New community forest still hasn’t been issued – Aug. 6, 2014
When stakeholders at Hampton Affiliates were deciding whether or not to move forward with the rebuilding of the Babine Forest Products sawmill after the explosion and fire in Jan. 2012 destroyed the mill, one of the main concerns was the amount of timber available to supply the mill.
The stakeholders stated that to justify a rebuild enough timber in the Lakes Timber Supply area (TSA) needed to be available in order to supply the new mill.
The need for enough timber to supply the mill led to officials in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, the Village of Burns Lake and most importantly the six First Nations groups in Burns Lake, which include the Burns Lake Band, Lake Babine Nation,the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, the Wet’suwet’en the Skin Tyee Nation and the Nee Tahi Buhn Indian Band to propose to the provincial government that a second community forest be added to the Lakes TSA and to the Burns Lake community.
China Nose fire continues to be volatile – Aug. 20, 2014
Four officers from the Wildfire Management Branch of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources were in Burns Lake last Thursday night to update residents of the Burns Lake, Topley and the area on the status of the China Nose Mountain fire.
Cliff Chapman, Senior Protection Officer for the Northwest Fire Centre, Jim Richardson, Incident Commander for an incident management team, Tony Falco, Incident Commander for an incident management team and Tom Peckler, Structure Protection Specialist from the Office of the Fire Commissioner, along with representatives from the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN), including Bill Miller, Chair of the regional district and Mayor of Burns Lake, Luke Strimbold met with over 100 concerned citizens to provide an update on the fire.
The forest fire, stared by lightning, was spotted by Wildfire Management Branch personnel flying overhead on Aug. 11.
Burns Lake council urged to support resolution with union – Aug. 20, 2014
A representative from the United Steelworkers union made an appearance at the Village of Burns Lake’s council meeting last Tuesday where he made a presentation to the mayor and councillors urging them to support the union’s resolution that would see enforcement of the Westray law.
The Westray law, known as Bill C-45, is federal legislation in response to the Westray Mine disaster in Plymouth, Nova Scotia that saw a mixture of methane gas and coal dust explode on May 9, 1992, killing 26 workers.
The bill became law on Mar. 31, 2004 and was supposed to establish new legal duties for workplace safety and health, as well as impose serious penalties for violations that resulted in injuries or death.
However according to the steelworkers union the bill isn’t being enforced, and the stats that the union gives are quite alarming.
Salmon season a success for Lake Babine – Aug. 27, 2014
For the first time since 2012, Lake Babine Nation is dipping their nets into the waters of Babine Lake to harvest the sockeye salmon population and it the season couldn’t be going any better.
There are roughly 30,000 sockeye salmon travelling through Lake Babine Nation fences per day so far this year.
Efforts have wrapped up a one of the fence locations on Babine Lake and efforts are now being turned to fences at Fulton and Pinkut Lake.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the lead agency for salmon management in B.C. predicted a large return of salmon this year due to the fact that the population was expected to mostly the progeny of salmon that spawned in the record run of 2010.
Oil appears close to the Endako Creek on the Maxan Road – Sept. 3, 2014
An oil spill has been found in a creek under the Maxan Road bridge near the Decker Lake Forest Products sawmill.
When contacted two weeks ago by the Lakes District News, the ministry of environment hadn’t been made aware of the spill.
However, on Aug. 23 the ministry of environment sent representatives to check out the creek, which is located just south of the mill’s yard. Representatives were able to confirm of the presences of an oil sheen in the creek located under the Maxan Road bridge.
“We believe the oil sheen may be from the runoff from the log yard,” ministry of environment officials said.
Animals seized on Perow Loop, Houston – Sept. 10, 2014
Police and the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) seized over 50 animals from a home near Houston on Perow Loop Aug. 28.
The seizure came after numerous complaints and SPCA orders demanding that the owners fix problems.
SPCA and police seized 18 horses, 18 dogs, 15 birds and two cats, as well as a dirty tank of fish, said Const. Thom.
“The horses were kept in unclean and substandard conditions. Many were underweight and several had overgrown hooves and suspected parasites,” says Marcie Moriarty, chief prevention and enforcement officer for the B.C. SPCA.
Leaders meet with CN on recent train derailment – Sept. 17, 2014
Decker Lake Forest Products mill may not have resulted in any major injuries, but all the impacted parties are making sure a possible future incident is well prepared for.
Shortly after the July 25 train derailment the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) held a meeting attended by all the impacted parties to discuss the incident. Present at the July 29 meeting at the district office were RDBN members and staff, village of B.L. staff, RCMP officers, fire chief Jim McBride and two of the incident responders, CN representatives and Mayor Luke Strimbold.
Strimbold said it is important for all of the affected organizations to meet after an incident and review the current policies and practices regarding the response. He said each community has an emergency response plan when dealing with rail traffic and these communities and RDBN need to collaborate with one another and with CN to share techniques.
