Algonquin: Can ecological integrity and logging be reconciled in our flagship park?
In November 2006, the Wildlands League branch of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) requested a “comprehensive public review of the regulatory regime” that permits logging in Algonquin Park. According to the Wildlands League, not only has a public review not occurred since 1989, the regulatory regime doesn’t adequately protect the environment and isn’t consistent with the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Statement of Environmental Values (SEV). The Wildlands League stated that “industrial activity, no matter how carefully conducted, is inconsistent with the purpose of Ontario’s parks” and the recently enacted Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act (PPCRA). Over 8,000 kilometres of roads have been built and, quoting from a prior ECO review on the subject of logging in Algonquin Park, the Wildlands League noted that these roads “are a corridor into the heart of the Park for invasive alien species and increase the risk to sensitive Park features such as the interior trout lakes and the endangered wood turtle.” (The full text of the prior review can be found in Regulating Logging in Algonquin Park.)
Background
In response to public pressure, MNR limited logging activities in 1974 to the Recreation-Utilization zone of Algonquin Park – a zone that as of May 2007 comprises about 78 per cent of the park’s area or 534,000 hectares. Four years later, Cabinet banned major industrial activity, including commercial logging, in provincial parks. Today, the sole exception to the commercial logging ban is Algonquin Park.
During the consultations on the PPCRA in the fall of 2004, MNR assured stakeholder groups that commercial logging would still be allowed in Algonquin Park. However, the Minister also asked the Ontario Parks Board of Directors to provide him with recommendations about “how to lighten the ecological footprint of logging” in Algonquin Park.
Ministry Response
In January 2007, MNR denied the Wildlands League’s request. MNR explained that logging in Algonquin Park supports the desired outcomes outlined in its SEV of economic development and protection of significant natural heritage features. MNR also explained that any potential for harm is addressed through park and forest management processes and legislation. MNR advised that harvesting activities occur on less than 1.5 per cent of the park’s forested area in any given year. Noting that logging is important to the local economy, MNR explained that logging was discussed extensively when the PPCRA was developed, and parks and forestry legislation and policies were revised.
ECO Comment
MNR was not justified in denying this application. Despite MNR’s assertion to the contrary, logging in Algonquin Park is not consistent with the ministry’s SEV. Although MNR has a broad mandate to support the economic growth of local communities and to protect significant natural heritage features, the 1978 Cabinet decision to ban commercial logging in most classes of Ontario’s parks (excluding Algonquin Park) is strong evidence that the government believes that the practice is not acceptable. In addition, the Ontario Biodiversity Strategy identifies forestry as an activity that “can degrade, eliminate and/or fragment habitat” and notes that bans on logging in provincial parks created under the Ontario Living Legacy are helping to preserve biodiversity.
MNR provided no evidence that the issue of logging in Algonquin Park had been subject to a public review since 1989. MNR cited numerous examples, including the PPCRA, when the public was consulted on how parks and forests should be managed – not the larger policy issue of whether commercial logging should be allowed.
The ECO is pleased that on May 2, 2007, MNR invited the public to comment on the Ontario Parks Board’s recommendations on how to lighten the ecological footprint of logging in Algonquin Park. The recommendations include: reducing the area in which logging is allowed; protecting additional areas within the Recreation-Utilization zone, such as brook trout lakes; and examining how the impacts of logging can be reduced.
| This is an article from the 2006/07 Annual Report to the Legislature from the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. |
Citing This Article:
Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 2007. "Can ecological integrity and Logging be Reconciled in Our Flagship Park?." Reconciling our Priorities, ECO Annual Report, 2006-07. Toronto, ON : Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. 148-149.
