1984-2001 Arrow Creek logging controversies

34 Pages·2008·7.55 MB·English

Creston
'Va11e~
"hursday,January 12, 1984
,...
,P.y4"~~Arr9Wheadwaterstoo fragileto log
- '·0~,~. -. '. '.' . . ., .. . .
etcher'·iO ii'Qrea'serii~,~.'~ SerViceheld Tuesday in Creston.. .water provided by the' two. .
". ~ " ••~'
;bY>' ,. KentWatsonwassPeakingat a When asked his personal opin- creeks, Watson said. he is'-
, special'meeting ofthe PublicAd-' iononlogginginthearea; inlight concerned with the envjroIlII).en~:.'
'.·viso~.~~7tee.,,t?;)the Forest ofthe quality and quantity ofthe 'Ive ~n a lot;'·'·of areaS:
.... . '., '. destroyed,' he said. 'We 'wan'r
what is best f,?rCrestOri:,Wit[~;(
loggedand wrecked,Crestonsu!--.
fers. If it's' logged and noi
·wrecked, I'd be happy to be
proved wrong,: he said. . '
The expert said that the issue'
oflogging inthe watersheds was
· 'the touchiest'.he had ever b~ri'
rl
·involvedin.
.Alotofcare wouldhave.tobe :
taken,' he:ildped. .~
But, Watson' said, there are,
areas of stable soil. conditions
p~~'
which ~ould .be harvested
without damage to the environ: •
rne~t,on. the 'strength ofWs
study. ',.. .~~..":'~'7-'
TheareaisintheWynrigeI1Jox',
of
and Logging sphere 'WJiIend; .
.':""".ant.s~pt.$s,!lPPr?~~~~!.,y1Y~;~·
'},"lsql1ilre kilornel-resofJand. Wal'~
'~,. ~npointed outthatthemaps l\Dc:t
, 'kport do.·not implytha~)9gging.
i';;'" .willtak~ pla~e in\the.~~, :.bUIp
, 11,.;)1 '\..0'" f".,........... .-.-•..•~t·~f thpr n~ta.J.
\'U:;~~V.YCU, lit: :H:U~• ..,w~~~·W~_\ ....•
,.wh~a.t is best fo')r:CreStqD.,'J"i.I,f"{..i("~·c~·:".::,,-;:
loggedandwrecked creston -suft': ,.>'-,
not;', ,~~~
fers. H it.'s,:l~t~and
:wrecked, l'dbe happy to- ~_:, "'
't}', '
proved'wrong-,:~he said.,' ,--
The expert-sald'that the i&su~~,~',:>-
w~ :_,~
oflogginginthe watersheds
, 'the touchiest•'.he had everb~n •••. ....-.:. J
-involvedin, '-.
'Alotofcare wouldhave tobe ':
taken,' he;added. ~,
But, ,Watson' said,,ther~: are~::
areas of stable soil eonditi()DS'
which would --be harvested how
without;~ to,tlie,:envh-on~·_.
ment,- on -the -'strength of, his'
study, '~t;,~ .'_:,~d,;·~~;".·
ThE{areaisinthiw~~f&x',
,and LoggingSphere btfufl~ence ,
'i-:;,;=~:~~~~r'~~r.~' !i~'
•:"'.?', Solipointedoutthatthemaps and
,.~port d~; notimply,~hai)~Wng
,willtake plac:ein~tllei~ bm '
.-oJ:;. i
, '.-that they fomi pan.;ioftJie data','
base'on whicha decision to log ~
wouldbe made; ~:; :." •;
was ,(
The mapping; commis-
sioned by the'F~ -s.em, in
1979 andreceiv~; i>~~~~ of'
the PAConMon~y~ :~~!I:"
, PubliC}lliv~ '.
