Nechako-Lakes John Rustad wins with solid majority – May 22, 2013
On May 14, 2013, B.C. voters re-elected a majority Liberal government. Under the leadership of Christy Clark, the party defied consistently negative pre-election polling results and delivered a 17-seat provincial majority, with 44.4 per cent of the popular vote and 50 seats.
Historic totem raising – June 5, 2013
For the first time in 100 years, new totem poles went up in the Burns Lake area. On May 31, 2013, after a day of celebrations, the totems were raised at the newly built Wet’suwet’en First Nation(WFN) Necigeh Beyikh Health Centre on the WFN reserve west of Burns Lake.
Babine mill rebuild on Schedule – June 19, 20123
Construction of the new Babine Forest Products sawmill east of Burns Lake continues and is on schedule for the anticipated 2014 operational start date.
Babine Lake salmon collapse – Aug. 7, 2013
Lake Babine Nation (LBN) Chief Wilf Adam was prepared to hear that the sockeye salmon return would be low this year, but he wasn’t prepared for the official numbers that came out recently.
Adam said that this year’s Babine sockeye return is the lowest in living memory.
Normally, the sockeye return to Lake Babine is between one and two million fish, Adam explained. This year, estimates place the return at around 540,000 fish. Minimum return from a conservation standpoint is around 400,000.
Babine Lake produces 85 per cent of Skeena sockeye, but with returns forecasted to be not much higher than minimums required to fill channels and tributaries, LBN is being put in the position of choosing between food stock and the health of the salmon population.
1000 drums rally – Aug. 21, 2013
Approximately 150 people gathered in Burns Lake on Aug. 17 for an afternoon rally. Titled, ‘1000 drums rally: Burns Lake Ground Zero’, the gathering was a show of opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project to transport diluted bitumen from northern Albert to Kitimat.
Pinnacle Pellet announces major emissions upgrades – Oct. 16, 2013
On Sept. 9, 2013, Leroy Reitsma and new Senior Vice President of Operations, Scott Bax, attended the regularly scheduled meeting of Village of Burns Lake (VBL) council to announce that Pinnacle would be replacing the existing scrubber technology with a proven technology used in their Meadowbrook facility, approximately 70 kms south of Prince George.
Burns Lake mountain biking top three in national bucket list – Oct. 16, 2013
Burns Lake mountain biking is good, we all know that.
But one of the top three things to do in Canada?
That’s what Explore Magazine recently reported in their Fall 2013 issue list of the 25 essential outdoor adventures, the ‘All-Canadian Bucket List’.
The magazine, which hit stands across Canada a couple of weeks ago, commissioned Canadian travel and adventure writer Robin Esrock to condense the findings of his forthcoming book, ‘The Great Canadian Bucket List’, into magazine format.
“I look for the different and the unusual, the stuff you can’t do anywhere else,” Esrock said.
“British Columbia is one of the best places in the world to mountain bike, and looking around BC, I was drawn to the characters, quality and passion of the biking community around Burns Lake.”
Celebrating 90 years – Oct. 23, 2013
Two honoured 90 year old Burns Lake residents were asked to cut the cake at last week’s Village of Burns Lake celebration dinner and dance. Joe Comeau, 90, Alan Blackwell, also 90, Alan’s wife Marion and former resident Ellen Wiege lent a hand.
Houston Forest Products to close – Oct. 30, 2013
Late Thursday afternoon, West Fraser announced the shutdown of its Houston Forest Products mill operation and Canfor Corporation (Canfor) announced the closure of its Quesnel sawmill.
Reserve members demand split – Nov. 27, 2013
A group of on-reserve members of the Burns Lake Band (BLB) are positioning themselves to bring about the only solution to what they see as an intractable situation with current band governance.
Burns Lake legion faced apathy – Nov. 27, 2013
“It’s a shame and it hurts,” said Burns Lake Legion Branch 50 chairman and past president Bob Whipps. “After 85 years, this branch faces closure.”
At the Nov. 18 general membership meeting last week, voting for the new executive council came to a halt when no one was nominated or offered to volunteer for the position of branch president.
On Dec. 16, 2013 many local legion members came out to volunteer for all positions on the legion executive.
A new executive was formed and the legion is ready to go for the new year.
Babine yard take logs – Dec. 11, 2013
It was a perfect Burns Lake winter day – sunny, clear, and cold – when driver Dave Konkin delivered the first load of logs to the yard of the under-construction Babine Forest Products mill near Burns Lake.
Konkin, whose father also drove for Babine, has been with the company for 27 years, and was a mill-worker before becoming a driver.
“It feels good to bring the first load in,” he said.
The original mill was destroyed in January, 2012, in a tragic explosion and fire which saw the loss of two workers’ lives and injured many more.
The rebuild of the mill was, for a long time, an open question in the Burns Lake community.
Construction was able to get underway with full force last spring once winter loosened its grip. With more than 150 workers on site on any given day, the new facility has been going up fast.
Morrison mine decision rethink – Dec. 18, 2013
Response to the recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling to quash the Oct. 1, 2012 denial of an environmental assessment certificate to Pacific Booker Minerals (PBM) proposed Morrison Mine project north of Granisle has been muted.
The B.C. Ministry of Environment is not prepared to make a statement on the ruling’s implications.
A spokesperson for the ministry said, “This is a complicated matter and we are reviewing the ruling so we can understand all aspects of it. We will not be in a position to comment on the ruling until we have completed our review.”
