Editor’s note: The Khutzey-
mateen inlet and river valley is
an isolated and largely untouch-
ed wilderness area off the Port-
land Inlet about 50 kilometers
north of Prince Rupert. It has
been identified as one of the last
known undisturbed habitats in
North America for grizzly bears,
which occur through the valley
in large numbers, Last year the
Wilderness Advisory Commit-
tee, after hearing. presentations
and examining briefs from a di-
versity of interest groups, re-

commended a mixed resourse

usage program for the area in-
volving a combination of logg-

ing and partial preservation,

Wedeene River Timber has ex-
Pressed a strong interest in
- harvesting timber from the area
in conjunction with building a

new sawmill in Prince Rupert,

but no logging plan has yet been
established and at this time there
is no industrial. activity in the
Khutzeymateen.
Jorma Jyrkkanen is a bioto-
_ gist who was employed for six
years at the Terrace office of the
Ministry of Environment and
Parks and is a frequent con-
tributor to the Terrace Review.

by Jorma Jyrkkanen —
If one is to evaluate whether

or not to save this pristine eco-

system along with its predom-

inantly predatory denizens, one

should look at grizzlies from

-both near and afar and their.re-

lationship to the human popula-
‘ tion explosion. _

~The Cave bear was probably
' the first to go extinct due to our
activities. One could well imag-
ine primitive cave people fight-
ing these spelunking denizens
with dogs and spears and thwar-
ting them away at night with
fires.

' This was direct competition
for habitat at its most basic, and
the rationale of those primitive
. cave people’s efforts was human
need to live. That was fine when
the human population was

sparse, but that has changed.

‘More recently, the Atlas bear
of North Africa has vanished
due to loss of habitat from ex-
cessive logging and poor refores-
tation, coupled with hunting at
excessive levels. Climatic
changes may have been a contri-
buting factor, a component .of
which may have been human-
induced. — re

The Mexican Silver grizzly is
now probably extinct.”

. In Poland, the Brown bear is
holding at around 30 animals
and, according to Tadeusz Bu-
chalczyk, there is a necessity of
creating extensive, less disturbed
areas to return the animals to
their former high population.

In Bulgaria, the Brown bear

population is stable at around

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520 and hunting is prohibited.
In China, the Panda, al-
though not a true bear, is

_threatened with extinction today

due to loss of bamboo forests
related to human expansion.
In the U.S.A., the grizzly is on

. the endangered species list in 48

states due to hunting and habitat

Joss related to the human popu-

lation explosion, In the past cen-
tury, in California, it has declin-
ed from an estimated 5,000

In Canada, this bear once
hunted over the prairies and may
have lived as far east. as

Manitoba until quite recent
times, but not so today. .

In British Columbia, it was
Once . present in the south
Cascades but is now rare there if

not actually extirpated. It is rare’

if not extirpated in much of the

. Okanagan and is most probably

declining in all of the major

developed river valleys with

salmon runs. ;

It is holding its own in parts of
B.C, and Alaska in remote areas
and in a few wildlife manage-
ment units, where tough biolo-

gists resist development pres-

sures to eliminate vast tracts of
habitat, or where we just haven’t

got to yet with our encroach- ~ bears is
- many important questions re-

ment...

- It is threatened by expanding
Tural populations of humans

who shoot it when it comes into

conflict with livestock. Many -
- bears lose the use of developing .

areas due to their shyness. Ac-
cording: to Leland P. Glenn,

adult males using open areas

with sparse cover get shot out.
Thus, those bears that stay in
developing areas will be shot out
while those that leave will be
pushed into peripheral, marginal

habitat where they will probably’

have lower survival, driving the
population down in the face of
that development.

