5.0 Environmental and Economic Impacts

5.0 Environmental and Economic Impacts

The economic impact of Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada is felt in several areas, including capital expenditures, direct and indirect employment, and operating and maintenance expenditures. The Site employs about 100 people directly, year-round, and about 255 people in the peak season. Another 85 people are hired through concession contractors in the summer. A few temporary help employees also work each year. The Fortress creates employment in many diverse areas because of its wide-ranging visitor services and supporting infrastructure. Individuals are employed as bus drivers, animators and guides, wardens, historians, tradesmen and maintenance staff, to name a few.

Over the three year period from 1995/96 through 1997/98, Parks Canada has spent an average of $4.9 million a year on salaries, and $1 million on goods and services at the Site. In that period annual capital expenditures averaged $1.3 million. 

Parks Canada staff record the number of visits to three distinct areas within the site. The busiest area is the reconstructed townsite where about 130,000 visitors come each year on average. In 1996, paid admissions to the reconstructed townsite generated revenue of about $810,000. Some visitors also visit Lighthouse Point and Kennington Cove, two other areas of traditional use. For all three areas, over the last decade, the Site has enjoyed more than 200,000 visits a year. The greatest number of visitors in any one year was over 250,000, achieved in 1995, a year of celebrations marked by the Grand Encampment and a visit by a flotilla of sailing ships known collectively as the "tall ships". In 1995, the number of visitors passing through the visitor centre on their way to the reconstructed townsite was up 22% from the previous year.

With so many people visiting Fortress Louisbourg, it is a significant tourist resource for Nova Scotia, and particularly for Cape Breton Island. In 1989, total visitor expenditures which may be attributed to visits to the Site amounted to $4.9 million. Equally important is the impact the Site has on employment in the local and regional area in terms of tourist spending in restaurants, on accommodations, the arts and crafts industry, and transportation. About 85 percent of visitor spending is on food, accommodations, and transportation.

Fortress of Louisbourg and Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Sites, and Cape Breton Highlands National Park, are the major tourist attractions on Cape Breton Island. Well over 90 percent of tourists to the Island visit at least one of these attractions, and the typical tourist visits an average of two of these. Fortress of Louisbourg is the main destination or reason for visiting Cape Breton for about 40 percent of visitors to the reconstructed townsite.

The economic importance of Fortress of Louisbourg goes beyond the direct income and employment generated by the National Historic Site. One study has estimated that overnight visitors spend about $700,000 in the community of Louisbourg. In the absence of the Site, tourist spending in the community would be considerably lower.

These expenditures support a number of tourism-related businesses including: a motel, inns, cottages, restaurants, campgrounds, gift and craft shops, bed and breakfast establishments, and fast-food services. Many other small businesses which operate in and around the town depend on Parks Canada spending. These businesses range from local construction and printing firms to equipment rental outlets.

Environmental assessment provides an effective means of integrating environmental factors into planning and decision making in a manner that promotes sustainable development [Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) 1992].

The review and assessment of potential adverse impacts on heritage resources have been part of the ongoing management and development of the National Historic Site. Prior to the enactment of the CEAA, Fortress of Louisbourg staff had developed an assessment process for the identification and mitigation of environmental impacts on archaeological resources from both construction projects and maintenance activities. These were known as archaeological clearances, and were the responsibility of the archaeologists.

Site staff responded to the introduction of the Environment Assessment and Review Process (EARP) with a unique approach. The Chief Park Warden and the Senior Archaeologist were given joint responsibility for the process. Thus environmental assessments have been an integral part of the decision making process at the Site for many years. Adherence to the Environmental Assessment and Review Process Guidelines Order (1984), the Cultural Resource Management Policy and, more recently, the CEAA (1992) has ensured that the cultural and natural resources within the Site have received due consideration. Furthermore, projects that would normally be excluded under CEAA are screened internally to ensure the protection and to maintain the integrity of Fortress of Louisbourg's rich, vast cultural and natural resources.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is being developed for Parks Canada to facilitate the greening of its operations. It provides a framework for managing, evaluating, improving, and communicating environmental performance. EMS is a valuable tool in meeting environmental requirements, in ensuring that Parks Canada meets its obligation under the Auditor General Act to implement a Sustainable Development Strategy, and in enhancing Louisbourg's role as an environmental steward. 

EMS Baseline Information Tables have been compiled to document environmental performance and promote green initiatives already being undertaken by site staff. This has been followed by an EMS Action Plan, which establishes and prioritizes objectives and targets for future action on various aspects of environmental management, and develops a course of action to achieve these targets. Priority issues identified in the Action Plan will be incorporated into the Business Plan.

The Environmental Assessment Process for Policy and Program Proposals requires an environmental assessment of all Parks Canada management plans. While this Plan outlines the scope, objectives and strategic approach for a variety of projects, detailed plans for these works have yet to be formulated. Further detailed assessments and screenings will be carried out on an individual project basis as more comprehensive design and scheduling information becomes available. Thus, the inclusion of proposed projects, strategic actions or activities in the Management Plan is conditional on the completion of the screening for individual work.

Activities and facilities proposed in the Management Plan may contribute to, or lessen, adverse environmental effects. These projects and their potential implications must be assessed on an individual basis to determine the nature and extent of potential environmental effects. In addition, Parks Canada has a legal obligation and a policy commitment to assess cumulative effects.

A Cumulative Effects Assessment was conducted in 1996. It explores the relationship between the heritage resources and the impacts of human activity. The document provides insight into the consequences of past decisions and how they are affecting current trends, thus enabling decision makers to fully evaluate proposed projects. Data obtained through this study will be considered when completing the environmental assessments for projects and activities identified in the Management Plan.

Evaluation of proposed projects at the management plan level provides the opportunity to assess the implications of fundamental concepts and to fully consider the alternatives including the need for future projects. Such an assessment explores the issues from a broader perspective, not just the individual project level, and examines environmental trends, thresholds, and limits while evaluating the incremental effects of projects within the plan. The resulting information aids in determining the nature and extent of cumulative effects and ensures that the appropriate mitigations are implemented.

The environmental assessment of the Management Plan has shown that there are no likely significant impacts or cumulative effects from the implementation of plan concepts.
  

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