‘Living Legacy’ to add new parks, protective areas

Touted as the “biggest” expansion of parks and protected areas in Ontario history, Premier Mike Harris unveiled the province’s “Living Legacy” strategy Monday in Sudbury.
And many of the changes will have an impact close to home.
The Rainy Lake Islands–along with Lake of the Woods, Farrington Township, Highrock, Manitou, Pipestone, Brown’s Inlet, and Sifton Township–have been declared conservation reserves.
Meanwhile, park expansions, referred to as “nature reserve additions,” are slated for Spruce Island, Sable Islands, Agassiz Peatlands, and Lake of the Woods.
The new conservation reserves generally will be managed in the same capacity as existing ones. Most non-industrial resource uses (including fur harvesting, commercial fishing, and bait harvesting to name a few) are permitted if they are “compatible” with the values of individual reserves.
Commercial uses currently in existence, such as authorized tourist operations and bear management areas, also will be allowed except in the specific cases where they are incompatible.
Existing roads will continue to be used but new roads for resource harvesting purposes won’t be allowed.
Most recreational activities also can continue–provided they do not pose a threat to the natural ecosystems and features protected by the conservation reserves.
The 378 new parks and protected areas–totalling 2.4 million hectares in a planning area that stretches just north of Peterborough to the 51st parallel–include 60 new parks, 44 additions to existing ones, 273 new conservation reserves, and an addition to one existing conservation reserve.
These will cover 12 percent of the 45 million hectares of Crown lands and waters in the planning area. Before “Living Legacy” was introduced, about seven percent of these lands was protected.
“We are building on ‘Lands for Life’ and making the biggest addition in the number of protected areas in Ontario history, sustaining jobs, encouraging tourism and recreation, and setting the stage for long-term economic growth,” Natural Resources minister John Snobelen said.
The province also used “Lands for Life” as an opportunity to address the needs of resource-based industries, and to enhance opportunities for recreation–such as hunting and fishing.
The forest industry also is expected to benefit from “Living Legacy” commitments to maintain both wood supplies and costs of supplying to mills, to increase wood volumes, and to examine “intensive silviculture.”
The province will establish a $30-million “Living Legacy” Trust and the Ontario Forest Accord, designed to help ease the forest industry’s switch to the new plan.
“We have endorsed a historic forest accord that protects natural resources in the planning area and addresses the needs of the forest industry for more stability,” said Snobelen.
The “Living Legacy” Trust will provide $21.5 million to cover the loss of the use of existing forest roads and bridges, improve multi-purpose resource access, develop new forest management opportunities in the far north, enhance forest science, increase forest employment through improving the quality and quantity of the wood supply from Crown forests, and encourage the manufacturing of value-added wood products.
Another $7 million from the trust will go towards improving fish and wildlife resource planning and management, and enhance access to hunting and fishing.
Meanwhile, the resource-based tourism industry will benefit through nine new signature sites–special areas identified for a broad range of outdoor activities and international marketing purposes–that open up opportunities for marketing the province to the rest of the world.
In the plan, there also are commitments to enhance habitat and populations of wildlife and fish while improving recreational opportunities.