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Further information on any of the news pieces listed below may be obtained by contacting the Canadian Heritage Rivers System (CHRS) Secretariat at donald.gibson@pc.gc.ca.
The old CHRS Objectives, Principles and Procedures and the CHRS Guidelines have been updated and revised. The integrity guidelines for inclusion in the CHRS have also been significantly tightened. This is in response to a discussion at the January 1999 meeting of the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board as to whether or not the integrity of the CHRS is threatened by the inclusion of rivers whose water quality and shoreline aesthetics are significantly challenged. It was further questioned as to whether or not the Board’s integrity guidelines, adopted in 1989, have been effective in maintaining the System’s integrity and whether interpretation of these guidelines had been too lenient. The new documents, “Policies and Guidelines of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System” and “The Integrity of Canadian Heritage Rivers” are available through the Secretariat.
Three Rivers, Prince Edward Island: A Big River for a Small Island Prince Edward Island may be most famous as the home of Anne of Green Gables, but rivers are an integral part of the island’s heritage. Montague-Three Rivers includes the Cardigan, Brudenell and Montague/Valleyfield rivers, flowing into Cardigan Bay on Northumberland Strait via three long, finger-like tidal estuaries. The nomination of these rivers to the CHRS is based on their rich cultural values and the recreational opportunities they offer. Typical of all rivers on the island, farming and settlement has significantly altered these rivers, and precludes their nomination based on natural heritage values. Despite this, Montague-Three Rivers includes a variety of unspoiled habitats and shorelines, including salt marshes, sandy beaches, and mixed woods. Migrating waterfowl frequent the estuary, and trout and salmon live and breed throughout the watershed. But it is the cultural values of the watershed that clearly make it outstanding in Canada. Scrapers, spear points found in the area show that it was long used by the Mi’kmaq before the arrival of Europeans. When the first Europeans did arrive, Montague-Three Rivers was soon recognized as having one of the best harbours in North America. It quickly became a centre of settlement and commercial fishing. Three Rivers was the site of one of the first French settlements on Prince Edward Island, the Jean Pierre Roma Settlement of 1732. It quickly grew into the most important node of European civilization on Prince Edward Island. All roads on PEI at that time led to Montague-Three Rivers. In 1790, one of the first ferry services in Canada began here. The remains of early ferry docks can still be seen. In 1803 Lord Selkirk brought 800 Scottish settlers here from the Isle of Skye. In the 1840s, a thriving shipbuilding industry was centred here, and the fine natural harbour attracted commercial fishermen from up and down the east coast of Canada and the US. The first hydro-electric dam on PEI started producing electricity in 1899 in the Montague-Three Rivers area. The recreational potential of Montague-Three Rivers is also outstanding. The Montague-Three Rivers are navigable by canoe for over 52 km, a long distance by PEI standards. There are several excellent sand beaches, trails, including the Confederation Trail, PEI’s longest multi-use trail, and three Scenic Heritage Roads. Fishing for speckled trout, Atlantic salmon, and gasperaux, a common bait fish, are popular activities.  New Designations: For a nominated river to be designated to the CHRS, a management plan or heritage strategy that specifies the actions to be taken to protect the heritage values of the river, must be completed. Management plans have been prepared for the Detroit River and La Vase Portages, an extension to the Mattawa River, both in Ontario, and the Main River in Newfoundland. Detroit River: A Unique International Heritage The Detroit River is a waterway between two countries with its shores embracing the largest metropolitan area on any international border. But rather than separating communities along its banks, the river connects them culturally and economically. More than 14,000,000 vehicles and 8,000 commercial ships cross the Detroit River annually, making it the busiest international border crossing point in North America, .and a key transportation route in the Great Lakes system linking Lake St. Clair with Lake Erie. The Windsor-Detroit area has a fascinating history of settlement, trade, culture and industrialization centred around the Detroit River. Archaeological finds date North Americans at river front sites as early as 400 A.D. Europeans reached the area around 1650 and reaped the benefits of the river’s rich natural resources. The river has a fascinating 300-year history as a strategic location for defense and was an integral part of the Underground Railway. Numerous pleasure craft, tug boats, lake freighters and ocean vessels now ply its waters past parks, farms, historic sites and the urban centres of Windsor,, Ontario and Detroit, Michjgan. The Detroit River received American Heritage River designation in 1998. With designation to the CHRS scheduled for July 19, it will become the first river with dual designations. Check out their web site: http://www.epa.gov/rivers/98rivers/detroit.html La Vase Portages: The Link Between the Ottawa River and the Great Lakes In February 1999, the La Vase Portages was nominated to the CHRS as a supplementary nomination to the existing Mattawa River CHRS designation. The La Vase Portages connect Trout Lake, at the head of the Mattawa River, to the La Vase River, leading to Lake Nipissing and the French River. The 11 km route entails seven km of water travel, and four km of portage trails. When Alexander Mackenzie came this way over 200 years ago, it must have been a very well trodden trail, as this was the main fur trade route to the west. Mackenzie describes the portage in a dry, matter-of-fact tone, “one thousand, five hundred and thirteen paces to a small canal in a plain that is just sufficient to carry the loaded canoe to the next vase…a narrow creek dammed in beaver fashion….a swamp of two miles to the last vase….care is necessary to avoid the rocks and stumps and trees.” The route had a reputation among fur traders as being the muddiest section of the entire trans-continental canoe route. This route is one of the oldest known trade routes in Ontario, if not all of Canada. But today, there is not a trace of the old portage left. It’s hard to