This is the International Year of Diversity when we highlight the many different ecological and cultural areas we have in Canada. The new wilderness park to be created in Newfoundland and Labrador is an excellent representative of this diversity with its many ecologial areas and species of wildlife.
Labrador Newfoundland Wilderness Park
The park will include the Mealy Mountains and has been given the name of Mealy Mountain National Park. The area abounds with wildlife including endangered herds of caribou, moose, black bear, osprey, bald eagles and another endangered species, harlequin ducks. Many rivers teem with salmon, making the area a true wilderness paradise.
Unlike other Canadian parks, Mealy Mountain National Park will allow people in the area to continue to use it for traditional purposes including hunting, fishing, trapping, snaring small animals and cutting wood. However, no new development, including land development and mining, and will be allowed.
A True Wilderness Park Including Several Ecological Areas
The area has a diverse ecological landscape including boreal forest, tundra and wetlands. It also boasts coastal barrens and string bog, making it a true wilderness area, rich in colorful landscapes and varied wildlife. The nearest town is Goose Bay/Happy Valley, far to the south.
The Mealy Mountains of Labrador
The Mealy Mountains are located in the southern portion of Labrador, and include several of the ecological areas, including tundra and boreal forest. The tallest mountains measure 1000 meters to 1,180 meters (93,281 feet to 3.871 feet.) The mountains lie south of Lake Melville and cover approximately 26,495 square kilometers (10,231 square miles.
Lake Melville is a saltwater tidal extension of Hamilton Inlet on the Labrador coast
Creation of the Wilderness Park
Parks Canada announced the future park on February 5, 2010, in Happy Valley-Goose bay. At the same time, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced that a provincial park would also be created adjacent to the Mealy Mountains to protect the Eagle River watershed. Together, the two parks will encompass 13,000 square miles.
The park, when completed, will be larger than the province of Prince Edward Island. It will also be larger than either Yellowstone or Yosemite in the United States.
“As we enter into the International Year of Biodiversity, it is fitting that we are working to establish a national park reserve to protect this spectacular boreal landscape for all time, for all Canadians,” Environment Minister Jim Prentice said during a press conference in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Mealy Mountain National Park, with its diverse ecological areas and abundance of wildlife, will be a slice of wilderness far from the civilized world, a true place to get away from it all.
Florence Cardinal - Florence Cardinal was born on the Alberta Prairies in 1935, and has spent her life there. Her articles, fiction and poetry have been ...
