Management in a planning vacuum: co-operation in the Quetico--BWCA-Voyageurs International Boundary region.

Abstract

This paper stems from a University of Waterloo graduate workshop on shared management issues faced by Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. In the absence of an integrated planning framework across the US-Canada border, protected areas management issues tend to be tackled informally. The different political environments of the three areas have compounded problems of co-ordination in this biophysical region. The parks have common interests in fire management and species-at-risk management. For example, the 1999 blow-down requires co-operation by U.S. and Canadian authorities, as does any attempt at woodland caribou reintroduction. However, visitor management priorities inevitably differ: the U.S. Parks are operating near capacity, whereas the static economies of Quetico and surrounding communities could benefit from more tourism initiatives. Suggestions are offered for improved management through enhanced co-ordination betwee n these areas.

Cet article est le resultat d'un atelier d'etude superieure de I'Universite de Waterloo sur les problematiques de la gestion partagee auxquelles sont confrontes le parc provincial Quetico, en Ontario, et l'aire de nature sauvage Boundary Waters Canoe et le parc national Voyageurs, au Minnesota. En l'absence d'un cadre de planification integre d'un cote l'autre de la frntiere canado-americaine, les problemes do gestion des zones protegees sont regles de maniere plutot informelle. Les environnements politiques differents de ces trois aires causent des problemes accrus de coordination dans la region naturelle. Les parcs ont un interet commun pour la gestion des feux et des especes en penl. Ainsi, par exemple, en 1999, la zone de chablis exigeait une cooperation entre les autorites americaines et canadiennes, tout comme les tentatives do reintroduction des caribous dans les boises. Cependant, les priorites quant la gestion des visiteurs different inevitablement: les parcs americains fonctionnent presque pleine ca pacite, tandis que leconomie statique de Quetico et ses collectivites environnantes pourraient beneficier de nouvelles initiatives touristiques. Des suggestions sont faites pour ameliorer la gestion grace a une meilleure coordination entre ces zones.

Keywords

multi-jurisdictional management, protected area planning, northwestern Ontario, northern Minnesota, boroal forest

Introduction

Parks and protected areas do not exist in isolation of their regional context; they are perpetually being influenced by activities and management initiatives occurring around their borders (Dearden, 1988; Nelson, 1993). Activities conflicting with protected area mandates -- such as forest harvesting adjacent to reserves -- influence ecological, tourism and other values that are important to protected areas sustainability and management (Woodley et al., 1998). Mutually contiguous protected areas also dramatically influence the characteristics of adjacent land units. Issues that face one reserve will invariably influence its neighbours (Dearden, 1988; Mihalic and Syroteuk, 1996; Schafer, 1999). Thus, it is often in the best interest of protected area managers to work together on shared issues (Glick and Clark, 1998; Yaffee, 1996). However, cross-jurisdictional management can be very challenging due to differing values, management systems and political objectives (Cantrill et a!., 2000; Danby and Slocombe, 2002 ; Francis, 1993; Noss and Cooperrider, 1994; Yaffee, 1997). An excellent example of cross-jurisdictional management issues occurs in the centre of North America, straddling the Canada--United States border. Here lies one of the largest intact protected regions on the continent. It is comprised of Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. In the absence of another name, we are calling this region the Northwoods Wilderness Frontier (Figure 1).

The region functions as an ecological unit where diverse ecosystems meet. The area is in a transition zone where the Great Lakes St. Lawrence and Boreal forests meet the eastern edge of the prairies (Kronberg et al., 1998). Although this vast protected region is very diverse and is home to a multitude of species, there is little integrated management. Most attempts at cooperative management and solutions are informal and ad hoc. In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to examine the individual reserves within their regional context in order to identify priority management issues and, in particular, to identify those that are shared as well as those that differ. Following this, strategies are recommended that address these issues.

Managing Beyond Boundaries

The management of protected areas is a challenging endeavor, with often complex and contradictory strategies (Eagles, 2002; Killan, 1993; Priddle, 1982). The complexity of problems in a single jurisdiction is compounded if management decisions have to be endorsed by managers from multiple jurisdictions. Management efforts across international borders offer an additional layer of challenges (Mihalic and Syroteuk, 1996; Slocombe, 2002). Cross boundary protected areas exist in numerous jurisdictions around the world, although formal cooperative management is uncommon (Breymeyer et al., 1996; Danby, 1997; Slocombe pers. com. 2002). Relevant to the discussion in this paper, we briefly note three North American examples.

Glacier-Waterton National Parks on the Montana (U.S) and Alberta (Canada) border is the oldest and perhaps the best known example of transborder protected areas. The two parks are officially recognized as an International Peace Park (Mihalic and Syroteuk, 1996). Integration of management between the two protected areas includes Biosphere Reserve coordination, endangered species conservation and the exchange of staff for training management activities. These coordinated approaches, along with others, help foster greater management cooperation between the reserves (Mihalic and Syroteuk, 1996).

The Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek World Heritage Site, comprised of Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Wilderness Park in British Columbia, and both Wrangle-St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserves in Alaska, share the international border in northwestern North America. Although there are many shared management concerns--such as search and rescue activities, law enforcement, and tourism management--formal coordinated management in this region is limited (Slocombe, 2002). Danby and Slocombe (2002) found that greater cooperative management and an integrated framework were needed to promote more effective management in this World Heritage Site.

An example of inter-provincial cooperation of protected areas can be seen between Woodland Caribou and Atikaki Provincial Parks on the Ontario-Manitoba border. Although management between the two jurisdictions has been informal in the past, initiatives for coordinated management strategies in this region are being developed. Examples include increased knowledge and mitigation of forest fires, and the preservation of threatened species such as woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Co-operation of conservation initiatives are slowly developing, although a joint application for World Heritage Site recognition has been submitted (OMNR, 2002). Most arrangements are still very informal, and immediate local (in this case provincial) issues take priority over inter-jurisdictional management.

The Parks of this case study

This research focused on three protected areas along the Canada--U.S. border, west of Lake Superior in northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota. This area has a long human history of both Aboriginal and Euro-North American use (CHRS, 2002). The protected areas are almost entirely on the Canadian Shield, and are within a natural transition zone between the Great Lakes St. Lawrence forest biome of the south--dominated by tree species such as White Pine (Pinus strobus), Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) and Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)--and more northerly Boreal forest--dominated by Jack Pine (Pinus banksiana), Black Spruce (Picea mariana) and Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) (Heinselman, 1996). In addition to the natural transition between ecosystems in this region, visitor use has historically flowed freely across the border, with canoe trippers paddling back and forth between Ontario and Minnesota, making the region appear seamless.

Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario

Provincial parks in Ontario are classified into six categories: natural environment, waterway, nature reserve, historical, recreation, and wilderness. One hundred thousand hectares is the minimum area for a wilderness park (Ontario Parks, 2002). At 475,000 ha, Quetico Provincial Park--which lies along the Ontario-Minnesota border approximately 160 kilometres west of Thunder Bay--is the third largest wilderness park in Ontario. It is characterized by hundreds of lakes, beautiful Canadian Shield topography, and vast unspoiled wilderness. The present landscape was formed by ice sheets and has since evolved into an area with a unique composition of Great Lakes St. Lawrence, boreal, and even a few prairie plant species (OMNR, 1977; Walshe, 1980). The area has a rich history of use by First Nations people and Euro-Canadians.