The Wolf Lake Coalition will host a 4-day camp for invited artists, August 14-17, at Wolf Lake. Fourteen painters, photographers and poets will create works of art to be auctioned off in support of the Coalition’s campaign to see the world’s largest old-growth red pine forest protected.
“As an painter, I’ve always been drawn to the beauty of places like Wolf Lake,” said Liz Lott, one of the participating artists. “The fact that this incredible ecosystem is still threatened makes our work that much more important.”
In 1999, the Ontario government promised to protect the 300-year old Wolf Lake pines, located in the northeastern corner of the City of Greater Sudbury. The Wolf Lake Coalition calls on the Wynne government to honour the 14-year old promise to permanently protect Wolf Lake within the Chiniguchi Waterway Provincial Park. The Coalition is made up of 30 local, provincial, and national organizations and businesses.
“pARTners for Wolf Lake is an opportunity to bring the beauty of Wolf Lake to a wider audience in Northern Ontario and beyond,” said Bob Olajos, spokesperson for the Wolf Lake Coalition. “I cannot wait to see the amazing work that these talented artists produce.”
New research published in June in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, calls the Wolf Lake old-growth forest a, “scientifically irreplacable system.” Red pine once covered much of northeastern North America, including what is now downtown Sudbury. Extensive logging and mining have eliminated these forests on all but 1.2% of their original extent, making them a critically endangered ecosystem. The Wolf Lake forest is more than triple the size of the next largest remnant. There are two mining leases and dozens of mining claims in the Wolf Lake forest.