Four northern provincial parks, including Bakers Narrows Provincial Park and Wekusko Falls Provincial Park, will see renovations next year covered by a provincial parks fund.
Fixes at the parks are part of a roughly $1.1 million provincial funding package through the Provincial Parks Endowment Fund, as announced by the Manitoba ministry for environment, climate and parks August 26.
The fund includes projects that, according to a provincial spokesperson, total about $132,000 in expenditures at four northern parks.
Bakers Narrows will see about $15,000 in work done to Sally’s Beach, with workers coming to bring more sand in to the beach and repair the beach’s retaining wall.
At Wekusko Falls Provincial Park, two projects will be carried out to aid accessibility - first, beach access paths within the park itself (which will be built to the tune of about $25,000) and what the province calls an “accessible non-modern washroom” for $15,000 - essentially, an outhouse that can be used by wheelchair users and people with mobility issues.
Clearwater Lake Provincial Park will have two main fixes, with $40,000 in total funding being sent to replace an accessible outhouse and change house at the beach at Campers Cove campground and $5,000 to build stairs along parts of the park’s Caves Trail.
Another major set of fixes will come to Grass River Provincial Park and, more specifically, the Iskwasum campground. Iskwasum will see a full dock replacement at the park’s boat launch at a cost of $30,000.
On top of the announced funds, $2,000 will be spent to outfit Bakers Narrows, Clearwater Lake and Grass River parks with special canoe and kayak launches.
Elsewhere in the province, over 60 projects will be funded at parks around Manitoba, including new accessible campsites, washrooms and offices at Whiteshell Provincial Park, yurt improvements at four southern Manitoba parks and new viewing telescopes and trail maintenance at Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park in the Interlake.
“Launched in 2021 with an initial investment of $20 million, the Provincial Parks Endowment Fund is expected to generate approximately $1 million per year to help enhance visitor experiences at Manitoba’s provincial parks,” reads the provincial announcement.
Priority projects for funding, according the ministry, came from responses as part of the province’s EngageMB survey system. Respondents to those surveys answered most often in support of nature conservation, new activities and programming and new infrastructure and facilities.
