Manigotagan River Provincial Park
Wallace Lake Provincial Park
Nopiming Provincial Park

Nopiming means "entrance to the wilderness" in Anishinabe. This term couldn't be any more true, when applied to Nopiming Provincial Park.

Straddling the Manitoba - Ontario border and bookended between the unspoiled wilderness of Atikaki Wilderness Park and the heavily developed Whiteshell Provincial Park, Nopiming Provincial Park is a happy medium between its two neighbours. There's cottage development throughout the park, with most of it at Bird, Beresford and Long lakes, but the majority of the park is wilderness.

The easiest route to access Nopiming is by driving northeast of Winnipeg, passing through Lac du Bonnet, and entering the park on Provincial Road 315, near Bird Lake. However, my travel companions and I decided to go about it another way.

With stops planned at Manigotagan River Provincial Park and Wallace Lake Provincial Park, we entered the park by a more circuitous route, Provincial Road 304, through Pine Falls, Manigotagan and Bissett.

This 373 kilometre journey, ending at Tulabi Falls, at the southern end of Nopiming, was made on winding, hilly gravel roads through primeval Canadian Shield boreal forest. A warning for those planning on taking this route - between Manigotagan and Tulabi Falls, Provincial Roads 304 and 314 are poorly maintained and chock-full of jagged "tire-popper" stones. The drive took almost six hours, but at least it was through picturesque country.

Our first stop was Manigotagan River Provincial Park. This park is a narrow corridor along the Manigotagan River, between Nopiming Provincial Park and Lake Winnipeg.

The river is the most southern Class "A" white-water canoe route in Manitoba. Judging by the small section of the river that we saw, east of the town of Manigotagan, the river lives up to its billing.

Just off of Provincial Road 304, the river drops suddenly through a tight gorge. The falls drop off right beneath the highway bridge, with frothing rapids continuing for a quarter of a kilometre. It's quite a sight. We weren't sure what to expect, but the Manigotagan River certainly lived up to its reputation.

Wallace Lake Provincial Park is 73 kilometres east of Manigotagan, on Provincial Road 304. Along the way, the town of Bissett and the San Antonio Gold Mine are worth a quick stop.

The provincial park is situated on the shores of Wallace Lake and includes a campground, boat launch, and some cottage development. The lake is known for its northern pike and walleye fishing, but is better known as the entry to the Atikaki Wilderness Park.

At the north end of the lake, a six-kilometre canoe portage brings you into the vast, non-road accessible wilderness park. With rain beginning to fall, our stopover at Wallace Lake was a brief.

South-east of Wallace Lake is the northern entrance to Nopiming Provincial Park, the headliner of this week's trip. Just inside the park, we drove into a clearing and crossed the weirdest looking mud flat I've ever seen.

Instead of being brown, the mud was bright orange and yellow in colour. It turns out that this mud flat is all that remains of Wadhope, a mining town that was abandoned during the 1930s. The brightly coloured mud is the result of mine tailings that leached into the soil. Almost 80 years later, the soil remains too toxic for vegetation to reclaim it.

Driving south through Nopiming on Provincial Road 314, there are several places to stop and hike. Near Beresford Lake, the Fire of '83 and Walking on Ancient Mountains trails lead through rocky sections of the park, providing grand views over the area that was devastated by fire in 1983.

In the central region of the park, Black Lake is a popular campground, while to the north a small woodland caribou herd lives near Flintstone Lake. The 50 to 60 animals of the "Owl Herd" are Manitoba`s most southern caribou herd. This caribou habitat is off limits to travellers during the summer calving season.

Bird Lake and Tulabi Lake are at the south end of Nopiming Provincial Park. Between the two lakes is the thundering Tulabi Falls, our final destination.

The campground at Tulabi Falls is basic -- no running water and the campground office is only open one hour a day -- but it`s situated close enough to the falls to hear the water surging over and between the rocks.

The falls are spectacular - much larger than the falls at Manigotagan.

Both Bird and Tulabi lakes are typical Canadian Shield lakes. Bird Lake is heavily developed with cottages, but still not quite as busy as the cottage-developed lakes of Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Tulabi Lake has very little boat traffic and has several towering cliffs near the falls to jump off. After our long drive down through the park, it was both exhilarating and relaxing to jump off the cliffs into the refreshing lake water.

Nopiming Provincial Park lives up to its name as the "entrance to the wilderness". It was one of my favourite places to travel to when I was younger. Even after visiting a lot of new areas of Manitoba this summer, Nopiming remains near the top of my list.

