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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Proposed park worth $38M, new study says

By: Staff Writer

4/12/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 3

THE creation of a provincial park proposed around Fisher Bay would add $38 million to the Manitoba economy, according to a new study.

Conducted by the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, the study shows current industries in the area of Fisher River Cree Nation -- logging, non-aboriginal hunting and mining -- generate about $2.2 million annually for Manitoba's economy.

An industry sustained by park management as well as ecological and cultural tourism would bring in about $40 million per year, the study concluded.

The province granted an area around the bay interim protection as a potential park site in 1999. A study in 2006 recommended those boundaries be expanded "according to the best ecological and cultural considerations, rather than political lines," said Ron Thiessen, executive director of Manitoba's chapter with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 4, 2009 A7

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3 Comments

Posted by: Dean K

December 5, 2009 at 12:11 AM

ANYONE who can read and perhaps maybe do some math can see that the 40 million number is a bunch of bull.

First off they somehow MAGICALLY attribute government spending a benefit instead of a cost.

Then they are assuming almost 12 million will come from visitor spending per year. ( and while they state that this will have an impact on the rest of the provinces tourism, they dont really seem to care to much or have a plan for helping the places that now have less revenue)

And THEN they pull the magical 24 million out of the air.. neglecting to mention that that 24 million per year valuation already exists in their magical wonderland and that making it a park means nothing to that figure.

40 million per year indeed.

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Posted by: Ron Thiessen

December 4, 2009 at 11:51 AM

You can find the summary here - http://www.cpawsmb.org/sites/default/files/Economic_Impact_Study_-_1_page_summary.pdf

Full report - http://www.cpawsmb.org/sites/default/files/Economic_Impact_Study.pdf

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Posted by: skutch

December 4, 2009 at 10:26 AM

I fully support this area becoming a provincial park. However I can see no report on either the CIER or CPAWS websites to back up these numbers. On the face of it I cannot believe that $38 million will be generated by the creation of this park. As they have not made the report public its hard to see how they account for this strange number. For instance at the price of 15 dollars a night for a campsite that would require about 2.5 million campsite reservations a year! Or perhaps they are considering massive cottage development/leases? Creative accounting at work here?