are | Damage FLYING OVER the Mayo Creek Valley, it’s easy to see the erosion damage caused by poor logging practices, Cracked and sunken roads, small landslides and blocked culverts litter the cutblock below. But since most of that damage is in its early stages of forming, there is still a chance to prevent the most devastating erosion from occurring. And that's exactly what Forest Renewal BC, through partnerships with other agencies, is tying to ac- complish. Located some 40 km Northwest ‘of Terrace, Maya Creek drains in to the Kilsumkalum River — which ‘tmplics in to the north end of Kalum Lake, The valley was logged in the ear- ly ’80s, and left, as was common practice of the day, without any at- ‘tempt to restore the landscape. Fif- teen years later, work is being done to correct that mistake. “The Mayo is a good example of the kinds of work we do,” says FRBC regional communications of- ficer Amy Hart. ‘‘Our mandate is to work with people in all regions of the province to make a sustainable resource,” ' So FREC is working with a vari- ety of pariners to make the Mayo productive again. The work is part of an overall plan called the Kaium Watershed Restoration Project, which covers an area of some 2200 square kilo- metres. The Mayo Valley, which is about 36 square kilometres in size, is one of the key areas for rehabilitation under the project because, with its steep walls and heavy precipitation, it will suffer from heavy eresion if left unchecked, That erosion will muin fish habital downstream, as well as destroy some of the poten- ‘tial for forest regrowth. “The valley is a textbook exam- fa Se a tethe. z ete pateeake 3 A SMALL LANDSLIDE in the Mayo, caused by erosion. ~ DON SPALDING and John Christiansen build a water bar on a logging road in the falley. lin the Mayo ple of problems that occur when a site has not been properly deac- tivated,’” says Patrick Bolin of McElhanney Consulting Services —~ one of the partners in the pro- ject."“We knew that something had to be done now to prevent major landslide activity, which would degrade salmon habitat downstream,”* Bolin explains that many prob- lems can result if logging roads are left alone after workers pull out. _ planted - stabilizing plants, grasses and trecs, ” dike Sitka or stide Alder. As woody debris rots under built- up roads, cracks develop. Water then flows through these cracks, which freezes and thaws — making the cracks larger and larger, and washing away topsoil. This process is particularly bad in the Mayo Val- ley because of naturally occurting unstable soils, Another problem is that, as the roots of falien trees rot, the soiis are destabilized. That means that stecp- sided areas, such as where a road has been carved out of the hillside, are vulnerable to soil slumpage, That's when a large wedge of soil collapses and slides down onto the Toad. To prevent these problems from further occurring in the Mayo, FRBC is funding $250,000 for road “‘deactivation’’, which essentially means attempting to minimize ero- sion by recontouring the land to try and retum it more to a natural state, That involves pulling soil and organic material back onto the roadway. The amount of pullback depends on whether or not the road is to be partly or fully deactivated, A partly-deactivated road is. siill somewhat accessible to vehicles. A fully-deactivated road essentially becomes part of the natural landscape again. So far, more than 12 km of old logging roads and landings in the Mayo have been permanently deac- tivated. The pullback is then seeded and — mainly with soil- “Once you've built a road into an area, it's hard to get productivity back,” says Bob Wilson of the BC Forest Service, “I think iUs im- possible to get it back to full pro- ductivity —- the soil has been altered and compacted.” So, instead of planting commec- cially harvestable trees, deciduous species are planted to help hold the soil in place and slow the move- ment of water. “We want to dissipate the energy of (moving) water,” says Wilson. “This would naturally occur in a healthy forest with a healthy root system”? Another method of slowing moving water is to help reconnect the natural drainage patterns of the land. Roads disrupt those patterns because the water tends to flow across their compacted soils, wash- ing away the fine surface material in the process, Building cross-ditches called water bars, helps to drain water away from the roads. Those cul- veris are then lined with coarse material like rocks and boulders to slow the running water — a process called ‘‘armouring’’. In some cases, old culverts are now causing big problems. A com- mon method of drainage under log- ging roads is to install a “box cul- verl’', which is like a tunnel under a road for water to pass through. The tunnel is supported by logs, The problem is that, over time, the culverts tend to get blocked by material washing down the slope. And when the logs supporting the tunnel] rot and collapse, the old cul- vert becomes a dam. “Culverts are fine until they