• the'-'Th~~~h '. 'tf'9">-·. .;#'
_ti 'Ne~ri~-~,:j, ., ;Ji'-"+~'~:~'
~tiri":'tUfa~',-' ,•.' .-
:," g"., -,-,
bEt"estab~
of~l"" ~'. ,- -~ .,'
f
~ \.v .;j'
rned,residents ~.~udythe zoning<:"', p
Advance Photo 'p
.. , Tn response to a queSt.i9non"r~
)n'Ce;rn's . : r .!bilityfof th1~iwil\.erShed,:~;
~
'~:';~; ~Gary Boyden,,'of W'y''-nildeLBo,x",-,
~:. . pointedOutthat the companyby"
:~~ '\ ' law,:m~ustfollowthe-loggingpIan,
· ..··Was ·created.:/ " but :added that','-Some't~,;'
~.Y' Most residents, whether or- camiot be guarantet;<i, partic<
chard ownerS, or owners of '-ularly acts ofnatur.e.-- . "
propertY that has, two,different MemoersofirligatiQnflistricLS
zoningson it, were,worried that 'expressedcOncernthatwater~ow:.:-'
the zoninilaws would require -wouldbe decreased if clear.,cue...-
somechangefromthem. Mosher ,loggingwereallowedinthe area,;
•explained that zoning cannot Forest SerVicehydrologist Dave
force, any changes to existing ,TOewsofNelsonpointedout that
as
property. trees 'acted wicks'"and'USed.:.
There was one request during water in the soil,whileclear cu(,
the :nieetingfora zoningchange, areas, 'acted as a spoIige,::-~olc- ,
from Mr. Doug Kinney, who'-,' ing the waier.,~c'fhispoU;t Was..~,
wanted tohave a strip ofland at" disputed,~~gSulliyaIi.(';l~k .is'-.,;·
, thebackofhisproperty zoned'as .'an'exmnpl~d~~-veiy }~ry.:.,
,tourist comniercl8I,'which would ~r' of 'l977:Y'~:~';'""--.>;, .,.;;.:
:'muililehimto build a recreatiOll'-~:',,:"Watson:'cOOciUde<l bi .saying ,,
':al-:vehiclepark.·KimieY'~ land is' .that.the~~aDd_~d.~.~~~,,_:',; .:'
_" zoned.R6noW,whicbprovides for .'~Jarea were themai:Q.concerns;:7.~": ,
': residential trailers on the,limd; t_',beca~ of tb; ~ilitY.~fth€~~~'·.:
Gordon VeitCh questioned the . -'soil.. Cable' sYstems,:hesaid>.::_ OJ;
~. .'-"):~~~~~F =.t:~~~~~~,,~.~,~~~.~f,;"
~~,'"
,,,i~
,,!:,1
,;,,:"'
.,.-,.;
Creston
-Valley
35t
hursday, January 15, 1987 Creston, British Columbia :: ~~o.41
!l
~orestry under fire for logging plans
II
Flett also noted the block i, Brunham, who chairs the PAC, ImproVelllt'ill Districl trustee,' !
located at a higher level of the contends the ministry has been before bejo~ ~old II
"laos to logan area 'technkally' watershed-an elevation of about allowing logging to take place Any JO~~"l~ in the watershed IIi
thin the Arrow Creek watershed 4,500 feet. along the Arrrow Creek watershed also has to be approved by the
v.. members of Erickson 1m- The resl of the area islocated in borders. Often. hesaid. the logging Duck-Arrow Tasl( Force which II
"vem~nt District and Duck AI'- the Okell Creek drainage area willencroach the protected water· chaired by Flett,: ;. '
w Task Force upset with the behind Arrow Mountain which shed boundary. 'Itappea •.•thee ~"uraoce,~nd:.•I:
nistry 01 Forests. drains below the Intake on Arrow F,letl agrees the area 'hM been promlses.:;have .fall~n, 'by,~M.' I
\tJout one-third of a cut block Creek. and sUOIIIprotected, but It looked wayside:lN114,Elvln M!l$Uch, ~Q"ll
'ichhas bet'll sold is'technically Fletrsargument, hOwever, as though (the licenced portion) board chairman, In~·lett~rtofl~~~'.tll
'hinthe boundaries ofthe Arrow doesn't hold an)' watet with task was allIn the Okell Creek drainage The letter, ·whichWilS also sentlo .
