Marten Falls First Nation (MFFN) Community Access Road
June 2022 update
Current and upcoming activities
Welcome to the Marten Falls First Nation (MFFN) Community Access Road June E-Blast with updates on current and upcoming activities. This E-Blast features:
Meet with us In-Person Next Week!
Join us at our upcoming Public Information Centre (PIC #3) for an introduction to the provincial Environmental Assessment / federal Impact Statement phase of the Project. This will be an opportunity to meet the team in Thunder Bay and Geraldton, learn more about the planning process and share your feedback, ideas and values related to the proposed all season access road.
When and Where:
Monday, June 27, 2022
Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre
Room: Regency A
555 Arthur Street West
Thunder Bay, Ontario
5:00* – 8:00 p.m.
*Indigenous community members are invited to join at 5:00 p.m. and the public is invited to join starting at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Geraldton Community Centre
200 Wardrope Avenue
Geraldton, Ontario
4:00* – 7:00 p.m.
*Indigenous community members are invited to join at 4:00 p.m. and the public is invited to join starting at 5:00 p.m.
Additional details on the Public Information Centre is available on the website. We look forward to seeing you in-person!
Field Study Updates
June was a busy month for field crews. Five programs were completed, including the physiography, terrain and soils program, the second round of breeding bird aerial surveys, a caribou mortality investigation, a breeding bird point counts and marsh playback surveys, and Eastern Whip-poor-will Autonomous Recording field program. This year’s wolverine hair snag program was also completed in June, and the hair snags were decommissioned but will remain in place for when the field program starts again next winter. Read field program notices, watch videos and fill out Discussion Guides.
Upcoming Field Studies
Our field crews are continuing field studies. There are a lot of moving parts when scheduling field programs, including helicopter availability, weather and on-going monitoring of COVID-19 situations. We appreciate your understanding as timelines shift.
Below is a high-level overview of upcoming field study programs and their approximate timelines*. You can also learn about the programs in the video links below and share your feedback in Discussion Guide links.
- Breeding Bird Point Counts, Marsh Playback Surveys and Eastern Whip-poor-will Autonomous Recording Units: June 25- July 4, 2022. Fill out the Discussion Guide.
- Breeding Bird Aerial Surveys: June 22-24, 2022. Fill out the Discussion Guide.
- Surface Water and Fish and Fish Habitat Program: June 21- July 1, 2022. Watch the video and fill out the Discussion Guide.
- Vegetation Program: July 12-18, 2022. Watch the video and fill out the Discussion Guide.
*Timelines and programs are approximate and may shift; we will provide updates as required.
If you have any questions, comments or feedback on the planned studies, we would like to hear from you (contact information below).
Indigenous Knowledge Program – Submission Deadline Reminder
The Indigenous Knowledge Program is collecting relevant information on Indigenous land and resource use and important cultural values in and around the proposed Community Access Road study area. The submission deadline for Indigenous Knowledge Program Studies to inform the environmental assessment processes is June 30, 2022. Over the fall and winter, inputs from each Indigenous community will be discussed and included in the assessment. More details on the Indigenous Knowledge Program are available on the website.
Meet With Us!
Please contact us at any time with questions or comments, or to schedule a meeting. Meetings can be arranged in-person in any community (adhering to health and safety protocols as required), in the Thunder Bay area, or online. We want to hear what you have to say.
Questions or comments? Contact us at 1-800-764-9114 or info@martenfallsaccessroad.ca.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MFFNCommunityAccessRoadProject/