tat

Pre-election tour

Local Einsteins

The forest industry’s top gun was
in town trying to make sure its
voice is heard\NEWS A112.

Schools here prepare for their
‘annual celebration of
science\COMMUNITY B1

You want snow?

Skiers and snowboarders may ce
have problems elsewhere, but not

VOL. 13.'NO, 44
WEDNESDAY
February 7, 2001
2 www. beclassified.com 7

$1.00 Pius 7¢ GST
($1.10 plus 8¢ GST
\ outside of the Terrace area)

Bear hun

Treaty guarantees grizzlies even if B.C.
declares provincial hunting moratorium

By JEFF NAGEL
THE NISGA’A have an iron-clad
treaty right to hunt grizzly bears —
tegardless of whether or not the
B.C, government decides to ban
grizzly hunting province-wide.

And they say they have no inten-
tion of giving up the hunting rights
they negotiated in the Nisga’a Treaty,
which took effect last year.

“Not unless they offer us more land
for each grizzly bear,” says Harry
Nyce, director of fish and wildlife for
the Nisga’a Lisims Government.

Premier Ujjal Dosanjh and the NDP
cabinet are considering a grizzly hun-
ting moratorium, but won’t make a de-
cision until later this week at the ear-
liest, an aide said.

“E suspect that a decision is going

mier’s office spokesman Chris Beres-
ford.
- A ban is being pushed by B.C, and
international activists but opposed by
the Guide Outfitting Association of
BC.

If grizzly hunting is outlawed, the

w@ Hunt ban would hammer
Tahitan guides, northern
villages. Page A14

Nisga’a could find themselves in con-
trol of the only grizzlies that can be
hunted in the province ~ bears that
might then command until now unim-
agined prices among foreign trophy
‘hunters,

“They could charge a lot,” says Les.

t ban won't

io ifs
adil Jey rm

UNCERTAINTY

over the number of grizzly bears

at Shames\SPORTS B4

in the province is fuelling

the campaign to ban the grizzly hunt in B.C.

hill regional district director. “They
could make a fortune.”

He noted a grizzly bear hunt norm-
ally sells for $10,000 to $20,000.

ficials maintain the treaty doesn’t
allow the Nisga’a to transfer hunting
tights to non-Nisga’a citizens, that’s
what the Nisga’a Lisims Government

7

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Nyce said one option is that the
Nisga’a could use a lottery system to
sell off their bear hunting rights to tro-
phy hunters and use that money as a
source of revenue for the Nisga’a gov-
ernment. :

“We could sell it as a lottery and
put the money back into manage-
ment,” he said. “The wildlife commit- -
tee is still pondering it.” :

Nyce said the Nisga’a could also
elect to run their own guide-outfitting
operation — something the treaty anti-
cipated by designating a large guide
outfitting territory. It covers the lower -
Nass and tributaries plus a rugged area
from the Kinskuch River west to Port-

i. land Canal.

The Nisga’a grizzly allocation is:a ‘
guaranteed share of the bears a joint
B.C.-Nisga’a wildlife committee de-
cides can be hunted without threaten-
ing the estimated population of 400
Brizzlies in the 16,221 square kilo-
metre Nass Wildlife Area.

to be reached fairly soon,” said pre-

Watmough, a local trapper and Thorn-

Teachers

want extra
day away >
from-class.

By JENNIFER LANG
TERRACE teachers
want another non-in-
structiona! day added to’
the school calendar.

Terrace District Tea- ,
chers’ Union president
Frank Rowe says “safe
schools day” would be
devoted to health and
safety education and train-
ing.

Rowe told the Coast
Mountains School. District.”
the proposal would allow
educators to. address vio-
lence prevention, some-
thing the public is increas-
ingly demanding for stu-
dents, '

‘The board tabled the re-'
quest until next month’s}
meeting, giving trustees
time to review the B.C,
Teachers’ Federation
briefing to the Education
Ministry on the proposal.

“It’s certainly a worth-
while topic,” said Hazel-|
ton trustee Peter Weeber. .
“I'm not sure we require
an additional day,”

There are currently six

Although provincial government of-

is contemplating.

non instructional days a! .
year in Terrace, according
to the 2000-2001 school
calendar.

Trustee. Gary Turner
wondered if another non-
instructional day would af-
fect the district’s ability to
provide education.

@ Looking good
TYLER MOHLER takes a minute ta dust off the
Snow after landing In more than a foot of fresh

powder above the T-bar at Shames Mountain. The
21-year-old snowboarder rides for the Ruins board

snow conditions.

team. He and other teammates took advantage of
the great snow conditions to practice for an upcom-
ing big air competition. See page B4 for mora on

“et
a? Q

* HIGHWAYS MINISTRY officials have set a tight time-
; table in anticipating an April start on the $30 million
" project to build a road from Greenville to Kincolith in
, the Nass Valley.