,.'ek Watershed: saidSteve Flett. force member' Albert Brunham. area' before the timber sale took to town cQuncil, w~s referred
,restry information officer. But he He told the Advance the timber place, council's tas~ fQrce,memb'ers'b,,' ,if
dsthe area consists of'very quiet licence will .be a main tORIeof Under a·1984 signed agrf'ement, Ihe recommendation ufAld.
'rain with 10-20 per cenl discussion at Wednesday's Public any logging proposals ineither Ar- Vaughan Mosher. . .. : .,
..
,pes..,ctnd ther': are no s.r~ams Advisory Cvmmiltee (PAC) row or Sullivan creek watersheds 'We should find out the exact
ident ill thl' block: meeting, .~wo..'•u..l.d come b.efore the Erickson (tIto~ge,wgiinlgte)[asr~eead, tT~haetrAerea,~refe pair~t.:I~et .".~:'~: H
but they re few and ·far ••.:tw~en, .
Mosher told counc)l at its: last
meeting. , .. .,.
\e~,';l
SinceFlett~eceiv~.~,~,udl's
i·
ter, Ihe area In questIOn' has.been'·
toured by both men and other'
. ,~ember8~f.theEIO, ~i~Flet~I'''''~''
~.. tbjtQP~,Q1,U~iJtO,uO~tm
, (logging) Is nOI aft wor~ysorne (\
situati~n as originally felt:
But Masu~htold the AdlJ(Jnce
Wednesday that, his. .conce(n$.
have,nol c"angedmuch, Jin{'!ehf$
December:JQ leUererid the EID'js
stillagainst any logging wilh~nthe
waterstted. , . " ,~
t:IDlrustees Tuesday !it?veB'.C:
Forest Services Ihc.oj}tion ;,>f e.ill!~"
(rom
removing tt,e watershed land
the 56-hectare cut block or signing
a letter saying \he BCFS would
lake full responsibility for any ef-
fects in water condition.
a
'We'feelll Is sensitive-area' hi
regards to water quality,' said
Masuch.
He added he call'l see how the
t~k at work rnilll~tr)' could'bave thought al1'Qh .,
the sale lolwasJRttle OkelJ ~W,·~I
n/oylng a short break Norm Barrette. MacLean areon the job, thanks to a$30,000 area because 'it's guile plain on the· ,
eorge Piccin, Eddie Hills and Wayne federal grant (see story page 3). rnap...Okell Creek is'onone ad.:
AcI{•••~ 1'11010
and Arrow Creek is'or} .tl)~ OUle(,':'
Watershed logging on meeting agenda
ningpra~iScompieted. In another torestry-related
The resolulioo·.was passed resoIutioniotroduced by Masuch;
Plans to lo~ portions of the Ar- unanimously~ . ..' the regiOnal district called for the
tow Creek Watershed and a slash In a motiOO.·~ cited the province to re-evaluate the
ceptionist Required
bum which caused aforesrfire will forest fires caused hy slash bum-. ministry's practices in regards to
make up a large portion of ings cost the taxpayers ~rge staff reductions and officedcsures
in Optometric Office Wednesday's Public Advisory. amounts of money. affecting public service.
Committee tothe forestry meeting. The Skelly Creek fire COs[tax- With our surrounding area very
Please send resumes to: Logging plans forthe watershed payers.$600,OOO~ burned 1,734 sensitive to Iogging.' Masurh told .
have members 'from ihe Erickson acres. ofwhiCh392.<:ontained one- the Adoonc:e. the Creston forestli'
Dr. Gene zackowski
Improvement District, PAC and year-old plantation, noted the offire cannot affurd any mort-
Box 790, Dude Arrow Task Force concern- resolution directed to Jack Kempf. cutbacks.
