Tools for Getting Involved
Sign the Petition by Grindstone Cottage Owners Association, Lake Winnipeg Foundation, Manitoba Field Office of the Wilderness Committee and other concerned citizens.
Wilderness Committee posted an online letter-writing tool
Group Information Hubs
Their first blog post, introducing the project, is Hecla Park Horror.
On that same page you can find a map of quarry leases and mining activity surrounding Hecla / Grindstone Provincial Park, with the Hay Point Peat Mine area highlighted.
We've also posted a digital copy of the 228-page proposal that KGS submitted to the Manitoba government on behalf of Sun-Gro. Originally, the file was 24 MB in size, but we've lowered the quality in order to reduce the file size, and the proposal on our site is complete, but only 8 MB. This should make it easier for people to share and view.
We will be publicizing this issue through social media. Our Facebook page is called Wilderness Committee - Manitoba Office and our twitter account is @WilderNewsMB . It would be ver beneficial if people followed and retweeted our postings about this project.
Updated Page Content is at : ( update is on top of last week's page content )
http://manitobawildlands.org/develop.htm#peatmines_update
News Items are at : ( links to other materials, coverage on news items )
http://www.manitobawildlands.org/#1774
http://www.manitobawildlands.org/#1769
Licenses
Here are the four documents currently available online for the peat mine licenses issued in 2011.
Poplar Creek Bog, Haute Bog and Boggy River Bog Development (Public Registries client file #5461.00) Jiffy Canada Inc. received a license July 18, 2011, with the application being made May 8, 2010. License on Manitoba Wildlands web page in updates at
The summary of concerns that were presented to Environmental Licensing
The license itself, issued July 20, 2011:
Ramsay Point Bog Development (Public Registries client file #5496.00)
The summary of concerns that were presented to Environmental Licensing
The license itself, issued June 29, 2011:
Deer Lake Development (Public Registries client file #5507.00)
The summary of concerns that were presented to Environmental Licensing
The license itself, issued July 20, 2011:
This info is on the Enviro Licensing branch website:
In the summary document for each you will find problems that the Manitoba government departments had with these licenses. These problems may inform us as to what to object to in the current public comments on Hay Point.
Reports, Studies and Information
Interesting reports that put some numbers on the value of peatlands as carbon sinks.
• BorealForest-CarbonMaps.pdf
• The_Carbon_the_World_Forgot.pdf
• Peatlands_and_climate_change.pdf
• Peatland Ecology Research Group at ULaval - Research reference page
• Peatland Restoration Guide- FYI - (2003 2nd Ed)
"New study in the open access journal PLoS Biology finds that restored wetlands may take centuries to recover the biodiversity and carbon sequestration of original wetlands, if they ever do....wetlands in colder regions took longer to restore ecosystem services than those in warmer areas."
• CITATION: Mateos-Moreno D, Power M. E, Comin F. A, Yockteng R (2012). Structural and functional loss in restored wetland ecosystems. PLoS Biol 10: e1001247. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001247.
The view from Google Earth of the Sunterra Peat Mine.
This is currently in operation a few kilometers north of Beaver Creek Provincial Park along PR234. This is what 270 hectares looks like. They have applied for 1100+ hectares.
•Sunterra_Peat_Mine.pdf