Proposed: Commercial Light Industry and Storage Sites at Star Lake

Dear Dale,

I am writing to you today voice my opposition to the proposal for construction of a Commercial Light Industry and Storage Area at the site of the Star Lake Recreational Area.

My grandfather built our cabin at Star Lake in 1958, and my extended family and I have been summer residents of the Whiteshell for over 60 years and counting. The area earmarked for this development has been, and continues to be, an important recreational area for Star Lake residents and day users, an important habitat and corridor for a variety of flora and fauna, as well as an area for education (as used by courses run at the University of Manitoba Geological Sciences Field Station, which is located at Star Lake in close proximity to the proposed development).

As such, it is highly alarming to me, and many others, that there is a proposal for development of this site into an industrial area to support cottage-based businesses. While I agree that business owners need a large and safe area for storage, manufacturing, and in support of their ventures,  the use of lands so close to a small lake that is already at carrying capacity in terms of dwellings and recreational day use, presents a number of safety and environmental concerns that appear to fly in the face of the Whiteshell management plan. 

The Whiteshell Provincial Park management plan (the most current and readily available version of which is dated 1983) suggests that the purpose of the plan is to “achieve a balance between opportunities for intensive and extensive types of outdoor recreation by defining where and to what level development can and should occur, and where management will aim to preserve the relatively unaltered parklands”. At that time, almost 40 years ago, one of your predecessors the Honourable Al Mackling, Minister of Natural Resources concluded that “the plan recognizes that most of the intensively used areas in Whiteshell have been developed to maximum levels” and “the need to upgrade and redevelop existing facilities in these areas is a clearly established priority”.  

The South Whiteshell is easily the most intensively used and developed area of the park. Star Lake, with its location between Falcon and West Hawk Lakes on highway 301 serves as a comparative haven from this development. As such, the area is a critical support to the mandate of preservation of the parkland within the South Whiteshell. The province has undertaken substantial remediation of mining sites, dump sites and logging sites in this area at the expense of Manitoba taxpayers, and nature has flourished in the intervening years, creating a recreational area that can be (and is) enjoyed by all. 

In closing, to quote Canadian lyricist Joni Mitchell, I urge you to not “pave paradise and put up a parking lot”, but to adhere to the Whiteshell Management Plan of “upgrading and redeveloping existing facilities” to meet the needs of cottage based businesses. Certainly there are areas within or just outside of the park (perhaps associated with transfer stations, townsites, etc.) that would make more suitable areas for industrial development than the Star Lake Recreation Area.

Kindest Regards,