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Vol. 11, Issue 21, January 27, 2007
Proposal would continue efforts on tourism and Crown Game Preserve
By Jim Prince he Chapleau Regional Development Corporation (CRDC) says it is ready to continue working on developing Chapleau Crown Game Preserve and growing the local tourist industry. The decision was announced at a Township Council meeting last Monday evening and comes on the heels of the decision by the Council to create a new organization, Chapleau Economic Renewal Committee (CERC) to assume the primary role in e c o n o m i c development and hire an Economic Development Officer. “I am very pleased that you are continuing," stated Mayor Earle Freeborn
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at the conclusion of a detailed presentation by the CRDC. Mayor Earle Freeborn said Monday the new Economic Renewal Committee, which includes all of council, and three members from the community at large as well as resource persons, will be ready by February 1. In stating its intention to continue efforts, now concentrated on the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve and Tourism development, the CRDC requested approximately seventy-five thousand dollars in funding for this year. That request will go before the new Economic Renewal Committee, following the procedure laid out in an organizational chart attached to the by-law creating the
new economic renewal committee. Mayor Freeborn suggested the CRDC appoint a three-person delegation to make its presentation. "The CRDC is continuing, we are not closing down the doors," stated the Corporation's vice chair, Michel Sylvestre in his opening remarks to a twenty minute powerpoint presentation to the municipal council detailing work the CRDC has done in connection to the Game Preserve and tourism development. In a partnership between it and the Township of Chapleau which started in 2004, the CRDC was able to secure approximately $400,000 in funding from the federal government's FedNor
program and the province's NOHFC program for its Crown Game Preserve project. The Township of Chapleau also funded $115,000 and added approximately $90,000 towards an Economic Development Officer and administration costs. In total, over $530,000 was put into phase one of the Game Preserve project. "In only a year after the project was launched, we have seen genuine results from our efforts with hundreds of inquiries, visitors and increased interest in the Chapleau Crown Game Preserve," stated Sylvestre in his presentation. The project has erected 4 wildlife-viewing stations with an MNR approved strategy for attracting wildlife to
them. It also maintains four picnic sites with bear-proof garbage cans and picnic tables, interpretive signs and trails. The CRDC has also erected 5 large roadside signs at key locations in the province and the gateway sign is in place. A brochure and map promoting the Game Preserve have been produced and distributed to various tourist centers And in a move to cash in on "Geocaching" which Sylvestre described as "the most rapidly growing outdoors recreational activity in the world," the Game Preserve is now the location of 10 of the devices. In addition to membership in several regional tourist
associations, the C R D C h a s experienced success in persuading local businesses to join in co-operative marketing ventures. The Town of Chapleau, through its various committee, boards and councils over the years, has strived to establish itself as the Gateway to the World's Largest Crown Game Preserve. It has been part of the Strategic Plan and one of our goals in tourism. The Township of Chapleau and the CRDC have finally done just that. "With the uncertain future of the f o r e s t i n d u s t r y, Chapleau must start depending more on tourism," concludes the CRDC proposal for funding.
Containers for Afghanistan C
HS Students' C o u n c i l members and Mrs. C. Boucher spent a lunch hour packing
the first set of plastic containers for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Thanks to a very successful
Tree of Lights, we were able to fill fortyeight containers with candies, gum, pencils, and other goodies
along with a recent copy of the Chapleau Express. Toothbrushes and toothpaste for the troops were also added, important items that are not readily available when on deployment as we learned from Joel
Lafreniere on a visit to the school shortly before Christmas when he stated that he had had to go for six weeks without a toothbrush! Warm socks and a brief letter written by students in the school followed by the lid Cont’d on P.6