_. Rubber geography Prince George, it would seem, is a lot closer to us than ‘one would think by looking at a map. That’s the in- evitable conclusion in view of the Ministry of Forests decision last week to offer the Sustut-Takla timber license — at eight million cubic meters, the largest ‘license in recent history — to two companies based out of Prince George. Despite its inclusion in the Prince George Timber Sup- ply Area, the Sustut timber is in fact 150 kilometers north of Hazelton and more than 450 kilometers north- west of Prince George. The government’s choice of the. interior firms over the northwest bids has been made in a complexity of issues and has unsettling implications for this region. The Prince George TSA has been in trouble for several years. Contractors have been shuffled around from one insect-infested stand of wood to another, and losses to wildfire have been substantial. The result has been that the region’s sawmilling capacity is way beyond available wood supply, and that must certainly have been a major factor in the Cabinet decision. What may have driven. the Prince George proposals home — aside from a large block of voters in the region: — is the prospect of having the abandoned B.C. Rail Dease Lake extension rebuilt and set in order by private money. The timber has to get there somehow, and even at acost of $40 million ressurecting the railway would be cheaper than building a road, which in any case have to run parallel to the rail grade. The question now is whether in fact it will be private money that lays the steel, or whether the two companies will be able to cut some sort of a stumpage discount deal with the Ministry of Forests. The latter may not b dollars no matter what you call it. In the meantime the community of Hazelton is reeling under the impact of 115 lost jobs announced by Westar Timber immediately after the Sustut decision. A brief road building exercise would have given them access to the area. The closure announcement could be perceived as a pressure tactic by Westar to force the Ministry to reconsider — we recall the company pulling its woods operations and leaving decked logs on the landings when stumpage rates went up a few months ago. In the midst of all this the Gitksan Wetsuwetan are still thrashing out their land claims in the B.C. Supreme Court. 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Ne by his staff before he decideés. _eaeroem — GOVT HAVE YOUR TONEY fOR | APERIOD Or. | Leap in funding level advised for libraries He makes it clear that what we are dealing with is a task force recommendation which still has to make it past the scrutiny of caucus... — Reid is impressed by the report and he admits he didn’t realize how much libraries are back was the amount of usage there is in every community across the province and the growing usage of libraries and book usage and youth that are using libraries,’ he said. Ann Edwards, Reid’s NDP critic, doesn’t know whether the government will give the 30 per- cent increase but says it is need- ed. ‘There is a really clear perception throughout the pro- vince that public libraries are crucial.’ She said libraries have to update the computer tech- nology which they need just to keep pace with the information they handle. Edwards said many libraries operate in cramped quarters and without sufficiently trained staff, Edwards’ concerns may be valid but the secret to additional library funding in the next few years will be a delicate balance of performing services which help the provincial government without stepping on the toes of the private sector. Reid is really happy about the recommendation for an expand- by Victoria correspondent Mark Collins _ The final report of the New Approaches Ministerial Task Force on Public Libraries has mentioned the unmentionable by asking the B.C, government for an exemption from the restraint program. The request for a 30 percent increase and annual indexing to restore the historic funding balance which existed prior to 1983 would have received a chil- ly response a couple of years ago, but the government seems prepared to give it serious con- sideration. Finance Minister Mel Couvelier declined an oppor- tunity to dismiss it out of hand and said he would wait until it was considered by the Treasury Board. As for restoring a historic balance however, he said com- puterization projects included in previous grants have now been completed. ‘‘I am not sure you ‘can look at historical spending patterns without looking at the details of those years,’’ he said. The request for a 30 percent increase may not ever make it to the Treasury Board because Tourism Minister Bill Reid wants the report fully analyzed broader information and ser- vices to the community, especially in outlying areas. The last .recommendation in the 18-page report asks the govern- ment to recognize the value of libraries as cost-effective distributors of provincial government information on topics such as business develop- ment, tourism, recreation, culture and health care. Noting that libraries are often open longer hours than tourist the cabinet and the Social Credit. used. ‘‘The surprise that 1 got. ed role for libraries in providing’ information centers, Reid wants libraries to provide tourist infor- . mation and to loan travel videos to travellers, especially the tourists in motor homes with all : the electronic comforts of home including video cassette players. ‘“‘The videos would be on a ren- tal basis which would allow. them a chance to generate some . revenue, but primarily to pro- vide information to local people. and visitors to the communities they are visiting,”* Reid said. He said the cruise ship in- dustry is making use of videos to show their passengers what to expect in the next port and small libraries get regular requests for videos to show what’s to see in nearby communities. There have been complaints from video stores about public libraries distributing video tapes but Reid says they play different roles. ‘'I don’t think the private sector is going to get upset witha library providing informational videos and educational videos on certain locations around the. province. If I perceive it to be a problem I think we would discuss it with the video industry before we would accelerate that program.” . The -minister also wants. libraries to make some money on photocopying but not too much. '‘It certainly wouldn’t be a major generation of revenue. If it did, then of course you are competing with the small. en- trepreneur in town who runs a photocopy operation and that’s not the intention.’ The report recommends free access to basic library services, but if the libraries can find a few more things to provide from their current resources for a fee, they may be able to bring in the extra money they seek.