The Wolf Lake Forest Reserve…

The Wolf Lake Forest Reserve is home to the largest old-growth red pine dominated forest in the entire world. It is absolutely unique in that respect. There are plenty of other places in Ontario for Flag Resources to explore for minerals. This place has shown little sign of having a mineable ore body, yet its significance for conservation is second to none. It is also a valuable recreational resource, as it lies on a very popular canoe route, and its campsites have spectacular views.

It is especially perverse that Flag proposes to drill right on some of these campsites. The soil is quite thin in the area of these camp sites, and any damage done will be all but irreversible. There are trees there that may be only 20 centimeters or so in diameter, which nevertheless are over 200 years old. If Flag removes trees in these locations, it may take natural processes more than a century to restore the conditions that Flag could ruin in a matter of days.

It is past time for the Ontario government to recognize the ecological and historical significance of this place, the only remnant left of a once widespread area of this forest type. If we wipe this last bit out, gone will be the opportunity to study its ecology, to appreciate the nature of what large parts of Ontario once looked like, and to experience a bit of our landscape that still looks and feels much as it did in the early 17th century, when European explorers first came to this land.

It is especially perverse that the most ecologically significant and arguably the most beautiful part of the Chiniguchi River is the one piece that is not included in the Chiniguchi River Waterway Provincial Park. Ontarians take justifiable pride in our provincial park system, and recreation in our parks is a driver of significant spending in our provincial economy. Not only is Wolf Lake ecologically unique, it is also much more valuable to the local economy as a canoeing and camping destination than the small number of short term jobs that conducting mineral exploration there would provide.

Allowing bulldozing of access roads, stripping of soil, cutting of old-growth trees and generally degrading the recreational values of the river would be very short-sighted on many levels. Left in its natural state, the lake and the forest will provide habitat, scientific and recreational opportunities, and eco-tourism benefits far into the future. If compromised by mining exploration activities, these rather unique values will be traded for very short term considerations with a very low probability of achieving even their most basic objectives, which, in a nutshell, amount to the hope of some economic profit. Ontario is full of economic opportunities that do not require the sacrifice of precious and irreplaceable natural resources. Some things are worth more than money, and even if you love and want money, there are ample better ways to make it.

Let's take Wolf Lake off the table for mining development, and add it to the Chiniguchi Waterway Provincial Park while it remains the crown jewel of the entire river system. Let Flag resources pursue other opportunities for exploration where there work is not likely to be disruptive to recreational and ecological values, and where they themselves might find a greater probability for success.