What's in a Name?
Some Believe a New Designation
Can Protect the North Shore
by Linda Turk
Over the course of its lifetime, Lake Superior has
earned many names from the people living along or visiting its shores.
From the traditional Ojibway observation of the “ultimately huge waters,”
translated as Kitchi Gami, to the modern-day monikers of Inland or Sweetwater
Sea, Lake Superior bears all of its titles more or less comfortably.
The newest designation being considered for a portion of the lake would
include it in an ambitious project under way across Canada to create 29
National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs) that recognize, and regulate,
distinct marine expanses. The designation itself was established in 1987.
But will a new title for a portion of Lake Superior help or hinder its
conservation and its use by visitors and residents? Under study as an NMCA
are the waters that extend from Thunder Cape straight south to the mid-lake
Canada-U.S. border and all waters from the border north and east along
the coastline to Bottle Point, northeast of the Slate Islands. Both Nipigon
and Black bays are within consideration.
No one questions that these are exceptional waters.
Canadian Shield mountains dominate the area, with ridges and cuestas highly
visible on land and often continuing under the water. The shoreline features
peninsulas and islands, with bays and inlets sheltering animals, birds
and aquatic creatures and plants.
Besides spawning habitat for lake and brook trout and other salmonid populations
within this area, Black Bay accommodates Lake Superior’s major lake herring
spawning.
Peregrine falcons and bald eagles breed on islands and along the coasts.
Great blue herons, ring-billed and herring gulls and double-crested cormorants
nest here and caribou roam some shores.
Human habitation is plentifully represented. Sibley Peninsula has paleo-Indian,
archaic and woodland Indian sites. Within the study area, two sites have
concentrations of pictographs. Remnants of “pukaskwa pits” are found throughout
the area, and fishing outposts (temporary camps) show evidence of habitation
both before and after contact with early European visitors.
All agree that the area is special. But do these waters need a special
federal designation, residents wonder. Perhaps confounding promoters of
the NMCA - and those opposed to it - is the lack of definition of what
an NMCA is. The exact nature of a National Marine Conservation Area is
decided after waters are found to be “feasible” for designation. Discussion
and study of whether this Lake Superior area is NMCA-feasible has gone
on since 1997, and the final feasibility report is expected in late July
or early August this year.
WALTER ZAROWSKI
Waters along a portion of Onterio's northwestern Lake Superior shore are
being considered as one of Canada's National Marine Conservation Areas,
29 of which have been earmarked nationwide. Residents are discussing whether
the designation will help or hinder conservation and use of the area.
In many ways, it’s easier to say what a National Marine Conservation Area
isn’t than what it is.
“This is not a national park,” says Angus McLeod, heritage planner for
Parks Canada, the body charged with overseeing the NMCA process.
In a park, he says, “nature does what it wants to do and people watch it.”
Parks are made to “protect” nature. The NMCAs are meant to “conserve” special
areas that people use, not simply observe.
“It is an area where we’re really promoting sustainable use, which means
people. People have always used this area.”
That means continued boat access - both motorized and non-motorized - and
even harvesting of renewable resources like fish and trees, he says. Further,
the designation applies only to the waters of an area and on-land up to
the high-water mark.
Some NMCAs have already been designated in Canada, but each is different.
Gwaii Haanas lies off the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia;
Fathom Five National Marine Park in Georgian Bay is a diver’s paradise;
and Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park in Quebec is known for its whale-watching
opportunities.
Areas in lakes Erie and Ontario may be considered for NMCAs, but a decision
on Lake Superior must be made first, McLeod says.
Designation of this portion of Lake Superior would mean no mining
of “nonrenewable” resources within the high-water mark on the mainland
or islands within designated areas, he says. “No privately owned lands
or islands would be affected.”
But after an NMCA designation, it wouldn’t be simply business as usual.
For example, some shipwrecks might warrant “degrees of protection,” McLeod
says, depending on how dangerous the dives or on the sensitivity of the
wreck site. The wreck of the Gunilda, which has claimed the lives of several
divers, is within this area in Schreiber Channel. Spiritual sites, such
as traditional burial grounds, also might be restricted and access to some
fish or bird breeding areas might be restricted during breeding season.
McLeod points to the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park in Quebec as an
example of what to expect. Tour boats still watch whales there, but with
limits on the number of operators, the distance from the whales and rules
agreed on by Parks Canada and tour boat operators.
“You’re managing the golden goose,” McLeod says of an NMCA. “If you don’t
do it, you destroy the reason that brings (tourists) there.”
WAYNE SAPLUSKI
Battle Island also is within the area under consideration. Officials say
waters rather than lands would fall under any conservation effects.
Among local northwestern Ontario residents, the NMCA discussion has revolved
around the Regional Advisory Committee that makes the final feasibility
report. The committee includes local members like Dave Trembley, a fisherman
from Dorian. He agrees with McLeod about the golden goose, believing that
conservation may be more important in the future.
“(Parks Canada’s) reasoning is that tourists will be coming, so we should
have a management plan in place and be ready for a potential influx of
tourists.… While there’s always a certain mistrust of government, most
people are supportive of conservation and protection of the lakeshore.”
Jim Dyson, a commercial fisherman based in Silver Islet and also a committee
member, visited the NMCA at Fathom Five in Georgian Bay to see what effects
the designation has had at the first NMCA established about 14 years ago.