imagine that this was the Trans-Canada highway for thousands of years. A community group called the Friends of La Vase Portages is dedicated to re-establishing the trail as it used to appear, so that modern-day travellers can once again follow this traditional route of the Voyageurs, fur-traders and First Nations peoples. Designation to the CHRS will help this dream come true. Main River, Newfoundland The Main River, one of the last wilderness rivers on the island of Newfoundland, provides a heart-stopping roller coaster ride for whitewater canoeists. But it is much more than rapids. Virgin boreal forest, placid lakes, the slow waters of the Big Steady, moose, caribou, speckled trout and Atlantic salmon - all await the adventurous paddler. The Main River was nominated to the CHRS for a number of outstanding natural and recreational values. Its watershed encompasses some of the last remaining old-growth boreal forest on the island of Newfoundland, unique in that it has not experienced significant disturbances for over 7,000 years. It is the largest expanse of undisturbed forest left on the island. The forests of the Main contain one of two viable populations of the endangered pine marten left on the island, as well as providing habitat for large populations of caribou, moose, black bear, and lynx. The river and its tributaries support one of the most prolific populations of Atlantic salmon and speckled trout in Newfoundland. The unique forests and wetlands of the Big Steady provide habitat for a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds. The river is considered one of the finest wilderness and whitewater rivers in Canada. Rarely does such a small river (only 57 km long) encompass such a wide range of outstanding values. The management of the Main River will entail a delicate balance between logging and retaining undisturbed habitat sufficient to maintain the natural values and recreational values for which the river was nominated to the system. A substantial corridor will be designated as a provincial waterway park, providing legislative protection for the river corridor. Areas outside the proposed provincial park that fall within the view of people canoeing on the river (the “viewshed”), will be designated as no-cut zones, or zones where special harvesting techniques will be used to ensure that the effects of logging will not be visible from the river, to preserve the wilderness experience. Areas of key or sensitive habitat for wildlife will be exempt from logging, and a buffer of 100 m will be left along all major tributaries to ensure that the aquatic habitat is not impaired. These are just a few examples of the measures that will be taken to mitigate the impacts of logging on the natural and recreational values of the Main River as a Canadian Heritage River.
Soft Science Productions of Gores Landing, Ontario, produced a video profiling five Canadian Heritage Rivers – the Grand, Fraser, St. Croix, Soper, and Clearwater. The production entitled “Community Reflections on Canadian Heritage Rivers”, looks at how the designation of a heritage river has affected the lives of people living along these rivers. The production has been very favourably received. For information on how to obtain a copy, contact the Canadian Heritage Rivers Secretariat.
Ten Year State-of-the-River Reports were produced for the Bloodvein River (Manitoba section only) and the St. Croix River in New Brunswick. The Bloodvein Report indicated that no significant changes have occurred which alter the river’s original nomination values. The Ten Year Report for the St. Croix indicates both deterioration and improvements. The St. Croix Waterway is comprised of three distinct sections, the Chiputneticook Lakes comprise the headwaters and a controlled storage reservoir, the main stem of the rivers between the towns of St. Croix and Milltown, and the St. Croix Estuary. The Chiputneticook Lakes section has seen the fewest changes in the past decade, and is still essentially in a natural state. Its renowned smallmouth bass populations have been restored to 1980 levels. Several remote campsites for canoeists have been added. The New Brunswick government purchased all the holdings of Georgia Pacific, the major forestry company in the area, converting the Canadian portion of the watershed into Crown land. This bodes well for the future of the lakes section of the waterway, as much of this land has been proposed as key components of New Brunswick’s protected area strategy. In the river section, water quality continues to improve. Georgia Pacific Corporation has upgraded the fishway at Woodland around one of four dams it operates on the river, and has significantly reduced the effluent from its pulp and paper plant to consistently meet provincial standards. Georgia Pacific has also voluntarily maintained more consistent water levels in the river, a benefit to paddlers and to fish. Despite this, however, and a major restocking program, the population of Atlantic salmon has declined. The alewive population has declined drastically, which in turn may have caused a decline in osprey numbers. In the St. Croix Estuary, water quality has improved, allowing for the recreational and commercial harvesting of clams after half a century of closure. Herring populations are declining to such an extent that they are no longer caught commercially in traditional weirs. Dragging for sea urchins and scallops continues to disrupt the natural bottom biota. After a decade in the CHRS, on the whole, the St. Croix River has improved significantly. Copies of these reports are available from the appropriate Board member (addresses on the Contact Us page).
The Gift of Rivers, edited by Pamela Michael, Travelers’ Tales, San Francisco These two outstanding collections of essays take the reader on river trips across Canada and around the world. But not always in the usual sense. These essays travel beyond the limits of space and geography to the limits of time and thought. They explore places you never expected rivers to take you to. The authors of this collection are people whose lives revolve around rivers and tripping. Historians, sociologists, artists, collectors, writers, canoe trippers, philosophers, explorers all, their essays boldly take us where no canoe or raft has gone before. Reading through these essays is like river tripping with experienced, knowledgeable guides, who can reveal things you would never notice on your own. These essays expand one’s mental map of the world. They are trips well worth taking. And once you have, you will never look at a river in quite the same way again. |
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