Irénée-Marie Ecological Reserve (French: ''Réserve écologique Irénée-Marie'') is an

ecological reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

in the unorganized territory of Rivière-de-la-Savane, in

Mékinac Regional County Municipality Mékinac () is a regional county municipality (MRC) in the administrative region of Mauricie, in the province of Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Saint-Tite. It is composed of 10 municipalities and 4 unorganized territories. Toponymy According to th ...

, in

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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was established on October 31, 1985. The

Ecological Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

protects a forest of

Eastern white pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes ...

red pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

and pine gray.

Toponymy

The name commemorates

Joseph Caron Joseph Caron (born 1947) is a Canadian diplomat. He served as the former Canadian high commissioner to India and former Canadian ambassador to China and Japan. Born and raised in the small francophone agricultural village of Pain Court in South ...

(1889-1960), better known as Brother Irénée-Marie of the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, ...

, one of the colleagues of brother

Marie-Victorin Brother Marie-Victorin, F.S.C. (April 3, 1885 – July 15, 1944), was a Canadian member of Brothers of the Christian Schools and a noted botanist in Quebec, Canada. He is known as the father of the Botanical Garden of Montreal. Biograph ...

Geography

The reserve is located approximately west of Saint-Joseph-de-Mékinac, in the Matawin River

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

, and surrounded by the ZEC Chapeau de Paille. It has an area of and is located north-east of Arcand lake and on either side of the des Aigles river. The elevation of the reserve varies between on the edge Arcand Lake up to . It is generally formed by rocky slopes and a flat zone.

History

In 1978, private clubs for hunting and fishing were abolished and replaced by zones d'exploitation contrôlée (harvested controlled zones) with the objective to democratise their activities. Consequently, the territory of the reserve was transferred to

zec du Chapeau-de-Paille The ZEC Chapeau de Paille is a "zone d'exploitation contrôlée" (controlled harvesting zone) (zec), located in the Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of Mauricie, in Quebec (Canada). This Zec which was created in 1978 ...

. The Irenée-Marie ecological reserve was created on October 31, 1985 by a decree of the Quebec Government. It was the 13th ecological reserve to be created in Quebec.

External links

References

Protected areas of Mauricie Nature reserves in Quebec Protected areas established in 1985 Mékinac Regional County Municipality 1985 establishments in Quebec {{Quebec-geo-stub