March 4, 2002

ver The Edae Page 7

The Goat River: A Legacy Worth Saving

By Liliana Dragowska

The Goat River, an inland rainforest, is located just 150km east of Prince George. In the heart of the Caribou Mountains, _ this unprotected area joins two provincial parks; Bowron Lake and West Twin. It is one of the largest untouched watersheds leading into -the Fraser headwaters. The 35,000 hectares of the upper Goat contain extremely valu- able habitats for 50 mammal species, including; Grizzly Bears, Chinook Salmon, Mountain Caribou, 250 of B.C.'s 430 bird species and supports a wide variety of undergrowth.

Hidden in this watershed is

By Shannon Magnus

RAPE is when one person forces sexual activity upon another. In most cases women are raped by some- one they know, and all too often it occurs on a date where romance and _ attrac- tion end in sexual assault. Plan ahead to avoid trou- ble: RESPECT your body, and your future. DECIDE ahead of time what your boundaries are for phys- ical contact. BE WILLING to defend your boundaries clearly and firmly. Avoid bad situations: 1. Don’t be alone with some- one you just met, group activ- ities are less risky. 2. Always have enough money to pay for yourself so you don’t feel indebted to a guy. 3. Stay sober (both drugs and alcohol will increase chances of your offenders success) ‘4. Never leave your drink unattended, as there are drugs that can easily be slipped into your beverage, which will decrease your abil- ity to think clearly. "Date rape drugs" are used in Prince George! 5. Trust your instincts; bail out if you feel uncomfortable Red Flags to pay attention to: 1. Areas of your own person- al weakness: If you feel intim- idated, or indebted to him

the only heritage trail in the Robson Valley Forest District. First Nations peoples first used this trail as an access route for fish, game and other natural resources. More recently the trail was sur- veyed for the Caribou Gold rush commissioner in 1886. The recently restored 95 kilo- metre hiking trail from Crescent Spur along breath taking Caribou Mountain vis- tas and ancient rainforests leading to Bowron Lake, was just a portion of the once reg- ularly used national trans- Canada trail. The Goat was the lowest pass in the Caribou Mountains.

The Upper Goat River, which is a part of the Robson

Date Rape:

your ability to assert yourself may be weakened.

If he is older than you, or has a position of authority over some part of your life.

2. Your date is a "control freak". He is always insisting on his own way. Shows no interest in your taste in restaurants, music etc., he is likely to have little respect for your physical bound- aries. Acts jealous and ‘checks up’ on you. Tries to isolate you from your family and friends, or badmouths them. If he wants you all to himself, eventually he may want ‘all of you’ sexually as well.

3. Guys who are crude, sex- ist

4. Guys who are whiners: Acts wimpy, begs or pleads pathetically. Tries to talk you into sex (e.g. "If you love me...", "trust me").

When the situation starts getting out of hand:

1. Clearly state what is acceptable and unaccept- able (don’t be vague!!). Say things like "don’t do that again!", or "stop. this NOW!."

2. Reinforce your message by: Looking him in the eye. Cross your arms, standing tall. Speak loudly, and firm- ly.

Say it again if he doesn’t get it the first time.

3. Escape if you can.

4. Yell for help and Fight

Valley Timber supply area, will have 445,000 m3 (12, 000 truck loads, a two year sup- ply) of timber removed in the first stages of logging. Not

posed management plans such as “protecting areas of key Wildlife habitat’, but will also go against federal DFO regulations and provincial for- est practice codes.

’m not sure if | understand -

who is representing these for-

est communities, which uphold a great amount of life. They have no voice to say “we cannot survive on one cubic meter when the rest of our systems are destroyed.” These resources will not be around for our children or let alone the children of those Grizzly bears, the Mountain Caribou, the baby fry or off- spring of lichen. Will our gov- ernment subsidize those complex systems, much as they subsidize the 33% of employment for the Robson Valley forestry industry? At the rate industry is going it is unsustainable, for both econ- omy, human and natural com- munities. We must realize that our human race depends

Things You Should Know

back forcefully. 5. Buy time with talk. 6. Ruin the seductive mood by urinating, vomiting, belch- ing etc.

The Northern — Interior Health Unit wants to provide you with information to pro-

mote healthy dating. Deciding ahead of time about your values, making wise decisions about who you date (and where you go), staying alert, and being clear in both your actions and words will go a long way in keeping your

on these complex ecosys- tems.

The Goat River is only one Ecosystem out of the many in our world not being protect- ed, but will our economic dependence on resources change over night? Probably not. So maybe we can pre- serve and appreciate what is still remaining.

What can we do to help in the campaign for the goat river? Well the list can run on but most importantly right know is our chance to make our voices heard to the gov- ernment. The goat river will be going through an environ- mental impact assessment screening process’ which

Continued page 10

social life safe. For any fur- ther information you can call the health unit at 565-7456. If someone you care about could benefit from this advice please clip it out and pass it on.

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