lie Ln tinal TERRACE STANDARD The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - B5 638-7283 SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN | Slowing decline | verything flows; nothing stands still. -Hericlitus - It’s been a lot of years since Roger Whiffen renovated the decaying fisheries cabin that stood on the shore of the upper floor of the Lakelse River. I was thankful for the path he’d made dragging ~ a sled loaded with building materials through snow over the course of the winter. The snow was deep in those days, deep enough | to filter out all but those anglers willing to slog all- the way from the Beam Station Road to Herman’s Point, or the Flats, or the Cold Water Pools. -By mid December that year, our crossed paths-. suggested the arduous walk had deterred everyone but Roger and me. - The fishing repaid the energy expended. Included in the package was the beauty of the snow covered riverscape. Save for the spasms of the last of the coho, dark crimson by that time and fading to black, the scat- tering of ducks, the bugling of a few swans, and the cries of a few more eagles, the river was. settling . down and preparing to drift off to sleep... Just after Christmas, a cold front rolled in from the coast. On a day when I had no business being out, I made my. way to Herman’s to find the river , _ frozen, except for a serpentine crack at midstream.” Undeterred by the bitter blast and frigid temper- _ atures,, a pair of otters was cavorting around on the tices “slipping into the crack then slithering out;of it: When I returned to the river the following spring, Roger had completed his renovations. He’d left the door open and left a note inviting people to enjoy the cabin and asking them to leave it as they found it. Next to that was note from a man who wrote that he’d first seen the river when he was part of the construction crew that put in the rail line. You can imagine how incredible the fishing was back then, he wrote. Much of the fishing I’d had on the Lakelse was pretty good — some of it was downright extraordi- nary. No, I couldn’t imagine it being any better. I asked Finlay if he thought it was. He said yes. So did Gene Llewellyn when I put the same. ques- tion to him, Looking back over my 30 years of fishing the river, I’m forced to say that the fishery has declined. This is not surprising. Forest mining has compro- mised much of the critical wildlife habitat offered by feeder creeks big and small. There has been steady habitat loss around the lake as land owners who shouldn’t have been al- -lowed to settle on the flood plain in the first place. have replaced chunks of the life-giving littoral zone with boat ramps and beach. ‘ The decline would have been precipitous had it not been for the exertions ‘of the local branch of the Steelhead Society of British Columbia. The Society was the driving force behind the re- duction of bag limits for trout on the river. Its mem- bers were also instrumental in bringing about catch and release regulations for steelhead and in promot- ing the catch and-release ethic throughout Skeena. The success of this campaign is particularly ev- ident on the Lakelse where anglers seldom kill a trout or char, even though the regulations allow it. When some whacky. legislation by the Billy Bennett government caused two large parcels of land — one on the sensitive south end of the lake, an- other adjacent to the middle river — to be put up for sale, Society members saw to it that the land was acquired by the Nature Trust, which subsequently sold it back to the Crown for a dollar. When licensees wanted to cut the big trees grow- ing near the banks of the river, the same steelhead- ‘ers played a big role in getting the Ministry of For- ests TRAC process going, and then were one of the stakeholders that ultimately arrived at a consensus to set aside a protected area along the length of the: Lakelse Valley. When boat traffic. began to grow on the upper river some 20 years ago, the Steelhead Society, rec- ognizing the potential impact to both the river and boaters themselves, pushed for — and were success- ful in getting — a boat ban on the river. Unfortunately, the boundary was placed at Her- | man’s point, almost two kilometres from the where the river leaves the lake. - This left much critical over wintering and spawn- ing habitat vulnerable to ice fishers and to boaters who circumvented the law that forbids fishing in the river from boats and availed themselves of the far too generous bag limits that cover the lake. Recently the Ministry of the Environment rec- tified that error by relocating the boundary sign. There are bound to be a few boaters who feel that their needs trump the needs of the fish and animals that depend on that critical habitat, but the needs of the fish have won