Quebec earmarks $62 million for park: Projects will improve facilities and roads at Parc de la Gaspesie in Chic-Chocs mountains
Copyright 2001
The Gazette (Montreal)
October 12, 2001
By LYNN MOORE
About $62 million has been earmarked by Quebec to make the Chic-Chocs mountain area in the Gaspe an international destination for outdoor enthusiasts.
About 70 different projects are to be undertaken over the next three years to improve facilities at Parc de la Gaspesie and its neighbouring wildlife reserves as well to improve area roads. The Parc de la Gaspesie, established in 1937, covers about 800 square kilometres that range from boreal forest to arctic-alpine environments.
It also includes the highest mountains in Quebec and the only area where moose, caribou and deer co-habit. A four-season delight for nature- lovers, it offers about 130 kilometres of trails for hikers as well as plenty of room for mountain biking, canoeing, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing.
125,000 Visitors
Last year, according to SEPAQ, the agency responsible for Quebec parks, the park attracted about 125,000 visitors, not a lot given its natural splendour.
One of the park's major attractions, one Quebec hopes will lure American and European visitors, are the Chic-Chocs, mountains that form the northernmost section of the Appalachian Mountains.
Parc de la Gaspesie trails are now part of the International Appalachian Trail and link Quebec with the fabled Appalachian Trail that runs from Maine to Georgia.
The IAT, which officially opened last year, continues its run through Quebec by heading east through Forillon National Park and concludes at the spectacular Cap Gaspe.
Some avid hikers have already done the complete IAT, from Georgia to Gaspe, and more are planning the mammoth trek, either as a through-hike or one done in segments.
Fortunately for them - and Quebecers who will be staying closer to home because of the weak Canadian dollar - the project to improve Parc de la Gaspesie will include upgrades to all of its accommodations.
Current accommodations include hiking huts, campgrounds, cabins and the Gite du Mont-Albert, a hotel known for its kitchen and rooms that offer stunning mountain views.
New Campground
About $38.8 million of the recently announced $62 million will be used to develop and improve the infrastructure at Parc de la Gaspesie, Chic-Chocs Wildlife Reserve and Matane and Duniere Wildlife Reserve.
The various projects include:
-Another 40 rooms to be added to Gite du Mont Albert.
-A campground at Mont-Albert.
-Camping sites for canoeists at Lake Cascapedia.
-Construction of a base lodge and three mountainside ecolodges at the Matane and Duniere Wildlife reserve.
Hiking trails and basic services are also to be improved.
According to SEPAQ, all accommodation sites are to be lined by a "year-round first-rate trail network that meets the needs of the more discriminating as well as those who just like to walk in a stimulating natural environment."
About $23 million has been set aside for improvements to highways and roads in the vicinity of the parks.
SEPAQ described the infusion of cash as a concerted approach to conservation and development.
Premier Bernard Landry and other PQ ministers described it as an important step in developing a "national park system" and an undertaking that would create about 970 jobs and yield 125 permanent jobs.
A counterpoint to this announcement, of course, is the government's decision earlier this year to lift the moratorium on dams for private energy producers, paving the way for as many as 36 small dams on 24 Quebec rivers, including the Rouge and Gatineau.
That announcement has outraged many outdoors folks, white-water enthusiasts in particular.
The province was to release by now a "short list" of proposed dam projects that had been given the go-ahead by regional municipalities in the targeted areas but, according to officials speaking for Natural Resources Minister Jacques Brassard, the consultation process is taking longer than anticipated.
- For more information about the IAT, check out either of these Web sites: www.sia-iat.com or www.international at.org.
- Lynn Moore can be reached by E-mail at moorel@thegazette.southam.ca and lynnmoore@sympatico.ca or by writing 250 St. Antoine St. W. Montreal H2Y 3R7. Information can also be faxed to (514) 987-2399.