Forest and resource profile

Includes Narrow Hills Provincial Park

Includes Prince Albert National Park

Program focus area includes the First Nations reserve lands of Lac La Ronge, Montreal Lake, James Smith, Muskoday, Wahpeton, Little Red River, Sturgeon Lake, Ahtahkakoop, Mistawasis, Beardy’s-Okemasis, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and One Arrow

Economic profile

The economy is driven by resource-based industries of forestry, agriculture,

and mining. Tourism plays a key role in the economy.

Why a Model Forest?

The Model Forest approach allowed us to tackle complex land use management issues among a diversity of interest groups including indigenous (First Nations and Metis) governments and communities, all levels of government, tourism and research interests, academia and industry.

Partners

• Government – 35%

• Indigenous peoples (First Nations) – 30%

• Industry – 15%

• Non-profit partnerships – 10%

• Academia – 5%

• Resort Village – 5%

A more specific list includes:

• Amisk-Atik Forest Management Inc.

• Canadian Institute of Forestry

• City of Prince Albert

• Ducks Unlimited Canada

Strategic goals

• Assist in developing capacity and governance models in local forest-based communities that encourage opportunities in a transitioning forest sector economy

• Proactively address challenges to community vulnerability by providing research, tools and models to assist communities in the transition to sustainability

• Bring together industry partners and community-level stakeholders to facilitate development of new forest-based opportunities for Saskatchewan communities in the southern boreal and aspen parkland ecoregions

• Develop and share sustainable forest management knowledge, practices,

tools and experiences with international forest-based communities and their Model Forests, particularly Sweden’s Vilhelmina and the Ibero-American Model Forest Network (IAMFN)

• Develop a plan to conduct an agroforestry inventory

• Begin to set up and test the Aboriginal Caucus model

Accomplishments to date

• Provide Nipawin Biomass Ethanol New Gen Co-op the linkages to forest residue feedstocks as a source of ethanol production through gasification technology

• Develop an agroforestry inventory and assess landowner interest in agroforestry opportunities

• Work with Peter Ballantyne First Nation to set up local forest management board (Amisk-Atik Resource Management Board) with Sandy Bay

• Support the Sturgeon River Plains Bison Stewards in piloting ideas to protect their livelihoods while conserving a nationally significant population of over 400 free-roaming pure Plains Bison

• Build an Aboriginal Caucus as part of the PAMF governance model peoples learning, economic development and climate change

• Continue to support Prince Albert Greater Ecosystem Woodland Caribou Distribution Research

• Assist the Candle Lake Subwatershed Stewardship Committee in developing an integrated land management plan to address watershed health in a fast-growing resort community.