The Ministry of Natural Resources' Southern Ontario offices at Robinson Place in Peterborough.

The Ministry of Natural Resources is a government agency of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for managing and protecting its natural resources. Its offices are divided into Northwestern, Northeastern and Southern Ontario regions, headquartered in Thunder Bay, Timmins and Peterborough, respectively.

The ministry came into existence in 1972 and prior to that similar responsibilities were handled by the former Ontario Department of Lands and Forests.

The current Minister of Natural Resources is Donna Cansfield.

[edit] Responsibilities

A Ministry of Natural Resources fire watch sign at Dryden, Ontario.

MNR is responsible for managing the natural resources of Ontario: animals, plants, aquatic species, etc. A few examples of MNR's responsibilities include: running and maintaining provincial parks, issuing hunting and fishing licenses, enforcing hunting and fishing rules, forest fire management/suppression, and monitoring of endangered species. It also maintains databases (eg: Area of Natural and Scientific Interest) and spatial information as management and planning tools.

[edit] Forest Firefighting

The MNR has equipment to deal with forest fires in Ontario. From time to time the MNR lends out their aircraft to other jurisdictions dealing with forest fires.

[edit] Current

• 9 Bombardier Canadair CL-215 - firefighting^[1]
• 9 Bombardier Canadair CL-415 - firefighting
• 3 Bell 206 L-1 Long Ranger II^[1]
• 3 Eurocopter 350-B2s^[1]
• 2 Beechcraft King Air 300^[1]
• 3 Eurocopter EC 130 B4^[1]
• 6 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters - firefighting^[1]
• 5 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Mk III Turbo Beavers - firefighting^[1]

[edit] Retired^[2]

• 14 Curtiss HS-2L Flying Boats
• de Havilland Moth
• Canadian Vickers Vedette
• 4 Hamilton mono seaplanes
• 4 Fairchild 71 cabin monoplanes
• Fairchild KR-34
• 4 Buhl CA-6 Air Sedans
• Stinson Reliant
• de Havilland Dove
• Grumman CS2F-1 Tracker - firefighting
• 1 MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 twin engine helicopter
• de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver

[edit] Museum Aircraft

• Former MNR de Havilland Beaver, C-FOBS, serial number 2, the first production Beaver manufactured by de Havilland Canada, is on display at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario^[1][3]

[edit] Organization

MNR is organized into divisions; within each division are sections, branches, and units. As of Apr 2006, the organization is::

• Field Services Division
  • Aboriginal Affairs Unit
  • Aviation and Forest Fire Management Unit
  • Enforcement Unit
• Forests Division
  • Forest Management Branch
  • Industry Relations Branch
• Natural Resources Management
  • Fish and Wildlife Branch
  • Lands and Waters Branch
  • Ontario Parks
• Science and Information Resources Division
  • Applied Research and Development Branch
  • Geographic Information Branch
  • Science and Information Branch
• Corporate Management Division
  • Finance and Business Services Branch
  • Human Resources Branch
  • Policy and Planning Coordination Branch

[edit] OMNR Image Gallery

MNR Canadair CL-215 air tanker and Cessna 337 contract fire detection aircraft in Dryden, Ontario 1995	MNR CL-215 and Cessna 310 birddog aircraft in Kenora, Ontario 1995	A Bell 205A-1 on contract firefighting duty with Ministry of Natural Resources parked on the MNR's lower helipad at Nym Lake, ON, 1996	A contract Bell 205A-1 with its MNR helitack firefighting crew on standby at Sioux Lookout, Ontario, 1995
MNR contracts a variety of aircraft for fire fighting each year, such as this S-58T ready to deploy to a project fire, Dryden, Ontario, 1995	An MNR contract firefighting aircraft at work: a S-58T with bambi water bucket, near Dryden, Ontario, 1995	Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources deHavilland DHC 2 Mk 3 Turbo Beavers on amphib floats in Dryden ON in 1995	Bell 205A-1 and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources firefighters working on Fire 141 in 1995
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources firefighters prepare to deploy on an arriving contract Bell 204B on Fire 141 in 1995

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources website