SOR aR ME ee ee i i potter ce oe Page Ad-— Terrace Standard, Wednesday, Fabruary 20, 1991 "TERRACE STAN DART) ESTABLISHED APRIL ar, 1988 Iagaradion repro Services and sdvertsang agencies. Repreductier in wficie oF in part, without writin permission, is Spectticaty prontsted. ‘Registration No. 7820 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., VAG 188 (604) va Serviag the Terrace area. Putished on Wednesday of each week by Canboo Press (1969) Lid. at 4047 Lazele Ave., Terrace, British Columbia, Stories, photographs, Mustrabons, cesigns and lypestyien wn the Terrace Standard ara the property of the copyright holders, ‘ncheding Cariboo Press (1 968) Lic. tsk Authorized as Second-clyss mall pending the Past Olfica Depariment, for payment ot postage in cash, Gena _ .Publipher: ~ Jim, Coulter” Fed Unk | “Carciyn Anderson Production Manager: Edouard Credgeur. “Denia Duncan, = * "Special thanks fo al * gue contributors and correspondents for .. their time and talents; EDITORIAL. ‘Suppose. a forest products company said it was building a new mill up here. - There would be much praise given the. company by local businesspeople and politicians. Oh and by the way, the com-— pany would add, we’re flying our workers in and out and we're paying that cost. The above-mentioned praise wouldn’t last jong. With the exception of the last ’ sentence, that’s what we’re doing with the mining industry. We welcome mining in the northwest, but don’t pursue the prospect of local employment. Instead, we're content with spending mega-bucks on getting whatever secondary benefits mines provide in the service sector. That’s not to denigrate the idea of — securing the mines’ service industry re- quirements by promoting the area as a business centre for the north. They do provide jobs and they do diversify the local economy. But in a lot of respects, those mining companies would do business here regardless because of the proximity of the city to the mine site. What the northwest and its leaders should do is expand that strength of pro- ximity when it comes to services to local employment in those mines. People live up here ‘because they. want”to. They automatically become a source of stabili- ty and of commitment for those mining companies. There are a number of reasons why northwest leaders are content to let min- ing jobs slip away. Some of them are historical. Some of them stem from the nature of the mining business. Where once mining companies built townsites at or near their ore bodies (Kitsault and Stewart come to mind), they now rely on air transport as a way of moving their workers in and out. That means miners can live practically anywhere provided he or she is at the right airport at the right time for the trip Needed: job to the job. It’s a weakness for the north . 2 but it’s also a strength in that any airport can bea marshalling area. Mining requires specialized skills’ ‘and experience. Yet there are already a lot of people trained up here to work in the forest industry and those skills can be transferred in some fashion to the job of taking ore from the ground. And as the number of jobs in the forestry sector declines, a ready and available pool of labour will surface. All of this touches on the issue of a social and economic obligation on the part of the mining community to return in some fashion benefits to the areas in which they operate. Forestry companies must demonstrate such resolve when ap- plying for licences to cut down trees and manufacture wood products. Indeed, the provincial government has become slavish in its insistence on this. The question is how northwest leaders should resolve this issue. Because they cherish the mantle of free enterprise, they are loath to be seen as being nasty boys. Yet they do the same with other in- dustrial developments. It’s simply a mat- ter of adopting the same attitude to min- ing companies. Northwest leaders could insist that the. provincial government make local hire a condition of provincial government ap- proval for mining developments. Or they could strike the same deal more infor- mally with those companies. The leaders might look to the Tahltan Tribal Council for guidance. When the Golden Bear mine began development west of Dease Lake, the council struck a deal calling for a 20 per cent Tahltan employment ratio at the mine. A tiny matter of a roadblock did help things along there. While we’re not ad- vocating Terrace council do the same thing, the Tahltan proved that a little bit of persistence did go a long way. Firm no thanks Correctional centre inmates serve time for mainly four crimes: driving without a licence, driving while impaired, failing to blow, or willful pro- Bifocals perty damage. Yet after stealing our property or threatening our by Claudette Sandecki highway safety, they expect us Through to welcome them = as neighbours? Yeesh! Thornhill’s objection to a correctional centre includes anxiety about the security of children and property, truck and chainsaw noise, increased traffic, and lower real estate values, We're trying to tactfully say, “We don’t want convicted criminals next door. Case clos- ed, oF Lawbreaking i is not a genetic affliction; it is easily avoided. -We resent paying taxes to punish wrongdoers by: accom- amodating them in a manner many single-parent and welfare families would term luxurious. _ Bad enough we have to join Neighbourhood Watch and burn our porch lights all night so as not to be victimized by the thieves still running loose among us. Housing an offender in Ter- race’s Four Reasons Hotel costs ‘an average $62.37 per day (1986 figures). Add the cosi of police investigation, RCMP and court administrative: costs... Even’ a ‘peity: break and. enter, # takes, up: - four or five hours of a Mountie’s tme just filling out forms. The correctional centre began hunting for a new address close: to RCMP, hospital, Northwest Community College, drug and alcohol counsellors, and gym facilities, Two years later the centre's criteria have stretched like bun- jee