Creston, B.C. ed about water quality inthe area. Minister of Lands aDd Forests. He added he has beard rumors
WhileROCK weetor ElvinMasuch Steve Flett. forestry information of the Creston office being dosed.
willbring up the Skelly Creek fire officer, said healso wllIbereview- Flett told the Advance he willbe
caused by a slash burn. ing slash burning at the PAC introducing the forestry's access
MastIch.. woo' called tile'Sketly . meeting. planning progTdm-a Iog-term pro-
Creek incident a 'fJaSCo',introdoc- 'It will probably take up a large cess to <k-feTlniut' nee<is oi all
ed a resolution at last saturday's portion of the meeting. I want to foresl
USt'!
regional district meetingcaJling for discuss the dos and don'ts ofsIasb W~~5. PACHwetmgstarts
the canceUawnnf controlled slash burning and see ifthe Skelly fire at t p.rn. aHhe Ct'('ston fores:ry
burning until an e'\Ialuation ofbur· could have been prevented.". office.
UP TO
$150 Chamber 0,1 Commerce seminar
to discuss future of Creston
Woodstoves
)n Kent
What is Creston's future? MIn~ry ofEconomic Development leaders and the public:
The Creston Chamber of Com- and ueston Mayor Lela Irvine. 'To identify general community
meree will attempt to answer that The day will also feature a strengths and weaknesses. and
the best sale on the best woodstove made.
r
question' as its members wiDhost brainstorming' ~n, ad hoc realistic economic.developnjent
•a one day meeting titled 'Creston groups, oefinirig' communityoppor:twtities: . .
Futures '87' 00 February 5. 1987. strengths and weaknesses and To fost~'freelhinking:1¥tiiIe
identifyiDgeconomic opportunities sparing lbe.PUticip3.nts;:tJi.e· in-
Chamber manoager GailGreers- *a~1e~in=the ar~ea. ~.m1.~"·6:eact.t~,~,~'0~=·:: ~=,.
"c~1'~Iia~.·'.· ·.~.~.··-.·.
..woodo·n.~...a·~:.e_-nsa'~iOdIl'~.h~ - ~ _ ; . -.•. - JI
~saidtb&fo.rmatBasC'"OOdulrte=~~et.l
u~ "'"~ --'6> ...
=:n~c,~~tal~th~~
11 :"h~r.'..
developments mtbe oommuoity. .~ ~eS1Oithe'ilay ide ~. •Yilot'F"·-~':.':-
. The scheduJe will indude taIIcs are:to':~eJop:a co~~ ~ - ~~y ~;.:~a
.condu!=t~ byOauck Dary.' Direc:- ~~«xib.~ •. P~"".be.··. ~.e(ltO·~7·~
ter .for. Community ~.a-""~~_· )';.;~ ,j,_~"~"" plaintJJe-·~ d~~'::-
OevelooYm'nf from the ProvindIlI: .represeatab"ws. ". . '..:- motlnfe- :tftoups, .Summarile
,.-._-
-....~._._...-..,...
Job loss feared if watershed spare·d
Ministry ofForests' Duck and Ar- proof that logging the Arrow Boyen said that council's in-
row Watersheds Task Force Creek watershed will have less of .sistence that any logging in the
The Town of Creston's stance Report. He added that represen- an impact than the natural town's water catchment area be
against logging in the Arrow tatives of the forest industry disasters that have occurred. He done with helicopters is un-
,Creek watershed has the Creston workers should have been noted that past wildfires and justified: 'You still have to make
forest industry fuming. notified about the study and subsequent salvage logging did roads with helicopter logging,' he
Gary Boyden, woodlands allowed to participate in it since not prevent the establishment of said. The forest companies never
manager with Wynndel Box and their jobs are at stake. a brewery in Creston, and that proposed to log by conventional
Lumber Co.,.is concerned about InBoyden's opinion, the loss of agriculture in the valley flourish- means, 'but, our options don't in-
the ecomomic implications of jobs caused by removal of the ed despite extensive fires in the clude helicopter logging.' His
logging inthe town's water catch- watershed from Wynndel Box watershed in the '40s and '50s. company would use high-lead
ment area. 'I take exception to and Lumb~r Co.'s annual The forest industry criticized cables and light floatation skid-
(Mayor) Irvine's comments (at the allowable cut would be more im- the Ministry ofForests for not in- ders to lessen environment~1 im-
January 9 council meeting) that portant than the financial loss to cluding a representative of the pact of harvesting.
