The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 28, 1998 - AS

INTO THE WOODS

By CHRISTIANA WIENS

A day of cables, horses and habitat

WHETHER IT’S layoffs at the mill or clearcuts
- on the mountainside — when you grow up in
Terrace it’s important to understand how the
forest industry works.
It’s more important if you’re a teenager and
planning to cam a living in the community.
So when the Terrace Rotary Club invited a
- group of forestry science students from
. Caledonia to tour selective logging sites in the
~ ar¢a Oct. 6, they jumped at the chance.

Their first slop was the intermediate suspen-

sion system high atop Wesach Mountain at
Clear Creek north of the city. Those behind the
Wheel of the caravan of 4X4 trucks maneuver-
ing up a steep and winding logging road broad-

cast their presence by radio to oncoming truck *

“traffic.

~ At Kilometre 11 the convoy stops amidst a sea
of fog on the cool day and the students trudge
down a muddy road to meet Ken Barnard.

They’re here to catch a first-hand glimpse of
what they’ve only seen in textbooks and pic-
tures and they think the field trip is a great
learning experience,

Although the thick fog severely limits their
view they’re suitably impressed by Barnard’s
huge equipment. He uses an_ intermediate
Suspension system to lift logs off the bottom of
steep inclines, It’s a selective form of logging
he and his company, Micro Forests Limited,
brought to the area three years ago.

“The system acts much like the Shames
Mountain tow rope,” says Barnard. The core of
the unit is a 13 metre (40 foot) tower that sits on
top of a powerful yarder. Cables run from the
lop of tower to grounding sites that make sure
the operation is secure and won't tip under
stress.

Another cable runs from the top of the tower
down the slope to the back of the tree cut
Along that cable sits a radio-controlled carriage
that transports a yarder line which two workers
at the bottom of ihe hill hock on to fallen logs,
The yarder then hoists the logs back to the

loader where theyll be stacked for loading ona .

truck,

All Bamard needs to operate the system is
three picces of expensive equipment, a loader, a
carriage, a yarder and tots of cable. The total
price? About $834,000, Barnard estimates.

“It’s not cheap,” he says to the somewhat
astounded youth. But Barnard’s system makes
up for the cost by saving road-building costs.

Without Barnard’s equipment a road —
estimated al $10,000 a kilometre with excavat-
ing and leveling — would need to be built up or
down an unsafe slope. It would also damage
habitat for bear, moose, wolves and smaller
animals in the area.

Barnard’s system saves money , in tree-
planting. and retuming roadways to forested

land. “It’s equivalent to conventional logging

bul with added benefits,’’ said Barnard.
While Bamard’s equipment allowed the

teenagers a glimpse at log sites of the future, .

Paul Levesque’s Clydesdales took them back to

the era of horse logging. Levesque and another

person harvest the woods near Rosswood, .

They do it the old fashioned way. One of them
culs trees, while the other uses two horses to
drag logs to a centralized pickup site.

The objective is to clear an even-aged stand of
trees for new ones while saving valuable pine
- mushroom habitat. The method minimizes

oxygen loss to the soil caused by equipment

chuming it up while allowing deciduous trees to
grow.

The less intrusive measure also cuts down on
the number of trees that are cut or damaged and
reduces the spread of fungus and disease.

Levesque runs his operation straight through
‘the winter when a good snow base can lighten
the horses’ load and protects the ground.

While: Levesque’s system wouldn’t compete
economically against a skidder, the area is ex-

“pected to naturally regenerate so tree-planting

isn’t required and stream repairing isn’t needed, *

KEN BARNARD'S cable log hauling system was one of three locations recently visited
by a Caledonia forestry science class. Arranged with the help of Forest Renewal B.C.,
the tour gave the students insight into different kinds of Jogging and of the importance of
restoring and keeping habitat for animals and fish.

In the six years Levesque has operated his

‘company, GMP Contracting, the only limitation

he faces is the strength of his horses, ‘‘And I try
to get them to pull downhill,’ he said laughing.

Everyone seems reluctant to leave the horses
but they're keen on learning more and eager to
get to the next stap. ‘It’s an excellent idea,”’
said Grade 12 student Teri Plumb of the tour.

She appreciated the opportunity to experience
what logging has to offer her. Plumb hopes the
trip will help ber figure out which aspect of
forestry she should tackle as a carcer,

The final stop is Pontoon Creek about 25 kilo-
metres north of Terrace, an area originally
logged in 1966. Roads and sediment build up
caused when a bridge was built changed the
creek’s pathway into a series of shallow
streams, doing away habitat for coho and other
salmon species, explains Chris Broster, a habital
protection officer for the forest service in Ter-

race.

Fisheries Renewal B.C. provided money for a
crew and a large excavator to dig up the bridge
and rearrange sediment to stabilize the stream.

Broster said stream restoration is paramount
given lagging numbers of coho, But the work
can be frustrating. ‘“There’s a short season, a
one-month window when the right equipment,
weather and fish stocks are right — if we don’t
get the.equipment, you can miss a whole year’s
work out here,’’ said Broster.

