ee eee ee ee ey /SKEENA-ANGLER ° ROB BROWN Deadlife f ever there was a misnomer it is the B.C. Wildlife Federation. A more accurate title for this slip shod - alliance of Rod and Gun clubs is the B.C. Deadlife Federation. Like Ducks Un- limited, these folks are only interested conserv- ing wild creatures to ensure a continued supply of targets, table fare and things to stuff. It is a fact that the B.C.W.F. bas had a long and influential relationship with the province’s Environment Ministry, which is not altogether surprising considering that most of the people in charge of wildlife management for B.C. are avid hunters and fishers. While the Wildlife Federation has continued to enjoy a cozy relationship with B.C.’s senior wildlife managers, environmentally centered groups have been forced to resort to litigation and protest to attract the attention of the Government and its environment ministry. The Sierra Club, Greenpeace, the Valhalla Society, B.C, Wild, and similar organizations have never been regarded as a client group. The B.C.W.F. has. In many instances this has not been in the best interest of the wildlife whose welfare both the ministry and the Federation purport to have uppermost in their hearts. Here, in the B.C.W.F.’s Northwest Region, the organization has been stoutly opposed to the Protected Area Strategy. The PAS is a well con- sidered government initiative to identify and set aside unique and sensilive bits of wilderness that cannot withstand thedepredations of hardcore Forestry and industrial uses. The lands in question are invariably big time wildlife gen- érators, yet, paradoxically, the federation whose leaders chant the word conservation in solemn mantra like monotone refuse to raise a band to ensure it continues to play that role. When the Haisla Nation took on the Ministry of Forests and the West Fraser in a valiant fight to save the Kitlope, the largest intact watershed in the World’s temperate rain forests, the BC, Wildlifers opposed them. Later, when the Haisla, fortified by the best scientific evidence ever assembled on Kitlope grizzly bears, asked the B.C. government that a moratorium on hunt- ing be placed on their valley, the B.C. W.F. op- posed that too. In fact, the B.C,W.F, seems to have been on the opposing side of every move in the direction of conservation. If it means reducing the bag limit, the first order of business for the Wildlife Fed is to oppose it. In 1997 we find B.C.W.F, officers calling people concemed about the con- servation of coho ‘‘meddters.’’ When former B.C.W.F. regional president, Gil Payne began making prepostercus statements, like clear cutting is good for grizzly bears, and other equally uninformed statements about fish and fisheries, I wrote and phoned him and the federation executive to ask if these were the views of Payne’s constituency, as obtained in meetings or by other democratic forums and if they were B.C.W.F, policy. It was then I learned that the vaunted Wildlife Federation was a large warship with none of its cannons fastened to its decks. Payne could offer no motions supporting opinions ostensibly uttered on behalf of his beloved federation, while high mucky mucks in the fed openly admitted to me that they had no control] over him and other presidents. You might think that someone working for a saw mill is in a conflict of interest when representing a wildlife organization, and, presumably, wildlife in government mectings and in the press. Not so in the Wildlife Feder- alion, apparently. True to the buffalo hunting mentality of his predecessors, new B.C.W.F. regional president, Mike O'Neil, is lobbying the government to reinstate a kill fishery for Skeena River steel- head, This notwithstanding the fact that summer steelhead, the largest component of the run, migrate at the same time as heavily fished sock- eye and colio that are now on the critical list, Numerous net marked steelhead and work of J.0. Thomas and Associates prove that the com- mercial fishery incidentally whacks a largé number of steelhead each summer. The fact that steelhead stocks are depressed but stable is largely due to the fact that anglers have fore- gone thousands of them over the last decade. The high-end lodges have embraced and en- couraged the catch and release of steelhead be- cause they realize the obvious economic and en- vironmental sense this conservative practise creates, but such logic escapes the bait and bul- let brigades of the B.C. W.F.. But then that’s not surprising