Fr:                   Vern Fish, Friends of Wabakimi - President,
                        Dave McTeague, Friends of Wabakimi - Board Chair
                        Maurice Poulin, Board of Directors
To:                  Mitch Legros, Ministry of Natural Resources & Forest
                        Jeff Cameron, Wabadowgang Noopming Forest Plan Author
Re:                  Request for Issue Resolution
Date:               November 6, 2022
 
Dear Sirs:
 
As you will recall, we have been long concerned about, and commented upon, proposed roads and logging in and near three areas adjacent to Wabakimi Provincial Park and inside the special land use zone of CLUPA 2616.

1. What is now called Kellar Road.
2. D’Alton Road between the D’Alton Block and the north end of Caribou Lake 
3. The area of the proposed Rocky Road near Tamarack and Bath and Gneiss lakes, the Boiling Sand River (all in the far southeastern corner of Wabakimi Park).

These areas are all highly sensitive and contain important values, some of which area threatened by all-weather roads (construction and use) and summer timber harvesting. We believe that these areas and these values are threatened by the proposed 2023-2033 draft plan. We believe that the draft plan is not adequately sustainable for the following values:

• Woodland caribou inside and outside of the park (Calving areas especially on Caribou Lake and Hollingsworth Lake, travel corridors, and year-round habitats)
• Park values. In the absence of any park plan, what occurs outside of the park will have significant de-facto effects upon the park and park values
• Remote tourism, both current and potential
• Important walleye spawning beds at the mouth of Campbell Creek
• Prime lake trout lakes (Caribou and Campbell lakes)
• Wilderness canoeing: both General Recreation, and Commercial canoe outfitters. The concerns include:

1. Loss of remoteness
2. Adverse effects upon woodland caribou, which are a threatened species and key value not only for their own inherent biodiversity, but also a big draw for wilderness paddlers for a chance to see them.
3. The north end of Caribou Lake is the most important access point for the park, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. It really should have been included in the park as an access zone. That may happen someday. While we do understand that is a land use planning decision and lies outside of FMPs, the FMP must recognize its effects upon those values. There are also established canoe routes and connections to the north and east of Caribou Lake, connected to Caribou Lake.
4. There are extremely important canoe routes closely adjacent to the proposed Rocky Road (including Tamarack Lake and Boiling Sand River, Gneiss, Bath, Gnome, and Collins Lake). Paradoxically Tamarack and the Boiling Sand are both high quality routes and access points, while also having a severely limited capacity for increased access and use. Through both future FMP’s and park planning, these important but fragile canoe routes must be protected from logging disturbances from May-September, and overuse threatening park values (including caribou and lake trout) caused by undue disturbance and access.

At an earlier stage in the FMP we identified all these values, and urged that these three areas be established as Conservation Reserves. We were informed that such a land use planning decision lies outside of the aegis of the FMP. We do understand that. However, those values and their sustainability must be protected, and the options must be kept open. Therefore, we are requesting that we engage with the Regional Director in the Issue Resolution process outlined in the FMP manuals. We feel strongly that:

1. The D’Alton block and the northern end of Caribou Lake be protected from the noise and disturbance of roads (construction and use, and enhanced access). We are requesting that any and all roads and harvesting be done during the winter, occurring only between mid-September and April. All roads must be winter only and very temporary.
2. The Kellar Road and harvesting should only be winter/temporary. It should never be a primary road. 
3. Rocky Road and the associated harvest within at least 2 km of the park boundary should either be:

1. Only winter roads, without gravel, and with winter harvesting. This would be a large compromise, given that what we feel is really needed is:
2. Harvesting or roads within 2-3 km of the Wabakimi Boundary be deferred until the 2033-43 plan. This will:

