The ZEC Kipawa is a "

zone d'exploitation contrôlée A ''zone d'exploitation contrôlée'' (in French; acronym ZEC) is a "Controlled harvesting zone" located in public lands areas of Quebec, in Canada. ZECs are a system of territorial infrastructures set up in 1978 by the Government of Quebec to take ...

" (controlled harvesting zone) (ZEC), located in the unorganized territory

Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue Les Lacs-du-Témiscamingue (French meaning "The Lakes of Temiscaming") is a large unorganized territory in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada. With a surface area of , it takes up over 60% of the eastern portion of the Témisc ...

, in the

Témiscamingue Regional County Municipality Témiscamingue is a regional county municipality in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of western Quebec, Canada. The county seat is Ville-Marie. Though Témiscamingue borders Pontiac Regional County Municipality to the south, it is not possi ...

, in the administrative region of

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an List of regions of Quebec, administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 146,717 peo ...

, 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 ...

, in

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 ...

. Annually, the outdoor activities on the ZEC are intense from May to October, with camping, mountain biking, hunting, fishing and walking in the forest trails. The mission of the ZEC includes the protection of flora and fauna.

Geography

Located in the heart of the

, ZEC Kipawa turns out to be the largest

(Controlled harvesting zone) (ZEC) of

with an area of 2397 square kilometres. This "Controlled harvesting area" has 750 lakes, many of which are exploited for recreational fishing. ZEC Kipawa is connected on its east side to the

La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve La Vérendrye wildlife reserve is one of the largest reserves in the province of Quebec, Canada, covering of contiguous land and lake area (Assinica wildlife reserve is the largest in the province, but its territory is broken up in four non-cont ...

; and on its south side related to the ZEC Restigo. The main mountains of Zec Kipawa are located in the vicinity of Lake Kikwissi: Mont Wakwik (331 m), Mount du Trappeur (360 m) and Rene Mountain (405 m). Major lakes of Zec including: Ostaboningue, Kikwissi, Saseginaga, McLachlin, Ogascaname, Lac des loups (The Wolf Lake), "Lac des foins" (Hay lake), Algonquin and Lescot. The main rivers flowing in the ZEC are: Kipawa, "Du pin Blanc" (white pine), "aux Écorces" (the bark), Brazeau stream and Seirs creek. The main access roads to the zec include several secondary roads and trails for mountain biking. However, the ZEC has still vast wilderness areas that deserve to be discovered by visitors because of their exceptional panoramas. The entrance station of the ZEC Kipawa open from Victoria Day (in May) and close around the end of the hunt of the

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 mal ...

with rifle (in October). Users can access the ZEC Kipawa through

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or (, , ; "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the Canada 2021 Census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye Wildlife R ...

(road Baie Carrière), through Temiscaming (819 Road), through

Belleterre Belleterre is a ''ville'' in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the MRC de Témiscamingue. History In 1930, prospector William Logan discovered gold near Mud Lake (now called Lake Guillet). This led to the establishment of the Belleterre Gold Mi ...

and

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

(road 814). The main reception station that was installed in 2014, is located just outside the town of

where the administrative offices of the ZEC are.

Toponymy

The name of Zec joins that of the municipality, the post office, the bay, the dam, railway, roads, channel, lake, river and forest with the same name. The designation "Kipawa" identified a priori the territory of the watershed of Lake Kipawa, in

. Then several other names in the sector are derived from the original name. A post office opened in 1878 and a train station reported in 1916 by James White under the English names "Kipawa Station" and "Kipawa Junction". Since 1985, the term also means a municipality Kipawa near Temiscaming, at north-east of which it is located. Locality inhabited first by

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

and established on the banks of the

Lake Kipawa Lake Kipawa (in French: ''Lac Kipawa'') is a lake in far south-west Quebec, Canada, near the border with Ontario, north of Témiscaming, Quebec. Also see Kipawa River which is the only natural outflow of Kipawa Lake, Gordon Creek in Témiscaming ...

, near Gordon Creek, facing English Bay, the term "Kipawa" means in

Algonquin language Algonquin (also spelled Algonkin; in Algonquin: or ) is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by th ...

, "it is closed". According to the Oblate missionary Joseph-Étienne Guinard, the

"because of its long bays, looks like a spider from the air. It is easy to err on the waters, we take the bays rivers, we are committed and disappointment ahead. It's closed! Kipaw!" This privileged territory adjacent to a reserve, which recently became a controlled harvesting zone (ZEC) of over 4,600 square kilometers, is located at very short distance from the Indian Reserve Kebaowek. The people of this town have both a gentile in French, Kipawais and Algonquin, Kipawawini, people closed lake. The territory of the ZEC was once traveled by the

of Témiscamingue. Thus, several names of lakes are evocative of their presence: Ostaboningue, Saseginaga, Ogascanane, Kikwissi, Wolves... The name "Zec Kipawa" was formalized on Sept. 6, 1989 at the Bank of place names in the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (English: ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Québec's place names and their origins according ...

