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TUESDAY JULY 10, 2012
Proudly serving Williams Lake and the Cariboo-Chilcotin since 1930
VOL. 82. No. 55
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Young teen assaulted A 13-year-old boy was assaulted Wednesday afternoon while riding his bike. The Williams Lake RCMP say that at about 3 p.m. they received a complaint that the teen was riding his 2010 Kona Shred mountain bike on trails behind Cataline Elementary School, between Blair Street and Midnight Drive. Two males between the ages of 15 and 20, wearing black clothing, thin black winter gloves, sunglasses, toques and red bandanas around their faces stopped the boy and produced a knife, telling him to get off the bike. Police say the males then demanded the 13-year old to take off his shoes and, while doing so, he was struck in the back of the head. Anyone who may have witnessed the event or has information pertaining to this file is asked to contact the Williams Lake RCMP detachment at 250-392-6211 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Monica Lamb-Yorski photo
MLAs Donna Barnett, Ben Stewart, John Rustad and Norm Macdonald, along with committee clerk Susan Sourial (standing) during the Legislative Assembly’s Special Committee on Timber Supply hearing held in Williams Lake July 5.
Full house at timber talk in city
Inside the Tribune NEWS Deer, dog tangle.
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SPORTS KRFK trek completed.
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COMMUNITY A12 Book to present local scenery. Weather outlook: Mix of sun/ cloud/chance of showers today, high of 29 C. Cloudy Wednesday, high of 30 C.
Monica Lamb-Yorski Tribune Staff Writer In a standing-room only forum held at the Pioneer Complex in Williams Lake Thursday, presenters to the legislative assembly’s timber supply committee said the forests are crucial for the future. Several speakers referenced the Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Management Plan, suggesting it be upheld. Cariboo Conservation Society’s Martin Kruus said old-growth management areas were allocated for a reason and shouldn’t be logged. “Unique compromises that were made between environmental groups and industry need to stay in place,” Kruus said. Rancher Randy Saugstad agreed, saying the decisions on how much should be logged and when were all arrived at through extensive consultation and landuse planning processes. “All that should not be wiped out for a short-term political decision for the benefit of a few at a
very great cost to the rest of us,” Saugstad said. “I’m not against logging if it’s done in a professional and sustainable manner, but I’m absolutely against what’s already happening out there and how much worse it might get if this committee comes to the wrong decision.” On behalf of the city, Mayor Kerry Cook suggested an annual allowable cut of between 2.8 million and 3.1 million cubic metres as a base line target for the Williams Lake timber supply area. “I understand that there are additional opportunities involving forest inventories and incremental silviculture that could help to further increase the timber supply,” Cook said, adding the city recognizes the need to protect the mid term timber supply but that the volume of timber attributable to steep slopes and low volume stands must be harvested. “If there are issues around the economics of logging steep slopes and low-volume stands, then we need to do whatever is necessary to make these areas accessible and
economical to log, such as looking at different trucking options, eliminating the carbon tax, and reducing administration and obligations on timber harvesters.” Gary Arnold, interim general manager of Ulkatcho’s West Chilcotin Forest Products, the entity trying to restart the mill in Anahim Lake, said one million cubic metres of trees have been shape filed in the Anahim Lake area. “There is no possible way the West Chilcotin and Anahim timber supply can support all the allowed impact that currently is there,” Arnold said. “By removing the partition, we’ve opened up the western supply block to be impacted by Williams Lake licences,” Arnold said, adding outdated timber inventories don’t allow Ulkatcho to have meaningful and deep consultation. Esket’emc chief Fred Robbins described elders sitting on their porches watching truck loads upon truck loads of timber leaving their territory while they are living in poverty.
Tax dollars aren’t enough — First Nations need revenue from resources, Robbins said. If companies are going to clear cut an area, they should have to replant within two years, he added. Esket’emc band member Irvine Johnson also condemned forestry practices. “I don’t think we should be waiting to see what’s going to happen with regeneration on a mountainside,” Johnson said. “The prescription treatment for the mountainside should be different to prevent slides and other siltation.” Advocating that it’s important to genuinely include First Nations in the annual allowable cut, Johnson suggested First Nations are more than just a referral process and have a stake. Tl’esqox (Toosey) Chief Francis Laceese likened the spread of pine beetle to the small pox epidemic and blamed the government and industry for spreading the beetle. See FORESTER Page A2