This proposal, if…

This proposal, if implemented, will destroy regional ability to prevent environmental disasters at a time when environmental disasters are becoming all too common. Large area governance can't focus at the local level and respond to daily needs. That's why we have municipal governments, provincial governments can't effectively respond quickly enough to local needs. The same applies to conservation authorities, larger size of conservation authorities will probably increase red tape and ability to effectively implement effective actions at local levels.

Here on the northwest shore of Lake Superior the Lakehead Regional Conservation Authority (LRCA) does an effective job of planning and managing within its mandated area and functions. I am a retired managing forester with the former Abitibi-Price Inc. and during my career here dealt on numerous occasions with LRCA in our forest management planning and implementation. I don't believe I and my staff would have received the necessary timely response and understanding that we did if they were part of a larger authority.

I fear the LRCA will be sacrificed to someone's belief that bigger is always better and more efficient. During my professional forester career I started with a company owning a single mill and we could do what was best for our limit areas. I ended my career with an international firm that had company-wide policies and practices that made little sense in the local forest. It often got me in difficulty with head office when I resisted and did what my training and experience taught me was best for the forest and the company. I see the same problem in an amalgamated conservation authority.