Congratulations Ontario!

One half of Ontario's vast boreal forest will be permanently protected from mining and other resource development projects as part of a sweeping plan unveiled by Premier Dalton McGuinty to combat climate change.

The government will protect at least 225,000 square kilometres from development, representing one half of the boreal region in the far north and an area 1.5 times greater in size than all the Maritime provinces combined, Mr. McGuinty said Monday at a news conference. This land will be off limits to any resource projects and restricted to tourism and traditional aboriginal uses, such as hunting and fishing, he said.

The region constitutes about 40% of Ontarios land area. Or to look at it in a way that may be easier for those of us in the U.S. to relate to, 225,000 square kilometers is an area roughly the size of the entire state of Minnesota. That's a lot of forest protected from resource development. The area will continue to be available for tourism and for traditional uses by first nations and Métis, like hunting and fishing.