A2 Terrace Review — Wednesday, Apel 18, 1990.

“Concerns mount'OV
~ forest renewal deal —

by Michael Kelly

. On March 31 the federal-provin-
cial Forest Resources Development
Agreement expired. After five
years and an expenditure of $300
million, work financed through the
agreement has made a start at
rehabilitating massive areas of
forest land neglected by industry
or scorched by wildfire, but: for-
estry authorities are worried that
those efforts may be doomed if a
second FRDA isn’t ratified or if a
financially diluted agreement is
ratified. .

The first FRDA was primarily
directed towards addressing the
problem of Not Sufficiently
Restocked forest lands. In the 1984
Forest and Range Resource Analy-
sis the Ministry of Forests had
identified 738,000 hectares of good
and medium quality growing sites
that had either been clear cut or
burned without further treatment.
The winter 1989 issue of Renewal,
the FRDA information periodical,
states that one-quarter of that back-
log had been surveyed and 69,000
hectares replanted by the end of
the third year of the agreement.

In the Kalum Forest District last

year FRDA directly paid for 2,570

ha, of surveys, 116 ha. of site
preparation and rehabilitation, 122
ha. of planting, 156 ha. of brushing
and 196 ha. of juvenile spacing,
The agreement spent $453,538 in
the district during the 1988-89
reporting year and $1.5 million in
the first four years of FRDA. Erle
Holt, the protection officer respon-
_ sible for FRDA work in the dist-
rict, notes that expenditures in the
Kalum are low for the size of the
district due to the large area of
land dedicated to Tree Farm
Licenses. The license holders of
TFL's are responsible for their
own silviculture work and FRDA
money can’t be used for replanting
_or other reclamation work activ-
ities on TFL’s.
Local forest authorities are in

general agreement that FRDA-

can’t be a one-shot effort. It has to
be an ongoing commitment to be

effective.

Bob Wilson, silviculture director
for the Kalum district, says,
"There’s still [ots and lots of work
to do out there." Wilson estimated
the NSR backlog left in the Kalum
at about 15,000 ha., and said inten-
sive silviculture will be left in
limbo without a FRDA renewal.

Bill Young, a FRDA committee
representative, said in Terrace last
month that a second FRDA would

put greater’ emphasis tending

stands of young trees planted
under the first agreement. If that
work isn’t done, he said, the plant-
ing efforts could come to nothing.

Brad Harris, a planning and
cooperative programs forester for
the ministry in Victoria, said the
B.C. government is still committed
to the $700 million, five-year
proposal it made to the federal
government for FRDA HI. Even
after the federal budget was
revealed, however, the amount the
feds are willing to spend still
wasn't clear. Harris said the minis-
try has "a commitment to maint-
ain" the young plantations and
other work done under FRDA I,
particularly on brush-prone grow-
ing sites, but he said if the federal
government offers less than 50
percent financing on the agreement
the provincial side of the FRDA II
spending would have to go back ‘to
Cabinet.

In reviewing the federal budget
documents the day after they were
released, Skeena MP Jim Fulton
said he could find only $37 million
definitely committed {o all the
FRDA’s in Canada, but in a broad-
cast interview March 10 federal

Forefis Minister Frank Oberle
claimed there is more than that.

Oberle declined to specify how

much more,

Although the provincial Minister
of Forests, first Dave Parker and
then Claude Richmond, claimed to
have been lobbying Ottawa inten-
sely for more than a year, last
week a ministry representative in
Victoria said serious negotiations
have only just started.

A number of local contractors
have been able to increase staff
and branch into new lines of work
with FRDA contracts. Connie
Ritter says his company did about
100 hectares of stand-tending for
FRDA last year in addition to
other clearing work for Skeena
Cellulose and B.C. Hydro. "I think
anybody who works in the woods
would like to see it renewed,” he
commented. "I would expect little
intensive silviculture if it’s not
renewed."

Ritter’s operation employs
between six and 18 people at the
peak of its seasonal work.

Forest Minister Claude Richmond
claimed recently that if FRDA is
renewed at the level the province
wants, B.C.’s backlog of NSR
forest lands could be eliminated by
the tum of the century. Bob
Wilson says regenerated slands of
trees are considered "free-growing"
when the trees ‘reach a height of
two meters, After that, he says, the
next human intervention comes
with a commercial thinning of
second-growth trees 40 years later.

While the officials dicker over
dollars, the brush continues to

grow.

Center and library —continued trom page 1

liminary drawings and a "yes" or -

"no" community response could be
solicited in a referendum during
this fali’s civic election.

But what about the library expan-
sion? This will cost a few million
dollars but so would a community-
‘convention centre. In fact one
centre toured recently by city staff
was located in Victoria and was

NARUS? 7D);

4535 Greig Avenue. Terrace.

oO Cheque a Money yon

valued. at $23 million. Terrace
wouldn’t require anything as elab-
orate as that; it would probably
cost something more like $2 to $3
million, but having just completed

the $1 million pool expansion it’s.

unlikely the community would
want to take on both a library
exapansion project and a com-
munity/convention center at the
same time.

ae V8G 1M7

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Terrace to host major

~ silviculture conference
On July 4 and § the Northern Silviculture Committee will be
holding thelr 1990 Summer Workshop in Terrace, and Terrace’s
economic development officer and the Tourism and Economic
Advisory Commission are looking for ways to help insure it’s
success,
According to alderman Danny Sheridan, the Sommer Work-

shop draws people from an “extensive area" and will be as
important to Terrace as was the recent mining convention to

‘Smithers,

The Northern Silviculture Committee has members from the.
Cariboo to Prince George and west to Prince Rupert. Members
are persons actively engaged in silviculture programs, including
forestry consultants, members of Forestry Canada and staff
members from the Ministry of Forests.

According to Kalum Forest District manager Brian Downke, the
Northern Silviculture Committee "collectively ensures that
silvicultural plans are implemented to the highest standards,
utilizing the most current information available". In a letter to
Terrace city council, Downle writes: "Their wise decisions are
responsible for the well being of cur forests, for the benefit of
future generations. Their choice of Terrace for the Summer
Workshop recognizes the importance of the forest sector to our
communities, the growth potential In this area and the substantial
forestry programs underway."

The workshop agenda includes a presentation on "Biodiver-
sity", Second Growth Mangement and Cottonwood Management,
and fleld tours of the Salvus Rehabilitiation Project. Also
included will be an evening address on "incremental
Silviculture" which will offer the views of both a ministry and
industry representative,

Call first...

for faster claim
Service.

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residents of Terrace, Kitimat and area. If
you have an Autoplan claim, please call
the Terrace or Kitimat Dial-A-Claim
number so we can serve you as quickly
and efficiently as possible.

Terrace
eae
Kitimat
632- 5525

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