Poplar/Nanowin Rivers Park Reserve

Protected Lands Chronology

2007

• March - Natural Resources Defense Council BioGems program posts 'Take Action' in support of permanent protection for Poplar River traditional lands. (Website)
• April - Poplar River First Nation signs Accord between east side First Nation Chiefs and the Government of Manitoba. The WNO Accord confirms a government-to-government relationship between the signatory First Nations and the Manitoba Government, and support for traditional lands plans. (Website)
• April - Sophia Bittern Rabliauskas and Poplar River First Nation are awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for efforts to secure permanent protection for Poplar River First Nation traditional lands (Website). The annual award is presented to one individual from each of the six continents and is the largest prize of it's kind in the world.
• May - The Manitoba NDP promises permanent protection for the Poplar/Nanowin Rivers Park Reserve as part of its election campaign (NDP is re-elected in the May 22nd election)
• May - The Manitoba NDP promises a new legislative tool for protecting First Nation lands and implementing land use plans..."
• June - Poplar River hosts photographers seeking to capture the essence of the Boreal Forest. The project culminates in August with outdoor exhibitions across Canada. The outdoor installation will open in Winnipeg at The Forks August 14, 2007. (Website)
• June - Letters of support for permanent protection of Poplar River traditional lands are posted on Poplar River's web site (Website) Supporters include the Manitoba Liberal Leader, Lloyd Axworty, Senator Mira Spivak, Pauingassi First Nation, Manitoba Wildlands, NRDC, and the Ivey Foundation.

2006

• March - Poplar River First Nation writes to Conservation Minister Struthers indicating that lands management plan is in place, and it is time to move forward with permanent protection.
• April - Ministers Eric Robinson and Stan Struthers visit Poplar River and indicate their support for lands management plan and permanent protection for these lands.
• May - Poplar River First Nation Lands Management Plan posted on website
• June - Poplar River First Nation hosts World Heritage Site Assembly meeting at Weaver Lake
• Summer - Field work to add point data to existing biophysical and traditional use studies and mapping
• October - Canadian Boreal Initiative and its Boreal Leadership Council write Manitoba Premier Doer in support of Poplar River request for permanent protection
• October - Poplar River First Nation writes Premier Doer to express their disappointment with lack of action for permanent protection.
• November - Natural Resources Defense Council BioGems program posts 'Take Action' in support of permanent protection for Poplar River First Nation traditional lands. (Website)
• November - Support letters from CPAWS, NRDC, and Manitoba Wildlands posted on Poplar River First Nation web site

2005

• March - Completion of traditional use and technical studies: Archaeological Excavation of FeLd-2: The Weaver Lake Site
• May - Manitoba Energy Minister Dave Chomiak publicly states in a May 29, 2005 Winnipeg Free Press article that the Manitoba Government will not allow hydro transmission lines to be built through the boreal forest regions east of Lake Winnipeg. The Minister told media that the east side intact boreal wilderness was more important. This commitment includes the Poplar River First Nation traditional territory/ protected lands. This commitment from Manitoba government is repeated in Hansard, and other public media during 2005 and 2006. (Article)
• July - Final Draft of Poplar River First Nation's lands management plan: Asatiwisipe Aki Lands Management Plan is completed. The Plan describes future protection and management of the traditional lands currently known as Poplar/Nanowin Rivers Park Reserve
• Summer - Archeological study of Poplar River from Lewis Lake to Wrong Lake undertaken in preparation for World Heritage Site establishment.
• September - Poplar River First Nation community meeting approves final draft lands management plan.
• September - Poplar River First Nation presents it lands management plan to the World Heritage Assembly
• Fall - Poplar River releases the Asatiwisipe Aki Lands Management Plan. Distribution is to government, First Nations, funders, and other First Nations involved in lands planning across Canada.

