Environmental Action
Our Environmental Action Committee (EAC) consists of Nature Manitoba members who are interested in undertaking and supporting projects that promote environmental awareness and stewardship, particularly those which relate to natural ecosystems, threatened habitat, and wild species.
The Tall Grass Prairie is also a long term project of the committee, follow the link for more information.
Below is a list of issues that our Environmental Action Committee is watching and/or involved with. If you would like to volunteer for the EAC, please contact our office.
Latest Issues
(Posted on December 14, 2012 - 12:42pm)
Nature Manitoba Response to
“Tomorrow Now - Manitoba’s Green Plan”
[download a .PDF of Nature Manitoba's Response]
Nature Manitoba would like to thank the Government of Manitoba for the opportunity to comment on “Tomorrow Now – Manitoba’s Green Plan”. Nature Manitoba fully supports the direction outlined in the Tomorrow Now document. In the Green Plan the Government of Manitoba acknowledges its responsibility as a key player in environmental action in Manitoba. The Green Plan is clearly a work in progress. We appreciate the opportunity to join in that work and to contribute towards reaching the ambitious objectives contained in the document.
Who We Are:
Nature Manitoba is a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 1920 as the Natural History Society of...
(Posted on May 27, 2012 - 11:02am)
As you may have heard , the research programs undertaken at Experimental Lakes Area are scheduled to be cut by our government on March 31. The Experimental Lakes Area, or ELA, is a world renowned research station that directly benefits everyone everyday. The importance of the ELA is well expressed in a recent message we received from Dr. Mariah Mailman, a former researcher at ELA:
“Research from ELA has been responsible for policies that took phosphorus out of detergent which was leading to eutrophication of lakes, or death by algae, and and the "acid" out of rain which was causing fish to become emaciated, or waste away. More recent research has shown that removing mercury from coal emissions lowers mercury in fish, and that when synthetic estrogen from the pill is removed from waterways, fish populations rebound, but otherwise fish were becoming hermaphrodites! Current research underway at ELA is already finding effects from tiny nano-particles of silver being woven into underwear and sportswear that then flush into our water systems when laundered. Studies done at ELA help keep our water clean. Everyone depends on clean water, and so everyone benefits from the ELA.”
To show your support for the ELA, I encourage you to visit the site: saveela.org. Under the section “What you can do to help”, is provided instructions on how to send...
(Posted on January 24, 2012 - 12:14am)
Sun Gro Horticulture Canada Ltd. is proposing to develop the Hay Point Bog to mine peat for the production horticultural peat products. The bog is located in Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park and covers an area of approximately 531 ha. Before granting this proposal an environmental license, Manitoba Conservation is soliciting public input with a deadline of February 3, 2012.
What follows is the text of Nature Manitoba’s submission to Manitoba Conservation. This project is an environmental catastrophe in the making and every effort must be made to stop it. Please take some time to make your own views known to the government using, if you wish, some of the arguments presented in our brief. The contact person at Manitoba Conservation is Darrell Ouimet at Darrell.ouimet@gov.mb.ca, (945-7067)
"A park is a park is a park"
Gary Doer, Premier of Manitoba, Nov 2008
Environmental Assessment and Licensing Branch (Att: Darrell Ouimet)
Hay Point Peat Mine Development #5548.00
There are two major considerations to weigh when assessing the proposal of Sun Gro to mine peat in Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park. The first is whether peat mining should be permitted at all in Manitoba, much less encouraged, and the second is whether this kind of activity has any place in a...
(Posted on November 16, 2011 - 9:38pm)
On October 13, 2011, Environment Canada informed the Canadian Environment Network that funding for the organization, which is the national coordinating body for hundreds of environmental groups across the country, would be immediately terminated with no explanation given. Nature Manitoba is one of the organizations which will be impacted by this decision, and the following letter was sent to Shelly Glover, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.
October 19, 2011
Dear Ms. Glover,
I am writing to you as President of Nature Manitoba, the oldest and largest environmental group in the province. I am also writing as one of your St. Boniface constituents.
I am contacting you to express my sincere hope that you will do all that is in your power to help re-establish government support for the Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN). On October 13, 2011, Environment Canada informed the RCEN that its funding for 2011/2012 was being cut. Neither Environment Minister Peter Kent nor his departmental officials have explained why they are not delivering on their promise of continued core funding for the Network, which comprises its key environmental constituency across Canada.
Environmental challenges know no political boundaries. No matter what party forms government, we must not lose sight of the necessity for strong, dependable, and continued core support from Environment Canada to the hundreds of thousands of volunteers working...
(Posted on July 11, 2011 - 3:44pm)
Nature Manitoba welcomes the establishment of the new Little Limestone Lake Provincial Park announced today by Conservation Minister Bill Blaikie. Because of the international significance of Little Limestone Lake, the largest and best marl lake on the planet and one of the most beautiful lakes in Manitoba, today's park announcement is one of the most important in recent years.
"This park has been a long time coming" said Nature Manitoba President Roger Turenne. "It has been 19 years since Nature Manitoba and the Manitoba Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) first brought the unique properties of the lake (changing to a robin's-egg blue with warming temperatures) to the attention of governments and recommended it for protection."
The fact that Little Limestone Lake is situated in an area with mineral potential has been the main cause of slow progress. "We are pleased to note that some of these obstacles have been overcome, and we particularly welcome Manitoba Conservation's commitment that "The ecological integrity of Little Limestone Lake is to be maintained in perpetuity." said Mr. Turenne.
Nature Manitoba...
(Posted on April 6, 2011 - 10:53am)
by Sandi Faber Routley, ISCM Project Technician
Manitoba is on early detection alert for a wetland invader recently discovered in the province called Invasive Phragmites (Phragmites australis subspecies australis). This invasive subspecies was accidentally introduced to North America in the 1700s from Europe. It is commonly confused with native Phragmites, which has a nearly worldwide distribution. The invasive subspecies has now spread throughout the United States and Canada, preferring disturbed wetland areas. Plants form thick stands which out-compete native plants, alters habitat for wildlife, changes nutrient cycling, and impacts hydrology of the land.
Invasive Phragmites (other common names: Ditch reed, giant reed, yellow cane) is a tall, semi-aquatic perennial grass that can grow to heights of 4.6 m (15 ft) or more and form dense monocultures. It has green leaves 1-4 cm (1-1.5 in) wide and 75cm (30 in) long. Unlike native Phragmites (subspecies americanus), leaf sheaths remain attached and are difficult to remove. It is also much taller than the native species and has longer, darker...
