~ notes:

es goverment

FORESTRY:
A SERIES of small
“ reductions in
harvesting limits in
. different timber
supply areas could
~. add up to one big
headache for some
community in the —
“northwest.
~~. That was the message area

. mayors gave the Forest
“-ministry’s lan Delisle last

-- week,

‘Delisle addressed the North

~ "Coast regional advisory board

"Friday on the subject of annual
ey -allowable cuis (AAC).
In the past couple of years
analyses have been completed
-. on a number of timber supply
_\aréas (TSAs) spanning the
_ © Prince Rupert Forest Region.
"That covers an area from
“south: of Kitimat to the Yukon
border and from the coast to

“the Lakes district.

_. The analyses altempted to

__What’s
ours:
— is ours”

‘LOCAL POLITICIANS con- -
- tinued to bang the local drum -

on forestry issues at last Satur-
day’s Kitimat-Stikine regional
district meeting.

This time it was over the
a Forest. ministry’ s Small Busi-
-, Mess program, in ‘particular
sales of wood made under the

oe Section:16.1 of the Forest Act.

. Following news last May
“that a-local timber sale had
“been awarded to a Vancouver
>Asland . ‘company, Victoria
- Plywood, the regional district
joined in the condemnation of

Forest minister. Andrew Pet-
- ter’s decision:

» On Saturday «the directors
passed a resolution which ‘it

“intends to submit to the next

: meeting of the North Central

-: Municipal Association. .

‘In the preamble, the district
-timber - sales should
create _tobs and economic

| tuis PROVING! is expected
to-announce within the next
-couple of weeks which com-

- “munity will, get the Forest
'..Renewal B.C. (FRBC) north-

hes ‘west regional office.

_- And: that will soon be fol-
- lowed by the appointment of a
- - regional director, applications
“for which close Wednesday,
- March 15,
-.°. Dana -_Bonnieux, _vice-
~. president of FRBC, was in
---"Terrace last week to outline
the program and to the North
~ Coast regional advisory com-

. ae mille,’ That body. includes
": area mayors and. regional dis-

trict chairmen.

While . confirming an an-

> nouncement on the location of
~ the office was close, Bonnieux
~-was unable to say what the de-
: gision would be.

~. However, commenting after

the: meeting, mayor Jack Tal-
~Stra:-said it was clear the
choice was between Terrace
~vand Smithers.

“Terrace had been lobbying

for FRBC to base ils opera-

~~ tions here, he added.
: “Announced last. year, the

--FRBC.. is. being financed
: through sharply — increased
“ stumpage fees paid by the
~ forest industry.

Two-thirds of that extra
revenue. _ is
“earmarked for the program
_ which targets watershed
restoration, silviculture, _in-
~ ventory updates and woodlot
expansion,

. Some work was. carried out .

in the. northwest Jast year un-

der the program, but the .
“amount felt well short of target .

because of insufficient time to
carry-oul: the planning work
required. ‘before any. project
can. be approved...

~~» Bonnieux said the plan is to
ce have the program fully up and |

. diversification

calculate what the long term
sustainable harvest was in
each TSA,

That’s the amount of wood
that could be cut each year in
perpetuity — in other words |
the volume of new growth)
would match the amount
felled cach year.

In all but the case of the
Cassiar TSA, the reports
suggested the AACs would
have to be reduced:

The amount of the suggested
reduction varied significantly:
in the Kalum South the figure
was just under 17 per cent but
in the Kalum North it was
more than two-thirds.

In each case, the province’s
chief forester, Larry Pedersen
will use the reports plus
reactions from industry,
interest groups and the public
to decide what the new AAC
should be.

The problem, says Terrace _
mayor Jack Talstra, is each of
these decisions is made in

isolation.

“The reality in the northwest
is logs go everywhere in the
Prince Rupert forest region,”
he pointed out,

For example, what effect
would a reduction of the
Kalum South AAC have on a
mill in, say, Kitwanga which

- is inthe Kispiox TSA?

“We? re saying you’ve got to
look at the bigger picture,’’
Talstra explained.

While cutting reductions in
each of the individual TSAs
might not be significant, if you
added them up across all nine
TSAs in the region, there
could be cause for concern, he
added.

The total loss of harvestable
wood could translate into a
mill somewhere in the
northwest having to close.
And maintaining employment
in the region was ‘‘crucial’’,
he said.

Therefore, Talstra

k at big picture

maintained, the chief forester
should look at the AACs for
all nine areas at onc lime and
release simultaneous reports
on each,

He also emphasized they
should be reports, not
decisions, ‘‘We need to know
which way he is leaning and
have an opportunity for.
input,’ Talstra explained.

There should also be a socio-
economic study to assess the
impact of the combined AAC
changes on the region as a
whole and the communities
within it,

While admitting there was
“some resistance’ to the
advisory committee’s
suggestions, Talstra added, ‘‘I
think they got the messagt by
the end of it.’’

