oq The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD Wolf-crazy | biologists The Mail Ba wet behind the ears Dear Sir: Hardly aday goes by when there isn’t an arti- cle in the news about some environmental gloup coming up with another species of wildlife in B.C. that is on the verge of extinction, or another area that shouldn’t be logged, mined or fished. ‘Not too long ago it-was bears in general, in- cluding black bears, on the road to extinction. What a crock - I live at Lakelse Lake and we walk for exercise, or ] should say we did watk for exercise until the bears began to outnumber the walkers. It hasn't deterred me from walking, but my wife and her friend have stopped walking during bear season. Just recently there were a couple of biologists on TV regarding the risk to “grey wolves” in our fainforests. These biologists claimed clearcuts will delete the deer population and therefore the “grey wolves” will starve to death. What utter nonsense. I am just a month short of 79 years of age. I have hunted deer, goat and moose in northwestern B.C. for 65 years and I’m appalled at their ridiculous claims. These biologists appeared to be a little wet behind the ears, so 1 guess we can excuse them for their lack of practical knowledge regarding the deer and moose population. I suggest the biologists, referred to above, go _. back to their school of learning and ask for a re-‘ fund of theiz tuition fees. You do nat hunt for deer, moose or bear in a rainforest (old growth forest). Surely you biolo- gists must have walked through an old growth forest, of which there are hundreds on the B.C. coast. You therefore should have noticed that the forest floor consists of decadent windfalls, devils club and an abundance of moss. There is no feed |. for deer or moose in these forests. They do not.x[: eat moss! I lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands for 3 years where there are more deer per square mile *'| than anywhere in B.C. Venison was our mainslay |. as far as meat was concerned. Guess where we 1 hunted? Right. We hunted the areas that had- been logged where forage for deer abounds! You biologists and foreign and ill-informed «« environmentalists should talk to the seniors in the area and you will find there weren’t any moose in the Nass and Skeena areas until log-’ ging opened up the forests so the forest floor could grow the plants on which deer and moose , ED ANSEMS-is a local mushroom picker pushing for better protection of the part thrive. Not only is wildlife thriving but so are the Port lands that are rich in pine mushrooms. forest in these logged areas. [have a message forth *Reging Grannies? 1°. ANT rport Mu shroom 1@| rou nd: .. _ i under threat of development believe they call themselves. Go back to knit- ting, spoiling your grandchildren and making a contribution to your communities instead of tear- ing them down. Leave logging to the loggers who must live up to our Forest Practices Code, and who make a It is disheartening to hear of yet another piece substantial contribution to the economy of B.C. of prime mushroom ground that will very likely which will go on ad infinitum, if they are al-’- be destroyed in the near future. Pine mushroom lowed to continue their trade. . pickers and those who just enjoy walking through I understand Greenpeace funded your trip t0 park-like forested areas need to express their Europe: a great waste of funds for their ill-im- Concerns. And, their voices need to be heard formed supporter. 1 wonder if any of your grand- gy, children benefit from the forest industry in B.C. The City of Terrace has planned for heavy in- or use any of its products? . dustrial use in their proposed zoning for the land When Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and its af- 9 the south and east of the airport runways. This filiates get through, B.C. will be one large pro- property has attracted 40 to 100 pickers for six to vincial park, . . og eight weeks each year during mushroom season. However, jobs will abound in the tourist indu- -~his area alone generates approximately stry where our grandchildren and great grandchil- ¢959 999 per year for Terrace residents and dren will be tour guides, working for minimum jherefore, for the most part, Terrace businesses. wages to entertain the wealthy Americans and Why we continue to destroy land that pro- Europeans who support Greenpeace and the Sier- duces a renewable resource is beyond my under- ra Club and its affiliates. Standing, Prime mushroom ground is productive { am fortunate to own an old boat that is sea- for 80 to 100 years. After the trees in the mush- worthy enough to enable me to sight see in all’ room area reach maturity, at approximately 180 the inlets between Kitimat, Prince Rupert and ‘years, the production of mushrooms decreases. At the Hecate Straits. We cruise by mile after mile that point, the trees in the producing area could of practically untouched forests. . be logged. Never a trip goes by that