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

or sea stack 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 north ...

and Haudenosaunee 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 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 Paul Piché (born September 5, 1953 in La Minerve, Quebec) is a singer-songwriter, environmentalist, political activist and Quebec sovereigntist. He mostly composes on acoustic guitar, although some of his recent work has had some electronica ...

Wildlife

This national park includes nesting colonies of sea birds and whales, 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 impr ...

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,

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, O ...

, mink,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological n ...

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 mu ...

, porcupine, snowshoe hare,

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are ...

, and

ermine Ermine may refer to three species of mustelid in the genus '' Mustela'': * Stoat or Eurasian ermine, ''Mustela erminea'', found throughout Eurasia and northern North America * American ermine, ''Mustela richardsonii'', found throughout North Ameri ...

. Raptors that inhabit this park are great horned owls,

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 ...

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey ( raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey ba ...

s, kestrels,

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

rough-legged hawk The rough-legged buzzard or rough-legged hawk (''Buteo lagopus'') is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Russia during the breeding season and migrates south for the winter. It ...

s, 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 is available.Québec Original
Whale-Watching Cruise in Forillon National Park
Retrieved on September 23, 2017 Forillon encloses the site of

Fort Péninsule HMCS ''Fort Ramsay'' was a Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) base located at Sandy Beach on the southern shore of Gaspé Bay, several kilometres east of Gaspé, Quebec. Its construction was commissioned in 1940 and the base was inaugurated by the RCN on M ...

, 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