Terrace Standard
SPORTS
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
www.terracestandard.com
A27
Local badminton players net wins TWO CONSECUTIVE badminton tournaments took place in Terrace two weekends ago, with players from Terrace and Prince Rupert going head to head at Thornhill Jr. Secondary. On Saturday, Nov. 23, the Terrace Junior Badminton Club hosted its annual fall tournament with 23 junior badminton players competing in doubles and singles. In the girls U11 singles, Noella Baerg of Terrace came away with first, with Ruby Jaakkola of Terrace in second. In the girls U13 doubles,
first went to Leah Julseth and Sarah Kroeker of Terrace, with Ruby and Rylee Jaakkloa in second. For boys U11 singles, Carson Vibert of Terrace took first, with Terrace’s Levi Kroeker in second. And for boys U13 singles, Levi Ewald of Terrace came first, with Terrace’s Logan Clunas in second. Jake Blix took the top spot in the boys U16 singles category, with Noah Allison of Prince Rupert in second. And Prince Rupert’s David Armstrong paired up with Terrace’s Carson Vibert to take
first in boys U11 doubles, with Braden Clunas & Levi Kroeker of Terrace in second. Boys U13 doubles saw Levi Ewald and Carson Vibert of Terrace in first, with Terrace’s Logan Clunas and Joshua Brown in second. And the next day, Sunday, Nov. 24, 25 adult badminton players came out for the annual Doubles Tournament. In men’s doubles, Andrew Blix and Jake Blix of Terrace came first, with Prince Rupert’s Julian Callangan and Thai Pham as runners-up. For ladies’ doubles, Prince Rupert’s Lena Ly and Cathy
Young took the top spot, with Terrace’s Mel Denomme and Brianna Weir in second. Prince Rupert’s Lena Ly and Steve Weir took first in the mixed doubles category, with Terrace’s Mel Denomme and Prince Rupert’s Julian Callangan pairing up to earn second. The Terrace Badminton Clubs are fully up and running now into the 2013/2014 season. The juniors are almost at full capacity of 40, a few spaces are left and the adults are looking to encourage anyone to come out and give badminton a try.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MEN’S DOUBLES winners Jake and Andrew Blix.
‘Best friends’ win gold and silver Sports JADE HEATHFIELD and Angelina Filtziakis, both 11, may go to different schools here in Terrace, but their time training and competing together as members of the Terrace Bluebacks swim club has helped their friendship grow. “We’re best friends,” said Filtziakis, who recently took silver for her age category at the first meet of the season in Prince George Nov. 15 - 17. Heathfield, who only began swimming competitively last year, took gold. And coach Mike Christensen said the girls were neck and neck throughout the competition, and by winning in different races – Filtziakis says her favourite race is the 100 metre breast stroke, with Heathfield’s favourite being the 100 metre back stroke – they helped each other secure their spots
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on the podium. They were also both invited to the Swim BC regional training camp in Kitimat Nov. 30 - Dec. 1 to train with Olympic swimmer Scott Dickens. The rest of the swim team travelled to Prince George for the meet last month – Thomas Christensen, Hazel McDaniel, Pasha Ormerod and Harlene Takhar – had solid results as well. “We had a small team but some great performances,” said Christensen. “Many best times.” It’s usually the older swimmers who attend this meet, he explained, as to why the club travelled with a smaller team. There are also a number of swimmers on the team who aren’t swimming competitively – not yet, at least. Next up, the team is heading to Kitimat this weekend, Dec. 13-15.
n 2006 the government of Alberta banned grizzly bear hunting. Not a moment to soon, according to scientists who estimate there are 760 of the great bears left in that province. In B.C., fewer than one hundred grizzlies are thought to exist in each of the Squamish-Lillooet, South Selkirk, Yahk, and Kettle-Granby regions. Only two dozen grizzlies are estimated to inhabit the Stein-Nahatlatch Valleys, half a dozen is the best estimate for the North Cascades, while only two grizzly have been documented in the Garibaldi-Pitt River area. These alarmingly low numbers of a species that once ranged from Alaska to New Mexico, did not deter the Provincial Government from giving conditional approval to an IPP in the Squamish-Lillooet over the strong objections of wildlife biologists who say the construction attending this project would put serious stress on the recovering grizzly population there. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) – the group that was established in 1977 and charged by the Federal Government to provide a single, scientifically sound classification of wildlife species at risk of extinction when the Species at Risk Act was brought down in 2001 – has issued a special warning concerning grizzly bear populations in southern B.C. and Alberta. The committee solemnly states that the fate of the southern bears turns on whether they can reconnect with more secure populations. Presumably this means more northerly populations of grizzlies.
