WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012
NEWS: Timber review coming to Houston
PROFILE: Library looks beyond the book
PAGE 6
PAGE 18
Proudly serving Houston and District - Home of Canada’s Largest Fly Rod
30 days... ‘til Relay for Life June 22nd, 2012 “Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back”
www.houston-today.com
NO. 21 $1.35 Inc. HST
Short-log switch costs contractors By Andrew Hudson Houston Today
Andrew Hudson/Houston Today
SIZZLING Send-off
Houston Secondary’s girls rugby team was out in force Wednesday, flipping burgers to fund their first-ever trip to provincials in North Vancouver this weekend.
Changes at Canfor’s Houston sawmill will boost its output, but the move will cost logging contractors millions in new equipment. Canfor now receives so-called “long logs,” which contractors can legally haul in at lengths up to 80 feet, often the entire height of a tree. Starting in June, Canfor will begin switching to short or “cut-to-length” logs, which contractors cut to 20 feet or shorter lengths in the bush. Canfor spokesperson Christine Kennedy says the mill has several reasons to make the switch now. “The merchandiser decks at the mill that cut long logs into shorter lengths are old,” she said. “They’re past repair, and they’re no longer capable of feed-
“ “It’s progress, at the end of the day.”
- Lorne Himech
ing the mill.” Bringing in short logs will also boost the mill’s productivity, she said, since they will arrive in more uniform lengths. Finally, Kennedy said going short means contractors can cut away defective portions of timber, something Canfor expects to see more often as it cuts into beetle-killed pine and older stands of balsam fir. Kennedy could not say how Canfor’s pay rates will change to accommodate the switch, an issue that several Houston contractors said will be negotiated over the summer. See LOGS on Page 2
Irrigation Lake dam fails B.C. safety standards, requires upgrade By Andrew Hudson Houston Today
District staff are taking a close look at the dam holding up one of Houston’s favourite swimming holes. Built before 1947, the dam on Dunalter Lake, popularly known as Irrigation Lake, no
longer complies with B.C.’s dam safety standards. Speaking to Houston councillors last week, Chelton van Geloven, dam safety officer for the Skeena region, said the dam is unlikely to break. But it does need an upgrade soon or the province will have to
“
“I want to make sure the District is aware of the opportunity, and the decision isn’t made without them.”
pull it down. “It seems like this dam was particu-
- Chelton van Geloven
larly well made,” van Geloven said. “There’s lots and lots of rock
on it. Water has flown over the top and we haven’t seen very much erosion.” “That said, enough water could cause it to erode and fail.” If the dam did break, Dunalter Lake and whatever debris is picked up could spill into a house downstream.
In 2010, a wall of mud destroyed five homes and several orchards near Oliver, B.C. after an earthen dam built in the 1930s suddenly failed and released two-thirds of a nearby reservoir. Soon after that, B.C.’s natural resources ministry ordered a review and annual
reports on every dam in the province. Van Geloven said that’s when Dunalter was found to be non-compliant. “We’ve definitely kept it safe since then,” he said, noting that he and a neighbouring landowner now monitor its floodgate. See DAM on Page 3