Wildlife Federation urges pause on proposed national park in northern Manitoba - Prince Albert Daily Herald

News FacebookXLinkedinCopy URL Photo courtesy the MWF. The Manitoba Wildlife Federation is calling on federal officials to pause plans for a proposed national park in the Seal River watershed until detailed governance and access plans are released for public review. Steven Sukkau Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Winnipeg Sun The Manitoba Wildlife Federation is urging the federal government to halt progress on a proposed national park in northern Manitoba’s Seal River watershed, citing concerns about transparency, governance and potential impacts on public access. In a letter to Julie Dabrusin, the federal Environment and Climate Change Minister responsible for Parks Canada, the federation called for the proposal to be put on hold until stakeholders are given an opportunity to review and comment on detailed plans. Managing Director Carly Deacon said that key elements of governance, management and implementation remain unclear and that stakeholders have not been presented with a comprehensive proposal. The Seal River watershed spans roughly 50,000 square kilometres of provincial Crown land in northern Manitoba, stretching from the Nunavut border south toward South Indian Lake and from Lac Brochet east to Hudson Bay. According to the federation, about 14 per cent of the area is already protected as parkland or ecological reserve, with the remaining lands subject to provincial permitting and licensing requirements for development. The federation argues the watershed is public land open to all Canadians and says it has repeatedly requested details from the provincial government and federally funded proponents about what a national park designation would entail. “Despite our many requests of the provincial government, submissions to an abbreviated comment period, and the federally-funded proponents of this proposal, we have yet to see any details of what is being proposed,” Deacon said. The federation suggests the proposal could involve delegating management authority to an unelected consortium of First Nations. It warns such a structure could restrict public access, including for hunting and fishing, and expresses concern about what it describes as “non-elected gatekeepers” overseeing public lands. Deacon also raised concerns about the Seal River Watershed Indigenous Protected Area Consortium, which she says has received federal funding. She says consortium representatives, accompanied by legal counsel, have met with tourism operators and asked them to sign legal agreements signalling support for a proposal that has not yet been made public. “This coercion is beyond unacceptable and adds more uncertainty for a sector struggling to overcome recent challenges created by the pandemic and forest fires,” she said. Deacon further points to Manitoba’s licensed angling and hunting community, saying the sector generates millions of dollars in conservation funding and economic activity and would oppose measures that limit access to public lands. The organization is calling on the minister to pause the process, release a detailed proposal for public comment and reconsider what it describes as a path that could compromise public access to one of Manitoba’s major northern wilderness areas. -Advertisement-