Recognition truly deserved.

Vancouver and Terrace � Terrace Resident Jim Culp receives Haig-Brown Award for Half century of Fighting for Fish

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��������� British Columbia�s oldest fly-fishing club has honored one of B.C.�s longest-serving and most-respected fish advocates with the prestigious Roderick Haig-Brown Conservation Award.� �Totem Flyfishers of B.C. president Ehor Boyanowsky cited Terrace resident Jim Culp�s �lifetime of dedication to fish and fish habitat� in bestowing the award.��

�

��������� Culp�s career as a fish advocate began 52 years ago, when the then high-school student joined the Port Coquitlam Hunting and Fishing Club.�� He had a decade of experience in fish advocacy before the Totem Flyfishers came into being.�� He became the Coquitlam club�s secretary when he was in grade 11. �Soon thereafter he and one other represented the club at meetings of the B.C. Wildlife Association�s Lower Mainland Zone.

�

��������� From then on, Culp has been a tireless and respected spokesman for fish, fish habitat, and anglers.�� He has raised his concerns at every political level�municipal, regional, provincial, and federal.�� His style is typified in the major role he played in a small committee later named in a B.C. Wildlife Federation conservation award given to the Port Coquitlam Hunting and Fishing Club.� The committee succeeded in �significantly� reducing the flow of silt entering Coquitlam River from a stream that cut through property originally owned by Deeks McBride and then by Lafarge Cement.��

�

��������� During his two years working on the site, Culp befriended Lafarge superintendent Mel Earl who promised that, if permitted to operate another four years, the company would give its cleaned-up property�including a pond�to the community.� The promise was kept, and the pond and its surroundings are now a green oasis in the community.� �Dubbed Lafarge Lake, the pond provides a little-known but much-appreciated put-and-take trout fishery.� ����

�

��������� Culp was also active in the small but determined ROSS Committee�which stopped Seattle Light and Power from increasing its Ross Lake storage capacity, and thereby prevented the drowning of the Skagit River upstream of Ross Lake.� The Run-Out-Skagit-Spoilers and the Totem Flyfishers were formed in the same year, 1967.�

�

��������� Also in the late 60s, Culp and a handful of BC Wildlife Federation members met at the Nanaimo Rod and Gun Club to establishing a committee dedicated to the concerns of steelhead fishermen.� The meeting led to the founding of the Steelhead Society of British Columbia in 1970.� �Culp, a founding member, was the Society�s third president.�

�

��������� In 1974, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans appointed Culp to the Skeena Salmon Advisory Board the significance of which is that every board member but one represented the commercial fishing industry.�� The exception was Culp, who represented sport fishers.��

�

��������� Culp calls the period from 1979 to 1992 his �busiest� years.� His 20 years of volunteering with the Sport Fishing Advisory Board began in 1979.� ��

He and others fashioned the Terrace/Kitsum-Kalem Salmon Enhancement Society in 1982, but the First Nation members soon withdrew.� �Culp served the reorganized and re-named society�the Terrace Salmonid Society�for many years, as salmon hatchery manager, board member, and director.��

�

��������� Also in 1982, Culp was elected regional director for Thornhill, Terrace�s across-the-Skeena �suburb�.� �His six-year stint as the DFO�s North Coast Restoration Fisheries Advisor and Sport Fishing Ombudsman began the next year.� �In 1985, Culp initiated a change in angling regulations �from a total angling closure on a section of the Morice River to fly fishing with dry or waking flies only.�� The change successfully protected spawning Chinooks and permitted angling for commingling steelhead.��

�

��������� In 1991, Culp led an initiative that created interim employment for 60 Terrace area residents, including eco-centered jobs such as creel censuses on the Skeena and Kitimat rivers, and restoring fish passage on the Kitimat River and Williams Creek.�� Somewhere along the way, he was feted with a National Recreational Fisheries Award for his contribution to sport fishing.� �

�

��������� Culp currently provides advice on salmon harvesting plans for Watershed Watch and the Pacific Marine Conservation Caucus.� The Haig-Brown Award is named after pioneering writer, conservationist, and judge Roderick Haig-Brown.

