Eco-Journal, v.16.2, March/April 2006
Anne Lindsey pauses on the snow-heavy trail in Riding Mountain National Park. Photo by Les McCann

Making Connections
Eco-Network Member Group Forum 2006

By Liz Dykman

For the last several years, Manitoba Eco-Network has been organizing annual fora to bring together individuals from our member groups to discuss issues, participate in capacity building workshops, and get to know each other better. This year we took the forum out to Onanole, Manitoba, just south of Riding Mountain National Park, in an effort to build better connections between environmentalists from around the province. Thanks to a grant from the Canadian Environmental Network, we were able to subsidize travel for participants and accommodation at Smokey Hollow Resort. A well-attended Water Caucus meeting Friday afternoon and evening preceded the Forum on Saturday, March 11th.

Diversity
Attending the forum were folks from as far away as Thompson, Flin Flon, Swan River, and The Pas, as well as many from western Manitoba. In addition to representing many areas of the province, participants also represented a wide variety of issues. This diversity of issues was the focus of the morning session.

Watershed concerns
Bill Paton, president of the Brandon and Area Environmental Council, presented some of his research findings on the state of the Little Saskatchewan River. (The forum took place in the Little Saskatchewan River Watershed). The river is undergoing eutrophication, or nutrient enrichment, with algae blooms becoming a problem.

The Little Saskatchewan is an interesting case because its watershed is entirely within Manitoba, so there is no chance to blame the problems in the basin on pollution coming from beyond our borders. Impacts on the river include very low flow in dry years, the 10 000 cattle being raised in the watershed, cottage developments, dams, industry (Maple Leaf plant at Brandon and the ethanol plant at Minnedosa), and climate change. Some of the biggest concerns are the appearance of an algae species that produces a neurotoxin, E. coli contamination, the levels of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the water due to runoff of hormone-laden manure, and over-allocation of water for irrigation, domestic and industrial purposes.

Dr. Paton and his students and colleagues are building an impressive bank of data on the state of the river.

Challenges in the north
Melissa Branconnier spoke to the group on the programs and activities of the Environmental Youth Centre in Thompson. Melissa discussed the environmental challenges facing northern communities regarding waste. Transportation costs for recyclables and toxics are prohibitive, there is a lack of environmental awareness, the efforts being made by individuals are not well coordinated, and the environmental champions in the community are subject to burnout.

The Environmental Youth Centre has a contract with North Central Development as part of the Community One Tonne Challenge project for developing a fish offal composting project in several outlying communities. They are hoping to refocus this project in partnership with the Thompson Zoo, which is already composting their barn waste. Another area of work for the Youth Centre is providing work training for at-risk youth. There is an effort to combine work training with environmental projects such as tree planting or lakeshore cleanups.

Melissa has many ideas to expand the work of the Centre, such as community gardening, and reclamation of the former dump. Her creativity and enthusiasm were inspiring to the group.

Planning and Nutrients
Ruth Pryzner of Citizens for the Responsible Application of Phosphorus (CRAP), presented on watershed planning issues. Ruth outlined a number of concerns with the proposed Water Quality Management Zones for Nutrients (WQMZ), and the push from the province to create development plans. Ruth articulated the need to create watershed plans before development plans. She also expressed concern that because WQMZ are based on the Canadian Land Inventory of soil types, they do no adequately take into account local variation in topography and impacts on groundwater recharge areas. Another concern is that a lot of research about watersheds is needed in order to make meaningful decisions. The agenda for planning can be set in early stages when the topics to be researched are decided, and Ruth feels there may not be much opportunity for public input. Additionally, the planning process does not appear to engage First Nation communities, or address potential conflicts between neighbouring planning areas.

The forests and the trees
Dan Soprovich discussed the over-allocation of forest resources in the Swan River area.
The Inter-Mountain Forest Area is totally allocated, leaving no leeway for events such as forest fires. The Louisiana Pacific (LP) Oriented Strand Board plant was given an environmental license without a proper analysis of the amount of forest available to supply the plant. Initial estimates of regeneration rates have had to be revised because they were based on flawed assumptions, yet the earlier assumptions have been the basis for LP´s operating plans for the last ten years.

