fit Stories by Malcolm Baxter. aoe ha linen ial ceed oa a ool a oil oa oe oR ol A oe ol eo Re a EC ‘TERRACE — Although the full impact of any closure of the Skeena Sawmill . operation would not be felt immediately, mayor Jack -Talsira says the long term effect. would be to ‘remove millions of dollars from the local economy. That means the city has to © start planning now for that eventuality by identifying alter- native uses for the 62-acre site to fill the financial and employ- mient gaps that. would result, he said. . As a first step’in that process, Talstra said council wants the ‘advice of a forestry expert to determine whether it was realistic to think in terms of a replacement’ operation also -be- ing forestry-based. . Suggesting the city would, not’: necessarily seek that expertise from either the forests ministry or existing sawmill operators, he said ‘it- might instead ‘ap- proach . ‘'someone who. has a knowledge of the entire area in terms of wood supply.” Noting some claimed there is an ‘‘endléss supply’’ of trees while others maintained the in- _ dustry is running out of timber, Talstra said, “I guess the truth _is somewhere, in between.’’ “We have to think:a whole lot differently,” said Talstra in adding the city may not be able to depend on the forest industry | being able to support more than one large local mill... ' City tourism and economic development. officer Peter Monteith agreed, pointing out the pattern in. communities elsewhere had been “towns that had three mills now have two and those with two now have ~ only one.” In part, he said, that reflected improvements. in efficiency’ which saw a-single operation producing what used ‘to be the output of two sawmills, While the city dic sot want to Ledge Hae gr a ~ will hurt local economy — be seen as ‘circling the corpse’’ or trying to encourage Skeena Sawmills’ departure in any way, Monteith ‘said it’ had to put together a plan so it would be _ Teady to deal with the closure if and when it occurred, ~Talstra anticipated putting a draft : plan: before regional development ministry officials when he visits : Victoria next month. “Although Not yet finalized, it would likely include several options for developing the site should the mill close, He said the the city had advis- ed the ministry last year the potential closure was ‘'an ex- tremely serious problem” and one that was causing the city considerable ‘concern. Anticipating workers living in Terrace would likely continue to do so and commute to the new sawmill in Kitimat, Talstra said the local economy would not ex- perience an’ immediate loss in payroll dollars. iat SE Jack Talstra That, however, would come eventually as those individuals left the company or retired and were replaced by people living in Kitimat, said Talstra. TERRACE — While it is a question of ‘‘when’’ and not “if" West Fraser/Eurocan will build a new sawmill in Kitimat, the manager of the companies’ operation here emphasizes the fate of the Terrace mill site has yet to be determined. “There’s. certainly been no decision made yet that we’re leaving,”? Don Chesley of Skeena Sawmills said last week. Nor, added Chesley, would it be made until the go-ahead was given for the new sawmill, Even then, it. would be 18 months from the time of the announce- ment to the new mill beginning production, Chesley said. _As for the timing of the deci- sion, Chesley said it would be based on anticipated changes in the source of the company’s wood supply, ' Currently, two-thirds of the timber used at-the mill comes from the northern part of its , tree forest licence, he explained. That, however, would change over the next few years as the company began to log the “‘off- shore” areas down the Douglas ~ Planning takes ti TERRACE — Skeena Sawmills . has begun. the process of mov- ‘ ing its cutting operations from around Terrace: south to the Kitimat area by seeking ap- provals for log dumps and storage areas. ‘ ing cari take place, says the company’s forest planner, | “it takes. a fair.amount. of - lead time to get these things: off * the grouhd,’’ said. Scott Marleau, adding the only wood Don Chesley Channel, « Initially those logs would be brought to Terrace but there would come a point when the greater proportion of the mill’s. ‘wood supply would be. from the southern portion of the licence. . “That’s the logical time we . will make the move,” Chesley : ’ said, pointing out it made little economic sense to haul logs to operations for the Alcan power line from Kemano, ° Marleau- explained. the com- pany was. seeking permission to reactivate two log storage . grounds originally used by the _ But those preparations’ for ~ one-time.’ Eurocan: sawmill for "the Kildala Arm area will take some time to finish before logg- booming ‘areas near the .Dala and Falls Rivers, Those applications were now . _ going eroueh what: was called:a** extraction. plain for: thisyear « : Terrace, process them “and _ then turn around and haul them right back (to the water),”’ While ‘‘limited logging” would take place in the “‘off- shore’ areas this year, he said no timetable for full scale harvesting had yet been established. “We don’t even have -our development plans Finalized for down there.’? As for the cost of the new mill, Chesley said the company had a ‘ballpark’? figure in mind but that it remained an internal one for the moment. ‘‘There’s no final mill design yet so it’s hard to put a firm figure on it,” he added. The sawmill will operate two . Shifts and will be set up io cut the old growth wood the com, pany will be -harvesting. Although timber. availability depended on how much Jand was removec! from the forest base in response to fish and wildlife, environmental and parks. estimated the wood supply in -the southern Portion at between 40 and 50 years. Ime | all the other resource values are protected,””. Confirming 1 little detailed long term planning had been done on the southern portion of TFL 41 yet, Marleau said the . bulk of Ske a - logs brought in-from the Ootsa. *: rend Sawmills’ wood .. Lake area, (That mill was shut - down in 1982). It had also ap-. plied for tog dumping ..and:. supply ® ‘will ‘continue to come “from the north end. “for the _ Hext two or three years.” Those “pteas included: the side valleys ‘Off the Kitimat: Valley as far as the Kitimat River bridge. He anticipated | concerted harvesting operations were no likely to start in the “offshore” sections: before:1992 or 1993.. requirements, he: At