B.C. Wildlife Federation Past President John Carter, passed away Wednesday, October 23rd. John was president of the Federation from 1985 - 1987.

John was hiking on the Stake Lake Trails near Kamloops and had a heart attack. He was with a buddy, sat down for a rest when the heart attack happened. John was only 69 years old.

To become the President of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, one must show a love and dedication to our fish and wildlife resources, andJohn most certainly did. But that only tells part of the story.

Before taking on the provincial responsibilities, John put in his time at his home club, the Kamloops and District Fish & Game Club where he served his time as president. During this time Weyerhaeuser and the City of Kamloops were using the Thompson River as an outlet for their industrial waste and sewage. John joined with other interested citizens and formed the "Save the Thompson" committee and became its chair and chief spokesperson. Much of the progress made by both the city and Weyerhaeuser in removing the nutrients from the river can be traced to the efforts of this committee and in particular its chair.

John then moved on to become president of the BCWF Shuswap Region and a director on the BCWF's provincial board. As a director John realized that the Federation was concentrating its efforts on fish to the tidal species and was ignoring the inland fishery. He lobbied the Federation to form the Inland Fisheries committee to address this shortcoming and agreed to serve as its chair, a post he held until his retirement.

As President John worked with government and our membership to ensure our values were understood and appreciated by them. In particular he worked with the land use committees to ensure the inland fishery was respected in the decision making process. Indeed much of the wilderness walk-in lakes have come about because of John's directions.

John also served several terms as a director on the Canadian Wildlife Federation until he decided his time could be better spent in his home province.

John remained active in the Kamloops and District Fish and Game Association as well as the Shuswap Region until his untimely demise. He will be missed but we can all take comfort in knowing that John has finally found the ultimate walk- in lake.

We'll miss him.