N.W.T.'s Ramparts gain interim protection

Aparcel of wetlands and boreal forest in the Northwest Territories will be temporarily off-limits to developers, as the federal government has made it a conservation zone in an interim land withdrawal process.

Details of the interim withdrawal plan, made under the N.W.T. Protected Areas Strategy, were made public on Wednesday. Under an interim land withdrawal, no new mining claims or oil and gas rights will be issued for the area.

The Ramparts River and Wetlands, located near Fort Good Hope, will be protected from development until 2011.

The area, with about 15,000 square kilometres of boreal forest, is a culturally significant place that has long been used for trapping, hunting, fishing and camping. The area is also a prime habitat for migratory birds.

Earlier this year, the Horn Plateau northeast of Fort Simpson was withdrawn from development until October 2008. An area roughly the size of Vancouver Island, the plateau also known as Edehzie is a traditional hunting area and spiritual gathering place for the Dene people.

With those areas of land temporarily protected, it's up to the Canadian Wildlife Service to legislate permanent protection.

But the service, which is part of Environment Canada, had its funding frozen last month, meaning that officials have no travel budget with which they can attend meetings.

"It does mean more complications for getting meetings together, but it's a very high priority project," Karen Hamre, managing director of the N.W.T. Protected Areas Strategy steering committee, told CBC News on Thursday.

"This has been worked on for a number of years. So even though we still got a lot of work to do, that part that [the Canadian Wildlife Service] has funded already has been completed, luckily, so it isn't affected by this freeze."

The next steps toward permanently protected areas include a mineral assessment, the preparation of a socio-economic report and a report with recommendations on boundaries, management and other factors.

East armlandalso withdrawn

In another land withdrawal plan separate from the N.W.T. Protected Areas Strategy, Ottawa has also withdrawn about 33,000 square kilometres of land around the east arm of Great Slave Lake to help establish a national park.

The tract of land will be protected from development until 2012, except for the development of transmission lines and facilities related to the Taltson dam. Existing industrial interests in the area, including fishing and hunting lodges and mineral claims, will not be affected.

The parties involved in that land withdrawal process included Parks Canada, the N.W.T. Metis Nation and the Akaitcho Treaty 8 First Nations.