News Release: Direct Action to Stop the Dozers in La Broquerie
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 8:17AM 
Photo from: SteinbachOnline.com 2015-01-20Local residents Ernie Bezditny & Janine Gibson of the Pansy area are taking direct action to stop marsh forest drainage & destruction along Rd 19 N in the R.M of La Broquerie, by Pro Vista Farms. The concerned neighbours are blocking the bulldozers from clearing willow & poplar for more manure spread acres. “I’ll stay chained to this dozer as long as I have to”, says Janine Gibson who has run as the Provencher Green Party candidate in the last 6 federal elections and works as an organic crop inspector supporting composting technologies as a more resilient agricultural approach .
“The marsh needs its wildlife- deer, elk & moose are lost when the forest is cut, the beaver dam was excavated, this animal habitat is nature’s water retention, which needs to be here to prevent floods downstream” says Ernie Bezditny, who farms nearby on RD 21 N and grew up hiking through the area. “Thousands of acres of marsh forest are down around here. It’s too much & has to stop! This marsh is being destroyed causing flooding & water pollution, while other marshes are preserved & water retention areas are being built by the province- why not here as well?” he asks.
The Rat-Marsh River Integrated Watershed Management Plan is excellent, says Ms, Gibson but she sees no implementation, no oversight, no accountability; and asks “is the Director of Compliance at Conservation & Water Stewardship doing his job?”
This clear cutting with no buffers along the drains does not meet the intention of the new Manure Management Regulations to reduce P. Joubert Creek has been moved to a ditch in this area, so now both the old creek bed & the ditches are feeding the nutrient runoff into the Rat River, then the Red River & finally polluting Lake Winnipeg.
Contact Janine Gibson 204-434-6018 or janine@nlis.ca
See also the article by Rachel Siemens at SteinbachOnline.com