The kind of damage done at Pontoon Creek is

no longer allowed under the Foresls Practices’

Code, so the majority of Broster’s time is spent
fixing mistakes of the past.

He reinforces a lesson the group has been
hearing at every stop — forestry is changing.
‘And there's a real importance to planning —
we can’t afford to do it twice,’’ said Broster,

pa

Certainty lacking in treaty deal

By MEL SMITH

FOR GOVERNMENTS the

quid pro quo for entering

into treaties is the assurance
. that such treaties contain the

-sum total of ai] rights which
‘that particular native group
. would ever claim.

~ To achieve this, all pre-

: .° vious treaties in Canada, in-

cluding the recently con-
_clided treaties in northem
. Canada, have contained an
- extinguishment clause
- whereby the particular na-
tive group ‘‘cedes, releases
and surrenders’” any and all
rights not contained within
the treaty.
: These words have on ac-
casion been the subject of
judicial interpretation. They
were alluded to by the
’ Supreme Court of Canada,
in various contexts, in Del-
gamuukw. In short their
meaning has been judicially
eslablished.
Over the past five years,
the native leadership has in-

dicated a strong resistance .

to accepting an extinguish-
ment clause of this kind in
future treaties.

The present federal
government has acquiesced
in-that demand and it ap-
pears that the provincial
government has followed

suit,

Much discussion has taken
place among governments
and the native leadership ta
formulate words that would
provide certainty and
finality without using the
word extinguishment.

As a consequence, in the
Nisga’a agreement the time-
honoured words are re-
placed by another formula-
tion of words wherein only
the term ‘‘release’’ is used.

The new words may or
may not prove to be suffi-
cient to achieve finality. No
one can be assured that the
new wards will be inter-
preted by a court in the
same way as the old ones,

In fact, there Is likely to be
atendency for a court to at-
tach some significance to
the different wording.

Moreover, with the con-
cept of Living treaties in
vogue in certain academic
circles and beyond, this

departure from the well-.

established term. is unset-
tling. This much is certain:
the Nisga’a see the new

‘ words more favourably in

their interest,
There is, of course, anoth-

er dimension to this matter.‘

of certainty. and finalily-and

that is the danger of build-—

ing uncertainty into the
treaty itself.

In many respects this is
what has happened with the
Nisga'a Agreement.

The forest industry has
recognized this. In an Aug.
5, 1998 news release, the
Council of. Forest Industries
identified four major areas
of uncertainty in the forest

* will aboriginal-enforced
laws relating to wildlife,
fisheries and environmental

protection impact timber
harvests autside —_irealy
lands?

Discretionary —_decision-

making in the hands of
boards, commillees, cic. is,
of itself, a means of creating
uncertainty,

oF

“If there are to be fifty more treaties like
this one, | have no hesitation in predict-

‘Ing that at the end of It all the provincial

Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs will be one
of the largest in government.”

sector alone, They are:
* wilt competition for ex-

propriation of forest tenures .

be adequate to maintain eco-
namic confidence?

* what effect will the right
of aboriginals to decrease or
even halt harvesting timber
on treaty lands have on the
forest industry province-
wide, with such rights being
cofitained in many more
treaties to come?

* how will existing saw-

"mills be impacted by the un-

certainty of wood. supply

during the 5-year transition
- period and beyond?

I have counted at least 50
explicit instances in the
Nisga’a Agreement where
there must in future be con-
sullation, agreement, discus-
slons, or approval between
Nisga’ a government and the
provincial or — federal
governments.

Many of these require side
agreements requiring
renegotiation after a term of
yeats. No one can predict
what the outcomes of these
many sets. of Regotiations
willbe. —

- To. that exient, therefore,
there is a clear element of

uncertainty of many key
aspects of this treaty.

This intergovernmental in-
terface will turn many a
Nisga’a into a burcaucrat
and greatly increase the
demands placed on the staff
and resources of the provin-
cial government particular-
ly.

If there are to be fifty
more treaties like this one, I
have no hesitation in
predicting that at the end of
it all the provincial Ministry
of Aboriginal Affairs will be
one of the largest in govern-
ment. How ironic consider-
ing that according to the Ca-
radian Constitution a pro-
vince has no explicit legisla-
tive jurisdiction over In-

- dians.

“ Certainty and finality with

this treaty-making process?
Not very likely.

Mel Smith was a lawyer,
senior bureaucrat and con-
stitutional adviser to a
series of Social Credit
governments in B.C., retir-
ing in 1991, He’s the author
of Our Home or Native
Land? lives in Victoria and

is a columnist with B.C.

Report, This column was
commissioned by the com-
pany that owns The Terrace
Standard.

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

Stick to the basics —

Dear Sir:

Many debates have arisen from the grandiose plans
for the multiplex arena extension.

Ice arenas, swimming pools and conference centres
are traditionally taxpaycr-supported as these amenities
are not viable businesses for private enterprise in
smaller communities. But when planners start talking
about a bar, gyms, racquet courts, theatres, etc, in a
publicly-funded facility, a red flag should go up.

