1 t North Vancouver's Capilano ‘Suspension. Bridge is. going to have to change its advertising if the Seven Sisters Ventures hik- _ ing trail ‘development goes . through as planned. . The North Van tourist attrac- 7 tion, currently’ celebrating its’ 100th birthday, is billed as the highest and. ‘longest cable sus- _. .'pension bridge in the world at_ 2137 meters: in» length: and 76 - _ ,meters above the waters of the “Capilano River. In a couple of years, howeyer, that title may be claimed by the Cedarvale: area, near Terrace.. _ Seven Sisters president Titus Nelson was in Terrace recently accompanied by his brother who . is. vice-president. of the company . ‘and an engineer. They-overflew — the area planned for develop- ment in- order to refine. their engineering data. — _ Nelson said they have tenta- tively identified 26 points on the proposed system of hiking trails ‘that will require bridging, in- cluding one gorge across which: they. intend to string a cable “suspension bridge between ‘250 and 300 meters long. . The remaining 25 bridges ‘wil | be'around 30 meters in length. © - The data-gathered during the © ‘trip will also help the company -identify the best sites for over- night lodges.and day camps, - Nelson added, along with some ‘of the problems associated with each location ‘such as access: to: ‘drinking water. : The company’s next task will be to satisfy the requirements of © ‘Section .10 in their recently- _issued Investigative Permit from the B.C. Ministry of Crown Lands, Nelson said. That> re- ‘ quires the development to be harmonized with existing land uses. — ' Nelson: said there are nine traplines in the area, and Seven . Sisters has begun discussion .with the four trappers who hold the lines. The area does not fall within the Skeena Cellulose five- year. logging plan, but Westar holds a forest. license for the . — their logging plan is due to be filed sometime this month. ', Nelson said he has had discus- sions with Westar representa- tives and the consensus is that. - . the-two ‘interests will:‘make an effort to work together. ‘‘We’re mainly concerned about the logging being visible from the trails, particularly from the entry point at Dor- reen,’’ Nelson said. He indicated that one. possibility might be to _alter the location of some trails every five years in accordance with Westar’s logging plans to screen hikers from views of clearcutting. * Seven Sisters. also intends to span. the Skeena River with sus- pension bridges to provide ac- cess to its main lodge at Dor- reen; One.concern expressed by the Ministry of Environment, Nel- - son said, is the preservation of. grizzly bear habitat in the area. For that reason and others, he. said, ‘We're scrutinizing the engineering aspects far beyond the (government) require: ments.” « : yg ‘it,a showcase for this sort. of development, "hesaid. — agreement, with the Gitwangak ° a on LO et gle ON ae a cg RIE Ee a etl Jes a co gee 3 hile to's. arity Reet ae 2 gh an Se La Hd ac gh Sl AGED ae ae ag SRE PT ae henirell eacenr ie eat etre et ates al fan sper tte oa cae » en Ne So igi aE od na rw tee cee rn | Terrace Review — Wednesday, J une 21 Seven Sisters plans j __ peoord bridge... As an ‘example of the way. in which Seven Sisters plans to - Keep environmental impact toa minimum, Nelson stated that the ‘sleeping camps along the trail system will’ be prefabricated and dropped into the ‘sites by ; . helicopter. “We. ‘want to ‘make ' The company. feels it has al- ready cleared. the biggest hurdle, however —-. gaining approval from the: Gitksan- Wet’suwet’an native people who claim the area ee as their. house territories. Nelson |. e called. the.’ recently-concluded chiefs ‘‘a major milestone’. “That' ‘was the single. biggest risk to the project,” he’ said. Nelson also noted that he and _ his brother are not strangers to large engineering challenges, cit-: ing their current $40 million’. contract for engineering a por-" tion of the planned NASA space station and a recently completed major: expansion to. Disney World for which they did all the concrete: engineering. but more bridges to | be crossed Having struck an agreement with Gitwangak native leaders regarding their hiking trail de- velopment idea, Seven’ Sisters Ventures now goes on. to the next stage — clearing an assort- "ment of land use and other types - of permits from the govern- ment. ; The Ministry of Crown Lands . is the lead agency in land use “applications, and Crown Lands — marketing manager Biil Irwin © said in a recent interview that a number of concerns involving several agencies will have to be addressed by the company as it . develops the proposal in detail. . Irwin said Crown Lands, has approved an investigative permit valid: for one year. ‘They'll have to come up with a business | plan, and this will give them .time to refine the proposal,”’ he explained. The current concept for the project includes construction of about 80. kilometers of hiking trails. Among the issues to se sorted - out in the proposal, Irwin cited forest- industry ‘interest, the question of public access to the |. developed area, and coexistence - . with established traplines. Seven Sisters will have to ap- ply for specific tenures in the area, he said, and those applica- tions will be referred to interest- ed agencies — like the Ministry of Environment and the B.C, Forest Service — and the: pro- . posals may possibly go to public hearings. Irwin noted that Seven Sisters will not be granted exclusive fights to the area. He expects the eventual : agreement to take the form of a series of. specific tenures to trail rights-of-way and plots. ‘holding ‘lodges and. i ‘other t improvements. Saan Stores Terrace manager Cindy Hobson (left) donated $1,690 to the Terrace Child Development Centre recently as a result of their “Saan’s Community Week”. Recelving the donation on behalf of the. center is CDC pre-school teacher Jutle Jacobs; witnessing the happy event are {from loft) Shawn Evans, Carla Green and Daniella Ward. - ; ” ya You're closer re) home « on our M. _ There's no place like home — -—a home of your own! - 7 “The: provincial government’s new Home Mortgage | Assistance Program .. = M.ALP. for short - is making the dream of home ownership possible for 7 more British.Columbians. : | a. | MA, Pp. is a much improved. replacement for the B. C. Second Mortgage ~ Program, which is being phased out. — if you purchased a home before June 15, 1989, you: ‘will be permitted three months to apply for a second mortgage under the old program. With M.A.P., the government guarantees as much as $12, 000 of a first _or second mortgage on homes costing: $100,000 or less. Some ‘Special . tules apply to second mortgages. Lo You may-.be able to buy a home — whether it's single family, townhouse, condominium or mobile home — with a down payment of.as little as ‘$2,000 or five per cent of the purchase price, whichever | is greater. + Interested? Your local bank, ‘trust company, or credit union where you arrange your mortgage will provide you with more information. They will'also be able to obtain quick. telephone approval of M.A.P. help for you. . M.A.P. is just one part of the ‘government’s $891 million Housing Action Plan announced in | this year 's Oe budget. a it could open your own ‘ront door. “Province of British Columbia. ~ Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations. Honourable Mel Couvelier, Minister - Together ... A Better B.C.