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June 9th,2003
24
Hours Notice
Prince
Albert National Park of Canada
2nd
APPLICATION OF FORAY 48B
TO PROTECT 40,000 WHITE SPRUCE TREES IN THE COMMUNITY OF WASKESIU
is
scheduled for June 10th, 2003
Spraying will occur
between 05:00 and 09:00 a.m.
The ability to proceed with spraying on a given date, depends
on weather conditions. Light winds and no precipitation provide
optimal spraying conditions. Media will be advised if postponements
result in spraying occurring on alternate dates. These “24
Hour Notices” are being posted in the community, as well
as being distributed to residents, stakeholders, and media.
Completion of Spraying
- Following a successful second application, Public Notices,
that were posted in the community, will be removed and a final
notice will be sent to media indicating the conclusion of
the spraying program for this year.
For more information on this
project, please visit the Prince Albert National Park website
(www.parkscanada.gc.ca/princealbert
under “What’s New”).
May 30th,2003
WASKESIU, Friday May
30, 2003 –
Parks Canada has today announced two revised target spraying
dates for applying Foray 48B in the community of Waskesiu
to protect over 40,000 white spruce trees from a severe infestation
of spruce budworm.
Spraying dates are determined
by closely monitoring larval development which has been accelerated
by warmer than average temperatures. Spraying must occur while
larvae are at a life-stage where they are actively feeding,
however spraying will not occur on weekends. Parks Canada
remains committed to conducting a safe and effective spraying
program and to providing accurate and timely information to
residents, visitors, and stakeholders.
Target spraying dates for aerially
spraying Foray 48B in the community of Waskesiu are:
If we are unable to spray
on a target date, due to unfavourable weather conditions,
notices will remain up, and spraying will occur on the next
available date (weekends excluded). For example, the first
available alternate spraying dates are:
Spraying will occur
between 05:00 and 09:00 a.m.
The ability to proceed with spraying on a given date, depends
on weather conditions. Light winds and no precipitation provide
optimal spraying conditions. Media will be advised if postponements
result in spraying occurring on alternate dates. These “24
Hour Notices” are being posted in the community, as well
as being distributed to residents, stakeholders, and media.
Completion of Spraying
- Following a successful second application, Public Notices,
that were posted in the community, will be removed and a final
notice will be sent to media indicating the conclusion of
the spraying program for this year.
For more information on this
project, please visit the Prince Albert National Park website
(www.parkscanada.gc.ca/princealbert
under “What’s New”).
Information:
Bill Hunt
Communications Advisor,
Office of the Executive Director, Mountain Parks
Parks Canada
(403) 762-1568
Phone (306) 663-4501 to
listen to a daily ‘spraying update’ message.
Following a thorough
environmental assessment and considerable public consultations,
Parks Canada today announced that it will approve a proposal
by the Waskesiu Community Council to spray the microbial pest
control product, Bacillus thuringiensis, kurstaki (Btk) in
the community of Waskesiu in an effort to protect spruce trees
Read release
Issue 1
Parks Canada has assigned a
project team to assist the Prince Albert Field Unit in resolving
several key issues within the park. The project management
team is led by Charlie Zinkan, Executive director Mountain
Parks, Dr. Bruce Leeson, Senior Environmental Assessment Specialist
will provide science advice, and Bill Hunt,M.Sc. will assist
with communications on these important initiates. We met with
representatives of key stakeholders groups and park staff
during the first week of February.
One of our commitments to you
was that we would initiate a flow of information; this newsletter
is one way we will be letting you know what progress is being
made and seeking your input. As discussed in our meetings,
we ask that you share this information with your constituents
so they will be able to provide us with questions, comments,
information and suggestions. We are pleased to report that
Bill's e-mail' was already teaming with input upon our return
to the Bow Valley - evidence that you are committed to keeping
the communication flowing.
Project Updates
Last fall Parks Canada determined
it was appropriate to consider the use of the biopesticide
Btk to reduce the impact on spruce budworm on conifers in
the community of Waskesiu. This determination was reached
after consultation and careful review of pertinent information.