"Management Data Scanty

Inventories of grizzlies are ex-
pensive, and population esti-
mates are currently based on
questionable indirect means, not
actual counts. In at least. six
management units in the Skeena

region they were overharvested,

according to biologist Ben Van-
drimmelen. Thus, in a good pro-
portion of the region, we don’t
know what they are doing popu-
lation-wise for certain, and in
the remainder they are probably
being overharvested. ,
Population trend estimation
from hunter. success is ques-
tionable since in Sweden, where
a small population is thought to
be increasing, hunter success is

‘in fact declining. .—

‘Management for a critical
average age is One method pro-
posed for maintaining bear
populations by D.M. Johnson

(1980), but it assumes that an |

Cleaners

adequate sample of the popula-
tion will be taken to ensure con-

_ fidence in the statistic.

This may not be possible with
grizzlies because of -the low
harvest rates and subsequent
small sample size per unit area.

This doesn’t seem like a sound

way to manage a globally declin- .

ing species in the face of the
human population explosion. ~

Long-range habitat and man-
agement provisions seem ‘to be

needed while there is time and |

habitat. available.
Mark L. Schaffer (1983) has
estimated that the minimum

- viable population size to main-
-tain a grizzly population is 50 to
90 animals with about 1,000 ta-

13,500 square kilometers
required for habitat. -
_ The Kutzeymateen population
is probably less than 50 grizzlies
ranging over 540 square kilo-
meters, less.than Schaffer's esti-

being

mated requirement for a min-

imum viable population of half
the minimum space. .

This means that this popula-
tion is sensitive, being near the

bottom of the minimum viable
population, if Shaffer’s estimate
is correct. ee 0

Research on the long-term

population impact of logging on

bears is far from concluded, and
main. Co
- ‘What is the extinction rate to:
area relationship for grizzlies
with and without hunting?
What is the extinction rate to
area relationship with and
without hunting, with. and
without logging? :

What habitat manipulation

strategies lead:to balanced nutri- .
‘tion in bear populations, and if.
attainable, does it lead to stable

population cycles?

Are grizzlies self-regulating
and if.so, is it through agonistic
violently competitive behaviour

_ where aggressive and avoidance

responses carry out density ad-

a The Board af School Trustees
, SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 88 (T.

3211 KENNEY STREET, TERRACE, B.C V&G 3E9 ;
PHONE (604) 635-4931

PUBLIC NOTICE is given to the electors of School Di
said electors in the places herein designated, on Mon
ten a.m. and twelve noon, to elect: .

1) Terrace Review — Wednesday, October 21,.1987 11.

justments and spacing? _

If bears are self-regulating,
will increasing the crowding by:
forcing bears into -buffer strips
lead to more aggressive interac-

tions, and to increased competi-
‘tion and infanticide. or can-

nibalism? |

Is agonistic regulation, if a_
‘reality, increased by resource

shortages?
The answers to these ques-
tions are particularly applicable

to the Khutzeymiateen, where the

population is-near the bottom of
the minimum viable size.

Crowding and habitat short-.

ages have been shown to induce
qualitative “changes in other

mammal populations, and these’

have even been suggested as
causes of population declines
(C. Krebs, 1974). -

The high valley walls” and -

glaciers. ringing this watershed

mean that there is probably

minimal immigration into this
valley and that. we are dealing
here with a genetic population
that is geographically isolated
and probably well inbred,
perhaps reflecting the genotype
of the founder population that.
colonized this area shortly after
the last glaciation. Be

In this respect, the genes of
this population would represent

a fine control gene-pool to com- .

pare the evolution of bears in

-more direct conflict with human

encroachment.

_ > Development Impacts

Windthrow, erosion, vegeta-
tion dominance changes and

human activities would have the

most important effect on grizzly

habitats in the Khutzeymateen.

Other factors may well influence

grizzly habitat as well, including

site preparation and species of

-conifer being restocked.

For grizzlies, research has
shown that life is: a movable
feast and there is a season to be

| Committee, will have.to be”

{ joint effort of the Ministry:

Humans, bears and the Khutzeymateen

‘Intact - |
for now |.

_ A Ministry of Forests plan=.
ner says there will be no log- J.
ging in the Khutzeymateen'{ —
valley for at least two or
three years. te

Wayne Swanson stated in’
an interview from Victoria»
that a two-year field study, .

as recommended last: year
by the Wilderness Advisory .

completed before'a logging

_ plan. -can -be established...

