La Mauricie National Park

La Mauricie National Park () is a national park located near Shawinigan in the Laurentian Mountains, in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. It covers in the southern Canadian Shield region bordering the Saint Lawrence lowlands. The park contains 150 lakes and many ponds.

The park lies within the Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion. The forests in this region were logged from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century. The park's forests have regrown and contain a mixture of conifers and mixed deciduous trees.

Wildlife in the park includes moose, black bears, beavers and otters. It supports a small number of wood turtles, rare in Canada. The park is a popular location for camping, canoeing and kayaking.

The park is named after the nearby Saint-Maurice River to the east of the park. The Matawin River flows along the west and north borders of the park.

Toponymy

The name "Mauricie" was first used in 1933 by Bishop Albert Tessier to designate an administrative region of Government of Québec, for which the Valley of Saint-Maurice is the main feature. The watershed of Saint-Maurice River is also administered in part by the administrative regions of Lanaudière (West), James Bay (North) and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (East). Moreover, the administrative region of Mauricie covers other watersheds including the Champlain River and half the territory of the Batiscanie, Quebec.

As in Saint-Maurice River, it was named in honour of the Lordship of Maurice Poulin La Fontaine. The land was a stronghold granted to his wife in 1676 near the mouth of the river. This "fief" (harvested area) was recognized in 1723 as the Saint-Maurice and the river, which previously denominated "River Three Rivers", was replaced by the current toponym for most of the 18th century. The river is also known Attikamekw under the name of Tapiskwan Sipi ("River of the threaded needle"). The Wyandot people know it under the name of Oquintondili and Abenaki under the name of Madôbalodenitekw. The park is itself part of a plateau gently sloping east to west, from near Saint-Maurice River to near inland. All lakes and streams flow into the Saint-Maurice by rivers "À la pêche" River (Shawinigan), Matawin and Shawinigan.

Natural heritage

The Mauricie National Park is located in the green area Level I established by Commission for Environmental Cooperation of Northern Forests. It is also entirely within the ecoregion level II of the mixed forest shield and ecological level III region of Southern Laurentians.

At the national level, the National Park is located in the ecoregion southern Laurentians, itself located in Ecoprovince Southern Boreal Shield and the Boreal Boreal Shield.

Flora

thumb|Flora fall in the path of [[Lake Gabet]]

The park contains more than 440 species of vascular plants 68 species of lichens and more than 85 species of mosses. The park also has 27 species of rare plants or special interest.

Forest covers 93% of the territory. It is located at the northern treeline leafyes Quebec. There are 30 species of different trees. The park is part of habitat ranges from maple to yellow birch (Acer saccharum and Betula papyrifera), which occupies the illuminated slopes and well-drained soils. The Balsam firs (Abies balsamea) and the pine (Pinus sp) and spruces (Picea sp) occupy the rocky cliffs and wetlands.

Wildlife

thumb|left|A [[chipmunk (Tamias striatus)]]

The park holds populations of dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis). Mixed forests are occupied by the ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), the blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) and the purple finch (Carpodacus purpureus). One species, the wood turtle, is considered endangered.

Most lakes have a relatively poor fish fauna due to the youth of the country. The brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is most commonly found, especially in the north of the park. The Isaiah, the French and the Bérubé are found at lower altitudes, where lakes have the greatest biodiversity, as well as populations of stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) and spoonhead sculpin (Cottus ricei). 19 species of fish have been introduced by humans over the 19th and 20th centuries. The 34 "protohistoric" archeological sites suggest that Native Americans who frequented the park lived in small family groups.

thumb|Cottage Wabenaki

At the end of the 19th century, rich American tourists settled in the area and opened private hunting and fishing clubs. The first three were the open Shawinigan Club 1883, the Laurentian Club in 1886 and the Club Commodore in 1905. Thirteen other less prestigious clubs settled on the territory of the park between 1940 and the creation of the park in 1970. Membership in the clubs was selective and members enjoyed the right to hunt and fish in the territory. Although they allowed a certain amount of nature protection in the territory of the park, these clubs introduced many exotic fish species into the lakes. Of these clubs, there remain only the "Wabenaki and Andrew lodges", old properties of the Laurentian Club located on the edge of lac à la Pêche (Lake of Fisheries). They were acquired by Parks Canada in 1972 and were converted into dormitories and rooms for visitors. This creation stopped the activities of the 16 private clubs in its territory.

References

Works cited

External links

Tourisme Mauricie Regional tourist office
Hundred of pictures of in and around La Mauricie National Park