Friends of Temagami was originally founded in 1995 and amalgamated with Friends of Chiniguchi and Nastawgan Network in 2007 to form a single voice for the Temagami Region.

WHAT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SINCE 1995

2008 --  FOT renames the Endangered Canoe Routes list, “Temagami’s Most Endangered Wilderness.” list includes: Wolf Lake, Spirit Forest, Lady Evelyn Lake (north basin). 

FOT members participate in numerous back-country projects, including: Marjorie Lake route restoration, Blueberry-Sunrise route restoration, Spawning-Chambers canoe route restoration. Obabika Lake campsite maintenance.

FOT submits Wolf Lake Application for Review.  Participates in 2009-2019 Temagami Forest Management Plan, including pursuing Issue Resolution on five issues, including:  Protection for canoe routes and viewpoints, Large clearcuts, Logging in Spirit Forest, Species at Risk.

Participates in local studies by providing information:

- Ministry of Northern Development and Mines Mining Act Review
- Municipality of Temagami Lot Creation & Development study
- Latchford on protection for the Burns Trail and Greenwood Provincial Park

2007 --Second Annual Most Endangered Canoe Routes list includes: Barter-Isbister, Anima Nipissing-Bay via Gilchrist Creek and Island Lake, Sturgeon River-Little Laundrie Lake via Big Marconi Lake, Kukagami-Matagamasi Lake via Bad Lake, Lady Evelyn and Lady Sydney Lakes, Headwaters of the Lady Evelyn River, Montreal River Provincial Park, Makobe River Provincial Park.  FOT participates in Temagami Maintenance Authority. 

Nastawgan Network, Friends of Chiniguchi merge into FOT.  

2006 --  Nastawgan Network debuts Temagami’s Most Endangered Canoe Routes. Inaugural list included: Breeze Lake, Spawning-Chambers Lake, Muskego Wildlands, Yorston Wildlands, Hamlow-Sturgeon River, Obabika-Little Fry.  Network members participates in Temagami Integrated Plan.  Members restores Breeze Lake canoe route and retrace FOT's 2001 restoration efforts to publicize Misabi and South Canton Lakes canoe routes.
Merger talks begin between Nastawgan Network, Friends of Chiniguchi and Friends of Temagami

2005 -- Nastawgan Network forms to address public concerns in the Temagami Intergrated Plan.

2001 -- FOT completes its sixth year of an annual portage and campsite maintenance program in Temagami's backcountry, which replaced a similar program abandoned by the province in the late 1980s. Wages to pay FOT's 'canoe rangers' are drawn from donations and memberships. To date, the program has revitalized more than 1,500 kms of canoe routes that would otherwise be inhospitable to the average paddler.

2001 -- FOT advocates for the protection of canoe routes and the present character of lake Temagami's north arm in presentations to the municipality's consultants and the Planning Advisory Committee regarding the town's Official Plan.

2000 -- FOT works with industry and government to obtain official recognition of the Blueberry lake old growth hiking trails, which is granted.

1999 -- FOT assists volunteers to clear Temagami Island old growth trails.

1999 -- FOT voices strong opposition to large clear cuts proposed for inclusion in the 1999-2004 Temagami Forest Management Plan. The nine largest of these clearcuts are ultimately removed from that plan.

1997 -- FOT, the Wildlands League and the Sierra Legal Defence Fund win a major legal action against the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, which compels the Ministry to rewrite several forest management plans (including Temagami's) to bring them into compliance with existing provincial legislation.

The legal decision is unanimously upheld on appeal in 1998 and is considered a landmark, precedent setting case by Ontario's environmental law community.

1996 -- FOT intervenes in Ontario Hydro's Matabitchuan Dam reconstruction project, persuading Hydro to minimize environmental impacts and rehabilitate the site following the project's completion.

Following that important intervention, Ontario Hydro invites FOT to participate in the planning of the 1998 Cross lake dam reconstruction project.

1995 to Present -- FOT is active in a variety of land use management processes, including the Temagami Local Citizens Committee, which advises on Forest Management Planning. FOT was similarly active during the Comprehensive Planning Process that led to the Temagami Land Use Plan in 1997.