The Jasper Local October 1, 2015

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thejasperlocal.com

thursday, October 1, 2015 // issue 58

PATRICK MAHLER POKES INTO THE CLOUDS ON A SNOW COVERED PYRAMID MOUNTAIN. // TRISTAN NISSEN

Found artifact traced to prehistoric people An artifact discovered near Jasper’s Tonquin Valley has been shown to have belonged to people travelling in the area one century before Europeans were in Alberta.

Radio carbon dating has confirmed that a leather strip recovered by archaeologists, as reported in the September 15 Jasper Local, is approximately 270 years old, according to Todd Kristensen of the Provincial Archaeology Survey.

“We can say with 95 per cent statistical confidence that the date is between 1535 and 1795 AD,” Kristensen said. “We’re pretty excited.”

In August, an archaeology team of four researchers travelled to the border of Jasper National Park and

Mount Robson Provincial Park, looking for signs of ancient hunters. They were high in the alpine, retracing the paths of caribou herds, with the thought that hunters would have followed the animals onto the ice patches where caribou seek refuge from predators and bugs.

Besides caribou movement data, the scientists also used the 2009 discovery of an ancient wooden shaft near Barbican Pass, in B.C., as a waypoint from which to start their search. Still, even in Kristensen’s most optimistic moments, he could only hope that they’d find something so substantial on their first expedition.

“We feel really lucky,” he said a few days after his colleague Courtney Lakevold spotted the small knotted strip in the rocks next to a huge, nondescript ice patch. continued on page B1

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editorial //

page A2 // the jasper local // issue 58 // october 1, 2015

Local Vocal Everyone knows you’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelette, so why is the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce walking on eggshells as it debriefs the extremely successful Tour of Alberta?

When the Tour of Alberta cruised through Jasper on the September long weekend, the community was forced to engage in a long-discussed experiment: closing down Patricia Street (and Connaught Drive, as it turned out) to vehicle traffic. In the immediate aftermath, several business owners chirped that despite the event bringing 126 million impressions of Jasper to an international audience, the street closures were a disaster for revenue.

Perhaps those days’ sales were soft, and it’s possible the closures had something to do with them, but I think folks in Jasper are quick to forget a major determining ingredient to a successful long weekend in Alberta: the weather.

Remember the September weekend on 2014? I do.

The Monday fell on the 1st, and it was 20 degrees in Jasper. The day before was a bit milder, but we had just barely pulled out of an extreme fire danger rating. Last summer was hot!

This summer, not so much! May and June were outstanding, but by the time the professional cyclists with the Tour rolled into Jasper, their teeth were chattering. Spectators were wearing toques and mitts. The days leading up to the long weekend, the Monday of which fell on Sept 7th, were in the single digits, temperature wise. Compare that to last year, which was 10 degrees warmer. If you don’t think that has anything to do with travel plans on the last weekend of the summer before school starts, you’re kidding yourself.

Weather dictates visitor behaviour. The campers are going to dine out if it’s chilly, which is why Jasper’s restaurants, as opposed to the grocery stores, were hopping during the Tour of Alberta.

And unfortunately, the cold is going to keep shoppers at bay too. That’s just the way it goes!

The Chamber has a responsibility to its members to do a thorough post-mortem after any major event which disrupts the status quo, but I think too much is being made of the street closures’ detrimental effect on cash registers. As the group gathers for its informal reception on October 8, I’d encourage members to take the complaints with a grain of salt, and to remember that when comparing last year’s September long weekend to the one that just passed, Tour of Alberta or not, the weather difference makes it apples to oranges. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

So you think you can vote?

You’re a Canadian citizen, you’re over 18 and your home address is in Canada. All that being true, come October 19, voting should be a simple matter, right?

Not necessarily. If you’re like many Jasperites and have moved since the last federal election in 2011, if you’ve never voted at all, or if your name has changed, you’re going to have to let the folks at Elections Canada know.

If you have your voter card, and the information on it is correct, you’re all good. Just bring that to the polling station at the Jasper Activity Centre October 19 between 7:30 a.m. and

7:30 p.m.. Alternatively, you can vote in the advance polls, which take place October 9, 10, 11, and 12 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the same location.

If you’re not registered, you’ve got until October 13 at 6 p.m. to do so online. If you miss that deadline, you’ll have to register at the polling station on voting day. We all know you’re not going to do that.

