in most ontario provincial parks, groups are limited to 9 people per campsite. this grew out of a practice developed in algonquin park in the 1970s. algonquin youth camps have a tradition of tripping with a mojo, or third person in a canoe. when algonquin began seeing negative impacts from increased use, park authorities implemented the 9 person rule. this allowed the parks to send out 3 canoes with 3 people in each boat. over the years, the 9 person rule was adopted across the province.
now in temagami, ontario parks is considering implementing the 9 person rule.
it is true that limits are needed. groups of 30 are not uncommon in temagami, stereotypically a church group or scout troop from the northeastern u.s.a. these groups are attracted here because it is the nearest high quality wilderness area to southern ontario and the northeastern states where such practices are not prohibited.
temagami's youth camps, however, trip with 2 people in a canoe, with a maximum of 12 on a trip. that's pretty standard practice everywhere, with the exception of algonquin park. if the 9 person rule were implemented in temagami, that would mean that temagami camps could only trip with 8 people through the local parks. provincial camping association rules require at least 2 staff. that would mean a ratio of 2 staff and 6 campers. the camps can't afford to do that. they could trip outside of the parks with larger groups, but those routes are of lower quality. besides, shouldn't the camps, who have maintained the routes for over 100 years, be allowed to continue using those routes?
imagine no group from wabun ever going to wabun lake again?
temagami's canoe routes and parks would quite literally not exist without the youth camps. when camp keewaydin started tripping here in 1902, the nastawgan were in a state of disrepair. the anishnabe were moving off the land, abandoning the trails their ancestors created. for 105 years, youth camps have been maintaining the trails. true, the department of lands and forests, precursor to the mnr, did trail maintenance off and on from the early 20th century until the 1980s. (in fact, just prior to world war one, the nastawgan were probably in their best shape ever, thanks to the hundred or more fire rangers who worked all summer long keeping the trails open for fire access.) furthermore, the parks would not exist without the nastawgan. it was love of the temagami backcountry, connected by the nastawgan, which drew the save maple mountain committee together in the 1970s. this committee was the beginning of temagami's environmental movement, which pushed successfully for park creation and expansion in the 80s and 90s.
so to recap, the youth camps saved and maintained the nastawgan. the nastawgan brought the environmentalists to temagami. the environmentalists lobbied for the parks. therefore, without the youth camps, there would be no parks in temagami. and now ontario parks wants to push the camps out.
ontario parks should stop bullying the youth camps and let them continue to trip with 12 people per trip.
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