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the HERALD Slogans wont save the forests Home Newspaper of Hills- Established A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company limited Street Georgetown L7G Ontario DAVID A BEATTIE Publisher and General Manager BRIAN Editor Phone 8772201 DAN TAYLOR Advertising Manager SvcoadCUuMil RrKblrrrd Number Page T HERALD Wednesday January Stopping crime After its first full year in the success of the Crime Stoppers program has become apparent Although 56 actual crimes were either printed in the local media or broadcast on radio stations across last year the organizers of the Crime Stoppers program say cases were solved When Crime Stoppers first burst on the scene in New Mexico several years ago after a Canadian police officer offered a reward for a violent crime from his own pocket there were detractors who said the program was set up to encourage people to turn their neighbors in to police While that can make someone feel uncomfortable if their neighbors broke into a house and ransacked it they deserve to be turned into police Actually its not the reward aspect of the program which has made it so popular Its the guaranteed anonymity In fact says Sgt Dave Atkinson who organizes Crime Stoppers for Halton Regional Police up to per cent of the people dont even bother collecting their rewards Halton Police Chief James Harding says the Region had crimes last year Thats up only 39 crimes from the year before But when you take into account the growth in Halton in the past year the crime rate has actually decreased by about 22 per cent Chief Harding says Crime Stoppers has enabled the police to increase its major crime solving rate things like theft fraud by about three per cent to per cent last year the chief says When you look at the totals you have to appreciate the results of a program still in its infancy Almost 260000 worth of stolen goods and illegal drugs recovered 89 cases solved laid with 26 arrests Crime Stoppers which gets its money from service clubs and corporate donations dished out 1600 in reward money last year That averages out to for each worth of illegal drugs or stolen property recovered If only our government programs were as productive Last Wednesday in Oakville Halton police and the Crime Stoppers board of directors held an appreciation night for the media We in turn would like to pass that appreciation on to you the readers Its you who pick up your community newspaper every week flip through the pages and respond to what you read Crime Stoppers success shows youve responded well Save the oldgrowth forest is the latest rallying cry in the dispute over the lands in northeastern Ontario The Wilderness Society and allied environmen talist groups have found the save the oldgrowth forest phrase a useful propaganda tool with which to beat local loggers about the head To great cheers from people who never go near woods the en vironmentalists demand salvation for what they call the last great stands of red and white pines in Ontario But slogans arent necessarily reality An Ontario legislative commit tee heard testimony last autumn about oldgrowth forest and con cluded there isnt even any consen sus about what such forest is never mind that the disputed area in question is the last home for such trees There ar red and white old- growth pines tin this case ar bitrarily defined as or older in But the committee heard there are also stands outside Temagami And in Temagami itself Natural Resources Ministry data indicates the largest stand is in the already protected area of Lady Evelyn Smoothwater Wilderness Park In fact about per cent of oldgrowth pine is in parks with another 20 per cent in protected or managed areas outside such as the Lake Temagami shoreline That 30 per cent represents about 7800 hectares in the region NOT PROTECTED No the Wilderness society said in response The largest white pine stand is in the Triangle outside the park and slated for cut ting The society also said there really isnt any protection for the shoreline pine The Liberal government response to all this has been to vacillate first favoring logging by approving access roads then mak ing accessible trees offlimits Its last action Nov gave pen thouse environmentalism another boost by freezing 585 hectares of Environmental ex tremists view it as another success in their salamicutting campaign one slice at a time to end logging in all of Temagami Yet it is highly unclear what it is they are defending so strongly As Fred of told the committee Most of the old growth is a dead or dying forest There is not too much in there There are the woodpeckers and certain insects The beautiful forest to me is a growing forest where you will see the moose and you will see the beaver You will not find them in what I consider old growth because the food is not there To live those animals have to go where there is a growing forest Others disagree and believe old- growth forests whatever they mean by it should be left alone free from human use Yet many experts dont even believe in the concept of oldgrowth forests A daylong