Voting is a right, but it’s also a privilege, so treat it like one. Take 10 minutes and double check you’re registered, and at your proper home address, by visiting www. electionscanada.ca.

-A PSA from The Jasper Local

The Jasper Local //

Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper 780.852.9474 • thejasperlocal.com • po box 2046, jasper ab, t0e 1e0

Published on the 1st and 15th of each month Editor / Publisher

Bob Covey..........................................................................................bob@thejasperlocal.com

Art Director

Nicole Gaboury........................................................................nicole@thejasperlocal.com

Advertising + sales

sarah DeClercq.........................................................................sarah@thejasperlocal.com

cartoonist

deke......................................................................................................deke@thejasperlocal.com facebook.com/thejasperlocal

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Local parks//

thursday, October 1, 2015 // issue 58 // the jasper local// page A3

NEW ARRANGEMENT // BC PARKS SAYS RANGERS WILL MAINTAIN A PRESENCE ON THE BERG LAKE TRAIL, EVEN THOUGH THE FIRST 15KM WILL BE MAINTANED BY CONTRACTED FACILITY OPERATORS.// BOB COVEY

Maintenance of BC's Berg Lake Trail to be shopped out The BC government is selling off the management of the popular Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park.

Trail maintenance and facility operation of the first 15 kms of the Berg Lake Trail, as well as front country facilities and day use areas in Mount Robson Park, Rearguard Falls Park and Jackman Flats Park are up for tender as British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment continues its privatization model of managing its trails, view points, pull-outs and campgrounds via “park facility operators.”

BC Parks confirmed the government is looking for proposals “to provide park operations and maintenance services in Mount Robson, Rearguard Falls and Jackman Flats Parks and to provide visitor information counselling and

park services at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre.”

Front country facilities have for more than 20 years been contracted out to facility operators on behalf of Destination BC, but this will be the first time a contract will bundle the operation of the Mount Robson visitor centre, the aforementioned day use facilities, campgrounds and maintenance of the Berg Lake Trail itself.

A document obtained from the province’s BC Bids website describes the terms of the agreement as comprising 10 years.

Currently, BC Park Rangers patrol and maintain the Berg Lake trail. As well as upkeep of the trail, which sees more than 300,000 visitors each year, Rangers respond to emergencies and collaborate with Parks Canada when high-angle helicopter rescues from Mount Robson and its surrounding peaks are required.

The province has said that emergency response capabilities will not be affected.

Valemount’s Adventure Management has operated the visitor centre at Mount Robson Park on behalf of Destination BC since 1990.

Their current contract is due to expire in March.

Owner Wendy Dyson said the expanded suite of services which the province wants to contract out to facility operators will likely be out of her company’s scope.

“Our area of expertise is managing visitor centres,” she said. “Managing campgrounds is not.”

BC Parks stated that Park Rangers will continue to have a presence on the trail.

“The Ministry of Environment is accepting proposals to maintain the first 15km of the Berg Lake Trail to see if there is a cost benefit to the province,” a spokesperson said. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 58 // Thursday, october 1, 2015

Local exploration //

This leather strip, discovered near the border of Jasper and Mt. Robson parks, was carbon dated to be appx 270 years old, more than a century before the first europeans set foot in Alberta. //Todd Kristensen

Climate change puts sense of urgency in research continued from cover...

“To find an artifact right away is very exciting.”

Although to some human historians, 270 years doesn’t seem very old (give or take 20 years, according to the lab’s confidence levels), for Kristensen, the discovered artifact’s value lies in its potential to draw links between modern people.

While a leather strip might not shed much light on which culture was moving through the Tonquin Valley in 1680, it hints at the possibility of finding other artifacts which could connect the area to modern First Nations cultures.

“If we can use these ice patch finds and connect them to oral histories of First Nations and historical records, and connect them to people who are descendants of those actual cultures, then it becomes a lot more significant and meaningful,” he said. “It tells a richer story.”

The archaeology for the Jasper area is still young. Some theories suppose that hunters would have travelled east from the plains, another theory suggests they would have come from B.C.’s Columbia River basin while other research points north as to the home of people hunting seasonally in the mountains. Whether the strip would have come from the moccasin

of a traveller from the Blackfoot, Kootenay, Shuswap or the Dene tribes is impossible to tell, however, what’s clear is that Jasper was a cultural intersection.

