SCOTT WOODS: Canadian Fiddle Champ will get you singing, dancing at May 29 show - p. 12
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Weds., May 23, 2012
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CP Rail workers serve strike notice for May 23 ALEX COOPER reporter@revelstoketimesreview.com
The union representing CP Rail engineers, conductors and rail traffic controllers issued a 72-hour strike notice Saturday, CP announced in a press release. The notice means the workers can go on strike starting just after midnight on Wednesday, May 23. The workers, which are represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, voted by a 95 per cent margin in favour of a strike in April. The current collective agreement expired at the start of 2012 and negotations have been ongoing since October. A strike could result in all train traffic shutting down throughout CP’s Canadian network. CP says it is looking to make changes to the penA CP Rail train belches exhaust as it starts moving after waiting just behind the crossing near the Revelstoke Railway Museum on May 19. The workers could be on strike starting May 23. Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Times Review
Pensions, page 23
‘Revelstoke Caribou Rearing in the Wild’ proposes local maternity pen Coalition of local stakeholders wants to build maternity pen to help threatened caribou survive gestation, vulnerable calves’ first weeks AARON ORLANDO editor@revelstoketimesreview.com
A coalition of Revelstoke stakeholders interested in establishing a caribou maternity pen project are scheduled to present their case to Revelstoke city council on May 22. The Revelstoke Caribou Rearing in the Wild (RCRW) group wants to build a maternity pen and place 10 female caribou from the Columbia North herd inside as they gestate, give birth and raise their calves through the critical first six weeks of their lives. The idea is to protect the vulnerable calves from predators such as wolves, bears and wolverines. Cory Legebokow is the Habitat Officer with the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations. He’s the project manager working alongside of a coalition of stakeholders on the maternity penning project. “There’s been a keen interest in caribou recovery for quite a long time by all of the stakeholders,”
Revelstoke stakeholders are seeking to create a mountain caribou maternity pen near Lake Revelstoke. Mark Bradley photo courtesy of Parks Canada
Legebokow said. “It’s really just a natural fit that we team together on this and try and make a difference.” RCRW, and the city’s environmental advisory committee are asking the city to be the applicant for project funding, which is expected to cost $250,000–$300,000 in 2013, and $200,000 each year for years two and three. A staff re-
port from City of Revelstoke economic development director Alan Mason said administrative costs to the city would “not be very large” – primarily staff time to apply for and manage funds. Legebokow said RCRW was seeking funding and in-kind donations from many organizations, such as the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Pro-
gram, the Columbia Basin Trust, Parks Canada and provincial caribou recovery programs. The approximately 10-acre pen would be located on the west side Lake Revelstoke, near existing caribou calving grounds. Pregnant females would spend about 3.5 months in the pens, which would be guarded by a full-time herdsman. The proposal is to build the pen in the fall of 2012 and introduce the first 10 females in April of 2013. The animals will be tracked with radio collars after release. RCRW describes the project as an experiment to test the benefits of the pens, as well as an attempt to increase the growth rate of the Columbia North caribou herd. Several projects aimed at reducing caribou predation rates are ongoing in B.C. In the Williams Lake area, wolves were culled and sterilized in an attempt to boost caribou numbers. Another two projects in the Revelstoke and Prince George areas took aim at moose. Hunting reduced their density with the
goal of reducing the number of wolves in the areas, leading in a reduction of caribou predation by wolves. “None of these studies have presented final results yet the decline of the Columbia North herd has been less severe and appears to have stabilized since this treatment began,” writes the RCRW in their proposal. “However, the population has not begun to recover.” The report says predation of very young calves by wolverines and bears may be a factor. They cite a maternal penning experiment in the Yukon that increased survival rates for penned calves. Three-months after release, 74 per cent had survived, compared to just 15 per cent of free range calves. The RCRW doesn’t see the maternity pens as a panacea for mountain caribou recovery. “Maternity penning alone cannot recover populations from critically low numbers,” the RCRW states Caribou, page 4
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