Forillon National Park (french: Parc national de Forillon), one of 42 national parks and park reserves across Canada, is located at the outer tip of the Gaspé Peninsula of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and covers . Created in 1970, Forillon was the first national park in

. The park includes forests, sea coast, salt marshes, sand dunes, cliffs, and the Eastern End of the

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

. The word ''forillon'' is thought to have referred to a

flowerpot island Flowerpot Island is an island in Georgian Bay, in the Canadian province of Ontario, and is a part of Fathom Five National Marine Park. The island spans from east to west, and from north to south, and has a total area of . The name of the island ...

sea stack A stack or sea stack is a geology, geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by Coastal_erosion#Wave_action, wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and wate ...

which used to be a landmark in the area but has since collapsed into the ocean.

History

The area was a traditional summer hunting and fishing ground for the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

and

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

people. This area was once used for its rich supply of wood. People living in L'Anse-au-Griffon were once involved in the lumber industry here. 1998 - Parc du Forillon - Aquarelle de Marie-Claire Lefébure

1998 - Parc du Forillon - Aquarelle de Marie-Claire Lefébure

The creation of the park in 1970 was preceded by the removal of 225 families through expropriation. When preparing to create the new park, the Government of Canada requested that the Quebec government expropriate the homes of these families. The Quebec government sub-contracted the appropriation and negotiations to a private firm. This firm allegedly used various bullying tactics to scare the residents into agreeing to settlements of reduced value. This stratagem ensured a larger profit margin for the contractor. On 14 February 2011, the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

adopted a motion which issued an official apology to the people whose properties were expropriated to create Forillon Park. The motion read:

That this House issue an official apology to the people whose properties were expropriated to create Forillon Park for the unconscionable manner in which they were treated, and that the Speaker of the House send the representatives of the people whose properties were expropriated and of their descendants an official copy of the Journals of the House of Commons indicating the adoption of this motion.

This expropriation is the subject of a song titled "Forillon" by the group Le Vent du Nord on their album Têtu. It was also mentioned in a song titled "La Gigue à Mitchounano" by singer Paul Piché.

Wildlife

This national park includes nesting colonies of sea birds and

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s, and

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

s as well as woodland mammalian species which are red fox,

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...

, lynx, mink, coyote,

woodchuck The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through m ...

, porcupine,

snowshoe hare The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sin ...

, beaver, and ermine. Raptors that inhabit this park are

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extre ...

northern harrier The northern harrier (''Circus hudsonius''), or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA. The northern harrier migrates to more southerly areas ...

s, peregrine falcons,

kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...

s, bald eagles, rough-legged hawks, and

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

Activities and sights

Activities at interpretation sites bring visitors to learn more about human and natural life in the Forillon peninsula. The Grande-Grave National Heritage Site attests to the way of life of fishing families. The Hyman Store features collections of articles that were sold at the time, and the store "owners" tell tales of thriving fisheries industry. Close by, the pedestrian walk "Une Tournée dans les Parages" brings visitors around houses, fields and agricultural and commercial installations from the beginning of the twentieth century. Along the shores,

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

is available.Québec Original
Whale-Watching Cruise in Forillon National Park
Retrieved on September 23, 2017 Forillon encloses the site of Fort Péninsule, near the Penouille beach. This fortification was built during World War II to protect the Gaspé bay, as was Fort Prével on the other side of the bay; had Germany conquered all of Europe, these forts would have sheltered British warships seeking refuge from German submarines. Visitors today can enter a tunnel to see cannon in place since that time.

Gallery

File:QC Gaspesie Forillon3 tango7174.jpg, Panoramic view from Mont Saint-Alban File:View_of_Gaspé_Bay,_Facing_West_from_Penouille,_Forillon_National_Park.jpg, View of Gaspé_Bay, facing West from Penouille (Peninsula Point), Forillon National Park File:Forillon_National_Park_of_Canada_1.jpg, Cap Gaspé taken from Cap Bon-Ami, on the north side of the Forillon peninsula File:Forillon_National_Park_of_Canada_3.jpg, The peninsula leading to Cap Gaspé in Forillon National Park, taken from Mont Saint-Alban File:Forillon_National_Park_of_Canada_4.jpg, Rock formation called "Le Vieux" (the Old Man) and Cap Gaspé lighthouse File:Parc Forillon.jpg, Tallest lighthouse in Canada at Park Forillon File:Forillon_National_Park_of_Canada_5.jpg, Reproduction of a traditional salt cod fishery installation created for the 1998 TV series, "L'ombre de l'épervier" File:Forillon_National_Park_of_Canada_6.jpg, Stepped cascade along the "La Chute" hiking trail File:Forillon_National_Park_of_Canada_7.jpg, Waterfall along the "La Chute" hiking trail File:Forillon_National_Park_of_Canada_8.jpg, Water splashing over mossy rocks. Close-up of waterfall along the "La Chute" hiking trail File:Phoca_vitulina_1.jpg, Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) near Cap Gaspé File:Phalacrocorax_auritus_1.jpg, Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) near Cap Bon-Ami File:Halichoerus_grypus_2.jpg, Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) near Cap Bon-Ami File:Erethizon_dorsatum_1.jpg, North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) at Cap Gaspé File:Ordnance QF 4.7-inch gun, Gaspé, Fort Peninsula, Forillon National Park, Quebec (4).JPG, One of two surviving 4.7-inch Mark IV guns at Fort Péninsule Forillon National Park 01.jpg, Forillon National Park in fall Forillon National Park 02.jpg, Forillon National Park in fall

References

External links