• Allow the completion of the Wabakimi Park plan. Hopefully by then there will be an approved plan that ensures only winter roads and harvest within 3 km of Wabakimi Park, over the shortest possible time frame to protect both tourism and caribou values. Wabakimi is beginning to boom, and the tourism business potential is very significant.
• Maintain the option of future harvesting and associated employment, without reducing the Annual Harvest Allowance on the forest.
• Protect existing (presently three) commercial canoe outfitters and foster additional potential future local outfitters, including indigenous businesses owned by Whitesand and Collins members.
• Protect the high-quality experience on the canoe routes for canoeists in general. In short, ensure the sustainability of the high-quality recreational canoe trip wilderness experience, with the lowest possible adverse effects on the boreal ecosystems there.
• Protect caribou habitat currently used year-round for the upcoming decade, and allow better caribou monitoring and planning, helping to ensure long term sustainability. This is crucially important at the southern limit of the line of continuous caribou distribution… far, far north of the original southern limit in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Recently the Federal Government committed many millions of dollars to caribou monitoring by Ontario, which would be useful here there is little or no recent caribou monitoring.
• Maintain the existing level and means of access for local and traditional users.

In the late 1990’s, all three of these areas were included in CLUPA 2616, part of a long, monumental, expensive provincial land use planning decision. This special land use designation puts caribou, wildlife, and remote tourism values as a higher priority than forestry. While it does not ban forestry, it does state firmly and clearly that in matters of conflict with logging, that matters will be resolved in favour of the protected values. So far, many planning team members have not seemed to take that mandate seriously. MNRF policy staff have repeatedly reasserted in this process that provincial land use decisions come before logging decisions. There are province-wide implications as to whether MNRF does indeed support the land use decisions from Lands for Life/Ontario’s Living Legacy. It seems clear to us that our proposals above are a reasonable compromise between forestry and clear CLUPA 2616 directives. In addition to direct input from us to the FMP, we have participated in the LCC meetings, and we also voiced our concerns to the LCC planning team representative.

The Crown Forest Sustainability Act directs the Minister to not approve plans which cannot be shown to be sustainable for all forest values. We believe that our suggestions above will result in an FMP that is more sustainable than the proposed draft plan.  What are the next steps? What other information do you require?
Respectfully,
  
Vern Fish                    Dave McTeague                      Maurice Poulin
President                     Board Chair                            Board Member

​To: Jeffrey Cameron RPF,                              Date: July 31, 2022
WN Forest Plan Author

Fr: Vern Fish, President
Friends of Wabakimi
 
Re: Stage Four Comments
Wabadowgang Noopming Forest (WNF)
2023-2033 Management Plan
 
Dear Mr. Cameron,

As you know, I represent the Friends of Wabakimi (FOW) on the Wabadowgang Noopming Forest LCC. The Friends of Wabakimi is a non-profit organization registered in the Province of Ontario. Our mission is to “advocate for the protection and preservation of the diverse natural, cultural and historical resources of the Wabakimi Area”. The FOW define the Wabakimi Area as a 2,572,734 hectare virtually roadless tract that includes Wabakimi Provincial Park and a host of surrounding provincial parks, Conservation Reserves and Crown land. The Wabadowgang Noopming Forest (WNF) is part of the Wabakimi Area.
A Sense of Wilderness

I attempt to keep the Board of Directors up to speed on the progress of the forest management plan for the WNF. They feel that maintaining a sense of wilderness in the WNF is an important value to be preserved. FOW’s priorities and concerns fall under the following topics:

1) Ecological integrity and sustainability
2) Protect critical habitat for species at risk
3) Maintaining a healthy and sustainable woodland caribou population
4) Protect exceptional recreation and tourism values adjacent to Wabakimi Park:
*Maintain existing and potential wilderness tourism business opportunities
*Preserve historical canoe routes that directly or indirectly connect to adjacent provincial parks
*Allow limited access to historical canoe routes across the WNF
Crown Land Use Policy Atlas (CLUPA)*

The policies of CLUPA 2616 covers the WNF north of the Big River. “Road access will be managed to maintain commercial tourism and fish and wildlife habitat. Operating and annual plans will contain specific guidelines for the protection of tourism values and fish and wildlife habitat.”

