Regional district gives Westa

_ In the past two years, Westar
Timber has invested about $50
million in the Hazelton area to
create 600 jobs. But Westar
woodlands manager Dan Mad-
lung recently informed the
Kitimat-Stikine Regional - Dis-

- trict board that the Carnaby miil

‘near Hazelton is already down
to one shift and the remaining
jobs may disappear without. a
new timber supply.

This is why he says that
400,000 cubic meters of new
timber in a newly-created Forest
License in the Sustut-North
Takla region of the Prince
George Timber Supply Area is
so important to the Northwest
and why Westar is seeking the

Eight bid
for Sustut
License

- -’ The British Columbia Forest
- Service has received eight bids
for a 20-year forest license in

the Takla-Sustut area, 150
kilometers north of Hazelton.
The firms, and their pro-

posals for the amount of an-
nual timber harvest, are: Finlay
Forest Products/B.C. Forest
Products — 83,000 cubic
meters; Westar Timber Ltd. —
400,000 cubic meters; Prince
George Wood Preservers Ltd. ~
and Rustad Brothers and Com-
pany Ltd. — 400,000 cubic
meters; Groot Lumber Ltd. —
400,000 cubic meters; Takla
Track and Timber Ltd. —
400,000 cubic meters; West _
Fraser Mills Ltd. — 250,000
cubic meters in one bid and
400,000 cubic meters in-a se-
_ cond; and Hans Fisher —
20,000 cubic meters. ,

_». Forests Minister Parker said
_ the issuance of one or more

_ forest licenses will assist in
resolving access problems in the
remote Takla-Sustut area,
removing over-mature timber,
and initiating measures to con-
trol insect populations.

He said the bids are now be-

‘ing evaluated by ministry staff
and that a decision will be
made by May 20.

_ City joins
trade group

Terrace city council has decid-
“ed 10 join World Trade Centre
. Vancouver at a cost of $100 in-

-itiation and $200 per year. At
-the end of the first year they will
~ take a second look to see if there
were any benefits to membership
before renewing for another
year, -
-. According to the World Trade
.Centre’s Vancouver director,
Jim O’Hara, members -share
reciprocal privileges with over
100 “World Trade Centres in
more than 60 countries.
“Becoming a member of World
Trade Centre Vancouver is a
’ good business decision for
1988,” he claims.
. Additional advantages, says
- O'Hara, include discounts at
hotels worldwide, the ability to
"send telexes inexpensively and
- communicate with over. one
~ ‘million buyers and sellers.
Other services listed by
“O’Hara included Pacific Rim
market research, complete brief-
- ings from politics to economics
on Pacific Rim countries, and
participation in 1988 trade mis-

sions to Australia, India, Hong —

Kong, Singapore and Thailand.

support of Northwest municipal
councils and regional district
boards.

Madlung explains that the
Ministry of Forests currently
manages the Sustut region out of
Prince George, but the northern
half is more than 270 miles from
Prince George and only 96 miles
from Hazelton. He says this dif-
ference in mileage could mean
not only a significant saving in
road construction costs but also
the difference between salvaging
the timber or losing it to a major
bark beetle infestation.

He claims that because of the
bark beetle, there will be nothing
to salvage in three to four years,
the amount of time he says it will
take Prince George forest com-
panies to gain access to the area.
Westar, he says, could be
harvesting the timber within two
years. |

Madlung also points out that

Westar’s is the only application ©
.for the northern half of the

Sustut region. He says two of-
fers. from Smithers and another
two from Prince George express-
ed interest only in the southern
half, which contains the best
timbér.