The provincial government is inviting Manitobans to participate in the creation of a new provincial park.

The park would be in north-central Manitoba at Little Limestone Lake, a 15-kilometre body of water north of Grand Rapids.

The lake is in a limestone region with underground drainage and many cavities and passages caused by dissolution of the rock. It is referred to as a marl lake, since it changes colour when calcite precipitates in the water as the lake's temperature rises in summer.

"Protecting one of the most amazing examples of a marl lake in the world is an important legacy we can leave for future generations," Conservation Minister Bill Blaikie said. "Because of its rare geography, Little Limestone Lake stands out among Manitoba lakes for its annual cycle of magnificent colour changes."

Ron Thiessen, executive director for the Manitoban branch of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said the current park reserve boundary is not adequate to ensure the lake is protected.

"If polluted waters enter from outside of the protected boundary, they will cause irreparable damage to Little Limestone's delicate ecosystem," Thiessen said.

With the co-operation of the Moose Lake Resource Management Board, the Manitoba government is developing a conservation plan for the proposed park.

The process will involve the Mosakahiken Cree Nation, local citizens, industry, interest groups and the public.

Comment sheets are available at www.manitobaparks.com and opinions will be gathered until Aug. 31.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 16, 2010 A7

OTTAWA -- The plummeting moose population in Nopiming Provincial Park demonstrates the animals need more space if they are going to survive, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society said Friday.

In its 2010 Review of Canada's Parks, the organization calls for more and bigger parks across the country that are connected to provide wildlife with improved mobility and migratory paths.

"In the old days, we used to draw boundaries for parks based on political decisions, not ecological need," said CPAWS Manitoba executive director Ron Thiessen. "But the lack of parks, protected areas, and connections between them has led to a massive decline in species across Canada."

Thiessen noted the fact Riding Mountain National Park and Duck Mountain Provincial Park are not connected via protected land cuts off wildlife species like elk and wolves from their traditional migratory routes.

Instead of swaths of protected land connecting with each other from coast to coast, Canada's parks are "small islands of nature in developed landscapes," the report says.

The report singles out the Nopiming moose and little brown bats near Fisher Bay on Lake Winnipeg as two species that are either at risk or could be if there is not significant intervention in Manitoba.

Since 2000, the estimated number of moose in Nopiming has plummeted from 1,800 to just 700.

Increased access for hunting due to an influx of logging roads and a rise in predators such as coyotes and wolves are quickly killing off the moose.

"More than a 60 per cent decline in the last decade is very dramatic and we're seeing those declines across the province," Thiessen said.

Jack Dubois, director of the wildlife and ecosystem protection branch of Manitoba Conservation, said on the opposite side of the province in Duck Mountain, the moose population is down nearly 60 per cent since 1993. As of February, there were 1,349 moose counted in the park.

Dubois said the Manitoba government is embarking on a consultation process with "everyone interested in moose" in the province.

"We're hoping by this winter we'll have a draft moose management strategy," he said. "We want to stop the rate of decline as soon as we can."

Manitoba has already put a moratorium on moose hunting in both Nopiming and Duck Mountain, something CPAWS credited as a good move.

But Dubois said there isn't a focus in Manitoba on connecting parks to one another. The emphasis is rather on identifying rare or unique species or geological features and protecting them first.

The next provincial park will likely be Fisher Bay on the south shore of Lake Winnipeg, but there's debate over the boundaries of that proposed preserve.

The report notes Fisher Bay is home to the largest bat hibernation spot in the province, in a system of limestone caves. Little brown bats are numerous there -- one cave alone reportedly has 25,000 -- but without proper protection, they would be in trouble, Thiessen said.

CPAWS wants the park to be 160,000 hectares, but the province currently has 89,000 hectares protected and the protected status of that area runs out in October.

"We're waiting to see if good ecological sense will prevail over political concerns," Thiessen said.

He said mining and logging operators have a stake in the land outside the current protected zone and are likely lobbying the province not to close those lands off.

Dubois said there is no reason to believe the bats will be put in jeopardy, noting their habitat is within the area with the highest level of protection. He said negotiations on the boundaries are moving ahead in good faith with all involved.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 10, 2010 A3

Grand Rapids Provincial Park
Zed Lake Provincial Park
Burge Lake Provincial Park
Paint Lake Provincial Park

Lynn Lake is roughly 1,090 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. Let's put that into perspective: That's almost the same distance between Winnipeg and Medicine Hat, Alberta; almost the same distance between Winnipeg and Omaha, Nebraska. It takes about 12 hours of driving through some of the most pristine forests in Canada to arrive at this remote town, built as the result of a 20th century gold and nickel rush. Twelve hours on the road – all within the province of Manitoba.

