these outfits,”

2 Terrace Review — Wednesday, October 5, 1988

Sa up the mine servicing competition:
~ an in-depth look at Wrangell, Alaska .

The economies of both Ter-

race and Wrangell are evolving |

as we both strive to adjust to the
change from resource-based
towns to service centers. One in-
dustry requiring massive
amounts. of goods and services
and now experiencing a boom is
the gold mining in the Iskut
River area. The official opening
of the Johnny Mountain gold
mine late this summer saw
numerous representatives from
Alaska and the town of Wrang-
ell, but only a handful of Ter-
race merchants and area elected
officials. While some of our
residents are scratching their
heads over how to make Terrace
the service center for the grow-
ing mining industry in the

Northwest, Wrangell is in the.
midst of enjoying what it con-
siders to be its fourth gold rush.

by Charlynn Toews

Other gold rushes benefitting
the town on Wrangell Island
about 260 kilometres north of
Prince Rupert have been the
Cassiar, Stikine, and the famous
Klondike gold rush of the late
1890s. As the Wrangell Sentinel
reports, ‘‘It was on August 17,
1898, that the Klondike gold
rush began, so Skyline (mining
company) officials decided to
celebrate the first successful and
operating mine .of the greater
Iskut gold rush on August 17,
1988, on Johnny Mountain.”

Wrangell has been a service
center for the mining industry
for over 100 years, Wrangell
merchant Ben Curtis notes. His
fresh produce, meats, groceries
and hardware are air-freighted
to Johhnny Mountain. In fact,
he has two full-time staff in the
shipping department, serving
not only the mining industry but
also the many isolated towns
and fishing villages in the area.

-The service Curtis and his staff

provide includes getting kitchen-
ware and appliances on the run-
way and on its way to Deleware

camp an hour and a half after

getting the call there had been a
cookhouse fire.

‘Price is often secondary with
Curtis says.
‘‘More. important is fast service
and quality of product.’

The property supervisor at
Johnny Mountain agrees. ‘The
food from Wrangell is perfect,
the meat is excellent.’’ And

crucial these days, while the

mine is fully operational and the
snow is already beginning to

"fall, is time. “It takes an hour

and 10 or 20 minutes to get to

the’ mountain from Terrace,

only 20 minutes or so from
Wrangell,’’ Bill Strong said.
Other businesses in Wrangell
benefitting from the mining ac-
tivity include those providing
building supplies, fuel distrib-
uters, expediters, equipment
repair. shops, aviation. com-
panies, and more. Wrangell is
ideally located to receive goods
barged up from Seattle, then
distribute them up the Askut
River. . - 7
Short of picking up “the
townsite and moving it geo-
graphically closer, what can Ter-
race do to provide more services
and goods to the mines? Terrace

.

Chamber of Commerce’ S ‘Greg
Townsend says we could adver-
tise the fact that we have the
fabrication shops, supply houses
and big equipment dealers that
the Alaskan town of 3,100 just
doesn’t have. ‘‘We also have a

good labor base and good hotel

and restaurant facilities.””

The vice-president of the.

Wrangell Chamber of Com-
merce Keene Kohrt said he met
Terrace merchants at the Jotinny
Mountain opening from tire and
trucking firms and our. Finning
distributor.
have a Finning distributor, the
company that makes the giant
generators that power all the
mountain’s activities. Kohrt also
said that for a small town,
Wrangell has been very active in
promoting itself. The Chamber
has had a number of informal
receptions for the different in-
vestors coming through the area.
As Terrace’s Chamber of Com-
merce mining committee chair,
Townsend is also thinking pro-
motion, busy getting a directory
of goods and services ready for
the mining companies. He also
thinks we: should ensure we find
out when mining engineers or
surveyors are in town, find out
who they’re with,: show them
around, ask them to Chamber
meetings, and make them aware
of what Terrace has to offer.
Peter Branch of Coast Trac-
tor, which also supplies mining
operations, says the town and
the province should have been in
contact with Skyline two years
ago. Hesaid, ‘‘If Terrace wants
the business, get in contact with
them. Make a trip up there, talk
to Skyline, If we’re not careful,

Cominco/Delaware takes

Wrangell doesn’t -

" Smithers will get the business.’’
Smithers also. has a history of
supplying miriing activity, while

-Terrace’s experience has been

limited.

Many Wrangell residents talk
about -Skyline president Reg
Davis as a personal acquain-

tance. Grocer Curtis has known

him since 1983, and keeps a map
of the active mines in his office.
The gold mines are so important
to Wrangell the local radio sta-
tion broadcasts the stock prices.
daily, and the Wrangell Sentinel
publishes Skyline, Gulf and Inel
stock exchange summaries on its
front page every week. News-
paper co-owner Ann Kirkwood
says, ‘“We’ve been covering the
industry ‘ever since Reg Davis
first came to own.,’’ She says
that building one-on-one friend-
ships led to the development of
business relationships. Husband
Alvin Bunch and she have notic-
ed a real boom in the local
economy since they bought the
paper four years ago, with more
money around town and more
businesses making ends meet.
“You can see the Stikine Inn
now flies a Canadian flag. It’s
hard to get a room there, it’s fill-
ed with Canadians.”

Although Terrace and Wrang-
ell have similar weather prob-
lems according to long-time
Northwest pilot Ken Mayer of
TransProvincial Airlines, many
pilots work out of Wrangell.
Again, time and distance are the
factors: a few hours of clear
weather can mean‘ several ship-
ments from Wrangell, and only
one from Terrace. Bill Strong
says crews coming up from Van-
couver go directly to Wrangell,

another look at Terrace

Cominco/Delaware Re-
sources officials recently an-
nounced they favored Smithers
as the service center for their
Snip gold project, located about
95 miles northwest of Stewart.
According to Terrace alderman
Bob Jackman, this was primari-
ly based on outdated informa-
tion which compared the
reliability of the Terrace and
Smithers airports. He said there
was a strong desire on the part
of local politicians and
businesses to set the record
straight, and that opportunity
may have been found at an in-
camera Committee of the Whole
meeting Monday evening.

