hy pt ee EB aE ee gt BAP Th te get bet me A de Ok Be” ‘ BRM a BAL LER gina bats ae ei og OT WINTER SNOWS highlight the clearcuts marching down the management practices it says are driven by profit and not by environmental or long-term stability motives. It has produced what it calls a_ forest industry charter of rights to change the Forest Act by hav- ing public involvement into policy and management . deci- sidns and to return a portion of the' profit from logging to governments in the areas the trees were cut. “B.C. Ministry of Forests Management policy appears to be overly influenced by both the.. will of the large corporations with which they deal and a pro- fessional mentality wHich stead- fastly clings to management ethics: of a bygone era,’’: says Hazelton mayor Alice Maitland in explaining the reasons for the charter. .Painting out the result is “almost daily confrontation” between public and industry, Maitland says the forest management system doesn’t now follow public opinion and is open to possible manipulation and abuse. Instead of taking on forestry | issues in. isolation, she says ‘*Local government and com- munity groups should join together to demand a new ap- proach to management of our province’s dominant natural resource,”’ The following are some of the 40 specific proposals contained in the charter: ® No logging to take place until environmental impact and cost benefit analyses have been car- ried out. The latter will examine both economic and social fac- tors. ® The Ministry of Forests to pay for independent, citizen- controlled advisory group for each timber supply area., Ministry and industry represen- tatives to sit on these bodies “‘as- technical advisors only.” ® Watersheds providing drink- ing water for a community will ‘the government was to adopt the Village of Hazelton proposals that Skeena Valley. Scenes like this would become a thing of the past if would limit the size of clearcuts and their proximity to each other. illage wants control of logging operations _ _ TERRACE -- The Village of . Hazelton wants to change forest be logged only with the permis- sion of that community. * 75 per cent of the annual harvest to be processed by a mill located in the . timber - supply area in which it is cut. * Annual allowable cuts for any _given watershed will be set so to ensure continual and long term logging for that watershed rather than the timber supply area as a whole. * First pass “‘high grading’’ to be outlawed. Trees cut must be representative of the all timber types of an area. ® No clearcut opening of more than lSha and a 20-year moratorium on. any further clearcutting near that. opening. © A buffer zone of at least 100 metres to be left along the edges of rivers, streams, lakes and oceans, * A ban on the export of round logs and cants. ® Preservation of small representative samples of each forest habitat in each timber supply area, “relatively large’’ ones “somewhere i well as examples of ad growth forest in each of the province's various regions. * Each forest district to employ at least one fisheries biclogist, wildlife biologist, recreation specialist and landscape specialist, | * Replanting to begin within one year of harvest and to in- clude ‘‘a range of tree species ecologically suited to the habitat.’’ Silviculture contracts awarded only to. companies whose head office is located within 100 miles of the site. * No aerial spraying of her- bicides, pesticides or fertilizers. ‘All the ‘above regulations to | apply to’ harvesting: on private land. * Preparation of a detailed an- nual report for every timber supply area and Tree Farm Licence given a company. * Mill construction licences to be granted only if 75 per cent of the logs it will process come from the company's own loge- ing licences. Proposal gets mixed reactions TERRACE — Although the company is still in the process of formulating a detailed response to the Village of Hazelton’s document, West Fraser’s vice- president of operations says his initial reaction is mixed. “There are many valid points,”’ Russ Clinton, his com- pany owns Skeena Sawmills, said last week. However, he ad- ded;. many of the proposals were “unworkable from an ad- ministrative and management point of view.” Among thesé was the stipula- tion clear cuts be Jimited to 1Sha. While he agreed many clear cuts were ‘‘larger than one might like to have," Clinton pointed out much of the wood in the region was ‘‘overmature.’ Because of the blow-down pro- blems that could result from cutting small openings in very old forests, companies were often required to log to “wind- firm boundaries.’’ Such a restriction, therefore, would be “very difficult to adhere to”’ and prompted con- cerns on what it would mean to forest management. Clinton was also wary of the call to set up independent ad- voisory/audit groups in each timber supply area. While agreeing there was. @ need to in- valve local people, he suggested the Hazelton concept would a practical point of view.’’ Pointing out there was already a lot of duplication in the industry, he was concerned at the effect “adding yet another level of administration’? would have on forest management decisions and long term planning. Turning to the call to ban the export of round logs and cants, Clinton said West Fraser did not export the former but its position on the latter depended on what the document meant by ‘a cant. If, as he believed, it ' referred to logs from which ‘‘a minimal skin’' had been remov- ed. so it could be sold as something other than a round log, he had “some sympathy with those objectives.’’ However, if it described 88s or 1212s, he pointed out “‘those could often be described as pro- ducts.” Explaining a single 8°8 could in some cases be more ° valuable than four 2‘4s, he add- | ed, “I would hope they’re not trying to limit the industry in that way.’ He emphasized West Fraser’s objective was still to export only wood manufactured to the fullest extent possible as far as it could competitively do so. Clinton said the problem fac- ing those in the industry cur- rently reviewing the document was that some of the points made, such as the cant question, were “rather confusing.’ prove ‘‘quite cumbersome from Silviculture ~ charges here TERRACE — The forest in- dustry-.not. only agrees’ with some .of the proposed silviculture policies contained in the -Hazelton charter, it is already following them, says a Skeena Cellulose supervisor, __ Referring to the call to replant. a range of species on any logged off site, Tim Fenton: sald “Generally the industry has ‘been moving. that way on its + Bee Ip ‘Part, that was the result of i ons’: learned from _ past migghkes: Aa, an example, he ‘to the spruce-only plan- 19808" atte “had Subsequently been devestated by a leader. : weevil problem. . Payee We try’ ‘to plant a minimum - ‘oftwo. species in any one setting -and.as many ‘as: that ecosystem ma, OSI at a 0. ek A OA hn 2 a will permit,”’. he explained. While hemlock was the main specie planted, it was inter- mixed with cedar, spruce and some balsam and pine, The precise mix on any site depend- ed on the conditions found there, he added. As for the requirement that a tree nursery be established in each-forest district, he said the sale of government nurseries two: years ago meant economic. factors. now governed if and . where. such a facility «was _established. However, ‘with ‘nurseries’ in. "Thornhill, ‘Telkwa and . Prince’ Rupert, the northwest was well covered and forest companies in: , ~ + the region used their product: roposal (0 stn on the charter’ hon EXPENSIVE LESSON. The havoc wrought by leader weevil infesta: tlons in spruce-only plantations of the early ‘60s taught silvicutturists the dangers of single specie replanting. Above, a local forester uses his knife to dig the pest out of a now dead treetop dur- ing a tour last summer of a site near Onion Lake. “specie samples from a full range of soil, altitude and " Jatitude locations,” Fenton in- dicated that was happening as a “result of existing forest ministry ‘egulations. Those. “rigid restrictions’ . "pede young trees could only be planted a ‘given umber of Ph see tet Py A, Pte C7 YN mats te mime, doemceriny geared ets longtitude from the collection point of the seeds from which they were grown. That meant, for example, the product of pine seeds collected in the north Nass “Valley could not be- planted south of Terrace. Similarly, if seeds came from trees at'an elevation of 300m, the seedlings could not be planted at 900m. patel, Sn Nantel ¥s, lerrace Standard, Wednesday, Match ¢, 1990 — rage AD” ETTERS TO THE TERRACE STANDARD PRE AEE NE PR A —R BF aepetineie peer iPlay Dear Sir: I read the article “Men Tracked Down” with a great deal of interest. This was the piece about the Family Maintenance - Enforcement Program, When this program first’ came out I was very much in support of it. After all, if a parent can’t voluntarily sup- port their own child then ma- jor surgery should be per- formed to ensure they will not father more children who will be made to go without. However my support of this program has drastically decreased in the last month. The reason for my declin- ing support is that it turns out that this program isn’t just to chase down the skip- pers but can (and do) go after anyone who has a file on hand at the court house, All the custodial parent has to do is sign up with this program and it doesn’t matter how regular your payments have been, they’re after you. ” It matters not that