Statement of Conservation Interest
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OUR COLLEAGUES CONSERVATION RESERVE (C371) Statement of Conservation Interest Ministry of Natural Resources Sault Ste. Marie District Northshore Area Mlrnstry of Natural Resources ® February, 2005 Ontarto Ce document est seulement disponsible en anglais. Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve Statement of Conservation Interest Sault Ste. Marie District Ministry of Natural Resources APPROVAL STATEMENT I am pleased to approve this Statement of Conservation Interest (SCI) for Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve (C371). Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve was established to protect provincially significant representations of jasper conglomerates of the lorrain Formation, with outcrops featured in two sets of waterfalls. White pine, red pine, balsam fir, white birch and eastern white cedar dominate forest communities in this 92 hectare conservation reserve. This site also serves as a memorial to the four friends and colleagues of the Ministry of Natural Resources who tragically lost their lives on January 21, 2003, while conducting an aerial moose survey. Situated approximately 3S kilometres northeast of the City of Elliot lake in Hughson Township, this conservation reserve was regulated on February 27, 2004. Direction for establishing, planning and managing conservation reserves is defined under the Public Lands Act, the Ontario's Living Legacy Land Use Strategy, and other applicable policies. The specific direction for managing this conservation reserve is in the form of a basic SCI, which defines the area to which the plan applies, provides the purpose for which the conservation reserve has been proposed, and outlines the Ministry of Natural Resources' management intent for the protected area. ThiS SCI has been created with input from program specialists within Sault Ste. Marie District. It will provide both the foundation for continued monitoring of activities and gUidance for managing the conservation reserve. More detailed direction at this time is not anticipated. However, should significant facility development be considered or complex issues arise requiring additional studies, more detailed management direction in the form of special protection measures or a detailed Resource Management Plan will be prepared with full public consultation. Public and Aboriginal were solicited prior to the regulation of this conservation reserve. An additional 1S-day review period took place in December, 2004 that provided stakeholders with an opportunity to comment on the draft SCI. Some Aboriginal communities chose not to participate in either of these comment periods. Comments from the review period have been considered in the finalization of this document. The management guidelines outlined in this SCI will be implemented by the Northshore Area Supervisor, and will be reviewed every five years and amended as required by the District Planner, Sault Ste. Marie District, Ministry of Natural Resources. Written by: Jennifer Cywink, Protected Areas Planning Intern Date: February 22, 2005 Submitted by: Erin Nixon, District Planner Date: February 23, 2005 Recommended For Approval by: DIC&L4Jrvv--'-------- Northshore Area Supervisor Recommended ~--n C7 For Approval by: -----=== I _ c-L..../~ Trevor Woods District na er:,~~It Ste. Marie Approved by: ,t't?'V ob Galloway Regional Director, Northeast Region Ministry of Natural Resources ii Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve Statement of Conservation Interest TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Provincial Context 1 2.0 GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE SCI 2 2.1 Goal 2 2.2 Objectives 2 3.0 MANAGEMENT PLANNING 2 3.1 Planning for a Conservation Reserve 2 3.2 Planning Process for Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve 3 3.2.1 Planning Area 4 4.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION 4 4.1 Location and Site Description 4 4.2 History of the Site 7 4.3 Inventories 8 5.0 STATE OF THE RESOURCE 9 5.1 Key Values 9 5.2 Earth Sciences Values 9 5.3 Life Sciences Values 11 5.4 Recreational Values 13 5.5 Cuitural Values 14 5.6 Research Values 14 5.7 Site Condition 14 6.0 MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES 15 6.1 Industrial Activities 16 6.1.1 Commercial Timber Harvest 16 6.1.2 Mining and Exploration 16 6.1.3 Extraction of Peat, Soil, Aggregate and Other Material 16 6.1.4 Energy Generation 16 6.2 Existing and Proposed Development 16 6.2.1 Transportation Corridors 16 6.2.1.1 Roads 16 6.2.1.2 Trails 16 6.2.2 Other Corridor DevelopmentJMaintenance 17 6.2.3 Natural Heritage Appreciation Facilities/Recreational Structures 17 6.2.4 Land Disposition 17 6.3 Commercial Activities 18 6.3.1 Commercial Bait Harvesting 18 6.3.2 Commercial Fishing 18 6.3.3 Commercial Fur Trapping 18 6.3.4 Bear Management Areas 18 6.3.5 Commercial Food Collection 19 6.3.6 Commercial Non-Timber Forest Products 19 6.3.7 Outpost Camps/Main Base Lodges 19 6.4 Non-Commercial Activities 19 6.4.1 Nature Appreciation/Recreation Activities 19 6.4.2 Camping 19 Ministry of Natural Resources iii Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve Statement of Conservation Interest 6.4.3 Non-Commercial Consumptive Resource Use 19 6.4.4 Hunting and Fishing 20 6.4.5 ATV and Snowmobile Use 20 6.5 Resource Management Activities 20 6.5.1 Insect and Disease Control 20 6.5.2 Fire Management 20 6.5.3 Fish and Wildlife Management.. 