TUESDAY
S I N C E
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Ice end season on winning note
MARCH 6, 2012 Vol. 117, Issue 46
110
$
Page 13
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
BEAVER VALLEY
TAKING IT TO THE STREET
Youth council taking shape BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
GUY BERTRAND PHOTO
Teachers hit the streets of Trail on Monday for the first of a three-day walkout this week. The striking teachers handed out information flyers and waved at supporting vehicles passing by.
Get the buzz on bees this week Workshop highlights importance of pollination in the West Kootenay BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
A flowering issue has the West Kootenay a buzz. On Thursday a free workshop on why native pollinators are important to our lifestyle in the West Kootenay, and how we can encourage them through better ecology, will be offered at Selkirk College in the Muriel Griffiths Room. Hosted by Rossland REAL Food, native bee specialist and entomologist Lynn Westcott will be speaking in Trail (Thursday, March 8, 7 p.m.) and in Rossland (April 12) about a species that affects us at a core level. Bees perform one of the
most vital aspects in the creation of a healthy local food system, said Westcott. They are critical to pollination, and pollination is necessary for flowering plants to produce, whether that be fruit or propagation. “Bees have co-evolved with a lot of the flowering plants,” she said. “Pollen provides the primary food source for the next generation of developing bees. And as they fly from flower to flower they transfer pollen from plant to plant which allows the plants to reproduce.” A lot of the fruit plants we derive our food from in the West Kootenay are flowering plants, said Westcott, and they require animal pollinators in order for them to reproduce, to produce seed and to produce food. “And the majority of animal pollinators are insect, and
those are mainly bees,” she said. There are no hard numbers about a percentage of decline in bee populations in the West Kootenay, but all over the world their descent is an issue. Westcott said the factors that play into these global reductions — from habitat loss or habitat changes, to pesticide use, to parasites and diseases — are the same here. In the West Kootenay, many of the 450 species of native bees actually nest in the ground. “So anything that disturbs the soil disturbs the native habitat for these bees,” she said. Honeybees, however, are not a native species. They were introduced from overseas when Europeans first came over to North America. Thursday’s presentation, supported by Communities in
Bloom, will include an overview of plant pollination and why it is important, both in a local food production perspective but also for a healthy ecology perspective. People will be introduced to the various groups of native bees in the Boundary West Kootenay region, as well as learning simple ways to provide habitat for native bees in a yard or in the garden through pollinator friendly flowering plants. The last part of the evening will be spent showing people how simple it is to construct some habitat for bees. Only Trail registrants for the Thursday workshop go to Selkirk College. In Rossland, contact Hanne Smith (250362-7767) to register for the workshop in April. Two field sessions are planned in early June in Trail and Rossland.
A youth centre and programs to fill it are on the radar of a newly formed Youth Advisory Council for the Beaver Valley. The fledgling council arose out of a Columbia Basin Trust (CBT)-sponsored forum in mid-February in Fruitvale. Over 60 people showed up for the forum, with a healthy contingent of youth in attendance (as required by the CBT). Columbia Youth Community Development Centre (YCDC) coordinator Morgan-River Jones, who helped facilitate the forum, said the key issues of space — call it a youth centre — for youth where they could hang out and have programs running from, and an increase in youthoriented programming, were paramount. The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) will now investigate the opportunity to have different kinds of services and events delivered in the Beaver Valley itself. The committee will also be tasked to draw in more youth from the Beaver Valley. “And when they really represent the youth voice they will move forward and try to make some of these priorities happen,” said Jones. Fruitvale, Area A and Montrose’s needs differ from Trail, even though the two regions are close together, said Jones. “A lot of times youth from the Beaver Valley have trouble accessing services because public transportation isn’t so (manageable),” she said. “They feel there needs to be more programming, or enhanced programming, in the community but that has to come from the youth themselves.”
See GREAT, Page 3
TRAIL
Resident questions push for skatepark BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
Trail’s push for a skateboard park has one Trail resident questioning the city’s priorities. Bryan Deferro asked city council why it was even considering the creation of a skate park when it’s not running its existing facilities at full capacity. “Is it good business to even think about doing a skateboard park for several hundred thousands of dollars when the aquatic centre doesn’t meet the needs of some people?” he asked in council chambers last week.
See COUNCIL, Page 3
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