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Regional district ponders court action

Forest decision may

by Tod Strachan

" "The Regional District of Kitimat-

Stikine has offered up to $2,000 in
support of a Village of Hazelton
bid to determine if legal action
could be successful in overturning
the Sustut-Takla timber licence
allocation.

The controversial decision that
directed. 400,000 cubic metres of
timber north of Hazelton to a
group of Prince George companies
in 1988 cost Hazelton and Kit-
wanga two sawmilling operations
and put 200 people out of work.

In a letter to the regional district
board, Village of Hazelion mayor
and regional district director Alice
Maitland states: "The. purpose of
this investigation would be to 1)
assess the strength or legal grounds
for a court challenge, and 2) to
gain an estimate of the costs
involved in such a challenge."

Maitland continues: "Our request
for support is based on what
appears from the Premier's letter
of July 30, 1990 to be a total

— Skeena, Tay-M

~ jead to litigation

disregard for an illegal action by
Cabinet. It is our responsibility as
local governments to pursue the
Sustut-Takla issue until a correct
and impartial decision-making
process is followed. It is my sin-
cere hope that you wil! share this
opinion and accept what is a diffi-
cult but necessary duty."

In his July 30 letter, Vander
Zalm told Maitland that he had

‘read the Ombudsman’s report
criticizing the government’s award-

ing of the Sustut-Takla timber to 4
consortium of Prince George forest
companies and found it to be "a
fair and accurate assessment of the
award of the timber in question".
The Ombudsman suggested that
there had been government inter-

ference in- awarding the Sustut-
Takla forest licence and recom-
mended that it be rescinded imme-
diately. According to ‘Vander
Zalm, however, the Ombudsman
had told the government on an
earlier occasion that the Minister

— Continued on page A2

sign timber
licence deal

‘TERRACE — An agreement to
transfer a major forest licence in
the North Kalum was struck
between West Fraser-Enso, owners
of Skeena Sawmills, and Terrace-
pased Tay-M Logging Aug. 16. If
the transfer is approved by the
Minister of Forests, it will give
Skeena tenure on an additional
annual cut of 280,000 cubic metres
of timber effective Nov. 1.

More than 100 workers at the
Terrace sawmill have been facing
an- uncertain future as West
Fraser's logging activities moved
further and further south on its

Tree Farm Licence 41, The com-
pany had acknowledged that it
would make economic sense to
move the milling operation to
Kitimat, where the logs come out
of the water and the finished pro-
duct is shipped offshore. The
acquisition of the Tay-M licence,
north of the Nass Valley, could
mean an extended stay in Terrace
for the mill.

Skeene Sawmills manager Don
Chesley said it's too early to tell
what effect the added timber will

— Continued on page A2

Last Friday's dedication of the Kitselas longho
retaining the Native culture. The long house wil
crafts school where skills like totem pole carving can be learned. The totem pole
in the foreground above was placed in the longhouse during the ceremony and is “.
one of four that will placed at the entrance to a Muks-kum-ol housing development

NCU TFN

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 1990 pee
Vol. 6, Issue No. 34 : ae

fee ah

La a

at ott i

Phone 635-7840
Fax 635-7269

in Terrace. For story, see page AS.

use was an important step towards
| become part of a Native arts and

River accident kills local man

A recreational outing near
Lakelse Lake Sunday led to
tragedy when a young man
from Terrace fell into Williams
Creek and was swept under by
the current.

Randy Darren Stefanik, 21,
of Terrace fell off an inflated

~ inner tube on which he was

riding down the creek and
drowned. Three other local
men were on the tube going
down Williams Creek, but all
reached shore safely after fall-
ing off the tube.

"Lake residents petition for changes to seaplane lease — A3 |

satel TEN shee ace es clades enim nme 2a

Reports indicate that none of
the men wore safety equipment.
Divers recovered Stefanik’s
body about three hours after he
disappeared.

Terrace RCMP and coroner
Jim Lynch are investigating the
accident. |

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