e Castlegar Sun i

Name: Mary - Jo

Castlegar dislikes: Smell

Pet: Stink bugs

Where you work: Johnny's Grocery
What you do there: Pump gas
Castlegar likes: People at R & G Marina

Best kept Castlegar secret: Stream fishing
Vehicle: Green Dodge pick-up
What would you rather be doing? Fishing or

“Wednesday, April 10, 1991

_@ Raccoons’ —

Continued fromi1A

think enough has been done on

sent back to Ontario, they could
have th Ontario

if they had picked up disease from
our raccoons, It is an unfortunate
incident for the ‘individual
raccoons involved, but’ we must
think of the ‘entire raccoon
population, and What is ‘best for
wildlife in general'“— minimizing

animal suffering. Anyone who is-

truly concerned ‘about animal
welfare should understand this,”
Murdoch is now seeking a
permit from B.C, Environment
that will allow her to keep
raccoons for her proposed study.
“I've been working all winter
doing research on small animals,”
said Murdoch. “I've been writing
to people across North America
and consulting with experts, When
I was a little girl, I’wanted to do
this with bears, I'm older now, too
old to tough it out on a mountain
top. I have experience , with

raccoons — I’ve raised at least 12,

‘them, Litde is’ really known about
‘the behavior of Ws

3 Murdoch sald’she has a letter of.
support for her proposal froma’

psychology “professor. at’ the
University of British Columbia
which she sent directly to the
ini of the Envi
Murdoch said that she had attended
UBC, the University of Idaho, and
Washington State and earned a
degree in philosophy, a diploma in
counselling psy » anda

1 know how they'think, I don’t

“The. study plan we have
received from her is still
inadequate," said Guy Woods,

“We outlined to her the sort of

. things we are going to require

before’ we consider issuing a
permit," said Morley, “We require
that any raccoon brought in from
‘anywhere other than the immediate
area will have to be caged. And
she has to prepare’an acceptable
research proposal from which
publishable research results. It
must be a valid study plan

Master's degree in social and
education studies, She stated she
also has done research in
microbiology, specializing in

virology.
“I went on a trip to the
University of Idaho where I
with a colleague there

Pp by an
institution or university and
supported by an accredited person
in that field.”

“I thought radio collars would
be the worst that would happen,”
said Murdoch, “I'm back on the
drawing board, trying to review the’

who teaches at the veterinary
school,” said Murdoch, “and he
very much likes my study plan and
thought that that kind of work
needed to be done.”

design so a cage can be
made that would give some
oI of free b ior in the

> would not have been a threat, But I
have to have such a tight cage, I
wonder if it would be worthwhile,
I'm very frustrated.” r

“If she wanted to, study
raccoons that were already in the
area, go and follow them around,
she could do that all she wants
without a permit,” said Morley to
the group assembled at MacKay's
home.
| “But it is fairly impractical to
follow raccoons around,” added
Woods, “They're nocturnal and
sooner or later they will find their
own way and disappear. Anything
she has will not be released.”

“We will treat her proposal like

\ it came from anyone of you,” said
Morley, “It will be judged on its
technical and scientific rnerits, And
this is her project, not a govern-
ment project. If she were to get a
permit, there would be no

money, we would only

group. Had I been allowed to have
them free-roaming, I would have
taken so many precautions they

give a permit to keep the animals
and some technical advice.”

@ Policing

Continued from 1A

provinces and two territories using
RCMP services say they cannot
afford to pay.

In a letter written to the
Honourable Pierre Cadieux,
Solicitor General, Moore stated
that Castlegar City Council has no
objection to paying their fair share
of the policing costs, but do object
to paying more than that.

“We understand that since the
last contract was negotiated,
nothing other than the Federal
deficit has changed and we do not
see this increase as being realistic,
or justified, to expect muncipal

gov to provide the
dditi funding in this

POLICE
ROADCHECKS...

M APRIL 13-MAY 4

Continued from 1A

Sons sawmill which was bought
out in 1953 by the Celgar Pulp
Company. He is employed by
School District #9, and was the
sergeant-at-arms for CUPE Local
1298 for three years and was
recently elected as the 1991 second
vice-president for the Nelson-Trail
District Labor Council.

Jim and Trish Waldie have one

son, Clifford, who will be 11-
years-old on April 22, and is, of
course, involved in scouting.

“Clifford was just over here to
visit his grandmother and he served
as my altar boy,” noted Rev.
Balfour. “Jim’s son is probably
going to be just like him.”

