Correct me if I am overly cynical tonight,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but the article regarding the Manitoba(Canada) Provincial Government stating that they are going to do more to protect and enhance Polar Bear habitat around Wapusk National Park sounds more like a plan to bring in more tourists to the region......................How does that enhance the Bears habitat?????????????

Deal signed to better protect polar bear denning area near Churchill

winnipegfreepress.com

Enlarge Image

The Churchill Wildlife Management Area protects the polar bear's summer resting areas and denning grounds where cubs are born. (JONATHAN HAYWARD / CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)

The Manitoba government has put some
teeth into plans
 to protect polar bear habitat and denning
 areas near Churchill.

In a memorandum of understanding, the
provincial
 government has pledged to work with
 Parks Canada
 to improve protection of polar bear
 denning areas and
 better manage tourism in the areas
around Wapusk
National Park (WNP), the provincial
Churchill Wildlife
 Management Area (CMWA). The
 agreement also
 applies to Riding Mountain National
 Park and
surrounding provincial lands.

Areas the partnership is mandated
 to improve
 include:

• making licensing for tourism operations easier;
• standardizing protocols for rescuing and 
• rehabilitating orphaned polar bear cubs 
• and investigating polar bear deaths;
• improving wildlife management including 
• more protection for rare species, increased
•  monitoring of trapping activities and increased
•  research of polar bear and caribou habitats;
• developing polar bear safety standards that
•  govern direct human interactions with the
•  bears and address the effects of climate
•  change on bear habitat and behaviour; and
• expanding scientific knowledge and research 
• opportunities through cooperation on research 
• camps, improving research facilities in both the
•  WNP and CMWA, and creating reciprocal 
• agreements for scientists from both departments
•  to share those facilities and share their information
•  with the public by way of the International Polar
•  Bear Conservation Centre.

"Working together will allow us to increase capacity to
 do ecological monitoring, resource management and
 public education about some of the province's most
 valuable ecological and cultural resources including
 the polar bear," said Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger
 in a press release. "This will also strengthen our
 partnerships with First Nations, other Aboriginal
communities and stakeholders to better balance
 environmental and economic issues."

One of the world's largest known polar bear maternity
 denning areas is inside Wapusk National Park near
Churchill.

Manitoba's largest wildlife management area, almost
850,000 hectares, is located at Churchill. The Churchill
 Wildlife Management Area (CMWA) protects the polar
 bear's summer resting areas and denning grounds
 where cubs are born. Riding Mountain National Park
protects more than 3,000 square kilometres of land.