the aurora trout need your help

in my last post, i encouraged you to take action on behalf of temagami. this week, I'd like to point out something concrete you can do, today, to fulfill the earth day pledge. ontario's new endangered species act is being debated at queen's park. our mpp's need to hear that the people of ontario support this important legislation. wildlands league has put together an excellent resource for us to use to learn more about the esa, as well as take action by writing our provincial representatives. you can find their page on the esa here.

so before we go, can you name all of temagami's species at risk?

endangered fauna

peregrine falcon
eastern cougar (pictured)
bald eagle
aurora trout (pictured)

rare fauna
black tern
northern long-eared bat
ruddy duck (pictured)

rare insects
ebony boghaunter (pictured)
black meadowhawk
ski-tailed emerald
kennedy's emerald
clamp-tipped emerald
brush-tipped emerald
least clubtail
elusive clubtail
muskeg darner
ocellated darner

rare flora
milk-vetch
rugulose grapefern
cloud sedge
limestone oak fern (pictured)
hygrohypnum subeugryrium
potamogeton confervoides
smooth woodsia

earth day pledge

happy earth day, temagami!



in honour of this wonderful occasion, i would like to encourage all of us to commit to doing some things for mother earth and temagami.

1. write at least one letter a month to a politician or businessperson about an important environmental issue
2. be a responsible consumer - the reason that temagami is being pillaged is because there are people out there buying the products made from these natural resources
3. travel lightly on the land
4. support an organization doing work you believe in, with time or money. see the sidebar for some willing recipients.
5. expose lies and hypocrisy
6. educate yourself about the issues, then tell a friend
7. give thanks to the four winds, mother earth, father sun, and grandmother moon

new website for nastawgan trails

nastawgan trails has revamped its website. take a look here. you can also sign up for their overnight, end-to-end ottawa valley trail hike this weekend. drop them a line to sign up. don't think i can make it. but what an adventure, hiking from grand campment bay to latchford in one shot!

memories from bear island

i hope you enjoy this blog by Ojib-dorty, a nishnabe who grew up on bear island, as he recounts the old days (before indoor plumbing).

welcome to temagami, n.a.c.

finally temagami is taking its first tentative steps away from a resource-based economy towards something more sustainable. and the way it has happened has taken many people there by surprise. out of the blue, a company called n.a.c. has decided to open a skills training centre in temagami. north america construction is a "general contractor specializing in large municipal and industrial projects." in partnership with human resources and development canada, college boreal and northern college, nac is bringing its training initiative program to temagami. nac has purchased temagami shores resort and will be building student residences, classrooms and workshops. they will keep the motel and restaurant open as well. their first 20 students have been selected and they will begin studies in september.

why temagami? that's what everyone is asking. here's why (it's a poorly guarded secret): temagami is beautiful and it's a wonderful place to live. and furthermore, there are no bars to distract serious students from their studies.

well, this isn't exactly the temagami school of tree-hugging and granola-crunching, but it's a big start. temagami has finally realized that the future lies not in cutting down trees and digging up rocks, but in something else, something that embraces its natural beauty rather than seeks to destroy it.

why temagami should be a national park: reason #3

a national park would protect temagami's most threatened wilderness areas, inlcuding the lady evelyn river headwaters, spirit forest, misabi range and the muskego wildlands. all four areas are perenially threatened by timber harvesting. the muskego wildlands are temagami's last unprotected roadless wilderness and are expected to be devastated by logging over the next 20 years.

ontario's crown land use atlas describes the lady evelyn headwaters here and here.

thanks to ottertooth.com for the excellent map of these areas.

why temagami should be a national park: reason #1
why temagami should be a national park: reason #2

mnr report acknowledges it can't keep a lid on motorized access

the mnr's most recent access control effectiveness report acknowledges that inadequate government funding is hampering its ability to monitor illegal motorized access in the temagami area. the report, covering april 2006 to march 2007, says that 8 access control berms were breached during last fall's hunting season, and suspects the, "high violation rate [is] associated with publicity around limited enforcement presence due to funding shortages."

in total, mnr staffers inspected access control locations 187 times, noting 3 damaged signs, 2 locks damaged, 2 gates left open, and 19 tracks beyond the control. thirteen warnings were given to violators, but no charges were laid.

access control within special management areas is a key component of the temagami land use plan. sma's are an attempt to preserve remote tousism and recreation opportunities in certain areas while allowing timber harvesting to take place. the policy has had mixed success, as this report shows. most illegal road access in temagami is the result of hunters attempting to access new hunting grounds. ironically, the mnr has been scaling back access monitoring during the fall moose hunt, citing limited resources and staff, and safety concerns.

two mnr conservation officers currently patrol temagami. this is down from 3.5 in 1990. monitoring and enforcement is now done on a 'complaint' basis, with co's sitting behind their desks waiting for the tips line to ring. budgetary cutbacks have led opseu, the union representing provincial civil servants, to hold bake sales to fill the enforcement truck's gas tank.

the mnr is required by the minister of the environment to produce the access control effectiveness report annually. this is the result of a request by environmental groups to 'bump up' the 2004-2024 forest management plan to an environmental assessment. the groups, including earthroots and wildlands league, were concerned about the failures of access controls in temagami.

to report access infractions, call 1-877-tips-mnr (1-877-847-7667)

save the mnr

just a question

should the mnr give a key to the person whose traditional hunting territory lies west of the barmac gate on the red squirrel road? currently, of course, alex mathias lives past a gate on the goulard road west of obabika lake. alex has a key to this gate. however, the mnr has recently denied access to someone whose land lies beyond the barmac gate.

one might argue that this person has every right to travel the roads beyond this gate, but only by non-motorized means, just like everyone else. this is the same argument that says native people should have no limits on hunting and fishing, as long as they use bows and arrows. but if the road was built for forestry and forestry only, should anyone but forestry people have the use of those roads?

hard to see how the mnr could give a key to alex, but not to this other guy. maybe if the guy built a cabin out there, they'd have to give him one.