For the benefit of the

Boosters
advised
for teens

contributed by Terrace
Public Health Nurse
Carol Harrison _
Many parental consent card
fqr immunizations never make it
back to Terrace junior or senior
high schools. Collection of cards
can be difficult as students do
fot necessarily meet in home
room classes. Teachers try to
collect the cards but, even if a
parent has signed it, it may not
reach the schoo! nurse. .
In grade nine, students should
receive a booster dose of tetanus

and diphtheria vaccine (in one .

injection). If you have a grade
nine or ten student in your fami-
‘ly who did not have this booster
in grade nine, you can contact
the Skeena Health Unit,

638-3310, Immunizing can be

done at the school or, during
late afternoon clinics at the
Health Unit, Mondays and
Wednesdays. In either case a
signed consent is needed from a
parent or guardian.

What are tetanus and
diphtheria, and why is the
Health Unit concerned about
‘students having their ‘‘shots’’?
Are these diseases eyen around
any more?

‘Tetanus or ‘“‘lock-jaw’’ enters
the body through a wound (and
it does not have to be a large
wound). It causes painful muscle
spasms and can be fatal.

Diphtheria usually affects the
nose and throat, or sometimes
the skin. It forms a membrane in
the throat which may make

breathing difficult. Complica- —
affecting the car-—

tions
diovascular and nervous systems
can be very serious, and the
disease can also be fatal. It is
highly infectious.

These diseases have become
uncommon since immunization
has been widely available;
however, a few cases occur each
year and without regular im-
munization (every 10 years) one
of those cases could be you.

Call Skeena Health Unit
638-3310 for more information.

economic future in the whole
Northwest, particularly the
Hazelton area, Madlung says,
local and regional political
bodies should be lobbying the
ministry to award the license for
Sustut-North to Westar Timber.

Madlung describes Westar as
an operation working in
cooperation with other resource
users such as mining and
guiding, with a reforestation

‘program that is up to date, road

construction valued: at $7
million, a new $8.7 million band
mill at Kitwanga and a $4.2
million remanufacturing plant in
Hazelton which would be the
first value-added plant in the
Northwest. All of this, he says,
translates into 100 new jobs plus
the additional traffic through
Terrace when all their product is

_shipped to Prince Rupert for ex-

port.
Promises, Promises

When the regional district
board discussed the proposal,
not everyone was entirely con-
vinced they would really see all
this development. They general-
ly agreed, however, that Westar
is the only company offering to

[h

Funeral Service,
Association

r cauti

making theirs the best proposal -

ship the finished product west..

OFFICIAL

for the Northwest.

Directors Alice Maitland and
Gordon Sebastian, both of
Hazelton, and Harry Nyce
representing the Nass Valley, all

_ suggested that the board should

have a stronger commitment
from Westar to follow through
with all their promises. .

They wanted more informa-
tion on silviculture methods and
wanted to know who would get
the 100 new jobs, ‘‘The could be
from the Kootenays,”’ Maitland
remarked. ‘With the history of
this company, if they have a
friend they move him in, and it’s
getting difficult for local people
to compete.’’

Maitland suggested that at the
present level of negotiation it
should be possible to lay out
some guidelines and get firm
commitments from Westar
before the board offered its sup-
port.

Director Les Watmough
defended forest companies in
general, saying in most cases it
was, government policy that
caused companies to fail to meet
their commitments. Forest
policy, he said, would have to be

changed in order for them to

follow through on promises.
Board members speculated

that Prince George is ready to

lobby hard to keep the Sustut in

the Prince George Forest
District. They directed regional
district administration to get all

available information for all-

proposals in the Sustut area so
the board can compare them and

put forward an informed argu-.

ment on behalf of Westar.

The regional district’s

Economic Development Com-
mission added their support to
that decision and decided to
launch their own lobbying effort

to ensure that the timber comes .

into the Northwest and at the
same time make sure that
Westar sticks to its promises..

It was also decided by the
Economic Development’ Com-
mission that concern should be
expressed to see that existing
forest policy is enforced.
Maitland suggested that the
commission should ' ‘‘put
together an ideal philosophy of
what the ideal logging scenario

should be and then get the

government to change.”’

es iE

es

gas Ree

pene