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Town hall meeting called on Indigenous Protected and Conservation Area

Athabasca County will share the information it has on proposed feasibility study Dec. 6 in Grassland
metis-study-lakeland-pra-area
The study area includes parts of North Buck Lake, Amisk Lake and Big Johnson Lake, indicated in green. The website link to the land survey says: We Rise Together- Achieving Pathway to Canada Target 1 through the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas in the spirit and practice of reconciliation."

ATHABASCA - Athabasca County residents will have a chance to hear from officials next week regarding an Indigenous Protected and Conservation Area (IPCA) feasibility study that will include areas near North Buck Lake, Amisk Lake and Big Johnson Lake. 

The county is hosting a town hall meeting Tuesday, Dec. 6 at the Grassland Community Hall at 7 p.m. to share the information they have gathered themselves about the feasibility study that is being led by the Métis Settlement General Council.  

The county passed a motion to “oppose the development of the new IPCA until such time as clarity is provided regarding assessment control, land use planning, and Athabasca County’s autonomy on lands inside the municipality’s jurisdictional boundaries and continued future use of the lands in question” at its Nov. 15 meeting.

IPCAs are “areas of land and water where Indigenous peoples and governments have long-term commitment to protection, conservation and management of land and habitat” according to a draft report from Toma Consulting and Solstice Environmental Management included in the Nov. 15 meeting agenda package.  

It is an Indigenous led initiative to help determine objectives, boundaries and management/governance using Indigenous knowledge, culture and language as the cornerstones. There are 40 existing or emerging IPCAs across Canada and Alberta has four of them encompassing several wilderness areas for “cooperative management and caribou management”, the draft said. 

The areas in question encompass 121 km2 and 45 sections of land, whereas an IPCA proposed for areas around Wolf Lake in the MD of Bonnyville proposes protecting is 559 km2  

The county has also invited a number of other officials including Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken and Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA David Hanson, along with MD of Bonnyville reeve Barry Kalinski, both of whom were very vocally opposed to the proposal at an October 20 meeting in the hamlet of La Corey that saw more than 500 people attend. 

At the MD of Bonnyville’s Oct. 13 meeting, that council passed an identical motion to the one passed by Athabasca County a month later.  

A link to a presentation to MD of Bonnyville council by Toma Consulting can also be found at the Athabasca County website. 

More information on the Métis Settlement General Council can be found at https://msgc.ca. 

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