ANNA KILLEN PHOTO
TERRACE BLUEBACKS Jade Heathfield and Angelina Filtziakis with their medals.
Tragically, those the additional impact northerly populations of of men who like to kill the big brown bears are them for fun. under considerable presEstimating grizzly sure in their own right, as populations is a lot more COSEWIC itself notes difficult than estimating when it specifically cites the number of seals or the Enbridge Northern polar bears. Doing so Gateway pipeline prowith a high degree of acposal as a significant curacy is simply imposthreat to grizzly populasible. The confidence tions since its proposed levels on past estimates route would cut directly of this province’s bear through medium to high populations are so wide SKEENA ANGLER density areas of grizzly that the authors of such habitat, most of which reports have admitted ROB BROWN is currently inaccessible that they can’t be trustby road. ed. What we do know Since COSEWIC iswith a high degree of sued that warning there accuracy is the number have been eight more bears that are killed. pipeline proposals that Six biologists from will snake through the lands frequented by Simon Fraser University, the University of the northern grizzlies. The latest of these Victoria, and the Raincoast Conservation is a proposal by Pacific Northern Gas for Foundation examined the grizzly statistics a line they hope to run through the Class on grizzly bear mortality in B.C. and pubOne section of the Zymoetz – important lished their findings recently. They found grizzly bear habitat and one of the most that the government targets in its managehighly prized stretches of steelhead water ment units were exceeded by two to 171 on earth. per cent (one to 24 bears) during three Grizzlies have to contend with habitat period over the decade studied. More than destruction due to mining, IPPs, pipelines, 3,500 grizzlies (including more than 1,200 road building, logging, agriculture, ur- females) were killed during the study peribanization and poaching. The bears suffer od. Legally sanctioned trophy hunting took when stocks of salmon decline and climate more than 2,800 of those bears (including change has a significant impact on them – more than 900 females), a whopping 80 as it does us. With all these pressures work- per cent. Other sources of mortality including against their survival, they don’t need ed poaching, shooting of nuisance bears in
Poor bears
Scope Shames
AS LONG as there is enough of a snow base, opening day on Shames Mountain is slated for this Saturday, Dec. 14. The Shames Express Bus will be back again this year, available during the school break and on Saturdays. The bus leaves the west end Copperside at 8 a.m. and returns from the mountain at approximately 4:30 p.m. daily starting Dec. 21 through Jan. 5.
defence of people or property, and road or rail accidents. Putting the ethical and moral issues involved in the shooting of intelligent creatures that pose no significant threat to humans aside, removing three and half thousand long lived creatures that have a low rate of reproduction over a ten year period certainly doesn’t appear to be sustainable. Andrew Wilson of FLNRO responded by saying the government sanctions the kill of 300 grizzlies a year out of a population of 15,000, which is two per cent. Mr. Wilson can be forgiven for defending some of his staff, but he knows as well as I do that the figure of 15,000 bears is sketchy at best and that 300 bears may well represent a much higher percentage of the total population. Ministry biologists and their peers agree that mining, IPPs, pipelines, road building, logging, agriculture, urbanization and poaching reduce bear populations. How can their bosses then argue that grizzly populations remain stable in the dramatic increase of all but one of these activities? Biologists agree that the precautionary principle and biological diversity are fundamental to wise wildlife management. Current grizzly bear management runs counter to both those principles. Managers should err on the side of caution. Given the difficulties surrounding the estimating of grizzly bear populations, and the enormity of the other stresses the animals face, the only wise course is to halt all grizzly bear hunting and, in so doing eliminate one of the greatest threats to their survival.