These are facilities that are available in our city, built
up and run by hardworking entrepreneurs, Interesting
idea — that the taxpayer be asked to pay for facilities
which would be manned by unionized civil servants.
Existing businesses would be threatened and possibly
pulting people on employment insurance or worse.

Or the other scenario that was mentioned — where
thase businesses would be allowed to bid on leasing
municipally-owned facilities to compete with their
own, which they have built up with their own hard-
eanied dollars and efforts aud their bank loans.

The idea that government can run a better or more ef-
ficient business than private enterprise has been tested
ona massive scale this century and has resulted in a
spectacular failure wherever it was tried.

My advice to Terrace government is to stick to the
traditional services expected — roads, sewers, waler,
policing, arenas and swimming pools.

Municipalities should not be involved in bars, gym-

nasiums, grocery slores, thealers or whatever. Leave

that to the taxpaying small businessmen who are the
backbone of your community and are already doing it
on their own hook without tax subsidies.

Peter Weeber, Jr., Terrace, B.C.

Where they ever safe?

Dear Sir:

I've never understood the philosophy behind the
“Take Back The Night’? campaign. Take back what
night?

I don’t recall any period of history when it was safe
for any unescorted female to be out and about. Up to
100 years ago a woman was expected to be escorted by |
a male protector during the daylight hours.

Fifty years ago if an unescorted women walked the
streets she was cither a fool or a hooker subject to the
evils of Jack the Ripper. Today women wear as litle as
possible and think they can get away with it after
sunset. There's always some Jack jock out there.

Women will march until hell freezes over and it
won't do them any good. They’ll never take back the
night because it was never their’s to take back,

Take it at your own peril.

Brian Gregg, Terrace, BC,

The yellow brick road

Dear Sir:

Ho hum. The news all over the world is mayhem,
death and destruction, Bill Clinton, unemployment,
global warming.

But here in Terrace life is exciting. Ever hear of the
Farmer’s Market? Wouldn't it be great if it moved?

Weill, according to Dave Trawin, the plans are all in
place. Down by the Co-op, we have yellow bricks.
Now heading cast, down toward the curling rink, we
will have the Yellow Brick Road.

And my friends tell me we will have no trouble locat-
ing the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the
Scarecrow. Just fill in the blanks and Dorothy will take
us far, far away.

Good citizens will be sore afraid, And the rich people
on the hill will look down in the valley and say “‘I
wonder what the poor people are doing today.”’

Please somebody, tell me I’m wrong.

Bob Goodwin, Terrace, B.C.

Nisga’a tactic all wrong

Dear Sir:

Gordon Campbell’s behaviour on the subject of the
Nisga’a treat is terrible and distressing. Does he have
any idea what he and his party are doing, and the harm
his actions can cause?

I believe that he knows not one thing about what is in

the treaty, but he keeps bleating out the cries of his ad-
visors, Mr. R. Mair and Mr. M. Smith. These people
should remember thal this is a negotiated treaty and
there were three parties at the table — the federal
government was there, too.

Mr. Campbell is iaking the B.C. government to court.
Why does he not name the federal Liberal government
in his action, for the {edera] government has more re-

sponsibility in all these matters than the province docs, -

They are, after all, totally responsible for the Indian
Act of 1876. They are also totally responsible for the
Constitulion, which Mr. Campbell claims this treaty
will change, Mr. Campbell’s lack of attack on the fed-
eral government clearly indicates that he is using this
treaty for his own political purposes.

This trealy is a result of years of negotiation con-
ducted by some very wise and astute lawyers, It fair
boggles the mind to think that Mr. Mair and Mr. Smith ,
know more about constitutional law than the best law-
yets the feds could find.

No one, but no one, comments on the fact that the
Nisga’a lands will be held in fee simple — private
lands, just like the Gang Ranch of the O’Keefe ranch
(both of which are larger than the Nisga’a lands).
Nisga’a laws, then, will only be applied 1o the Nisga’a
private lands held under corporate title,

This means non-Nisga’a will not have a vole in
Nisga’a affairs quite simple because if you don’t hold
shares in the corporation, you get no vole, buddy.

Rafe Mair and Mr. Campbell cost B.C. millions over
the Kemano deal and their terror rhetoric can do the
same now. Mr, Campbell is a politician, and as such
can plead insanily. But Mr. Mair is a talk show host, a
Service program, an open public forum, He should do
our populace a favor and provide a full and rational
discussion and dissection of the treaty.

There are well informed and independent people oul
there. Onc is attomey Derek A. Brindle who made a
common sense prescniation at the UBCM in Septem-
ber. He finds no spooks or skeletons in this deal, And
he Is not a dupe of the province, He was engaged by
UBCM,

Les Watmough, Terrace, B.C.

About letters

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editor, Our deadline is noon Vridays, You can write
us af 3210 Clinton St, Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2, Our:
fax number is 250-638-8432 or you can email us at
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