Jackman says Sheila Gould, a
consulting sociologist for the
Snip project, visited Terrace
Monday to spend time with Greg
Townsend, a representative of
the Terrace and District

Chamber of Commerce Mining

Industry Task Force, prior to
speaking to city aldermen and
resource people like Airport
Manager, Darryl Laurent, and
Chamber of Commerce Presi-
dent, Dick Sharples. And he
says the net result was a positive
feeling for everyone and a prom-
ise from Gould that she would

“take the information back to the

Snip developers.
‘‘We really tried to impress on
her that we’re open,’’ says

Jackman, adding that, ‘We
have the premier facilities in the
Northwest and anything we can
possibly do as a community to
support their project would be
looked at.’? Jackman says that
they also pointed out the im-
proved reliability of the Terrace
Airport, which he says is now

equal to that of Smithers and .

has the added advantage of hav-
ing six flights per day compared
to only two in Smithers.

Gould was visiting the
Northwest as part of an impact
study for the Snip project, and
she was also: investigating
various aspects of the project’s
needs such as the availability of
a trained workforce and ap-
propriate social and industrial
services. Jackman says Gould
also suggested the developers
had expressed an interest in
training a local workforce using
facilities such as Northwest
Community College.

As was reported in last week’s
Terrace Review, the Snip project
is scheduled to start producing
as much as 300 to 500 tonnes of
ore per day to tap a gold
resource valued in the
neighborhood of $340 million.

To date, $24 million has been

spent on production and it has
been estimated that developers
could spend as much as $45
million on capital costs.

‘housing

because he’s nevei had to pay
for their overnight lodging and
food there due to bad weather.

-: Terrace still has a reputation

for having unflyable weather..
But statistics kept at the airport
weather office over 30 years

show, that really poor conditions.
(ceiling under 100 feet, visibility —
less than a quarter-mile) happen —

only rarely: an average of .5 per-
cent of the time, or one or two
days a year.

Kirkwood suggests “Terrace
could capitalize on the fact the

Canadian workers would prefer

to settle their families in Terrace
for the Canadian education sys-
tem. We also have lower-cost
than Wrangell.. ‘A
while ago, | did some checking.
on rents. I phoned the Terrace

‘Review for some typical rates.

Prec.
6 64mm

Date i Lo
Sept. 26

Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Sept. 29°
Sept. 30 :
Oct. 1

rain =

3.4 mm

rain

. 106.6
mm rain

8.2 mm

from the ‘classifieds,
are much,’ much - lower ‘in. Ter-

race.” -A ‘1983 Alaska’ Depart-

ment of Labor publication
warned that rent for a 2 bed-

room apartment’ could be as
‘high as $900 in some Alaska

cities:

ates

Terrace - can “make ‘personal
contact’ with the . movers. and’ .
shakers in the mining: industry, -
be more aggressive in promoting | -
the goods and services available .
‘in. our modern city, focus on

prompt response and quality
products, change the misconcep-
tions. about our weather, and,

while wé work on our ‘‘buy local
— buy Terrace’? campaign, we

can remember to urge Canadian-

‘based companies mining Cana-

dian gold to buy Canadian.

| Weather
report |
Sept. 26 - Oct. 2

Forecast: Mainly sunny for

the first part of the week,

becoming cloudy by Friday
with showers. Afternoon
highs 16 to 18, overnight
lows near 7. Probability of
precipitation: 40 percent

in.; Wednesday, 60 percent

Oct. 2

“Thursday and 90. percent

Friday.

and rents

ARIES
Mar. 21-Apr. 19

’ TAURUS
Apr. 20-May 20
GEMINI
May 21-June 20

CANCER
June 24-July 22

LEO
July 23-Aug. 22

VIRGO
Aug, 23-Sept. 22

LIBRA
Sept. 23-Oct. 22

SCORPIO
a Oct. 23-Nov. 21

- . SAGTITARIUS
Nov. 22-Dec. 21
. thick of it.

CAPRICORN
Dec. 22-Jan. 19

_ AQUARILS .
Jan. 20-Feb. 19

PISCES
Feb. 9-Mar. 20

Forecast Period: 10/9- 10/15/88

Watch for opportunity to push for personal and
business advantages. Contact with the publiccan -
beexpected.

Try to improve your employment situation. Look
for an opportunily to lighten theload of another.

Enjoy social pleasures. Some speculation could
result in gain. Attend sporting events, either asa
participant or aspectator.

Activities in the days ahead will center on domestic
surroundings. Family members may be hyper-
sensitive, so watch your step,

Communication with friends results in an employ-
ment opportunity very much to your liking. Put
forth your best effort.

Atiend to business and financial matters and be
familiar with the trend. Shop with quality and
’ beauty in mind.

Proceed with reasonable moderation and restraint
in partaking of the good things. Overindulgence
converts to overweight.

Your system has a need for quiet solitude; a chance
to regroup and be ready for heightened activily
at Birthday time.

Involvement in organizational activities takes:
much of your time. Like it or not, you are in the .

~ You may Feel it necessary to o be more diligent in
professional matters to achieve the desired prestige
andsecurity,

Contact with cultural organizations brings an .
unusual personality into your circle, You are”
fascinated with tales of other lands.

The family budget comes up For discussion. Ex- .
pect, and get, help from family members. You’

Nye Cae “small baits and pleas

rk Ave. Tet race ui’ trom. libratyh

can’t shoulder the whole load.

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