[edit]
Early logging[edit]
In the 19th century, the logging industry cut the large white pine and red pine trees to produce lumber for domestic and American markets, as well as square timber for export to Great Britain. The loggers were followed by small numbers of homesteaders and farmers. Even at that time, however, the area's beauty was recognized by nature preservationists.
To manage these conflicting interests, the Ontario Government appointed a commission to inquire into and report on the matter. The act to establish Algonquin Park was drawn up in 1892 by this five member Royal Commission, made up of Alexander Kirkwood (the chairman and Commissioner of Crown Lands), James Dickson (Ontario Land Surveyor), Archibald Blue (director of mines), Robert Phipps (head of the Forestry Branch), and Aubrey White (Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands). Their report recommended the establishment of a park in the territory lying near and enclosing the headwaters of five major rivers, those being: the Muskoka, Little Madawaska River (including Opeongo), Amable du Fond River, Petawawa River, and South rivers.
The commissioners remarked in their report: "the experience of older countries had everywhere shown that the wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter of forests brings a host of evils in its train. Wide tracts are converted from fertile plains into arid desert, springs and streams are dried up, and the rainfall, instead of percolating gently through the forest floor and finding its way by easy stages by brook and river to the lower levels, now descends the valley in hurrying torrents, carrying before it tempestuous floods."
Report of the (Ontario) Royal Commission on Forest Conservation and National Park, Mar. 8, 1893
Although much of the area within Algonquin had been under license for some time, it was intended to make the park an example of good forestry practices. Only licenses to cut pine would be issued. The commissioners had recommended that when the hardwood was mature, it too should be cut.
Dark Day fire[edit]
Researchers believe that smoke from a forest fire in Algonquin Park was responsible for New England's Dark Day of May 19, 1780. This is based on investigations into scar marks which are left in the growth rings of trees that survive forest fires. Data obtained from such scar marks make it possible to approximate the date of a past fire.
Current logging[edit]
1893 Survey of Park Lands
Industrial logging continues in significant portions of the park's interior. After 2013 amendments to the park management plan, 65.3% of the park (498,785 hectares) remains in the recreation/utilization zone where logging is permitted. Numerous methods of logging take place throughout the park including clear cutting, selection cutting and shelterwood cutting.
As of 2009[update], the Algonquin Forestry Authority is currently reviewing an application that would allow for expansion of current logging roads and the addition of new ones.[citation needed]
Forestry activities in Algonquin, including logging are carried out in accordance with a Forest Management Plan prepared according to Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry requirements. The planning process includes public consultation opportunities at several stages of preparation. The 2010–2020 approved Forest Management Plan for the Algonquin Park Forest, the 2015–2020 Phase 2 Plan, and the associated Annual Work Schedules and Reports are available on the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's website.
Park formation[edit]
An Act to establish "Algonquin National Park of Ontario" was passed by the Liberal government of Oliver Mowat in the Ontario Legislature, May 23, 1893 (56 Vic., c.8). The name "Algonquin" refers to the Algonquin people, indigenous inhabitants of the area.
Although called a "national park", Algonquin has always been under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. No provincial parks existed until Algonquin, but there was a new movement to create national parks since Banff's establishment in 1885. The name was changed to Algonquin Provincial Park in 1913.
Notice regarding establishment of 'The Algonquin National Park of Ontario', Sept. 27, 1893, transcribed on Death On a Painted Lake: The Death of Tom Thomson
Archibald M. Campbell, "The Algonquin National Park of Ontario-Its Resources and Advantages", The Ottawa Naturalist XV (June, 1901): 80-89, transcribed on Death On a Painted Lake: The Death of Tom Thomson
Winter scene in Algonquin Park
The boundaries of the park included 18 townships within the District of Nipissing, covering an area of 3,797 square kilometres (1,466 sq mi) of which 10% was under water. The tract of land was to be set apart, as a public park, health resort and pleasure ground for the benefit, advantage and enjoyment of all the people of the province. The year following the park's creation saw portions of six new townships added to the existing park's boundaries (Paxton, McCraney, Finlayson, Butt, Ballantyne, and Boyd). The first four were put up for auction that same year. The production of the lumber companies operating in the park at the time increased from 680,000 m3 (288 million board feet) in 1886 to 809,000 m3 (343 million board feet) in 1896.
Peter Thomson, the first chief ranger of Algonquin Park, was responsible for establishing park boundaries, constructing buildings, and posting notices to warn hunters and trappers against trespassing. He liaised with timber operators, oversaw the removal of settlers and their homes, and notified local Algonquin natives that they could no longer hunt, trap or live in the area.
Park rangers began patrolling the park, the game protected, and forest fires were suppressed. By 1910 wildlife numbers were increasing. Thousands of people had visited the great pleasure resort and it was said to be undeniably one of the most beautiful natural parks in the Dominion, if not on this continent. All this had entailed a large expenditure by the government, which was recovered chiefly through the maintenance of timber licenses. There was no fee for camping permits, though a nominal charge was introduced for fishing and guides' licenses when "an Act to establish the Algonquin National Park of Ontario" was again passed by the legislature, March 19, 1910. This new legislation included the original area as well as portions of ten townships annexed into the park since 1893, and allowed for further expansion by the addition of adjacent townships, should it become necessary.