“I don’t know quite how to
accept all this,” said Waldie. “But
it’s very nice. I’m very pleased.”

Mayor Audrey Moore

@ Share

Continued from 1A

a means of making huge profits.
The government ministry seems to
be swayed by these firms, who are
consistantly catered to by the
goverment.”

Hamilton also made it clear
that the vast majority of Kootenay
residents were fed up with being
misrepresented by. preservation
organizations such as the Vahalla
Society and Pro-Terra.

“Then on top of it all, comes
the C ial Back

losses in forestry and mining alone
would have on the local economy.

Hamilton said that the
government went to poll the
opinion of the people but instead
of holding open meetings, they
held informative open house
meetings,

| “How do you find out what
people are thinking if you don’t
hold open meetings where you can
voice your opinion? “ he asked. He
suggested that the meetings were
circumvented around areas that the

Recreation on Crown Land

~ proposal, it’s being administered
by the Ministry of BC lands.”

Hamilton explained that this

jal is the greatest monster of

them all, With this vehicle, the

Ministry of Crown Land, will sell

or lease B.C land to the highest

bidder, most likely European
* investors. The end result of this

Program will deny. access to the

common rural citizens who have
- traditionally used these areas for

multiple recreational uses

“Basically with the amount of
* parkland that already exists in our

area, under the policy of Parks 90,

that will more than double. We

don’t think our existing . parks are
* being used to their full caring
capacity.

“It’s not that we are totally
against parks, but the present
Parks 90 process does not involve
the consideration of all user
groups.”

The. impact of these large
parcels of land being removed
from the industrial segment of the
economy has not been thoroughly

ge chose, but this did not
always include the smaller rural
area that would be directly affected
by the proposed park areas.

meetings held in early February.

“We would like to see Parks
‘90 completely scrapped, along
with the idea implimented as a
means of getting imput for the
plan. Then-we'd like to see the
goverment go back to the people
of the communities directly
affected by that imput and ask
their opinion again.”

However, the verbal battle
launched against Parks Plan 90 by
the Society may be silenced a lot
sooner than expected.

Ron Milton, director of the
Slocan chapter of the Society, and

i i of K

Outdoorsmen, along with Bob Orr,

Castlegar, Nelson and R
were included in those open house

dealt with. The g: has
not determined the impact that job

Brian Hamilton: ° :

¢

of the Mi Creek
chapter, attended a Parks 90
meeting held in Victoria on April
2, Milton saw the outcome of this
mecting as a positive step in
resolving the differences between
the government and the societies.

circumstance,” she wrote.

Moore is upset that proposed
contract demands by the Federal
Government calls for
municipalities with a population of
5,000 to 15,000 have an additional
15 per cent increase, while

icipalities with a pop
over 15,000 pay only a five per
cent increase. Moore said that she

are items that can be negotiated
where there is good business case .
such as UIC for civilian

She agrees with those who
suggest, that with the current
ffecting Canadi

staff,” she explained. :
She said, however, that the City
Temains firm on cost shari

unity, to replace our national force
with a provincial: force would
1 -unity even

increases, 5 ate
“There is nothing that has
altered the basis of the agreements,

further, i
Moore also said that there must
be accountability by the federal
30 1h eroeene

and the federal g has not

sees this as a d 1 ig 0:
senior government to junior
government.

Castlegar cost base last year
was $467,323 and under the
federal government's proposal the
cost base would rise to $584,487,
for an increase of $117,165 for ten
Officers.

“The consequences to the other

Pp any evi that would
support a change in cost shares.
The value to--the federal

has not diminished

are assured that they are gettting
the best value for the dollars spent.
She also stressed the need for a
phasing-in with Ottawa.

8 D
since the last contract,” she added. -
Quoting from a press release,
Moore. said’ that the: federal
government is not accounting for
other benefits such as the cost-

The federal position to date has
been that the new cost base and
cost shares will be effective April
1, 1991, and omits a phase-in plan.
Moore also explained that B.C.

of bi federal
ibilities with

level of services that the p
can afford to pay, and to property
taxes if these increases are
approved will be severe,” states a
press release from the provinces
following the meeting.

Moore reflected the views of
other municipalities when she said
that the federal government myst
provide their negotiators the scope
to address three primary concems
consisting of 1) the cost base; 2)
the cost shares; and 3)
accountability. .

“There is no di: on

municipal duties, and the benefits
of having a large national force
intained through icpal

contracts.

“In addition,” states the press
release, “the impasse over federal
fi ial benefits is h i

payers must realize they will
be paying over $100 million more
in taxes in the coming years if the
federal government gets its way.

