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The Rocky Mountain Goat News PM42164515 Serving Valemount, McBride & the Robson Valley since 2010. Locally owned & operated.
Thursday June 30th, 2016
Carrier deal withdrawn by LAURA KEIL
Rainbow crosswalk? A09
Carrier Lumber Ltd has withdrawn its offer to sell a portion of its Robson Valley forest license to the McBride Community Forest (MCFC), the MCFC has learned. Jeff McWilliams, in-
terim manager for MCFC, learned the news in a call with Terry Kuzma, Woodlands Manager for Carrier. McWilliams says the key reasons cited included Carrier being behind on their rate of harvest and nearing the end of the current cut control period for
the forest license included in the offer. “Together with a need to address environmental liabilities, Carrier felt they had to move forward this summer with development activities in the Dore River which was one of the operating areas included in the
Volume 7 Issue 26
sale offer,” McWilliams said in a press release. “Though MCFC is disappointed at the lost opportunity to expand the community forest, both parties emphasized their desire to maintain a good working relationship and to move forward on joint
strategies,” the MCFC press release reads. The Valemount Community Forest and the McBride Community Forest Corporation have been trying for years to get more volume to better sustain local mills and Cont’d on A07
New IPP for better power
A06
Listings on P2!
Prince George Local photographer Bob Hoskins captured this stunning shot of a bluebird mid-flight in Valemount recently.
Photo Bob Hoskins
Slithering into our hearts Woman surprised by giant garter
Locals irked by gym hours
by EVAN MATTHEWS
A03
Gr. 7 Berg Lake trip history
A08
McAllister holding Amber.
Photo: Beth Russell
Beth Russell was forced to face a lifelong fear this week; a snake wrapped around two of her potato stalks was the largest she had ever seen. Her fear of snakes, known as ophidiophobia, has been with her all her life, Russell says. Naturally, she was grateful for her friend who grabbed a ski pole and moved the reptile to a nearby pail in the shade, which was covered, but with a hole left on top for the snake to breathe. “I was nervous because it was such a big snake,” says Russell. “I had not seen a snake this size on any of my nature walks, ever.” The snake, which was a common garter, measured one metre, Russell says. She called a friend named Jill McAllister,
who is a University of Victoria Masters student. McAllister has been monitoring reptile and amphibian populations in the Kinbasket Reservoir. McAllister collected the snake from Russell. She named her Amber for her beautifully coloured head. “Amber is the biggest garter snake I’ve ever seen,” says McAllister. “She’s about 330 grams. She’s quite impressive.” McAllister is studying why some wetlands in the north have garter snakes and other wetlands don’t, when both contain smaller amphibians that make up their diet. She posits that the difference is a lack of suitable hibernation spots causing patchy distribution of garter snakes in the north. At this point, not much is known about snake hibernation in the area, she says, and Cont’d on A12
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