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FEBRUARY 17, 2014
Kootenay Ice earn key points on Prairie swing | Page 10
Day in the Life of Cranbrook & Kimberley > Our special photo feature documenting Jan. 25 begins | Page 8
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Vol. 63, Issue 32
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Guide/outfitting camp supported by RDEK, but not for snowmobiling SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
A new guide/outfitting camp in the heart of mountain caribou habitat has been supported by the regional district board, with an important caveat. On Friday, Feb. 14, the Regional District of East Kootenay board of directors said it would support a new satellite camp for a guide/outfitting operation up Perry Creek Forest Service Road by Liverpool Creek, but only if snowmobile use is not expanded beyond the guide/outfitting business. “I don’t think this should be available for snowmobiling. It is critical caribou habitat and there aren’t very many left. I’m supportive of the camp but not the suggestion that it would then be used by the snowmobiling club as well,” said Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Stetski. The proposed camp, which is awaiting approval by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, is located in an area designated for motorized use adjacent to Perry Creek. However, it’s surrounded by caribou habitat, where motorized vehicles can only use roads, identified travel corridors and cut blocks.
ARNE PETRYSHEN PHOTO
Gordon Terrace Elementary School celebrated 40 years on Friday with a special assembly. The school officially opened at the end of 1972, then expanded again the next year. See Page 5 for more.
See GUIDE/OUTFITTING , Page 4
City awaiting word on provincial deer committee ARNE PETRYSHEN Townsman Staff
Back in January, members of Cranbrook city council met with MLA Bill Bennett to talk about the city’s current issues with urban deer. Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Stetski said the meeting with Bennett was respectful and full of good discussion. “I think our interests
were laid out very clearly,” Stetski said. “MLA Bennett certainly listened to them and I think is really interested in seeing what can be done to improve the situation for municipalities.” On Friday, Feb. 14, Stetski was scheduled to speak with the UBCM member in charge of organizing a provincial
committee to look at urban wildlife. “So they are just getting going with the committee, that’s the committee that the premier and Minister Thompson had promised during our meeting back in December at the UBCM,” he said. Stetski explained that the primary interest is still in having more tools
to deal with the urban wildlife. As it stands now, deer are property of the province and so legislative changes would have to come from that level. “Again, we talked about our interest with having more tools to manage the urban deer situation that we have,” he said. “Basically there are four potentially that
we are hoping to get access to in total. “One is the cull, which currently happens. “Two was hazing with dogs. Kimberley tried a one day experiment last spring and it worked quite well according to Kimberley anyway.” The third option Stetski is hoping to see is
tried out is translocation and the fourth is infertility drugs. The drugs are used in some places in the U.S. “You can basically eject a doe and she won’t have fawns for up to five years, according to the research anyway,” he said, adding there are second and third generation deer living in Cranbook.
“Those are kind of the four tools we’re looking for in the toolbox,” he said. “So we’re going to wait and see what the provincial government and this UBCM committee comes up with.” Stetski said at that point he wasn’t sure if anyone from Cranbrook will be on the committee.
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