An environmental group is asking the courts to test the limits of the province’s ban on logging in provincial parks.

The Wilderness Committee has made an application at Court of Queen’s Bench, wanting the court to rule on whether the construction of a logging road through a provincial park constitutes logging.

"This legal action is a respectful, responsible way to resolve the dispute between the government and the thousands of Manitobans who want their parks protected from logging," Eric Reder, Campaign Director for the Wilderness Committee, said in a prepared statement released this morning.

The Wilderness Committee is contesting the province’s decision to issue a licence to Tolko to build a logging road across Grass River Provincial Park in August 2009 — two months after the province banned all logging in provincial parks.

Reder said the Wilderness Committee had hoped the province would join it in making the judicial review but decided to go alone when provincial officials refused to take part.

The Wilderness Committee said the province gave Tolko final approval for construction of the logging road in February and construction began in a remote section of Grass River Provincial Park in March. Work on the road stopped in April. According to Reder, the environmental license requires construction to stop between March 31 and July 15.