Regional board demands end to burning

THIS IS WHAT THE REGIONAL DISTRICT DOESN'T WANT TO SEE. The board has repeatedly
called for a moratorium on the forestry practice of broadcast buming of slash left on logging sites.
This photo was taken in September of last year, the day after a Skylink commuter airplane crashed
at the Terrace-Kitimat airport, killing seven people. The Canadian Aviation Safety Board has not
identified smoke as a factor in the crash, but the regional district wants prescribed burns stopped,

particularly in the area of the airport.

Letter
Help when
i's needed

To the Editor;
We would like to say thank
you very much to all the people
who helped at the time of our ac-
cident Sunday, April 1, [990 on
the highway from Prince Rupert
to Terrace. This includes the
people who took Delorous and
our sister and brother-in-law to
the hospital, Dr. Dunfield, Dr.
Appleton, Dr. Brown, the
nurses and staff of Mills
Memorial Hospital. Also,
thanks to the RCMP and
Monica Peacock for spending
the first night with Delorous.
We really appreciate, too, the
many gifts received of flowers,
teddy bears, etc., and the phone
calls both local and from the
U,S.A.
. Arnold and
Delorous Smith,
. Terrace,

F

B.C.

Z Saenger

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Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 9, 1990 AS

by Tod Strachan

The Kitimat-Stikine Regional
District board of directors has a
question they would like the Min-
istry of Forests to answer. Spec-
ifically, just how they’re going to
meet with the general public and
come up with an acceptable smoke
management plan in relation to
their broadcast burning policy.

The regional district wrote
Kaium Forest District manager
Brian Downie April 2 complaining
about the number of broadcast
burns in the area of the Terrace
airport planned for later this year
and the detrimental effects they
have on the area. The board has
since received Downie’s response
but they’re not satisfied. They are
writing a second letter restating
their total opposition to broadcast
burning.

In his response, Downie said that
the Kitimat Valley, the Kalum
Valley north to Kalum Lake and
the Hwy. 16 corridor east and west
of Terrace has been designated as
a "smoke sensitive atea". Smoke
sensitive, he explained, means that
precautionary measures are con-
sidered before any burns take
place.

He listed these measures as:
stringent burning permit condil-
ions, favorable smoke venting
indexes and favorable three- to
five-day weather forecasts, restric-
tions as to the size and number of
burns at any one time, consider-
ation for alternatives to broadcast
burning,: and: the acceptance -of
higher cost alternatives for site
preparation to achieve higher air
quality and smoke reduction stand-

ards.
Downie also pointed out in his

letter that not all sites in the

— again

Thunderbird area adjacent to the
airport are going to be broadcast
burned. At two of the sites, "spot
burns" will take place only at
landings and areas of heavier
accumulations of wood waste.

He concludes: "It is our intention
to explore any possible alternatives
to broadcast burning in the smoke
sensitive designated areas, while
ensuring that harvested areas are
satisfactorily re-stocked to our
target levels for these ‘sites. We
appreciate and share your concerns
with respect to smoke management -
and are working with the Ministry
of Environment, other agencies,
and over the next few months with
the general public, to improve the
exisiting guidelines and, build a
comprehensive smoke management
plan for the entire Kalum Forest
District."

If nothing changes, however, it
appears that there might be at least
one protester at the site of this
fall’s burns. Regional district
director Les Watmough told the
board he would be "camping out"
when the burning starts and invited
the others to join him.

It was difficult to determine if an
actual protest was a serious threat,
though. The discussion following
Watmough’s comment drifted to
ideas like the need for an "asbestos
suit" and "bring your own marsh-
mallows", but the position of the
board was quite clear. As was
stated by director Bev Rodrigo, the
board doesn’t want any burning at
all and one of the reasons accord-
ing.to director Andy Burton is the
fact that slash burns are the source
of the largest carbon dioxide
emissions in the province. A vol-
ume of carbon dioxide, he says,
that is greater than pulp mills and
twice that of motor vehicles.

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