HAS LOGGING caused damage to local watersheds and, if so, what needs to be done to correct the Situation? Those are questions — the Watershed Restoration program (WRP) will attempt to answer _Over the next 12 months, o. WRP is one of the arms of Forest Renewal B,C., introduced by the province last year and financed through stumpage fees paid by the forest industry, Afler a stuttering start in 94, the program is gathering steam, Ron Saimoto, seconded from the Environment ministry to the Watershed Restoration branch, Says this year's activity will con- centrate on carrying out assess- ments of the four local systems — the Kalum, Lakelse, Copper (Zymoetz) and Kitimat. _ Those’ assessments, he ex- plained, wilt look at the impact COMMITTEES The watershed teams to date Lakelse River a Kitselas Band Council a Terrace Salmonid Enhancement Society us Skeena Cellulose « Skeena Sawmills & Steelhead Society a Thunderbird Resource Advisory Committee Kalum River « Kitsumkalum Band _ Council ’ m Terrace Salmonid Enhancement Society a Skeena Cellulose w Steelhead Society Copper River ws Kitselas Band Council] a Terrace Salmonid Enhancement Society _w Skéena Cellulose a Steelhead Society Fix-i —gath logging and logging roads have had on slopes and streams. Steering committees had been formed for each watershed made up of representatives of forest companics with licences in the arca, the affected nalive band and at least onc community group. Examples of that last included the Terrace Salmonid Enhance- ment society, Thunderbird Resource Advisory committee and the Steelhead Socicty. He said a broad representation ensured the committees didn’t focus in on just a single aspect of watershed restoration. ‘‘We want a combination of everything,’” he added. Acknowledging the committees had been kept small this year, t program ers steam Saimoto said that was because the province’s deadline — last Tues- day — had meant ‘‘a large rush’? to get assessment proposals ‘put together. With only $50 million available across the province and applica- tions on as many as 15-20 water- Sheds in the Prince Rupert forest, region alone anticipated, he said committees had been advised to work within a $100,000-$500,000 price tag for their proposals, Although there was no word as to how much of that $50 million would be earmarked for this region, Saimoto hoped it would be proportional to the amount licencees paid into Forest Renewal coffers, Based on the information ob- lained through the assessments, he said the program will next year move to carrying out the work ‘needed to repair any damage, That will involve the com- mittees putting together a report of the assessment findings, identi- fying the projects that should be carried out and assigning each a priority. ‘Those recommendations will then be cxamined by the Watershed Restoration branch to sce if it agrees with the proposed projects and the cost attached to each project by the committee is realistic, While it isn’t known how much money will be available for im- plementation, Saimoto expected “it will be spread very thinly.” - WRP should promote local jobs LOCALS SHOULD have priority on any jobs which result from Watershed Restoration projects. That, says Jim Culp, is the feel- ing of the Kalum, Copper and Lakelse steering committees. He sits on all three as a representa- tive of the Terrace Salmonid En- - hancement society. Next in line should be people living within the region and final- ly, those fram elsewhere in the province, - With that in mind, Culp said the committees would be applying for a ‘‘small amount’? of moncy - to start training a crew on what is involved in watershed assessment - and fish habitat With that training, he explained, they could) become stream restoration workers when the pro- gram moves into the next phase, _ and possibly project managers, He conceded, however, there would likely be a shortage of .. people qualified in the more tech- nical areas. Project managers for this initial stage on both the Kalum and Lakelse are McElhanney Consult- ing of Terrace. Pat Hudson of McElhanney ex- plained the assessment will be carried out in two parts. The first wil! be a ‘paper ex- ercise”’, using acrial photos of the watersheds to determine which siles need to be examined in greater detail, The second is to make site visits to assess what the extent of damage is and possible remedial actions. These assess- tents will target both ‘upslope’? (toads and gullies) and stream- riparian arca problems, Hudson said a river’s watershed is defined as the area where rain- fall ultimately flows into that par- licular system. Each watershed, he added, presents its own challenges, The Lakelse is complex since there aré two forest companies — Skeena Cellulose and Skeena Sawmills —- involved plus the Jim Culp Forest ministry’s Small Business program as well as significant residential and recreational devel- opment. The Kalum is more straightfor- ward in the sense there is only one forest licencee involved and litde development, but its sheer size — four times that of the Lakelse —— presents its own logistical problems, Once the assessment stage is over and it comes to drawing up priorities, hie said the committees will have to keep in mind the number of watersheds against the amount of money available. But chasing those bucks doesn’t mean trying to prove your watershed is more deserving than another. ‘‘The (Forest) ministry says not to look at it from a com- petitive point of view,’’ he ex- plained. And the money situation also means that once projects get going, ‘‘cost control has got to be pretty tight.”’ Culp said the committees hope to hear from the government on their assessment submissions by early next month, Plenty of habitat overall, but.. - DESPITE A SLIGHT decline, “ there’s still plenty of fish habitat - in the Skeena, '-- However, Department of ‘Fisheries: and Ocean’s (DFO) Leslie Powell emphasized that statement referred to the system asa Whale, So Take it down to individual “dminages, however, and ‘‘we - ‘have scen impacts to habilat,’” he noted, “Human activity was a primary - factor in much of that, for exam- ple logging in the Kispiox and -: Kalim Valleys, ivereased — ur- »... baiization of Lakelse Lake or the -+ use-of the mainstem Skeena as a 7 transportation and utilifies cor- “ridor, . -* However, there had also been ittcidents of damage from natural events, And, Powell noted, it is often difficult to nail down whether. Man or Nature is -- sesponsible ‘for specific damage ~ when Jand slippage is involved. - ‘In the case ofa slide In or ad- jacent to a logging cut block, for example, he said the forest com- pay can employ the defence of ‘due dillgence”’, That effectively translates to doing all that was required of it and all it could reasonably be ex- gether a report and then, if it thought it had a good case, for- warded that report to the federal Justice department. From there its out of the DFO’s hands, the decision on what action to take resting with In the past problems were identified but there hadn't been the people or money to correct them. pected to do, To clearly establish fault, 0FO would have to be able to show the company either did not take certain actions required of it or had ignored instructions not to log in the way it did. “Proving the linkage is a prob- lem with habitat cases,”’ he said, “Tt’s not like someone fishing who breaks the rules. That’s easy to prove,’” oS ‘Where there is an incident such as the example above, Powell said DFO investigated, put: to- Justice: in much the same way. provincial Crown counsel, not the RCMP, decides whether to take a. case to court. ; Regardless of the cause, there's always the question of what ac- tion to take, re Powell gave the example of last year’s slide at Mink Creek, just south of Terrace, In that case “a huge amount of material’? had dammed the creek, creating a large pond above the debris. While there had becn discussion of cutting a channel through the ~ “thankful? blockage, it would have had to be done aver a considerable dis- tance. He also noted the creck had also begun to do that itself. “Tt was probably better to let it . find it’s own way out, then go in and stabilize (the banks). Explaining that involved grass secding the area, Powell said trees and shrubs would grow back . in once a root mat was formed by the grass, cee Another consideration was the potential cost of any rehabilita- tion and the amount of moncy available for such _ projects. Powell said often the question was, ‘“Is that the best priority for _the money?” , , In that vein, Powell says he’s the Watershed Restoration Program is now in place. In the past problems have been identified but the people and money have not been there to cor- rect them. ‘“‘Now. we-can do - something about it,"” he added. - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, April 26, 1995 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag