Call Made To Exempt Sensitive Area From Land Sale

Call Made To Exempt Sensitive Area From Land Sale

Tuesday, December 02, 2008 at 15:24

An environmental group is urging the province to pull a parcel of land in northwest Saskatchewan out of the oil sands land auction.

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society says the Dillon-Vermette site south and west of Peter Pond Lake has important ecological features found only in that area — including a diversity of forest types, old forest, and significant archaelogical, traditional and social values.

Society director Allyson Brady says the site was on the Parks Branch list for protection, but the province has since put it up for auction because of the area’s oil sands potential.

Brady notes Mistik Management has deferred timber harvesting operations there because it has the chance to be designated a protected area.

The society is calling on the government to exempt lands that merit protected status from further oil sands exploration and development.

Energy Minister Bill Boyd has not been available for comment.