ROADS TO RICHES OR ROADS TO RUIN

Roads in Northern Ontario were built to bring riches to our industries, but the big environmental groups say they are built to bring ruin to the boreal wildlife by allowing predator wolves and bears access to their habitat.

The Forest Management Plans have to stipulate the longevity of all roads built/or to be built in their long range plans - say for the next twenty years.

Primary roads, like the '81 Road by the Kama Cliffs, are there for the long term.  I can remember it for forty years and it was built way before that. Over the years it has had upgrades. The Forestry companies built and maintained it with their men, their money and their machines. Then later the Provincial Government picked up the tab( using funds - derived from the forest industry ). Now in 2011 we have the Provincial Government cutting back on the road funding and throwing the industry for a loop.

Before the logging one would never have been able to see these cliffs from here. Give it five to ten years and we won't again.  This turned into a beautiful blueberry patch in the meantime. This year 2011, our Blueberry Blast Festival pickers got over a thousand pounds of blueberries in such a similar site that was at just the right age since being cut.

Secondary roads are your main cutting roads going into the designated blocks set to harvest in the next ten years or so.  Some of these have even evolved into primary roads. But most secondary roads have been flagged to close when all replanting and tending has been done. All tertiary or strip roads disappear in that process.

It is the secondary roads that take the adventurous into new areas of our Boreal Forest bring us closer to new lakes and streams for fishing (but we still have to walk as no roads are allowed to the shores). They open up new hunting areas, and , within a couple years massive blueberry patches.

When the forest company moves out of the area they usually take their portable bridges (removal of water-crossings).

This is not a portable bridge, it is a do it yourself type of the fifties and sixties.

The roads with the bridges and culverts left in after the company moves out now pose the questions - "Who maintains them, and who becomes liable in case of an accident?  Who pays for the grading and general maintenance?"

Always mindful of public safety, these massive drums straightened the log hauler's load after a sometimes rough trip on the haul road before it entered the major highway.

It is not just a local problem. All across the north the same scenario is playing out. Road Closures have always been a concern voiced to and by our Local Citizens Committee for Forest  Management. At one time our LCC thought there should be a joint committee set up to come up with one solution to fit all roads. It was a thought.

Our local mayor has voiced concern this past winter.

To keep these roads open will take organization beyond just a local roads board.  Besides liability and maintenance, you will be going up against the massive 'Southern" environmental groups who wish the Boreal Forest to be road-less and demand Forest Industry close the roads exactly on the planned date.