Adventure Challenge An exciting series of outdoor events dares athletes to tread on new ground\SPORTS B4 pe. 5 poh eae Troubled times? Why visits to the women’s shelter may be on the | rise\COMMUNITY B3 Bad bug | A local woman tells her harrowing tale about a battle with an unseen assailant\NEWS A3_ $1.00 plus 7¢ GST ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) Fears rise as cutbacks J hit SuperNatural B.C. By JEFF NAGEL CUTS TO provincial parks, forest ser- vice roads and recreation sites will threaten the north’s ability to satisfy tourists, says the head of the Northern B.C. Tourism Association. Dan Stefanson, the association’s Prince George-based executive direc- tor, said members are worried the eli- mination of campgrounds and possible reduced access to the backcountry and hiking trails may irritate and drive away visitors. “There’s a big concern out there over that,” he said. “That they’ll either stop coming because of bad exper- iences or go to other jursidictions.” Effects are already being felt. The B.C. Forest Service two weeks ago eliminated the dock and anchor- age at Bishop Bay Hotsprings, about 75 kilometres south of Kitimat. Forests ministry officials say the popular recreation site’s moorage was inspected and found to be unsafe to use, and the $30,000 needed to fix it isn’t in the ministry’s budget this year. But Terrace boater Jim Steele says Bishop Bay is internationally known, and has been featured in numerous yachting magazines. “It’s really short-sighted,” Steele said of the decision. “People come up from Seattle and Oregon every day in the summer. There are at least 20 boats a day there.” He said visitors unfamiliar with the area could now arrive in the evening in poor weather courting on a safe an- chorage and find nothing, “It really does create a preity dan- gerous situation,” Steele said. “Here we're talking about increasing tourism in our area and what kind of a sight is that to tourisis?” Access is even being cut off to some of the trademark picture-postcard destinations that are used to draw tour- ists to B.C. Stefanson says he was astonished to learn tourists may no longer be able to easily reach a spectacular waterfall in Monkman Provincial Park. A photograph of Kinusco Falls has been extensively used by the Northern B.C. Tourism Association in its glossy brochures and advertising to promote northern tourism. But Stefanson said the small Continued Pg. A12 THE NEW owners of Skeena Cel- lulose should not be allowed to profit from raw log exports while they try to starve workers into submission, union leaders say. IWA spokesman Surinder Mal- hotra spoke out after his members voted unanimously to reject NWBC Timber and Pulp president Dan Veniez’s demand for a 20 per cent pay cut. Veniez,” SAWMILL WORKERS Frank Driol and Sandor Komlos burn the offer to WA memb president Dan Veniez. The union here — as well as in Prince Rupert and Carnaby — voted overwhelmingly to reject the new owners’ demand for a 20 per cent pay cut, among other concessions to existing collective agreements, JEFF NAGEL PHOTO Pull plug on raw log exports — union “Not one cent should go to Dan Malhotra said. should not be allowed to become a4 log broker in this community.” “Those logs are for these saw- mills, not for Mr. Dan Veniez’s personal profit.” Malhotra called on Skeena MLA Roger Harris to have the province exclude SCI from an order that allows 35 per cent raw “Ha ly from it. cover their losses.” ers here presented by NWBC Timber and Pulp log exports from this region. The union leader said he’d sup- port letting local contractors con- linue the logging and profit direct- “If anybody’s profiting it should be the loggers — the contractors who have been ripped off by this company time and again — to re- Harris wasn’t sure it’s possible to alter the order to exclude SCI. Harris said he’s surprised that IWA members — who pushed Vic- loria to negotiate with NWBC and at one point demonstrated outside Harris’ office over the issue — are now at odds wilh Veniez. “This is the guy they suppor- ted,” he said. “I thought they would have known each other better.” Woman escapes fiery crash Local man hailed as hero By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN TERRACE'S JIM HORNER is being called a hero for rescuing a Prince George woman who was trapped inside a burning van that overturned on Highway 16 early last week. The motorist sprang into action after he Spotted flames at the side of the road. At first he thought the blaze was caused by a lightning strike, bul as he and his family drove past, they realized it was a vehicle burning. Homer jumped out, ran down the embankment — his sandals flying off his feet in the process ~ and found Denise Boulanger trapped in the over- turned van, her seatbelt tangled around her feet. “[ just took the seatbelt off her ankles, and pulled her out of the van because it was fully en- gulfed in flames,” said Horner, a father of three who found the incident terrifying, Denise’s husband, Wayne, and their five-year- old son had made it out of the vehicle safely by the time Homer arrived on the scene. Wayne Boulanger said Horner is a hero who deserves recognition for what he did. “[ remember telling him he didn't have to stick around because the van was on fire,” Bou- langer said, “But he said, ‘No, [’ll help you out, buddy. I’m here for you completely.’” The Boulangers had been driving their 1989 Dodge Plymouth Grand Voyageur from Prince Rupert to Terrace when it started to wobble. After driving for 10 kms, the van suddenly went off the road. [t rolled over and burst into fiames, Several other motorists stopped at the scene shortly after Denise Boulanger was pulled from the vehicle. Some helped move ‘the injured woman away from the fiery van, which later. ex- ploded, witnesses said. “If you would have a look at the van yourself, you wouldn't believe we got out of it alive,” Boulanger said from his home in Prince George. All three family members were taken to Mills Memorial in Terrace for lreatment, Boulanger escaped with minor bruising and his son suffered a gash to his head. — Denise was later flown to a hospital in Prince George. She suffered a broken wrist and broken tail bone. Her pelvis is broken in three spots and has cracked three ribs. She also received burns on her feet. ; Boulanger praised everyone who stopped to help at the accident scene and the staff at Mills. _ “Terrace is a good community, and I'd gladly come there any time. The people of Terrace should know they’ve got a good hospital,” he said. . “All of us needed tending to and the. nurses and doctors were there for us. They did a wonder- ful_job.” ae one Workers reject pay cut plan Ball in-Veniez’s court — unions By JEFF NAGEL SKEENA Cellulose workers have told the'com-: Pany’s new owners to stuff a demand to slash their pay by 20 per cent. Oo - Unionized sawmill workers in Terrace denounced the offer from NWBC Timber and Pulp, president Daniel Veniez after a unanimous rejection vote Thursday afternoon. . “He’s an extortionist,” said Allan Chesterman, a log loader operator at the Terrace mill and a mem- ber of the IWA. “It’s economic terrorism.” Veniez’s company completed its purchase of Skeena Cellulose April 30 and he has since approached unions for major wage concessions he says are needed to re- store profitability and ensure the company’s survival: Workers at the sawmill, who now make at least $21.50 an hour, would have seen their pay fall 20 per cent to between $17.53 and $24.10 an hour, depending on their job. Under the new six-year contract offer, workers, would have received a two per cent cost-of-living increase in 2005, Further increases in subsequent years would be li- mited to a maximum two per cent — if the company de- cides it can afford any increase at all. Veniez's offer would also take an axe to benefits, se- niority, holiday pay and other components of the existing collective agreement, union officials said. “He has gutted the agreement,” IWA spokesman Sur- inder Malhotra said. “It’s as if you’re working for McDo- nald’s.” : Employees would be rehired with no seniority, he said, allowing the company to pick and choose which workers would be kept. Workers like Chesterman also fear they will lose their - jobs through contracting out of much of the workforce. Workers in jeopardy include office staff at the Ter- race mill. “He wants to get rid of every one of them,” Malhetra said. “He wants to willy nilly contract out any job,” Veniez had told workers he would go on vacation if Continued Pg. A2 JIM HORNER heiped pull a Prince George woman from her flaming vehicie.