, a Thunderbird Forest Area Advisory Committee will be formed, and while their may be a public information meeting at some point, the committee will be responsible for monitoring future activities in the Thunderbird area. A meeting in mid-January attracted a little over 50 local residents anxious to trade ideas on what the Ministry of Forests’ Thunderbird Integrated Resource Management Plan should involve. The Thunderbird area, as desig- nated by the ministry, is not diffi- cult to define, but it became apparent at that first meeting that reaching a consensus on a truly integrated resource management plan would take a little more work. Power, performance and excitement -- that’s the VAX-41 It's the ultimate Yamaha snowmobile. Engineered with typical Yamaha vigour and purpose. The 1992 VMAX-4, It's part of the future, And it’s here right now, 790cc’s of unparalleled four-ylinder thunder. The industry’s first center-driven drive train, pushing performance to new limits. Harnessing raw power with Yamaha's YXRC overdrive clutch. And smoothing the meanest trails with stateoHheart front and rear suspensions. The VMAX-4 packs an impressive list of performance features. Like feather-weight aluminum skis, durable plastic ski skins, and carbide runners. The VMAX-4 is the ultimate flagship of a new breed of Yamaha, You can see it, and three other 1992 sleds, aboard Project Snowball ‘92, It’s a specially oul-fitted , tractor-trailer loaded with next year's snow warriors that's travelling to dealer locations across Canada. In general, the Thunderbird resource management area is described as the watershed of the Lakelse River, excepting Williams Creek and its tributaries. The ministry’s objectives, as described at the January meeting by Kalum district Small Business Program forester Norm Parry and district manager Brian Downie, include five points. A resource management plan in this area would be designed to ensure biodiversity, including at least 12 percent of old growth distributed throughout the area that is representative of various eco- systems there. It would also: eIdentify wildlife habitat, and fish bearing streams, rivers and lakes, and protect habitat areas from further damage. eIdentify current public and private uses and concerns in the area, *Identify forest management prac- tices that would meet all of the objectives above. Under the guidance of project facilitator Jim Culp, a planning team consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Forests Kalum Forest District, Ministry of Environment and federal Fisheries and Oceans had encouraged public. reserve one of these beauties for next year by putting down a $200 deposit with your Yamaha dealer (Not guaranteed). You'll also get 2 $200 YAMABUCK certificate and still be eligible for any future Yamaha promotions. A $500 deposit on the VMAX-4 gets all of the above, plus a numbered print of the VMAX4. Call your local Yamaha dealer and find out when Project Snowball will be in your area. The 1992 Yamaha sleds -- ultra-per formance. To the Max! See the new Enticer II on ' Project Snowball OFFER EXPIRES APRIL 30, 1991 KEN'S MARINE 4946 Greig Ave. Ken Gibson (604) 635-2909 Terrace, B.C. V8G 1N4 input through meetings with local groups and organizations. THE CONCERNS At the January meeting, the planning team received a number of written and oral submissions. The Northwest Trappers Associ- ation called for the preservation of old growth forest to maintain rec- reation, habitat and trapping values along the Lakelse River and other key areas... and a halt to the hunt- ing of grizzly bears. They also asked that special consideration be given to marten and moose habitat and advised additional thought and care for tree harvesting, silviculture and soil erosion issues in the area. A few additional trapper con- cems included the flagging of trails used by trappers, fishermen and hikers, in order to protect them from destruction by future logging operations; the need for monetary compensation for animal losses due to logging in sensitive environmental zones; and a leaning towards monetary compensation to forest companies rather than trades for other timber where harvesting Fights are lost for preservation purposes. The Steelhead Society asked that an existing 200-metre old growth environmental zone along the Lakelse River be retained; that all. harvesting, recreation, habitat and environmental zones be identified and their preservation committed to in writing; complete soil studies prior to any harvestitig to prevent Contact your local British Columbia Forest Service Dis- trict Office for information on the siltation of the Lakelse River; and finally, a forest management policy the public can understand. The Steelhead Society also had a number of questions they wanted answers to. Among them: How was 12 percent selected .as the minimum for the retention of old growth forest? Are landscape sur- veys mandatory and have they been conducted along the Lakelse River? What is the ministry’s policy for maintaining logging roads once harvesting has been completed? Who are the tenure holders within the. study area? And, how are these tenures ad- ministered? : The North Coast Woodlot Asso- ciation endorsed the ministry’s proposal to preserve “at least" 12 percent of old growth timber. In fact, they suggested that units of old growth forest should a mini- mum of 100 hectares and include a younger buffer zone for protection. As for the Lakelse River corridor, the Woodlot Association suggested it should be classified as a Class ’A’ park or wildlife reserve. As well, the Woodlot Association asked that harvesting in the area be reduced, that clearcut harvesting be replaced with selective logging, that a "sustainable" annual allow- able cut be calculated for the area, and that incentives be offered to private land owners who agree to keep their land in Productive forest. All this led to a specific point: allocate initial sustainable volumes of timber to four new woodlots fire safety for forest homes and burning permit requirements. Help fight wildfires by calling the operator and asking for our toll-free fire reporting number, Zenith 5555. Let’s all work together to protect our forests from wildfire. i C1 Ministry of Forests Honourable Claude Richmond. Minister and allocate any remaining timber, if there is any remaining, through a Thunderbird Area Forest Resource Management Board, Who would sit on this board? All groups who have an interest in the area, according to the Woodlot Association. A private submission called for much more stringent management - guidelines. This submission came from Terrace resident, logger and trapper, Kolbjorn Eide. According to Eide, since old growth timber is critica] for the retention of healthy populations of fish and wildlife, ail timber and land within one kilo- metre of the Lakelse River should be protected from logging for 25 | years and from any other develop- ment forever. In addition, Eide suggested that no more Crown land in the area should be sold or leased and all existing applications should be “thrown out". He argued that strictly controlled pollution regula- tions should be enforced in the entire Lakelse watershed, herbicides and pesticides "should not" be used in the area, slash burning should not be permitted, clearcuts should be no larger than two hectares, big game and migra- tory bird hunting should be deferred for 10 years to allow. population recovery, and use of the Lakelse River corridor should be restricted to B.C. residents only. On top of this, Eide suggested the development of something akin to” a demonstration forest for the Thunderbird area. These and a few other ideas put forward at the Jan. 17 public meet- ing in Terrace were hashed over during a second mecting on Feb. 28. This was a working mecting at which ideas were compared and the beginnings of an integrated management plan for the Thunderbird area was bom. Many of these ideas, like a one-kilometre corridor on either side of the Lakelse River, were included in the plan. The purpose of tomorrow night’s mecting is to do a little fine tuning prior to the committee taking over the plan. a a | y Dave Parker MLA for Skeena 635-4215 ~— ot