Bill McKay, a spokesman for
the Solicitor General’s department
said that there is a tremendous
advantage in using the RCMP, but

e

the: benefits of the RCMP to.

+ national unity." +?

“Those b ent)

h d that. perhaps the

federal government get out of.the

policing business, and leave itto
i to handle.

ae
Moore, “include the role the
RCMP plays as a national
institution, and of the tradition that

“Personally,” he said, “T think
we should use the RCMP as an
insitution similiar to the FBI in the

d with our police

the cost base issue because there

is
force.”

USS., and leave the policing to the
provinces.”

Lending a helping hand

“There were a lot of i
people at that meeting,” explained
Milton. “MLAs Howard Dirks and
Chris D’ Arcy, Minister of Parks
John Savage and the Ministry ‘of
Forests were only a few of the

* participants at that meeting.

“Parks 90 officials intend on
getting public involvement and
opinions from all walks of life.
This step is only the first phase of
the Parks Proposal,” he added.
“They. want to encourage the
public, and all individuals who
have a concern over the Parks
plan, to submit. those concerns to
the government by April 15,
They've set an April 30, 1991,
deadline for imput into the

“Recreation on Crown Land in BC.

plan.”

No one was seriously injured in this two-car motor vehicle accident at 8th Street
and Columbia Avenue on Monday afternoon at 3:21 p.m. Susan Repp of Trail,
driving a. 1984 Plymouth Hatchback (pictured) was northbound on Columbia Ave.
when her vehicle was struck by a 1986 Ford driven by Lesley Price of Castlegar.
The Price vehicle struck the Repp vehicle as Price made a left turn off of 8th
Street onto Columbia into the path of the oncoming Repp vehicle. As the Repp
vehicle was travelling quite slowly, Prise had made the assumption that Repp |
was planning to turn left, said Cst. Russell Sangster who attended the accident.
Repp and her passenger, another: lady from Trail,’ suffered minor bruising in the
incident. Price was uninjured. "No charges are contemplated,” said Sangster.
“Both were equally responsible for the accident.” Sangster also commended the
person who stopped to direct traffic around the ‘accident: "The local detachment :

Wednesday, April 10, 19914

The Castlegar Sun

Committee of the Whole effectiveness questioned.

_ By FRANK ISERNIA

ed to the C of the Whole,

. Sun staff writer

A more informal and less struc-
tured ‘approach to Committee of
* the Whole meetings, combined
‘ with an open frame of mind has
been suggested by Ald. Kirk

Chapman said that most of the
time he doesn't hear about the con-
tent of some of these committees
until he reads it in the press or
hears it over the radio,

“I'd like to see at least two
ittee,”” he

+ Duff as a means of overcoming the
frustrations echoed by new mem-
" bers of Castlegar City Council.
Alderman Jim Chapman
‘ brought these frustrations to the
‘ attention of his colleagues during a
Committee of The Whole mecting
held April 2,
+ Alderman Bob Pakula picked

Id on each
explained. “We should be more
involved and should be more
exposed to big budget committees,
T resent having to make big deci-
sions on million dollar budgets
when I'm not in on them from the
ground floor. I don’t want to run
anybody down but, Mayor Audrey
Moore attends all these different
i then comes to council,

up on Char "s and

* said that he believed aldermen

‘ would do a better job having more

¢ than one council member on the
committees, He explained that

* would feel better about making
decisions if he had more input

* from fellow council members.

% Duff agreed with Chapman and

* Pakula. He said that one of the
Purposes of the Committee of the
Whole is to see that aldermen get

. the help they need.

“Aldermen should not feel that
they have to tackle a committee
alone. Each alderman should
involve the other,” he said.

. “Everyone has to understand
that when information is brought
to these committee meetings, this
is the time discussions should be
held to answer any questions other

. alderman may have.”

Duff stated the public perceives

; everything as cut and dried at regu-

: lar Council meetings and that is
why the public and press are invit-

FEEDBACK

By NANCY LINGLEY

makes all these decisions, and
expects us to understand what she
is talking about.”

Acting Mayor Marilyn Math-
ieson disagrees with Chapman’s
assessment stating that is not the
way it is.

“She's elected to do a bigger
Job, and bas been involved in poli-
tics for 16 years, if there is some-
thing I personally don’t understand
T usually ask. Jim has asked ber for
clarification on some issues, and
has always received an explana-
tion,” she said.

