'Extreme opposition' dooms ecological corridor project along western Manitoba river
Manitoba Wildlife Federation says ‘information gap’ drew confusion, opposition from landowners
A federally funded ecological corridor project to help connect and improve biodiversity and natural habitat along a western Manitoba river is no longer proceeding, according to the non-profit recipient of the nearly $1-million federal grant.
The Assiniboine West Watershed District says it has declined the funding from Parks Canada "due to extreme opposition" from local landowners and municipalities, the organization's general manager, Ryan Canart, said in a statement.
The federal government announced the Little Saskatchewan River corridor project in late November, saying the funding aimed to help maintain species at risk and improve water quality in local river systems.
The Little Saskatchewan River flows from Riding Mountain National Park's Lake Audy south through Minnedosa and Rapid City before joining the Assiniboine River west of Brandon.
The decision to decline the funding is disappointing to former watershed district board member Don Huisman, who helped put the application together, which also included letters of support from more than a dozen groups, including First Nations, municipalities and post-secondary institutions.
"We lost $1 million that was going to do some good," Huisman told CBC News on Wednesday.
He says it would have given the organization a greater opportunity to help bordering communities protect against drought and flooding and repair environments, among other things.
However, the watershed district says Parks Canada's information on ecological corridors drew concern and skepticism from landowners and municipalities.
The Manitoba Wildlife Federation, which backs the landowners, says the program drew confusion, fear and frustration from the beginning over what they felt was a lack of consultation on the project and a lack of clarity and timely information on how the ecological corridor designation would affect or restrict activities, including farming, fishing and hunting, on Crown land and private property.
The watershed district's decision to decline the funding comes as a relief to Rob Olson, the wildlife federation's senior science advisor, who said the conflict and "information gap" has persisted for months.
"It was really kind of an awful process and a terrible outcome, because … people in the local community were kind of pitted against each other, and they were embattled and concerned and mad and upset," Olson said.
"[Agricultural producers] want to do conservation," he said.
"It's tragic, because … we don't have time to lose with conservation."
CBC contacted a group of farmers and landowners known as the Manitoba Land Stewards, who the wildlife federation credited with leading the opposition, but they declined to comment for this story.
Parks Canada did not provide a statement before publication.
Ecological corridors 'relatively new'
According to Parks Canada's website, ecological corridors are areas that connect and improve habitats, which animals need at different life stages, such as migration.
It says landowners can voluntarily participate and support these locally managed spaces, where people can continue to farm, hunt and fish.
Ecological corridors complement conserved and protected areas, including national parks, but are not conserved and protected areas themselves, nor are they managed or owned by Parks Canada, the government agency says.
The Little Saskatchewan River corridor project would have created a belt of green space along the river from Riding Mountain National Park to the Assiniboine River, Winnipeg South Liberal MP Terry Duguid said in late November, when funding for the program was announced.
Former Manitoba Liberal MLA Jon Gerrard, an advocate for the project, called the funding loss a missed opportunity for conservation and for landowners.
Gerrard was in office when conversations around a possible ecological corridor in the area started and helped draw attention to the federal funding last year, he said Tuesday.
"I'm personally very disappointed. I think that there was an incredible opportunity to do something very positive," Gerrard said.
He says the funding could have helped interested landowners conserve grasslands and wetlands, and plant trees. It's money that would have also helped create a hydrologic map for drought and flood resistance and supported Brandon University and Assiniboine College to study biodiversity in the area, he said.
Gerrard agrees, though, communication could have been better, in part because "the idea of ecological corridors is relatively new."
"The goal is to have stewardship along the corridor in a way that animals and birds and other species can move … and to provide opportunities for farmers to participate, but it was not to further the amount of protected areas, and there was no intention to convert Crown lands into protected areas so that they would be less available," Gerrard said.
"There was a lot of, sadly, you know, misinformation and, it may be that it was the fault of Parks Canada or maybe me or the Assiniboine West Watershed District, [that we] didn't do as good a job as we should have done at explaining."
Several parties agree that a different approach will be needed going forward for conservation and rebuilding trust in the area.
For Olson and the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, it may mean the conversation continues with another government agency alongside or instead of Parks Canada.
"I'm just glad it's over," Olson said.
"Now the healing begins."
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