get blocked,’’ says Bob Wilson. ‘‘Then you have a big problem.” The dam can only hold for so long before it bursts —- spewing debris and topsoil down the slope. Today, because of new provincial legislation, like the Forest Practices Code, box culverts have to be removed, and roads deactivated as a logging company pulls out of an area. And through FRBC, logged- out areas like the Mayo can be fixed up to today’s slandards. ‘We've always known this kind of work should be done,” says Bob Wilson, ‘‘But we never had the bucks. This gives us an absolutely wonderful opportunity to fix things up the way they should be,”’ Partners key to valley success The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 2, 1996 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD PARTNERSHIPS WITH other groups has become one of the hallmarks of Forest Renewal BC. And their efforts in the Mayo Creek Valley are to excep- tion. The road deactivation and soil stabilization measures in the Mayo are the result of FREC partnerships with several groups, all of whom have a vested interest in maintaining a sustainable forestry resource. Two such partners are Repap Forestry, and the Kit- sumkalum Band, The Mayo is important to these groups because the watershed resides in traditional Kit- sumkalum territory, and is also part of a Repap Tree Farm Licence. **The Mayo Creek system has been an important part of our traditional territory,” says Steve Roberts, Kitsum- kalum Band manager. ‘It’s Spacing ad “IT’S LIKE a group of people fighting over a sand- wich."’ That’s how Bob Wilson of the BC Forest Service de- scribes the competition for nutrients on a tree- farm. And that competition is ’ why Forest Renewal BC is funding juvenile tree spac- ing in the Kalum Forest Dis- trict. Wilson explains that too many trees competing for a limited amount of nutrients in the soil makes for small trees. that are not commer- clally desirable. “Tf you’re growing rows of carrots, you have to thin out your crop,’” Wilson says. “Otherwise you just have hundreds’ of spindly little carrots and nothing of much use”? The work is part of an FRBC five-year incremental silviculture project to try to eslablish a strong silvicul- ture industry in the district. “Stable funds mean that companies can develop long-term plans,’* says Amy Hart, FRBC regional com- munications officer. ‘It gives them guaranteed work so they can bire and train new people.’’ a major area of our his- tory.”? ' So the Kitsumkalum Band has acted like a general con- tractor in overseeing the project. The Band has pro- duced all the maps of the area, and been responsible for the hiring of sub- contractors. Several people on the work crews have also been band members. Since the old logging roads to the site had become impassible, they had to be repaired, And in a strange irony, Repap worked to re- open the roads, only so they could be removed again. Repap also supplicd grass, alfalfa seed, and alder see- dlings to plant on the roads after they had been deac- tivated, Other major partners in the project include McEl- hanney Consulting Services and the BC Forest Service, who have provided techni- cal assistance to the project. Next Spring, the work will carry over, focussing on stream habitat restoration and more partnerships — with groups like the Terrace Salmanoid Enhancement Society and the Steelhead Socicty. ‘We can work effectively with partners, and this is an example of that’? says Amy Hart of Forest Renewal BC. “FRBC really just writes the cheques, The other part ners do all the work.” S value to timber When a block of trees are around 20-years-ald, workers move in to remove more than half of the stand. This process opens up the forest to more sunlight and reduces competition for nutrlents. The fallen trees are left on the ground to rot, acting as a compost lo provide the remaining trees with even more nutrients. ‘The trees that are left grow bigger, faster,’’ says Bob Wilson. '‘You can only grow X amount of wood in an area. Spacing lets you grow that amount in a few big pleces instead of thou- sands of little ones.’* But cutting all those trees down is a lot of labour- Intensive work — and that isn’t cheap. It costs FRBC about $1,000 per hectare to space, So the crown corpo- ration focuses on areas that they think will most benefit from spacing. “Ivs a win, win situation for us,’? says Wilson. ‘It creates both jobs and a morc marketable product,”’ About 1,700 hectares in ‘the Kalum Forest District are spaced each year under the project BOB WILSON The Mail Bag This is why | live here Dear Sir: Last week I experienced every woman's nightmare. 