WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993 WZ The Cast gar Sun be ay “NW PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG SHARLENE IMHOFF CATHERINE ROSS ADVERTISING REP. NICOLE BEETSTRA JOHN VAN PUTTEN SPORTS REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER ADVERTISING REP. KAREN KERKHOFF CHRISTINE MOYER REPORTER PRODUCTION MANAGER MARGE LALONDE TRICIA LAKTIN CIRCULATION MANAGER PRODUCTION ASSISTANT SHAUNA KATTLER OFFICE MANAGERYCLASSIFIEDS Direct Department Phones General Office 365-5266 Circulation 365-5266 Classified Ads 365-7848 Display Advertising 365-2278 Newsroom 365-5579 Fax 365-7762 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, B.C. V1N 1G8 IS POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND A MEMBER OF THE STERLING NEWS SERVICE Established November 28, 1990 Published by Sterling Newspapers Ltd Weekly on Wednesdays Member of Canadian C Ne B.C. Community Newspapers Association and B.C. Press Council Publications Mail Registration pending editorial comment The bears aren’t the problem! It’s hard to believe that after all the education, edi- torials, and stories written in The Castlegar Sun some people STILL don’t understand what it takes to live in bear territory. The latest atrocity, written about in today’s Castle- gar Sun is another glaring example of the ignorance and apathy of some people who invite bears to dinner, and then cry.when they have to watch those very same bears and their cubs be destroyed In Castlegar alone, 55 bears have been destroyed since April of this year. Most of them were shot, and yes, killed for being “nuisance” bears. Why is this atrocity allowed and perpetuated? It's hard to understand. Consider this for one moment: if it were humans who were being destroyed at that fast rate would we allow the injustice and slaughter to continue? What's even worse, is that conservation officers are being maligned for shooting the bears. They are in the field of conservation because they love nature and animals. Does one really think they enjoy shoot ing bears and then having to haul their carcasses away? We need not point our fingers at them, but instead need to take a close look at ourselves in the murror. What one has to understand is that when they choose to live in Castlegar they do so for many rea son, one of them being the abundance of nature which surrounds us on a daily basis. But one also has to understand that when this style of living is chosen we also, in effect, choose to live alongside of wildlife—and that includes bears The question is, do we all continue to try to edu- cate those who inadvertently “bait” bears with garbage, or do we lobby for legislation which will hold those offenders responsible for their actions? If it could be proved that a bear had to be destroyed because of a person’s sloppy habits, such as leaving fruit or garbage around thus tempting the bears, should that person then not be held morally and financially accountable for their actions and the destruction of the bear? We all know money talks, and it’s loudest when leaving your own pocketbook Maybé a stiff fine would be the answer. To think that almost 60 bears have been killed for doing what comes natural to them, such as eating, is inhumane and a sad indication of the loftiness of today’s society. Maybe if we remember that we are only guests in bear territory it would help. After all, would you go to a host’s yard and then strew you garbage haphazardly about their domain? We think not. So why is it that we superior humans are doing just that and then cry “bear!” when they go looking for more of what we continually offer? Once again, for those of you who still haven't learned how to live in bear territory, we will offer you some information on how to avoid a bear confrontation Pick up all fruit off the ground, dispose of your garbage in a responsible way; don’t leave your barbe- cue open; don’t leave pet food unattended outside- in other words, don’t invite bears to your home unless you want one to round out a dinner party And if you still insist on inviting bears to dinner don’t call the conservation officers, don’t call the RCMP and don’t call us—just grin and bear it! ERRORS: The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable | damages arising out of errors if any advertisement beyond the amount paid tor the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such er to the negligence of its servants or otherwise and there liability for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement All advertising subject to publisher's approval. Contracts m. completed within one year trom contract date No con accepted. Printed in the U.S.A SU fh Today’s Socreds putting on a new and friendlier face Close to 1,000 Socreds came to Kamloops two weekends ago to put the past behind them, once and for all. I'd say they succeeded, some fairly bizarre BCTV coverage to the contrary notwithstanding * Yes, the convention took place ina some- what barren facility with a distinct cattle odor, but far from considering it a dubious place to which, according to BCTV, the “once