The town of Lynn Lake was borne from the death of another town. In the 1940s, after a mere 20 years, the copper veins that ran beneath the town of Sherridon, 190 kilometres south of Lynn Lake, were mined out. The town's fortunes had reverse dramatically. In desperation, prospectors headed out in every direction, in search of salvation for the town. This salvation, a massive nickel desposit, was found in 1945 near Lynn Lake.

The people of Sherridon moved north to work the new mines at Lynn Lake, bringing the whole town with them. Tractors pulled the houses, churches, and offices of Sherridon north along winter ice roads. Sherridon was completely transported 190 kilometres to the north, to what is now Lynn Lake.

For the next three decades, Lynn Lake was a mining boomtown. Gold was discovered shortly after the nickel deposit and by the mid-1970s, the town's population peaked at nearly 3500 people. Unfortunately the 1980s saw an end to the mining boom when the nickel deposit ran out and gold production stalled, as the mines began to be tapped out.

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Manitoba Parks:
From A(sessippi) to Z(ed Lake)

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Paint Lake Provincial Park on July 3, 2010. (NEIL BABALUK FOR THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

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Zed Lake Provincial Park on July, 2, 2010. (NEIL BABALUK FOR THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Grand Rapids Provincial Park
Zed Lake Provincial Park
Burge Lake Provincial Park
Paint Lake Provincial Park

Lynn Lake is roughly 1,090 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. Let's put that into perspective: That's almost the same distance between Winnipeg and Medicine Hat, Alberta; almost the same distance between Winnipeg and Omaha, Nebraska. It takes about 12 hours of driving through some of the most pristine forests in Canada to arrive at this remote town, built as the result of a 20th century gold and nickel rush. Twelve hours on the road – all within the province of Manitoba.

The town of Lynn Lake was borne from the death of another town. In the 1940s, after a mere 20 years, the copper veins that ran beneath the town of Sherridon, 190 kilometres south of Lynn Lake, were mined out. The town's fortunes had reverse dramatically. In desperation, prospectors headed out in every direction, in search of salvation for the town. This salvation, a massive nickel desposit, was found in 1945 near Lynn Lake.

The people of Sherridon moved north to work the new mines at Lynn Lake, bringing the whole town with them. Tractors pulled the houses, churches, and offices of Sherridon north along winter ice roads. Sherridon was completely transported 190 kilometres to the north, to what is now Lynn Lake.

For the next three decades, Lynn Lake was a mining boomtown. Gold was discovered shortly after the nickel deposit and by the mid-1970s, the town's population peaked at nearly 3500 people. Unfortunately the 1980s saw an end to the mining boom when the nickel deposit ran out and gold production stalled, as the mines began to be tapped out.

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Today, Lynn Lake's mines are no longer in operation. Only 700 people remain in this town at the end of Manitoba's most northernly highway, Provincial Road 391. Just outside this remote community are the two most northernly road-accessible provincial parks in Manitoba – Zed Lake and Burge Lake.

The journey north to Zed and Burge lakes was the most demanding my travel companions and I have undertaken so far, but also the most rewarding.

Highway 6, between Winnipeg and Thompson, is a smooth strip of pavement, better than most southern Manitoban highways. Although the highway cuts through largely uninhabited boreal forest, a steady stream of traffic limits the feeling of isolation.

Along the route to Thompson and Lynn Lake, Grand Rapids Provincial Park is located just outside of its namesake town, 440 kilometres north of Winnipeg. The park is not marked. It is not maintained. If you are driving this way, don't bother stopping.

Provincial Road 391 runs for 320 kilometres between Thompson and Lynn Lake and is the opposite of Highway 6. Intermittently paved, the road winds along wild northern lakes and rivers, with Leaf Rapids and Lynn Lake the only settlements on the road. The unusually dry conditions made the driving easier, but I can imagine how much of a nightmare the road could be during wet conditions. Thick smoke hung in the air and draped to the road, the result of major forest fires in the area.

After arriving at Lynn Lake, we headed to Zed Lake Provincial Park, 40 kilometres from town, and set up camp. We then travelled to Burge Lake Provincial Park and relaxed at the park's small beach.