Another notable figure in park management was Frank MacDougall, the park's chief ranger from 1931 to 1941. He was the first ranger to supervise the park by airplane, flying a Fairchild KR-34. He eventually became deputy minister for the provincial Ministry of Lands and Forests, and the portion of Highway 60 which passes through Algonquin Park has been named the Frank A. MacDougall Parkway in his honour.
Railway, settlement, and the beginning of tourism[edit]
Map of CN Railways lines in the park from 1922
A hand-coloured photograph of canoeists in Algonquin Park in the 1920s
Tom Thomson, In Algonquin Park, Winter 1914–1915. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
Construction of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway (O. A. & P. S.) through the park in 1896 provided the first easy access to the area. While the park's purpose was to control settlement within its boundaries, the families of railway workers as well as those of the lumbermen took up residence in the park. The village of Mowat on the west side of Canoe Lake was first established in 1893 as a logging camp for the Gilmour Lumber Company. From there, logs were driven down the Oxtongue River towards Lake of Bays and eventually on to Trenton. In the same year the park headquarters was established near the logging camp. The arrival of the railway had provided easy access for the lumbermen as well. The Gilmour firm decided to put up a sawmill closer to their source of timber. By 1897 the village of Mowat had grown to 500 residents and there were 18 kilometres (11 mi) of railway siding.
The same year saw the official opening of the railway between Ottawa and Depot Harbour. Park headquarters were also relocated in 1897 from Mowat to a point of land on the north shore of Cache Lake, adjacent to the railway. The O. A. & P. S. put up a station there it named Algonquin Park. The railway, taken over by the Canada Atlantic Railway in 1899, was in turn sold to the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) in 1905.
In 1898 George W. Bartlett was appointed as the second superintendent of Algonquin Park, replacing the late Peter Thompson. Placed under the direction of the Premier of Ontario to make the park self-sufficient, Bartlett worked to make the park more attractive to tourists by encouraging short-term leases for cottages, lodges, and camps. Changes came about in 1908, when Hotel Algonquin was opened at Joe Lake. The Grand Trunk Railway opened its first hotel, the Highland Inn, near Park Headquarters. Built on a hill behind Algonquin Park station, the two-storey year-round resort was an immediate success. Soon other guest lodges were established in the park. To the west side of Highland Inn, land was cleared and raised wooden platforms erected, on which tents (supplied by the hotel), were put up to meet the requirements of the rapidly growing tourist trade.
At the village of Mowat, abandoned by Gilmour Lumber Co. in 1900, the mill's former boarding house became Mowat Lodge in 1913. The Highland Inn was enlarged, and new camps were built. Nominigan Camp, consisting of a main lodge with six cabins of log construction, was established on Smoke Lake. Camp Minnesing on Burnt Island Lake was created as a wilderness lodge. Both, open only in July and August, were built by the GTR as affiliates of the Highland Inn.
A second railway, the Canadian Northern (CNoR), was built across the northern portion of the park, opening in 1915. Both lines later became part of Canadian National Railway. The beginning of the end of rail service in the park happened in 1933 when a flood damaged an old Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway trestle on Cache Lake. The trestle was deemed too dangerous to use and too expensive to fix, ending through service on the southern line (old O.A. & P.S.). Service from the west ended in 1952, and from the east in 1959. Service on the old CNoR line through the north end of the park ended in 1995. Many of the trails in the park still make use of portions of the old railway rights-of-way.[citation needed]
Administration and management[edit]
As recreational use of the park increased during the 1950s and 1960s, it became clear that a long-term plan to manage the park was required. Six years of consultation with park users resulted in the 1974 publication of the Algonquin Master Plan, a management plan that sought to ensure that the park could continue indefinitely to serve all of the competing park interests. Three major changes came about as a result of the plan. One, the park was divided into zones with different specified purposes and uses: Nature Reserve and Historic (5.7% of land area), Wilderness (12%), Development (4.3%) and Recreation-Utilization (78%) zones. Logging in the park was limited to the Recreation-Utilization zones, but was separated as much as possible from users of the park interior in order to maintain the park's natural environment. Each year only a small percentage of the park is being actively logged. Two, all existing timber licenses were cancelled, and all logging in the park is now done by the Algonquin Forestry Authority, which supplies timber to 10 private mills outside the park. Three, rules were put in place to limit the impact of recreational use of the park. Almost all cans and bottles are banned in the interior, and limits are placed on the number of people per campsite, and the number of people who can enter the park interior per day at each access point. Also, the use of boat motors is limited, both in power and to a few of the larger and more accessible lakes. The master plan has been reviewed and updated four times since 1974, with the latest version being published in 1999.