proud” Social Credit Party has been reduced to meet ing, Kamloops residents are rather proud of the facility Above all, Kamloops is still a cattle town and the smell that appeared to bother the intrepid city-bred television reporter, is to Kamloops residents the smell of money that makes this town the vibrant place it is- If insulting every Kamloops resident was BCTV'’s aim, it succeeded splendidly. Back to the convention. Several things struck me, looking over the crowd of (976 reg- istered delegates. The first was the absence of the slick, moneyed, somewhat shady Lower Mainland element that had been in evidence at every Socred convention during the party's days of power. ' These were, for the most part, working-class and middle-income folks with a sprinkling of small business people who had come together to look over the four aspirants for the party leadership The fact that they met in a small Interior town rather than the ritzy Hotel Vancouver or Pan Pacific which saw some of the most high- Powered Socred conventions of years past, conveyed the distinct feeling that Social Credit is deliberately going back to its roots. The other thing I found interesting was that in numerous private conversations with delegates, there was finally an appreciation of the fact that the party deserved the defeat it got in 1991 It was a realization that had not yet sunk in at last vear’s convention In a departure fron past Practice, the vote for the new leader wasn't held during the convention. It took phice last Saturday by province-wide universal ballot There cre polling stations in all 75 ridings where regis- tered party members cast their votes for the leader of their choice The candidates did, however, deliver the tra ditional speeches that are considered so all important at leadership conventions. Of the four candidates, Graham Bruce's speech was, by far, the most rousing oratory, even though his was a bit short of substance But Bruce got the crowd fired up with some well-aimed shots at the NDP, nice little one- liners of which there has been a lamentable shortage in the Liberal opposition ranks Grace McCarthy's speech contained more substance, but was a bit flat in the delivery department, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed with delegates. Claude Richmond gave a good account of himself although he beat up on some fairly standard motherhood issues such as law and order. The fourth candidate, referred to as Vancou- ver businessman Jim Turner, made no bones about his reason for having entered the race He's the first one to admit that he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting the lead ership, but he paid his $3,500 to get a message off his chest The message” Fiscal responsibility, not only for politicians, but, for bureaucrats as well 1 Both, he says, should be held to account at the risk of losing Beyer Beware their jobs Among the more memo. rable events at the convention was an auction otf items Hubert whose value and use wouldn't stand too close a scrutiny What did stand out, though was the performance of at least one auctioneer Beyer With the energy and determination and sales skill reminiscemt of her days as tourism minis ter, McCarthy managed to squeeze $3,500 out of someone for some old proclamation A truly magnificent feat which, I'm sure some of the delegates will remember come voting time. I asked her if she would care to auction off one of my business cards, and one of the delegates told me she could probably eliminate the deficit with an auction I talked to as many delegates as I could and, aside from the solidly-committed, the majority indicated that they believe McCarthy to be the only one of the four with a chance of bringing the Socreds back to power. The beginning of a spark a party needs to make its bid for power was definitely there Coupled with the Liberals’ weak or non-exis tent support outside the Lower Mainland and the NDP's current self-destructive course, a Socred return to power is within the realm of possibility Speaking on I am writing on behalf of the bears, or possibly the situation, which has transpired at the Arrow Lake Drive area. Here's my story. About a month ago I woke to the sounds of grunting and some- thing scraping on metal. While looking out my window I saw this little cub trying desperately to climb into the dumpster. He was hanging by one paw, actually Swinging back and forth, and making a noise that I’m sure was a call to his mother The mother was rooting around the garbage bags left on the ground beside the dumpster. When she heard the commotion from the baby cu!x she started making a clucking sound' Sud denly the cub swung to the top of the dumpster and stunted sniffing at the garbage bags left on top. He lisappeared into the dumpster and started banging around inside. He must have found a feast. They cre uted a mess and left The next morning everyone cursed the landlords for the garbage scattered all over the grounds—yet no one came to pick it up. A week later the bears came again, you could set your watch by them if you wanted to stay up that Jate This time