He was disappointed in what hasn’t happened.
“Fathom Five has been in operation for 14 seasons and they’ve just got
their marine base put in,” he says. “There’s still no visitor interpretative
centre. People on their advisory committee thought they’d have that 14
years ago, and they’ve been told there’s no money. How are they going to
feel if funds start going to (Lake Superior’s) north shore?”
Dyson is accustomed to strict regulation in his own commercial fishing
business, largely because of quotas imposed in the early 1970s at the request
of Lake Superior’s fishermen themselves. He doesn’t anticipate any effects
from an NMCA designation - not even some conservation effects he’d like
to see.
“We don’t know how this will work in practice. Restricting where kayakers
are allowed to camp for the night doesn’t protect the lake as much as continuing
a lamprey eel control program or working on zero discharges from industries
into the lake.”
Other north shore residents feel the designation could open the way for
proper protection.
Joanie McGuffin who, with her husband Gary, has paddled the shoreline of
Lake Superior more than once since their cross-Canada canoeing trip of
1983, strongly supports the NMCA.
“Fresh water is a key issue in the 21st century. The dry seasons we’ve
had just bring to attention the lake’s vulnerability,” she says. “This
meets the need for some form of protection of islands and fish habitat.”
The waterways of the north shore will increasingly be used by paddlers
and motorboaters, McGuffin believes. “They see it as the last accessible
frontier.”
Others charged with promoting that frontier to visitors have mixed reactions
to NMCA designation.
Jim Stevens runs Nirivian Expeditions, an ecotourism enterprise that takes
visitors to the St. Ignace Islands for hiking, birdwatching and fishing.
The proposal won’t affect his operation significantly, but he sees the
NMCA as extra government.
“Those of us on the lake feel, ‘Why should we be dealing with two bureaucracies
when one is certainly enough?’”
Rossport business operator Lynda Blanchette agrees. As a charter boat operator
and a founding member of the Rossport Tourism Association, she does not
welcome the National Marine Conservation Area.
“I don’t see any benefits to come from it, so I don’t see a need for it.
The province is already regulating activities on this shore, so I have
to ask, ‘How much government do we need?’”
WALTER ZAROWSKI
The beautiful expanse of Nipigon Bay in Ontario is among the waters included
in the study for a possible National Marine Conservation Area designation.
Some fear that an NMCA might lure too many visitors without water protection.
Bruce Hyer, who runs Wildwaters Outfitters, also serves on the board of
North of Superior Tourism Association. He says that organization is optimistic,
but reserving judgment.
“We’re basically supportive of the designation, but with one caveat: Will
this lead to overuse or uncontrolled use?”
Tourism Thunder Bay manager Patricia Forrest says that Thunder Bay’s city
council has unanimously endorsed the NMCA. “We’ve asked that Thunder Bay
be designated as a key gateway to Lake Superior. Council sees this as meshing
beautifully with the city’s plans for a new waterfront project and councillors
agree that this NMCA designation will result in ecological and economic
benefits for the entire area.”
While Terrace Bay residents are fairly positive toward the NMCA, Dean Main,
the town’s coordinator for Recreation, Tourism and Economic Development,
says there is a general concern over potential loss of boating, hunting
and fishing. These “sustainable” activities should not be affected, he
believes.
Even if the regional advisory committee recommends NMCA designation, don’t
expect to see any changes in the near future, advises Gail Jackson of Parks
Canada in Thunder Bay. Implementation likely would be years, not months,
away.
She sees considerable local support for the proposed National Marine Conservation
Area. At open houses, 622 questionnaires on NMCA were distributed and 287
were returned. Of 1,126 questionnaires mailed, 82 were returned. A majority
(67 percent) of these local respondents opted for the largest possible
designation area. About 13 percent opposed NMCA of any sort and the remaining
respondents chose some form of NMCA.
A few respondents wanted the designation to extend near Marathon to Pic
Island, which has a number of offshore shipwrecks. Through the study process,
Ryan Leblanc of the local diving community pointed out some 45 shipwrecks
within the proposed NMCA.
“We were aware of fewer than 20,” Jackson says, explaining that this kind
of community input is welcomed because diving is one tourism-related activity
Parks Canada hopes to see encouraged.
A federal title is not the only one being considered for Lake Superior’s
northern coast. Ontario has launched The Great Lakes Heritage Coast Project
to cover more than 2,900 kilometers (1,810 miles) from Lake Huron’s Port
Severn, on the eastern coast of Georgian Bay, into Lake Superior past Thunder
Bay to the U.S. border. This project promotes recreation, tourism and other
economic benefits through parks and protected areas on land.
Vivian Alexander who lives with her husband, Tim, a potter, on Nickel Island
off Rossport, sees only good things to come of the NMCA and heritage coast
proposals.
“The marine park proposal works hand in glove with Ontario’s Heritage Coastline.
They’ll both help to preserve the ecological integrity of the area.… One
benefit is that all these little dots of communities along the lakeshore
can feel a common sense of pride in sharing a coastline so full of history
and interest.”
The best ways to maintain pride and protection of their coast may remain
to be determined.
Linda Turk is a writer and publisher who lives near Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Her work reflects her interest in history and the outdoors.
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