from an organization that would et a hatchery manager lobby for something that may lead to the extirpation of wild fish when the demise of wild stocks benefits hatcheries, ‘and does not sec this as a conflict of interest, TERRACE STANDARD The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 1, 1998 - BS _SPORTS Local fighter third at Worlds TERRACE’S JASSIE Osei-Tutu proved he could compete with the best two wecks ago, coming home with a bronze medal from the Ka- rate World Championships. Osei-Tutu was an underdog at the Orlando, Morida event, up against fourth degree biack- belis with much more experience than him. But he dug deep and pulled off some im- pressive performances in traditional Kumite (fighting) before finally losing to an American in the semi-finals. “J was really scared going in,’’ he says from his home in Hamilton where he attends univer- sity. ‘We weren’t allowed to watch the other fights and I kept sceing people coming back with all these black eyes and bleeding noses. I was just like wow, what is going on out there?” Osei-Tutu says waiting to fight was pretty nerve-wracking, but once he got into the ring he relaxed and got into the flow. The traditional Kumite event was based on points. A kick or punch to the body scored a half-point. A kick to the head scored a full point. The winner was the first to reach three points, Fighters wore mouth guards and groin guards, but no headgear or foot pads. Osei-Tutu beat a Brazilian fighter in the first round, then went on to beat a Swede and a Rus- sian. But his next match was the toughest. Osci- Tutu and his American opponent traded blows throughout the match, which ended in a 2,5-2.5 tie, The match went into sudden-death overtime, with the next point winning, The two men circled cach other for a while, then shot at the same time — both scoring blows. Two judges gave to point to Osei-Tutu, but three gave it to his opponent, The win put Osei-Tutu out of the gold-medal final round, but be was happy with third place, “Twas really happy,’’ he says. ‘‘] never ex- pected to do so well,”’ Team Canada also placed third overall at the World Championships, behind Italy and the host USA team. That’s Canada’s best finish ever, and Osei-Tu/tu says he was proud to be a part of it. A total of 27 nations took part in the event, giving it a strong international feel. Osei-Tutu says it was interesting to see the different na- lionalities and their individual fighting styles, And in spite of all the violence, he says it was areal bonding thing. “Tt was amazing to meet people from all over,’’ he says, ‘‘After the match you feel like you know something about. them.: It breaks down all the barriers.’”’ The next World Championships doesn’t take place for another two years — this time in Italy, Osei-Tutu says he hasn’t decided for sure 638-7283 Jassie Osel-Tutu whether or not to go. He points out that compe- titors have to be serious or they'll get hurt. Broken bones and teeth were not all that un- common at this year’s event. Still, he says the pull is pretty strong. “It was so close that I really want to see how far I can go,’ he says. ‘‘I’ll probably do it.” i Nice delivery THE POPULAR Totem Mixed Bonspiel was held over the weekend at the Terrace Curling Club. Dozens of rinks turned out for the event — one of the jast of the year. That's Cheryl Wyalt of Terrace making a shot for the Haynes rink. The next big event at the club is the Men's Loggers Spiel which takes place at the club April 9-12. okeena angler’s art featured on stamps A LOCAL fly fisherman is getting his own postage stamp. Skeena angler Rob Brown was one of seven Canadians tecently chosen to tie a fly for a Canada Post stamp series on fly fishing. The stamps are due out in two weeks. More thai 10 million are expected to be produced. Brown, a teacher, angler and regular columnist for the Terrace Standard has been tying flies for nearly 25 years. He joins fellow B.C. fly fishermen Art Lingren and Van Egan, who were also chosen to represent western Canada for the stamps. “T's quite an honour fo be part of that group,’’ Brown says. Brown chose to make a “coho blue’ fly for his stamp. Iv’s a design that was originally created by Roderick Haig-Brown for - salt water fishing. Brown has made a few alterations to the original design. He says making flies is part of the challenge and the lure of fly fishing. “Part of the appeal to the sport is how much you can do yourself,’ he says. “Yow ll see something like a trout — which are