L'île aux Pommes
is a tiny natural
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
in the
St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...
located in the region of
Trois-Pistoles
Trois-Pistoles () is a city in Les Basques Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is also the county seat. The town is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River.
A ferry crosses the rive ...
, in
Bas-Saint-Laurent
The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...
, in
Quebec, Canada
Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...
, some east of Quebec City. This island is therefore part of the province of Quebec (Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence), according to the ''Directory of Protected Areas in Quebec''.
Toponymy and location
The name of ÃŽle aux Pommes comes from the presence of
cranberries
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not t ...
during the time of
New France
New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
, which were called "potatoes" at the time.
One of the first mentions comes from an anonymous document referring to the diary of
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
Lieutenant-General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (; 28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French Royal Army officer best known for his unsuccessful defence of New France during the French and Indian ...
.
[
]
Protection of the territory
Steps have been taken in this direction by the owner and on 19 May 2004, the Île-aux-Pommes nature reserve was recognized as a protected area for a perpetual period by the Minister of the Environment, under the Natural Heritage Conservation Act. Île aux Pommes is the first island in the St. Lawrence Estuary to enjoy such status. This small piece of land and rock has belonged for four generations (1927) to the Déry family who devoted leisure and money to giving this part of the country an oasis of peace for the migratory birds that come to nest there.
References
External links
MAP: Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence
Directory of Protected Areas in Quebec
www.ile-aux-pommes.org
Official website of ÃŽle aux Pommes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pommes, ile aux
River islands of Quebec
Islands of the Saint Lawrence River
Protected areas established in 2004
Important Bird Areas of Quebec
Protected areas of Bas-Saint-Laurent
Geography of Bas-Saint-Laurent
Nature reserves in Quebec