Preserving
Wilderness Canoeing
By: Richard Munn
Are we wilderness paddlers, or are we ostriches? Sometimes I
wonder.
As wilderness canoeists, we are passionate about our chosen
activity. Each spring, before the ice is fully gone from our
lakes and rivers, we begin our preparations. We sand and varnish
our paddles, and apply a coat of oil to the wood gunwales of our
canoes. We check the rain flys of our tents for leaks, and fire
up our stoves to make sure they are working properly. We unroll
the topographic maps that will lead us to some new, magic place;
or we make plans to revisit areas so familiar that they have
become like old friends. We daydream a lot.
And when all this is done, we smile as we put our canoes into
the water and begin another season of exploring Canada’s
wilderness areas by canoe.
As we paddle these routes, we often notice the encroachment of
"civilization." We see signs of logging and mining. We
see new bridges crossing our rivers. We portage around dams that
were not present in earlier years. We find rows of aluminum
fishing boats turned over at the entrances and exits of portage
trails. We struggle through multiple portages into remote lakes,
only to find all-terrain vehicles parked along the shoreline.
Those of us who appreciate solitude and wild areas cope with
this development by travelling farther afield to do our
paddling. As the onward march of development catches us, we
travel even further. But what happens when we have been forced
to the very limits of our wilderness areas, and we still hear
the heavy foot of development a few short steps behind us? There
will be no areas more distant that we can retreat to. At
that time, it will be too late to correct this situation.
Bill Mason eloquently described this by comparing wilderness
travel to sitting on an ice floe. As the edges of the ice floe
are chipped away or melt, the area becomes irreversibly smaller.
What is lost can never be regained. The analogy is sobering but
accurate.
We are losing our canoe routes.
It seems unfathomable that Canada, the birthplace of the canoe,
known for its wild lands and pristine wilderness could be losing
this part of its history and culture. Yet it is indeed
happening.
I can hear the question already "...but a canoe route is a
geographical feature - how can it be lost?" There are
actually many ways that this can happen.
- A canoe route can be lost
to over-use, where it becomes so busy that it begins to feel
like an urban street rather than a remote waterway. Will our
canoe routes become like the Grand Canyon, where rafting
companies place boats into the water at scheduled ten-minute
intervals?
- A canoe route can be lost
to under-use. Routes that are seldom used become vague
memories over time. Documentation is lost, campsites become
overgrown and portages return to nature. Even the task of
finding anecdotal information becomes difficult, as our old
paddlers retire and take their knowledge with them.
- A canoe route can be lost
to development. Most of us head into the wild areas of our
country to escape buildings, industry, noise, motorized
traffic and at times, other people. Development is an
intrusive force that strips away the wild nature of these
areas.
Is the death of wilderness
canoeing inevitable? Can anything be done to stop this process?
I believe it can.
Those who currently act as
advocates for our wilderness areas have an overlapping, but not
identical focus as we wilderness canoeists. They may care deeply
about preserving flora, fauna and the land itself; but their
focus is not the same as that of the canoeist. We too share a
common concern about our plants, animals and wilderness
landscape, but we have issues that are related only to
wilderness canoeing. To address those issues satisfactorily, we
need a voice that belongs to us. We need an organization with
the technical expertise, financing, human resources and
credibility to act on our behalf.
There are many individuals
and groups who have undertaken parts of this task, and done very
good work. They have had some positive results. Yet they work in
isolation - small groups battling large interests in an uphill
battle to preserve our canoeing heritage. We are fighting (and
even winning) some battles, but we are losing the war. It is
time to draw these individuals and groups together and speak
with a united, cohesive voice.
The task is large, but not
impossible. It will involve:
- Inviting both groups and
individuals who care about wilderness canoeing to join
together to pool their resources and skills so that we can
present a strong, common front to those who are the ultimate
decision makers in determining the fate of our wilderness
canoeing areas.
- Performing the necessary
research to ensure that our arguments are based on fact and
science rather than fear and emotion.
- Documenting all canoe
routes in the country, and putting that data into a format
that can be included in the appropriate government’s land
use planning databases. We will have to somehow convince
those in power that canoe routes, like endangered species or
sensitive landscapes, are a resource worthy of protection in
their own right.
The job is intimidating in
scope, but absolutely necessary. Better to have given the task
our best effort than to have thrown up our hands in despair.
Ten, or twenty, or fifty years from now, I would rather be known
as one who acted rather than one who complained. I believe that
wilderness paddlers are by their very nature strong, resourceful
people and that they will join together in undertaking this
initiative.
What do we need? If you are
an individual that shares this concern, consider joining us in
this initiative. If you are a member of a paddling club or
organization, encourage that body to sign on as a partner in
this venture. Strength in numbers is a clichéd but valid
principle.
We can work together to
solve this problem, or we can ignore it and bury our heads in
the sand. When future generations look back to evaluate our
success as stewards of this most precious resource, what will
they remember us as, wilderness paddlers ... or ostriches?
Richard Munn
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