A conservation group near Nesslin Lake wants to temporarily stump logging west of Prince Albert National Park.
The recently-formed Big River Recreation and Conservation Area (BRRCA) group is asking the province to place a yearlong moratorium on forestry in the area surrounding Nesslin Lake, which is about 150 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert.
The group wants to take the year to assess the area for activities like tourism and land-based education as an alternative to logging, organizer Kerri Fischer said. The BRRCA then hopes to remove the area from the Prince Albert Forest Management Agreement area (FMA), effectively ending conventional logging there.
"We're going to keep protesting (conventional) logging in this area so let's just take it out of the (FMA)," Fischer said.
In a meeting with provincial Environment Minister Dustin Duncan on Aug. 26, the BRRCA discussed the request and its call to create a protected area of roughly 11,500 hectares located west of Prince Albert National Park. Alternate uses in the protected area could include selective logging, expanded tourism and traditional activities, she said.
Diane Roddy, general manager of Sakaw Askiy Management Inc., said she and forestry operators are open to working with the group, but the proposed protected area is much larger than expected.
"We're willing to work with them on any harvesting plans, but a ... protected area is a government decision," she said.
Two companies are presently scheduled to log the area. Agency Chiefs Forestry is slated to begin logging west of Nesslin Lake, but Roddy said it's unclear when that will begin.
Meanwhile, concern over high water levels in Nesslin Lake has led Carrier Forest Products Ltd. to postpone the harvesting scheduled for north of the lake, Roddy said.
Métis Local #59 is involved in the BRRCA, but didn't respond to requests for comment. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Saskatchewan executive director Gord Vaadeland is advising the group.
Vaadeland said it's an opportunity to blend economic and human uses with conservation, as seen in models used by First Nations in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia. He said the proposed protected area could be an example of implementing the model in Saskatchewan.
Amy Carriere, manager of planning, policy and protection with the province's forest service, said the approved harvesting plan for the area remains in place. She said the consultation process is also ongoing, but was unable to comment on the status of the moratorium request or protected area.
In the meantime, Fischer hopes harvesting won't go ahead for the year until the BRRCA secures a moratorium.
"Right now, we're hoping nothing is (on) the chopping block this year."