1 lost my purse. The big concern not being the money, but the credit cards and identification. F am bom under the planet Jupiter, the sign of benevolence and good Inck. Well it was sure shining for me that day! My purse was found in a shopping cart in the middle of the Safeway parking lot by a young Tady who works at the check-out. Tam often asked why ] would want to live in Terrace. My answer is always the same: the beautiful scenery, the slower pace and the wonderful people. I love Ter- race and feel so proud and lucky to call this home, My belief in the goodness of people here is con- firmed by the honesty and integrity shown io me by Jackie Jensen of Safeway. Thank you, Jackie. Kathy Corbett Terrace B.C, You're free to choose Dear Sir: Ive just opened up my mailbox to find Terrace Pro- Life’s “‘Brochure of Facts’’, Why is Pro-Life trying to scare away Planned Parenthood in Terrace? Let people make their own choices about birth con- trol, sexual education, and abortion. Don’t try to change somebody’s mind with scare tactics and twisted facts. It’s easy —- if you don’t want to go to Planned Parenthood, then don’t. Nobody's stopping you. But let Planned Parenthood work here in Terrace unhampered by opposition that’s biased, Planned Parenthood has my vote. Terrace needs it. If you don’t believe that, then look at the high numbers of teenage pregnancies here. , Susan Roches Terrace B.C. Panic unjustified Dear Sir: It seems that Planned Parenthood, an organization devoted to decreasing unwanted pregnancy, is coming to Terrace. Despite the panic from the Terrace Pro Life Educa- tion Association, which obviously thinks that education about birth control can be equated with persuasion to engage in sexual activity, I welcome Planned Parenthood, and applaud any government which works to inform and empower its populace. In my job, I see far too many women who face the difficult choices associated with unwanted pregnancy. Hurrah for Planned Parenthood, Karia Hennig Terrace B.C. Group not up to task Dear Sir; Planned Parenthood’s broad, carefully worded state- , ment of objectives would on the surface. be, well. teceived by most people reading them. One wonders then, why the organization itself and its programs are so controversial and unwelcome to some communities, most recently by the school board in the Fraser Valley and also Bulkley Valley School district. While I agree that Terrace has 4 high incidence of teen pregnancy and that this problem needs to be ad- dressed, I disagree with the method and message used by Planned Parenthood to respond to this problem. Planned Parenthood’s literature reveals that their ans- wer to teen pregnancy and epidemic S.T-.D.’s is to pro- vide “‘value-neutral’’ sex education with a strong em- phasis on contraception for kindergarten to grade 12. Abortion is promoted as the ‘‘best”’ answer for failed contraception. It’s interesting that nowhere in their objectives do they state a direct connection with abortion, yet they are known to be the largest abortion referral agency in Canada. It’s time for a reality check. Studies have not proven that where Planned Parenthood’s policies have been implemented in schools and communities the rate of teen sexual activity has been reduced, In fact the opposite is true. For example, in 1995, the dept of health for the city of Toronto, in which Planned Parenthood’s programs are well represented did a study which revealed ‘though adolescents are having fewer bables than 15 years ago, they are getting pregnant at a greater rate.’’ The abortion rate for teens rose to 69 per cent. Planned Parenthood’s programs don’t work- except to increase sexual activity in teens. As a parent of teens, I would like to see a fresh ap- proach to the problem of teens having sex. It would in- clude abstinence at its core and address the many mod- ern influences that affect sexual behavior today. Like Planned Parenthood we also believe education is essential, As someone once wrote "information is casy to teach but it is values that have the greatest influence in determining behavior." Planned Parenthood with its emphasis on "value- neutral" education is not equipped for this task, Sharon Vanderlee Terrace B.C, Column not appreciated Dear Sir: I have just read Claudetie Sandecki’s attack on the bagpipes ("Tale of a Celtic calamity", Sept. 25), and I am sure you will have felt] would respond, Mrs, Sandecki, your comments were not received by yours truly very well, I do take exception to your com- ‘ments, as your description of the bagpipes docs not deserve even printing. May J respectfully remind you that the bagpipes are uscd on very many occasions for special events, and as you write for funerals, parades etc, also the piper is heard every morning outside Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mothers residence, a great tradition of many years, so it is obvious you would not be residing in her neighbourhood, As to the comment about the perfect piper playing, ah, if only we were perfect in our endeavour. Also if your believe everything you see and hear in the movies, what a twilight world you live in. The bag- pipes sre a respected musical instrument and are re- quested to be heard at many venues. Oh by the way, I did not read your article until it was brought to my attention, as I prefer to read articles of interest, so much for "Through Bifocals", Chartes F. Meek Terrace B.C. More letters, page A8