21 6.5.4 Vegetation Management 21 6.5.5 Forest Renewal 21 6.6 Research 21 6.7 Marketing 21 6.8 First Nations 22 7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 22 7.1 Additions to the Reserve 22 7.2 Future Needs and Considerations 22 7.3 Monitoring 22 8.0 IMPLEMENTATION, REVIEW AND REVISIONS 23 8.1 Responsibility 23 1 8.2 Review and Revisions 24 LITERATURE CITED 25 L Appendix A: Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve Maps 27 Appendix B: Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve Photos 32 Appendix C: Test of Compatibility 35 l Appendix D: Summary of Permitted Uses 37 Appendix E: Regulation Public Consultation Materials 42 L Appendix F: Amendments to the SCI 47 L l L L L l l iv l Ministry of Natural Resources L Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve Statement of Conservation Interest l 1.0 Introduction The following document is a Statement of Conservation Interest (SCI) for Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve (C371). The purpose of this SCI is to identify and describe the L natural, recreational, and cultural values of Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve and to outline the Ministry of Natural Resources' management intent for this area. Sections 1 through 3 of this document highlight the provincial context in which it was produced, state L its goal and objectives, and summarize the planning process for conservation reserves. Sections 4 through 7 are specific to Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve and provlde background information and management direction for the site. Section 8 outlines the L requirements for continued implementation and review of this document. Management direction specified in this SCI will serve to protect the conservation reserve for the benefit of all Ontario residents. This direction will comply with conservation reserve L management as represented in the Ontario's Living Legacy Land Use Strategy (LUS) (OMNR 1999) and associated policy clarification statements. Additionally, this conservation reserve will be managed under the Public Lands Act (OMNR 1997a), and will comply with all legal L requirements as specified under the Environmental Assessment Act (R.S.O. 1990, Chapter E.18). L 1.1 Provincial Context Ontario's network of natural heritage areas has been established to protect and conserve areas representative of the diversity of the natural regions of the province, including the L species, habitats, features, and ecological systems which comprise that natural diversity. Protected natural heritage areas are a key component in the sustainable management of natural resources. They ensure that representative sites within the larger managed l landscape are retained in as natural a state as possible. Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve now forms part of Ontario's network of natural L heritage areas and protects prcvinclellv significant bedrock outcroppings of jasper conglomerates known as puddingstone, which are members of the Lorrain Formation of the Canadian Precambrian Shield. Best representations of the puddingstone occur within the site at two sets of waterfalls: Ceolin Falls and the upper falls. This conservation reserve is 1 located in the Boland River Valley and includes a 2-km section of the Boland River which provides important habitat for brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). On-site forest communities are dominated by white pine (Pinus strobus), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white birch L (Betula papyrifera) on sandy glacial till. Eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) populates shore fen communities lining the river. 1 The Ministry of Natural Resources has established conservation reserves as a tool to protect natural heritage areas on public lands, while permitting most traditional public land uses to continue. These uses include recreational activities, such as hunting and fishing, and the traditional activities of Aboriginal communities, as defined under applicable Aboriginal L treaties. Lands designated as conservation reserves are removed from the Sustainable Forest License area, and mining and surface rights are withdrawn from staking under the l Mining Act (RSO 1990 Chapter M.14). The LUS (OMNR 1999) and subsequent policy clarification statements (OMNR 2000) outline the general land use policy and management direction for new conservation reserves. Each L new conservation reserve will have a planning document, either a SCI or, in more complex situations, a Resource Management Plan, that details site-specific management direction. L Ministry of Natural Resources 1 L L Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve Statement of Conservation Interest L 2.0 Goal and Objectives of the SCI 2.1 Goal l The goal of this SCI is to provide the framework and the direction to guide management decisions affecting Our Colleagues Conservation Reserve. L 2.2 Objectives L The followlnq objectives are identified as the means to achieve the above stated goal: • To describe the site's current state of the resource in terms of its values and existing L uses and activities.