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The Citizens Concerned for Michipicoten Bay (CCMB) are a group of landowners on Michipicoten Bay; residents in the Wawa/northeastern Lake Superior area; and supporters across Ontario, Canada, the United States of America and elsewhere throughout the world.


We care about what happens to the coastline of northeastern Lake Superior.


We know Lake Superior. Our members have paddled around the whole lake; paddled and boated along the shore and amongst the islands of northeastern Lake Superior; surveyed and researched the natural features and human history of the area.


The primary threat to our area is a proposed traprock quarry at the west end of Michipicoten Bay.  We are concerned with the future of the Michipicoten Bay.  We are also concerned with northeastern Lake Superior (from Pukaskwa National Park south through to Lake Superior Provincial Park), the longest stretch of wilderness shoreline of all the Great Lakes.




Our Vision: Caring for the Coast


Background:


In 1999, the Government of Ontario began a land-use planning project covering most of northern Ontario. Members of CCMB took an active part in this process and recommended the protection of the shoreline and rivers of northeastern Lake Superior. The result was a series of new recommended Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves protecting a significant amount of the shoreline. Most have been made official: The Lake Superior Highlands Conservation Reserve is still pending.


The Government of Ontario launched the Great Lakes Heritage Coast (GLHC) project in January of 2002. The GLHC aims to protect the shoreline of two of the five Great Lakes. It goes from the south end of Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) to northwest corner of Lake Superior.


One of the 6 recommendations for this project is to promote cooperation and develop partnerships. This would include recognition of organizations like the Citizens Concerned for Michipicoten Bay to protect and promote the Great Lakes Heritage Coast.


We share the Vision for the Great Lakes Heritage Coast. The Vision for the Citizens Concerned for Michipicoten Bay includes some of the concepts of the GLHC as it applies to our corner of Lake Superior.


  • Northeastern Lake Superior is an area of outstanding scenic beauty, wild natural landscapes and cultural values that provide high quality recreation and tourism experiences.
  • The coast of northeastern Lake Superior should be preserved in its wild and pristine state, and its ecological diversity and scenic beauty protected and restored for the benefit of current and future generations.
  • We cooperate with different levels of government, communities, Aboriginal peoples, resource industries and interest groups to make sure that northeastern Lake Superior remains an outstanding, high quality natural resource and become an important part of one of the primary tourist destinations in the world.



Our Strategic Objectives


The work that the Citizens Concerned for Michipicoten Bay does is on three levels of scale:


  1. Northeastern Lake Superior: Our caring for this coast includes being part of any land-use planning or resource management projects that include the coast. Some of our members were actively involved in Ontario’s Lands for Life/Ontario’s Living Legacy and they recommended protection of the Lake Superior shoreline. There are now 2 new Conservation Reserves and a new Waterway Provincial Park. A decision on the Lake Superior Highlands Conservation Reserve is still pending.


We are concerned with recommendations of a report prepared in 2001 for the Ontario Geological Survey showing the aggregate potential for 15 areas along the Canadian shore of Lake Superior.


  1. Michipicoten Bay: We are concerned about the future of Michipicoten Bay. The bay is home to permanent and seasonal residents in the Township of Michipicoten (Town of Wawa). It is a popular area for sport fishing and for day-use recreation (swimming, boating, surfing, etc.).

We have provided advice and assistance to the resource management activities of the Lake Superior Fisheries Management Unit and to research conducted by McMaster University and by the University of Guelph.


  1. We take an active role in the government review processes for proposed development on the shore of Lake Superior.

Our primary focus is reviewing the proposed trap rock quarry by the Superior Aggregates Company.  We have taken an active role in the public participation opportunities provided in the review of the proposed municipal land use zoning and in the review of the applications for an Aggregate Permit under the Aggregate Resources Act and for a Certificate of Approval under the Environmental Protection Act.