ROB BROWN here is an unnamed trail that follows the lowest mile of Deep Creek to the Kalum River, On its south side a band of original timber sheltered the creek; the land on the road’s northerly side was made up of fields and untended second growth, shorn some thirty years ago. When Columbia Cellulose was cutting and decking timber along the lakes'so it could be driven down the Kalum to the Skeenathe rodeo turned into a circus. Logs carcened down stream smashing into the banks then piled up in the big canyon, forming a mas- sive immovable jam thirty fect high that had to be dynamited, Wood plugged side channels of the Kalum and the Skeena on the trip to tide water at Salvus. Tractors were dispatched to retrieve the limber. In the low waters of winter and spring, operators uprooted the logs for a second time, tearing up Spawiing gravel filled with salmon eggs and ripping rich habitat to shreds, With ground water percolating from innumerable sites feeding a complex stream grid that then fed swamps and ponds before nursing the main river, the Kalum was salmon growing, real estate at its finest. The chinook were big individually, and in ag- gregate, natural and wondrous, say the ald timers. They say too, that after the log drives the fishing went flat, not for a shart time, but for ten years after that. It was not until the nineties, contends Don Nor- strom, that the great salmon began to appear in num- bers anywhere near their natural abundance. Gene Llewellyn seconds that opinion. He points out that the spring. salmon were the most visible casualty. Coho and steclhead and cutthroat, he says, didnt fare any better. nae 1 knew little of this on my first trip lo the river along that route, The alder, drawn to the damp disturbed soil, was working bard to reclaim the old right of way. I worked through those trees brushing away the low branches. At the crest of a bench moose and wolves had left signs of iheir passage. [ picked my way through an extensive marsh dotted with beaver ponds and found myself at the tail ‘of the run Stan Doll named after the snakes that suntan in summer on the hot rocks of the dike on the Nass Road side, ] learned that wading the river was impossible be- fore frosts had ratcheted the river down. I also discovered that fishing from the east bank was a frustrating proposition. ~ From that time on J used the trail early and late, often skiing to the river wilh my waders and rod on my back. The wade across the riffle below the reach I dubbed the Stumble Run was tricky and, because of the possibilily of a hypothermic dip, dangerous. ‘With care and a staff I made it many times. The three pieces of water, Snake, Stumble and Eagle Tree fished wonderfully well. Iscldom failed to find a steelhead, on two or three occasions I found many. A few years ago [ noticed bits of Muorescent flag- ging and white stakes along the Deep Creek trail - the buds of growth. Here we go again, ] thought, once more [and that should have remained within the forestry land base had been tured over to developers. Since then roadways have been cut out of the arca, the existing trails have been widened and power poles have gone up. From the snake I can hear tractors working the val- ley again, clearing sprawling tracts for hobby farmers and the prospecifve residents after greater privacy than a city Jot affords. For the river valleys these quasi-rural developments are devastating. Clear cutting is hard on river lands, but at Icast there is the possibility of renewal, The same is not true of pavement and houses. The capillaries of the Kalum’s circulatory system, those thousands of small critically important streams, are casualties of subdivisions. - The loss of each one ultimately leads to salmon loss. The Road that was the Deep Creck Trail has al- ready impacted a number of the creck’s fecders, Next will come driveways, ditching, wells and sep- tic fields, disrupting drainage patterns. ' Swamps, vital nurseries for fish, will be drained. Private property signs will appear leading to con- flict and bitterness. ‘Where there has been development in the Kalum valley, the aesthetics have been violated as some resi- dents clear land indiscriminately, piling logs and car bodies, With insufficient Ministry of Environment staff - one man covers the entire region from here to Smithers - no adequate safeguards will be imple- menied and a great river system will be trashed, There needs to be a re-examination of this and similar developments within the confines of our great - salmon sireams, , Such an analysis needs to happen soon, TERRACE STANDARD: The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 20, 1996 - B7 Bluebacks surprise at provincials MEMBERS OF the Terrace Blucback swim club came home from the age group provincials in Victoria with eight top-three tin- ishes, Eleven-year-old Dylan Evans took silver in both the 400 meter free and the 1500m free. Chris Kerman, 14, finished the 100m backstroke in second and the 100m free in third. **He had a phenomenal meet,”’ says Blueback coach Mike Car- lyle. He notes Kerman broke the provincial record in the 100m back, knocking more than two seconds off -his personal best lime. The age 13/14 g girls relay teams took gold inedals in both the medley and freestyle races, and the age 13/14 boys placed second in the medley and third in the freestyle. The ‘“‘Points North’? team, made up of swimmers from Ter- race, Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Smithers finished 6th overall in the 32 team competition. 532 swimmers competed at the meet, held at the Commonwealth Games Pool March 8-10. Carlyle says he’s very pleased with his team’s performance, and says sone swimmers in particular did very well, “Seth Downs had an excellent meel,’’ Carlyle says. “He really rose to the occasion of the provincials,’’ The 16-year-old swimmer posted personal best times in all nine events he swam. And Carlyle gocs on to note that Audrey Erb, 12, had some excellent times for her freestyle events, And he says he was particularly impressed with Evans’ per- formance in the 1500m free. “He went in ranked sixth, and came oul second,’’ says Carlyle, “We were very excited with that performance,” And although 12-year-ald Kyle Narat did not place in any events, Curlyle says he posted excellent limes in all of his” freestyle events, And Carlyle goes on 10 praise the efforts of the relay teams. Marina Checkly and Audrey Erb represented Terrace on the 13/14 medley team, **Erb had to swim the butterfly in that evenl,”’ he says. **She’s quite weak in il, but she look two secomds off her best lime and we were very im- pressed.”" Tristan Brown and = Chris Kerman swam for Terrace on the boys 13/14 team, and Dylan Evans aud Kyle Narzt represented Terrace on the boys 11/12 team. They placed fifth. PROUD WINNER. Blueback Chris Kerman took home two medals, a gold and a silver, fromthe age group provincials in Victoria. Coach Mike Carlyle says the whole team had a great meet. kok kk FOUR BLUEBACK swimmers medalled at the Masset Eagle Spring Invitational. Maria Farrell carned gold, and And bronze Basktetball scholarships Jenine Barton got silver in the 10 girls and to Eric Eide in the 10 and under girls competition. medals went to Aislyn Wall in tie 8 and under. and under boys, The Bluebacks are hosting an invitational inect April 12-14. Cal hoopsters tops in BC TWO CALEDONIA apratle .12.