we dan’t see bears, The airport land in question likely has be- (black and grizzly), deer and wolves (grey, tween 30 and 70 years of productive mushroom brown and black) in the second growth areas. If: life Jeft (depending on the age of various trees). you don’t see a wolf every trip, you can heat ] have suggested to council a change to the their howl. . M2 industrial use zoning fot this part of the air- Logging in some areas continue fortunately, port land. most of it barely visible, old logging shows are = This change would leave much of this land in now in various stages of second growth, where reserve (in its natural state) for now until the de- deer and bear abound. mand for industrial land can no longer be met by Come on B.C, get off your butts and tell the other M2 zoned land in this area. world you're not going to take it any longer. This proposat would concentrate industrial use Great Bear Rainforest? Balderdash! to that land to the north of Highway 37 (which is W.A. Sandhals, presently being iogged) and the land immediate- Lakelse Lake, B.C.” ly next to Highway 37 to the west and south. If you agree with this proposal, write to city Dear Sir: council or talk to council members now. There is a council meeting on Feb. 21, at 7:00 p.m., and members of the public need to be there to show support for this proposal. Other suggestions or concerns should also be given at this time. Pine mushroom pickers need to unite or this area could possibly be gone in the very near future. My other concern for this area centers around recreation and the physical well-being of our po- pulation. I worry that a great place for seniors and families to walk may soon be gone. Here, there is a blanket of green moss under- foot and very few obstructions to impede you. Conipare this area to most of the other forested afeas surrounding Terrace and you begin to ap- pteciate this land even more. Areas set aside as undeveloped park Iand in Terrace are difficult to walk through. In these areas, the growth is so dense and sunlight doesn't penetrate the canopy, that it makes for a dark and expressing walk. These pine mushroom grounds are a unique addition to the Terrace area and can be enjoyed year round as a comfortable walking experience, not just during mushraom season. On a related note, those of you who are con- cemed about the “Gravet Pit” mushroom picking area on Kalum Lake Drive just north of Terrace should contact the Ministry of Forests on Keith Ave. Much of this land is also scheduled for log- ging in the next couple of years. This area and the airport land are the last, larger pieces of prime mushroom ground close to Terrace. We need to make sure that this destruction does not continue. Your voice and opinions need to be heard. Ed Ansems Terrace B.C. Gun law gives gov't sweepiing new powers Dear Sir: I would like to respond to the letter by Ray. Griffith in the Jan, 17 Terrace Standard. He was responding to John Holdstock’s critique of the Firearms Act and specifically the storage provi- sions of it. simply “believe entry (to a house) will be . tefused.” They don’t even have to have any evi- dence firearms are pre- sent. C-68 also makes it mandatory for the home owner or anyone else on the premises to ass- - ; ist police in their Mr. Griffith admitted the scenario of someone search for illegal ma- in a home without a firearms license being terials. Does Nazi Ger- charged with unlawful possession and the owner «many come -to mind of the firearms being charged with unsafe storage anyone? This violates “undoubtedly does happen”. the Charter’s protection He then goes on to say basically don’t worty, apainst self-incrimina- be happy because the police usvally use com- gion, : - mon sens¢ and discretion in these matters. Finally section 117 C.C. gives the federal ca- I realize many police officers do use common pinet the right to specify whal type of firearms sens¢, but since when does a free democracy TIN can be used for hunting and sporting purposes. on the hope that all law enforcement personnel This in effect gives the government the right to will just exercise. common sense and hope it-all confiscate all firearms at anytime, . come out in the wash? Can’t happen here you think? Two years ago Since when does a free de- mocracy run on the hope that all law enforce- ment personne! will just exer- cise common sense? "Bill C-68, if anything, is a horrible piece of Australia ordered ail gun owners to turn over legislation. Section 104(2) (c) gives police the pump action and semi-auto (not full-auto) fun- power to obtain a warrant from a judge if they ting rifles and shotguns to the police. The law which enabled them to do this came into effect about 10 years ago. Mr. Griffith, C-68 makes gun owners in Cana- da very nervous. I agree with John Holdstock’s concems. Canada is no longer a free country. Rob Freeman . Terrace B.C. Fix hills up to bench An open letter to Terrace city council: Our number one concern is a centrally located manmade