As introduced in our meetings,
the proponents- Parks Canada and the Waskesiu Community Council
, recently hired an independent Calgary based consulting firm,
Axys Environmental, to conduct an Environmental Assessment(EA)
that will determine if spraying Btk in the community of Waskesiu
would result in significant impacts to ecosystem or human
health, and if so, can the impacts be successfully mitigated.
Parks Canada. Parks Canada will seek the recommendations of
the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada with
respect to possible human health impacts, and environmental
impacts of pesticides, as this is Health Canada's area of
expertise and authority.
The consultation has been asked
to deliver a first draft of the EA to the proponents by mid
March, after which consultations will begin. A final report
is expected in April. We must be very clear- if there are
significant environmental or human health impacts which cannot
be successfully mitigated, spraying can not occur.
Although the Environmental
Assessment was originally estimated at $40K, Parks Canada
recently expanded the scope of the EA to include additional
research and consultation. The community council will pay
$27K and Parks Canada will pay the remainder. Given the level
of concern around this issue, Parks Canada recognizes the
need for an assessment of the highest quality. Spraying costs,
should spraying be approved, will be shared 2/3 Community
Council and 1/3 Parks Canada.
The small weir
on the Waskesiu River was built in 1939 to facilitate use
of Waskesiu Lake by maintaining water levels upstream. The
weir is now considered a non-compliant (unpermitted) structure
under the Federal Fisheries Act(FFA). Recent repairs to the
weir triggered the FAA; we are now required to modify the
structure so that it will allow some water to flow downstream
and will allow fish and other aquatic life to move up and
down the river. In the interim two panel of the weir have
been temporarily removed to allow for flow and aquatic movement.
Parks Canada has been
working closely with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Canada(DFO) to resolve this problem. As we presented during
our fact finding field trip last week- through this cooperative
approach, we want to offer some win-win solutions that will
improve the aquatic habitat while capturing some water for
recreational use upstream.
Long term solutions-
The Dam
The immediate problem is that the dam needs to be brought
into compliance with legislation. We must allow water to flow
downstream to Montreal Lake and we must allow for the passage
of aquatic life up and down the river. To resolve this, Fisheries
and Oceans Canada has recommended that we consider installing
a carefully engineered arrangement of rocks and boulders called
a "Newbury Riffle". This structure would
look very natural , meet our legislative obligations, and
in periods of higher water flows, begin to restore lake levels.
Although a "Newbury
Riffle" would only take a week to install, and this
could occur as early as this spring or summer, the recovery
of lake levels is dependent on the climate-precipitation and
evaporation. The high water enjoyed in the late 1970's may
never be achieved. We briefly outlined this approach on our
trip last week and the feedback ranged from extremely positive
to cautiously optimistic but wanting more information. Being
optimistic by nature, we are scoring this response as two-thumbs
up. We will continue top work with DFO and local experts to
develop this concept into a draft proposal that we can present
to you. More information on the "Newbury Riffle: will
be included in future updates.
Short-term solutions-
Boating Access
To resolve the more immediate concerns around recreational
access to Waskesiu lake we must look for cost effective means
facilitating recreational use at the Marina and the Narrows
Campground. This may include modifying docks, finger-slips,
boat ramps launch/storage or a launching service. We are still
working on this and are seeking your input; we need to have
an understanding of your needs as a recreational user. How
could we best work together to improve the marina? What problems
did you have last year?
We are mulling this one over
and considering the input we received from many different
perspectives last week. Most were not entirely satisfied with
the draft of the Park management Plan. Many also told us that
so much effort had gone into getting this far, the process
should continue. We are working with staff to incorporate
comments from the last round table and prepare an updated
draft. Once this is done we will consult with various groups
individually to see if they feel it would be useful to move
into a round table meeting with the latest draft of the Park
Management Plan.
Closing Remarks
We hope you will find the updates
informative. We encourage you to contact us if you have any
questions, comments, concerns or suggestions. Over the next
few months, The Project team will be working closely with
staff and stakeholders in an effort to move with these key
initiatives. We look forward to your continued support and
interest.
If you would like to contact
us, please write to:
Bill Hunt- Communications
PANP Project Team
Office of the Executive Director, Mountain Parks
Suite301, P.O.Box 900
Banff, AB T1L1K2
fax: 403-762-1555
or e-mail: bill.hunt@pc.gc.ca
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