The

T his week:
A layman’s gu
to tenure, part Il

ast weck we looked at the
, P first two of seven different

forms of forest tenure, the
Tree Farm Licence (TFL) and the
Forest Licence (FL). Today, we
will consider the other five: the
Timber Licence’(TL), Crown
Grants, the Pulp Harvesting Area
(PHA), the Timber Sale Licence
(TSL), and the Wood Lot Licence.

Timber Licence is a
Aine form of tenure

that is no longer granted.
Any still in existence were given
prior to 1912. Timber Licences,
though, are responsible for much
of the devastation caused to our
forests in the first half of this
century. Under a Timber Licence,
the licensee was permitted to har-
vest all timber that was mature at
the time the agreement was signed,
but no time limit was set on the
rate of harvest. The ticensee could
take as long as he wanted to har-

_ vest the timber, and once he had

cut everything that was mature at
the time of signing the contract
was terminated and the area
reverted to the Crown Land status.

But while there no maximum
time limit set on a Timber Licence,
there was no such thing as an
Annual Allowable Cut (AAC)
either. The licensee could cut thé
whole area in the first year if he so
desired, or leave a smail portion
uncut for as long as he felt he
would like to retain ownership of
the land. And there was another
forest responsibility lacking in
these contracts. There was no
requirement to do any silviculture
work. For rent, the licensee paid
between $1.50 and $2.30 per hun-
dred cubic feet but only on the

4

ide

wood that he cut.

You cam understand the devasta-
tion this type of tenure caused.

There were no cut controls and no
silviculture requirements. Whole

valleys were clear-cut and we can ~

see evidence of that type of log-
ging in our own afea. Almost the

entire Kitimat- Valley was given °

out in the form of Timber
Licences, primarily to Crown
Zel\lerbach and MacMillan Bloedel.

There are still some existing Tim-

ber Licences in our area,

rown Grants were offered
prior to 1906. The main

beneficiaries of these
"give-aways" were railways,
mines, canneries, and an assort-
ment of factories. If there is any-
thing that demonstrates the bank-
tuptcy of short-sightedness, it is
Crown Grants.

Around the turn of the century,
politicians were in a hurry to
develop our province, and giving
away free land was thought to be
a good way to get the ball rolling,
The Canadian Pacific Railway is
one example in which for the
entire distance of their
right-of-way across our province
they were given as an incentive all
rights to the land from anywhere

either side of the right-of-way.
The trees on that {and could be
cut or sold at anytime and there
was no restriction on exporting ‘the
logs. To sweeten the pot a little,
no silviculture ‘work was required
either. Companies receiving these
"free forever" grants did have to
pay a small penalty, though —
they were told they would have to
pay taxes. Most got out of that

John Pifer === Continued from page AG

Reid’s troubles over lottery
grants for friends have dragged
on for more than 10 months,
and have been a drain not only
on the government, but on the
man himself and his family.

He says it was his own deci-
sion to exit, and that he has
never been pushed into any-
thing. I believe him on that, -
‘but his decision to step aside
had to be gratefully greeted by
Premier Bill Vander Zalm and
his caucus. Reid really had lit-
tle choice now, did he?

Somewhat more surprising to
most people was the news that
Education Minister Tony
Brummet would not be running
again in Peace River. One of
the longest-serving MLA’s,
who was generally well-
respected for his handling of
the sensitive portfolio, Brum-
met was one of the last remain-
ing Cabinet holdovers from his
Bill Bennett era. (The other is
Burnaby’s Elwood Veitch).

. So what’s next? Well, a
Cabinet shuffle, of course, and
decision time for former attor-
ney-general Bud Smith, on
whether or not he will run.
again. Smith also is a major

potential liability in any elec-
tion, regardless of the findings
of police investigations into his
actions.

The July tapes-and-white-
wine scandal have put paid to
any aspirations Smith may have
had of becoming premier, but
he could remain as an MLA,
even as a Cabinet member (but
never A-G) in a future govern-
ment, because of his political
Savvy.

Should that occur, Smith
would best be described as the
Teddy Kennedy of B.C.,
destined to be a powerful in-
fluence in his party, but always
one step removed from the top
because of his own Chapa-
quiddick.

Speaking of power, the big-
gest ‘‘winner’’ out of this latest
Socred navel-gazing session is
Rita Johnston, who was made
deputy premier by the man she
has liked, served, and sup-
ported for more than 20 years.