that point, the company expected to return to the nor- thern sections to.: begin harvesting second growth trees and would probably: design a “new generation’’ mill to han- dle that wood, As for the fate of the Terrace operation once the Kitimat mill is built, Chesley could not say whether the company would continue with some type of scal- ed down operation, ‘We will be looking at every viable opportunity in both (cities)”” and if maintaining a presence, in. Terrace made economic. sense, the company would do'so, he said. Whatever: the final outcome was, Chesley emphasized the company saw a long term future in the northwest. ‘We are not a sunset industry,’ he said. Facts. — Owned by Eurocan {Enso}, Skeena Sawmills Is operated by West Fraser. — Excluding those about to be laid off owlng to the third shift closure, Skeena Sawmills has 141 full-time employees. ' — Estimated payroll of more than $7 million annually, — City taxes for the mill site this year will be just short of $300,000. _ The largest producer in the northwest, the mill con- sumes on a (wo shift system 750,000 cum. of wood a year in turning ont 170 million board feet of lumber. . — Primary product’ and market. is “green hemlock/balsam for the eastern United States. ' ° Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 28, 1990 —-Page AS _LETTERS | TO THE TERRACE STANDARD . Road draws Dear Sir: Bravo. J. Rocky Gray's ar- ticle ‘‘Rocky roads grace ci- ty.”?. ‘It’s a timely and accurate account of the embarrassing road condition of this town {not city). I agree with his opinion: 100 per cent, as ‘I'm. sure others in the community do. That is untess you happen to live in an area where the roads are plowed, that is con- sidered upper middle class. I live on the south side, always have, always will. — You good folks that believe the public works are doing a good job of road maintenance should take a drive this way a day or two after a good snowfall. You'll swear that it must have just finished snowing. actually you don't need to come this far, just take a drive downtown, That should convince you unbelievers of what a poor job is being done. Snowbanks in the middle of the road are a major pro- blem for traffic and pedestrians alike. It seems that once the snow is placed there, it remains until spring thaw. -. Also: the sidewalks are tarely, if ever, plowed on a consistent basis. If Stew Christensen and especially John Colongard, whose shoulders this burden should fall upon, think that they are doing a good job letter praise and can't see what a disaster area this town is in the winter time, then it’s because: they ' really don't giveadamn, =f And why should’ they? [7° They obviously have no fear ° of losing their jobs, so they do as they “please. I say - ‘enough is enough, it’s’ time. they got off their duffs and — ~ earned their money’s worth, - If they can’t do what's ex- . pected of them from = the good people of Terrace, then. let's put someone in there who is really going to serve _ this community. And then maybe the south side will get treated fairly and not be discriminated against due to the fact that we may pay lower taxes, And if the mayor cannot “After all, it takes more than the title of ‘Ci- ty’ to make a city.” see the forest for the trees, as. they say, then let's vote so- | meone who'll stand up to public works and show some initiative to run this town the way that it should be, There is plenty of room for im- provement. After ‘all, it takes more than the title of “city” to make a city, and Terrace has a long way to go before it is deserving of that. honour, Stand up for your rights, Terrace, Ed Carreiro Terrace, B.C. Keep RCMP dress Dear Sir: Canada is a wonderful country to live in. Canadians ‘are proud people and we have every right to be. Our way of life is among the best in the world, We are made up of many different ethnic groups and we practice the religion of our choice. We live in relative peace in this country and in today's world that is quite unique, Another aspect that is uni- que is the worldwide recogni- tion and respect of the Cana- dian Mounties -— the RCMP — dressed in their red serge. Canadians are proud of this symbol and the history behind it, Why then must we change the dress of one of our few remaining traditional sym- bols to suit the religious beliefs of one group of peo- ple? ‘I feel if a person decides he or she would like to becomea member of the RCMP then they should accept the dress the way it is The rahe | to religious freedom should not include the right to change this dress to suit any religious-,.. belief or practice, . If a member of the Sikh community wishes to join the RCMP they should accept the Mounties’ uniform the way it is, or not join at all, Many people come to “If a person decides he or she would like to become a member of the RCMP, than they should accept the dress the way it is,” Canada for the opportunity {0 improve their life style for them and their families. The least they can do is develop a little pride in Canada and respect our long standing traditions, rather than try to change them to suit their own religious needs, Malcolm Simons Terrace Abuse services Dear Sir: Congratulations to the Terrace Standard for tackl- ing the subject of drug use and abuse in Terrace and district, In my position of program director of Northwest Alcohol and Drug Services, I was one of the persons inter- viewed for the article, I would like to clarify an issue that many create some misunderstanding in the Teader. cont’d A6 Concerned outdoorsman We received a letter last week on poaching i in the Nass Valley. Unfortunately it was sign- ed only “Concerned Out- About “The: “Terrace: Standard welcomes letters to the editor ~ on all topics, All letters must be signed and carry an ad- dress and local telephone number, Addresses or phone numbers won't be printed with the letter, but they are "necessary, for confirmation of the letter’s authenticity The writer's name. will be published. Requests . for. nam to. be ‘aithbeld may be . doorsman”’. Our policy is that all letters must be signed by the writer in order to be published. letters granted in extraordinary cir- cumstances, Thank: you letters. should be submitted to the “Card of Thanks’ section of the classifieds.” . Letters containing libelous or objectiem Mle matter. will be edited «.. .eturned to the, writer. All ‘letters are run on a space available basis, with shorter. ‘letters. likely to be published s¢ soonest, ie.