We understand that forest management and logging are allowed in CLUPA 2616. We appreciate the effort that has gone into using the McKinley Road to access Block AB-3 to avoid building a road between Caribou Lake and D’Alton Lake. We note the effort to prevent road access to the Michell Lake and creation of buffers to insulate historic canoe routes. We also note the effort to decommission secondary roads once they are abandoned.
We also note that even though the Big Lake Road is signed "Road closed to unauthorized vehicles. Access prohibited under PLA. This gate is currently open, and the intent is to keep it open.” (Page 179). We assume this means that recreational paddlers can still use the Big Lake Road to access the Big Lake and the Big River. As noted, the FOW encourage limited access to historical canoe routes.
*Please note that on page 73 of the Management Plan it appears that CLUPA 2616 has been mislabeled as CLUPA 2619.

Species at Risk
CLUPA 2616 does focus attention on maintaining fish and wildlife habitat. Page 198 of the draft forest management plan notes that “known nests will not be destroyed”. Page 47 provides a list of birds identified as Species at Risk. This list includes: Canada Warbler, Olive Sided Flycatcher, Common Nighthawk and the Bald Eagle. All of these bird species and many more have been identified along Big River canoe route which includes the Reef Lake Peninsula. Evidence of caribou was also found along the Big River. The attached memo, Reef Lake Peninsula Harvest Area, provides details and supporting documentation.
As a result of this documentation, the following motion was approved by the Board of Directors of the Friends of Wabakimi at their June 26, 2022 meeting.

“To maintain the habitat and the wilderness values of this potential conservation reserve, the Friends of Wabakimi strongly recommend that the Reef Lake Peninsula NOT be considered for logging.”

Herbicides & Rocky Road
In the Summary of the Wabadowgang Noopming 2033-2033 Forest Management Plan on page 10, herbicide use was identified as a major issue. At this time it is unclear as to whether herbicide use would be acceptable to all stakeholders particularly in the areas that the Rocky Road would make accessible. If herbicides are not acceptable and cannot be used as silviculture strategy to regenerate the forest after the cut, will this block still be logged? If not, will the Rocky Road still be needed?

Wabadowgang Noopming Draft Forest Management Plan 2023-2033
Forest Management Plan Timetable

                                  www.wabakimi.org; info@wabakimi.org
 
March 21, 2022
 
To: Public Input Coordinator,  Species at Risk Branch, Ministry of the    Environment, Conservation and Parks; 435 James St South,  Thunder Bay, ON       P7E 6T1        Canada   borealcaribouconservation@ontario.ca
 
Strategic Priorities Directorate;  Canadian Wildlife Service; Environment and Climate Change, Canada   15th Floor, Place Vincent Massey
Gatineau, QC     K1A 0H3  ec.eccc-caribou.ec@canada.ca

From:  Friends of Wabakimi, Vern Fish-President
Re: Proposed Conservation Agreement for Boreal Caribou in Ontario.

  The Friends of Wabakimi is an Ontario Non-profit corporation based in Thunder Bay, Ontario with over 260 members.  We advocate for canoe routes and habitat protection in the Greater Wabakimi area which includes numerous provincial parks, conservation reserves and five managed forests.

Our Mission Statement:
     Through volunteer stewardship and collaboration with other stakeholders, the Friends of Wabakimi will participate in the planning processes to advocate for protection and preservation of the diverse natural, cultural, recreational and historical resources of the Wabakimi Area.

   Friends of Wabakimi appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Conservation Agreement for Boreal Caribou in Ontario.   https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-4995  Friends of Wabakimi and our precursor organization, The Wabakimi Project, have paddled and mapped canoe routes in this large area. We’ve seen the beauty of the boreal forest up close, and the occasional caribou as well.

   While this proposed agreements states many important goals and plans; we’re not clear on the implementation steps to accomplish them.   Our concern is that another agreement serves to “check off the box” with little actual progress to protect boreal woodland caribou as a keystone species; an indicator of the overall health of the ecosystem and the boreal forest.  