Mathieson stated that council
members are all working together
quite nicely, but added there is
always going to be some frustra-
tions. She explained that The Com-
mittee of the Whole is a new
system that has only been in place
since January, so there is bound to
be some confusion until everything
gels together.

“It’s very healthy to have some

+ Sun Editor

The Provincial Parks and Wilderness for the 90s plan is the joint
effort of three government ministries — the Ministry of Parks, Min-

: istry of Forests, and the Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum
* Resources — to determine what part of British Columbia should be

set aside for parks and

areas. The

have sought

public input into the process by hosting a series of 105 open houses

of every size,” said

--and/or public

held in “every

»Gordon Rathbone, district manager for the Ministry of Parks, at the

«Castlegar open house and meeting held on Feb. 14. However; some of

the persons that will be most affected by decisions that are made feel
that the public process is not up to snuff. Castlegar Sun Editor Nancy
Lingley recently spoke with outdoorsman Steve Davis about the Parks

and Wilderness for the 90s plan.

+ee

Steve Davis is president of the Castlegar and District Wildlife Associa-

tion; pi t of the ly

d West Kootenay Outdoorsmen, the

Parent organization for many of the Rod and Gun clubs and Wildlife Asso-
ciations in the West Kootenays, which speaks for a total of approximately
2,000 members; a fulltime taxidermist; an active hunter and fisherman; . .

“. .. and also an active conservationist. That's part and parcel of the
responsibility I put on myself as being that kind of recreational user.

“The worry is that they’re going to take one-third of this province and
make it into proposed parks and wildemess areas. These areas are in our
own backyard. These are areas we cherish. And, it seems, because of

concerns, We all question the
value of this system, but there cer-
tainly is no dissention within coun-
cil,” she said, “Each one of us has
our own portfolios. Last year we
used three members on commit-
tees, but looking back in hindsight,

She also said that this system is
working very successfully. for
other municipalities,

However, City Council will
review council procedures some-
time in May, and depending on the
outcome, Council could return to a

we should have waited a year.” modified committee system.

Mini mud mover

SUN STAFF PHOTO / Nancy Lingley

“Boys will be boys, and men will be boys
All that changes is the size of their toys.”

appreci and 1ce the public gives. us. in a’ situation like that," he said.
"They listen to our directions, co-operate-and help. We have always relied on
public support. I've not been to one accident scene yet where somebody has not

helped or offered to help. We really feel good about that.” : BUN STAFF PHOTO’ tansy Ugg "=

SUN STAFF PHOTOS / Narxy Ungléy .

Will youngsters like. Daviene,.8,.and Nathan, 6, Parkin

i consumptive or non-consumptive users? Sis

have tne option of being able to.decide if they will be

WEATHER _

OUTLOOK: The forecast for
Wednesday; A westerly flow of
molst, cool Pacific alr will continue
to give clouds with occasional
sunny periods. Some shower activ-
ity will develop through the day. Highs near 12, Lows
near -2. Thursday and Friday calls for more sunshine but
Friday afternoon we'll be seeing more cloud cover.

ALOOK BACK AT THE PAST WEEK:

Temperature: Max/Date —Min/Date Mean Normal

Mean

13.5/4 2.5/6 72 : 6.8

Precipitation: Rain Snow Total Nomal
Total
28.6 cm.

04cm. 29.0cm. 8.3 em.

Sunshine: Normal Number
of Hours
13.3 39.4

Number of
Hours

wats

REMARKS:

Lower freezing levels and heavy wet snow shut the
Kootenay Pass down for a while on Friday. A thunder-
storm crossing the West Kootenay on Friday afternoon
was accompanied by strong gusty winds which caused
some damage to points in the Pass Creek, Thrums and
South Slocan areas. Ed. note: See Profile on B1.

Forecast provided by
The South - East Interior Weather Office
at Castlegar, B.C,

tourism, our recreational values are not listed as important for us as they
are for i — Not just out-of- ry tourists, but out.
tourists.

“Llive here because I enjoy being here. I enjoy having the wildemess to
carry on my activities, We fear we will be restricted in these activities in
these areas.

Part of that fear stems from the feeling that the whole process is flawed.
; t ryt das

“The government was getting an indication from the public that they
would like to see more parks and wildemess established in B.C., so they
sent a mandate to the Ministry of Forest, Ministry of Parks, and Ministry of
Energy, Mines, and Petroleum to get cracking on input in regards to parks
and wildemess in B.C.

“The bottom line is the ministries involved sort of sat on their hands for
a couple of years until the government set deadlines. Then they gave us six
weeks to two months to come up with constructive submissions on some-
thing they've been working on for years.