Both provincial parks offer rustic campgrounds (no showers, no electricity) cut into the jack pine forest. After renting a canoe from a local outfitter, we set out on Zed Lake, with dreams of reeling in master angler-sized walleye and northern pike.

These dreams were soon dashed – ten minutes out on the lake, lightning began to strike just to the south of us. We paddled as fast as we could to get off the lake before the storm hit. This thunderstorm was likely no relief to those who were fighting the massive forest fires that were raging to the south and the northwest, as the short downpour would not have extinguished the fires and the lightning had the potential to start more.

The storm seemed to have little effect on the fires because the next day, smoke still hung heavily in the air. With a forest fire-related travel ban limiting us to the campground areas of the two provincial parks, we decided that we would shorten our journey home by five hours and spend the night at Paint Lake Provincial Park, 35 kilometres south of Thompson on Highway 6.

It was an excellent decision. Paint Lake is cut into the Canadian Shield and to my eyes is reminiscent of Lake of the Woods – rocky islands divide the lake into a series of channels.

The campground is similar to the larger campgrounds in Whiteshell Provincial Park. Mystery Country's Paint Lake Resort, which rents boats, jet-skis, canoes, and kayaks, is also located on the lake.

With the sun shining down on us and the mercury pushing 30 C, we rented a boat and cruised around the lake. Paint Lake is a boater's paradise, a seemingly never-ending maze of islands and channels. Without a doubt, Paint Lake Provincial Park has been my favourite stop of the summer so far.

The remote northwest corner Manitoba offers some of the best parks and scenery in the province. The long journey to Zed Lake, Burge Lake, and Paint Lake was worth the drive and is one I would highly recommend.

The longest trip of my year-long adventure has been accomplished. Next week, I'm heading to the eastern side of the province and Nopiming Provincial Park.

AS she surveys the bountiful boreal forest spreading out in all directions from the boulder strewn shore of Weaver Lake, Sophia Rebliauskas reflects on what this land on the east side of Lake Winnipeg means to her people.

"It is our home," says the resident of Poplar River First Nation, who is the community coordinator for Pimachiowin Aki Corporation (PAC) World Heritage Project.

Weaver Lake, which is located about 280 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg and is only accessible by float-plane or boat, has been home to a First Nations healing camp for the past decade.

I was one of a group of five media representatives invited to spend two days recently at the healing camp meeting with participants and sharing in the opening session of the gathering. The healing camp, which was attended by Ojibwa elders from four Manitoba First Nations, coincided with the first national hearing in Winnipeg of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools.

We were also taken on a boat tour of this proposed UNESCO World Heritage Site -- an area that has been touted as a better route for Manitoba Hydro's new Bipole III transmission line from northern generating stations to Winnipeg than the longer and more expensive west side route.

In 2004, the Government of Canada added the Pimachiowin Aki area to its list of "tentative World Heritage Sites," signaling the launch of the World Heritage Project, explained Gord Jones, project manager since 2007.

"I am opposed to an east side hydro line because this is intact boreal forest," said Rebliauskas, the mother of three adult children and one grandchild.

"But, an all weather road is a necessity. This year, the winter road melted quickly. We were driving through ruts."

In fact, she admitted that meetings are now being held between the First Nations communities and government representatives for an east side road planning authority.

Nevertheless, any sort of development would disrupt the ecosystem and life on the land, added the gregarious Rebliauskas, who mentions that Pimachiowin Aki is Objiwe for "the land that gives life."

Besides Poplar River, the other members of PAC include Pikangikum First Nation, Pauingassi First Nation, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Bloodvein First Nation, Manitoba Conservation and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

The project area consists of some 40,000 square kilometres and includes Manitoba's Atikaki Provincial Park and the adjoining Woodland Caribou Provincial Park in Ontario -- both are prime canoeing and wildlife areas.

During our boat trip on a mostly sun-splashed afternoon, we stopped at a site containing the faded outlines of ancient rock paintings.

Indigenous people have been here for 5,000 to 6,000 years -- since the last glaciers receded, remarked Jones, as we stood atop a rocky ridge gazing at Thunder Mountain on the distant horizon with Weaver Lake below us and the thick forest extending as far as the eye could see.

"The boreal forest is recognized as a valuable eco-system," he said.

"It's recognized as the lungs of the Earth. It sequesters carbon and is a good place to study climate change. It also sustains indigenous people who have been part of this region for thousands of years. Indigenous people have knowledge and belief systems important for everyone."

