Cottagers and year-round residents at Rice Lake now have the strength of Iroquois Falls town council behind them, as they try to stop a clear cut adjacent to their properties.
Council is sending a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, asking it to not allow 14 hectares of mostly jackpines from being removed.
Year-round resident Donna Simmons hopes that sways the ministry.
“I’m not sure if that will come about,” she comments, “but at least it’s showing the ministry that it’s not just us, now the town is involved in what we’re fighting for.”
Rice Lake is within Iroquois Falls municipal boundaries. Property owners want to stop the destruction of a turtle habitat and nature trails. Simmons says they’re also worried about runoff, because the area set for clear cut is higher than the properties.
“So now if we don’t have those trees holding everything up up there, then that’s going to come running down and get into our septics and our wells and our lake,” she says. “That’s a huge concern to us now.”