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By Bob Weber

Environmentalists fear conservation in the Western Arctic has been paralyzed by a federal review that has frozen spending at the Canadian Wildlife Service – just as the northern area comes under increased pressure from energy and mining claims.

“The existence of a review or a restructuring couldn’t happen at a worse time, when we’re trying to accelerate and embed conservation preparedness into northern development plans,” said Pete Ewins of the World Wildlife Fund.

But a government source at Environment Canada has said that work at the service is continuing during the department’s funding reallocation, although spending is being scrutinized more closely.

The Canadian Wildlife Service is the federal agency responsible for national wildlife areas. It conducts research to understand and identify crucial habitat and is the first step in the bureaucratic process that creates protected areas.

In mid-September it was reported that the wildlife service has had its entire $1.9-million budget for such work frozen. Nobody from the service was available for interviews, but the government source confirmed overall environmental spending is shifting to climate change programs.

Many wonder where that leaves long-standing promises to protect culturally and environmentally significant areas in the Northwest Territories.

The Canadian Wildlife Service is involved with three such areas:

• The 25,000-square-kilometre Horn Plateau near Fort Simpson is a key habitat for migratory songbirds, moose and caribou. It is also a cultural heartland for Dehcho and Dogrib communities.
• Sambaa K'e, about 10,000 square kilometres near Trout Lake, contains many burial sites and is an important harvesting area.
• The Ramparts near Fort Good Hope encompasses 15,000 square kilometres of wetland and other habitat for birds, including peregrine falcons. It contains many archeological sites and is considered sacred ground.
  

The service is also studying another seven areas in the NWT.

“We are worried because there are things that have stalled,” said Larry Innes of the Canadian Boreal Initiative. “The departments are not yet giving us straight answers.”

Most of the regions proposed for protection lie in areas of intense interest for mineral and energy development. In 1999, the federal and territorial governments, as well as local communities and Aboriginal groups, pledged to insulate several crucial regions from such development.

“Our intention is to get as much conservation work as possible done in advance of development,” said Ewins.

But no protected areas have yet been created, despite a “personal commitment” last January from federal Environment Minister John Baird to move quickly.

Dennis Bevington, NDP MP for the Western Arctic, said all travel for Canadian Wildlife Service staff is on hold and some studies that were planned are being reviewed.

“This is going to slow the whole process down,” he said.

The longer conservation takes, the less land will be left unstaked, Bevington suggested.

“There is some sense that the federal government will lose control over these lands. Once you open up that door and say, ‘It’s fine for you to explore,’ how do you close that door when somebody comes back and says, ‘I want to open a mine?’”

Another delay in protecting areas just creates more uncertainty for everybody, he added.

The government source pointed out the Conservatives have committed about $730 million for conservation.

“Our government considers conservation to be a top priority,” he said.

The government source also said some departments within Environment Canada have overspent and the report about the frozen budget may have come from someone at the wildlife service trying to use media coverage to shake loose more money.

So give it to them, said Bevington.

“Scientific research of our flora and fauna suffered tremendously under the previous Liberal government and I see this starting up again,” he said.

“You can’t ignore other parts of the environment because you’re putting a little more effort into climate change.” 

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