we are not going to loS, especial- Wynndel Box and Lumber Co, mining industry on the task force. Boyden also criticized Erickson
lyconsidering the number ofjobs That logging in the area could Considering that there has been Improvement District chairman
at stake: he told the Advance. ever cause permanent closure of widespread mineral exploration Elvin Masuch for advisinR further
The employees ofJ.H. Huscroft the brewery or destroy the' in the area there should have 'time-wasting' studies oe con-
Ltd., Crestbrook Forest Industries valley's agriculture industry is'in- been one. ducted when there is a mass of
Ltd. and ,Wynndel Box and conceivable' to the logging com· Another criticism is that the data available.
. '. Lumber Co. 'will lose their jobs panies. Boyden's report admits, tas~ force report makes no men-
-.:. ,." with the reduction in the annual however, that there is a risk of tion of the value of the forest in- The general public will have
~.~ aUowable cut that will result if economic damage ,through dustry to the valley's economy the opportunity to air their views
e~mfcs', this timber is removed,' wrote disruption of the water supply for ~~ile describing the brewing and on the issue at a Ministry of
:eathl.ng" Boyden in the Creston Forestry the brewery and agriculture. agriculture industries as vital to Forests hearing to be held in
" .'Association's response to the Boyden turned to history for Creston. February.
By Chris Laursen
Advance Staff
.Onlythe'.communityunit"'
ing to, t}lke immediate,
adamant"actionwillstop log-
gingatthesourceofCreston's
and, Erickson's drinking
water, members. of Protect
Qur'Watershe4say:,' '
,~c.The-:Anow;:Greewkater--
shed wiii"be logged, said_
Ta~a Patter;;on.-She,-along .
WItho'thei',members of the
group~setup toprotectAtrOw
Creek's watershed, wants to
crumge
that:':' ,::'.::_,,..,' .,~
.~'T;heMinistry of Forests
andgoyernment officials-say
it's in,the annual allowable
cut'iIDdthere;snothIDgany-
body can do about it," 'Sue
Low,an'Erickson orchardist
and memberof,POW,said of
ptanstologthewaterS_hed. '
:"Butwecanchang~that.It ,'
Canalwaysbechanged/" said
another orchardist, Marcie , 'PholDbyOllis L.autser
Plotnikoff.,. . Marcie P1otnikoff, Sue Low arid TannaPatterson (from left) toast the idea of I?Uredrinking water.'
Sittingon'Patterson's sun- .-<..::. ~-
deckoverlookingtheErickson idea ofa pristine area," said shed l:lousesanecological iesbeing doile' in 'Arrov.
orchards, the.three women ,Low. "Wedon't have many diversewilderness,including Creek as part of the Foresl
talked about what the com-' pristineareasleftanymore,so old-growth forest at the PracticesCode.
munitywillhavetodotopra:: why should we screw up headwaters of the creek, a Road'buildiIlgand IOggin~
teet the Arrow Creek water- ' anotherone? caribou, herd and 'other is what concernsProtectOw
shed. .. "Certain areas should' be untouched plants and ani- Watershed. At an Eas~
. Low and Patterson have leftuntouched." mals, the POW ,members, Kootenay:: , Environmen'
taken .hik.es_through the Low explained that pro- said. Society meeti~g Oct: 8
watershed~w' ith the approval logging advocates'and the>·' WynndelBoxand Lumber Ericksorii?,:,::·:Improvemen·
oftheEricksonImprovement government might reply that was slated to start building District trustee and Regiona
pistrid which manages the there are areas which are roads into the watershed in DistrIct of Central Kootena'
water,andsaytheareashould alreadyPn>tected. ..' .accordance with a forest director Elvin Masuch saic
be protected and remain Shesaid slle would reply: development plan, Patterson that logging-and watershed
untouched..? 'What abetter areatoprotect said. But the company don't gotogether.,, _c, .::.
