= Page AS.

“TERRACE _ Setting up a
_ aystem which will allow. local
a people lo be part of resource
oe planning decisions { in their area
= will Tesule in “better and more -
oar gomprehensive decisions;”* the
“= provincial New Democrat
forestry critic said last week. .
4 But-the final say on any such
decisions: should have remain
with, thé provincial government,
Said Dan Miller,
His: “comments followed. a
Public’ meeting at which
; residents gave their ideas on the
~ extent’ to which and by what
“Means government should be in--
7 volvedwith local people on deci-
- sions affecting their forests and.
environment.
* While emphasizing the NDP
had not yet decided how such a
* system would work, Miller said.
he was “leaning” toward ‘one
where representatives on pro-
posed = “community advisory.
. bodies were appointed rather
than: elected.
“If care.was taken to ensureall .
inierest groups —_ industry,
; environmentalists and
‘al:goverment '— ° were’
représented, ‘I’m. sure people
willbe satisfied with: that ap-
proach, ”* he added.
“Miler said the system would
also help people better unders-
tand why certain decisions were
made. Explanations of those
detisions would have greater
impact on people if made by a
member of their own communi-

oca

TERRACE — ‘Approximately
- $0 people were on hand for the
New Democrats March 4 open
house featuring provincial
MLAs Dan Miller (Forestry
critic), John Cashore (Environ-
ment critic), federal MP for
Skeena Jim Fulton and Helmut
Giesbrecht, wha will contest the |
Skeena riding abt
vinciaft ‘election. a

Those - present “included
representatives of labour, native
bands, angling organizations,
other'special interest groups and
the forest service.

‘While: the :main purpose of
the: meeting was: to seek: local
views on: what role communities
should play in resource manage-
ment.- decisions in their area,

baser on

speakers also raised a number —

of other, related issues. -

Below, a summary of what
the politicians heard during the
three-hour meeting.

wkkke

‘Steve Azak of the Nisga’a
Tribal Council said the Nisga’a
had always emphasized the need
for integrated Management of.
the” province's resources, For
that to be achieved, people liv-
ing in-a particular area should
haveé"'a say in any decisions ef-
fecting local forests and rivers.

Inthe case of the Nass Valley,
.that-meant natives —: the ma-
jority:. population — should
have: ‘a big say’' in what hap-
pened there. “A lot of people
have: banded together because
government is not listening to
people about their local pro-
blems," he pointed out...

A, move in that direction
would :be to have more timber
harvesting carried ‘out by small,
locally-based companies rather
thay, mult nationals.

ores

TERRACE — The province
can’t simiply adopt hew forestry
- policiés‘based on recommenda-
‘tions! coming from numerous
task forces . now criss-crossing
B.C. Says local. Forester Rod
Am d..
oo You can’t just walk ‘away |
oS ‘wind then:have to come back to
the table 20 -years later. to try
“and work ‘out what happened
and As

ae ‘Wrong,’ Amold ‘told members

 gtoup
wee
me “THe . group =~" "BO: members.
: eee s from government and in--
4 bes. — was struck by.

during thelr stop here last .

possibly what:.went

OF. the. Old Growth’ Strategy . .
‘on-behalf of the city —‘he sits.
on its forestry advisory commit=

jtee: + Amoid: also suggested:

'. forest management should not

only -'concentrate” on.” whad'
thie biti alio

ty rather than a politician, he:
explained,

Suggesting local ‘opinion
would likely not- favour short-
term decisions, he said, “People
_ generally look to thieir own
long-term best interests, They
want their community. 10 be sus-
iainable, to’ make sure there are
jobs‘and an economic base.”’

That would ulso be true even
‘where the individuals involved
were loggers. Deseribing (hem
“as “much maligned’, he said

_ loggers knew what had beer and

was happening out in the bush
and certainly did not approve of
praclices, such as . over-cutting
which .might- ultimately
eliminate their jobs.’

While there needed to be ‘a
shating. of power", Miller cau-
tioned’ the’ governmént.- could
tat abdicate ‘its’ constitutional
responsibilily to. manage the -
provinee’s - | resources,
“Uhimately, the buck: ‘stops in
Victoria,” he pointed out.

