Transit wheelchair
policy confirmed
following complaint

BILL OIN won't be getting the
new wheelchair he feels B.C.
Transit owes him.

By Kate Zimmerman
News Reporter

Cin, a 60-year-old West
Vancouver resident with cerebral
palsy, complained to the News sev-
eral weeks ago that a wheelchair-
accessible bus passed him by as he
was waiting at the ard Street and
Chesterfield stop on June 11. He
broke his joy-stick when he tried to
pursue the vehicle and therefore felt
B.C. Transit should replace his chair.

Transit spokesman Trace Acres
looked into the incident, which he
described as “regrettable.”

His investigation revealed “a
matter of miscommunication
between B.C. Transit and the opera-
tor in this case.”

Den

Acres admitted that B.C.
Transit's policy pertaining to wheel-
chair-aceessible buses is somewhat
confusing. Wheelchair-accessible
buses make wheelchair-accessible
runs every second or third trip and
are highlighted in the bus schedule.
Sometimes a wheelchair-accessible
bus is on a trip which is not sched-
uled for wheelchair pick-up: this was
the case when Oin was [eft at the
bus-stop.

Acres noted, however, that even
when a whceelchair-accessible bus is
not on a wheelchair-accessible run,
the driver is obligated to pick up pas-
sengers in wheelchairs. “And therein
lies the confusion,” he said.

The operator driving when Oin
was waiting at the bus-stop was
unclear on this policy, said Acres.
Since the incident, B.C. Transit has
taken steps to ensure that all its oper-

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NEWS photo Paul McGrath

A WOULD-BE jumper on the Second Narrows Bridge Monday forced police to close the
bridge to traffic for almost four hours, from 6:10 p.m. until 9:50. One woman's car broke down
while she waited; she and her two young children unloaded their bikes and went home. The
suicidal man did jump but was not injured. He was taken to hospital for psychiatric tests.

10nstration forest chop

proposal angers NVD coun.

GVRD board to consider call for more aggressive logging at Seymour

A REPORT to the Greater
Vancouver Regional District’s
(GVRD) water committee rec-
ommending more aggressive
logging in the Seymour
Demonstration Forest has
incurred the ire of North
Vancouver District acting
mayor Ernie Crist.

By Kate Zimmerman
News Reporter

The report, which was prepared
by a subcommittee advising the
GVRD on the forest in the North
Shore river valley, was presented to
the GVRD July 15 by chairman and
former West Vancouver mayor Don
Lanskail.

It suggests that trees no longer
be weeded out of the forest on the
basis of the effects of disease or
winds, but should be harvested on a
sustained-yield basis. It also advo-
cates that a new network of trails be
constructed for various factions of
the public — hikers, cyclists,
mountain bikers and horseback rid-
ers.
Crist has no objection to the
trails. He is, however, disgusted by
the notion of logging in the demon-
stration forest. He claims the com-
mittee’s report is proof that the
GVRD is controlled by a forest
industry which has ruined the city’s
water supply and destroyed the
forests of B.C. through “greed and
stupidity.”

Crist described the demonstra-
tion forest as a priceless “jewel.”
He said demonstration forests
should be managed from the van-
tage-point of parks and recreation,
and logging companies should stay
away from the watersheds and
recreational areas.

“We've lost all confidence in the
forest industry,” said Crist. “ They
continue to insist on logging meth-
ods which have ruined our forests.
They are totally irresponsible.”

A demonstration forest, he said,

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NORTH VANCOUVER District acting mayor Ernie Crist (left)
says he is disgusted by a proposal to log in the Seymour
Demonstration Forest. But former West Vancouver mayor Don
Lanskail (right) argues for timber harvesting demonstration in

the forest.

is for demonstrating forest manage-
ment in an educational capacity and
for experimenting with different
types of growth. “We don’t need a
demonstration of clearcuts.”

But Lanskail said
a demonstration for-
est “is supposed to
demonstrate a wide
range of uses of the
forest. Timber har-
vesting is just one
use.”

“It’s either a
demonstration forest
or a park,” he said.
suggesting that the
GVRD has to decide
which role it wants
the Seymour forest,
which is 14 times as
large as Stanley Park, to play.

According to the report, active
logging in the valley below the
Seymour dam would produce a
small yield which would not
degrade the river, affect the water

supply or poison fish.

Tom Griffing, the GVRD’s pro-
ject manager for watershed studies,
ecological inventory and the long-
term vegetation management plan,

66 We don’t need a demonstration of

clearcuts. 99

- North Vancouver District Coun. Ernie Crist

sees no problem with logging in the
demonstration forest.

According to Griffing, who
holds a PhD in ecology, “It's a very
logical place to conduct demonstra-
ion logging.” He noted that despite

the prominence of the forest indus-
try in B.C, there are few locations
in which the public can observe
logging practices. According to
Griffing, the demonstration forest is
“a strong and viable education tool
for the public.”

He suggested that possible
demonstrations of forest industry
practices might include pruning,
ways to minimize tree growth and
methods in which forests can be
protected from fire. If trees were
cut down, it would be on a small.
selective scale, he said.

The GVRD forest management
division would contract the forestry
jobs out to individual companies.
The logs would be sold and the
money from their sale turned back
into public education programs,
said Griffing. “It's not a commer-
cial operation.”

But Crist was less trusting about
the motives of the subcommittec,
which was comprised of representa-
tives of the B.C. Environment
Ministry, the Outdoor Recreation
Council of B.C. and the forestry
industry. ““There’s no question in
my mind that the bottom line of Mr.
Lanskail’s attempt is to get their
hands on the logs,” he said, describ-
ing Lanskail as “‘a spokesman of the
forest industry. They
want to log, period.”

The Council of
Forest industries, the
principal lobby group
for the forest industry,
has said that it is with-
holding a $70,000 con-
tribution to public pro-
grams in the valley for
1994 until the GVRD
agrees to allow a full
array of forest practices
in the area. Lanskail
admitted that this threat
factored into the report,
but said “that was not a dominant
interest.”

The GVRD board will be con-
sidering the water committee's
demonstration forest logging rec-
ommendations on Friday.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:

Should the Montroya! connector be built creating a parailel northern route to the Trans-Canada Highway?

targeted
for shift

in health
Services.

THE PROVINCIAL
Health Ministry has set
aside $1.69 millioa to
implement new ideas that
shift patient care from hos-
pitals to community-based
programs.

By Anna Marie D’Angelo
News Reporter

North Shore Regional
Health Planning Committee
chairman Inge Schamborzki
said some cost-effective ser-
vice shifts currently in use
include:

Ei intravenous antibiotic treat-
ment for patients that can be
administered in the home or in
a clinic setting instead of a hos-
pital in some situations;

@ same-day surgery programs
where a patient is released
from hospital on the same day
of an operation;

@ “early” hospital releases of
mothers, who can leave hospi-
tal as early as 12 hours after
giving birth, with needed
health-support services provid-
ed in the home.

Previously, new mothers
who didn’t experience compli-
cations due to birth stayed in
hospital two or three days.

Said Schamborzki, “It's
much cheaper to be cared for in
the community.

“And it is usually much bet-
ter for the individual and their
families, as well, because it’s
less disruptive.

“The (health) ministry's
expectation is that the hospital
and community agencies will
collaborate to come up with

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