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Ezine Ready

Public Land Policy Created by Tourist Operators

In recent years the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has been restricting public access to Crown Land in Ontario. Although this example focuses on Canada, similar situations are occurring on federal lands throughout the United States and Australia.

Government bureaucrats feel that they are in positions of unrestricted power and do not have to abide by common legislation. They acquire a herd mentality of enacting policies for special interest groups that are at odds with the common taxpayer and majority of the population.

In many cases it has been proven that their policies are actually illegal, however the average person who gets charged for some of these violations does not have the financial means to take them to court. As a result, the bureaucrats continue to push their authority to further extremes.

Over the past few years the MNR has formed some of their policies around documents written by NOTO - Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters - who are primarily involved in remote fishing and hunting lodges throughout Northern Ontario. The "NOTO Strategy Document" focuses primarily on restricting motorized vehicle access. But, whether it's people hiking, swimming, berry picking, or fishing it's still a special interest group restricting the rights and enjoyment of natural resources for the average citizen.

These outfitters are allowed to run their businesses freely on public land without paying any usage fees. In addition, the remote outfitters now want exclusive use of public lands throughout beautiful wilderness areas. They are actually restricting all passage of Ontario taxpayers to use public resources.

The government should not be creating natural resources legislation to satisfy particular corporate interests at the expense of taxpayers. The government uses public money to sponsor road building and then turns around and closes all access to public land except for the outfitters and their exclusive clients.

In many cases these outfitters have lodges on remote lakes that never had road access prior to recent logging activities. Unfortunately, the government allowed logging close to some of the lodges and their property. If these roads are closed after the completion of logging, which is probably a good idea in some cases, then they should be closed for ALL people including the tourist operators.

But that shouldn't result in taxpayers being restricted from any and all access to this public property. If they are able to hike or fly in then they should be allowed this access. Secondly, if the outfitters are allowed to use these roads then so should all other Canadian citizens.

Frustration is mounting throughout the northern areas of Canada. Small groups are becoming more organized and approaching government officials to rescind some of these laws.

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One popular citizens group is particularly well organized, and is carrying the fight to the bureaucrats. Visit their crown land website to learn more about preserving equal access to public land throughout North America.

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