the characterization at Mont-Kaaikop
A characterization to better plan for the future...
The site of Mont-Kaaikop includes the massif of Kaaikop, surrounding public lands and a biodiversity corridor linking Mont-Tremblant, Mount Kaaikop, Mohawk Territory of Tioweroton and the proposed protected area of Forêt Ouareau . Since the beginning of the fight (in June 2013) for the preservation of Mont-Kaaikop , the Coalition has repeatedly asked the Ministry of Forest, Wildlife and Parks of Québec (MFFP) to provide to the characterization it has on Mont-Kaaikop. The MFFP never wanted or never could provide such characterization.
All the initiatives of the Coalition and all its proposals for settlement are based on a down-to-earth and scientific approach to strongly support its actions. Given the refusal of MFFP, the Coalition has replaced the Québec government and mandated an independent professional firm to partly characterize Mount Kaaikop. The study was paid for by a fundraising campaign where the generosity of people and organizations helped to refine the preservation project. The results of the independent characterization confirm the claims of the Coalition, that Mount Kaaikop is an exceptional environment, of a true identical, social and ecological value that is rare.
For example, the forests of Mount Kaaikop grow in altitude, on thin soils, steep slopes and are subject to severe weather conditions, typical of the high peaks of the Laurentians. The partial characterization of Mount Kaaikop, conducted by an independent professional firm commissioned by the Coalition, reveals that forests at Kaaikop are very old, and many times century old.
At MFFP, forest age is determined by geomatics. 92 % of the targeted forests comprised in the forest management plans of 2013 were old forests. (This harvest was not carried out because an interlocutory injunction obtained in January 2014 avoided the loss of this natural heritage.) In the crop pattern, the trees in the 70 year old plus range represent 55% of the expected harvest. Trees in the 90 year old and older (90 years old and young and old uneven-aged forest) represent another 40%. In total, the Legault Work harvest objectives were comprised of 95% of older trees.
To estimate the age of the trees, geomatics takes into account the diameter of trunks and foliage expansion. Because the trees grow slowly at Kaaikop in altitude under strict conditions, it can be assumed that the growth rings are close together and the trees of a given diameter are much older than those of similar size that grow under normal or optimal conditions.
Another example is the water network at Kaaikop, fragile and special. With five headwater lakes, lakes Feuillage, Legault, Lemieux, Pierrier and Violon collect the rainfall and runs down on surface and underground in a complex hydraulic network. Many watertreams and wetlands capture the water and regulate the flow to avoid erosion of thin soils on steep terrain at Kaaikop.
This section is under construction.