  We would be interested to know what concrete action steps have been taken in the Alberta/Canada agreement to date?

   Currently, we’re deeply involved in the planning process for the Wabadowgang Noopming Forest 10-year plan.   This prime caribou habitat is bordered on three sides by Wabakimi and Whitesands Provincial Parks.  The planned timber harvest is certain to continue the fragmentation of this key forest.

  Our forest plan comments (found here) support efforts to minimize the impact of forest harvest and promote restoration of the harvested units.  What’s not at all certain though, is that once the boreal caribou leave the disturbed areas, will they ever actually return?  Enhanced monitoring might answer that question, but by then it could be too late.

   Friends of Wabakimi have proposed three areas for new Conservation Reserves in the Wabadowgang Noopming Forest, areas which are known for woodland caribou habitat.   Further, Friends of Wabakimi has proposed new Conservation Reserve for the Misehkow Valley area, which is NW of Wabakimi Provincial Park, south the Albany River Provincial Park and bordered on the west by the Caribou Forest.  And we’ve proposed the modest addition of Survey Creek adjacent to the Obonga-Ottertooth Provincial Park.

  These modest areas of proposed protections would be an important, but by no means adequate, for the future of boreal woodland caribou.  We urge both the respective Ontario and Canada ministries to consider our proposals and similar proposals, which would protect the forest from the fragmentation that threatens boreal woodland caribou.

  However, the forest planners and Ontario’s MNRF say that new Conservation Reserves are beyond their mandate and scope. But clearly, this is within the scope of the Species at Risk Branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.  Serious consideration of these proposed Conservation Reserves should be included in the implementation plans for this Ontario/Canada agreement. 
 
In regards the proposed Ontario/Canada agreement:

• We support the proposed investment in monitoring and science (Conservation Measure 1.1), and the review and collation of existing science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge over the next 1 – 5 years (Conservation Measure 1.2, 1.4). We are also pleased to see acknowledgement of the need to engage thoughtfully with Indigenous communities from year 1 and to continue to assess this approach (Conservation Measure 1.3).
• We are particularly pleased to see mention given to prioritization of Crown land locations for habitat restoration (Conservation Measure 2.1). We hope this will be initiated in Year 1 as stated, and implemented in Year 2. We recommend that this be extended to include establishing protected status for these priority areas as well.
• We support Conservation measure 2.2, to expand and create new protected areas. In conjunction with 2.1, these are the key things which are needed to improve the status of Boreal Caribou in Ontario.
• We applaud the consideration of funding to support Boreal Caribou conservation initiatives, and recommend that these include tangible actions including habitat restoration and protection (Conservation measure 5.1).

 
                                                       

 The Friends of Wabakimi (FOW) has proposed four new Conservation Reserves and limitations on planned logging roads with our formal comments for the Wabadowgang Noopming (W.N.) Forest ten year plan (2023 to 2033). These four areas are closely proximate to Wabakimi Provincial Park and within the woodland caribou special area of concern. The FOW also clarified that Trail Lake (aka Tamarack Lake) Road should remain  undeveloped so as to not cause increased pressure onsensitive caribou areas in Wabakimi Provincial Park’s SE corner.  
 
The FOW represents wilderness paddlers and recreational businesses with a current membership of over 250 who have an interest in the Greater Wabakimi Area. The FOW is the successor organization to The Wabakimi Project, which explored and mapped routes, portages and campsites over a fourteen year period.  The maps for the W.N. Forest are contained in Wabakimi Canoe Routes Volume 5.  FOW President Vern Fish is our representative on the W.P. Forest Local Citizens Committee (LCC).  Previously, FOW met with the MNRF and their consultants.
 
