October 26, 2011
Group hopes to expand
Dumoine "park"
by Vance Gutzman
Protection of the Dumoine River watershed could open up new
opportunities for economic diversification in the Pontiac.
That's according to the mayor of Rapides des Joachims, who is
anticipating a move by the Quebec government to expand the interim
protection that has been afforded the watershed.
"I think it's a good thing," said Jim Gibson last week.
"We're going to be known as the gateway to the Dumoine."
Mayor Gibson made those remarks in regards to the ongoing efforts of
the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) to greatly expand the
area of the Dumoine watershed that is protected from development.
The interim protection, granted in 2008, currently in place
covers 1,445 square km of the Dumoine watershed.
CPAWS, however, has been lobbying the provincial government to expand
the protected area to cover at least 3,160 square km.
John McDonnell, executive director of CPAWS' Ottawa Valley chapter,
says the current area protects only the immediate watershed of the
Dumoine River, leaving the secondary watershed exposed to development.
The entire watershed covers an area of some 4,400 square km, McDonnell
points out, and that area includes a considerable amount of old-growth
forest.
The watershed also provides a link, he says, between the forests of the
Ottawa Valley and the Boreal forest to the north.
CPAWS pioneered the concept of linking Algonquin Park to the Adirondack
State Park in the 1990s, and McDonnell believes giving the Dumoine
expanded protection would extend that link to the Boreal - affording
some interesting conservation opportunities along the way.
The interim protection currently in place bills the 1,445 square km of
the Dumoine watershed as an "aquatic reserve," which restricts logging,
mining and hydro-electric activities, but still keeps it open to
hunting, fishing, trapping, cabins, ATVs and other recreational uses.
CPAWS is anticipating public hearings into the final boundaries and
level of protection of the expanded coverage area early in 2012, and is
hoping for a government decision late next year or in early 2013.
"We've been working closely with the communities in the Pontiac, like
Rapides des Joachims," McDonnell says.
"Fort Coulonge has also shown an interest in the watershed. I think
everyone sees the opportunities that are there. There is a consensus
that the area needs to protected."
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