" "When,we startede'SPlor- thanArrowCreek?" delayeddoingsowhileawait-
fig thewatershed~it was my The Arrow Creek water- ' ing resultsofecologicalstud-:
By Chris Laursen with other concerned valley women say,is their number
residents, have formed oneconcern.
Advance Staff .
~otect Our' Watersheds "Wehave to get everyone
Like many Erickson resi- .(POW),a group designed to onside,"PattersonSaid. .
Vordiscuss,your .dents, Sue Low, Marcie raise awareness of Creston's "People say it won't hap-
Plotnikoff and .:Tanna .and Erickson's water source· pen, that·· it ·won't :affect
[:-1~-'e'''l''n":~:"t.'1',n- ~e-~>,e•••d• :s•.•.••':,,.,~:.~~/". . Pattersonsaytheydon't want met tostoplogging.fromtak- them,"saidPlotrUkoff".SOme
theirwaterchlorinated. ingplacethere. of them don't even know
.•... :' ~::'~~~~."-'T:-,O' .
• <..;•:.:j•(..~:.~-(~.'" If the water remains Thewatercould be chlori- where their water comes
"!" ,,:. ~-' • unchlorinated, "the valley natedifproblemS,suchassilt from."
reIJ).eot$pecialist
ly canbecomeorganicas far as and mud polluting Arrow That's why POWformed,
~ppOliiinient
orchardsgo,"~d Plotnikoff, Creekdue to mudslides from .said Low,to educate people
an Erickson orchardist."I roadbuilding,arose.' aboutthewatershed. " .
hope with the codling m~th A mUdslid~ occurred in Plotnikoffsuggestedthat a .
93S5! . program - the SIR(Stenle WestCresto,:,s Corn ,Cr~ek public meeting.like..the one .
ippoiDtm~n(:' Jnsect Rele.ase)pro~ram -watershed In the spring.' held in 1989, which succeed-
wecanbecomeorgamc.Most, sh,?rtly afte~J.H. Hus~roft ed in putting a five-yearlog-.
orchards would rather ·not bul1t a loggl.ng road the.re, ging moratorium on Arrow
•::', :. ~.•1.••• ~ '~.• -JI
spray."'. .. water prot~9n ·advocateAI_Creek,could.behel~ .';, .
".~·'<~~~~;f)~- . . "I knowanorgamcfarmer Ryan· said at an East '. .A .las'"'.eel( .EKES eet-
3S.CANYON STREET who told meit wouldbe the';Kootenay'" EnvirQnment·. t ..t w .s . .m.. .
. CREsTON. B~C. end 'Ofhis bus~ess ifthey:.:~e:ty~~~ r~O~ct.~8.(M~or.e'~,.~g~, ~nc~onJm~r.ove~e: .
.~;~-- .~~~t·, .~:~~~~~~i~ the wate~,,.,... .t~~~~":~4..~r~h~::S~~t:;st .
-,-...~,.-. ..
rou'S-~ee .~~.~~'.:~,..',;'~i'_ . .The three women, along''' .. "'Idon't want chlorine in turn?ut he.d ever 8e~nat.a
'. ..' thewater,"Plotnikoffsaid. "I ..publicmeeting.. . .
want
mychildrentogrowup .:POWurg~.the org~-
ilt-Sp¥i¥r~..D. o· It'~Now! .~WithOutc:hinking chlorinated hon of a' slml1ar -meeting
<water.". soon.·.
:,- ~rinking water, the three· Morecoverageon Page9.
Wild·Bira ·Feed. • Fall Bulbs
Sullivan Creek ...
:."'-""."'~.'
••• -- .< " ".' :"-'.' tJ, ~ ."
~
.' . -....•....... .- ~ " a case in point
. '. .
