Ontario Parks intent on restricting access to aircraft
By Peter Martin Ontario Parks, an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, has direction to develop management plans for those lands and waterways under their authority. Although few could argue the need to manage Ontario’s great land resources, the consequences of their plans could limit aircraft access to them. And this is largely due to the categorizing of aircraft as mechanized travel. This category includes such things as snowmobiles, ATV’s, trucks and cars. Except for aircraft, mechanized travel requires roadways or trails, trees to be cleared, bridges, etc. Even the canoeist needs portages and campsites. All of this has a negative impact on the environment. Unlike all other forms of access, a seaplane leaves no trace of its presence. Protected areas are lands and waters with defined boundaries established primarily to permanently protect natural heritage features such as unique landforms, plant communities and animal life. In Ontario, provincially owned and managed protected areas include: Provincial parks established under the Provincial Parks Act; Conservation reserves established under the Public Lands Act, Wilderness areas established under the Wilderness Areas Act; and Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park. At one time, parks were viewed only as places with spectacular scenery, prime habitat for game animals, lands and waters suitable for camping, picnicking and swimming. Over the years, views changed. Urban development and pressure on these natural resources for commercial, industrial and recreational use increased. As a result, Ontario’s protected areas network grew at an increasing pace through the 20th century. Wilderness areas were added to the network in 1959. The first conservation reserves were established after a regulation was approved under the Public Lands Act in 1994. Today, Ontario’s protected areas network includes about 8.7 million hectares, or about nine per cent of the province's land base: 316 provincial parks with 7.7 million hectares regulated under the Provincial Parks Act; 249 conservation reserves with one million hectares regulated under the Public Lands Act; and 10 wilderness areas with 800 hectares regulated under the Wilderness Areas Act. This area is larger than the provinces of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island combined. The potential to have all of these areas off limits to aircraft is ever present. There is a significant risk. Already two large areas in southern Ontario, Algonquin and Massasauga Provincial Parks, have complete bans on aircraft access. And the list of areas that will require management plan development is long. The following list is what is currently on the Ontario Parks website as locations currently under management plans development. Current Park planning projects Aaron Blue Lake Boyne Valley Charleston Lake Clear Creek Forest DuPont East Sister Island Egan Chutes Fish Point Fitzroy Frontenac Gravel River Komoka Kopka River Lake on the Mountain Lake St. Peter Lake Superior Lighthouse Point MacGregor Point Michipicoten Post and Michipicoten Island North Beach O'Donnell Point Pakwash Petawawa Terrace Peter's Woods Polar Bear Presqu'ile Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother M'Nidoo M'Nissing Protected Area Quetico Ruby Lake Sandbar Lake Six Mile Lake Sleeping Giant Temagami Wabakimi
Current Signature Site planning projects Algoma Headwaters Kawartha Highlands Nagagamisis Central Plateau Spanish River Valley St. Raphael Woodland Caribou
The development of management plans for Ontario Parks is supposed to follow a seven stage process. They are supposed to include major stakeholders input in the development of these plans and they are also to provide the public a chance for input via public meetings and opportunities to comment in writing. The two areas for which management plans are actively being developed are the Temagami Area and the Woodlands Caribou Signature Site. The Woodland Caribou Signature Site is located in northwestern Ontario, approximately 30 kilometres west of the town of Red Lake, 90 kilometres north of the city of Kenora and 60 kilometres south of the community of Pikangikum. It consists of 537,585 hectares which includes a provincial park, four recommended wilderness park additions, a conservation reserve, an enhanced management area and a forest reserve. The Temagami area lies approximately 100 km north of North Bay. The area covers approximately 650,000 hectares of varied and rugged terrain. Five provincial parks covering 104,248 hectares lie in the western part of Temagami. Surrounding the parks are eight conservation reserves which make up an additional 42,836 hectares of protected area. Much of the remaining land base consists of unregulated Crown lands. In both cases, the non-commercial aviation community was not given sufficient advance notice of the beginning of the process or of the initial public meetings. In the case of the Woodlands Caribou Site, the local commercial aviation operators were invited to be part of the planning committee but, when we learned that the process had begun, we were refused participation. COPA has been active in making our concerns known to several levels of the Ontario government, including a request to be notified and involved at all stages of the process. The fight to preserve our right to access provincial waterways in the Temagami area began back in the early 1990’s. Efforts by local COPA members to raise the awareness of the bureaucrats and eventually a letter from our legal counsel to the Temagami Planning Council had the effect of forestalling any negative consequence to seaplane operators locally. However, in 2005 the management planning effort was revived. Efforts included a number of public meetings attended by local COPA members, a special meeting with just aviation folks and Ontario Parks Officials, a focus group session in Toronto at which every participant agreed that there was no issue with aircraft access to these areas, a meeting with the Executive Director of Ontario Parks, at which the COPA President, the members of the COPA Seaplane Committee and the Director for Northern Ontario made clear our position (for both Woodlands Caribou and Temagami) on aircraft access, Ontario Parks has proceeded to develop management plans that would see aircraft access minimized. In fact, in the Woodlands Caribou case, plans are to allow only commercial operators to land aircraft there. The only exception is for those who own property will be allowed for access to their property only. This is fundamentally wrong. The issue of access is one of essential importance to the aviation community because without access, a seaplane is of little use. Pilots are by their nature and by the regulatory process to which they are subject, responsible individuals who share with our government a common desire to preserve and protect the environment. Providing aircraft with access to these lands and waterways is not inconsistent with that objective. For this reason, any proposal which attempts to limit or prohibit aircraft access will be opposed by COPA using all available means including the marshalling of public and political support. We have worked hard within the official consultation process to create an appreciation for who we are and why we should have continued access. The time has come for political influence to drive our position home. COPA members are encouraged to talk with your neighbours and contact political friends and/or Members of the Provincial Parliament in order to increase the awareness of the neutral affect aircraft have on the environment and our desire for continued access. We are taxpayers too, and deserve the right of access to our Parks. |
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