As most of our members know the Crown Land forests around Panache Lake have been included in a planning process for forest management activities for the period 2020-2030. The Ministry of Natural Resources(MNRF), North Shore Forest Inc. (NFI) and the North Shore Resource Management Advisory Committee (RMAC) have been actively planning the proposed activities for the past 3 years. During that time there were 5 formal opportunities for the public to make comment and participate in the planning. The fifth and final opportunity to make comment just finished on 27 January 2020. There are numerous logging and road building operations proposed which will affect us.
The Executive of your WPCA have been involved in the planning process from the beginning and made comments and suggestions to the author of the plan, Bill Moryto (NFI) and to the planning team in general. We are happy to report that our comments and suggestions were welcomed by the planning team and accepted in good faith. When the original cut allocation maps were made available for us to review there were numerous forest stands that proposed logging close to the lake. Extensive areas especially on the north shore of Stony Bay and West Bay were of special concern. Your Executive were most concerned about the destruction of the: view scape, water quality and tranquility. Public safety and disturbance caused by logging, road building and hauling activities were a big concern as well. The planning team writing the plan for the North Shore Forest 2020-30 considered the WPCA’s input and made numerous changes to the plan most favourable to us. Significant amounts of logging and associated road building are going to occur, but, all will be well back of Panache Lake. From our analysis it would appear that none will be visible from the lake. There will be extensive logging activities close to: Rickdale, Hock and Pistin Lakes (Did you know that “pistin” is the Finnish word for “bayonet”). These cut allocated areas will no doubt be served with logging and skid roads. Of special note to our members on Augusta Lake, logging is proposed very close to the north shore as well as a stand on the south side. In addition to our request for modification of planned cutting blocks, we continue to be most concerned about the safety of our members and the public. As such we asked that logging activities, in particular log hauling, be restricted during the period: 15 June to 15 September. This, we believe, will provide safer roads and will reduce logging noise during the time when most of us are at camp. I think it is fair to say, at least from my point of view, that the MNRF, plan author and the whole planning team for the North Shore Forest have been very fair to us. If anyone has particular knowledge of valuable habitat or other ecological values that may be endangered by these operations the MNRF has asked us to advise them. Harri Liljalehto More information can be obtained at the MNR website www.ontario.ca/forestplans |