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Arrow Lakes News
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Vol. 90 Issue 42 • Wednesday, October 16, 2013 • www.arrowlakesnews.com • 250-265-3823 • $1.25 •
PM40036531
Voyages of Rediscovery bring salmon to the CRT table Claire paradis Arrow Lakes News
A group of paddlers traveling from the ocean to the headwaters of the Columbia River in Canal Flats pulled ashore in Nakusp last week. At first there was a black speck on the grey water reflecting the cloudy sky, but as they came closer, four paddlers took shape in their canoe. Guides Adam Wiks-Arshack, Xander Demetrios, John Malik Zinser and fisher Jay Callahan have been making their way up river since August 1. But all this paddling isn’t just to get some arm exercise: all four young men are passionate about fish and wildlife, and are hoping their trip raises awareness of the plight of salmon who used to navigate the waters of the upper Columbia long before there was a border or dams. On their way north, the three river guides stopped at five different schools to make dugout canoes along the way
as part of the Voyages of Rediscovery, a program designed to facilitate educational expeditions. They have been making Voyages for the past five years, including trips along Lake Roosevelt, and a Canadian excursion into Ontario last year making birch bark canoes. This time out on the water, they are bringing a message that it’s not too late for people to get involved in the Columbia River Treaty (CRT) negotiations to ensure that environmental issues are part of the talks this time. Canadians are key to the treaty, Wiks-Arshack said. “Canadians have the power,” said the expedition leader, pointing out that Canada has flood control and holds the key to the Columbia’s flow. He hopes Canadians will put pressure on the Americans to ensure environmental considerations are part of a new treaty, unlike the one negotiated back when the dams were constructed. Wherever the group has gone, they have asked people living along the Columbia what is at stake, what is
being changed and what’s happening in regards to the CRT locally. For their part, the voyagers would like to see that fish and fish passages are on the table in the next round of negotiations, whenever that takes place, and are hoping to inspire others along the river to stand up for fish as well. They have been able to recruit help along the way directly. Jay Callahan joined the group when they literally crashed into the beach where he was fishing. Passing through one of the locks along the dammed river, the canoe had had to join a larger boat to go through. When they were through and loose of the barge, they had been flung toward the banks of the river, flying through Callahan’s fishing lines and onto land. The fisher, who had recently returned from a huge tribal paddle of over 15,000 people along the Columbia, took it as a sign that his canoe time wasn’t done and joined the expedition. The original trio of river guides had met with good fortune early in their trip
Nakusp mayor Karen Hamling greets paddlers coming with a CRT message. Claire Paradis/Arrow Lakes News up from the Pacific, and had been able to sail hundreds of miles, saving their arms for the challenging rapids near Castlegar. Their first day into Canada they encountered snow for the first time during their trip, an unfortunate cliché, and may encounter more before they are done. After two months on the water, they plan to reach Canal Flats at the end of October and their paddling time will be finished, but their campaign to raise consciousness of the importance of bringing environmental considerations to the treaty table will still be going strong.
Missing mushroom picker’s family struck by bad news
Sandra Chun, Kyung’s daughter, with a picture of her father. Black Press File Black Press The family of a 71-year-old Burnaby man who went missing while picking mushrooms east of Vernon last month has received the worst news possible. Nakusp Search and Rescue, with the help of a police service dog, found a body in the bush about 40 metres from a spur road that connected to the road where Kyung Chun abandoned his van after it got stuck in the mud. He was originally reported missing Sept. 19. RCMP said there was no obvious signs of trauma to the body, which was positively identified as Kyung Chun and it
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was determined that Mr. Chun died of natural causes. Chun, according to his daughter Sandra, has been a hobby mushroom picker for 15 years. Though he normally goes picking with his wife, Seol, on this particular trip he was helping a friend collect pine mushrooms. The area is popular with mushroom pickers, who sell their finds from nearby campsites. “He doesn’t even go into the woods,” said Sandra. “He’s a driver. He always said if he goes into the woods he’d die.” Chun had some health issues. He received a kidney transplant, had a pacemaker, and had two strokes in the past, Sandra said, causing him to walk with a limp. But his mental state was sharp. On Saturday, Sept. 14 around 6 p.m., Chun realized he’d misplaced some of his medication and told his picking partner he was returning to Burnaby to get a refill and would be back on Sunday night. On Monday, a group of campers saw his van stuck on the road as they were heading into the woods. When they returned from the bush on Thursday,
Sept. 19 and saw the van still there “red flags and alarm bells went off,” Sandra said, and Nakusp RCMP were notified. “My mom got a call that afternoon saying do you know where your husband is, and she said no.” Meantime, Chun’s picking partner didn’t feel anything was amiss when Sunday came and went with no sign of Chun, and eventually hitched a ride back to Revelstoke and caught a Greyhound to the Lower Mainland a few days later. “It didn’t set off any alarm bells for him,” Sandra said, clearly exasperated. “That’s why I’m so angry with this man.” Chun had been seeking a shortcut off the mountain on the logging roads and had reached a dead end when he got stuck on a muddy track. He was only about seven kilometres from the main track, Sandra said, and the area is frequented by pickers. “When you’re picking you’ll go anywhere and everywhere,” she said. Sandra said it appears he had attempted to free his wheels from the muddy track on the evening of Sept. 14,
without success, then opted to spend the night in the van. There was plenty of food and fuel in the van, she said, so she wonders why he didn’t just sit tight and wait. The next morning, it seems, he tried to find his way out. The van was found locked, with the driver’s side window cracked open a little to let the mushrooms breathe. “Everything from there is a mystery.” When Sandra and other family members arrived to assist search-and-rescue volunteers Sept. 21, she was surprised because the area where he’d disappeared didn’t appear desolate at all; there were several well-used roads and in many cases the surroundings were opened by clearcuts. It didn’t seem an area where one could easily get lost, she said. Sandra wonders if the stress of the situation contributed to his disappearance. “Maybe he was disoriented,” she said. “There’s obviously something that happened when he left the van, to make the choices he did. It’s horrific. It’s a nightmare.”
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