He said the committee had
also used the same regional
argument later when Warren
Mitchell of the Environment
ministry updated them on the
Protected Areas Strategy.

vs

APPROVED LOGGING. Above, wood I is hauled in last summer on a Small Busi-
ness timber sale logging show south of Terrace. The operation would meet
regional district demands because it was being carried out by a Terrace company.

in. resources
based communities. :
And recalling past timber

sales have been awarded to.

companies as far away as. the
*‘metropolitan southwest,’’ the
resolution calls for a change in
Section 16.1 to ensure timber

from those sales is. processed
“within the forest region from
which the timber is. har-
vested’’, - :

In the case of the northwest,
that means the Prince Rupert
forest region which would in

tum mean Terrace value-
added operations like Terrace
Pre-Cut and Forwest could be
awarded wood from the North
Kalum or Bulkley timber
supply areas without con-
tradicting the regional dis-
trict’s position.

waits for Renewal word

running in the northwest by
this summer,

Apart from the appointment
of a regional director, FRBC
will soon be bringing out a
handbook explaining how to
apply for money under the
program and setting up a sys-
tem to receive proposals,

The = provincial — Forest
Renewal board has also set
priorities including a ranking
system for projects, she added.

As for the healthy salary to
be paid the regional director
—— up to $77,000 — Bonnieux
maintained it was a ‘‘very,
very important’? position
given the successful applicant
would have to work with
numerous different organiza-
tions, have good planning and
communication. skills and be
able to ‘“‘work some magic”’ to
come up with a regional plan

Dana Bonnieux
place the expertise already
available through the Environ-
ment and Forest ministries.
Noting any projects would

have to meet provincial
regulations in legislation such
as the Forest Practices Code,
Bonnieux explained the Forest
Service would still. have to

In addition to the director, the regional office will

have a staff of six to eight.

all interests could agree with.
In addition to the director,
the regional office will have a
staff of six to eight each with
their own area of expertise.
Bonnieux was unable to pro-
vide a budget figure for the
regional operation, but noted
FRBC chief Roger Stanyer
had been quoted as saying
overheads would not be above
three per cent of the program 8
total budget,
_ Although the choice of staff
would be guided by the partic-
ular needs of a region, Bon-
nieux suggested people knowl-
edgeable in land issues, com-
munity: development and en-
vironment would be required.
However, she added, there

was no Intention the regional .

staff. should duplicate or re-

tions to the provincial Forest
Renewal board.

As for the advisory boards,
Bonnieux said they would be
set based on regional staff
recommendations as to the
number of members and who
they should be,

She anticipated that would
vary from region to region but
the main thrust would be to
achieve a broad spectrum of
representation. :

Asked if money being spent
on FRBC could have been just
as effective if used to increase
staffing levels of the ‘ mini-
stries, Bonnieux contended,
““We are able to take a broader
perspective and take all inter-
ests into account. It provides
for outside guidance.’

Another important difference
was FRBC’s money did not
come out of the province’s
general revenue. Because the
source and amount of money
was laid down in law, ‘‘We
don’t have to argue every year
for our budget,’? she ex-

plained, adding, ‘It can’t be

sign off silvicultural projects. ©

FRBC would also contract
the ministries to oversee im-
plementation’ of projects that
fell within their jurisdiction,
For example, the Environment
ministry would handle projects
under  FRBC’s
Restoration program.

Bonnieux said ministry staff
would also be involved in
helping identify priorities in
the region in the same way as
community groups.

They would also be asked to
assess the effectiveness . of
proposals and reasonableness
of projected costs.

Based on that informalion
and input from the regional
advisory boards which would
be set up, FRBC regional staff
would pass on. recommenda: :

Watershed —

diverted without a change in
legislation.’’ That was not the
case with the ministries,

However, she conceded its
money was tied to stumpage
rates which could fluctuate
significantly.

Therefore, the provincial
board was setting aside same
current revenue in a reserve
fund, That would ensure there
was enough money to pay for
projects even if a change in
market conditions reduced
stumpage fees and therefore
FRBC’s revenues,

Having that buffer would al-
low it to enter into long term
commitments: which - in. turn

offered more stability,

“Our purpose is to avoid
short term. thinking,’ Bon-

‘nieux emphasized.

‘ SOME PEOPLE: aré going to. eam more money, tom

eam more money, thai e

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 1, 1995- AS

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

Orenda disap pointed
An open letter to:
Helmut Giesbrecht
MLA, Skeena

Dear Sir: er coe -

You are quoted in the press as ‘saying, “At this point it’s not that °
obvious that Orenda ever intended to build a processing facility.’? :

We are both disappointed and concemed with this comment. It’ is
a statement that could unfairly injure our reputation...