’ Helou ‘Giesbrecht, NDP
cuidate for Skeena in the next
provineial: election, agreed
membership of any local ud-

' visory body would fave to be

representative of that communi-

ty. :

; However, he added, it, must

kiso include a “good | mix of

professionals.” . me
Suggesting politicians faking

“short-term decisions when you
want a long-reit, sustainable

Les Watmough

However, Azak added, he.
was encouraged by the level of
public awareness of what was
happening in the remote areas
of the province,

Renee Mikaloff,— a
silvicuturist since the mid-70s,-
called for a royal commission
on all aspects of forestry and a
change in the current practice of
achieving - “maximum = extrac-
tion with the minimum of
jobs. ”

While supporting public in-
volvement in forestry decisions,
she pointed out people could
nat’ be expected to make deci-
sions of. recommendations
without first being given ade-
quate information on which to
base them. Therefore, Mikaloff
emphasized the need for a full
inventory. of the. province's
forests. ©,

“We can't manage them
when we don’t know what we
have,” she pointed out.

Slamming. ‘past © government
cuts in. forest. service jobs, she

what to do with remaining old
growth forests. Its meeting here
was one of six in the province.

‘The recommendations are ex-
pected to take questions of logg- ;
ing and also how to save what is
left. They’re due the end of the
month,

He said monitoring’ of whiat

‘that- not enough scrutiny had
-been‘done in the past, by: gover
ments or by: industry.:::

. Appearing: béfore: the. grou

HAVING ALREADY indicated they favour communities being involved in resource management deci-

‘say province should have 2
final say in resource’s use

tl

sions that affect their area, New Democrat politicians were given a good idea of local. opinions at a
Public meeting they held here fast week. Above, Steelhead Society representative Robert Brown
makes a rase for protecting local rivers to Jim Fulton, John Cashore, Helmut Giesbrecht and Dan

Miller.

type of decision” had been a
major couse of today's pro-
blems, he said government

needed to rely on the advice.

Provided by its professional

Bruce Hill

said the role of ministry person-
nel had been reduced to that of
contract administrators rather
then “stewards of the land’’.
Brian Liberman, president of
the Kitimat-Terrace and District
Labour Council and Canadian
Paperworkers Union represen:
tative, said companies that fail-
ed to log in ‘‘an environmental-
ly friendly manner” should be
subject to heavy fines and
equipment confiscation,
Maintaining forest company
harvesting plans should be ac-
ceptable to people of the region,
he ‘said their views should be
sought through local steering
committees to include labour,

_ natives, local commercial in-

terests and members of the
general public,

He also called for-an end to
raw log exports, describing the
Practice as ‘morally wrong and
economically disastrous."*

Les Watmough, Thornhill
directér for the Kitimat-Stikine
regional district and an

Forester wants scrutiny —
‘of new forest

come.
If @ decision was made to
Preserve 12° per cent of old

‘growth’ forests, that didn't
Mean: the old growth portion
‘couldn't “move ‘around, over
‘ time, within a drainage. That’s
" another option, another way of

* looking at it,’’ he said.

will be adopted is vital, adding |:

Arnold also cautioned that

‘unexpected problems.

One such example took place
‘the Wells Gray Park in the

in,

“South Cariboo some years ago

after fire destroyed timber.
; Becanise!
th aa-banned, no effort
ealvage the wood,

economic impact.of. any,
any. logging ‘within -
panned, fo the immediate area, bi
: Ahose witht ex

staff, ‘‘peopte who know what
they're talking about, ”

Referring to the progress be-
ing made locally through the

Steve Azak
employee of Skeena Cellulose,
warned politicians should rely
on the advice of forest service
staff rather than succumbing to
outside pressure,

.An example was the
“disastrous” Sustut-Takla cut-
ting rights award where the
government ‘‘went against
every recommendation of their
professionals."

Pointing out ‘timber in the
Khutzeymateen Valley had
already been “tied up”, Wat-

mough opposed similar action’

in the Kitlope Valley south of
Kitimat.

- Maintaining Kitlope. timber
was ‘'very valuable”’ to Terrace,
he added, “I say you can log
there, but you have to do it ina
different style.’ ;

That view, however, was. not
shared by Bruce Hill, a fishing
guide operating on the Kitlope.
“The fact it is not logged is
what makes it unique,” he said,
adding the list of northwestern
Tiver valleys that had been logg-

policies

The result was a’ beetle! infesta-
tion which ultimately began. to

effect timber outside the: Park's Ss:

boundaries...

