Ancient Forest Destroyed as Turner Road Construction Continues

We need you to stand up for Temagami’s last unprotected roadless forest. Our Ontario tax dollars are paying for construction of the Turner Road through the Solace Wildlands. 23,000+ individuals currently oppose intrusion into an untouched Temagami forest.

The 2020-2030 Forest Management Plan for the Sudbury Forest is ramping up, and Vermillion Forest Management (VFM) wants to include large cut-blocks within the Solace Wildlands.

These proposed harvest allocations would be accessed by the Turner Road, which has yet to be built.

The 2019-2020 Annual Work Schedule includes a plan to construct 16 kilometres of this new Turner road through the Solace Wildlands. Friends of Temagami is on record opposing access to the Solace Wildlands through the MNRF’s public consultation process since 2008.

What’s even more worrying is that we suspect the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has given Vermillion permission to construct the Turner Road without giving full consideration to timing restrictions in the federal Cold Water Fisheries Act.

Ames Creek bridge abutments. Tracks indicate machinery has been driven through creek. Boulders are displaced. Ames Creek, Temagami, ON, Oct. 22, 2019. [Photo: Tierney Angus]

Between Tues. Oct. 22, 2019 and Fri. Oct. 25, 2019, two bridges have been installed over the Ames Creek. Heavy machinery has been driven through the creek and the stream bed has been damaged in order to construct these water crossings.

Cedars embedded into river bank and displaced boulders on the Ames Creek bridge abutments. Ames Creek, Temagami, ON, Oct. 22, 2019.
[Photo: Tierney Angus]

Turner Road construction from above. Ames Creek, Temagami, ON, Oct. 22, 2019.
[Photo: Matt Steeves]

The first of two completed bridges on the Ames Creek. Ames Creek, Temagami, ON, Oct. 25, 2019.
[Photo: Tierney Angus]

VFM has applied to change timing restrictions surrounding construction operations in Special Management Areas (of which the Wildlands are included) in order to construct the Turner Road. The current timing restrictions prohibit construction, harvest and hauling between May 1 and Thanksgiving Weekend as outlined in the Crown Land Use Policy Atlas. The Cold Water Fisheries Act prevents any in-water work between September 1 and June 15. The proposed change would limit timing restrictions only between June 15 and Labour Day - a massive loss of protection for the area. 

We submitted an Issue Resolution request regarding the timing restriction amendment. It has only been partially implemented. We have also submitted an Issue Resolution request concerning the construction of the Turner Road itself. It was flatly denied.

So, what does all this mean?

1. The current overlapping timing restrictions don't allow for construction of the Turner Road at any time during the year. These policies and procedures are in place by the provincial and federal governments and the forestry industry must be adhere to these rules. The MNRF has allowed construction of the Turner Road to continue - which we allege minimizes the importance of the Cold Water Fisheries Act.

2. VFM is attempting to amend overarching policy through a Forest Management Plan in order to construct the Turner Road and to harvest within an Enhanced Management Area.

3. If VFM is able to lift the timing restrictions in this area, there will be no stopping the Turner Road and clear-cutting of Temagami's Solace Wildlands - an internationally-significant Intact Forest Landscape (IFL). This is the largest Intact Forest south of the Boreal zone in Ontario. Approximately 70% of the Solace Wildlands would be harvested if the Turner Road construction continues (2010 - 2020 Sudbury Forest Management Plan Supplementary Documentation, pg. 220-242).

4. The 2018 wildfires in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park have already decreased the size of this Intact Forest by at least 27,000 hectares. The minimum threshold for an Intact Forest Landscape (IFL) is 50,000 hectares. The Turner Road and resulting harvest allocations will shrink this wilderness and remove IFL designation.

5. It is not okay for the forestry industry to change the rules surrounding timing restrictions just because they can't get access their preferred harvest blocks… and the Forest Management Planning process is not a suitable channel for altering multiple high level governmental policies. Harvest allocations and access must adhere to the timing restrictions set out in the Crown Land Use Policy Atlas, the Temagami Land Use Plan, the Cold Water Fisheries Act, the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act and the Endangered Species Act. Changing any one of these Acts to suit the forestry industry sets a dangerous precedent. Our laws and governments are in place to regulate industry - not the other way around. 

6. Our Issue Resolution Request with MNRF Sudbury District Manager Ross Hart to prevent access to the Solace Wildlands was denied. We will be escalating our Issue Resolution to the Regional Director. Although we have initiated this formal Issue Resolution process, construction of the Turner Road continues. We will also be formally requesting that construction is stopped until due process is served.
   

What can we do?

VFM and the forestry industry are counting on us to not make a fuss about an amendment hidden deep within the 2020-2030 Sudbury Forest Management Plan (page 107 of 236). Let's make a fuss!

Friends of Temagami has submitted an Issue Resolution Request regarding the proposed changes to these timing restrictions. Now it's your turn. 

Send an email to Grant Ritchie, Regional Director - Northeast Region of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry at grant.ritchie@ontario.ca and let them know that the Solace Wildlands are a vital Intact Forest Landscape that deserves protection.

To contribute directly to the Save Solace campaign, please visit our donation page. Donations made through the change.org petition promote the petition itself. We promise to keep our subscribers updated on any new developments. Thank you for your support.