THE PAS, Man. -- An environmental group wants logging roads that were built by a forest products company in northern Manitoba shut down when its plant closes.
Tolko Industries has announced that the mill near the town of The Pas will close on Dec. 2, putting 332 employees out of work.
The Manitoba chapter of The Wilderness Committee says logging roads will continue to disrupt Grass River Provincial Park, woodland caribou and northern forests unless the company is required to decommission them.
The group wants the provincial government to ensure Tolko closes the roads as required by its environmental licence.
The group says Tolko has built thousands of kilometres of all-weather logging roads that spread out over one-fifth of Manitoba's forest region.
It says leaving the roads in place will make it easy for wolves to prey on moose and woodland caribou, as well as provide access for humans into forests that should be off-limits.
"Having Tolko abruptly put more than 300 people out of work is already painful enough. The corporation can't be allowed to leave a mess of the northern forests too," Eric Reder, Manitoba campaign director for The Wilderness Committee, said in a release Wednesday.
"We must show corporations that they can't cut and run, leaving the public on the hook for millions of dollars and decades of damages."
Reder also suggests that some of the communities affected by the mill's closure should be given first crack at any decommissioning work.
Tolko said earlier this week that the decision to shut down its operations in The Pas wasn't made lightly, but the plant is not financially sustainable despite years of trying to improve results.
