An area of land near Cumberland House has been designated a new conservation area by the Ministry of Environment.
The government says Lobstick Lake, about 24 kilometres south of the northern community, has been made an ecological reserve.
The nearly 250-thousand-acre area was previously a protected zone, but the new designation is aiming to preserve the environmental integrity of the area.
“Establishing the Lobstick Lake representative area will promote the conservation of valuable wildlife habitat in the area,” Environment Minister Warren Kaeding said in a media release sent out Thursday morning. “This designation will ensure the protection and further enjoyment of this land for many years to come.”
Lobstick Lake has historically been used by First Nations and Metis people for Hunting, fishing and trapping with activities like tourism, peat extraction and forestry coming to the area as well.
In recent years the Government of Saskatchewan established the Protected and Conserved Areas Network with the goal of protecting 12 percent of Saskatchewan’s land base. The Lobstick Lake designation brings the protected areas in the province to just under 9.8 percent.