Québec National Parks, one of the three magnificent Sépaq Networks

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	Conservation Mission

History

This game-rich area of the Laurentian range was a favorite Montagnais hunting ground until 1890, when it became the preserve of Club La Roche, a well-known private hunting and fishing club specialized in caribou and speckled trout, and run by William Hume Blake. The club was founded by a handful of wealthy Americans and Ontarians who summered in La Malbaie and who liked to compare the colours and textures of the nordic vegetation to the splendours of an English garden. The club held on to its privileges until 1968.

A winter road from Saint-Urbain to La Baie was completed in 1850, and made direct access to the area possible by land for the first time. Shelters constructed along the road served as stopover places for travellers and, on occasion, for mail carriers, hunters and anglers. Route 381, which crosses the eastern portion of the park, follows an old trail linking Baie-Saint-Paul and La Baie. Today, this "Little Park Road", as it is commonly called, links the Saguenay and Québec City regions.

In 1895, Québec created Parc national des Laurentides, which included club territory. Thomas Fortin, a woodsman from the village of Saint-Urbain, was named the government's first official representative and was charged with tracing park boundaries.

In actual fact, "Parc des Laurentides" was more like a forest reserve than a true park, and eventually went on to become part of the network of Québec wildlife reserves that exists today.

In 1981, the Government of Québec established its first conservation park network and accorded the Grands-Jardins park in Charlevoix this status.

In 1988, UNESCO embedded the Parc national des Grands-Jardins within the World Biosphere Reserve in Charlevoix, confirming its international position as a vital element in the conservation of the biodiversity of this exceptional site.

Two major forest fires have since devastated the Grands-Jardins forest, one in 1991 and another in 1999. Although these events initially appear to be dramatic, they are nevertheless beneficial for a number of animal species. Contrary to what most people would think, the post-fire ecosystem is dynamic, and this gives the Parc national des Grands-Jardins territory its special nature. Come see for yourself how this young forest teems with life.