Of significance is Ontario’s Crown Land Use Policy Atlas Policy (CLUPA) Report G2616: Caribou Lake / Wabakimi,  adopted in 2006, which states, “The primary use for this area will be commercial tourism. Extractive activities such as timber harvesting, while growing in importance, will remain secondary. Road access will be managed to maintain commercial tourism and fish and wildlife habitat. Land use conflicts will be resolved recognizing the importance of commercial recreation in the area.”
 
Proposed Conservation Reserves While creation of new Conservation Reserves is outside the purview of the Ministry of Natural Resources Forestry’s (MNRF) forest planning process; it is within the broad responsibilities of the MNRF generally.    

1. Caribou Lake (the northern half). The northern shore, with its dozens of islands, has been documented as critical calving habitat and an east-west migration corridor. Caribou need to be protected from adverse influences that will reduce their movement and their calving success. These impacts include roads, adjacent logging and excessive recreational use in May and June. These impacts could be well achieved through status as a Conservation Reserve, with appropriate management prescriptions under the Public Lands Act. Aside from concerns about affecting caribou calving, the northern half of Caribou Lake has a relatively high intensive use recreational capability. It acts as a “filter/buffer” to reduce overuse of the more sensitive sites inside the park.
2. Caribou – Campbell - Hollingsworth Triangle – This area is bounded by the park on the west and lies north of Caribou Lake and south of Campbell and Hollingsworth Lake including Campbell Creek, which is an important walleye spawning area. Campbell Lake is a valuable and remote lake trout lake. Hollingsworth Lake has been well documented by MNRF as critical caribou calving area, historically and presently.
3. The “D’Alton Block” (aka Big River Canoe Route)  – This area includes most of the Big River drainage stretching from Linklater Lake on the north, to Lower Pawshowconk on the east, the Big Lake to the south and northeastern arm of Caribou Lake. The D’Alton Block would include D’Alton, Reef, Moonshine, Cosmo, Amra, Michell, Cumaway, Rhodes, Ruxton, Pawshowconk and the Linklater Creek chain. It also includes all the Big River as far east as the McKinley Road.

 
The D’Alton Block has an unusual high concentration of interconnected small lakes and rivers. It has been documented as historical caribou habitat and migration corridors. There are several valuable remote tourism outposts scattered across the “block”. This tangle of lakes has the potential to be enhanced for recreational canoeing and creates opportunities for canoe outfitting for the Whitesands community.
 
Currently, canoeing access to the D’Alton Block is limited to portaging in from Caribou Lake. If the existing Big Lake Road were opened to recreational use up to the stream crossing just south of Big Lake, another route would be available to paddlers. This limited access would still maintain the wilderness character of the outpost cabins. It would also help reduce canoeing pressure on caribou calving on Caribou Lake in May and June.

4.  Doe-Fawn Lake Complex – This area is located north and northeast of Collins. It is bounded on the south by the CNR Line, on the west and north by Wabakimi Park and on the east by Fawn and Doe Lakes. This area features shallow soils and is important currently used year-round caribou habitat. This small but important area deserves status as a Conservation Reserve to protect this caribou habitat. Eliminating or limiting road access and designating the area west of Doe and Fawn Lakes as a Conservation Reserve will accomplish both of these goals.                                     

Roads inside of CLUPA G2616.

We are recommending some areas within CLUPA G2616 for Conservation Reserve status. That designation lies outside of the scope of the forest management planning process (FMP). However, it does lie within the responsibilities of Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), and this is a Crown FMU. The Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA) makes it clear that the Minister shall not sign   any FMP that is not sustainable for all forest values. So, this draft FMP can, and should:

1. Defer roads and harvesting wherever possible within those areas recommended for Conservation Reserve status.
2. Wherever possible, any harvesting within these sensitive, valuable, and contentious areas should utilize access that is:

• As temporary as possible
• Winter roads/harvesting where possible
• As short-term harvest as is feasible, preferably in winter.
• Fully decommissioned and revegetated to remove linear features

Of particular importance for lowest possible grade, temporary (perhaps winter) roads are:

• Kellar Road, and any proposed road near the north end of Caribou Lake.
• Roads in or near the D’Alton Block
• Roads near Hollingsworth or Campbell Lake
• The Trail Lake Road anywhere west of Fawn/Doe Lakes.

