No dam construction on Steel River, announces M.N.R. Minister Ramsay

OFAH File: 842
February 20, 2006

For Immediate Release

No dam construction on Steel River, announces M.N.R. Minister Ramsay

When Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay heard the public outcry, and the voice of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, over the proposed damming of Northwestern Ontario’s Steel River, he listened.

On Friday, February 17, in a surprise announcement at the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters’ Annual Wildlife Conference, in Toronto, Minister Ramsay gave his personal assurance that no private dams will be constructed on the Steel River, near Terrace Bay.

“This is good news for Ontario’s natural resources, it’s good new for the people of Ontario, and it’s especially good news for over 81,000 O.F.A.H. clubs and members who worked so hard to oppose the potential damming of the Steel River,” said Dr. Terry Quinney, O.F.A.H. Provincial Manager of Fish and Wildlife Services. “The O.F.A.H. and the North Shore Steelheaders Association congratulate Minister Ramsay for acting on what he has heard from the very people who are working so hard to protect and enhance Lake Superior’s world class fishery.”

Minister Ramsay accredited “local knowledge,” particularly from O.F.A.H. members, for inspiring a major improvement in provincial policy. Minister Ramsay told O.F.A.H. members that local and district M.N.R. offices will now be required to undertake consultations before fisheries related proposals (such as damming rivers) are announced.

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