Ontario is home to the largest remaining stand of old growth red pine anywhere in the world. This 1,600-hectare old growth forest is found at Wolf Lake, in the northeast corner of Greater Sudbury. Its preservation is moving one step closer to reality thanks to a new partnership between Wahnapitae First Nation, the Save Wolf Lake Coalition, and the Living With Lakes Centre of Laurentian University.
This forest is a provincial and natural treasure. From a historical perspective, it is the only location that demonstrates what the initial forest ecosystem must have been before logging and mining changed the face of Sudbury and nearby areas. Recreationally, it is a canoeist destination with its white quartzite hills and old growth red pine, often referred to as the ‘Killarney of the north’. Ecologically, it is a huge sink for storing carbon and mitigating climate change. Culturally, it is part of the traditional lands of Wahnapitae First Nation.
This area has been on hold as a “park in waiting” since the Lands for Life land use planning process back in the 1990s. Led by the Conservative government of the day, this process resulted in the Ontario’s Living Legacy Land Use Strategy in 1999, as well as the eventual regulation of over 300 new provincial parks, provincial park additions, and conservation reserves. Ontario Nature was an important player in this collaborative approach to Crown land decision-making.
At that time, the significance of Wolf Lake was recognized, but it couldn’t be regulated as a provincial park or conservation reserve because of existing mining tenure on the land. Advocates hoped that once the mining leases had lapsed the area would be turned into a park, but that has not happened yet.
In the fall of 2022, representatives from the Save Wolf Lake Coalition met at Wolf Lake with local MP Vivianne Lapointe and Chief Larry Roque from Wahnapitae First Nation to discuss the future of Wolf Lake. The desire to protect the old growth red pine was unanimous.
Shortly after that milestone, Wahnapitae First Nation applied for and received funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada to support planning for an Indigenous-led Protected and Conserved Area along with project partners the Save Wolf Lake Coalition and the Living With Lakes Centre of Laurentian University.
This funding allowed Wahnapitae First Nation to host a symposium on what they are calling the Mi’iangan Zaagagan Preserve. The symposium, held in June at the Living with Lakes centre hosted a variety of affected parties and supporters, including Ontario Nature.
The symposium was an important first step that allowed all participants to express their thoughts on the Wolf Lake area. There will be future similar gatherings that will determine how that protection can be achieved.
Although Ontario’s Living Legacy Land Use Strategy was released a quarter of a century ago, several of its promises remain unfulfilled. There are signs that the Government of Ontario is finally following through on some of them. Now is the time to let the government know that unique treasures like the Wolf Lake old growth red pine forest should be protected from industrial activity, permanently. Ontario Nature and its Nature Network members will continue to advocate for permanent protection of special places across the province, like Wolf Lake.
Corina Brdar has spent her career working in and for nature in Ontario and across Canada. She provides leadership for Ontario Nature’s conservation policy initiatives as the Conservation Policy and Planning Manager. Her other vocation is sharing the practice of nature journaling with others.
Franco Mariotti is a biologist, naturalist and a science communicator. He worked at Science North for 32 years where he developed programs for the public, delivered hundreds of presentations and developed content for in-house exhibits. He also travelled to Tanzania in the making of an IMAX film on Dr. Jane Goodall and to Borneo in another IMAX film on Orangutans. Upon retiring from Science North, he became employed as a naturalist, guide and presenter on small expedition cruise ships in both the Arctic and in the Antarctic.
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