(Geographical Names Board of Quebec.

Hunting and Fishing

The wild animals are abundant in this vast territory. Species quota for hunting are the

, the

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 ...

, the

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondr ...

and

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

. Hunting restrictions apply such as species, hunting period, type of hunting weapon, sex of beast (moose)... The main species of fish living in lakes and rivers, are:

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

, doré,

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

and

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

. ZEC has nine lakes available for ice fishing in the winter: "lac du club" (Lake Club), Lake Diamond, lac des îles (Lake of Islands), Lake Line, McNorton Lake, Little Moose Lake, Lake Sheen and Lake Wabacouche. Besides fishing and hunting, outdoor enthusiasts can practice several activities including travel five circuits canoe-camping for beginners level adventurers. ZEC offers users several campgrounds and rustic semi-furnished (wild). The territory of the ZEC is served by seven providers with services (accommodation, boats, motors). You can practice different activities such as canoe camping there, rent canoes and kayaks. The footpath Kipawa-TeeLake spans two kilometres; the starting point is the entrance station of the Zec Kipawa station at kilometre 35 in the road of penetration (forest road) starting from

Circuits of canoe camping

The main circuits canoe camping offered by ZEC Kipawa are: Circuit Des Raiders: This loop path of 190 km and 11 portages combines the calm waters of the historic route Tuk Tuk TUK and the living waters of the

Kipawa River The Kipawa River (in French: ''Rivière Kipawa'') is a short river in western Quebec, Canada. It is mostly an undeveloped river but the larger lakes have dams, fishing camps, and cottages on their shores. The communities of Kipawa and Laniel are ...

. From Algonquin's history of Hunter's Point to the tombs of the souls of loggers who lost their lives in the rapids of the

. Access to the course is by

. The route provides access to a section of the

. The circuit may be segmented at Hunter starting point. Browse the route takes 12 to 14 days. Circuit Cigarette: This loop course was named in the shape of a lake along the way. This route offers a wide variety of lakes, swamps, springs and beaches to explore. The Ogascanane lake offers countless opportunities to swim and enjoy the white sandy beaches of exotic allure. The journey along the "Cigarette route" takes in several attractions within a short distance. This 31 km route has four ports. The tour route is on 3–4 days. Aboriginal variant of the name is Micikikanick Sakalkan. The circuit includes the Lacs des Loups, Ogascanane, Jumeaux (Twin), the Cigarette and Long. Circuit Tuk Tuk: The majority of the history of the Kipawa area is concentrated along this loop circuit a length of 96 km. This trip offers many sites of cultural heritage, but the diverse landscapes and the many marshes provide excellent opportunities to observe wildlife, because most of the trail is in an isolated environment. It takes 4 to 10 days to do the turn of this circuit. It contains twelve portages. Aboriginal variant: Sagegawega. Name of reference lake: Saseginaga. Composition of the trail: Ostaboningue lake, Ostaboningue river, Hunter's Point Lake, Audoin River, lac du Bouleau (Birch Lake), Lake Pommeroy, Lake Eau Claire, lakes Saseginaga, Écarté, North, BL and "rivière Cerise" (Cherry River). Access is through

. It contains campsites in sufficient numbers. Circuit Brousse: Length - 58 km (in loop). It includes a dozen of challenging portages, including one over a beaver dam in order to connect the lakes and the rivers farther away. From Fjord around "lac des Six îles" (Lake Six islands) up to the winding banks of the Cherry River, the scenery alone lends itself to a memorable experience. The duration of the tour: 4–5 days. Aboriginal variant: Kanikotwasotipalkanek Sakalkan. Name of reference lake: Six Miles. Composition of the trail: Lake Ostaboningue, Cooks Bay, lakes Cooks, Robert, Six Miles, Six Islands, Sasseginage and return by the Cherry River. There are rapid and falls. Access to the course is by

. There are an opportunity to go up the Cherry river and to do the same circuit in the opposite direction of the proposal. It must be between 4 and 5 days for the ride. Circuit Scale: The 98 km circuit with eight ports curly transposes us in time of colonization and deforestation with the old railway along the portage to Lake Pommeroy. The route follows a portion of the historic route of the Tuk Tuk then head to the most remote lakes of Témiscamingue hinterland. There are beautiful waterfalls between lakes the Pants and "l'Échelle" (Scale) lakes. The total time is 7 to 8 days.Grand Québec.com - Zec Kipawa
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipawa, Zec de Protected areas of Abitibi-Témiscamingue Protected areas established in 1989

Geography

Toponymy

Hunting and Fishing

Circuits of canoe camping

See also

References