We urgently need your help to protect one of the most pristine regions in Canada's Heart of the Boreal BioGem.

Please go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/boreal/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52089
and send a message urging Manitoba's minister of conservation to extend protections that will keep industrial development out of the Poplar/Nanowin Rivers Protected Area.

The Poplar/Nanowin Rivers Protected Area's two million acres of boreal evergreen forests, granite outcroppings and pristine rivers contain rich songbird breeding grounds and prime caribou and wolf habitat. This spectacular ecosystem has also sustained its first inhabitants, the Poplar River First Nation, since time immemorial.

The current status of the Poplar/Nanowin Rivers area forbids industrial development on these sensitive lands. But this vital protection is due to expire soon, and the Manitoba government will decide in the coming weeks whether to extend the interim protection or allow it to expire. Without legal protection, this region will once again be open to development, with potentially dire consequences for its native people and wildlife.

Right now, the Poplar River First Nation is preparing a land management plan to help permanently protect this ecosystem for future generations. But if interim protection is not extended while the Poplar River First Nation completes its work, it may be too late to save this area from logging, roadbuilding and other development.

Go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/boreal/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52089
and send your message today urging the Manitoba government to extend protection for this environmentally and culturally rich piece of the Heart of the Boreal.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
President
Natural Resources Defense Council