Last Thursday, Sustainable Resource Development and Parks officials got an earful from local trappers, and rightly so. At the local trappers association meeting, trappers said they felt the consultation process for the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan has been poorly conducted so far.
Some in attendance criticized the name itself, as few in the area would think of this area as part of the Lower Athabasca region. Other trappers said they weren't contacted about the proposed changes, which could impact their traditional uses of some areas. One area of particular concern to those in attendance is the Lakeland Park and Recreational Area near Wolf Lake, which is slated to expand significantly into a conservation area, which may or may not include a tourism destination and may or may not allow traditional uses to continue.
There are a lot of “what ifs” people want answered. The province's draft suffers from too much vagueness. It is not written in a language that normal people speak - hence some reluctance on the part of people to fill out the feedback workbook. The draft plan and workbook are written in "government speak." One person at the meeting quipped that an environmental studies degree would be needed to understand the document's implications.
The MD of Bonnyville has also received two letters of opposition to the regional framework initiative last month, one which called the workbook questions “biased” and unclear. The other letter announced the formation of the Lakeland Country LandUse Coalition, which plans to discuss, challenge, and work with the government to address its concerns.
The province could have saved some of the confusion resulting from the draft by doing a better job of articulating the implications. Instead, the government chose to speak in a roundabout, bureaucratic way. A plain-English language version of the draft can and should be made available. The province also scheduled the consultation sessions during peak agricultural times, thus preventing many farmers and trappers the opportunity to participate. The government should have made a better effort to contact trappers and others directly to ensure their voices were at the drafting table.
The good news is that the draft is just a draft, and there is still time to voice concerns in an informal way until the new draft and next round of consultations in spring. However, if the trappers' meeting last week was any indication, the regional land-use framework could become a fumble for the government leading up to an election some are speculating will be called by spring.