There are 890 World Heritage Sites located in 148 countries, according to information from UNESCO. Of these, 689 are cultural, 176 are natural and 25 are mixed properties. Such spectacular sites as the Grand Canyon, the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks (one of 13 World Heritage Sites in Canada), the pyramids of Egypt, and Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia have all achieved the designation.

Both Jones and Rebliauskas believe that having the region declared an official World Heritage Site would help create income for the First Nations communities by stimulating eco-tourism.

"When a place gets recognized as a World Heritage Site people from all over the world will want to visit the land," said Jones, who noted that the formal nomination for a WHS will take place in February 2012 with a further 18 months for review and approval by UNESCO.

Already, some First Nations lodge owners in eastern Manitoba are planning on how they can help create jobs through eco-tourism, observed Rebliauskas, who, along with her husband, runs a lodge in Poplar River.

"For our First Nations, the forests are our heritage," stressed one elder to me back at the healing camp as I nodded my head in agreement.

Indeed, the land that gives life must be protected for all of us.

Martin Zeilig is a Winnipeg writer.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 3, 2010 h6

Whitemouth Falls Provincial Park
Pinawa Provincial Park
Pinawa Dam Heritage Park
Poplar Bay Provincial Park

One hundred and four years ago, the turbulent flow of the Pinawa Channel forever changed the lives of Manitobans. Today, the remnants of the Pinawa Dam remain as a memorial to the birth of hydroelectricity in Manitoba.

Week number three of my quest to visit Manitoba's road-accessible provincial parks focused on the Pinawa-Winnipeg River region of the province – the cradle of hydroelectricity.

Flowing out of Lake of the Woods and eventually emptying into Lake Winnipeg, the Winnipeg River was for thousands of years a highway for the canoes of First Nations peoples and later, for European explorers and Metis fur traders. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the river's awesome power was harnessed to create electricity for a burgeoning Winnipeg, just coming into its own as the "Chicago of the North."

The Pinawa Dam was the first hydroelectric dam built on the river. Today, eight dams span the length of the river: Pine Falls, Great Falls, McArthur Falls, Seven Sisters Falls, Slave Falls, Pointe du Bois, Whitedog Falls, and Kenora. My travel companions and I set out to see the ruins of the dam that started it all.

Two provincial parks lie on the route from Winnipeg to Pinawa – Whitemouth Falls and Pinawa. Our first stop was Whitemouth Falls Provincial Park, just outside of the hamlet of Seven Sisters Falls. Down the road from the park entrance is the viewing area of the towering Seven Sisters Dam.

Completed in 1931, Seven Sisters Dam was, and still is, the largest dam constructed on the Winnipeg River. It's a sight to behold, as it spans a wide section of the river. Unfortunately, the current river level is extremely low and only a trickle of water flows through the dam's spillway.

Further down the road is the park's main attraction, the Whitemouth Falls. Just before the confluence of the Whitemouth River with the Winnipeg River, a series of rapids turn the lazy, meandering river into a turbulent froth of whitewater. Canoeing or kayaking through the rapids would provide quite the thrill. Up the hill from the falls, the park's greenspace is a popular spot for weekend picnics. Families were barbequeing throughout the park, while couples wandered down the series of trails that cut through the forest.

Across the Winnipeg River from Whitemouth Falls, sits Pinawa Provincial Park. The smallest provincial park in Manitoba, Pinawa consists of a small, grassy field and a boat launch. We grabbed our fishing rods and threw our lines into the river, but came up empty, which seems to be the story of my spring fishing so far.

The Pinawa Dam Heritage Park is 12 kilometres north of the town of Pinawa. The ruins of the historic dam span the width of the Pinawa Channel (an arm of the Winnipeg River) and resemble the ruins of a Roman aqueduct. The elements have eaten away at the structure, but to my untrained eye it's still in remarkably good shape for a structure that was built more than a century ago.

The construction of the Pinawa Dam was in response to an issue that continues to plague Winnipeg to this day: public transportation. The Winnipeg Electric Street Railway Company was formed in 1892 and construction began on a network of rails and overhead cables for electric street cars throughout the expanding city. In order to meet the needs of Winnipegers, the company needed a continuous, dependable supply of electricity. The Pinawa Dam was the solution to this problem.