structure (access to the Bench). For humanitarian reasons, the millions of dollars re- quired can be obtained through the recent fed- eral, provincial infrastructure program. The dire warning when a pipe broke on Kalum fast winter must be heeded. Everyone is fully aware of the instabillty of these slopes and the ever-increasing traffic. Imagine the tragedy, the sorrow, should a school bus topple over the edge, and. the lawsuit to foliow.. yes Gerald Duffus Terrace B.C. 21, 2001 -A5 DRUG FREE zones aren't working, nor is the justice system, says one reader. Drug response is a joke | Dear Sir: I have noticed that the drug free zones ate under attack. In fact, you have to laugh at the ” :idea to begin with. My child has just entered the eighth grade and he already has indicated to.me that many of his peers are already into drugs and even now selling drugs. Now | know that policing isn’t the only an- swer. It seems our government, Justice system, and parents are probably the main culprits. [ mean for crying out loud, isn’t it illegal to sell cigarettes to a minor? And yet they are col- lected in packs outside the front of the high schools each and every school day, smoking ci- parettes and marijuana. How is this legal and what does it say about our community? Where are the parents, or are the children just products of their parents and this is just a perpe- tuation of the lack of respect that had developed over the last several generations? Personally [ could not imagine being a tea- cher today where at one time there was the odd child which had a general lack of respect to a time how where the general population had no respect and quite frankly probably won’t amount to much. Should we as parents thank ourselves for this or is it the times we live in? The B.C, government wastes money to sue the tobacco companies for the health care costs in- curred by the province due to smoking and yet they collect a tidy sum from every package of cigarettes sold. The police force takes time and effort to final- ly convict a drug dealer and their sentence amounts to no more that a slap on the wrist. Our Justice system lacks the courage to pro- tect communities and allow children to reach their full potential. [ don’t, understand what is ‘going on anymore. We are such a small com- ‘niuaity' and’ Yet'their' is a general lack Of- intérest in our children’s education and future as evi- denced by provincial standings. . We are such a small community and still drugs are out of control. Surely the majority of drug dealers are already identified and something could be done a little sooner to save one more child from the habit. We are such a smal! com- munity that should care about our children and their future. Terrace needs to take on a different attitude or this community will surely fade. If not by the perpetuation of illiteracy then from the lack of community involvement. Expect the best from your children, expect the best from yourselves and maybe we can all be rewarded, , oo J. Wayne Terrace B,C, Not addicts by choice Dear Sir: It was with some sadness that [ read Mr. Bul- lied’s letter to the editor titled “Their Choice” (The Terrace Standard, Feb. 7, 2001). Most drug addicts dan’t become addicts by their personal choice — it’s a horrible, sad, and terribly unhappy life. They usually become addicts due to some un- fortunate circumstances in their lives and most addicts want to get rehab. There’s a saying in Hindi — Aa baael mujhe maar. It translates come bull and hit me. If addicts had enough insight into the health risks etc. do you think they would purposely shoot drugs? No. They are mentally ill and be- come usaware to the pitfalls. It’s the very difference that you can sit in your cozy home and pick up a pen and ink. and point fingers at their miseries whilst they are. not even aware of what a cozy home is any more. They become homeless, friendless, penniless with a single predominant need and that is the need for drugs. Try to put yourself in their shoes for a few minutes to experience their griefs and worries. True, they would be very different from yours. Besides, would you rather five in fear that an addict may mug you or break into your home or vehicle so he can get a few pennies which take him/her closer to their drug addiction? Or would you rather there be some public ' money used towards rchab of these individuals? Noi to mention the high health costs of these’ individuals when they use dirty needles risking them to potential aids, hepatitis etc. which will hurt our already sick health care system. Mr. Bullied, just because your life may have been privileged (circumstantially) and you were able to make the right choices for yourself it doesn’t mean that you should lose insight to- wards those jess privileged than yourself. Their life is also a gift just like yours and mine. So please, please have some compassion for those unfortunate people living in an unfortu- nate life style. © . : _ Kanwal Gill Dads 7. Terrace B.C,