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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015
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Proposed coho hatchery By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
SLEDDING the slopes
A Houston volunteer streamkeepers group wants to start a small coho hatchery in Houston. The hatchery would incubate 10,000 Coho Salmon eggs between October 2015 and May 2016, and then release them into the Upper Bulkley River (Little Bulkley) in May and June 2016. The project idea was presented to council last Tuesday by Cindy Verbeek, Northern Representative for A Rocha Canada, and Brenda Donas, Community Advisor for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). It was inspired by the declining populations in coho and other salmon, and the need for enhancement on the Upper Bulkley, Verbeek said. The last activity towards enhancing the Upper Bulkley River was a roundtable that met in early-2000, she
Photo submitted
Taylor Wandler stands with his sled in the Telkwa Range meadows. It’s a great time of year for local snowmobilers, and the Telkwa Range trail is being groomed continually and is in great shape, said Les Auston, Snowmobile Club Secretary. With the mild weather, snowmobilers are advised to check avalanche conditions at www.avalanche.ca.
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said, adding that the group no longer exists. Verbeek says the hatchery project is dependant on community support and on them finding a suitable location for the hatchery, which they plan to be mobile and built on a 14-foot trailer. They need a heated area to store the hatchery over the winter - a place with electricity and a clean water source. If the project moves forward, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada will supply the hatchery equipment, technical information and hatchery knowledge and training for volunteers, Verbeek said. Besides rebuilding the declining coho population, this project is also about raising awareness and growing local appreciation for the salmon resource. Verbeek says schools, community groups, landowners
and recreational anglers would be invited to volunteer or tour the hatchery. Local volunteers would be trained by DFO staff in collecting, handling and fertilizing eggs, as well as caring for and releasing the salmon fry. C o u n c i l l o r Jonathan Van Barneveld says he thinks the proposed hatchery is a great project. “The Upper Bulkley has been labeled the most endangered river in the Skeena watershed. It’s great that you’re looking at that,” he said. The Upper Bulkley Stream-keepers would welcome volunteers for waterquality monitoring or hatchery work. Anyone interested in volunteering or anyone with information about a possible location for the hatchery can contact Cindy Verbeek at 250-8452222.
Recycling creates heated discussion at Regional District By Flavio Nienow
Director of Environmental Services for RDBN, prepared a report to the board of directors explaining how the extended program would work and how much it would cost. The proposed recycling program would expand the range of materials accepted
Black Press
During the Feb. 12 meeting of the Regional District of B u l k l e y - N e c h a ko (RDBN), the board of directors discussed expanding the recycling programs in the region for 2015. Janine Dougall,
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RDBN considers program to recycle larger range of materials
for recycling within the RDBN. The new program would cost $71,650 more. In 2014, recycling cost the RDBN an esti-
mated $274,121, but the expanded program would cost $345,771. The report says there is insufficient funding available to
implement an expanded recycling program if they only use the 2015 annual allocation values. In some areas such
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as Fraser Lake, there isn’t even enough funding to cover the existing program, let alone the expanded one. In 2014, the RDBN reduced funding to recycling groups where services were established by Multi-Material B.C. (MMBC). Therefore,
recycling groups in Smithers and Fort St. James (where MMBC is providing services) have 40 per cent less funding. Smithers mayor Taylor Bachrach said he thinks his town is being penalized for having a contract with MMBC. See RDBN on Page 2
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