~ Although the committee's

recommendations -haven't |
been ratified: by Cabinet, .
Swanson said they will ‘be .
followed by finishing the -
field study, designing’ a 9
resource use plan througha -

of Forests and the Ministry -

of the Environment, and
' getting the forest company, .

Wedeene River Timber,. to

pay. half the cost of the field
study,
Swanson added that We-.
deene River will be required.
to complete construction of. §
its proposed new sawmill in. §
Prince Rupert .before the.
company will be allowed to
do any logging in the.
Khutzeymateen. ee

Each season therefore ‘has its
special foods and those foods
need to be present in sufficient

‘abundance to maintain’ the

population during that season.
What I noted on oné of my

visits to the valley is the close

juxtaposition of foods for all

‘seasons, a perfect smorgasbord
_in a constrained valley, one that
feeding on particular foods. —

continued on page 19

ERRACE) |

strict No, 88 (Terrace) that | require the presence of ff
day, the 26th of October, 1987 between the hours of

_ Trustee (two) — for a three year term (1988/89/90 calendar years) to represent the

Trustee (one) —

Terrace area and environs;

for a three year term (1988/89/90 calendar years) io represent the

Hazelton-Kitwanga areas and environs;
Trustee (one) — for a three year term (1988/89/90 calendar years) to represent the
os _ Stewart area and environs; - gy
Al the School Board Office, 3211 Kenney Street, Terrace, B.C. for the electors of the Terrace and Terrace
rural voting area. — - . . - ; - Se
At the Hazelton Village Office, and the New Hazelton Municipal Office, for electors of the Village of.
Hazelton and Hazelton voting area. , : me
j At the Stewart Municipal Office for the electors of the Stewart voting area.
- The mode of nomination of candidates shall be as fotlows:
| Candidates shall be nominated in writing by two duly qualified electors of the Assessment District. The
’ nomination paper shall be delivered to the returning officer, in person or by registered mail, at any time be-
tween the date of this notice and noon of the day of nomination. The nomination paper shall state the
name, residence and occupation of the person nominated in such a manner as to sufficiently identify such
candidate. The nomination paper shall be signed by the candidate.
In the event of a poll being necessary, advance polls and regular polls will be held at the tollowing places,
dates and times: -

So, City of Terrace and Terrace Rural Areas:
— Advance Poll, Friday, November 13, 1987, City of Terrace, Council Office, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 pam.
— Advance Poll, Friday, November 20, 1987, Mills Memorial Hospital, 4:00 p.m. to. 6:00 p.m.
— Regular Poll, Saturday, November 21, 1987, Terrace, Rosswoog, Usk, Thornhill, Lakelse Lake, Cedarvale,
New Remo, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Municipalities of Hazelton and Hazelton Voting Areas:.
— Advance Poil, Friday, November 13, 1987, Hazeiton Municipal Offtice, 1:00 pam. to 4:30 p.m.
— Advance Poll, Thursday, November 5, 1987, New Hazelton Municipal Hall, 3026 Bowser, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
— Advance Poll, Friday, November 13, 1987, Kitwanga Elementary Secondary School, 7:00 p.m, to 9:00 p.m.
— Regular Poll, Saturday, November 21, 1987, Hazelton, Two Mile, South Town, Kitwanga, Kispiox Valley,
New Town, Moricetown, Kispiox Village, 8:00 a.m. ta 8:00 p.m.

Municipality of Stewart and Stewart Voting Area:
— Advanced Poll, Friday, November 13, 1987, Municipal Hall, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon
B =6and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. .
~~ Regular Poll, Saturday, November 21, 1987, Stewart, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Every person is hereby required to take notice and govern himself accordingly.
Given under my hand at Terrace, B.C, this 6th day of October, 1987. .
, (Mrs.) Elaine Johnson

Returning Officer

School District No. 88 (Terrace)
. 3211 Kenney Street
Terrace, B.C. V8G 3E9

10/21¢