4 Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 20, 1988

OPINIONS __

Incentives for what?

_ In view of the millions of dollars allocated to student aid pro-
grams for post-secondary education in last year’s provincial budget,
the government’s lack of attention to colleges and universities in the
latest budget comes as something of a mystery. ce

like Northwest Community Col-
their fingernails for the next year

Reports that regional colleges,
lege, are going to be hanging on by
and entire departments within the

down entirely have drawn a begrudging trickle of funds and a com- .
mittee to examine the reasons for lack of post-secondary en-
thusiasm in B.C. high school grads. ,
Having given students the financial means to undertake higher |
education, the government seems to have withdrawn support for the

structure of that education.

The committee’s conclusions should make interesting reading,
but isn’t the writing already on the wall?

Last year Stan Hagen, the Minister of Advanced Education and
Job Training, was hailed as a virtual hero by the higher education
community, and-this year his ministry hardly received passing men-
tion in the budget. With government-sponsored student loan levels
up and incentive devices like Passports to Education percolating
through the secondary school system, graduating high school
students may find themselves all financed up with nowhere to go in

the next couple of years.
What happened, Stan?

eel

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expressed are not necessarily those
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G@cha

7 T. errace
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three B.C. universities may shut

oman: AP

Future of B.C. parks laid out o

A few months ago, British Columbia’s
Environment Minister Bruce Strachan
released a document, the significance of
which was eclipsed by the battles over
abortion, privatization and decentraliza-
tion,

Striking The Balance, a 28-page report,
was the first major policy statement in
years on the future of the provincial parks
system.

I suppose it’s only natural that the report

Se ae
Hubert Beyer convincing British Columbians that . the
in Victoria - government is a responsible stewart of their
heritage. After all, you don’t expect a
government report to dwell at length on the
shortcomings of its politics.

Despite its self-congratulatory tone, however, Striking The
Balance is an important document because: it spells out the govern-
ment's long-range goals for the province’s vast parks system. Here
are some of the major commitments Strachan makes in his report.

By the year 2011, a hundred years after the first provincial park
was established, six percent of British Columbia’s total area is to be
incorporated in the provincial parks system, protected in perpetuity
from any and all residential, commercial and industrial encroach-
ment, That figure stands now at roughly 5.3 percent.

Detailed resource management plans are also to be in place for all
parks by the year 2011. These management plans are to provide ex-
pert protection of habitats for animals such as the grizzly.

The year 2011 is also the target date by which all commercial
claims on parks now classified recreation areas have been ex-
tinguished. That goes for mineral claims in Strathcona and
Tweedsmuir Recreation Areas, for instance, as well as cattle grazing

- claims in Cathedral Park.

Strachan expects a shift in emphasis over the next 25 years away
from the creation of new major parks to relatively small recreation
parks along the Inside Passage, in the northern Gulf Islands and
other coastal areas.

The minister also predicts greater involvement in the management
of the B.C. parks system by community groups, non-profit
organizations, volunteer groups and by the private sector.

‘‘Communities will be involved in both planning for and manag-
ing parks,”’ the report says.

The report makes it clear that the government doesn’t intend to
unilaterally cancel commercial claims in wilderness areas. This
means that mineral exploration and subsequent exploitation will
continue wherever legal claims are in effect, including Strathcona
and Tweedsmuir.

Commercial activity in these parks, now called Wilderness Areas,
will continue until the legal claims expire or the government can ac-
commodate the claimants in some other way.

For those who have only a vague perception of the existing parks
system, here’s a brief review.

In 1911, Strathcona Park became the first provincial park,
followed shortly by other large parks such as Mount Robson and
Garibaldi. The aim at the time was to provide a boost to recreation
and tourism.

The demand for conservation of pristine wilderness areas didn’t
enter the picture for several decades, but in 1965, the Park Act was
‘passed, Its purpose was to set aside lands “for preservation of their
natural environments for the inspiration, use and enjoyment of the
public,

With the introduction of the mandate to conserve park land, the

stage was set for confrontations that are still with us today. Oppos-

is aglow with self-serving prose, aimed at .

ing groups are competing for the same limited resources. Every time
an area is designated a Class A Park, the forest industry loses a
potential resource base; so does the mining industry. The fight over
South Moresby was a good example. So is the current battle over
the Stein Valley.
Class A Parks are inviolate. No logging, no mining, no commer:
cial activity of any kind is allowed in Class A Parks. ;
Recreation Areas are destined to become Class A Parks as soon
as existing resource commitments expire. No new commercial ac-
tivities are granted within areas classified Recreation Areas.
Class C Parks are small community parks developed by the pro-
vince, There are relatively few of them, and the government is com-

mitted to turning these parks over to municipal and regional .

governments for administration.

One more thing: Strachan says in his report that he welcomes |

public input. Anyone out there with a suggestion on how the parks 7
system should evolve, fire away. The address Is Minister of En--
vironment and Parks, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C., V8V

1X4.

Divide and Conquer

Forest Minister Dave Parker must have stumbled on Nicolo. |
Machiavelli’s writings recently. His latest foray into the Stein Valley
controversy bears a definite resemblance to the 16th century -

statesman’s modus operandi.

Until current talks with the Lytton Indian band on the proposed
logging of the Stein Valley are completed, the government will put
the designation of another wilderness area on hold, the minister an-
nounced last week. In other-words, as long as there’s no agreement
on the Stein question, there’ll be no wilderness area at Spruce Lake.

Both the Stein Valley and Spruce Lake are located in the Lytton
Timber Supply area. The government wants logging to go ahead in
part of the Stein Valley, but faces strong opposition from the In-
dians and from environmentalists.

Throwing the seeds of discontent among the opponents of the
plan to log the Stein, Parker’s press release listed all organization
favoring designation of the Spruce Lake area as a wilderness area.

By now, the minister is probably sitting back, awaiting with relish
the howls that are bound to emanate from the Chilcotin Mountain
Wilderness Committee, the B.C. Wildlife Federation, the Western
Canada Wilderness Committee, the Federation of B.C, Naturalists,
the Guide'Dutfitters Association of B.C., the B.C. Mountaineering

Club, the Sierra Club, the Gun Lake Ratepayers Associations anda

number of other agencies and groups.

Just to make sure everybody knows where the government
stands, Parker said ‘‘our priority for future wilderness is definitely
Spruce Lake and not the mid-Stein.”’

Watch the fur fly. |

Garbage, Garbage, Garbage

Premier Vander Zalm apparently had it up to his tulip bulbs Jast - |
week and decided to come out of the government’s corner fighting

mad.
Commenting on an NDP mailout campaign which gives the NDP

version of the budget with regard to medicare topics, the premier _

rose from his seat in the legislature and shouted “‘garbage, garbage,
garbage.” .

Not satisfied with that description, the premier also referred to
the campaign as ‘“‘cowardly, low-down and despicable’’, adding
that, unlike NDP leader Mike Harcourt, he would never lerid his

name to such garbage. Watch for the “‘garbage” in your mail box:

n paper -

Fy an PER RE