Fort Coulonge

K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

This month, Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel spent the day in a canoe on the Noire River with partners from two Outaouais environmental organizations to celebrate the progress they have made designating the Noire and Coulonge river watersheds as protected areas.

In 2023, after years of work by the Regional Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Outaouais (CREDDO) and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s (CPAWS) Ottawa Valley chapter, the Quebec government officially recognized the watersheds as a protected area, a status that ensures protection from industrial activities such as mining and logging.

But both organizations want to expand the territory the protected area covers from 85,000 to 115,000 hectares, which was their original goal when they began this work in 2019.

They used this money to conduct studies on the environmental value of the landscape, as well as the potential impacts on the forestry industry and on access to the territory and its woodland trail system.

They held public meetings called “harmonization tables” which brought together residents, municipalities, Indigenous communities, municipalities, ecotourism agencies, and more to discuss how they wanted the territory to be managed.

Geneviève LeBlanc, a conservation coordinator with CPAWS’ Ottawa Valley chapter, said to THE EQUITY in an email “the funding improved our community outreach efforts. It covered expenses related to the harmonization table and community information workshops.”

LeBlanc said in these meetings they were hearing that people wanted more territory to be included.

“We were really grateful, but we noticed that there’s actually more to protect in that area and that people wanted the protected area to be expanded.”

The proposed extensions would include the eastern branch of the Coulonge River, as well as areas that will improve connectivity between the two watersheds.

LeBlanc, who has been working on this project for over six years, said the landscape has tremendous ecological value, with more than 200 species identified, more than 20 of which are provincially or federally threatened or vulnerable.

“There are some species at risk that are really key there,” she said, noting the Noire and Coulonge rivers are situated in an important north-south corridor where species migrate.

There are also important forest ecosystems, including an old-growth cedar forest more than 300 years old.

“They have some old-growth forests and some forests that are growing toward being old-growth forests, which consumes a lot of carbon, so keeping them intact has a really high value,” she said.
Pontiac MP Sophie Chatel, a partner in this project, said the goal is to create a protected area that is ecologically valuable, but also where people can enjoy nature.

“It’s not just about protection, it’s about saving the natural beauty so that our children will be able to enjoy it, but also tourists will come and have a unique experience.”

In 2022, MRC Pontiac warden Jane Toller told THE EQUITY the protected area could help boost the region’s ecotourism industry.

“Our ecotourism [ . . . ] is attracting a lot of people,” she said. “People are in search of wilderness experiences now. And 50 per cent of people are leaving cities to go to wilderness natural areas, and the Pontiac offers that. So, it’s attracting tourists, it’s attracting permanent residents.”

Naomi Kamanga of CREDDO said during their public meetings they encountered some people who were resistant to the idea of a protected area.

“People were afraid of the term ‘protected area’ because they didn’t know what activities are allowed and what activities aren’t allowed.”

LeBlanc said landowners and people who use the land for recreational purposes will still be able to continue with those activities.

“Having a protected area is connecting people with nature. In a way that means that they can still enjoy all their activities. They’re doing their fishing, hunting, even some ATV or Ski-Doo.”

She noted that the only activities that will not be allowed on the land are industrial activities, citing mining and logging as examples.

During the public meeting some people were concerned that tourism would overrun the area, similar to what has happened at Mont-Tremblant.

LeBlanc said the chances of this happening are low because the land is publicly owned.

“It’s land that’s owned by the provincial government; crown land. So there’s no private land. The government will not be selling its land to a Tim Horton’s.”

Overall, LeBlanc said the public seems excited about the project, and that she has received a lot of positive feedback.

MRC environmental coordinator Kari Richardson said the MRC has always been a supporter of the Coulonge and Noire River protected area, but that she is concerned about how the MRC is going to maintain roads in an area where no extraction or mining is allowed.

“It’s important to have areas where those activities aren’t permitted, but then if we have to maintain infrastructure we need a gravel pit to do that,” she said.

Work from CREDDO and CPAWS has largely paused, as they are waiting for the Bureau d’audience publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE), the provincial agency that evaluates projects that will have impacts on the environment, to hold an information session informing the community about the project.

That’s also where CREDDO and CPAWS will have an opportunity to formally propose the expansion.
LeBlanc doesn’t know exactly when the BAPE will hold that session, but she’s hoping it’s sooner than later. She said if any mining projects begin in the areas designated for expansion, that could jeopardize the success of the project.

“Once a mine is there, it’s part of the area for a really long time, if not forever [ . . . ] That’s one of the things that could derail the project, if there’s an active mining claim.”

LeBlanc said she expects the session won’t be held until all of the projects in the Outaouais are at the same stage of the process.