�

For photos contact Watershed Watch, wwss@telus.net or 604-936-9474

�

Vancouver and Terrace � Terrace Resident Jim Culp receives Haig-Brown Award for Half century of Fighting for Fish

�

��������� British Columbia�s oldest fly-fishing club has honored one of B.C.�s longest-serving and most-respected fish advocates with the prestigious Roderick Haig-Brown Conservation Award.� �Totem Flyfishers of B.C. president Ehor Boyanowsky cited Terrace resident Jim Culp�s �lifetime of dedication to fish and fish habitat� in bestowing the award.��

�

��������� Culp�s career as a fish advocate began 52 years ago, when the then high-school student joined the Port Coquitlam Hunting and Fishing Club.�� He had a decade of experience in fish advocacy before the Totem Flyfishers came into being.�� He became the Coquitlam club�s secretary when he was in grade 11. �Soon thereafter he and one other represented the club at meetings of the B.C. Wildlife Association�s Lower Mainland Zone.

�

��������� From then on, Culp has been a tireless and respected spokesman for fish, fish habitat, and anglers.�� He has raised his concerns at every political level�municipal, regional, provincial, and federal.�� His style is typified in the major role he played in a small committee later named in a B.C. Wildlife Federation conservation award given to the Port Coquitlam Hunting and Fishing Club.� The committee succeeded in �significantly� reducing the flow of silt entering Coquitlam River from a stream that cut through property originally owned by Deeks McBride and then by Lafarge Cement.��

�

��������� During his two years working on the site, Culp befriended Lafarge superintendent Mel Earl who promised that, if permitted to operate another four years, the company would give its cleaned-up property�including a pond�to the community.� The promise was kept, and the pond and its surroundings are now a green oasis in the community.� �Dubbed Lafarge Lake, the pond provides a little-known but much-appreciated put-and-take trout fishery.� ����

�

��������� Culp was also active in the small but determined ROSS Committee�which stopped Seattle Light and Power from increasing its Ross Lake storage capacity, and thereby prevented the drowning of the Skagit River upstream of Ross Lake.� The Run-Out-Skagit-Spoilers and the Totem Flyfishers were formed in the same year, 1967.�

�

��������� Also in the late 60s, Culp and a handful of BC Wildlife Federation members met at the Nanaimo Rod and Gun Club to establishing a committee dedicated to the concerns of steelhead fishermen.� The meeting led to the founding of the Steelhead Society of British Columbia in 1970.� �Culp, a founding member, was the Society�s third president.�

�

��������� In 1974, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans appointed Culp to the Skeena Salmon Advisory Board the significance of which is that every board member but one represented the commercial fishing industry.�� The exception was Culp, who represented sport fishers.��

�

��������� Culp calls the period from 1979 to 1992 his �busiest� years.� His 20 years of volunteering with the Sport Fishing Advisory Board began in 1979.� ��

He and others fashioned the Terrace/Kitsum-Kalem Salmon Enhancement Society in 1982, but the First Nation members soon withdrew.� �Culp served the reorganized and re-named society�the Terrace Salmonid Society�for many years, as salmon hatchery manager, board member, and director.��

�

��������� Also in 1982, Culp was elected regional director for Thornhill, Terrace�s across-the-Skeena �suburb�.� �His six-year stint as the DFO�s North Coast Restoration Fisheries Advisor and Sport Fishing Ombudsman began the next year.� �In 1985, Culp initiated a change in angling regulations �from a total angling closure on a section of the Morice River to fly fishing with dry or waking flies only.�� The change successfully protected spawning Chinooks and permitted angling for commingling steelhead.��

�

��������� In 1991, Culp led an initiative that created interim employment for 60 Terrace area residents, including eco-centered jobs such as creel censuses on the Skeena and Kitimat rivers, and restoring fish passage on the Kitimat River and Williams Creek.�� Somewhere along the way, he was feted with a National Recreational Fisheries Award for his contribution to sport fishing.� �

�

��������� Culp currently provides advice on salmon harvesting plans for Watershed Watch and the Pacific Marine Conservation Caucus.� The Haig-Brown Award is named after pioneering writer, conservationist, and judge Roderick Haig-Brown.

�

For photos contact Watershed Watch, wwss@telus.net or 604-936-9474