out, benefiting all of us in the long term, and slowing the decline of a natural wonder. JENNA PAVAO won four gold medals at the Williston “| Primed: for provincials | oe SEVERAL MEMBERS of the Caledonia senior boys soccer team congratulate each other after scoring against Mount Elizabeth at t the zone playdowns. at Christy Park Oct. 28. At the end of the cold rainy match, Cal had shut out Mount Elizabeth 7-0. Hazelton was also scheduled to play the two.teams but couldn’t make it due to the blast of winter weather out east that weekend. The zone playdowns : continued Nov. 3 when Hazelton arrived to take on Cal and MESS. Cai continued its victory celebration after shutting out Hazelton 6-0 to advance to provincials i in Burnaby the weekend of Nov. 20: MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO " 0 peo eereceeess Tl eT Skate Competition i in Prince George. Pavao strikes gold on the ice JENNA PAVAO may be the smallest skater on the Kermode Ice synchronized skating team but that didn’t stop her from making herself known as a top solo skater in Prince George recently. Pavao brought home four gold medals — one each in Competition. That’s definitely her best showing out of the three or four times she’s competed in the event. “I thought I wouldn’t do as good as I did,” she said, adding the competition from the other skaters was “pretty tough.” And the 13-year-old is not resting on her accomplishment, she’s already looking ahead to the regional skate competi- qualify her for provincials. Junior bronze freeskate, Bronze interpretive, ‘Senior silver . skills and Bronze creative events — from the Williston Skate _tion in Kitimat in January, where another top finish would Pavao’s working on perfecting her double jumps, such as the double flip and double toe, which aren’t as good as she. wants yet but she’s confident they’ll be ready for regionals. Coach Barb Kubik said Prince George was Pavao’s best- ever competition. “She skated the best I’ve ever. seen her skate,” Kubik said. “She’s such an all-around skater.” _ Pavao is an extraordinary artistic skater whose spins and © jumps have shown a marked improvement this year, she ‘said. “Her work ethic is amazing and it’s paid off,’ Kubik added. * ‘The teen’s goal is to qualify for provincials and hopefully for nationals too. “T have confidence that she will,” Kubik said about wheth- er Pavao will qualify for provincials. She believes Pavao has a good chance to make it to nationals too. The Terrace Figure Skating club sent 18 skaters to Prince George for the Williston Skate competition. They won 31 medals — 12 gold, 11 silver and eight bronze — in the 62 events they entered. Three skaters - Lateesha Wriglesworth, Alex Lissimore and Julianne Lenuik — qualified for the Northern BC Winter | Games, which will be held in Fort St. John in February. "SCOTT COMERFORD g goes up pto spike the ball for the Caledonia Senior boys volleyball team. against Prince Rupert Secondary in the Cal gym Oct. 27. MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO New players excel on. Cal volleyball squad © By MARGARET SPEIRS CALEDONIA senior boys volleyball took on some of the toughest teams in the region at a play day in its gym Oct. 27. Cal lost to Charles Hays 25-15 and 25-9, lost its first set to Princé Rupert Secondary 25-20 and won the next two sets 25-23, and 15-13 and beat Centen- nial Christian 25-10 and, those who haven’t.played volleyball in a . few years a chance to return to the court, said Axelson. The lack of an experienced team jead to the. decision to not attend Provincials this year. The team, the only AAA squad ‘in the zone, réceived a by into provincials but isn’t strong enough to compete at that level, he said.. 25-11. Charles Hays is one of ° the strongest teams in the zone, said coach Keith ig just think it’s been a really good “They're _really green,” .said Axelson, adding that it would cost a lot of money to travel Axelson about Cal’s loss YEAG, a Positive to provincials when the to the coastal squad. year, for the guys,” team isn’t as competitive Axelson believes — Keith Axelson as it ought to be. the home court advan- But the decision to end tage helped Cal with its games. . “[ think it does for the kids to get them to play a little harder and it’s nice to have. the fans out cheering for them,” he said. Most of the Cal players are new this year. : Several who played at Skeena Junior last year chose to play soccer, which con- flicts with the volleyball season, allowing the season early doesn’t mean the team hasn’t been productive. — “J just think it’s been a really good ‘year, a positive year, for the guys,” he said, adding the squad had the chance to compete in a number of play days. , The players will return next year and will continue to become stronger, he said. | Pane em tt fo eet oe a ee