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Government commits to protect Protected Areas from OHV use

January 15, 2006

One critical outstanding issue not addressed in the new Off Highway Vehicles laws is the government's commitment - stated in its OHV Action Plan - to amend the Wilderness Areas Protection Act to eliminate the minister's discretion to issue permits for recreational ATV/OHV use inside protected Wilderness Areas. Although the government has never issued any permits - and says it won't do so, this legal loophole remains open to abuse and must be closed.

The Conservative government yanked this provision from the new OHV bill late in the law-amendments process in December - apparently to appease some of its rural backbenchers who did not support that element of their own action plan. That move has been widely criticized as a major mistake in an otherwise good piece of legislation. Since then, the government has recommitted to make this change in its Green Plan Progress Report released just before Christmas, 2005.

Almost a decade ago, our provincial government created wilderness areas not as motorized play-parks for people, but as a last refuge for our diminishing native plant and animal species to survive. Although human access to and enjoyment of wilderness areas is permitted and encouraged - for low impact activities like hiking, camping, hunting and fishing - it needs to be on nature's terms with no machines, old-fashioned style.

In a letter sent to the Ecology Action Centre in January, Environment Minister Kerry Morash made the government's intention to fix this hole in the legislation ASAP clear. Below is a copy of that letter:

January 13, 2006

I understand you are seeking clarification on the implementation of government's Off-Highway Vehicles in Nova Scotia Provincial Direction and Action Plan with respect to wilderness areas. As you know, some preliminary amendments to the Wilderness Areas Protection Act were made through Bill 275. In addition, my intention is to bring forward additional amendments to the Wilderness Areas Protection Act this coming spring, consistent with the direction indicated in the Action Plan.

Once the Wilderness Areas Protection Act is amended, public off-highway vehicle use in existing wilderness areas will be limited to snowmobile use on two existing routes, and licensed use in limited circumstances when a vehicle: i) is required to maintain or remove campsite lease structures; ii) is necessary for legal interests such as power line maintenance, or accessing private land inholdings; or iii) is necessary for area management or scientific research. Consistent with amendments introduced in Bill 275, in new (future) wilderness areas, vehicle use may also be considered on designated routes which are managed under an agreement with a group or organization, and for a limited period in association with the moose hunt in Polletts Cove-Aspy Fault Wilderness Area.

In all cases, reasonable alternatives to vehicle use, and potential environmental and recreational impacts will be evaluated in the decision to issue a vehicle-access license or agreement. In situations where vehicle licensing is considered, access may be restricted by number of trips, time of year, access route, type of vehicle or other conditions in accordance with that wilderness areas' specific management plan.

Until further amendments are made to strengthen the Wilderness Areas Protection Act with respect to off-highway vehicle use, vehicle use in wilderness areas will be managed in a manner consistent with the Off-Highway Vehicles in Nova Scotia Provincial Direction and Action Plan. This management approach includes limiting vehicle access licensing as outlined in the Action Plan and generally prohibits vehicle access for recreational purposes.

As you know, the vast majority of environmental damage from OHV use in our wilderness areas is the result of illegal activity. We are already taking strong steps to address this illegal and damaging use. We recently hired a new full-time enforcement coordinator for protected areas to maximize our enforcement efforts and create effective partnerships to better protect our wilderness areas. We are also stepping up field enforcement and in partnership with the Department of Natural Resources expect to put more than 500 new person-days of direct enforcement effort into our wilderness areas in the coming year.

We will begin the process of signing entrance routes to wilderness areas this year to ensure that everyone using the managed area is aware motor vehicles are prohibited. We will begin by signing the Tobeatic and Terrence Bay areas.

Thank you for your thoughtful comments and concerns. I know we both share a strong interest in eliminating the adverse impacts of vehicle use in wilderness areas. I am confident the actions outlined above will provide significant progress in that direction.

Sincerely yours,
Kerry Morash
Minister, Department of Environment and Labour

cc: Honourable Richard Hurlburt, Minister of Natural Resources

The Nova Scotia Public Lands Coalition looks forward to seeing the legislative amendments and enforcement commitments done as promised this spring.