These roads should be winter roads… or left just in the current state to keep open the possibility of increased formal protection of the caribou habitat and remote recreational experience.
                                                                                          
A Sense of Wilderness
According to Vern Fish, FOW President, “Our goal is to maintain a sense of wilderness in key parts of this forest…  Wabakimi has important values to be preserved.  Our FOW priorities and concerns are:
-- Ecological integrity and sustainability
-- Maintaining a healthy and sustainable woodland caribou population
-- Protect lakes that support Lake Trout
-- Protect exceptional recreation and tourism values adjacent to Wabakimi Park:
     *Maintain existing and potential wilderness tourism business opportunities
     *Preserve historical canoe routes that directly or indirectly connect to adjacent provincial parks.”

 “We do understand the need for economic benefit to Whitesand First Nation, and Armstrong. We believe that the        - above recommendations are consistent with long term sustainability for both the natural environment and local economy.”

Contact:  Vern Fish, FOW President at info@wabakimi.org

NEW!  The FOW is strongly advocating for buffers and protections for Armstrong Forest Canoe routes. These new comments are for the tw0-year forest plan, which is to be followed by a ten-year plan.  We know the MNRF is considering our detailed points. Your Conservation Committee and especially FOW President Vern Fish have spent hours pouring over the proposed road building and harvest plans. 

The proposed roads and harvest are pushing deep into the corners of this forest, which are bounded on three or more sides by Wabakimi and other Provincial Parks.   Read full comments and see photos here! A few key points we made:
​

• The Armstrong Forest is blessed with many valuable natural resources one of which is the outstanding web of wilderness water trails. These routes provide paddling access to the surrounding Provincial Parks. Maintaining and promoting these routes could increase tourism opportunities within the Armstrong Forest and bring business and revenue to Armstrong. 

 

• Michell Lake, Fuchsite Lake, Cumaway and D’Alton Lake will go from an isolated wilderness lakes to a bodies of water surrounded by the impact of logging for decades. The roads will also be on the landscape for a very long time. The loss of the “sense of wilderness” is hard to measure on cost/benefit scale but the loss is real.

 

• The FOW continues to recommend that additional thought be given to allowing recreational access to primary roads within the Armstrong Forest. The Trail Lake Road could provide better access to southeast edge of Wabakimi Provincial Park and Crown Lands to the south of the rail line. The Dalton Road could provide access to the south end of Big Lake. This would create paddling access to a web of lakes north and west of the Whitesand Provincial Park. 

 

• The FOW wishes to explore the idea of partnering with the MNRF to coordinate volunteer efforts to maintain documented canoe routes in the Armstrong Forest. 

FOW engages with Armstrong Forest Planning
 
Recently FOW President Vern Fish was accepted as our representative to the Armstrong Forest Local Citizen Committee (LCC).  Board member and Thunder Bay resident Shawn Bell was accepted as our Alternate. They replace Phil Cotton who was appointed shortly before he passed. 
 
Volume 5 Canoe Routes.  There are many canoe routes in the Armstrong Forest which The Wabakimi Project improved and documented in FOW Maps Volume 5 as well as several major points of entry into Wabakimi Provincial Park.    Logging and road development in this Crown land forest will impact the area’s habitat and canoe routes. 
 
Vern attended his first meeting on May 27th. This was the LCC’s first online meeting, a change which greatly helps our involvement. The Armstrong Forest is currently revising the next ten-year Forest Management Plan (FMP).     ​Vern reported:
 
New Logging road. The dominant issue was the location of a road to haul logs out of the northwest corner of the Armstrong Forest. (See the Dalton Road Extension map. The logging company refers to the road as the Dalton Road Extension but the locals refer to it as the Big Lake Road.) Here's the full report in our June newsletter. We'll report further soon our questions to MNRF staff and their responses. 

