Réserve faunique Rouge‑Matawin

Land-Use and Integrated Management

General presentation

Natural resource management on the territory of Réserve faunique Rouge-Matawin is a responsibility of the government, more specifically of the Ministère de la Forêt, de la Faune et des Parcs (ministry of forests, wildlife, and parks, or MFFP) and the Ministère de l’Énergie et des ressources naturelles (ministry of energy and natural resources, or MERN). Given the specific nature of wildlife reserves, they were given a “multiple modulated" vocation under the government’s Plans d’affectation du territoire public régionaux (regional public land use plans, or RPLUP), a vocation defined as the “multipurpose use of land and resources, with procedures or rules adapted to specific environmental, landscape, cultural, social, or economic conditions” (our translation). In other words, the management and use of natural resources, including forests and wildlife, must be carried out in an integrated manner by the government, i.e. taking into account all resources on the territory as well as the legal vocation of conserving and showcasing the fauna of the wildlife reserve.

In this regard, the forest of Réserve faunique Rouge-Matawin is exploited by designated holders of timber supply guarantees (DHTSG), i.e. forestry companies having a harvest agreement with the MFFP, based on forestry planning under the auspices of the MFFP since April 1, 2013. The Ministère is now in charge of developing tactical and operational integrated forest management plans (IFMP) at the scale of each management unit, taking into consideration, in particular, the allowable cut calculation carried out by the Chief Forester, work from local integrated resources tables and territory management tables (LIRTMT), the orientations and objectives pursued by the Government to the Regional Public Land Use Plans (PATP), the objectives of sustainable forest management as set out in the Law Sustainable Forest Management (LADTF), as well as the sustainable forest development objectives stipulated in the Sustainable Forest Development Act (SFDA). In the wake of this exercise, discussions are underway involving Sépaq, the MFFP, and representatives of forestry companies (DHTSG) aimed at integrating into forestry planning and interventions various measures or procedures designed to minimize conflicts of use and impacts on the wildlife and landscape, as well as on the environment in which recreational and wildlife-related activities are carried out in wildlife reserves.

In order to equip wildlife reserve managers in terms of integrated wildlife-forest-recreation forestry management and to guide the MFFP in harmonizing forestry planning for these unique territories so that the different types of forestry interventions are more predictable, better adapted, and more likely to help fulfil the particular vocation of wildlife reserves, Sépaq has carried out a number of so-called IRM (integrated resource management) projects.

Consult the list of completed projects (in French only)

Specific land-uses

To ensure the sustainability of resources and with a view to achieving a rational use of the territory, Réserve faunique Rouge-Matawin carries out wildlife management work, in particular to improve the fishing potential of some lakes.

 

Specific Issues

In line with long-term development aims and choices in the wildlife reserve's Development Plan, several efforts to improve the quality of the user's experience were made since 2008:

  • Improving access to different areas of the reserve (restoring bridges, footpaths, adding signs)
  • Installation of evisceration tables
  • Major maintenance of some rustic shelters
  • A new area with 3 cabins has been developed by Lac Legendre.
  • Work is being done to analyze several lakes with the objective of developing the fishing potential.
  • In 2014, the arrival of 5 new Modik cabins for the Willard (2), Dumbo (1) and Laverdière (2) lakes sectors along with the permanent posting of an area warden at Lac Laverdière.
  • In the summer of 2014, the reserve undertook a number of initiatives to improve its road network:
    • restoration of the running surface of a number of main roads;
    • restoration and upgrading of bridges and culverts; and
    • widening of roads by way of mechanized pruning.
  • Since 2011, the reserve has carried out development and restoration work on brook trout spawning grounds and has improved fish habitats on 15 or so waterways through projects funded by the Fondation de la faune du Québec and its AQHA (aquatic habitat quality improvement) program and by Fisheries and Oceans Canada through its Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program (RFCPP).
  • Fall operations involving artificial brook trout spawning for newly developed sites.
  • Annual seeding of adult brook trout on ten or so waterways of the area.

The reserve also has, in 2014, a new seeding 10-year plan drawn up jointly with the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP).

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