He was re-elected in the 1981 provincial election. Pope was promoted to Minister of Natural Resources on April 10, 1981. He served in this position for the remainder of the Davis administration's time in office. Responding to a report on the state of the province's provincial park system, Pope promised to significantly increase the number of parks. However, he refused to prohibit mining, hunting and fishing within park grounds. In 1982, after a dispute over wild rice harvesting on Mud Lake, Pope ruled that traditional native harvesting rights would be upheld and that the ministry would not allow commercial harvesting to proceed.