As you may know, we have spent over $4.4 niillion developing -
our proposed paper mill. Commonwealth Construction also has an’
investment in the project running into the millions,

We have done what we consider to be everything humanly pos-
sible to bring the project to fruition.

There is no basis for suggesting that we did not intend to build the
facility. y

ena “Hugh Cooper
President and Chairman
. Orenda Forest Products

: ‘Vancouver, B.C.

More on Kemano
Dear Sir: -

The discussion on the decision by the Harcourt government to
shut down the Kemano Completion Project seems to be separated
from the substance of the B.C, Utilities Commissions Review of the
project.

The commission stated that the project impacts ‘‘on Fraser River
flows would not effect salmon migration.” However, it did recom-
mend monitoring on a continued basis just to make sure that the ef-
forts already undertaken will do the job necessary.

T don’t know of anyone who said that the low salmon stocks or the
niissing salmon are a result of KCP, KCP has not been completed.

What has certainly happened is that in the other parts of the pro-
vince there is heightened concern about anything which does or
may affect the Fraser River fishery. The concern is focused on the
Nechako which provides one-fifth of the Fraser salmon fishery.

Let me refer you to the comments of the B.C.U.C. commission
review. These are only the ones taken from the summary and they
refer to KCP as per the 1987 Settlement Agreement.

“The Kemano River would receive a 30 percent increase in flow.
The Nechako River flow would be reduced to less than half the
levels of recent years,”’ (page vi)

“The most. significant: impacts of KCP would occur on the
Nechako River as the water releases from the reservoir would be
substantially reduced... These changes in river flows would have ef-
fects not only on fish, but on many other plants and animals of the
river environment as well as on the communities near the banks of
the river,’’ (page vii) ‘

‘However, the commission has concluded that the negotiated pro-
visions should be augmented to protect the potential future value of
the sockeye resource. The commission recommends that cooling
water releases from the Kenney Dam Release Facility by increased
to provide a target temperature of 18.4 degrees C,’’ (page viii)

~ ‘On Chinook salmon and trout the comments in the B.C.U.C. are
more blunt.

*'Mevertheless, the commission does not have confidence that the

_ Proposed program will be successful in achieving the conservation
goal of maintaining the chinook ata population level of 3100 and
has accordingly recommended increases inflow.” ~

It would seem clear that KCP as defined by the 1987 Settlement
Agreement gave the commission scrious concern. At least serious
enough to have prompted them to look at what would happen if
more water was released than the 1987 agreement would allow.
They conumented on three flow scenarios.

For Flow Scenario 1 the commission stated that it “would be a
bare minimum provision and would: still place chinook and trout
populations at considerable risk.’’ The commission then recom-
mended ‘‘a full scale hatchery operation should be undertaken im- .
mediately’ and further added that a hatchery ‘‘could ‘at. least
maintain the stocks to the level of the conservation ‘Boal, albeit
attificially.””

Flow Scenario II again relies heavily ¢ on hatchery: operations. It.
would “give greater assurance that wild stocks of chinook and trout

+ would be maintained’? but it also calls for a ‘‘pilot hatchery opera-
tion’? to be “‘initiated at once’* and then to be ready for more artifi-
cial enhancement should the need emerge.

Flow Scenario II is the only option which gives “reasonable con-

“fidence” that the natural stocks of chinook and trout could be
maintained and with ‘‘only modest intervention and enhancement
- activities,”’

All three scenarios rely on artificial enhancement. The general at
tilude to artificial enhancement is that it should only be applied.

_ when mitigation is essential and there is no option of restoring or:
maintaining fish habitat to allow wild stocks to flourish, All three «
also have a risk of riverscdimentation. |

Any change in KCP’s water flow regimes would require. a change
in the 1987 Agreement. ‘Approval of another option would have -
been subject to the new Environmental Assessment Review. The
only option which might have been considered is option IU;

Could Alcan have made it.work with reduced flows and-

‘‘teasonable confidence'” as far as the general B,C, public ds con «

_ cerned? I really don’t know. Certainly my preference. ‘would have’
been to throw the ball back into Alcan’s court,’ =.

Given the ‘risks of rivet sedimentation, the reliance on 1 artificial |
enhancement, the questionable economic viability, of the project un-
der the best, flow scenario. “(option. ID): and the concerns “of the ‘other
users of the river, the government made a decision,

Helmut Glesbrecht,

MLA, Skeena ve

THE: START IS FOR'PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ :

_ The Start

~ Wage going up.

"That is becatise the minimum wage is going up. :Th

is now $6 an hour. Tomorrow it goes up by 50 ce
There is also another change, People under the age | of 18 | ar

now paid less, But they wil! now.be paid the same as adults, -

". And, on Oct. 1, 1995, there will be another change. That i is.

tow the minimum wage gors up ip again. It will then be $7 an’ ,
‘ Or, so me ‘ £