“Jasper was a pretty big cultural hodgepodge, with lots of changing occupations,” Kristensen said.

“If we can use these finds and connect them to people who are descendants of those cultures, it tells a richer story.”

That melting pot became even more complex not long after the owner of the leather strip dropped it near Barbican Pass; David Thompson first discovered Athabasca Pass in 1811.

“To produce a date that puts it right on the cusp of when Europeans are arriving in the province gets everybody excited about an important time in Alberta’s history,” he said.

The discovery is timely for a different reason, too: Jasper’s glaciers are melting at an increasing rate. For archaeologists hoping to find intact discoveries of wooden spears, ornamental

clothing or notched arrowheads, for example, time is of the essence. Indeed, all over North America the race is on to make archaeological discoveries before climate change unlocks the glacial ice and exposes the delicate artifacts to the alpine air.

“We’re facing the reality of maybe 10 years of ice patch work before some of these archives are gone forever,” Kristensen said. “Some have been cased in ice for thousands of years. We’ve got a pretty narrow window to record some pretty unique stuff.”

For now, Kristensen is hoping to work with Parks Canada and the University of Alberta to drum up more interest in a larger scale program. As well as traversing the ice patches of Jasper and Mount Robson parks, researchers will follow the footsteps of caribou in Wilmore Wilderness Park, where they’ll hope their luck continues.

“If we can start to link some of the things happening in some of these ice patches with actual First Nations who were historically in the area, that makes it a lot more powerful and a lot more meaningful for me.”

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

Loose moose//This floppy faced female near Maligne Lake was spotted by freelance photo sniper Valerie Domaine as it cooled off with a drink of water.// valerie domaine

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Local business//

thursday, october 1, 2015 // issue 58 //the jasper local// page B2

Standing on her soap box // Sonja and murray Ostrander are the new owners of Three Sheets Inc., on Patricia Street// bob covey

New business owner checking things off her laundry list Sonja Ostrander is Jasper’s newest small business owner, and so far she’s having loads of fun.

Together with her husband Murray, Ostrander has repurposed the former Jasper Laundromat into Three Sheets Inc., specializing in laundry, stationary and printing services.

“I’m a luddite,” she said while pricing the office supplies inherited from More Than Mail, which closed its doors last month. “I really like paper, I really like stationery, I really like calligraphy.”

She also likes the idea of helping visitors and residents meet their laundry needs.

“There’s a need for this service,” she said. “People are always grateful.”

Like the couple who rushed down the stairs at 7 p.m., desperate to get their clothes cleaned. No problem, Ostrander assured them.

Three Sheets will keep later business hours than Coin Clean Laundry, Jasper’s other laundromat which has developed a reputation as a quality coffee house. That, and the fact that Ostrander plans to offer a wash and fold service, will give her business enough of a difference in the local

laundry market to succeed, she hopes.

“I’ve had really good support from fellow business owners,” she said.

Chief among her cheerleaders have been prior owners of More Than Mail, David and Jenny Hatto.

“They’ve been so helpful in teaching me about the needs of their customers,” she said. “I hope to be able to carry that on.”

Like More Than Mail did, Three Sheets will offer bag storage services for travellers. Ostrander’s also in talks with Loomis Express to become a drop-off point for local courier services.

“I want Jasperites to be able to get what they need here instead of having to go to the city,” Ostrander said.

Even though her laundry list is long, Ostrander is having fun setting up shop. In between pricing her stock, figuring out which of her 16 washing machines run the quietest and putting the finishing touches on her logo, she’s coining cheeky new catchphrases for the business.

“The latest ones are ‘Drop your pants here,’ and ‘Laundry today or naked tomorrow,’” she laughed.

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

Campus pass, in Jasper’s tonquin valley, at dusk// tristan nissen

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 58 // thursday, october 1, 2015

LOCAL FEATURE // STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB COVEY

y l f e h t n o r e m m A su ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END

WHILE I HOPE THERE’S STILL A FEW MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO WET A LINE THIS SEASON, THE SIGNS ARE ALL AROUND ME THAT THE DOOR ON JASPER’S FISHING SEASON IS ABOUT TO CLICK SHUT.

Pursuit of happiness

People say they have no regrets, but I regret those missed mornings where I could have got on the water had I planned the paper a little better or drank a little less wine after work. By the same turn, I realize how fortunate I was to have had those long silences where it was just me, the mountains and the anticipation of a trout’s tug.

