Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park Management Plan

Description of policy

Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park is a 33,505 ha natural environment class park situated in parts of the District Municipality of Muskoka (Ryde Township), City of Kawartha Lakes (Dalton and Digby Townships) and Haliburton County (Anson and Lutterworth Townships). The park was formally established through regulation under the Provincial Parks Act on June 28, 2003, and is a product of the expansion of the province's protected areas system that has resulted from the Ontario's Living Legacy Land Use Strategy.

During the development of the Strategy, the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands site was identified as the most diverse and least disturbed natural area in Ecodistrict 5E-8. The park is characterized by gently rolling topography consisting of bedrock ridges and troughs of shallow soil deposits, several lakes, and a rich variety of forested, non-forested and wetland vegetation types. It protects a number of provincially rare species and significant natural areas, including the Lewisham Wetland and Riley Lake Barrens. The park also has significant potential for sites of archaeological and cultural importance.

The site receives intensive recreational use in some areas, with popular activities including fishing, hunting, canoeing, camping, snowmobiling, and ATV travel. Numerous trails, both authorized and informal, traverse the park, including the 'wilderness' portion of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail. The park also contains portions of authorized traplines, bait fish harvest areas and bear management areas, and a number of recreation camps under land use permit. Private land, including several cottage lakes, surrounds the majority of the park.

Purpose of policy

A management plan is needed for Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park in order to establish policy direction for resource stewardship, operations and development. The approved plan will guide the management of the park for a 20-year period, and identify Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands' contributions to the achievement of the four Ontario Provincial Parks system objectives oe protection, heritage appreciation, recreation and tourism.

Other information

In accordance with the provisions of the Ontario Provincial Park Management Planning Manual (1994), consultation is required during the preparation, review and approval of this plan. Ontario Parks' policy requires direct written notice to certain individuals and organizations at each stage of the planning process. Other interested individuals and organizations may request to be added to this list, which is updated at each stage.

Opportunities for consultation will be provided at each stage of the management plan review process as follows (stages beyond Stage 2 are tentative):

• Stage Two - Opportunity to Review Background Information Report, May 12 - June 30, 2006
• Stage Three - Opportunity to Review Management Options (Issues and Plan Alternatives), Fall 2006
• Stage Four - Opportunity to Review Preliminary Park Management Plan, Winter 2007
• Stage Five - Opportunity to Inspect Approved Park Management Plan, Spring 2007

In addition to the consultation opportunities outlined above, a public advisory committee has been established to assist the planning team in the preparation of a management plan for Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park.

Other public consultation opportunities

The Background Information document is available for download from the Ontario Parks website (http//www.ontarioparks.com/English/invite.html). Hard copies of the document may be obtained at the Ontario Parks, Central Zone Office, 451 Arrowhead Park Road, Huntsville Ontario P1H 2J4. Phone: (705) 789-1481, Fax: (705) 789-5948, email: hank.vanluit@mnr.gov.on.ca. Comments concerning the Background Information document will be received at the above address until June 30, 2006.

In addition to posting on this Registry, the above notice has been released in regional newspapers and sent directly to mandatory and discretionary contacts on the current mailing list.

Additional information about the Ontario Provincial Park system, park planning and the Ontario's Living Legacy Land Use Strategy can be found at the weblinks listed below.