Because of total allocation of the forest, small operators who once logged selectively are now clear-cutting and selling smaller logs to LP. Dan hopes that because LP´s environmental license has expired, there will be public hearings regarding a renewed license, and more accurate information can be used for the forestry decisions.

Capacity workshops
In the afternoon, our executive director, Anne Lindsey, and Hugh Arklie, of the Thomas Sill Foundation, led a fundraising workshop. They offered a great deal of practical advice on how to go about approaching foundations and other funders for environmental grants. Anne highlighted a number of good resources for fundraising (available for loan from our library), and Hugh provided some valuable insights from his experience on the “other side’ of the funding request.

Media Skills
With the help of reporter turned farmer, Larry Powell, Anne led a second workshop on media skills. The challenges and sometimes opportunities of getting media coverage from a remote setting were discussed, as well as practical tips for getting the attention of the news editor and writing a news release.

Organizing a campaign
The final workshop of the day was Campaign Organizing, led by our Water Caucus Coordinator, Glen Koroluk. Glen introduced the organizing matrix developed by the Sierra Club.

Picking up on themes discussed the previous day in the Water Caucus meeting, Glen then lead the group in working through these elements for a campaign to save the Little Saskatchewan River. The strategizing around this issue led to a proposal to develop a watershed plan for the basin to serve as a model for other areas in the province. A number of people at the event committed to working on this issue.

Minister of Conservation, Stan Struthers, discusses issues. Photo by Cate Wallis

Dinner with the Minister
Minister of Conservation, Stan Struthers, was welcomed to the gathering for supper Saturday night and came ready to discuss issues with the participants—who were impressed that he ditched his speech in favour of getting to the nitty gritty of the group´s concerns. One might say that Stan was on the hot seat with topic areas ranging from proposed regulations for nutrient management, to plans for changes to the stewardship of waste, to forest allocations.

Hearings
Specifically, he was asked to call for Clean Environment Commission (CEC) hearings on the Pembina Valley Water Allocation Project—he said there would be an announcement soon—and on the LP licence renewal (discussed above). Stan noted that an important component of the LP licence renewal will be a formal Section 35 consultation with First Nations in the area. He was also asked to set a broad scope for the anticipated hearings into the Olywest kill plant, slated for construction in Winnipeg. Given that the CEC expanded the scope of the Maple Leaf hearings in Brandon to include the sustainability of the hog industry in Manitoba, participants felt there is a good case to be made for a broad scope. Stan noted that an official proposal from Olywest has yet to be received by the department.

New regulations
On the issue of regulating phosphorous applications under the Water Protection Act and the Manure Management Regulations, the Minister encouraged groups to correspond with him and the Minister of Water Stewardship about concerns they may have. The large-scale agriculture industry has mounted a strong and concerted lobby in opposition to the new regulatory regime, but Stan reiterated the government´s goal of protecting water in the Province. Many in the group spoke about the need for strong regulations in this area.

Flin Flon participants noted their concerns about proposed new regulations on recycling and product stewardship, and were encouraged to attend upcoming consultations on these subjects. Stan noted his desire that the consultations travel to remote parts of the province, to facilitate participation. He also stated that he wants municipal recycling programs to continue. Finally, Stan was invited to “stay tuned’ to the proposal for a citizens´ watershed planning process for the Little Saskatchewan basin, discussed in the campaign planning workshop earlier in the day.

The evening ended with an entertaining and informative presentation about the Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve by Valerie Pankratz.

Kathy Storey, Anne Lindsey, Liz Dykman, and Jackie Avent wax up the skies. Photo by Les McCann

And fun...
Built in to the weekend schedule was some time to socialize informally, and some opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. It was a special treat for us city folk to go for a ski in beautiful Riding Mountain National Park. There was about a metre of snow on the ground, and conditions were excellent. Despite a few dramatic spills, a fabulous time was had by all the skiers.

Overall reaction to the Forum was very positive, and we look forward to opportunities to hold events in other areas (budget permitting!), and to keep making connections with all the folks who are doing great work around the province.