Bowater Inc.s harvesting plans in St. Raphael Provincial Park, north of Sioux Lookout, are receiving criticism.

A local tourist operator says that Bowater’s management plan for the Caribou Forest takes precedence over a signature site-management plan that has yet to be developed. The park is one of nine signature sites identified in the province’s Lands for Life process.

The tourist operator is also a forester and is newly appointed to a committee handling Northern Ontario tourism marketing. St. Raphael park is valued by tourist operators for its remoteness, habitat and calving site for woodland caribou and sandhill crane nesting sites.