Ad - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 19, 1998

‘TERRACE:

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ESTABLISHED APRIL 27, 1988

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The next time

THEY SAY things happen in threes but we should all hope there is no third problem with the provincial ambulance dispatching service.

The first situation happened in June when a miscommunication per the difference between an airpark and an airport resulted in a Terrace ambulance being sent to the airport here to attend to a heart attack victim instead of to the Kitimat airpark. A Kitimat, ambulance eventually was sent to the airpark But the patient died enroute to hospital in Kitimat.

The second situation involved wrong informa- tion on a map. That resulted in a visiting am- bulance from Smithers getting lost while taking directions from a dispatcher in attempting to find and help a choking baby. The baby’s father cleared the blockage.

There have been suggestions that the above two incidents would not have happened had there been a local or regional dispatch service as local people would know the locations involved.

This may or may not have been the case. Dis- patch transcripts of the Kitimat airpark case indi- cate how dangerously easy a miscommunication can happen in dealing with a stressful situation. Yet there can clearly be no excuse for wrong in- formation on a map, as was the case with the choking baby. The wonder here is that it took so long for the wrong information to come to light.

But the real puzzle over all of this is the muted reaction to the two events. Yes, the ambulance service did acknowledge the problems and said it was working on fixing things so they wouldn’t happen again. Skeena MLA Helmut Giesbrecht noted that there is no money for a local dispatch service unless, of course, taxpayers wanted to shell out the extra dollars.

Surely two ‘such’ serious events | happening: inf

one area in such short a period of time should result in a more public and comprehensive review. If things do happen in threes, the third time might involve yourself or a family member.

Hot stuff

IF NORTHWESTERN forest firefighters aren’t now allowed to keep their bonus flights from all the travelling they’ve done this year, they should.

Despite one of the hottest and driest summers in years up here, the northwest has escaped rela- tively unscathed from the vagaries of wild fires. Instead the luck of the draw has featured huge fires in northern Ontario, northern Alberta and now, in southern B.C.

And that’s brought into play the contintent- wide policy of mutual aid when required, result- ing in northwestern firefighters being sent far and wide.

Large numbers are now in the Salmon Arm area in response to a fire which threatened that town. Joining hundreds of other firefighters, north- westerners did their part.

What’s encouraging is knowing that firefighters from elsewhere would be speedily on their way here should they ever be required.

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Sorving the Terrace and Thomhill araa. Published on Wednesday of each week at 3210 Clinton Steet, Terrace, British Columbia, V8G 5R2,

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1998 WINNER CCNA BETTER NEWSPAPERS

COMPETITION

a

‘we . from the brink of? ‘extinction

vw LHAVE “CON

; SPACE

CTED HE ALIENS WHO

HAD ABDUCTED ME AND HAD ALTERED MY MEMORY. TPLEADED, AND THEY AGREED 10 REPROGRAM ME

This is a reason to feel good

VICTORIA — I’ve got good news and [’ve got bad news. Which do you want first?

All right, here’s the bad news:

The dollar is in bad shape, but you knew that, The Yankees are fishing for salmon, while our fisher- men are forced to be idle. You knew that, too. The stock market is sicker than the loony. Enough already.

, Let's hear the good news.

There’s a cute little critter liv- ing only on Vancouver Island that is close to extinction. Well, yes, that’s still bad news, but the good news is that the B.C. government and MacMillan Bloedel have just

~ pledged $2 million to bring the back. .

, Vancouver, Asland; Marmot

"Mich of the credit for the announcement made last week by environment minister Cathy McGregor must go to the Times- Colonist, Victoria’s daily newspa- pet, which ran a series of articles on the plight of the nearly doomed little creature that might easily have melted the polar ice cap.

The Vancouver Island Marmot isn’t just any old marmot. Al a recent convention of scientists in Moscow, specializing in the survival of the marmot world-wide, ours was vated the most beautiful one.

FROM THE CAPITAL HUBERT BEYER

Marmots are the iargest mem- bers of the squirrel family. Adults grow about as big as house cats, weighing’ five to'seven kilograms.

* Of the*l4*inaniiot Species;‘six-live*

in North America, but our little friend is the only one on the endan-.. gered species list.

The Vancouver Istand Marmot is easily distinguished from other marmots by its rich chocolate- brown fur and its white patches, The animals hibernate for about seven months a year, from late September to early May. They live in under- round burrows, which can be quite elaborate, including sleeping cham- bers and multiple entrances.