cords. Thornhill is at least 15 minutes from all facilities ex- cept Copper Mountain school's adventure playground. Jailbirds (and their friends) seem to think they're real cool dudes, or dudeses. That’s why the prospect of jail visitors traversing our residential streets makes us nervous. Who knows when a visitor might take ad- vantage of an unattended home to lift a stereo, ‘VCR, or box of tools? | So what: if the Terrace site hasn’t been a problem. It is well lit, on a main highway, passed frequently by vehicle traffic and RCMP patrols. The Thornhill site is dark, deadend; backed by wilderness, and: close..to an elementary school to which many kids walk. Regional district directors may characterize the Thornhill site as ‘‘oul of the way'’. For them it is. They all live far enough away to fook objectively at the centre’s application. But 2 io the 99 per cent of residents who signed the petition, the ap- plication is an insult. The centre was unacceptable to the Halliwell residents for . precisely the same reasons. Then why still try to unload it on Thornhill? BEAR WITHUS..... FEET AGAIN... WORKED.OUTA PAN TOGET YOU BACK ON YOUR Parks plan gives some the jitters VICTORIA — I am getting the distinct impression that Parks Plan 90 is giving the forest industry the jitters, and perhaps rightly so. Parks Plan 90 is a govern- ment initiative that could result in the designation of large From the Capltai by Hubert Beyer chunks of land ‘as wilderness hun: " areas, ; removing: them from ac- - tive timber production. Before the government goes through with any designations, however, it is seeking input from the public. Details of Parks Plan 90 will be presented to public meetings this month. And just in time for the public meetings, the B.C. Forest Industry Land Use Task Force has released a study that refutes the whole premise of economic diversification through the creation of parks and wilderness areas. The study, done by Clayton Resources Ltd. and Robinson Consulting and Associates, ex- amines the economic forecasts made by the Slecan Valley _ Planning Program prior to the creation of the Valhalla Wilderness Park in 1983, The conclusion: none of the op- -timistic forecasts panned out. Advocates had predicted that the new wilderness park would attract large numbers of tourists, leading to the creation of a more diversified regional economy and up to 300 new jobs, plus a similar number of indirect or spin-off jobs. Tourism spending was ex- pected to rise from $1.3 million to $5 or $6 million, Private sector facilities were expected to total $16 to $18 million. Well, according to the study, none of these things happened, The tourists didn’t come. because the Valhalla Wilderness Park is as inaccessi- ble as it is beautiful. You've got to be on the trustworthy side of 30 and in terrific shape to get any use out of the park. It obviously didn’t take the private sector very long to Cl Lad e Vir ci Pte figure out that a‘ few hardy “~ hikers won't sustain $18 million worth of investment, so they took their money elsewhere, The study says that the forecasts also missed the mark with regard to timber produc- tion losses, At the time, it was assumed that the annual allowable cuts would be reduc- ed by 13,350 cubic-metres, which meant the loss of 14 direct and 24 indirect jobs. Today, the reduction in an- nual allowable cuts caused by the creation of the Valhalla Wilderness Park is estimated at 21,000 cubic-metres, which puts the loss of forest-related jobs closer to 69, according to the study. Carolynn Anderson, spokesman for the industry’s land use task force, said the study didn’t try io determine whether the decision to create the Valhalla Wilderness Park was a correct one, “'The park removed a significant amount of timber from the region’s forest in- dustry, but it is valid to say that the landscape protected represents a good addition to. our parks system,’” she said. “However, the park came with a price tag attached which wasn’t properly evaluated at ’ the time the decision was nade,” she added, I couldn't agree more. The question isn’t whether it’s desirable to have more wilderness areas. That goes without saying. The question is whether we are willing io pay the price. And to arrive at an answer to that question, we _Thust know the exact price. Politicians get constantly ac- cused of lying; so does the "forest industry. Well, some of . the environmentalists aren’t ex- actly telling the truth either, I love forests just as much as David Suzuki, but I don’t like: to be given a one-sided story. - In case of the Valhalla Wilderness Park, the actual price was withheld from us. I. wouldn’t want the same to happen in the implementation of Parks Plan 90, Let’s have the whole truth. The B.C. Forest Industry Land Use Task Force offers a- list of ‘‘key factors’ it says should be carefully considered before any more timber is taken our of production. The group asks-for a. thorough assesmment of the ~~ economic contribution to.the ~.. provincial and regional economies by existing wilderness areas. If wilderness areas are established, they should not © only provide protection for” valuable landscapes but accom. modate economic growth and . stability for adjacent com- munities, the task force says, | And finally, the task force says, it’s important to establish a land use strategy. that is built on the principle of sustained development, which takes into account the need for both | _. Wilderness areas and timber: - production, Points well taken. and worth considering. ; It is important to preserve _ some of our wilderness areas for future generations. ‘It. is equally important to do so without creating unnecessary economic hardships. That goes as much for the old-growth “: forests of British Columbia as” it does for the Amazon rain forest. _ view. | e THE wena CRADRED) ‘ Po" ane A ese Cobo x a) MARTEN'S wHtre Rose ". DufCHED THE WEL) TRUCK GOD SHEEP af oN t Be galls Les [ey Peep Moss are : , arort a“ a 5 ae Caucnie'a | nw Pancupiat ¥ MTG YY oN / wc 2 2 ae ft TRAPLINE .