-Continued from page 1. She said that old-growth
timber at the :headwaters",
Masuchpointed'o'ut,what holds.backthe'snowpaCk_ando
::
happerie'd in the Sullivan. naturallyfiltersthemeltwater
Creekwatershedin 1974 after intoArrowCreekthroughout"
Crestbrook Forest Industries the year,whichmeanswater
~oggedthat area.He said the users have no sh<;>,tageof
creekhasgonedrytwice,plus water. .
.rmacist·
the water quality has ThePOWmembersadded
declined. thatwaterpressurecouldalso:
.Pattersonsaid it would be be affected by a smaller
of great concern if Arrow amount of water running
Creek,which supplies drink- down Arrow Creek during
EVISITED
.~ing water to Creston and theyear.
ErickSon,aswellas thewCiter (Part ·."'woin a series about
supply to ColumbiaBrewing logging i1 watersheds. Part
abilityi,nadose-related· NSAIDsi.nonetrialthat
~ompany and valley Three, which will appear in the
mer.toreducetheproductioncomparedtenidap120mgdaily
orchards,wentdry becauseof Oct. 24Advance, will examine
ytokinesC~ytokineasre . todiclofenac(VOLTAREN)
Ighttociwse;eartilage 50mgt.i.d.andlasted24weeks, the snowpack running offof J.H.Huscroft's point ofview ona
lagebypromotingthe' ." . theresearcherfsoundthat loggedareas.'. CornCre~kwatershedmUdslide.)
hesis of anenzyme called t",niti.,•.•",,,•.1r,,,tihPtt",•.(imn •.""",ti
Creston GJTa11ey
Thursday, February 5, :1.998
Countdown
to logging
with licence
The licence's operating area,
By Shauna Lowry
determined in May, includes
Advance Staff
the community watersheds of
The Creston Valley Forest Arrow, Sullivan and Camp Run
Corporation is officially open creeks. Arrow Mountain is also
for business after Nelson- included within the area.
Creston MLA Corky Evans pre- The corporation will receive
sented president Bob Griffith annual contracts of up to15,OOO
with itsforest licenceMonday. cubic metres forat least the next
The CVFC was notified of, 15years. Logging isexpected to
the licence Jan. 12, 10 months beginin 1999.
c1fterthe Town of Creston's for- 'The intent forthe wood isto
l'st licence proposal was first be used locally, including J.H.
accepted in March. Huscroft, Wynndel Box and
"This is a culmination of a Lumber, other small mills and
whole ~~t:ch of people's life value-added operators," said
work," Evans said. "I want to G,lrv Bovden, a forest economic
';ay the:tnks. I didn't do it, developrnent officervl'ithPorest
(Forests Minister) David Renew,,( B.C.and acommunity
Ziir1helt didn't do it, (Premier) representative of the CVFC
Glen Clark didn't do it. board.
''This is,a grand experiment
that people here accomplished."
Local News
'1, .:
Public consultation promised
. Continued from page 1. watching and would like to will work with or on behalf of
do the same thing," Evans the board to help prepare nec-
"The corporation doesn't said. "If it works; it will make essary pl.ans and operations,"
intend to hire (its) own log- governing in the next century Griffith said.
gers. The intent o.tthis point i5 a whole lot easier. AI.:~olJing to BoyJen, the
to contract out the logging, "As it turns out, being a next step is preparing a five-
road construction and hauling politician in the latter part of year development plan, "an all-
as well as silviculture work." the century means being part encompassing plan that incor-
Creston's community forest of a community deeply divid- porates road plans, cutting per-
licence was a response to cuts ed by environmental and mit plans, silviculture plans
in logging quotas first intro- industrial (con~erns). This and watershed planning."
duced in 1995 and related job split between preservation Public input will be consid-
losses in the Kootenay Lake and indu&trial use wJI be ered throughout the planning
timber area. moderated and Crest0n is process, but it's not yet
Creston and Kaslo are the leading the way." known when.
only communities with forest CVFC is seeking manage- "The public will be
licences in Evans's constituen- ment services for its licence, involved early in all of the
cy.
accepting proposals until planning processes, not after
"It has to work here Tuesday. the plan is prepared," Boyden
because other people are "<Thesuccessful candidate) ~id
Local Ne\vs
Overcutting a concern
ment. As a community forest
By Shauna Lowry
licence, we advocate very envi-
Advance Staff
"Some of the pro- ronmentally sensitive logging."