In 1903, construction of Manitoba's first hydro electric dam began at the Pinawa Channel, part of the Winnipeg River that was dry for most of the year. Once the dam was constructed, workers blasted away at the Precambrian rock that surrounded the channel, widening it so that water flowed through at all times. No roads or railways ran to the area, so all the construction equipment had to be pulled across the ice from Lac du Bonnet. The limited technology of the time meant that workers had to pour all 18,460 cubic metres of concrete for the dam from wheelbarrows. After three years of construction, the dam and spillway were finished, at the then astronomic cost of $3 million.

Observation platforms span the length of the dam and spillway, allowing visitors to wander throughout the ruins. We were able to walk below the mammoth troughs of the spillway and over top of where the dam's power generation station once stood. Trails and bridges criss-cross the channel above the dam, offering spectacular vantage points.

At its peak, the dam's turbines produced 27,964 kilowatts of power and produced the electricity that allowed Winnipeg to grow during its boom period of the early 20th century. The dam's success also led to its demise, as more dams were built along the Winnipeg River, rendering it obsolete. In 1951, operations ceased at the dam in order to raise the river's water level so that the Seven Sisters Dam could be more productive. After the dam was decommissioned and dismantled, the Canadian Army used it and its neighbouring, abandoned townsite for demolition training.

The ruins of the Pinawa Dam are an integral part of Manitoba's history and a must see attraction. They are unique and worth a day-trip to explore.

The final stop of this week's trip, Poplar Bay Provincial Park is definitely not worth a day-trip. Located on the southeast shore of Lac du Bonnet, Poplar Bay is a provincial park in name only. Several years ago, the province sold the land for cottage use. Cottages dot the picturesque bay and a seasonal campground offers a place to stay for those who do not have a cottage. It's a nice spot, but there is no access to the lake, unless you own one of the cottages or are staying at the campground.

Through three water-logged weekends, the current tally reads 11 parks down, 66 to go.

Two new sections of the Trans-Canada Trail have officially opened today in Winnipeg and the Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau cut the ribbon at the new Caddy Lake footbridge to mark the opening on International Trails Day.

"Whether you're in Winnipeg, rural Manitoba or cottage country, the Tans Canada Trail provides all Manitobans the opportunity to stay healthy and explore this great province," Rondeau said in a statement.

The new sections of trail are:

• 1.6 km. extension of the Harte Trail from Shaftesbury Boulevard to Cathcart Street.
• 12 metre footbridge linking the 19-km. Falcon Lake Trail to the 15 km. Centennial Trail in the Whiteshell Provincial Park.

The federal, provincial and Winnipeg government have all promised to pay one-third apiece of the $2.5 million cost of completing the Trans-Canada Trail in Winnipeg.

As well, the federal and provincial governments are each paying $1.4 million towards the $4.3 million Border to Beaches trail from the Ontario border to Lake Winnipeg.

Manitoba may have just a handful of polar bears by 2035, as the world's leading experts on the iconic Arctic species believe the bears that summer around Churchill are doomed.

The Western Hudson Bay subpopulation of polar bears, estimated at 935 animals in 2004, is expected to decline over the next 25 to 30 years to the point where there are not enough bears to sustain a breeding population, predicts University of Alberta biologist Ian Stirling, who's been studying polar bears for 37 years.

The increasing length of the ice-free season on Hudson Bay will soon reach a tipping point where 20 to 30 per cent of Manitoba's polar bears will begin dying off every year, according to a mathematical analysis released two weeks ago by Stirling's colleague, University of Alberta biologist Andrew Derocher, who's studied polar bears for 28 years.

The predictions mean the province that calls itself the polar bear capital of the world may no longer be able to count the iconic Arctic animal as a resident species within a generation.

The eventual extirpation of polar bears from Manitoba would have disastrous effects on Churchill's ecotourism business as well as the province's efforts to portray itself as a leader in conservation.

"We can say with a very great deal of confidence, sadly, the Western Hudson Bay population will be non-viable within 25 or 30 years," Stirling said in an interview, referring to periodic polar bear counts, an observed decline in the average weight of polar bears, a decline in the weight and number of polar bear cubs and the increasing length of the ice-free period on Hudson Bay.

Unlike bears in the high Arctic, the Western Hudson Bay population spends its summers on land, denning in and around Wapusk National Park east of Churchill. Since almost all of the bears' calories come from seals -- which are only hunted on sea ice -- a longer ice-free period means less hunting and less body mass.