As I look back on the season that was—it’s been almost six months since I dusted off my fly box, unpacked my waders and straightened the loops in my leaders—I recognize that of all the moments which would qualify as fly fishing to an outside observer, those which actually involved a fish were relatively few. From April to October, these are some of the spots I covered during my summer on the fly.

Casting off

The sinking ice floes on the Athabasca River is a sign for Jasper fisherfolk to purchase their annual license and as winter relaxes its grip, time is of the essence; spring run off will soon turn the AthaB chocolate brown. It took three years of early-season frustration to finally break the skunk, but on April 20 I finally caught my first bull trout on a fly rod. Using a pattern tied by hometown trout slayer David Thomas, and swinging the fly deep into a familiar green hole, I felt what I’d spent six months dreaming about: the tightening of the line and the beginning of a battle. Several heart-pounding minutes later, after releasing the fish and retreating to the bank, I sat on the round, black rocks and tried to replay the moment in my head.

Kinder waters

Traditionally, the first place I find myself when the first of the lakes open in mid May, like many local fish freaks, is in the shadow of Pyramid Mountain. This year I lucked into a 19-inch laker but the amount of time spent bobbing around starting at my rod tip compared to the time spent fighting a fish was, even for me, depressingly lopsided. As such, like I do every year when I get the Pyramid Lake blues, in late May I headed for kinder waters. Even though the hike into the Valley of the Five Lakes with my float tube garners an equal quantity of perspiration and perplexed stares, it also produces reliable action. I spent several days with a variety of friends finning around the teal tarns, anticipating the tenacious take of a beautiful brook trout. Looks can be deceiving, however. Gorgeous as these fish are, they’ve got attitude. Not acrobatic like a rainbow, and less log-like than a bull, when they battle, Valley brookies tend to shake their heads like a dog caught in a fence. More times than I care to admit, my fly, along with my self-confidence, was spit from the char’s mouth less than five metres from the net. As would happen many more times this season—but perhaps a few times less than last year—I looked heavenward and wondered if I’d learned anything about fishing at all.

Expert alley

The juggernaut of Jasper lakes and the waters which can alternately be the most generous and the most miserly, are those of Maligne. During a mid-summer long weekend, hundreds of gear chuckers will troll for trout with little to show for their efforts save a sunburn, however, in early June, when the midges are hatching and the cold, oxygenated water is still at the top of the thermocline, it’s mostly local boats vying for the hot spots. Twenty-four-foot flat back canoes, or “freighters,” pushed by an I’m starting to realize electric motor fish which gives the a and hundreds of pounds of deep namely: gratitude, hu cycle batteries,

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feature //

are the vessels of choice for those who want to target the rainbow and brook trout with maximum efficiency and minimum effort. Those who can’t borrow or bribe their way aboard one of these sturdy frigates opt to row or paddle a less-tricked-out trawler, but the missed strikes and malignant winds inevitably leave these anglers scheming for a better setup. Knowing how to effectively fish Maligne Lake is a life-long study in itself, of course, and debates over flies or flatfish, dark or light colours and how fast or how slow to troll rage over the fire pit at Fisherman’s Bay. I felt fortunate to share the Maligne Lake fishing experience with five friends over the course of two rainy days in June. Right out of the gate, to the delight of 40 or so tourists onboard the SS Mary Schaffer, my partner and I were playing a pair of rollicking rainbows. While the action eventually let up, the weather never did. Even though veteran Maligne anglers regularly come home with 30-fish days, we were grateful to have eight to the boat and two to the frypan.

Drifting days

July is when all the other lakes open to fishing, and also when the bugs and the backpackers are in full blitz.

For that reason I usually hang up the waders for a few weeks. If I do get on the water with my rod, it’s usually a harebrained scheme that involves a lot of line tangles and not many fish, such as my stand-up paddleboard experiments on Pyramid Lake. Come August 1, however, the Maligne River opens, and its rushing, turbulent flows afford a special challenge to the fly angler. This year, as I was rigging up on opening day, whistling to myself and relishing the opportunity to drift a mayfly imitation next to the big boulders at Rosemary’s Rock, I was suddenly overtaken by a keen father and son pair, who climbed out of their truck with waders cinched and rods ready to cast. Soon, another family showed up and made a bee-line for the river. I got back in my car.

