Slate Islands Provincial Park management plan

Updates

Some web links in this notice have been updated due to a web migration project. If you cannot access information that was previously available, you can request assistance from the contact listed in this notice. The remainder of the notice has not been altered.

This notice was first published to the Environmental Registry on April 18, 2011 for 60 days at the Invitation to Participate and Opportunity to Review Background Information stage of the park management planning process.

This notice was republished on November 21, 2013 for 60 days at the Management Options stage.

The notice was updated on February 1, 2016 to advise the public that there has been no change to the status of this proposal and it is still being considered. No additional opportunity for comment is being provided for at this time.

This notice was republished on May 9, 2017 for a 59 day comment period at the Preliminary Park Management Plan stage.

Copies of the approved preliminary park management plan are available in html format.

Description of policy

Slate Islands Provincial Park is a natural environment class park of 6,570 hectares that was regulated in 1985. In 2009, the process to amend the boundary was initiated to remove 1,843 hectares of the outer waters/lakebed for inclusion in the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area, which will leave Slate Islands Provincial Park with an area of 4,727 hectares. The park is located on Lake Superior 13 kilometres offshore from the town of Terrace Bay. Slate Islands Provincial Park is located within Ecodistrict 3W-5 and the Nipigon Administrative District of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). Area Aboriginal communities include Pays Plat, Ojibways of the Pic River and Pic Mobert. These communities are all within the boundary described by the Robinson Superior Treaty of 1850. Other nearby communities include Schreiber, Rossport and Marathon.

Slate Islands Provincial Park is comprised of two groups of islands. The smaller Leadman Island group (Leadman, Cape, Spar and Fish islands) is located approximately two kilometres northeast of Patterson Island, which, along with Mortimer, McColl, Edmonds, Bowes, Delaute and Dupuis islands, constitutes the major grouping of islands within the park boundary. The park includes the total land area of the islands and the inner waters and lakebed between Mortimer and Patterson islands (with the exception of the federally-owned peninsula of Sunday Point, on Patterson Island, where a lighthouse complex is located).

The Slate Islands are recognized for their unique terrestrial ecosystem (e.g., forest dwelling Woodland Caribou, a nationally and provincially designated species at risk, beaver and snowshoe hare) and earth science features (e.g., it is hypothesized that the islands are the "central uplift cone of a crater resulting from a meteorite impact").

The Slate Islands contain a number of cultural and historical values which represent several historical themes. Archeological sites have been identified on Mortimer Island and on Patterson Island. These archeological sites indicate links to the People of the Iroquoian and Michigan Zones, representing the ‘Northern Hunters and Fishers’ theme in the Topical Organization of Ontario History (1975). Historical sites representing early 20^th century mining and forest industries include a coal yard on McColl Island, two mining adits (horizontal or near horizontal mine entrance), the remains of an old barge, and the remnants of several logging camps.

The Slate Islands are a recreation destination for local residents from Terrace Bay and other communities along the North Shore who fish for red-finned lake trout and use four old cabins located on Patterson and McColl islands. The park is also a destination for power boaters and sailors from Thunder Bay, Duluth, Minnesota, and Bayfield Wisconsin.

Purpose of policy

To protect Slate Island Provincial Park’s outstanding natural and cultural heritage, and guide its use, development, management and operation for a 20-year period.

Other information

The web-link listed below provides additional information on the management planning process.

2011

• Terms of Reference (PDF, 2.6MB)

Copies of the approved preliminary park management plan are available in html format.

Public consultation

This proposal was posted for a 59 day public review and comment period starting May 09, 2017. Comments were to be received by July 07, 2017.

All comments received during the comment period are being considered as part of the decision-making process by the Ministry.

Please Note: All comments and submissions received have become part of the public record.

Other public consultation opportunities

Responses to the invitation to participate will be used to develop a mailing list of individuals, groups and businesses who wish to be involved in the management plan review process.

Direct mailing to a mandatory contact list will ensure that provincial stakeholders and government organizations will be included in the process. Advertisements will be placed in regional print media, and copies of all public notices will be placed on the Ontario Parks homepage on the internet.

Public notices will be mailed to agencies, groups or individuals on the project mailing list.

The following are the opportunities for Aboriginal communities and the public to participate in the planning process (dates beyond Stage Three are tentative):

Stage One - Invitation to Participate, Invitation to Inspect Approved Terms of Reference and Opportunity to Review Background Information file (April 18, 2011 – June 17, 2011)

Stage Two – Opportunity to review management options (November 21, 2013 – January 20, 2014)

Stage Three - Opportunity to review preliminary park management plan (This is the current opportunity)

Stage Four - Release of approved park management plan (2017)

Comments should be directed to the following Contact Person

Allison Dennis, Superintendent
MNRF Terrace Bay Area Office
PO Box 280
Terrace Bay, Ontario, P0T 2W0
PHONE: (807) 825-3403 FAX: (807) 825-3400

All comments will be considered as part of the decision-making by the Ministry if they

1. are submitted in writing;
2. reference the EBR Registry number; and
3. are received by the Contact person within the specified comment period.

Please Note: No acknowledgment or individual response will be provided to those who comment. All comments and submissions received will become part of the public record