| Seine a �provincial park� in the city By Dawn Clarke Lance Editor The Lance, Thursday, March 30, 2000, p.3 The most extensive environmental inventory in Winnipeg�s history is awaiting approval from city hall. The Seine River Task Force has submitted its final report to the city on what is to become the Seine River Greenway. The report comes after six years of consultations with community groups and citizens. The plan was applauded by councillors on the Riel Community Committee and the Riverbank Management Committee as well as members of the Save Our Seine group. It is on its way to council for final approval likely before the end of April. The plan will result in a linear riverbank park connected by trails. It calls for about 20 kilometres of new Seine River trails, five new pedestrian bridges, and six new canoe launches. As well, 63 historic points of interest will be marked and eight thematic areas for historical interpretation and natural program presentation have been designated. The task force is asking the city for go-ahead to come up with a 10-15 year plan to implement its proposals. Jim Patterson, who headed up the task force, says the plan requires relatively little capital investment with much of the work to be done by volunteers and funds raised by private citizens. Paterson suggested the city could make Community Incentive Grant money available to the project so that funds could be leveraged from other sources. S.O.S. president Jean-Pierre Brunet said his group is one hundred per cent supportive of the initiative. He says he�s looking forward to the rest of the city discovering what S.O.S. has always known. �The Seine is an �as yet to be discovered provincial park in our backyard,� a canoe river of unparalleled beauty offering some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities in the province,� he said. �It�s been our unwavering conviction that the Seine is worth every minute of the time we�ve spent.� Brunet said the first stages of the plan should include developing the canoe launch sites and the interpretive centres at the north and south ends of the trail. He added that any initiatives arising from the project should be done in consultation with area residents. |