The Silent Forest

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 25, 1995 - AS

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

HE wind sets up a low moan as it | pushes through -

the tree tops.

The loudest sound in this forest, it almost drowns out the occasional clink of chain hitting chain.

Softly spoken commands.

Answering snorts,

Anyone walking along this section of the Old Remo Road Friday, morning would have had na idea log skidding was going on only a stone’s throw away.

Lars Reese-Hansen marvels al the silence.

He has becn around enough logging shows to know con- stant noise is the rile.

But machines did all the work in those operations, On his woodlot, the skidding is being done the old way, wilh

horses.

Selective logging was always his plan for this piece of land and horse logging an experiment he wanted ta try out as part of that.

He could have clear cut the land, of course, but would then have had to spend big bucks on replantiig while knowing there would been no. return on that investment for 80-90 years.

- And thal’sa little longer than he expects to be around, -.» Reese-Hansen has divided the woodlot up into 10 sections, each three to four hectares, in- tending to go in and selectively cut one a year. He figures by the time he does the last one, the trees left standing in the first will have grown enough to allow a second thinning there.

‘Friday he was hauling oul what he'd cut from

-a one hectare. portion of the first seclion. The :~.felled-trees in this 60-70 year old stand are

. pine, aspen and birch. “I’m taking out most of

the pine, most of the birch and about half the _ aspen,”’ he explains.

< That will add up to about one third of the ‘merchantable volume, or about three truck loads. He’s petting $87 per cubic meire from

; Skcena Cellulose for the wood which he ex-

oe pects 1o be about two-thirds sawlogs.

The thinning will also allow the cedar, hem- _lock‘anc balsam in the under storey to receive - more light and accelerate their growth, He cal- ~*. culates managing thé sland in this way will in- ©. crease growth by approximately 30 per cent ; compared to leaving it to its own devices, . “Tn 10 years I’ll probably be able to take out. _ another two loads without reducing the total volume (on this section),”’ Reese-Hansen says.. *Butthe has had to be careful about how he opened up the stand. Thal’s because of the clay - sub-soils. The root systems of the conifers do _ Not penetrate the clay so spread out laterally. and shallow. That makes the trees susceptible _ lo blowdown, | -That’s one of the factors he had to take into account when selecting the trees to be felled. --- And the cutting ilself had to be done carefully, ~_ That’s one of the factors he had to take into “account when selecting the trees to be felled. "And the cutting itself had to be done carefully, to ensure they did not hil and damage other trecs as they fell and ease of hauling them out - onto the skidding trail. ‘“You’ve got to be. -right on the money every time,’’ . Provided they don’t represent any threat to |” ‘safety, Reese-Hansen has left as many old Snags as possible to preserve the old growth characteristics and provide wildlife habitat, ” The logic is different in the case of an old

aspen he points to. That’s been left because the ~

tree is a nitrogen fixer and will be a more effi-- cient fertilizer than chemicals without the cost, he notes. -

His philosophy i is simple: ‘‘Protect the sland and it will look after itself.’’

Part ‘of that protection is ensuring logging 7 does, not damage the soils or create compaction

around tree root-systems. That’s the primary, teason the logging was being done in the

* winter when the ground was frozen and snow-

covered, And that’s where the horse logging had proved its worth. Warming weather had lent a ~ Sense of urgency to the skidding operation but -Reese-Hansen pointed out the trail had held up well despite the frequent passage of a ton-and- ‘a-half of horse. ‘‘IfI was using a machine in — here, it would be up to the axles by now.”’ For Reese-Hansen, the whole operation has had a quality of leam as you go, ‘‘I’m green at “this and that kind of tied us up,’’ he admits. On.

. However, “‘I’ve been really happy with. the ©

way It's worked,”’ -

A TWO power log skidder, Chester (above right} and Dick head down the trail hauling an- other log to the road- way that serves as the landing on this Old Remo woodlot. Lars Feese-Hansen (eft) is selectively logging the land ona _ 10-year rotation, Be- “fow, . team Mark Chapplow sur- veys ‘the 60-70 year old stand. All four are new to the game but Reese-Hansen says he’s happy with the way things have worked out.

Stories. a

Malcolm Baxter

to horse logging. So's his team, Chesler and Dick. But, rookies or not, the trio are working well together. However, Chapplow gives the credit for that to Glen Kerr of Telkwa, the one he bought the team from, and the horses themselves, Kerr’s prowess with these giants is well known to any- one who’s taken in the heavy horse

pull at the Skeena Valley Fall Fair,

The pair are four year old Clydesdale geldings. Chester weighs in at 1800 lbs., Dick's a little tighter.

“*He. coached them really well,’’

Chapplow says of Kerr. ‘‘They are a ~-good quiet team and willing workers.’ As an example. of how calm the

Horse logging is a case of team work

MARK CHAPPLOW is a newcomer —

horses are, he recalls an incident a few days carlier when a gunshot rang out somewhere in the valley. ‘“My brother and I must have jumped about 10 feet, but these guys didn’t even flinch.’’

Chapplow bought the team last year intending to use them on his small farm near Chimdemash. ‘“‘It’s just a change of pace,’’ he explains, adding he hopes to buy another team some- time in the future.

