A community of Manitobans stand up for parks and get results

There is a swelling in my heart as I think of a dream realized. We have accomplished what didn’t seem possible in the spring of 2009—we’ve got permanent legislated protection for Meditation Lake.

The government deserves accolades for taking this last, final step, and ensuring the Meditation Lake area is a natural, wild destination for Manitobans in the future. No worries about development, no more battles to be fought.

The intangible power of natural areas—that emotional awe which is invoked in us—comes from their pulsing, breathing, complex, ever-expanding life. Wild experience really creates emotion in us. For me, I get emotional when I think that we’ve set aside another piece of nature, which will be here for the next generations to discover.

Flashing back to the Meditation Lake campaign, there were so many different groups of people, emotions running high, coming together in a community to preserve what we have. Some people didn’t want to lose a destination where they go to unwind, while others had never visited but value the knowledge that there is still wilderness out there. There were families who had been visiting Meditation Lake for three generations, and others to whom Meditation Lake has been sacred for many more generations than that. Together they raised their voices and said we don’t need more development in our park. This is powerful stuff.

The government has announced that they will reclassify the land around Meditation Lake from the current category, Resource Management, to another category, likely Backcountry. Details have not been released yet, but the Wilderness Committee expects this will protect close to 10,000 hectares in Whiteshell Provincial Park. You can see the details of the land use categories for Whiteshell Provincial Park on this government map.

The Resource Management classification is a relic in our parks system, a hangover from past years when we erroneously believed (because the government told us so) that we could have multiuse parks, with industrial activity and recreation and preservation of our wilds all occurring together. Now we know that’s not the case, as developments have compromised the integrity of nature in our parks. It’s time to remove all the Resource Management classification so all of our parks are fully protected, as they are in most jurisdictions in the world. That’s what we, the community of concerned Manitobans, need to ask for.

This is a great win for Manitobans, and I’m proud that the Wilderness Committee played such an integral part in it. If you’re reading this and have not yet done so, get involved with the Wilderness Committee. Sign up for our emails, become a member, or volunteer, so we can accomplish more in the future.

—Eric