Is it seeing the forest for the Marriner hopes some of the
jects may be envi-
trees or seeing the trees for the innovative projects IFPA hold-
forest? ronmentally orient- ers propose will address envi-
That is the conflict between ronmental concerns, although
ed ... We should-
environmental and industrial he remains unconvinced.
concerns as B.C.'s forests are n't hold our breath "Some of the projects
pulled in opposing directions involved may be environmen-
on it probably."
- one wanting less wood and tally oriented," he said. '1t may
one wanting more. not have all that much effect.
An Innovative Forestry We shouldn't hold our breath
- RayMarriner
Practices Agreement, which on itprobably."
eight Kootenay Lake forest Eligible activities as outlined
licensees have jointly applied by the Ministry of Forests
for,will provide an opportuni- include: alternative harvesting
ty for increased annual allow- Forest COrp9ration board. methods and silviculture sys-
able cuts (AAC) to successful EKES is one of five share- tems; forest resources enhance-
applicants. holders in the CVFC. EKES ment; increased forest produc-
"That's one of the dangers," vice-president Ralph Moore is tivity; biological diversity pro-
East Kootenay Environmental also on the CVFC board as a tection; and, more accurate
Society president Ray Marriner community representative. growth and yield information.
said. "The previous reduction "There are forestry cuts that Agreement holders are also
still left allowable cuts 100,000 can be used, like commercial required to follow the Forest
cubic metres above the average thinning and salvage opera- Practices Code.
cut ofthe previous five years. tions," Marriner said. "Iwould Marriner does see the joint
"Certainly our forests are say that because the opportuni- proposal asapositive step.
overeut." ty to get some funds for com- "The concept of working
Kootenay Lake Forest munity forest licences to pur- together on these things is
District's AACs were reduced sue their ideals of different something we always advo-
by 22per cent in 1995. kinds of logging, it may be cate," he said. "It's fairly dis-
Responsible harvesting beneficial. similar organizations working
methods are the key to sustain- "That is why we have together, but that is the only
able resources, according to agreed to get ourselves way to go."
Marriner, who represents the involved in this. It is potential-
EKES on the Creston Valley ly more a benefit than a detri-
Creston~11ey
Monday, June 1., 1.998
Water quality in Smith's hand~
value at $220million per year. sensitive is because it burned
By Shauna Lowry
The watershed also sup- inthe' 40sand part ofthe pro-
Advance Staff
plies the Town of Creston, tection just isn't there. The
Jim Smith is walking on most of the orchards in parts that are still forested are
sensitive ground both figura- Erickson and the Erickson very important to protect the
tively and literally. Improvement District. water."
Announced as manager of "In the peak sea- According to
the Creston Valley Forest son, the community Smith, the CVFC will ,
Corporation's community for- uses six million gal- not go into the Arrow
est licence Wednesday, the lons per day," Smith Creek operating area
local resident is responsible said. right away.
for overseeing the harvesting Theback end ofAr- "We've ~ot to be
of watershed areas in the row Creek includes verycareful wncii:W"e:"
Creston Valley. old-growth spruce d, e sal .' e re
The most controversial and balsam forests. gomg to s ar m less:-
area isthe entire Arrow Creek "The headwaters
watershed, including Okelle contain some very
Creek, the corporation's valuable timber and it is the
biggest operating area. . primary area in Arrow Creek
"It has to be one of the that contains old-growth tim-
most valuable watersheds in ber," he said. "It's where
the southern Interior because most of the water originates
it supplies water to the and is highly sensitive to log-
(Columbia) Brewery," Smith ging.
said, estimating the water's "Part of the reason it is so