. (1970) park.

_ Paradise for the cano

Finding La Maurlcie

‘National Park, about 64 km

(40 miles) north of Trois
Rivieres, Quebed,Quebec,
may involve a_ verbal
inquiry or two but the
reward is worth the effort.
Whether you speak French
or English, you will find the
residents of Trois Rivieres
or Shawiniga n ready to aid
and direct you. La

Mauricie is a relatively new
It’s rapid
development has coincided
with the rebirth of the very
interest that, for nomadic
Indians, made the Mattawin
and St. Maurice Rivers the
natural wataerwater
highway between the St,

» Lawrence valley and the

interior. La Muauricie is a
canoeist’s park. Park

naturalist, Bernard
Jolicoeur, obtained a, fine
quality canoe from the
rental service located on
Lake Wapizagonke and we
paddled off in the warm
morning sun. Our first stop
was at hthe ancient Indian
pictographs on the high
cliffs across the narrow

‘lake, where we shot a few

pictures after wetting the
ictographs down to bring
e colors out. The ochre
designs are very old and
their origin is
uncertain, La Mauricie
encompasses an impressive
array of heavily forested
mountains rolling back from:
river valleys
interconnected lakes, The:
park marks the transitional
zone between the southern
deciduous forests and the
boreal conifers extending

. down from the north. The

resulting intermix includes
36 species of trees and
corresponding assortment
ef fauna. The initial
onslaught of timber cutters
stripped the area of the
white pine climax forest.
They were followed by the
fir harvesters for pulp and
per. The region then
ame the vast private
(preserve of a hunting and
‘fishing club which accounts

"for the almost iotal recovery

and regrowth of the existing
mixed forest today. We
ddied by small sandy
aches and the ‘civilized’
facilities of the narrow lakes
and entered the narrow and
meandering Shawinigan
River. We viewed an active
‘beaver house and pulled in
at the weathered wood and
timbered spillway of an old
logging dam. The ancient
structure still helps to
maintain suitable water
levels and remains andan

important artitact depicting’

the human history of the
river. Below ‘the dam, the
Shawinigan narrows to a
turbulent ribbon of white
water sparkling between
walls of green forest. A
contemplative spot
particularly suited for a spot
of fly fishing towards day’s
end. We retraced our rout
and shore-cry -d by rocky
cliffs, ‘Naturalist,
JolicoruJolicoeur,

" gommented on the geology

and identiified shoreline
veevegetation. Much of the

park ora may bloom and

de in a relatively short
cycle ao park naturalists are

PeeS YS OTe PCPS eer esr ece eeT eee Teeter err ery

PARE © THE TOWNMSMAN, Thursday, June 1, 1977,

- LA MAURICIE NATIONAL PARK

sometimes hard pressed to
keep abreast of whal’s on
show from one week to the
next. We eventually left

‘and’ the lake and canoed up a

winding narrow. stream
until we encountered a
small falls,
beached our canoe and
switched to a_ hiking

trail. The trail paralleled —

the mountain stream and
eventually veered off
through heavy forest and
ascended a high ridge
overlooking the

valley. “Indian pipe,”
announced Bernard
Jolicoeur as he stopped to
examine the unusual locking
plant. Be explained how the
white, waxy, mushroom-like
growth with the distinctive
pipe-bow] head, is devoid of
cholehforephyil and feeds on
decaying vegetation. Next,
he retrieved a small toad

from the footpath and
remarked how’ toads are
born as tiny replicas of the
adult and do not undergo a.
metamorphic transition like

the tadpole and frog. He
monstrated the
Here weUkfidVcteature’s defensl?

mechéhism byastrenbings Be
milky, corrosive liquid that
exudes from pads on the
toadstoad’s back forcing a
wouldbe predator to spit
him out.

a lofty viewpoint
overlooking a beautiful
island-studded . lake
sheltered by forested
mountains. ‘We lunched at
the modern and , wel
equipped picnic grounds.
We relied on the snack bar
for our. vittles and
yebeverage, but each picnic
table is eqiequipped with a

i activities.

device for preparing hot
food. Campsites within the
park (no ‘other
accommodation} are laid
ond are squipped with fire
and are equi ire-
fireplace and picnic table,
tent site and with
access fans communal
water, supply and ‘modern,
well maintained. public
washrooms. The park
visitor may well begin his
stay by touring the nature

The trail ended at interpretive building wheré

terrariums, aquariums and
photo exhibits present a

concise overview of the park

ecology and interpretive

tour b

ledlecture and
‘presentation at

eist_

A

under the stars for a talk on
astronomy. Chief

naturalist, Gilles Ouellette
states that plans are under

‘study to introduce nature

tours on cross-country skis
so visitors can enjoy the
park during the winter
months. La Mauricie is
primarily identified as a
canoeist’s park... The three -
or four day camping, canoe
trip along the interior ©
waterways of the park
including a little trout
fishing (provincial fishing
license required) is still the
‘op experience of -

Further details and

A guided nature informative literature can
canoes may be
scheduled followed by @ Mauricie and other national
slide parks ;

€ contactin SParkParks
communal tent theater at Canada, Ottawa, Ontario,

be obtained on SLaLa

in Canada by

metal hibachi style cooking night or, perhaps, a hike KiA 0HA4.

THREATENS

FARMLAND

Desert continues to grow

CAIRO (AP) — Millions of
sand dunes are moving
across Egypt's western
desert and will cover more
than 280 miles of fertile Nile
Valley farmland in 20 years
unless something is done to
stop them, says Farouk el
Baz, an Egyptian-born
American geologist.

He said he noted the
shifting dunes in on-the-spot
studies earlier this month.
He also compared the
topography shown in aerial

hotographs of the- region
ken in 1953 and that shown
in pictures taken two years
ago by the joint United
States-Soviet space mission.

The dunes, often 20 to 30

feet , are closing in on
alley between Cairo
and Assiut, said el Baz,

eeede neta teeitatnan

research director of the
Smithsonian | Institution's
National Air and Space Mu-
seum in Washington.

“The dunes are moving at sa’

an average of 100 feet a year
over the major part of the
western desert,” he said.

“One has smothered a
whole village in the Kharga
Oasis there. Another is
smack in the middle of a

road built in 1963 leading to.

an adjacent oasis. |
Egypt, now experiencing
a serious population
explosion, has only 66
square feet of farmland per
person, ‘
ARABLE LAND RUINED
It now is confronted by an
-agricultural. crisis because
water! has ruined 20
per cent of the arable land,

ec wee eer PSE eee Ce

and an additional 30,000 to
40,000 acres is lost annually
to urban sprawl, Egyptian
and American agronomists

y.

Although the movement of
the desert sands is well
known to nomadic Bedouin
tribesmen, its threat to
Egypt's farmland has been
almost unnoticed by the
authorities.

“It is.a motion you
observe if you live there,”
said el Baz,-who criss-
croased the desert from the
Mediterranean coast to the
Dakhla Oasis about 300
miles inland.

“When a medium-sized
sand ‘grain is blown by a
strong wind it falls
earth like a bomb sending

back to.

in the wind's direction. Each
falls back repeating the
motion. Over days and
months you almost come to
believe the dunes are livin
things marching along an
reproducing as they go,”
Eeve an agronomists say
the dune takeover can he
overcome either by creating
windbreaks—planting
millions of trees to protect
the i soll or by
an speci es 0
Bees with huge roots that |
would fix the dune into ©
place. ~
EIBaz said Algeria, which
_ faced with the -same