forestry seminar at the University of Toronto Jan where oldgrowth forest will be a key topic for discussion may reach some consensus on the mat ter INTERFERENCE But some things are clear without a seminar Human interference with the forests such as limiting or preven ting fires has already changed them forever Many experts believe fires are vital to the reproduction of pines because of how fire clears the terrain It has also been said that once oldgrowth forest is gone it can never be replaced But we dont and cant know that Since we on ly began cutting an area like Temagami this century there really hasnt been time to judge our success at regeneration Lastly there is an impression left by oldgrowth advocates that without human interference the forest would remain unchang ing It just isnt so Many things sicken All things die And Nature is ruthlessly unpredictable Canada spe but whos listening i bassv raid have vawninc fartnrs- Brian MacLeod The Heart and Stroke Founda tion of Ontario wants to raise million this year and its going to need a lot of help during the month ot February Heart and Stroke Month to make that goal Here In town the foundation is having a kickoff luncheon at the Halton Hills Golf and Country Club Feb 7 at noon Anyone interested in fighting Canadas Number 1 killer heart disease will be there Rick Gallop Executive Director of the foundation will at the lun cheon and baseball fans can renew some great Toronto Blue Jay memories with former catcher Buck Martinez Martinez is probably best remembered for that famous play at the plate the mid 80s when in the midst of a stretch drive his leg was badly broken in a collision at the plate As Gorman Thomas rounded for home ready to give his team victory Martinez flat on his back caught the throw in from the infield and tagged the wouldbe scorer out The Jays won that game Although Martinez did play after the injury it effectively signalled the end of his career Interestingly enough Martinez ended his career along the same lines as he started it He was knocked unconscious in a home plate collision in his first major league start in Kansas City in Canvassers are still needed for the heart foundation for areas near Rexway Drive Mclntyre Cres cent Bairstow Crescent and Prince Charles Drive Crombie Place Garnet Drive Lucinda Place Road Calvert Drive and Hale Drive Anyone interested call 8772972 Tickets for the luncheon are available from NRS Brand Realty Road or by call ing Kevin Bell Washington Bureau Canadas first week as an official member of the Organization of American States passed with some harsh words for the United States but few people in Washington had the opportunity to hear them In a brief session with Canadian journalists Canadas ambassador to the JeanPaul Hubert chose to brand the US raid on the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama as reprehensible but he was silent in the OAS debate over the raid When he eventually spoke in public sessions of the its like ly that few Washington officials paid much attention Despite concern within the Bush administration that last months invasion of Panama and the em bassy raid have severely damaged relations with Latin America the proceedings of the OAS have been largely ignored In the nations capital When Canada joined 18 other members of the OAS in approving a resolution express ing deep concern over the riad on Nicaraguas embassy American journalists regarded the develop ment with scant curiosity The New Times deemed the event unworthy of inclusion in the next days edition and devoted four brief paragraphs to it on Wednesday The Washington Post relegated the story to only two lines It noted that Canada had of ficially joined the OAS but did not mention any vote critical of the United States CONTEMPT The OAS is not particularly considered to be an important forum says Larry director of the Washingtonbased Council on Hemispheric Affairs Although Canadas decision to join the is a significant development in the history of the organization the media treated the Canadian move with contempt Bims said It was the congruence of two yawning factors Canada and the OAS In fact it achieved the critical mass of deep slumber The OAS has been treated with indifference by American officials since it began refusing to be the rubber stamp for American policies in Latin America in the late 1960s say observers here Since then the organization has in American eyes slowly deteriorated into virtual in significance Where once the post of OAS am bassador was among the most highprofile and influential jobs in Washington diplomacy successive administrations have downgraded it to a virtual dumping ground for defeated politicians and big cam paign contributors the Washington Post said last year Recent news reports about the OAS refer to It as comatose or as a powerless debating society We see the waste that goes on said one US congressman They shuffle a lot of paper and do a lot of talking but there are no results Financially is listing badly primarily because of the refusal to pay its dues The United States began falling behind Continued on Page