THIS&That by joanie mcguffin, photo by gary mcguffin Lake Superior Paradise Poised for Protection T
here is now a proposal to create a National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) on Lake
Superior’s North Shore. It would be Canada’s fourth NMCA and the first on Lake Superior. The opportunity to protect this area, home to the world’s finest freshwater paddling, is at a crucial point. The stars and moons are aligned. The action and will to preserve the North Shore’s wilderness is both a federal and provincial commitment right now, and the public support is huge. NMCAs are coastal areas managed for sus- tainable use and protected from activities such as oil and gas exploration and development, dump- ing and underwater mining. Included are the lakebed, the water above it and any species that occur there. Wetlands, estuaries, islands and other coastal lands may also be included. At the 1994 General Assembly of the World
Conservation Union, a resolution called upon coastal nations to establish systems of marine pro- tected areas under national legislation. Parks Canada has made a long-term goal to establish NMCAs for 29 marine regions including each of the Great Lakes.
The proposed NMCA covers just over 10,000 square kilometres of western Lake Superior, includ- ing many of the smaller shoals and islets, from the Sleeping Giant near Thunder Bay east to Bottle Point, and between the North Shore and the United States–Canada boundary. Without the long-term protection afforded by an NMCA, the
area is vulnerable to growing population pressures and environmental impacts.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, once said, “Unless the hearts and minds of the local people are on the side of conservation, there is no hope that a protected area can achieve its pur- pose.” In the North Shore’s case, there is plenty of hope. In 2001, after three years of extensive pub- lic consultation on a broad spectrum of issues— including First Nations interests, NMCA bound- aries, tourism, scientific research and education, infrastructure and mining interests—an unprece- dented 80 percent of North Shore stakeholders and residents supported the protected area. The logical next step would have been federal–provin- cial government negotiations leading to the NMCA designation, but today there is still no commitment from government.
The area overlaps one of the most pristine
parts of Ontario’s Great Lakes Heritage Coast (GLHC). The GLHC is a stretch of coastline from Lake Superior to Georgian Bay specially designat- ed by the Ontario government to integrate plan- ning and management with a focus on environ- ment. Since the guiding principles for the GLHC say “the long-term protection of the wilderness beauty of the Heritage Coast and protection and restoration of its ecosystem is the number one pri- ority,” the NMCA seems like an ideal marriage of federal–provincial conservation efforts. Jean Chrétien has publicly announced federal support for the Lake Superior NMCA. I believe,
along with many who have been involved in this process intimately for over four years, that the des- ignation of this Lake Superior NMCA is a great legacy for future generations. For a prime minister who has established more new national parks than any of his predecessors, this would be a personal note on which to be remembered. The year 2003 is the International Year of
Freshwater. There could not be a better opportuni- ty for Ontario and Canada to jointly celebrate the earth’s most precious substance than the designa- tion of Canada’s fourth NMCA on Lake Superior, the greatest expanse of freshwater on earth. Combined with the protected water of the Isle Royale National Park in the United States, the Lake Superior NMCA would create the greatest protect- ed area of freshwater worldwide.
Who to contact
Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
pm@pm.gc.ca
Ernie Eves, Premier of Ontario Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, M7A 1A1
webprem@gov.on.ca
Gary and Joanie McGuffin (
www.adventurers.org) paddled the North Shore in 1983 during their Trans-Canada Canoe Expedition, circumnavigat- ed Superior by kayak in 1989, and canoed all 3000 kilometres of the GLHC in 2002. Their most recent book is In the Footsteps of Grey Owl, Journey into the Ancient Forest.
The Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area would create the greatest protected area of freshwater worldwide.
8 Spring 2003
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