Fishing rules poised to loosen as
threatened coho stocks recover

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN
ANGLERS may’ be allowed to
catch more coho near Terrace this
year, fisheries officers say.

Stocks of the hard-hit species
are rebounding after a few years
of restricted catch limits. _

“In. tidal waters in the North
Coast, we’re probably going to in-
crease the daily limit of coho
from one per day to two per day,”
says Greg Savard, salmdn co-ordi-

ator for. Fisheries. and Oceans’

Canada.

_ But Savard added that conser--

vation requirements will still be
the determining factor in allowing
ally increased catch,

“We still have concern for
coho stocks in the upper Skeena.”
Last year, recreational fishery
openings on the Skeena River
were permitted in light of im-
proved runs.
And anglers on the lower Skee-

~ na, from Terrace downstream, will

be permitted to fish for coho this
fall
“AS an overall group they are
doing much better,” said Savard
about the lower Skeena coho.
_ ‘Those fish haven’t been pla-
“gued by the ‘saine problems as
their Upper Skeena counterparts,
allowing for increased fishing op-
portunities here. .

Officials credit selective fish-
ing techniques for permitting con-
tinued recreational catches of chi-
nook, sockeye and pink salmon
with minimal impact on coho,

Fisheries and Oceans Canada
will release its recreational fisher-
ies plan by April.

While 200) showed an above
average return of sockeye to the
Skeena, an average retumm was
seen on the Nass River. —

Savatd expects the run size to
be similar on the Nass this year.

The healthy sockeye return al-.

lowed for selective seine and gill-
net full fleet fisheries last year,
says the department.

ae

Because of the above average
marine survival rate of coho last
yeat, the gillnet fleet was permit-
ted two extra days of fishing for
sockeye, without hurting coho
stocks. | ;

Native bands caught 750,000
sockeye under special licences to
catch surplus fish, said the depart-
ment.

Last year also saw continued
efforts by Fisheries to enhance
coho stocks in the upper Buikley, .
Kispiox and Babine rivers as well
as Toboggan Creek. Fry will con-
tinue to be released into under-,

-used rearing. areas to enhance!
_ Stocks this season, | an

Continued Page A14

‘Gov't places
Kincolith road.
yn a fast track

They’ve asked six companies to submit proposals and
‘ want to choose the winner by March, says highways offi-
cial Dave St. Thomas.

“We've asked for the requests for proposals to be
back by Feb, 25 and it’ll then be a matter of working
through them,” said St. Thomas.

“We hope the successful proponent can begin mobi-
lizing in March.” :

The road network in the Nass now stops at Greenville
and a connection to Kincolith at the mouth of the Nass

as long been sought after.

Access to the village is now by air or by ferry down
the coast to Prince Rupert.

The two-lane, gravel road will be 29km in length and
will become part of the provincial highway system.

Construction is expected to last at least two years.

Half of the $30 million is coming from the federal

J; government with the province kicking in the majority of

the remainder. The Nisga’a have already built a Skm
stretch heading east of Kincolith toward Greenville and
this has been added as a contribution-in-kind, making
the Nisga’a one of three partners in the project.

Highways officials have described the project as very
challenging given the rough terrain along the banks of
the Nass and of the requirements for environmental pro-
tection of fish and wildlife along the route.

It’s that combina-
tion of construction
challenge and envir-
onmental protection
which has changed
how the project wilt
be run.

Contractors last
year began shying
away from bidding under a traditional lowest tender wins
the contract model.

Although they stood to make financial gains if the
project went flawlessly, the reverse would happen should
there be unforeseen problems.

It would have meant contractors would have added a
substantial cushion in their bids to protect themselves.

So the ministry has chosen a relatively unknown con-
cept in the north called a tisk alliance.

It means the ministry will take on the successful pro-
ponent as a partner in that each will share any financial
downside caused by construction or environmental pro-
blems.

“It’s all of us. There's no ‘us’ or ‘them’ here,” said St,
Thomas,

The new model also means the company with the

‘lowest projected cost won't necessarily be the one cho-
- sen to do the work.

. St. Thomas remains confident that costs under this
new model won’t exceed the $30 million budget.

“We have a figure for construction costs and those
costs will be within the budget,” he sald.

“We hope the suc-
cessful proponent can
begin mobilizing in
March.”

.- At the same time, the successful proponent could also

hegotiate performance bonuses based on finishing ahead
of time and below estimated costs,
_. Once a proponent is chosen, the ministry will then go

_, Continued Page A2