_ Assuming’ any” ormula for:
old growth conservation would :
be applied on an area-by-area |
basis, Arnold said care would ;.
have to be taken in establishing’
those boundaries. That was par-
ticularly true of the northwest «:

where the type of forest ranged ©

from coastal at Prince Rupert to .”

interior in. the. Smithers
Hazelton area...
- Also importan

8: : th
deci

sion not: just ir communi i

recently formed - Thunderbird
advisory committee, Giesbrecht
said, “I see some good things
happening. ”” However, he add-
ed, “It’s just so darn late.”

Is give resource views -

Brian Liberman

ed was ‘‘endless’’.

While recognizing the Kitlope
timber represented a significant
portion of Skeena Sawmills an-
nual allowable cut, he said there
had to be a system which allow-
ed preservation of both
wilderness and jobs.

Robert Brown said the local
Steelhead Society chapter was
particularly concerned about
what would happen in the upper’
section of the Copper River.

Pointing out the environment
ministry had designated the
Copper a Class 1 steelhead
stream, Brown said almost half
the valley had been logged
already resulting in an
‘unstable’? water quality.

A. full inventory of fish and
wildlife in the upper valley
should also be carried out
before any logging was allowed
there,

Noting only four or five
Skeena tributaries now remain-
ed unlogged, Brown suggested
“some ought to be set aside.”’

Rod Arnold

‘He pointed. to cutting Tights
for the Sustut-Takla area north

: Of Hazelton’ tot going to com-
‘panies basedthere but Instead
all é: to. companies: based. in’ Prince
ing: George and Fort St. James,

“LETTERS

+" TO THE TERRACE STANDARD

~ Port guy

| and not merely a focusing on

distance of the wood, ” said Ar-
: noid; .

comment

An open letter to
NDP Candidate
Skeena

Dear Sir:

1 read with interest your}
letter to the editor. I made no

“*pronouncements’’, 1 simply
gave my opinion on a ques-]-
tion which was posed to me
about a change in or of
government,

Change represents a Fisk i
and could tnreaten the com-
pletion of the Kitimat Port
Project, which I have been
shepherding for over four
years,

It heartens me to see that

you hold hope for the. ‘

Kitimat port project as a job
generator for the citizens of
Kitimat and Terrace. As vice
chairman of the Kitimat-|
Terrace Port Committee 1!
am certain. that once. you
have seen the prospectus
documents’ which will be
Presented io the provincial
major project review process
in the near future, that you
too will agree that the port
will bring much needed jobs
to Kitimat.

The Kitimat Port project
Tequires a visionary look
many years into the future —

what is happening in the
market place today. If all
proposed projects were based
on today’s conditions then
very few would ever proceed
Lo become realities.

1 hope Prince Rupert can
overcome its negative at-
titude toward regional
development. Prince Rupert
and Kitimat should be work-
ing together to enhance both
North Coast ports. It is only
through cooperation that our
region will prosper
economically to benefit all its
citizens.

Yours truly,
Richard W. Wozney,
Mayor, Kitimat,

ope

* Report.
lacking

Dear Sir:

I recently attended the
Parks 90 meeting held in Ter-
race. The session was con-
vened so thal the Ministry of
Parks and the Ministry of
Forests could hear from the
public on the land proposed
to be set aside for parks, and
to listen to arguments for the
preservation of areas not
listed in the proposal.

As 1 expected, there were
representations from a varie-
ty of groups presenting a
diversity of opinion. Ian
Gordon presented an ex-
cellent argument for the
preservation of the Seven
Sisters Area on behalf of the
Society of the same name.

Rob Brown of the
Steelhead Society of B.C,
asked that the panel consider
the Khyex, Khasiks, Ex-
chamsiks, Khutzeymateen
and a section of the Upper
Zymoetz be set aside because
of their unique and ir-
replaceable values.

cont'd A7

About
letters

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welcomes letters to the editor
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The writer’s name will be
published. Requests for
names to be withheld may be
granted in extraordinary cir-
cumstances. =
_ Thank you letters should
be submitted to the “Card of
Thanks’ section of the
classifieds,

Letters containing libelous
of objectionable matter will
be edited. or returned to the
writer, All letters are run oft
a space available basis, with

Shorter letters likely to be a

publiahed soonest,

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