The horse logging is a sideline, a way of keeping the horses in shape over the winter. “It's a steep learning

curve,'” he admits,

But treat the horses right and they’ ll retum it'in kind. ‘‘Abuse is counicr-

productive,” 1 he points out

HORSE-

owner...

The Mail Bag

Gun ownership defended

Dear Sir:

I have been motivated to write this letter partly by Claudette Sandecki’s Jan. 11, 1995 ‘“Through Bifocals’’ column.

Once again gun owners are subjected to the spewing rhetoric of another columnist who is ignorant of existing Canadian law, Had she bothered to do some research she would have noted that under Bill C-17, Canadians are required to store firearms in a locked con- tainer or room or secure them with trigger locks and store ammuni- tion separately,

Unfortunately anti-gun journalisis avoid sceking out facts to sub- stantiate their propaganda. Instead they choose to exploit victims of crime and tragedy to show us how. ‘bad’ guns are. They tell us that fewer guns can save lives and that registration of firearms will make our country a safer place. They are simpletons,

Registration bas one purpose. Confiscation. If Claudette would clean her bifocals and look at history she would see evidence of such. The late 1930s saw Hitler register and confiscate private firearms in Germany. Do you dare arguc that there would have been far less Holocaust victims had the Jewish community been armed?

How about the Muslims in Croatia or the Tutsis in Rwanda? Ask them how they feel about gun control. Tum on your T,¥, and watch news about the Soviet attack on Grozny. The Chetniks will show you what you can do with gun control.

Mrs. Sandecki suggests that the fear of fines (or even ‘perhaps jail) will force gun owners to register. Dream on. I for one will not com- ply with any further restrictions on my freedom and J will en- courage all others to do the same. I do this to protect the very free- dom that Mrs. Sandecki enjoys to express her own opinions.

My views will have me branded as a paranoid ‘gun nut’ by those who disagree. It’s time that they pulled their heads out of the sand. The battle between good and evil is a human one and will continue whether they like it or not.

Until we have heaven on earth and the need for firearms ceases, I reserve tie right to defend myself and my. family and 10 ensure the future freedom of all our children.

Fred Straw, President, Terrace Rod & Gun Club, Terrace, B.C,

Don’t turn down volunteers

Dear Sir: .

So the ‘Library Paint Offer Gets Gently Denied’ does it? (The Terrace Standard, January 11, 1995). I must voicé my disappoint ment with this announcement.

Have we not had enough delays, cost overruns, design deficien- cies, and general frustrations with the library expansion? It is my understanding that painting, air conditioning, and ‘shelving. were three of the items that were cut from the proposal to allow the ex- pansion to be built within the budgeted allocation. I would have thought that the city would jump with glee at an offer to have the interior printing done voluntarily.

“Tight construction time lines?’ Imagine that comment from a group which dithered over the library project for four years! Hog- wash. “The complexity of what's required?’? Nonsense, [refuse to believe that the painting was loo complex, for the well-educated and successful business people that comprise the Skeena Valley. Rotary Club.

“We're going to need that painting done right away?” After four years, a week or ten days will make a difference? I’m sure the Rotarians would have banded together to mect any reasonable dead- lines.

What really angered, though, was The Terrace Standard’s report that said ‘‘the city may very well have to find some way of paying ‘for the painting.’? Now, we all know what that means! Dig decper

_ into your pockets, city of Terrace residents.

I believe that taxpayers’ contribulions to this city’s coffers. are al- ready more than adequate.

A few phone calls to determine taxes for cities of a comparable size to Terrace provided the following results. In Terrace 1994 taxes on a $150,000 home were $2,585 while in Courtenay they were $1,443, in Kitimat $1,961, in Williams Lake $2,754 and in Dawson Creek they were $2,871, Terrace had the highest mill rate, except for Williams Lake and Dawson Creek. out of 10 cities sur- veyed. .

Volunteerism is ane of Terrace’s greatest altributes. It is. ‘my opinion that city officials erred in refusing the Skeena Valley Rotary Club’s offer of assistance to do the library’ s interior paint- ing.

A group of people in the city volunteered to make a contribution. How could we afford to turn it down, either financially or as an act of community?

LE ‘Hamilton, ‘Tebtace BC,

‘THE START iS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ -

Ice sheet turned down.

THE PLAN for a second sheet of ice is dead. Ds City council says the plan would cost $4 75 million. And it said that is too much money, Instead, council says a cheaper plan should be drawn’ ‘up. It is going to pass that idea to the Second Sheet of Ice Society. This is the group that wants to build a second sheet of ice. |

One council member, David Hull, thinks a second sheet of ice could be built for $2 million.

Another council member, Rich McDaniel, has’ an even cheaper idea. He says a small town in Manitoba is building, a second sheet of ice for only $1 million.

That town is building the second sheet beside an arena. _ And it will use the same ice plant.

eet

"Mystery lights © THERE MAY be a reason why people spotted lights over Dease Lake several-weeks ago, A Vancouver man who studies stats sald the lights. could be

from a star called Vega. But David: Dodge says his guess is 5 based on what he. was told. “‘I wasn’t there,” hesaid. .. es

- The lights were spotted low over Dease Lake: on: ‘Tan. ‘4

Four people saw the lights, Two were RCMP officers, © The lights were red; blue and green, ‘They didn’t move Dodge used a computer 1 to come Up with his Buess.