| INsiDeE SPORTS MENU C2. KEENA ANGLE ROB BROWN Decoding forest practice REMIER MIKE and government spokespeople have been pushing the new Forest Practices Code as if it ‘ were the best thing to happen to cur forests since God created photosynthesis. Let green supplicanis rejoice, for their prayers are answered. Let us all sing hosannas for we will have foresis left in two decades. Tell Otto Ver- sand, Axel Springer, Gruner & Jahr, Mohndruck, and Baver they may buy Canadian Paper Products again. Tell Der Spiegel, Germany’s leading inter- national magazine, they may buy Canadian ‘stock and still look at. themselves in the mirror each morning. The BC Government’s Mailing Branch (if there is such an institution) apparently knows I am af- fiicted by fits of befuddlement that cause me to put things down where they can never be found again, for they kindly sent me three copies of the new code at different times and under separate cover. ] opened one and read it with anticipation. If my reading is correct the FPC promises to reduce the size of clear cuts but make no major reduction in the rate of logging, ‘What this means is we will still have Toad sys- tems extending to the back ends of river, valleys with all the damage that inevitably attends road constriction. In place of massive clear cuts we. will see a patchwork of small clear cuts, equally destructive because they will fragment ecosystems creating islands of forest that may not be self sustaining over the long haul. Our European clients, who refuse to use clear cut wood will continue to do so, for the act of clear cutting--which they correctly see as biclogi- cally reprehensible--is at issue, not the size of clear cuts. Before the passage of Bill 40, the Government promised to protect biodiversity--today it would be very unhip not to--but the new code, instead of legislating protection for biological diversity, leaves il up io the interpretation of district forest managers; a recipe for mayhem if ever there was one. The most critical areas for the health of a forest are.its riparian corridors: that land near streams, lakes, and other wetlands. If you walk down a forest stream you will notice the vegetation is dis- linctly different from the well-drained upland sites, All manner of species, everything from newis to fur bearers to large furry bears-~ ~ including more than half the endangered species in BC--owe their livelihoods to the diverse, lush “vegetation along riparian corridors. . : ». Tt is to these plants that a stream owes its struc-_ tural stability. Without that stability salmon are lost,. water quality ruined,. in short, entire ecosystems are turned on their heads. Given the “singular importance of riparian corridors we should not only kecp industrics out of them but protect the adjacent highlands. Failing thal, tim- ber, should not be harvested within 75 to 100 metres of the corridor, as the scientific. literature and the Ministry of Environment suggest. A n y forest code that fails to adequately protect these vital. riparian areas ain’t worth spit; and--you “guessed it--the new FPC doesn’t. --The FPC pushes the concept of Riparian Man- agement Areas (RMA’s) which are split into Rescrve Zones, where tree cutting is prohibited, and Management Zones, where it is, but on a restrictive basis. The size of the RMA’s vaties ac- cording to stream width and the presence of fish, Where they exist at all, the reserve zones are too small, In Washington Stale where the logging guidelines for riparian corridors could be better, _ they are much better .than those proposed by the FPC.. The US standard requires a 91.5 m leave .. next lo fish bearing streams. In BC 10 to 30m is all. the protection given. Permanently flowing streams sans fish get 46m in the US while the FPC prescribes 10 to 30m again. The Yanks opt ‘for. 50m leaves strips around ponds and wetlands while Canuck forestry, NDP version, says 10m will be the maximum, if there is any. A seasonal . creck gels a minimum of 15m and a maximum of 30,5m a8 a buffer from harvest. In good old BC, under Hercourt's s "tough" code they get 0 to 10--a “life sentence no mater how you slice It. - ~As'it turns out the Washingtonians provide bet- “ter ‘protection to sireams without fish than we will : be giving class-A salmon streams, > If these ate examples of "world class standards", ‘if this is a part of “a giant step towards sustainable forcst usc" and "an enormous improvement" in ~ forest practices then Tm the ene | heir to. the =: ‘throne of England. Spel OME ale de ‘SECTION C _MALCOLM BAXTER 638. 7283 TERRACE WATERSKIIER Steven Critchley worked the buoys for a gold medal at the 1994 B.C. Summer Games in Kelowna Locals shine at B.C. games Summer Gaines in Kelowna, Two local waterskiiers picked 1 up a gold and bronze win at the. games. Steven Critchley gave a gold- winning performance in | the men’s I class slalom n walerskiing event. Critchley, 17, was among the youngest competitors in his group as the men’s I class {s open to ' skiers aged 17-24. | He said this year’s competition , was much stiffer than when he. competed in boys class in the 1993 games. “The competition was way bet- ter this year against the older guys than last year,’ said Critchley. ‘“It was a lot of fun.”’ Local waterskiier Steven Critchley gave a_ gold- winning performance at 1994 B.C. Summer Games in Kelowna. His poiformanee: in Kelowna qualified him for last weekend’s Western Canadian Summer Games in Abboisford. If he received 30 points in Ab- botsford, Critchley will . move onto the nationals in Edmonton Angust 17, Critchley also competed in the men’s I waterskiing tricks event and placed fifth. Terrace skier Oliver Hilcove also picked up a medal — bronzc in the men’s I class walerski jumping event. Hilcove competed in the men’s T slalom and tricks events as well, placing fifth and sixth. Local archer Ed» MacKenzie brought back a gold medal from the senior men’s barcbow. cvenl. Shooting a recurve bow, MacK- enzie beat Invermere’s. Len Clarke in the shoot-off, He feels this year’s heightened competition resulled from anew rule ensuring that at. least. five shooters are in cach competition, “The five-minimum rule. makes a much better competition,’ MacKenzie said. “A lot of years. you'd only have three shooters in each event. ‘Sixteen-year-old- wrestler Col: - leen Clarke ° care back. wearing bronze... ; two weeks ago. His performance in Kelowna qualified him for last weekend's Western Canadian championships in Abbotsford. ARCHER ED MacKenzie won gold at the B.C. Summer Games with this shooting form. He outshat his competitars in the shootott of the senior men's barebow event In Kelowna. * polf team.~ ‘team placed: Trombley’s | team took ninth place ; Her third place finish in the 52 kilogram girls wrestling event ‘came just nine months after she - staricd wrestling al Kitwanga Eicmentary-Secondary School. -.“*It was tough — good competi- tion but “really” tough” said * Clarke. - “Terrice horseshoe: pitcher Joo: ‘Wideman also won bronze in the open men’s ‘B’ event. © - Megan .Brophy placed 13th Jn the age 15-17. girls class of the one-metre diving comipetition.: ‘A Terrace men’s soccer team “headed by Roger Ewald ‘had a “third-place “finish at“ the ° games, along with, T ny. Lopes’ ‘men’s “Bob Steve girls. fastpitch ghth. while - Jodi COLLEEN CLARKE wrestled her way to bronze In Kelowna twa weeks ago, She picked up the bronze medal in the 52 kg class of the girls wrestling competition at the B.C, Summer Games. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 3, 1994 - C1