June 25, 2011
Today representatives from the Mosakahiken Cree Nation, the Manitoba government, CPAWS, and Nature Manitoba visited Little Limestone Lake to announce the Caribbean-blue lake and its surrounding landscape as Manitoba’s 85th provincial park.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on site by the Manitoba government and Mosakahiken Cree Nation that includes a commitment to look at enlarging the new Little Limestone Lake Provincial Park, which include areas deemed critical to the lake’s ecological well-being.
“Mosakahiken considers protection and cooperative management of the lake and the land that supports it to be a high priority. Our agreement with the province marks the launch of a process to explore expanding the park’s boundaries and ensures sustainable economic tourism opportunities for our community,” said Chief Phillip Buck of Mosakahiken Cree Nation. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with CPAWS and working with the province and local stakeholders to make certain Little Limestone Lake remains healthy forever.”
“We commend Mosakahiken and the Manitoba government for recognizing this beautiful and unique waterbody,” said Ron Thiessen, executive director of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society. “We look forward to continuing our work with all involved to ensure that the park boundaries required to protect the lake will be determined by local knowledge and science.”
After discussions with Mosakahiken, CPAWS, and Nature Manitoba, the Manitoba government increased the area originally proposed for the park by 17%, or from approximately 4100ha to 4800ha. CPAWS looks forward to ongoing talks about additional protection of Little Limestone Lake.
“We work to protect our lands and waters and we can’t do it alone. CPAWS makes sure our views and concerns are heard,” added Chief Buck.
The entrance to Little Limestone Lake Provincial Park is located approximately 450 kilometres north of Winnipeg, along the highway to Thompson, Manitoba. According to experts, Little Limestone Lake is the biggest and best marl lake in the world. Marl is created when calcite, a constituent of limestone, is chemically precipitated from warm water, which changes the water to a stunning Caribbean-blue colour.
CPAWS wishes to thank Nature Manitoba for their continuing support toward achieving full protection of Little Limestone Lake. CPAWS and Nature Manitoba have been focused on safeguarding Manitoba’s Caribbean-blue lake for almost 20 years.
For more information:
Contact Ron Thiessen – 794 4971 or 995 1555
Chief Phillip Buck – 204 623 0509
Photos of Little Limestone Lake
MOU between Manitoba Conservation and Mosakahiken Cree Nation is below this release.
-30-