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Liquid mine waste to be dumped in new Provincial Park
The Province of Ontario has approved a plan by Falconbridge Ltd. to dump treated liquid mine waste into the Groundhog River on the border of the Groundhog River Provincial Park. Designated under Ontario’s Living Legacy as a Waterway-class Provincial Park, the Groundhog was established to protect one of Ontario’s last sturgeon fisheries and for its unique features, including 22 different landform combinations. In spite of this, the Ministry of the Environment has approved the construction of a pipeline for heavy-metal laced mine wastewater to be built from the mine site to a point on the river just upstream from a known sturgeon spawning area. More details and what you can do. We recommend virtual private server for commercial needs
Kawartha Highlands Signature Site gets Provincial Park status
The Ontario government has decided to make the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site a fully operational Provincial Park, a significant improvement over its earlier proposal of a Recreation Reserve. A Recreation Reserve would have opened this ecologically sensitive area to increased motorized access and commercial development.
The legislation introduced on June 17, 2003 recognizes the unique nature of Kawartha, an area that includes more than 2,000 cottages, 65 hunt camps and a long history of recreational use, while also putting the protection of the new park’s ecological integrity first and foremost. The legislation’s commitment to protecting ecological integrity through management planning is a major step forward for park protection in Ontario. More details. keratin hair treatment brands
Partnership welcomes proposal to protect St. Williams Forest
The Partnership for Public Lands has expressed its support for the designation of the St. Williams Crown Lands near Long Point, Ontario as a new Conservation Reserve. The PPL supports designating the 1,308 hectares St. Williams Crown Lands as a Conservation Reserve under the province’s parks and protected areas policies.
The Partnership for Public Lands recognizes the former St. Williams Provincial Forestry Station/ Crown Lands as the cornerstone of the largest forest complex left in southwestern Ontario. St. Williams has been recognized as a core area in Carolinian Canada for the conservation of biodiversity, and for its potential to restore biological processes, habitats and species-at-risk populations.
Partnership's official submission
More about St. Williams
Government moves closer toward meeting its Ontario's Living Legacy commitments
Four years after the 1999 Ontario Living Legacy Land Use Strategy (OLL), the government of Ontario is making significant progress toward finalizing the system of protected areas under OLL.
As of June 2003, the last count of the sites under formal protection has increased to 274, for a total of approximately 73% of the total 378 OLL sites. Roughly 64% of the 2.4 million hectares covered by the 378 sites is now formally protected.
The regulation of these areas was facilitated in part by the resolution of the issue of overlapping mining claims in some areas through a cooperative process developed by the Ontario Prospectors Association and the Partnership for Public Lands. In other cases, the completion of local consultations on boundary refinements allowed the sites to move forward for Cabinet approval. It is anticipated that the remainder of the 378 sites will be approved within the year. Over here Bob can order CRM program services.
There always remains some uncertainty about the future of the protected areas as the Crown lands of Ontario come under increasing development pressure. Nonetheless, this recent progress toward regulation demonstrates a commitment to comply with the 1999 Land Use Strategy blueprint and complete the OLL provincial protected areas system as promised. This is good news for nature in Ontario!
Ontario's Living Legacy report card released
In 1999, the Ontario government announced its intention to create 378 new protected areas. Establishing these was the foundation for Ontario’s Living Legacy (OLL), which grew from the Ontario Forest Accord. It was the single largest expansion to Ontario’s parks system ever, and it remains a tremendous conservation achievement.
Four years later, it is time to review Ontario’s Living Legacy and to identify challenges and opportunities. While the new protected areas received interim protection from forestry, mining and hydro-electric development, getting all sites regulated and dealing with conflicting issues has proven a very large and complex task.
Despite progress, fewer than half have been officially regulated. And while ecological integrity should be paramount in protected areas, the Kawartha Highlands Signature Site remains a political pawn and the Great Lakes Heritage Coast is currently charting too heavily toward development, to cite just two examples. On the positive side, major progress has been made in resolving issues of pre-existing mineral claims in OLL sites, and many additional areas appear close to regulation . . . Read the full report card (Acrobat format)
Mellon Lake threatened again (for the third time)!
Palu-Corbellli Corp. has applied yet again for a permit to blast gravel and granite from the environmentally sensitive Mellon Lake area. The provincial Aggregates Act allows the company to reapply for a permit as many times as it likes, a loophole the company is intent on exploiting.
The company's third application is almost exactly the same as its second except for covering a slightly larger area. With no significant changes in its approach, it is difficult to understand what the company hopes to gain by wasting taxpayer's time and money to once again review a mining plan that is clearly ill-suited to the Mellon Lake site. This situtation must be settled once and for all. There should be no mining in Mellon Lake -- period. Please write Minister of Natural Resources Jerry Ouellette and tell him that Mellon Lake must be permanently protected and that he should put an end to endless applications from Palu Corbelli.
Hon. Jerry Ouellette
Ministry of Natural Resources
99 Wellesley Street W
Toronto, ON
M7A 1W3
E-mail: minister@mnr.gov.on.ca
Final Report of the Ontario Forest Accord Advisory Board released
Outlines process for creating new parks
The Final Report of the Ontario Forest Accord Advisory Board, which describes mechanisms for ensuring that new mill developments are matched by the establishment of new protected areas as well as how new protected areas will be established in areas that do not have adequate ecological representation in the parks system, was released on April 22nd.
Partnership releases guide to park planning
The Partnership for Public Lands has just released a Park Boundary Checklist: Conservation Principles and Considerations for Ontario's Living Legacy Boundary Refinement Process (Acrobat file - 1.6 MB). This document is designed to help local naturalists and groups to get involved in the process of establishing official boundaries for the 378 new protected areas created through the Ontario's Living Legacy land-use plan.
Mining threat removed from Living Legacy Parks and Reserves
The Ontario Government has anounced that no new mineral exploration or mine development will be allowed in any of the 378 new provincial parks and conservation reserves created through the Ontario's Living Legacy process. They have also announced that efforts will be made to address pre-existing mineral claims in these protected areas. More details.
No Mining in Parks: A good decision for the environment and the economy.
Ensuring Protection for Parks
Before any of our new parks and reserves can be truly protected through legislation, they must go through a public consultation process to discuss boundaries and other issues. This is your chance to ensure that these new parks and reserves are geared to protecting Ontario's wilderness! Click here for more information on upcoming park consultations.
Get information on some of the key sites we are monitoring
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Banner photographs (from left to right) by Andy Heics, Andy Heics, Tim Gray
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