The Atlin Whisper

“Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world.”

Margaret Mead

HI JINGO IN THE B.C. LANDS DEPARTMENT?

‘Hi Jingo’ is a term often used by police departments and the military to describe questionable dealings that take place in the upper echelons, behind closed doors. The term also seems to come up when governments sidestep proper procedure in favour of political expediency, special interests, or both. Many Atlin residents are wondering whether they might be seeing the results of some hi jingo that may have taken place in B.C.’s Lands Department.

Between 2019 & 2020, pretty well all the Land Act Conservation Lands, inclusive of UREPs (recreational reserves) & NOIs (notices of intent) with conservation sub-purposes, were cancelled by Authorizations Manager, Bobby Love, across the entire Skeena Region.

In Atlin’s case (and many others I suspect), this was done without any consultation with the public or their representative bodies. Our only governing body, ACID, was left completely in the dark in this matter, as were the residents and stakeholders in the community. How could this happen?

In Atlin, it began with Authorizations requesting that B.C. Parks, who held an interest in the Pine Creek UREP, review that UREP’s status. At this time, the presence of the Atlin Land Use Plan prompted Parks to suggest its status be returned to Land Authorizations, with the understanding that an informed community would have input in the matter as required in the “Impacts Assessement Process.” To quote B.C. Parks’ Nancy White: “BC Parks proposed to reach out directly to the communities, and Crown Lands staff agreed that time would be provided.”

Well, it wasn’t. Authorizations manager Bobby Love took it out of B.C. Parks’ hands and summarily cancelled the UREP status without notice of cancellation, and without any public input whatsoever. When asked why, Love refused to publicly share the rationalization for the cancellation. Again, why?

Just like those old TV detectives, I have a lot of trouble with ‘coincidences’. They prompt me to ask questions like “what could be going on with that land that might require a summary decision to change a long standing land status without public input.” Well, in Atlin’s case, consider the following:

Between 2014 and 2016 a limited corporation - the Atlin Tlingit Economic Limited Partnership - secured government funding for a pre-feasibility study towards the development of a hydro project on public lands. Following that, a full-bore Feasibility Study led to project development that continued into 2022. The centre of the activity was to be the location of the UREP at the outflow of Pine Creek.

To a public increasingly critical of government bodies, this sort of thing looks like hi jingo, smells like hi jingo, and quacks like hi jingo. I believe the B.C. government has some splainin’ to do, starting with B.C. Land Authorizations. Let’s make sure we get those answers. In the meantime, let’s ask for our damn UREP back.

Paul Lucas

Atlin and Haines Junction JCR with the majority of the medals awarded at the JCR National Marksmanship Competition

The Atlin JCR Air Rifle Team

At the National Shoot

The Atlin JCR worked hard over the past few months getting ready to represent Atlin at a National level!

And it paid off!

The Atlin JCR team won 2nd place overall as a team

The Atlin JCR team won 2nd place overall at the Snap Shoot Competition

Myrianna Collwell won 1st place as an individual shooter in Prone with a score of 99.2 out of 109

Hunter Hanslit won 3rd place as an individual shooter in Prone with a score of 98 out of 109

Hailey Hanslit was in 4th place as an individual shooter in Standing with a score of 76.3 out of 109

Young Grizzly bear caught on camera from his cabin roof by David Thorn, Atlin

STRANGE ENCOUNTERS WITH MY GUITAR HEROES - Pt 4

Howard Roberts, Joe Pass, Ralph Towner, The ‘A’ team

RALPH TOWNER

Skagway,AK,1985-Lynn Canal. Back in the Cessna, the pilot turned final and flared for landing. The little wheels squeaked as we contacted the strip in Haines, and we all piled out on the runway, excited to be there and raring to go.

As it happened, John Kilmer was mixing the concerts for the Chilkat Art Centre in Haines that year. I was thrilled he was mixing Oregon, and so was he. First stop was the hall where I found him covered in duct tape and patch cords - happy as a clam. I waved, let him get on with the job, and headed backstage.

I poked my head in the door of the green room where the band was putting together a set list, and Ralph Towner, in the flesh, looked up and laughed,

“Finally we meet.”

I grinned.

“Well, I drove 1500 miles and flew down Lynn canal in a bush plane to get here,”

“Oh, sure you did.”

I spent a few afternoons with Ralph during a time when I was recording a new album in Seattle. I was about to leave his house after one of those visits, when I thought I would ask him a favour. The Oregon piece that had floored me years before was ‘Yet to Be‘ from ‘Oregon Live In Concert.‘ It haunted me.

“Ralph, would you play ‘Yet To Be‘ with me? I would tickle me no end.”

“Sure,” he replied “It’s all in muscle memory at this point. Let’s do it.”

For me, playing “Yet to Be” with Ralph Towner was a little like getting to play “So What” with Miles Davis. It was an out of body experience. Thing is, we’d spent most of the afternoon drinking pots of coffee, and the tempo was ... well … fast.

A few years later, I found myself standing in the stage entrance of a concert hall in Jena, Germany after the rehearsal for the premier performance of the Oregon’s latest release - ‘Oregon With Orchestra,‘ recorded with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony. While I have seen these guys play many times, the concert that night is etched in memory.

The audience (as are most audiences attending Oregon events) was entirely composed of fans - and if they weren’t fans when they arrived, they were surely fans when they left. Most had already heard the band’s two cd recording and the place was vibrating with anticipation. What happened that night though, was spellbinding. It’s not easy to recreate a recorded performance like this, particularly when you have a paired down orchestra and only one rehearsal. But what came off the stage that night was magic.

I have stayed in touch with Ralph over the years, even getting to play with him briefly at the Dawson City Music Festival. He is energetic, funny, irreverent, and has the musical focus of an eagle. He is also one of the best composers/guitarists/pianists on the planet. And the band, Oregon, is a potent force in the modern music world.