Species at risk in good hands at Ottawa’s Connaught Ranges and Primary Training Centre

By Steven Fouchard, Army Public Affairs

Ottawa, Ontario — The Connaught Ranges and Primary Training Centre (CRPTC) in Southwest Ottawa is a major hub for military and police firearms training.

With that in mind, CRPTC probably sounds less than hospitable to wildlife, but it is actually a safe haven for a wide range of plant, animal and insect species designated by government authorities as endangered or on the cusp of becoming so.

That is thanks to the Department of National Defence (DND) and its federal government colleagues at Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) who work closely together to ensure compliance with legislation that protects those species – ranging from butternut trees and monarch butterflies to snapping turtles and bald eagles.

In fact, explained Paul Haight, a PSPC Environmental Advisor responsible for environmental support to the DND-owned facility, safety concerns at CRPTC ensure human activity on the site is so limited that much of it is more ecologically diverse than Gatineau Park, one of the most popular wooded recreational areas in the capital region.

‘Good neighbour' policy

“DND lands are home to an abundance of different species, thanks in part to the limited human activity on the sites,” he said.

“You don't get a lot of human activity at Connaught besides routine maintenance and/or DND training, so there is a back area that is pretty pristine. And we have this ‘good neighbour' policy of trying to meet or exceed…