the bears didn't stay long. The men had picked up the garbage that morning, but there were choice morsels laying again on top and beside the dumpster The black cub jumped into the dumpster, crawled out, looked around and became scared. He started calling his mother, as he jumped off the dumpster and started to run. All of a sudden the mother gave a call and the baby stopped, turned around and ran into the chain fence. He sat down making funny noises. Meanwhile the mother approached the cub. nuzzlied him and they walked away It was something you had to see—animals do love each other Three weeks later there's a cage standing beside the dump- ster. Halloween is coming and the children have to be safe. At 2:30 a.m. there came a crying from lowly something very scared. I looked outside and in the cage was the black cub, crying his heart out because he wanted to be free The mother was trying very hard to pry open the netting on the cage. The cub tried very hard to Push over the cage. He went to the side of the cage and pushed, he went to the pull-bar and pushed. All the while the baby cub inside the cage cried, the other cub tried very hard to push the cage over and the mothers’ fear became more and more intense At 5:00 a.m. the mother and cub were shot by police officers Then at 5:15 the game warden came and picked up the carcass of the mother and her baby. When: they attached the cage to the truck the cub started calling the mother Her scent was strong Now the police officers are blamed for the senseless killings and the landlord is blamed for the garbage left out No person has tried to pick up the garbage, there's even new bags laying beside the dumpster behalf of those who can't Mary Ann Strepchuk tsa) dent of Arrow Lakes Drive wh; enjoys mountain sports such as hiking and snowmobiling She also loves wildlife which abundant inthe West Kootenay 04/30/94 Wednesday,.November 10, 1993 Letters to the Editor The Castlegar Sur “Murdered bears’ not officers fault, could have been avoided Dear Editor: trthe West Kootenays, if vou want (0 see a mother bear and her adorable cubs up close, you don't have to go to a 200, or hike into the back country If you want to kill them, you won't need a hunting permit. All you have to do is leave your garbage, or the fruit from your trees lying around. and they will come If you wait a few weeks while mother and babes lard up for hibernation and become ‘habitu ated'—hooked on garbage, a shooter will come and slaughter the bears in your own back yard When everyone asks ‘what hap- pened?’, you can point your fin ger at the poor officer who was forced to pull the trigger and cry “they're killing our bears!’ Every- one will agree they were ‘prob lem’ bears and had to die for the safety of our children. 1. THE BEAR FACTS; this year, in the West Kootenay Dis- trict 60 bears have been killed Seventy per cent were shot by conservation or police officers. Only four were trapped and relo- cated. Two bears were murdered last week in my neighborhood, and I am furious. Their deaths were and totally p A mother and one of her two tiny cubs were shot by the RCMP in the early moming of October 30 beside the garbage dumpster at the B.C. Housing complex on Arrow Lakes Drive. Caught in a bear trap, the other cub was dis- posed of later. 2. THE BEAR FACTS; if a sow does not store up sufficient energy in the fall her embryos, will not develop into fetuses while in the den over hibernation. Bears that have access to fruit, warbage, etc will often give birth to two cubs. For the last few years, most sows have been giv ing birth to wo. A week earlier I had the privi lege and pleasure of secing this sleek mama bear and her two healthy cubs dash across the road in front of my car, In her mouth she had a huge bag of garbage from the overflowing dumpster The food was laid out, she was invited to dine. When we didn't like her table manners, we shot her. Another ‘problem bear’ 3 THE BEAR FAGTS; in the fall, there can be as many as 40 bear problem calls to the conser vation office. With only two offi cers and two traps, it can take up to a month for a trap to arrive, about the time it takes a bear to become habituated to garbage The bears are not the problem WE ARE THE PROBLEM. We humans who are too damn igno- rant, uncaring, or lazy to manage our e. There has been a garbage problem at that complex (any ‘many other sites around town) for a long time It is strewn everywhere. The dumpster overflows, the lid is always open. Mothers send small children out with the garbage Unable to reach the opening, they plunk it on the ground, Bears have been feasting for weeks. No one cleans up the mess. A trail of litter runs half way up the mountain. I phoned Al Campbell, B.C. Housing regional manager. He was most concerned and said they would never allow it to. happen again He also said the place would soon be under new management and that they were taking steps to correct the problem. But, unfortu: nately they hadn't moved fast enough How long does it take to build Vience with a lock on ww! And how long does it take fo order a second dumpster if one