Empioyee group buys Thornhill nursery The Thornhill Nursery, formerly a seedling supply operation for the Ministry of Forests, has been sold by the government as part of package deal that includes five other nurseries in the province. The purchase was made by a com- pany formed of 39 ex-employees for $9 million. Peter Clark, spokesman for the Privatization Restructuring Group in Victoria, said the suc- cessful offer was ‘‘dramatically improved”, in dollar terms, over a previously rejected bid by the employee group. Clark said the operations are being sold because the government intends to get out of the reforestation business by 1992. He explained that the four intervening years will allow the government nurseries lead time to get on a competitive footing with private nurseries in selling seedlings to forest companies. The sale includes a four-year contract for selling seedlings to the government as it discharges it’s replanting obligations. Clark said the government will replant areas logged prior to October 1987, when amendments to the Forest Act made silviculture the responsibility of forest com- panies rather than the Ministry of Forests. Clark noted that the employee group received no government assistance in financing. They paid $5 million up front for physical assets, with most of the remainder being for inventory, which the government will buy back from them. The other five hurseries are in Campbell River, Chilliwack, Harrop (Nelson), Red Rock (Prince George) and Vernon. Tom Harvey, who managed the Thornhill operation under the Ministry of Forests, says he doesn’t anticipate any signifi- cant changes right away, but he said he expects some diversifica- tion over a period of time as the nursery explores new markets and products. ‘‘It’s going to be more dynamic, there are going to be more opportunities,’’ he said, ‘‘It’s going to be a challenge, and I think we’re go- ing to do quite well.’’ Meanwhile, the nursery will begin delivery of more than 2 million pine, spruce and ama- bilis fir seedlings to planting sites beginning August 1. T errace Review — Wednesday, July 27, 1988 3 Manuel Paul, with his mother Elfriede Paul, enjoys one of his last days in Terrace as a Rotary exchange student. Mrs. Paul spent the last two weeks in Terrace visiting with her son before he returned to his home in West Germany. Manuel enjoyed his exchange to Terrace and said he felt it had been the best year of his life. A walk in the park — with education Park interpreter Patricia Thomson led a group of nature- loving sleuths through Lakelse Lake Provincial Park, looking for clues that can tell us which animals have been through the woods. A small hole in a fallen log, surrounded by bits of hemlock cones, is proof positive of a small mouse or vole living there. Should detectives find such a log torn apart, it’s evidence a bear was there, look- ing for a rodent meal. Thomson and special guests are providing a number of inter- pretive talks this summer at the Furlong Bay campsite. Other topics have included Outdoor Photography with Jackie Gui- mond, the Uneasy Earth (hot springs, lava and other geological phenomena), the In- credible Edibles (exotic dining on fiddleheads, berries and bulirushes), and more, Thom- son, who holds a degree in biology and has six years’ ex- perience working with B.C. parks, plans and guides the daily events. During ‘‘Who's Been There?’’, campers also found evidence of the yellow-bellied sap-sucker on a hemlock filled with numerous tiny holes, found a robin’s eggshell, woodpecker holes, and mysterious scratch Ray Halvorson and his family react with joy when his victory is announced at the Skeena federal Progressive Conservative riding nomination convention in Terrace Saturday. Tori€S — continued from page 1 free trade.”’ Halvorson argued that B.C. has traditionally shipped manufactured goods and raw resources 2,500 miles to Ontario where there is a market of only six million people, but within 700 miles of our southern border, he says, there is a market of 60 million people. ‘*‘What we have here is an op- portunity to trade with 10 times the population in one-third the distance,’’ says Halvorson, ‘“‘And that’s the position that we’re in with free trade in this riding. It’s a program we can sell to the people. Any reasonable thinking people in the North- west, as the facts become plain, are going to vote free trade — there’s no question about in my mind.”’ Opponents of free trade who say Canadian social programs would cease to exist under the agreement don’t know what they’re saying, says Halvorson, “They’re mot even under threat,’’ he says. ‘“They’re simp- ly reading something into it that’s simply not there. I didn’t go over the big paper but I cer- tainly went over a great deal of material on free trade, and those particular areas of our social structure are not even threatened by free trade.’’ Halvorson says his campaign will be a full-time job, with par- ty members working as a ‘‘fami- ly’’. **We have a tremendous team right across the riding and we’re going to be using everybody,” says Halvorson, “‘And we’re go- ing to put it all together in one great big package and turn this riding into a conservative stronghold.” Halvorson, who calls free trade ‘‘the greatest economic event since Confederation’’, says that the idea is nothing new to Canada. We did in fact have free trade with the U.S. from 1854 to 1866, he says, but, ‘‘We lost it because of Britain’s med- dling with the Civil War.’’ He says that we have waited 121 years trying to get it back and the Conservatives are the party who are going to do it. marks high on a tree. ‘‘A bear must have passed through here about four years ago and left these scratches on the tree. Bears do this to mark their territory. Another bear will know how big and tall this bear is by the height of the scratches,’” Thomson ex- plained. The park interpreter said wild animals, like people, prefer to walk along a cleared trail rather than scrambling through the bush, but animals are more like- ly to walk around after dark. Stream banks are also a good place to look for evidence of wildlife, as animal tracks will show clearly in the sand or mud. Tracks Terrace area residents might see include bear, fox, weasel, otter, muskrat, and beaver. Interpretive talks coming up include Tales the Totems Teil tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. starting at the Furong Bay picnic shelter. Special guest Vera Henry will share insights into our native heritage. Friday at 3 p.m., Masters of the Flight looks at birds and marvels at how they ‘‘slip the bonds of earth.”? At 6:30, Fruit in the Forest takes a dessert-time walk. Saturday, July 30 meet at the picnic shelter for a walk Down by the Beaver Pond at 3 p.m., and at 7 p.m., be prepared to en- joy the great outdoors in safety and creativity in Outdoor Sur- vival Sense. On Sunday at 3 p.m. there’s a repeat of Who’s Been There?, and at 7 p.m. Inthe Wake of the Riverboats includes a special guest appearance. The holiday Monday has a walk beneath the towering trees at 7 p.m. in Gen- tle Giants. For more informa- tion on these or other park events, call Patricia Thomson at 635-5342, or B.C. Parks at ‘Lakelse Lake, 798-2277. Native floats add appeal to Riverboat Days parade One of the prize-winning floats in last year’s Riverboat Days parade was an entry by the Kitsumkalum Indian Band featuring one of their newly-carved totem poles. This year the presence of native entries will be even larger and is sure to add a theme to the parade which has never been seen before. The Kermode Friendship Centre is working on a float, as are the Nisga’a — and the Kitsumkalum Band will be back with a freshly carved dugout. Because the actual design and theme of these floats are a well-kept secret, they offer one more reason to join the crowd on Lakelse Ave. at 11 a.m. this Saturday. Sponsored by the The new president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women Lynn Kaye will be in Terrace Monday, August 1, 1988 She will be speaking on methods of political action, and the effects of free trade on women. No-host luncheon $6.00, Pizza Hut 1:00 p.m. RSVP by July 27 — Phone 635-2695 or 635-5434 Terrace Women’s Resource Centre Vie