Going forward, the Armstrong Forest is going to be managed separately from the current Nipigon Forest unit. At stake is a ten year plus management plan for forest harvesting, associated roads, habitat and wildlife conservation and addressing the needs of the area communities and recreational interests.
 
The FOW recently responded to the Armstrong Forest Desired Benefit Survey. Protecting historic canoe routes, and essential wildlife and habitat is the essence of our response.  We don’t want more roads into the wilderness, but access to canoe routes is desirable if there are developed roads. (FOW Survey Response & Letter)
 
The Conservation Committee recommended this response after reviewing critical documents, such as:
       the “Forest Management Guide for Boreal Landscapes”
https://www.ontario.ca/page/forest-management-boreal-landscapes 

       the “Stand and Site Guide” for Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scales. 
https://www.ontario.ca/document/stand-and-site-guide-background-and-rationale

​Another important guide is the Woodland Caribou Recovery and Conservation Policy: https://www.ontario.ca/page/range-management-policy-support-woodland-caribou-conservation-and-recovery.

​See also the recent article by Wabakimi Park biologist Shannon Walshe: http://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/wabakimi-caribou/

Raymond River Route Letter
 
Recently, we let MNRF know about concerns specific to the Raymond River route (including Hollingsworth, Raymond and Scallop Lakes) in the NW section of Armstrong Forest. This route was mapped and cleared in 2018. A proposed road could impact this route.  (View Letter )
 
Forest Plans and Maps
 
In the current forest plans there are different maps with lots of detail and maps about tourism (canoe routes, outposts), cultural resources, and forestry operations. There are significant forest harvest management areas in all five forest units to the east, west and south of the provincial park. These can be found by going to ontario.ca/forestplans.
 
Protecting Crown Land Canoe routes and surrounding habitat was an important reason Phil Cotton started the The Wabakimi Project.

“Wabakimi is quickly becoming an island of wilderness, despite being over 890,000-hectares-huge. Our wanton destruction of the boreal forest for lumber, pulp and minerals is partially to blame. Crown land usage outside of Wabakimi is further confounded by the fact that four separate Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) districts manage the land according to a non-uniform series of regulations. One of my objectives in identifying old canoe routes has been to convince MNR and park managers that the wilderness values of the Crown land outside of Wabakimi’s boundaries should be preserved – for the sake of both canoeists and wildlife. I hope that in making MNR aware that these historic waterways still exist they will be protected and continue to act as corridors to and from Wabakimi’s interior.”
“Uncle” Phil Cotton, as told to Ontario Nature in 2009
 
Phil’s 2014 treatise on ONTARIO CROWN LAND CANOE ROUTES is essential reading for his deep understanding of the issues facing the unprotected area around the Wabakimi area provincial parks. Phil also made a strong call for linking up with a broad range of public interest organizations to advocate for the Crown Land forests, “There is an urgent need for a single, unified voice to represent recreationalists who value and enjoy the province’s wilderness canoeing opportunities and to speak for the protection and preservation of all existing Crown land canoe routes.”
(insert pdf)
 
 
FOW Conservation Committee
 
We’ve had several meetings on Sundays at 7:00 p.m. CST, (8:00 p.m. EST), by Skype. If you’re interested in participating or learning more; drop us an email at info@wabakimi.org
 
Ray Tallent is our FOW Conservation Director. (See Ray’s article on Feather Mosses in our Dec. 2019 newsletter).  
 
Other issues we’d like to explore in the future are:

• The Provincial Park Management Plan process.  See the Sup. Shannon Lawr interview.  This will be ongoing for a long time.

 

• Woodland Caribou status, recovery; and other species management

 

• Mining claims & activities in the Wabakimi Area.

 

• The Far North Act & management of forests north of Wabakimi Provincial Park.

 

• The proposed “Ring of Fire” mining and what that portends for all-weather roads and development