2 Parks Lose Wold Heritage Status, Gros Morne Park Could also be in Danger

You've heard that power lines are dangerous, and it can be doubly true for Gros Morne National Park. That is, if massive towers, heavy cables, and its permanent presence become a fixture on the landscape. The added danger is in the park becoming less attractive, less of a tourist draw, and possibly losing it's coveted status as a World Heritage Site.

In February, this was newsworthy, and it was noted here that the Mid-East nation of Oman had it's Oryx Sanctuary Park's status diminished when UNESCO did not look kindly upon the size of the park being reduced. Very recently Germany's Dresden Elbe Valley got demoted after a four lane highway was carved through that park.

So if there are to be huge gangly steel transmission towers carrying juice from Labrador to the island, does it really have to go through Gros Morne Park, just to save a few dollars? Once these things are in place, it's permanent, and so might the park's new status be as just a park, rather than a World Heritage Site. That would be a step backward, not forward - and a loss for the province.

UNESCO Can Revoke World Heritage Site Status

Though it is rare, it has happened. On June 28, 2007 Oman's Arabian Oryx Sanctuary (Oryx is a kind of antelope) had its World Heritage status revoked. Oman had greatly reduced the size of the park and UNESCO decided this diminished the park’s value (source). UNESCO's reason for this being the Omani government's decision to open 90% of the site to oil prospecting.

In today's Telegram Bill Callahan writes that Gros Morne status could be reconsidered. That's very real.

According to UNESCO.org, "The World Heritage Committee deleted the property because of Oman's decision to reduce the size of the protected area by 90%, in contravention of the Operational Guidelines of the Convention. This was seen by the Committee as destroying the outstanding universal value of the site which was inscribed in 1994."

64 km of up to 600 feet wide of clear cutting through Gros Morne would hideously scar a key characteristic which qualified the park for World Heritage Site consideration in the first place, pristine beauty. UNESCO has already sent a message to developers not to tamper with such designated sites, but Gros Morne could be considered in the future to be removed from World Heritage Site status. Don't forget Mealy Mountains in Labrador. NALCOR's plans involves mauling part of that park as well.

In recent weeks this blog has posted a few graphical conceptions of how towers across our parks would look, and for a real eye opener, here's a St. John's version with wires and towers providing the icing on top. Transmission lines and steel towers don't mix well with UNESCO World Heritage Sites, it is transmitting the wrong message.

Quebec or Foreign Support of Transmission Line through Parks Would Increase Opposition Here

There has been some reported opposition to the idea of hydro transmission lines through two UNESCO World Heritage sites and national parks in Newfoundland and Labrador. That will hopefully grow, albeit slowly. If putting 40 metre high transmission lines through our magnificent parks happened to be something that say Quebec, or some foreign fishing offender openly supported, then there would be ten times as much opposition to the idea.

Here's an example: Today at CBC's NL site, at 11:45 a.m. there are 3 comments about NALCOR's plan to cut through Gros Morne & Mealy Mountains national parks, and so far, 143 comments about the Spanish trawler crew that was rescued. Not that there's anything wrong with asking questions about the quick fire and sinking of that trawler, in fact it's good to do just that.

When we feel we have been duped, mistreated or there has been an injustice, we react with emotion. How long might it take for a similar level of opposition to publicly surface regarding the proposed Lower Churchill transmission line through two of Newfoundland and Labrador's national treasures? There is no outside enemy driving this specific transmission line idea, it is being considered with the support of our provincial leader and energy corporation, NALCOR.

It would be a sorry sight to envision - driving through either park, and you want to stop to get a photo of a valley, or mountain range, but this eyesore of metal and wires ruins the idea of an 11 x 16 framed picture of that scene. A traveler might think, "how could they let this happen!"

NALCOR Plan for Transmission Line To St. John's

There should be no opposition to this, or the transmission line through Mealy Mountains National Park, or Gros Morne National Park. It's all good, hey b'y!

NL National Parks - Yours to Discover, Ours to Ruin

We have Have status - off equalization for now, and have a World Heritage Site, and another proposed. We cold lose both stati&trade if transmission lines ru(i)n through a couple of spectacular national parks in Newfoundland and Labrador.

A vision of what could be.Proposed transmission lines through Gros Morne and Mealy Mountains (a proposed World Heritage Site) National Parks. It does not Have to be!

Transmission Trouble

People describe the drive through world heritage Gros Morne National Park as out of this world. However, if NALCOR's plan to run heavy power lines through the park gets the go light you might look up to see other unheavenly sights. Viewer feedback on Here & Now indicated that people want to see a reverse on this otherwise standard transmission plan, automatically.

Transmission Line Bad News for Labrador. Good news for the Province.

Deliberately excluding Labrador from the province is done tongue in cheek.

It's been noted frequently by Labradorians, particularly this one, that Labrador often gets ignored as being part of the whole province, by government, and by Newfoundlanders, not all certainly, but it seems, often. Unfortunately Labrador's hopes to reap the benefits of Labrador's Hydro resources, specifically the named Lower Churchill development, are being thwarted by the current NL government's plan to run a transmission line from Gull Island in central Labrador to Soldier's Pond on the Avalon Peninsula. As commenter Lloyd from Labrador responded to a Telegram article,

Yep, and bypassing (and passing by, very closely, almost THROUGH, some Labrador communities and totally ignoring all other Labrador communities in the process. No cheap 'clean' electricity for them to heat homes, grow industry or anything else.

Dwight from Labrador also has this to say,

should never be let go ahead until the people of Labrador have clean, abundant, and affordable power. A straight shot transmission line to the Avalon is sickening while we pay a fortune for dirty diesel power here, and still have to heat homes and businesses with fuel or wood. Where the hell are the Labrador members of government??? Patty Pottle, is this not a problem on the north coast?

At blog site Labradore, WJM, reminds readers that promises to Labrador are often just that - the words don't match the actions. Here's a recent example of one of his many mentioned examples of promises made to Labrador, and disappointments:

“We will not develop the Lower Churchill unless the primary beneficiaries are Labradorians. You have my assurance on that.”

That was PC Party Leader Danny Williams, on September 30, 2003, speaking in Happy Valley-Goose Bay during that fall’s provincial general election.

It's worth the read, here's another bit:

And sure, the EIS documentation for the so-called Lower Churchill itself only contemplates transmission within Labrador to a point where the juice can be pumped out the Hydro-Quebec grid.

But none of that is to say Labrador and Labradorians won’t benefit. No sir. Nothing could be further from the truth...

Imagine, along with the electricity itself, the revenues which will figuratively flow along that line, all the way from the wilds of central Labrador, from an artificial lake — the Williams Reservoir perhaps — many times the size of Sandy Pond, and many times further away; then stepped down at Soldier Pond and transmitted thence directly to the Finance Department in Confederation Building for re-transmission all across the province, for all kinds of provincial purposes.

Effectively written and point made. See more of Labradore's posts on Lower Churchill Expectations.

Another ongoing point made at that blog is that many Newfoundlanders blame Canada for ignoring NL, while many Newfoundlanders turn a blind eye to what's going on, or what's not going on, in Labrador. To this blogger, there's a triad relationship - how some in Newfoundland/"the province" see Canada, is often how people in Labrador see NL's government and some Newfoundlanders. Will stop there.

Labradorians give their actual stories, and there is a story - the perception of Labrador, references to "the province" (with an "and Labrador" add-on), and taking Labrador for granted. It is a story that has not yet gotten full appreciation in provincial media, or by perhaps many, citizens in the province.