Vander Zalm’s decision to up
the profile of his former Surrey
municipal council colleague is a
sign — at least to me — that
Johnston is his choice for a
successor, whether that be soon

“Terrace Review —_ Wednes day, August 15 : 1990 AT

n , fa ee .
aged : cn rs ee awe +
“ won . .
: a o :
« : : : oe

by Tod Strachan, in consultation with Rod Arnold and Doug Davies

condition, however; they simply
sold the Crown Grant land for
huge profits, having gotten it for
nothing, and with the money they
earned built huge empires. The
unrestricted use of ihe trees on this
land was also purchased by the
new owtler.

ulp Harvesting Areas are
P less a, system of tenure

than a simple guarantee of
a fibre supply no matter what it
costs the province. These agree-
ments are offered to pulp and
paper companies and guarantee a
volume of wood from one or more
Timber Sale Areas in order to

‘sustain their mills, Any mill har-

vesting in an area covered by a
PHA “must" offer the pulp mill
holding the licence first refusal on
all chips produced from that tim-
ber. .
And the guarantee doesn’t stop
there. IE the sawmill doesn’t pro-
duce enough chips, perhaps

” petween two atid 20 milés” on’ Gediiuse! they're" iiite Nome” good

timber, the pulp mill has the right
to go into the area and harvest a
few of the trees themselves or
offer an incentive to the logging
company to cuta larger number of
inferior trees.

he Timber Sale Licence

: is divided into two cate-
gories: Minor, an agree-

ment of two years or less, and

or far in the future.

She would have to be con-
sidered one of perhaps three or
four leading contenders for the
title, and the fact that she is a
woman would be an electoral
bonus which could put her over
the top in any leadership race.

Johnston has proved re-
peatedly over the past four
years to be a capable, well-
respected minister with a lot of
political savvy. Now, with the
blessing of The Boss, she may
be in line to be Canada’s first
female premier.

You heard it here first,
folks!

Parting thought: For political
junkies who are fascinated by
such things, here’s some mus-
ings about some probable or
possible Cabinet changes: Mel
Couvelier from finance to
health; John Jansen to finance
from health; Graham Bruce
from out of the cold to parks
or a similar small portrolio;
Grace McCarthy back inside
the tent (education?); Ivan
Messmer to labour; Norm
Jacobsen to social services.
Stay tuned.

Major, which 1s an agreement for

_two to five years. The Small Busi-

ness Enterprise Program (SBEP)
fils into this category, but a TSL
isn’t really a form of tenure. It’s
basically a short term contract
allowing someone to cut a
specified number of trees in a
specified area. In fact, this form of
tenure is the closest we come to
the existing system of tenure in the
United States.

The licensee pays a 10 percent
deposit of the total contracted
stumpage as a performance bond.
This ensures that the trees will be
cut according ic an agreed plan,
but the licensee docs get. some
financial help in retum. The
government is responsible for
providing all major roads and

bridges and cost-sharing on minor

construction is negotiable on each
agreement. There are no
silviculture responsibilities on the
part of the licensee under an SBEP
Sale”!

TSL’s are generally sold by
advertising the sale and accepting
sealed tenders. The only qualifica-
tion necessary to submit a tender is
that every applicant must be regis-
tered in the Ministry of Forests’

fectepipet ot bes uree tee

Smal] Business Enterprise Prog-
ram. Registration costs $200. The
highest bidder wins the licence.
An average sale might earn the
government something in the
neighbourhood of $10 to $11 per
cubic metre on the average, but
some TSL’s have sold for $80 or
more per cubic metre. Needless to
say, few of these high bidders a
still business.

Wood Lot Licence is the
A« form of so-called

tenure that offers virtually
no security at all. These agree-
ments are renewable every five
years and the licensee may or may
not get it back. But while a Wood
Lot Licence offers the lowest
amount of security when compared
to other forms of tenure, it holds
the most management responsi-
bility with the least chance of
profit. The maximum area of a
Wood Lot is 400 hectares, and the
maximum’ AAC is 1,500 ‘cubic
metres, with the average being
around 1,000 cubic metres.

Next week, we’ll. begin with the
first of several articles examining
each of these basic forms of forest
tenure in much greater detail.

Letters to the Editor

Applause for ’65 reunion

To the Editor;

It is with great admiration and
much appreciation that I must
acknowledge the organizers of the
1965 Grad Reunion. A standing
ovation to Norm and Linda Frank,
Jim Stainton, Bonnie Larson,
Sharlene Butler, Ann Ansen,
Sharon Kohl, and to those I’ve
inadvertently left out.

The attendance was excellem,
although some of “us out-of-
towners" were somewhat
disappointed in the “non
attendants” living locally. How
wonderful it would have been to
see you again, too.

The 1965 Reunion allowed us to
stroll down memory lane hand in
hand with our former friends and

classmates.

Words can’t express our feelings
as we renewed our old friendships
and perhaps gained some new
comraderie.

I wish to wholeheartedly thank
each and everyone who attended
this truly memorable event. I
would be so pleased to see you all
again or at the very least to hear a
few words from you from time to
time.

Old friends are like old songs —
forever in our hearts and minds. —
quote by J. Holm.

Judie (Petryshyn) Holm
Box 1903

Westlock, Alberta.
TOG 2L0

Strike may have helped
public awareness

To the Editor;

On behalf of Terrace’s provincial
government nurses, I would like to
thank you for your coverage of our
recent strike. We hope thal as a
result of the strike and the media
attention it received, people will

. have a better. understanding of. the-

roies of public health, home care

and mental health nurses.

I would also like to thank CFTK,
Gail Murray, Wilma Costain, and
everyone who supported us in our
efforts to have the strike settled
fairly. |
Carol Harrison,
Community Health-Nurse,

Terrace,