is obvi ously not cnough, or request that it be emptied more often? It's much quicker and cheaper to call the shooter and haul the carcasses off to the bush 4. THE BEAR FACTS; bear proof dumpsters and garbage cans do exist and are cur used in our national parks same technology could be used to design bear-proof composters Removing food from our garbage, cutting down the hun dreds of abandoned fruits trees in this area, picking up the fruit in our back yards, recycling to reduce our garbage (we have no excuse now as there is a depot conveniently located in town), would prevent this insane Slaughter of wildlife. Those bears did not have to die 5. THE BEAR FACTS; bears have already chosen their dens Moving them to another area this late in the fall is not feasible due fo lack of food and snow on the yround at higher elevations We need to get off our fat butts and start Cleaning up: the mess we're making of the world. We need to inform our selves. We need to learn how to live in harmony with nature, not against it. We need to educate the next generation What kind of lessons have the 40 or so children living in that complex learned? That once our garbage is our the door it’s someone else's problem? That animals are disposable? That as individuals we are pow erless to put pressure on author ilies to right a wrong situation? That we are not to be held accountable for our actions or that cleaning up the environ ment is not a priority? There are things we can do to prevent next year’s slaughter; reduce our garbage; activate and lobby for bear-proof dumpsters; write letters to the editor of local papers; call-city hall—there are-—-their-knowledge and concerning unsightly and littering: call the und at lies within us und find Barb out what we can do to help; form byliws premise conservation officer a Save the Bears Committee, put the lid down on dumpsters and BOLT it closed each time; pick up after ourselves and teach our children to do the same. It is what we do, not what we say In composing this letter, I would like to thank Conserva tion Officer, Mike Krause, Cor poral Al Hudema, Al Campbell of B.C. Housing, Barry Comin at City Hall, and Karen Kerkhoff of The Castlegar Sun for sharing OPEN SUNDAYS until December 5 10:00 am to 3 pm Beside Greyhound concerns with me lenorance ts the enemy ara Little, Castlegar Dear Editor: place in this district. nience of those concerned? Airing dirty laundry not appreciated Dear Editor: I am the grandmother of Dan Carlson, and as such I wish te, xZive my opinion of an Editor who would allow an underage columnist to air his family prob- lem in a weekly paper. Surely you could see the immature lack of responsibility he displayed in his writing of that item Those of us who are ‘esponsi ble parents (I have seven off- spring) know that from the time we bring a child into this world, it is our job and responsibility to help them become independent Sometimes we have to do it in spite of the reluctance of the child When teenagers display a lack of respect for the values his par- ents hold, then it is time for them to try life on their own. This usu- ally serves to make them realize that money doesn’t grow on trees See LAUNDRY 8A More letters on page 8A Masquerade Magic Costumes for . every fantasy By at Tain Staton juseum GENELLE Units Now Available 365-7798 CASTLEGAR SENIORS CLUB Business Meeting: November 4, 2 pm, Social: November 18, 2 pm, Whist: November 11 & 25, 7 pm, Christmas Dinner : Novernber 27, 5:30 pm current members. ALPHA PHI CHAPTER of Beta Sigma Phi meets every second and fourth Wednesday of the month. Interested parties may contact ADVENT TEA & BAKE SALE at St. Peters Lutheran Church Castlegar, November 13, 1;30 - 3:30 p.m CHRISTIAN WOMEN'S CLUB Dinner evening 7:00 p.m., November 18, Fireside Inn. Feature: "Apple-tizers"-Bev Kenned; Speaker: Gwynn Ketel. Reservations 365-8025 or 365-3886 CASTLEGAR CHAPTER OF R.N.A.B.C. to mmet Tuesday, November 23, 1993 at 1900 at Castlegar and District Hospital, main conference room. Guest: Maureen Little. Topic: slide presentation on I.C.N. Conference in Madrid, Spain-June 1993 d must b paper. Please bring i The Castlegar Sun \ e used consecutive Coming events of Castlegar and District Zations may be listed here n ditional words ar 465 Columbla Avenue Castlegar, BC VIN 1G8 Parking convenience needed it has been drawn to my attention that there is quite frequently an inconvenience for folks who have various problems in getting around from point A to point B when events are sometimes taking Is there a possibility of a designated parking place closer to the entrance doors where these events are taking place for the conve- In good faith, Lynne Chatten, Robson Mayor A Council that Listens — FLECT—— Mike O'Connor |Nov. 20 VOTE GUGLIELMI I! will listen to you and take principled stands for quality education. \ad Re-elect TONY GUGLIELMI[b,@ bg SHOWCASE ‘93 @ FEATURING AN ALL-STAR CAST OF NATURAL GAS ROOM HEATERS Save $50 UNTIL DECEMBER 10, 1993 Plus Scratch ‘n Save even more if you purchase by November 30, 1993! 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