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The Rocky Mountain Goat News PM42164515 Serving Valemount, McBride & the Robson Valley since 2010. Locally owned & operated.
Thursday July 7th, 2016
Volume 7 Issue 27
McBride Elementary on the chopping block? By EVAN MATTHEWS
Simpcw relocation remembered
McBride Centennial Elementary may be shut down for the 2017-18 school year. School District 57 is currently discussing the potential of moving elementary
school students under the same roof as the secondary school. Sharon Cairns, superintendent of schools for School District 57, says it has to do with the occupancy rates of the schools. The elementary
school is currently operating at an occupancy rate of roughly 53 per cent, while the secondary school is operating at less than half. Cairns says McBride Elementary is the only school in the division
being considered for colocation. She estimates the closure would save the division upward of $150,000 annually. Karen Dube, chairperson of McBride’s Parent Advisory Council (PAC), says she would have
preferred some direct contact from school division rather than having read a news brief. “I have direct communication with some of the board members, and nothing has been mentioned about this,” says Cont’d on A06
A08
New Flow Trail opens
A02
Listings on P15! Photo: Laura Keil
Prince George
Alana Duncan and Tamey Wood appear to be walking on water as they do an impromptu tandem paddle board on Kinbasket Lake recently. Cooler temperatures and rain have put a damper on many people’s outdoor plans.
Rare species uncovered at Ancient Forest by EVAN MATTHEWS
Council hears crosswalk pitch A05
With the Ancient Forest now designated as Chun T’oh Wudujut Provincial Park, the old is new again. Keeping with the theme, scientists have discovered a plant – the Bog Adder’s-Mouth Orchid – not seen in the B.C. Interior for 84 years. Darwyn Coxson, a professor in the Ecosystem Science and Management program at UNBC, has been doing a biodiversity survey
for all the plants in the new park. “We often assume we understand more about our landscapes than we actually do,” says Coxson. “(In the last 100 years) the interior in the northern part of B.C. has had far fewer scientists than the coast… We’re excited about the possibility of new discoveries in the area,” he says. With the help of his students, Coxson started his studies in the middle of June. At the end
of their first day of field work, students had found just over 400 plant species — an “astonishing total” — a total Coxson says isn’t likely to be exceeded anywhere else in western North America. The two most notable species Coxson and his students have found to date are the Joe Pye Weed and the Bog Adder’sMouth Orchid, which are redand blue-listed, respectively. Many red-listed species are on the verge of extinction, while
blue-listed species are sensitive to human activities and are at risk of disappearing in the future, according to Coxson. The Bog Adder’s-Mouth Orchid was last seen in 1932, at Aleza Lake, Coxson says. Aleza lake is roughly 30 km west of Chun T’oh Wudujut Provincial Park. In regards to the Joe Pye Weed, Coxson says it’s only the third population found in the entire province, and is under 100 Cont’d on A07
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