The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1968, Qupperneq 41

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
39
on the beauty of Hecla, and some
years ago — in an attempt to capitalize
on their tourist resources — the is-
landers formed their own area develop-
ment association.
They drafted and presented to the
provincial government a comprehen-
sive report and land-use map, hoping
to take advantage of the financial and
technical help available through the
Agricultural Rehabilitation and De-
velopment Administration (ARDA).
But, though government personnel
visited the island and were impressed
with its possibilities, nothing came of
this effort.
Hecla islanders don’t give up easily,
however, and two recent developments
have revived their hopes of using their
natural resources as a haven for tour-
ists and cottagers. The established
beaches on Lake Winnipeg have now
become crowded, and even the White-
shell is no longer as sparsely settled
as it once was. If Winnipeggers require
another resort area, Hecla would be a
logical choice. It is no farther away
than much of the Whiteshell (the
distance to the ferry is the same as to
Falcon Lake) and it is only slightly
over half the distance to Clear Lake.
Improved ferry service (or better still,
a causeway) would make the island an
accessible summer resort with much
to commend it.
But Winnipeg’s need of new resort
areas is only part of the picture. Even
more profound in its effect on the
Hecla Islanders was the signing of the
Fund for Rural Development (F.R.E.
D.) agreement in Arborg last May.
With government planning to pump
$85 million into the Interlake area
over a 10-year period, the islanders see
no reason why their area should not
benefit from some of these funds.
They have, they point out, not only
the beauties of Hecla to attract tour-
ists and cottagers. If properly develop-
ed, there are the advantages of three
neighboring islands as well. These
other islands—Black, Punk and Deer
— are uninhabited, but they are so
positioned that they break the sweep
of wave-whipping winds that harass
boaters in the open lake. And each is
blessed with large stretches of beaut-
iful sandy beaches. It is a saying on
Hecla that the white sands on Black
Island make the sand strips at Win-
nipeg and Grand Beach look like sand-
boxes.
Nor is this all that the islands have
to offer. Gull Harbor, on the northern
tip of Hecla, is considered by fisher-
men and owners of large pleasure
boats as the best natural harbor on
the southern end of the lake. Both
Hecla and Black Island have large
moose populations, as well as other
species of animals and bird life, and
they have the additional advantage of
being the centre of excellent duck and
goose hunting grounds.
Hecla Island itself is some 20 miles
long by four-to five miles in breadth,
and almost 90 per cent of this is Crown
land owned by the people of Mani-
toba. The islanders argue that this
alone is ample reason for government
to spend some of the $85 million of
F.R.E.D. money on its development.
Anyone who has seen the island
admits that they have a case. Apparent-
ly, at this point, the government does
too. It is understood that a feasibility
study is now under way. If the results
of this study are favorable (as they
should be) it could inaugurate a new
day for a proud and independent
people. It could mean not the end of
the saga of Hecla Island but the open-
ing of a new chapter.
—from The Winnipeg Free Press, June 29/68