quite fussy — feeding on some kind of insect. Then you go home and try ta duplicate it. You won't find anything similar in a store,” Getting the proper materials for making flies can be a challenge in itself. Many original designs call for feathers from birds like herons, which aren’t al- lowed to be hunted anymore. So Brown now goes on : fishing expeditions to tackle stores all over the province looking for the right materials. He finally found a “silver badger cape’’ at a store in Surrey. It’s not un- common for these feathers, which are taken from specially-bred birds, to cost $100 or even $200. Brown’s ‘‘coho blue’ uses small feathers to simu- late the lateral lines of a fish, tinsel to represent the silver body, and polar bear hair for the wing. “Tt's actually a pretty simple fly,”? Brown says. ‘‘Haig-Brown was a practi- cal guy.” Still, there is quite a lot of technique involved. The idea is to suggest something the fish would like to bite — and fish can be finicky crea- tures. The light has to pass ‘through the fly just right, the shape of the head must be just so, and the movement must be perfect. “Plastic flies don’t work,” Brown says. They’ re lifeless.” According to Brown, the best way to learn how to tie flies is to take a course, The basics are relatively simple, then it’s just a matter of practice and experimenta- tion, “Tf you're happy with the fly, youll fish better too,’’ he says. “I think people whe enjoy golf would like fly fishing. You're in beau- tiful places. You go from hole to hole, making grace- ful, arching movements. And there’s infinite room for improvement.”’ Brown’s stamp will be available April 16. Duo hits road on cross-country trek TWO TERRACE brothers: are heading out on a little ride in the country — or rather, across the country, Avid cyclisis Jon, 16, and James Lambert, 19, have de- cided that thousands of kilo- metres isn't enough to sepa- rete them from the Atlantic Ocean. So in two weeks, they hitthe road, Jon will take off a semester from high school to make the two-month jour- ney from coast to coast, while James will put his shower and sleep in a bed. The brothers are in good Shape, a prerequisite for this sort of trip. Jon is actually a bronze medalist in mountain biking from last year’s BC Summer Games. “Tf I’m not in shape now, I will be by the end of the trip,”’ James says. The tip will be a big change for Jon, who’s never been further east than the Saskatchewan border. He says he can’t wait to visit places like Montreal and “We're pumped about goirig all the way no matter how bad the weather gets or whatever happens.” —Jon Lambert welding apprenticeship on: hold. “7 was just joking around when I first suggested it, but Jon was like, ‘yeah, let’s do. it!?”’ James says. ‘We both love biking,” says Jon. ‘I think that’s the way to go. You go way slower and sce more stuff.” Jon says their love of the camping and the outdoors. also pulled them into the idea. They plan to ride about six hours a day, then camp wherever it’s convenient — spending the occasional night in youth hostels to Quebec City. “There's so much history there,’ he says. *'But I’ve seen some pretty incredible pictures of the Maritimes as well,” Both men will be riding mountain bikes for the trip, fitted with smooth tires to make those mountain passes a little less torturous, They will also be carrying about 50 tbs each in gear. The adventure will start April 15 from Mile Zero of the Trans-Canada Highway In Victorla, and Jon says they won’t quil until they hit CROSS COUNTRY ADVENTURE: James (lett) and Jon Lambert hit the road in two weeks to bike across the country. They estimate it will take about two months. St. John’s Newfoundland, “‘We’ve been planning this for six months,” he says. We're pumped about going all the way no matter how bad the weather gets or whatever happens,”’ That ‘‘whatever happens” could drive a parent insane with worry, but Jon says. their parents have actually been really supportive of the plan. *‘At first they were a litle reluctant, but after they real- ized how serious we were they were great,” he says. Local bifsinesses like All Seasons, McBikes: and Val- halla Pure have also helped out, Jon says. The only thing that hasn't been planned out is how the two will get home. “We might fy but that costs a lot of money,” Jon says, ‘““We’ll have to see what happens,” ‘ If everything = goes smoothly on this trip the brothers are planning anoth- .er ride for next year — this time a bike tour of Europe,