2004

• Spring - US-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) offers its support for Poplar River First Nation's vision of protection and stewardship for the community's traditional lands. A formal relationship is established between the conservation group and the community.
• Spring - Manitoba Conservation Minister Stan Struthers visits Poplar River First Nation to learn about the community's vision for protection and management of their lands.
• Spring - Poplar River First Nation joints Canadian Boreal Initiative Leadership Council in support of the Boreal Conservation Framework.
• April - Canada's Minister of the Environment endorses the First Nations' nomination for a World Heritage Site by including it on Canada's updated Tentative List for World Heritage Sites.
• May - Poplar River First Nation website launched.
• June 11 - Conservation Minister Stan Struthers announces the renewal of interim protection for the Poplar/Nanowin River Park Reserve. Regulation 115/2004 confers protected status from October 1, 2004 - September 30, 2009. This extension supports completion of the Poplar River First Nation lands planning process.
• June - Release of report from October 2003 IUCN boreal World Heritage Site workshop in St. Petersburg, Russia. The report includes the St Petersburg Declaration and supports the Manitoba-Ontario First Nations-led nomination for a World Heritage Site.
• June - Robert Kennedy Jr. of NRDC visits Poplar River First Nation and Weaver Lake.
• Poplar River First Nation working group continue project activity all year for lands management plan. Technical studies also continue throughout the year.
• November - CBC highlights Poplar River in its feature 'The Price of Power', which documents some of the impacts of hydroelectric development on Manitoba First Nation communities (Website)
• November - Members of Poplar River First Nation travel to the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Bangkok, Thailand, to participate in the crafting of a recommendation endorsed by the WCC Assembly. WCC Recommendation CGR3.REC021 calls on all boreal forest nations to protect and sustain the health of the boreal and to facilitate and fund community activity in support of the nomination and designation of boreal forest regions as recognized international world heritage sites. The recommendation specifically names the indigenous led Atikaki/Woodland Caribou/Accord First Nations - Manitoba and Ontario nomination. (Recommendation)
• December - Premier Doer announces the support of his government for the WHS nomination.

2003

• Funding is secured for a two-year project to provide Poplar River First Nation with a lands management plan
• Spring - Whelan Enns Associates & Hilderman Thomas Frank Cram are selected to work with Poplar River to develop the Asatiwisipe Aki Lands Management Plan.
• Poplar River First Nation lands planning committee and project team undertake community meetings, discussions, and review of intended contents for lands management plan, throughout the year.
• Completion of traditional use and technical studies: Poplar River First Nation Archaeological Project: Poplar River and Weaver Lake, 1999.
• October - The report: Case Studies - First Nation Involvement in Protected Areas Management Frameworks, Mechanisms, Structures is completed for Poplar River by Hilderman, Thomas, Frank, Cram.

2002

• March - Poplar River signs the First Nations Protected Areas and First Nation Resource Stewardship Accord, along with Pauingassi, Little Grand Rapids and Pikangikum First Nations. The Accord commits the communities to work together to seek support and recognition for a network of linked protected areas on the First Nations' lands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS).
• Completion of traditional use and technical studies:
  Land Management Meeting - Elder Gathering;
  Poplar River First Nation Protection and Management of Traditional Lands for Future Generations;
  Poplar River Elders Interview and Histories;
  Poplar River Anishinaabe Plant Guide;
  Local moose habitat information session with Elders

2001

• Completion of traditional use and technical studies:
  Biophysical Habitat Suitability Mapping Moose for Poplar River First Nation Traditional Territory Final Report to Poplar First Nation;
  Field Report of Archaeological and Cultural Investigations at Big Black (Mukatawa River) July 2000.
• November - Chief Vera Mitchell presents to the National Round Table on the Economy and the Environment conference in Winnipeg regarding the future of Poplar River First Nation lands, and intention to protect them for all time from industrial development. (Video: Windows Media, Audio: Real Audio)

2000

• Summer - Archeological fieldwork - Big Black (Mukatawa) River
• Completion of Government of Manitoba funded traditional use study (Ecoregion 90 project) - Ecoregion 90 Traditional Land Use and Occupancy Study (Poplar River, Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi), published by government of Manitoba.

1999

• Technical studies and oral history interview continue through the year.
• March - Regulation 66/99 establishes the 780,000 hectare Poplar/Nanowin River Park Reserve for an initial interim protection period of six months from April 1, 1999 - October 1, 1999.
• December - Initial interim protection of the Poplar/Nanowin River Park Reserve for a six month period is extended for an additional five years - Regulation 164/99 confers interim protection from October 1, 1999 - October 1, 2004.

1998

• Eco Region Project 1997 negotiations South East Resource Development Council and Manitoba Natural Resources.
• Poplar River First Nation nominates its traditional territory for protected areas status under Manitoba's new First Nations Protected Areas MOU, the first nomination in the province.
• WWF Canada supports Poplar River traditional use studies with first grant from an environmental organization.
• Throughout the year oral history interviews with Elders conducted by Noel Bruce, as part of Eco Region 90 project.

1997

• Fieldwork for Poplar River's traditional use study (TUS) as part of the Province of Manitoba's Ecoregion 90 project begins (and continues to 2000)