13 Thousand Trees Planted - Parks Canada nurturing nature on the Bruce

TOBERMORY, ON, July 18, 2013 /CNW/ - Canada's "Parks Day" is this weekend, July 20, 2013, and it offers an opportunity to celebrate the living legacy that is being created by Parks Canada as we work to protect and present Canada's great outdoor places for present and future generations. This summer, team members at Bruce Peninsula National Park are working full out to restore habitat within the park, creating a better home for wildlife on the Bruce Peninsula.

Created in 1987, Bruce Peninsula National Park did not come fully packaged and assembled. While a park boundary has been established, many parcels of land within that boundary were owned by private landowners. The park has been acquiring property on a willing seller, willing buyer basis ever since. Properties that the park is slowly acquiring are places where people have lived, farmed, or worked.

Parks Canada has national standards for the protection, preservation, and presentation of park properties, and Bruce Peninsula National Park is working to bring recently acquired lands up to these standards. Work this summer has focused on sites that were mostly used for agricultural, but historically, they would have held hardwood forests, which are now relatively rare. By planting over 13 thousand trees this summer, the park is working to reintroduce hardwood forest on the peninsula. The trees were planted in cooperation with the Grey-Sauble Conservation Authority with substantial assistance from the province of Ontario's 50 Million Tree Program.

"While we could probably get some great YouTube video by offering a 3 bedroom bungalow to a family of black bears, the park is really focused on creating suitable and connected habitat that will support the diverse range of animals that call the park home," said Frank Burrows, Superintendent, Bruce Peninsula National Park. "The work we are doing will help ensure that future generations of Canadians will be able to come here to connect with nature and discover the beauty of an incredible and diverse landscape."

The active management techniques that the park is implementing are helping to restore the connectivity of natural ecosystems within the park. Farms, houses, roads and industry create barriers that fragment and affect animal habitat. By re-naturalizing recently acquired property within the park boundaries, these human created barriers are being removed. This will directly benefit wildlife populations like black bear and forest birds by helping to limit predators and invasive species.

Parks Canada works to ensure Canada's historic and natural heritage is protected and, through a network of 44 national parks, 167 national historic sites, and four national marine conservation areas, invites Canadians and people around the world to engage in personal moments of inspiring discovery at our treasured natural and historic places. For more information about Bruce Peninsula National Park visit www.parkscanada.gc.ca/bruce, email [email protected] or telephone 519-596-2233.

SOURCE: Parks Canada (Georgian Bay and Ontario East Field Unit)