Pukaskwa National Park

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Pukaskwa National Park
Horseshoe Bay on Lake Superior in the park
Horseshoe Bay on Lake Superior in the park
Pukaskwa National Park (Canada)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 48 ° 2 ′ 1 ″  N , 85 ° 54 ′ 59 ″  W.
Location: Ontario , Canada
Next city: marathon
Surface: 1,878 km²
Founding: 1978
Visitors: 9,593 (2016/2017)
Address: Pukaskwa National Park
PO Box 212
Heron Bay, ON
Canada
P0T 1R0
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The Pukaskwa National Park ( French Parc national du Canada Pukaskwa , English Pukaskwa National Park of Canada ) is a Canadian national park in the province of Ontario . It is the largest national park in the province and is located on the eastern shore of Lake Superior (Lake Superior), at which the near the site Pic River flows into the lake. The nearest town is the marathon in the Thunder Bay District, northwest of the park . The only road access to the park is from the north on Ontario Highway 627 .

The 1878 km² park was founded in 1971 and 1983 and extends about 80 km along the eastern shore of the Upper Lake. Although the name is known to be of Indian origin, the meaning is unclear. The park represents the border area between the Great Lakes region and the Canadian Shield. The flora is largely dominated by boreal forest . Here live among other woodland caribou , black bear, moose, Canadian lynx and wolves. The original caribou herd comprised around 200 animals, but it was decimated to 30 by the end of the 1970s and even to 5 by 2007 through hunting and ecological changes that went back to industrial use and logging. In 2010, 16 animals were counted again.

The park is an IUCN Category II ( National Park ) protected area .

Southern Headland Trail overlooking the Visitor Information Center

history

At the mouth of the Pic River the first archaeological investigations began in 1957, in 1960 and 1961 the site was excavated under the direction of J. Norman Emerson († 1978) from the University of Toronto . At one point there was evidence of a camp dating from around 1700; at the lower point, radiocarbon dating showed an age of 962 AD + - 80 years. Anishinabe is generally expected from around 1500. Another dig in 1964 was dedicated to the former Hudson's Bay Company trading post , which was built in the 1780s. The founder was the free fur trader Gabriel Cotte. At that time the existing Anishinabe village was abandoned. From 1799 to 1821 the post belonged to the North West Company , then the HBC, which maintained it until 1888. Jesuit missionaries came to the region in 1838, and an Indian reservation was established in 1914, where most of the members, just over 500, of the Ojibways of the Pic River First Nation live today.

1917 to 1933 the Lake Superior Paper Company exploited the area at the mouth of the Pukaskwa River. In 1937, the Ontario Paper Company also began felling the Pic and Black Rivers, which lasted until 1964. From 1946 the sea ​​lamprey began to penetrate the Upper Lake and the lakes of the Pukaskwa and displaced native species such as the American arctic char .

In 1986 the Friends of Pukaskwa, based in Marathon, signed a cooperation agreement with the park administration. The company is a private association dedicated to protecting the area. In addition, they provide information about the importance of the park and hold training courses. The members of the Freundeskreis receive the Wild Winds magazine by email . Students from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay also visit the Circle of Friends for teaching purposes.

The Anishinabe Camp has been in existence since the management plan of 1995, which aims to illustrate the importance of the Indian First Nations , more precisely the Anishinabe and Métis , who are now involved in the park management and the exhibitions in the Visitor Information Center. Numerous traces of their presence can be found in the park, such as the enigmatic Pukaskwa Pits , small pits that were possibly formed between 1100 and 1600, but whose age has also been estimated at 5000 to 10,000 years. The pits were carved in stone and are 1 to 2 m long and around 1.5 m deep. It is unclear whether they were used as storage pits, storage for hunting booty or for spiritual purposes, but indigenous elders consider the latter to be the most likely. They have been researched since 1949 and have been under protection since 1971. Proddy Goodchild, a member of the local Pic River First Nation, is considered the best expert on the park, which he visited since childhood. He worked on the expansion of the main hiking trail. The council of elders offered that park visitors could also come to their annual pow wow .

In addition, the only campsite in the north of the park was expanded. There are also multimedia and source presentations, collaborations with schools in Northern Ontario, where most of the visitors come from, studies of the complex ecosystem and a few hiking trails. Two of them give a brief glimpse into the region, another is only suitable for experienced people and requires appropriate equipment that is sufficient for about two weeks. The path leads 60 km along the rugged coast. There are also canoe routes along the coast and the Pukaskwa and White Rivers.

The rivers of the park are:

literature

Pukaskwa National Park Management Plan Summary , Parks Canada 1996.

Web links

Commons : Pukaskwa National Park  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ State of the Park Report - Pukaskwa National Park of Canada. (PDF; 2.8 MB) Parks Canada , accessed on March 25, 2015 (English).
  2. ↑ World Database on Protected Areas - Pukaskwa National Park of Canada (English)
  3. ↑ Patricia L. Gall: The Excavation of Fort Pic, Ontario , in: Ontario Archeology 10 (1967) 35-63.