Apart from being unusual and lovely: to look at, Marmota

Vancouverensis has the dubious dis- tinction of being the world’s rarest marmot, With a population of only about 150, it is, indeed, one of the world’s rarest mammals,

But all that is about to change, thanks to the funding from the gov- ernment and MacMillan Bloedel. Scientists estimate that a total of $3.5 million will be needed over the next five years to ensure the ani- mal’s survival. The remaining funds are to be raised by environmental groups, industry and the general public.

The money will be used to

expand the current captive-breeding .

program, and start a transplant pro- pram to,establish new.colonies in canlltelr, natural habitat. : “Establishing healthy marmot colonies on Vancouver Island is vital to ensuring that this animal will be here for futdre generations. Every species is an important part of the biodiversity of this province,”. said McGregor.

There will, no doubt, be those who believe the marmot should be left to its own devices and the money spent on other things. Forlunately, most people would dis- agree with that,

Man supposedly is the crown

_of creation, and that gives us a

responsibility to do more than just lord it over other creatures. Yes, J. know, meat eaters have a long way to go, but who could possibly say that saving a little animal from extinction doesn’t make them. feel good all over,

At least the proponents of ‘the marmot recovery program won't run the risk of getting the hell beat out of them like the chap who wants

a moratorium on grizzly bear hunt- - ing which, by the way, is a plan I —

could easily support. Chances that you’ ll ever see a Vancouver island marmot are rare. Until their population has been dra- matically increased — the plan calls for 400 to 600 marmots — they will

‘continue to struggle Tor survival

within a 40-square-kilometre area on the high mountain slopes of Vancouver Island.

The Vancouver Island Marmot -

has been around for a long time. Bones found in a limestone cave near Nimpkish Lake, have been radiocarbon-dated at 9,400 years, It would be a pity if it were.to end now. ;

Beyer can be reached at: Tel: (250) 920-9300; Fax: (250) 356- 9597; E-mail:, hubert@coolcom.com =~ 4

And they've got evidence

RIVERBOAT DAYS parades had taken on a sameness for me until this year; I saw this one from a child's viewpoint. My grass raots perspective came from giving our two granddanghters a disposable camera and no restrictions.

The disposable part gol rid of all my anxiety about damage or !oss. It’s lightweight, perfectly sized for litile hands, and 27 frames gave each photographer a generous share of shots,

Rationing their film to last the

full parade was my silent concern. .

Like a submarine driver steering blindly by information relayed from electronic inslruments, the kids held their trigger finger poised as their mother and I craned for a preview of entries approaching a block or more away,

With only one instruction, “Keep your finger off the prey but- ton until you’re ready to snap a pic- ture,” the two girls took turns shaot-

THROUGH BIFOCALS CLAUDETTE SANDECKI ing six photos at a time.

Every parade has singular, memorable floats, bands, and marchers, Because these Karsh kids ate toa young to read company names, slogans, or advertisements, such clutter was stripped from their view finder, They went for familiar figures, colourful costumes, antics of all kinds,

Several of their subjects 1 would have skipped as too mun- dane. Nevertheless even those pho- tos will jumpstart valuable family discussions of olden days and bygone ways.

They: snapped young women in ankle length gingham dresses, the team of golden draft horses, gleam- ing vintage cars, and almost the full fleet of seven Thornhill firetrucks, including the one carrying a hose- happy firefighter whom they knew.

Vintage cars became as photo- genic as the Spice Girls after the kids watched a Model A Ford make a slow motion left turn from Highway 37 one Sunday as they returned from Kitimat. Why did the driver hold his arm out the window? How come his car has no signal lights? Why is his car so small, so high above the ground?

Their first frame captured the female RCMP officer, riding her own horse, (Her fellow officer, on a

local horse borrowed for the occa sion, is a former member of the musical ride.) Hoth riders used offi- cial RCMP tack borrowed from Kamloops, where it’s stored until requisitioned by any detachment

wishing to participate in a local °

event, Both Terrace officers donated their time off to enhance and lead: the parade,

The kids were thrilled with their Kodak moments, even the few

shots where the subjects were guil- ,

lotined at the eyebrows. Certainly these photos will bring back the

parade in living colour. And when - |

teacher asks them to write about their summer exploits, they'll have the pictures lo prove their essays.

Who knows where'this initial . try might lead. Many a lifetime -

hobby has sprung from just such an inauspicious introduction. At least they gave the Riverboat Days parade its due,

AVN To You 3.6.1!

| Gotta HAND IT,

RITING AN ELEVATOR, INTHIS TWO STOREY NORTHERN CENTRE SEEMED STUPID To ME...

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