Forty minutes later, after nearly breaking my rod tip off on half a dozen trees and letting out warbled “hey-os” at the sight of still-steaming bear sign, I’d worked my way to a more solitary stretch. As I landed the first of a dozen small trout, I asked that it’s the pursuit of myself if there angler the true gifts, was any place I’d rather be.

umility and patience.

The right Medicine

There is one spot, in fact. And a few weeks later—earlier than most years, on account of a sped-up summer—I was occupying it. Mist dragged over the Colin Range behind me and a great black wall of recentlyburnt timber lay out in front of me. I was traversing the mudflats of Medicine Lake, skimming through the foot-deep water so my boots wouldn’t get stuck fast. As a porous-bottomed basin which over the course of the summer drains into a river-like channel, Medicine Lake, at just the right time of year, offers the best of what a meandering foothills spring creek and a nutrient-rich wilderness lake offer: predictable holding water and big, gullible fish. Two weeks later the low, clear water and constant casting would render the brutes spooky and fly-wary, but judging by the footprints, I was one of the first to wade in 2015.

Drizzle and light wind provided just enough cover to make an undetected cast and soon enough, it was on.

The first of several two-pound fish came to hand, the trout variously dining well below, just beneath and right on top of the glassy surface water.

More than the sum of its parts

Fly fishing isn’t for everyone. The long hours anglers spend agonizing over tackle choices, untangling knots and sitting in the rain surely make us seem wooden-headed to our loved ones.

The unsavoury aromas of sweat-stained neoprene, battery acid and fish slime has been known to turn some would-be sportspeople off. And the hermetic frustration felt when the only opportunity to connect to a fish is wasted by a clownish cast can sour your puss for a week.

But fly fishing is more than the sum of its parts. The water, the birds, the shoals, the bugs, the wind, the sun and the mud all collaborate to connect the angler to his or her surroundings. The calculative process of deciding which fish to target and how to go about it is both meditative and primal. And of course once you’ve experienced the strike, that split-second moment when you are connected to the carnal energy of a resident of the dreamy underworld, you’re hopelessly addicted. My angling season is almost at an end, but the gifts I’ve received from another summer on the fly will last a lifetime—or at least, until the ice floes give way next spring.

// tristan nissen

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page B5 // the jasper local //issue 58 // Thursday, october 1, 2015

local recreation //

Jasper runner pushes through the heat and the hurt “I’d turn around, ready to quit, then I’d meet a runner who’d push me. They’d give me a salt stick or an ibuprofen and I’d turn back around,” he said.

Five times Doucet did a 180, ready to pull the pin, but an equal number of times he’d be encouraged to continue by a fellow racer.

“I ran the same 150 metres five times, up and down the same hill,” he laughed. “I lost a lot of time doing that.”

Finally, he accepted he wasn’t going to win the race, and for that matter, even land on the podium.

“Once I accepted that it was a lot easier,” he said.

“Once my mind was set on just finishing the race I could start to enjoy it again.”

Nearly 15 hours later, with 14 racers ahead of him,

You could forgive him if he was starting to feel a bit overconfident.

Jasper runner Jean-Yvés Doucet has had a stellar season. He started out strong by winning the annual Mothers’ Day 10k, Totem Ski Shop’s Spring Run Off. In August, he was part of a group of five runners who took first place overall in the team relay at the 125 km Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache. Then he and fellow ultra marathoner, Bruno Bergeron (who was also on the Death Race squad) won the 108 km Black Spur in Kimberly, B.C., by more than 30 minutes, beating out teams of four and five runners.

“I was feeling really strong with all those results,” the 28-year-old said.

As such, when Doucet signed up as a soloist for the Lost Souls Ultramarathon in Lethbridge, a 100km sufferfest which tests racers’ will up and down the Oldman River Valley, he figured he had it in the bag.

“I was going there thinking I was going to win,” he said.

Twenty kilometres into the race, Doucet maintained that attitude. He was in the lead. Then he hit a big, nasty wall.

“It was hot. I thought I was drinking enough water.

Clearly I wasn’t,” he said.

By kilometre 30, he realized he started too hard.

He made it to the aid station, but he was destroying himself. “I wanted to quit,” he said.

However, Doucet didn’t want to disappoint his

“I ran the same 150 metres five times, up and down the same hill,” he laughed.

“I lost a lot of time doing that.”