perhaps the father has never missed a payment; they are judged guilty until proven innocent. How do I know about this? Well last month when | went in to make my usual monthly payment, to my sur- prise I found out that before the woman at the counter could accept my money order she had to check and see if I was on this fool list. Now this is really confus- ing to me because in eleven and a half years I have never missed a payment, I have been a day or two late but that had to do with not get- ting to the court on time and having to wait until Monday to make my payment. On one occasion I was two weeks late. This was in 198! “when I'was on strike and im- mediately after got laid off. | had borrowed $300 when we first went on strike and after ‘getting laid off, this ran out before my UIC came in. Now I find out that I am being classified right along side those other slugs who make no effort to pay for their children. Based on this, that 4,000,000 figure can be call- ed into question. How much of that amount would have been paid anyhow? The statement that this is money that would have not other- wise been collected” is a falsehood simply because my case proves that at least some Dear Sir: Yes, we get some " support from the CRTC at last! The Canadian Radio — Television and Telecom- munications Commission (CRTC) went into action finally, protecting the rights of Christians. After a Vancouver hearing it spoke out that the B.C, media are indeed biased against Christians. The bashing of premier Vill Vander Zalm and other pro-life people should end. BCTY should accept and run pro-life advertisements, which it has refused to do. Two anchormen received a slap on the wrist for showing on the screen their personal This program needs tuning. of this money is faithfully paid each month. Because of the fact. that ” there are no safeguards to: protect those of us who are making .our payment, this - program is wide open to abuse by ex-spouses that are still ‘out to get’’ the. departed partner. I really think that there is = better way to run this pro-. - gram and not waste tax-. payers dollars going after something that is alrcady be- ing paid. Perhaps a simple phone call to the nearest court. house could take care of this, find out if the person is really — ‘skipping out on his payments before proceeding to brand him 2s no good. it matters not that perhaps the father has - never missed a pay- ment: they are judged - guilty until proven inno- - cent. As I said at the start I originally supported this pro- gram but until changes are made it won’t work. Those who aren’t going to pay pro- bably still won't. Those that are making their payments faithfully don’t need the aggravation being hassled by someone ~ who has no real knowledge of their paying habit. For- tunately for me I was not on~ their “Nasty Boys*‘ list but if I had been, someone would have been chin deep in a very smelly substance, In closing, this program is a good one in principle but |, needs to be fine tuned some _ to avoid cases of abuse. Until “this: program: is overhauled ° -the people running it are go- ing to get a lot of abuse from men that really don’t ap- preciate being mentioned in the same breath as those who don’t pay their fair share, We really don't want to be guilty by association. Sincerely yours, Art Grawberg Terrace, B.C. P.S. Unless you're a card carry ing Socred there’s no need to call Dave Parker. I did and his receptionist said he'd call back later. It's been a month and I stil! haven’t heard from him. I guess maybe ‘it just isn’t “later” enough. Media mashed approval or disapproval of certain yews items. But what about the printed media? The Vancouver Sun, the Province and columnists like Hubert Beyer? What about these biased judges of the courts that let Green Peace vandalists off the hook, but slap baby rescuers in jail for several months? Are these editors, publishers, columnists and judges not restrained or con- trolled by any government department? Freedom is not freedom without accountability, [t is anarchy! Bill Homburg Terrace, B.C. The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor on all topics, All letters must be signed and carry an ad- dress and focal 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 -names to be withheld may be - letters granted in extraordinary cir- cumstances. Thank you letters should be submitted to the “Card of ‘Thanks’ classifieds. Letters containing libelous or objectionable matter will be edited or returned to the writer, All letters are run on a space available basis, ‘with shorter letters likely to‘ be published soonest, eS, : section of the. Ray ar Fens Cecerhatoen ote heed atts de bt Pian? Ba cha Chen Oa BS akties b Be Ry 4 { + 1 an Bh fn! de! Ra Ewe Re feo se ten