Petition to Protect the Kramer Lake Trails
IN THE MATTER OF the future use of lands hereafter referred to as The Kramer Lake Trails Area, being a tract of land southwest of Redditt bounded roughly by Kramer, Kenora, Star, Armstrong, Axe, Berry and Matilda Lakes, as outlined in the Kramer Lake Trails Map attached hereto;
WHEREAS in the early 1970’s the Ministry of Natural Resources was party to the establishment of hiking trails within (and extending beyond) this area;
AND WHEREAS hikers have been using various trails within this area in the forty years since that time, with use expanding in the 1990’s;
AND WHEREAS cross-country skiers began using modified versions of those trails in increasing numbers since 1999, which ski trails are illustrated in the Kramer Lake Trails Map attached hereto;
AND WHEREAS Miisun Incorporated and The Ministry Of Natural Resources have proposed that certain segments of this area be available for logging beginning in 2017, and have initiated a public consultation with respect to that proposal;
AND WHEREAS hikers, skiers and others have the following concerns about the areas marked as available for cutting within the Kramer Lake Trails area:
1) Significant portions involve trees presently growing either on bare bedrock or in “soil” too shallow to sustain re-planting;
2) Further significant portions are alongside permanent creeks;
3) Further significant portions are either wholly inaccessible to harvesting machinery due to the terrain or accessible only with large expenditures;
4) The remaining portions contain trees of such marginal value that it would not be economical to harvest them;
AND WHEREAS the said lands have significantly greater present value for their scenic, 4-season, backcountry recreational trail use as well as for their educational value in demonstrating glacial geology;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT said lands be removed from any and all cutting proposals now and in the future, AND THAT their value as a backcountry trail system be recognized for the benefit of future generations.
Comment