“What we haven't been able figure out is why the ministry that is most
important in our minds, the ministry that keeps track of our land, B.C.
Environment, was left out. It was a political decision to leave them out.
The ministry that has the expertise to make this work is not involved.

“Our opinion, as outsiders looking in, is that the Ministry of Parks and
B.C. Environment don't always see eye to eye. It’s no big secret that the
Ministry of Parks really docsn’t want to see any hunting in any parks in
their jurisdiction.

“The people most attracted to parks, tourists who live in the concrete
jungles of the big cities, come to B.C. to see the pristine wildemess and
don’t like the idea of seeing some guy walking around with a rifle. They’re
shocked to see somebody who's going to Kill something they came to look
at,

“T can understand that. But hunting season is in the fall — September to
November, and April until June for bear. Tourist season doesn’t start to
pick up until June, July, and August. As September rolls around, there's
less people in the park. If a proper management plan was put in place for
hunting in parks, there should be little or no conflict between the consump-
tive and non-consumptive users.”

Ne ive users, d Steve, are those that go out to view
the wildlife, hike, take pictures; consumptive users do all that and harvest
wildlife as well, .

“A big thing, too, is that most of the time, if not 100 per cent of the
time, consumptive users put back more into the recreational values that
they treasure. The non-consumptive members use it, but don’t put anything

back into it.

“The park fees they pay pay for the park, they don’t put anything back
into wildlife. Very few dollars come from the non-consumptive user to
Support wildlife and enhancement.

“Hunters pay license fees, and tag fees, and there is a self-imposed sur-
charge made and paid by hunters, that any license sold for consumptive use
of wildlife has an additional three dollar fee that goes into the Habitat Con-
servation Fund, which is devoted entirely to habitat conservation and
wildlife — for land purchases, studies, whatever is needed. B.C. Environ-
ment draws from the Habitat Conservation Fund to put up the money and
wildlife associations put up the manhours.””

Wildlife habitat enhancement is the process of improving the landbase
to make it more suitable for natural wildlife environment. Because humans
have tampered with the natural environment in various ways, it is neces-

» Sary to try to right the wrongs being done said Steve.

“Prescribed burning is one way to enhance wildlife habitat. The natural

. Teforestation process contains natural buming. Otherwise the canopy of the

forest becomes too thick, the light is blocked out, the ground becomes ster-
ile and grasses don’t grow. Buming clears the land for new growth, much
as the property owner goes out and bums off dead vegetation in the spring.

+ Parks policy is not to bum.

““And thinning of the forest is necessary. The trees become too congest-
ed to grow and need thinned, just like carrots in the garden.

“The most critical need for wildlife is good top-quality habitat for win-
tering. Wherever we build a town, the climate is suitable to live in. We take
the best habitat away from wildlife for ourselves, so we need to go to the

‘Next best area and enhance it.

“And there is also the destruction of fish spawning beds. It took Nature
millions of years to build good spawning beds, then hydro comes in and
builds a dam and the spawning bed is under 60 feet of water. So we artifi-

cially enhance the lake by stocking it with fish. If we don’t do that the
coarse fish will take over and you've got a very dead lake,
“Man has to manage wildlife. He’s disrupted the entire circle.

Non-residents spent in excess of $20 million annually in this province.
There are between 120,000 and 140,000 resident hunters.

“Resident hunters spend $35 - $60 a day when they’re bunting. If they
spend 10 days bunting per year, that builds up pretty fast.

“We are bona fide users that pay our own way in this whole make-up.
‘We want to be able to have our input, and have our recreational activities
recognized as important as anybody clse’s. There's room for everybody,
but it appears more and more that we are being phased out.

“We spent all that money recreating there, then spend extra time and
money to be sure wildlife is there for five and pti
use, And we are the first ones to say that deer shouldn't be shot if there is a
shortage of deer.

“We are guided by strict wildlife policies. And we adhere to them. If we
don't, we get nailed. :

“I consider myself a harvester of wildlife. I consider myself no different‘
than the guy who harvests trees when it’s done with a proper management
scheme. The only difference between me and the logger is I don’t do it for
aliving.

They closed down hunting in Kokanec Glacier Park with no input. No
they're reopening talks because we caused such a stink.

“Gordon Rathbone (District Manager for the Ministry of Parks) told me
the policy of Parks is to phase out hunting and trapping in all parks in their

jurisdicti ially in B.C. 4 a

“The input we have as hunters, because their thinking is to phase us out,
does it carry any weight?” 3