The average polar bear eats 43 ringed seals a year, Stirling said. Missing out on only two of those meals every year is enough to cause a polar bear's body weight to decline to the point where females produce underweight cubs or no cubs at all.

A preliminary estimate of the Western Hudson Bay polar bear population prepared in 2009 suggested there are only 635 bears around Churchill, a disturbingly low number the biologists are dismissing as incorrect. A full count using the same methodology as the 2004 estimate will be conducted later this year, Stirling said.

But an analysis conducted by Derocher and two mathematicians suggests Manitoba's polar bear population will decline rapidly once Hudson Bay's ice-free period gets to the point where bears wind up with too little food to produce viable offspring -- let alone survive meal-free summers on land.

The notion that polar bears can turn to alternate food sources is preposterous, said Stirling, noting the species has evolved to subsist on seals. Claims by Inuit that polar bears are increasing in number are spurious because the animals are merely turning to human settlements in attempts to find food, he added.

The Western Hudson Bay population will decline even with no hunting and worldwide reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, Stirling said.

"Even if we had a magic wand to wave around or could touch a magic button, it's like trying to turn a supertanker around," Stirling said of climate change. "Even if we went back to 1970 greenhouse-gas levels, it will be years before we see a difference."

But Robert Buchanan, president and CEO of educational organization Polar Bears International, cautioned it would be fatal to give up on polar bears, which he describes as a "sentinel species" that draws attention to the plight of the entire Arctic ecosystem.

Canada, which has 65 per cent of the world's estimated 15,000 to 25,000 polar bears, has the potential to lead the world in the fight against climate change, he said.

"We have to provide hope," he said. "If Canada doesn't get it, then the rest of the world won't get it."

Manitoba declared polar bears a threatened species in 2008. Derocher and other biologists are urging Canada to follow suit this year.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 7, 2010 A3

You know there's something special about the Manitoba wilderness when you're living in a sub-tropical country, but all you can think about is camping in the Whiteshell and hiking in Turtle Mountain.

Those thoughts crossed my mind during the sweltering summer I spent in Taiwan in 2007. As the thermometer pushed 40 degrees -- and swimming in the brown, polluted waters of the Taiwan Strait was not a palatable option -- summer at the lake began to cross my mind. When I got home to Manitoba, I decided to make the most of my summers and get to know my province better at the same time.

Fast forward to 2010. After two summers of working weekends along with sub-par weather, I still hadn't managed to hit the lake as often as I wanted and still hadn't ventured out much further than Grand Beach. I wanted the summer of 2010 to be different. I decided that it was finally time to see Manitoba, from north to south and from east to west.

That's how the idea for this blog was born. If I were going to travel around the province and see the sights, I wanted to go big; to make it a challenge. There are 77 road-accessible provincial parks in Manitoba. I decided to attempt to visit all 77 of these parks this year with a friend -- two “weekend warriors” who want to see what Manitoba provincial parks have to offer.

It's going to be quite the challenge. Road-accessible provincial parks span the province, from Zed Lake in the far north, to Pembina Valley in the south, from Moose Lake in the east to Oak Lake in the west. The distances involved are daunting. Zed Lake, the most northern park, is roughly 1,000 kilometres from Winnipeg. This journey may be more like a marathon.

#1 William Lake Provincial Park
#2 Turtle Mountain Provincial Park
#3 Pembina Valley Provincial Park

We officially kicked off our adventure on the May long weekend with a visit to the Turtle Mountain area. About an hour's drive south of Brandon, these rolling, decidouous tree-carpeted hills are home to two provincial parks, Turtle Mountain and William Lake.

Turtle Mountain was carved by glaciers and eroded by wind over a period of millions of years. It's a vast area that towers over the surrounding plains. Hundreds of lakes and ponds, home to moose, beaver, heron, and the ubiquitous painted turtle, dot the landscape. It's a beautiful oasis of wilderness dropped right in the middle of vast swaths of farmland.

Camping at William Lake proved to be an excellent decision. The park is located about 20 minutes off Highway 10, down what can best be described as primitive back roads. The lake, stocked with rainbow trout and free of power boats (electric motors only), is a peaceful spot if you're looking to get away from the crowded, noisy campgrounds closer to Winnipeg. Directly across the lake from the campground, rising above the reedy shore, is the Turtle's Back Summit.

The Summit is the highest point in the area. According to the park's helpful conservation officers, it has been a landmark for travellers in the region since the last ice age. Everyone from the Saulteaux to the Assiniboine to fur traders and Metis buffalo hunters used the Summit as a navigational aid as they crossed the prairie.