Trail blazer // Jean-Yves Doucet had a strong summer of racing, but his biggest test came as a soloist in the 108 km Lost Souls Ultra.// bob covey

parents, who had flown from New Brunswick to support him.

“They were a big reason I didn’t quit,” he said.

“They encouraged me to push through to the next leg.”

But he still wasn’t out of his pain cave. At kilometre 62, Doucet actually turned around, heading for the previous station, determined to pack it in.

Doucet did finish. He’s glad he did. The result qualified him for a future Western States 100 mile ultra marathon, the world’s oldest and most prestigious trail race. He’ll wait for his name to be drawn.

Before he sets his sights on California, however, Doucet will wrap up his season at Canmore’s 50 km Grizzly Ultra on October 11. He plans to apply the lessons he learned the hard way in Lethbridge.

“All of these experiences will help me improve, I hope,” he said.

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

Local education//

Bugle boy // This Bull elk shouts it out to any female who’ll listen. The elk rut has begun. Park officials warn visitors to give wildlife their space // valerie domaine

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Local politics //

thursday, october 1, 2015 // issue 58 // the jasper local// page B6

Candidates bark over pine beetle at Hinton forum Yellowhead candidates in the upcoming federal election agree on the severity of the mountain pine beetle infestation in Jasper National Park, but representatives from two of the major parties have varying opinions on why more hasn’t been done to this point.

Liberal Party candidate Ryan Maguhn took aim at the Conservative Party during a September 28 allcandidates debate in Hinton, saying that a systemic attack on the freedom of researchers and continued funding cuts to Parks Canada have left JNP less able to deal with the mountain pine beetle (MPB).

“We see those same scientists that remain working for Parks Canada threatened, suppressed. An open letter from multiple former members of the Parks service [was recently] complaining about…intellectual freedom, Maguhn said. “Ultimately what we’ve seen is what this government wants to hear is more important to them than what they need to hear.”

Maguhn added that the Liberal Party is committed to restoring Parks funding and providing additional money for research.

During his turn at the microphone, Conservative Party candidate Jim Eglinski said that in his previous experience with MPB in British Columbia, park scientists refused to burn infested timber. He said that several partners, including the forestry industry, are doing an admirable job in trying to contain

Service Directory

the problem around the region now, but that all stakeholders have to work together to encourage Parks Canada to take an active role in combatting the beetle in JNP. “We are working with Parks Canada to address this situation, but there are differences within Parks Canada,” he said in a 30-second rebuttal.

Ken Kuzminski of the New Democratic Party told the gathering of around 75 people that climate change has led not pitching in? // Mountain pine beetle has proliforated in Jasper NAtional Park. This stack of timber, with visible pitch tubes created by the beetle, is slated for JNP firewood. On September 28, mpb to the spread of MPB was a hot topic when Yellowhead candidates for the October 19 election debated why more hasn’t been done to combat the bug in the national park. // Bob Covey to the region and collaborative action was The Hinton All Candidates Forum When asked if the mountain pine needed at all levels of government was co-organized by the Hinton beetle had affected their harvest in response to the issue. The NDP plans in the one-million acre forest and District Chamber of Comhas promised cap-and-trade meamanagement area, Baron said their merce, the Yellowhead Labour sures to reduce carbon emissions cutting activity is definitely higher Council and The Hinton Voice. and to punish emitters. than normal.

“This is beyond a natural process,” “Right now we’re experiencing what Jasper’s All-Candidates Forum is Kuzminski said, adding that it isn’t is an uplift cut to try and get ahead scheduled for October 5 at 7 p.m. getting cold enough during the of mountain pine beetle, so we’re at the Jasper Activity Centre, with winter to freeze the MPB out. logging pine beetle-susceptible a meet-and-greet slated for 6 p.m. stands, “ said Baron, noting that Tyler Waugh // The Hinton assembly, the first around 1.5 million cubic metres of Tyler Waugh is the publisher of in a series of community forums timber will be harvested this year.

The Hinton Voice across the constituency leading to the October 19 general election, featured all five Yellowhead candidates, including Maguhn, Eglinski, Kuzminski, Cory Lystang (Libertarian) and Sandra Wolf-Lange (Green).

The MPB debate came on the same day that Rob Baron, general manager of Hinton Wood Products, told a full room at the Hinton and District Chamber of Commerce’s monthly meeting that the MPB situation in Jasper National Park is concerning.

“It is a significant concern for us and there’s lots of people working hard on that,” he said.