On Sunday afternoon we set off on the five kilometre hike around the lake to reach the Summit. The trail winds through the forest and in and out of a pasture area. We heard that it's common to come across cattle lounging on the trail, but as we wandered through the fields, there wasn't a single animal in sight, domestic or wild.

The last half kilometre was a 45 degree climb to the Summit - no switchbacks, just 500 metres of pure calf-burn. However, the view from the top certainly made the struggle worth it. The Summit overlooks all of Turtle Mountain -- from the towers at the International Peace Garden to Boissevain -- and all the lakes, sloughs, and hills in between.

The Turtle's Back Summit trail is only one of many hiking trails that wind through the two parks. Adam Lake, in Turtle Mountain Park, is home to a network of over 50 kilometres of trails that wind through a labyrinth of lakes and ponds.

What appears to be the annual May long weekend downpour dashed our attempts at hiking around Adam Lake, so we decided to head east to Pembina Valley Provincial Park.

Located about half an hour south of Morden, along the south wall of the breathtaking Pembina Valley, the park is one of the province's newest, created in 2001.

Hiking trails cut through this day-use park, with beautiful views of tall-grass prairie and prairie wildflowers - or so the brochure says, but we didn't get to see that. The rain followed us and by the time we reached Pembina Valley it had turned into a full-blown thunderstorm. A return trip will likely be in the cards, as our camping partners are still keen to hike to the edge of the Pembina River to watch the sunrise.

We got off to a great start on our year long journey (despite the weather). We visited three beautiful southwestern Manitoba parks (somewhat) and had one very beautiful day. Next weekend we're off to visit the parks of the southeast corner of the province.

Three parks down, seventy-four to go.

Neil Babaluk, a Creative Communications student at Red River College, is blogging for the Free Press on his explorations in Manitoba's provincial parks.

Camp Tim opens near Pinawa in 2013.

In what's been a series of fits and starts, the Tim Horton Children's Foundation has finally reached a deal with the province to build what's billed as a first-rate camp for underprivileged kids on Sylvia Lake on the Winnipeg River system.

The year-round camp, which will cost more than $12 million to build, will pump additional millions into the local community during construction and its ongoing yearly operation.

It will also be a home away from home for thousands of children.

"It will be a terrific opportunity for young people to gain the skills and experiences that will allow them to make a real contribution back in their communities, with their families and in their future careers," Premier Greg Selinger said Thursday. When it's running, up to 260 young people from across North America will attend camp each summer. In the off-season, the camp will run programs for schools and youth groups.

Plans include a dining hall, creative arts centre, cabins and "yurts;" tent-like portable cabins.

Foundation vice-president Dave Newnham said the next step is for the foundation to start its environmental licensing process, which will determine how development of the site takes place. Newnham also said the camp, which will be just inside Whiteshell Provincial Park, allows the foundation to expand its youth leadership program, which is now only offered at two of the foundation's camps in Ontario. The program is geared for kids ages 13 to 17 and is a five-summer commitment. A big part of it includes wilderness canoe trips.

"Those that graduate from the program are eligible for a $3,000 bursary to attend post-secondary education," he said. "We know that we'll be exposing kids from across North America to the beauty that exists here in Manitoba. We'll also be exposing additional kids from Manitoba that have not been reached by our program before."

The foundation, through Tim Hortons store owners, will fill the camp with kids who could otherwise not afford it. The big fundraising day is June 2, when Tim Hortons outlets across North America donate every penny from coffee sales to the foundation. In 2009, Camp Day raised more than C$9.4 million.

All children who attend one of the foundation's six camps are selected from within the communities where Tim Hortons stores are located. Tim Hortons owners work with local youth groups and schools to select children between the ages of nine and 12 to attend a 10-day summer camp session or seven-day winter camp session.

Newnham also said the camp will work with local First Nations so that aboriginal programming is included in camp activities.

Last year, the foundation abandoned plans to build at Meditation Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park after water tests confirmed concerns about the lake's ability to handle development.

Environmentalists also opposed the camp being located on Sylvia Lake, not because they're against the camp, but because the province does not have a clear management plan for the park.

"On the surface there is great, positive news," Eric Reder, campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, said in a statement. "Manitobans know and appreciate that our wild areas, our natural areas, are finite. Every time we decide to develop more, especially in our parks, literally a little piece of our province dies."

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca