Latest news with #FundyNationalPark
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Fundy National Park celebrates 75 years
New Brunswick was one of the first provinces to ask for a national park, and 75 years ago, the province got its wish. Fundy National Park officially opened to the public on July 29, 1950. In what was described by the Saint John Times-Globe as "perfect weather," thousands of people gathered just inside the park on a Saturday to watch the opening ceremony, attend brass band concerts and watch a softball game and a women''s golf tournament. The park was announced in 1948 but had been in the works in one way or another since the 1920s. Becky Graham, the park manager at Fundy National Park says, in a bit of an understatement, that a lot has changed in 75 years. Originally, the park only had one campground, no trails and no interpretation programs. "The real focus of the park was to bring people to the area for tourism and for recreation," Graham said. "Those things are still important to us, but we have also evolved a mandate to really protect and present special places like Fundy National Park." While Parks Canada eventually went with the area of Albert County we now know as Fundy National Park as the location for the park, it was not anyone's first choice. The provincial government always advocated Mount Carlton, in the north, which Parks Canada really disliked for a site. Among the other areas considered were Point Lepreau, also on the Bay of Fundy and now home to a nuclear power plant, and Mount Champlain, in south-central New Brunswick. WATCH | The history of New Brunswick's first national park: In fact, Fundy was chosen in part because of the unofficial and negative description of New Brunswick as the "drive-through province." "What really swung it towards Albert County, frankly, was the fact that you have to drive all the way through New Brunswick to get there," said Alan MacEachern, a Western University historian who wrote a book about the building of Atlantic Canada's first four national parks. "They thought this is a way to bring tourists, central Canadian tourists, but especially American tourists, and force them … to drive all the way across New Brunswick to get to Albert County." Relatively smooth sailing As with many national parks, the founding of Fundy meant moving out residents and shuttering communities. The community of Point Wolfe was wiped off the map, farms and homes were expropriated and churches closed. This had also happened in Cape Breton and P.E.I. when national parks were built there, causing outrage in both provinces. But opposition in New Brunswick was muted. "There were definitely people who were going to be expropriated who were not happy about it, but I think that there was a lot less displeasure in New Brunswick than there had been in P.E.I. and Cape Breton," MacEachern said. What did upset some residents was the feeling that any evidence of their existence in the park was removed, which was in keeping with Parks Canada's philosophy at the time. "The belief [was] national parks should have basically no evidence of prior human existence," MacEachern said. "They wanted to get rid of any kind of evidence that the people of southern Albert County … had ever lived there." Constructing nature For a park whose goal was to present the absence of civilization, a lot of construction went into it The farms and homesteads and churches that were torn down were replaced by welcome centres, golf courses and hotels. "They developed the heck out of it and in, as you say, a very suburban sort of fashion," MacEachern said. In his book, he goes into more detail about the fate of some of the area's original elements: "The new Fundy National Park, populated for almost 150 years, was too wild to be currently acceptable. Roads needed to be straightened, hillocks flattened, ugly and misshapen trees cut down, stones removed, grass planted." MacEachern said Parks Canada immediately had regrets about how Fundy was constructed and viewed it as an example of what not to do at a national park. But he takes an optimistic view of the park. "You could argue that Fundy National Park has had 75 years of getting back to nature, of being about the things it wasn't quite about at its founding," MacEachern said. Seventy-five years later the park has grown to 207 square kilometres, with 20 kilometres along the Bay of Fundy coast. It went from one campground to five and offers back-country camping and several kinds of roofed accommodations such as yurts and rustic cabins. The park has also developed an expansive trail system, more than 100 kilometres in total. Present and future In terms of visitors, Fundy continues to be popular among tourists. Graham said early this season was a little slow because of rain, but June saw an eight per cent increase in visitors over the previous year. This could be attributed to a few factors. More Canadians discovered national parks after the COVID pandemic made outdoor spaces a more popular option, and political turmoil in the United States means more Canadians are looking to vacation closer to home. Finally, entrance fees for all national parks have been waived for the summer. While more people are going to national parks, the parks have to contend with their dual purpose of access and conservation, something that isn't easy. "Parks Canada's mandate is to both protect and present," Graham said. "To really ensure that we can live up to these dual responsibilities there's a team in the park … really focused on ecological health and monitoring and reporting."
CBC
4 days ago
- CBC
Fundy National Park celebrates 75 years
Social Sharing New Brunswick was one of the first provinces to ask for a national park, and 75 years ago, the province got its wish. Fundy National Park officially opened to the public on July 29, 1950. In what was described by the Saint John Times-Globe as "perfect weather," thousands of people gathered just inside the park on a Saturday to watch the opening ceremony, attend brass band concerts and watch a softball game and a women''s golf tournament. The park was announced in 1948 but had been in the works in one way or another since the 1920s. Becky Graham, the park manager at Fundy National Park says, in a bit of an understatement, that a lot has changed in 75 years. Originally, the park only had one campground, no trails and no interpretation programs. "The real focus of the park was to bring people to the area for tourism and for recreation," Graham said. "Those things are still important to us, but we have also evolved a mandate to really protect and present special places like Fundy National Park." While Parks Canada eventually went with the area of Albert County we now know as Fundy National Park as the location for the park, it was not anyone's first choice. The provincial government always advocated Mount Carlton, in the north, which Parks Canada really disliked for a site. Among the other areas considered were Point Lepreau, also on the Bay of Fundy and now home to a nuclear power plant, and Mount Champlain, in south-central New Brunswick. WATCH | The history of New Brunswick's first national park: Fundy National Park turns 75 1 hour ago In fact, Fundy was chosen in part because of the unofficial and negative description of New Brunswick as the "drive-through province." "What really swung it towards Albert County, frankly, was the fact that you have to drive all the way through New Brunswick to get there," said Alan MacEachern, a Western University historian who wrote a book about the building of Atlantic Canada's first four national parks. "They thought this is a way to bring tourists, central Canadian tourists, but especially American tourists, and force them … to drive all the way across New Brunswick to get to Albert County." Relatively smooth sailing As with many national parks, the founding of Fundy meant moving out residents and shuttering communities. The community of Point Wolfe was wiped off the map, farms and homes were expropriated and churches closed. This had also happened in Cape Breton and P.E.I. when national parks were built there, causing outrage in both provinces. But opposition in New Brunswick was muted. "There were definitely people who were going to be expropriated who were not happy about it, but I think that there was a lot less displeasure in New Brunswick than there had been in P.E.I. and Cape Breton," MacEachern said. What did upset some residents was the feeling that any evidence of their existence in the park was removed, which was in keeping with Parks Canada's philosophy at the time. "The belief [was] national parks should have basically no evidence of prior human existence," MacEachern said. "They wanted to get rid of any kind of evidence that the people of southern Albert County … had ever lived there." Constructing nature For a park whose goal was to present the absence of civilization, a lot of construction went into it The farms and homesteads and churches that were torn down were replaced by welcome centres, golf courses and hotels. "They developed the heck out of it and in, as you say, a very suburban sort of fashion," MacEachern said. In his book, he goes into more detail about the fate of some of the area's original elements: "The new Fundy National Park, populated for almost 150 years, was too wild to be currently acceptable. Roads needed to be straightened, hillocks flattened, ugly and misshapen trees cut down, stones removed, grass planted." MacEachern said Parks Canada immediately had regrets about how Fundy was constructed and viewed it as an example of what not to do at a national park. But he takes an optimistic view of the park. "You could argue that Fundy National Park has had 75 years of getting back to nature, of being about the things it wasn't quite about at its founding," MacEachern said. Seventy-five years later the park has grown to 207 square kilometres, with 20 kilometres along the Bay of Fundy coast. It went from one campground to five and offers back-country camping and several kinds of roofed accommodations such as yurts and rustic cabins. The park has also developed an expansive trail system, more than 100 kilometres in total. Present and future In terms of visitors, Fundy continues to be popular among tourists. Graham said early this season was a little slow because of rain, but June saw an eight per cent increase in visitors over the previous year. This could be attributed to a few factors. More Canadians discovered national parks after the COVID pandemic made outdoor spaces a more popular option, and political turmoil in the United States means more Canadians are looking to vacation closer to home. Finally, entrance fees for all national parks have been waived for the summer. While more people are going to national parks, the parks have to contend with their dual purpose of access and conservation, something that isn't easy. "Parks Canada's mandate is to both protect and present," Graham said.
CBC
20-07-2025
- CBC
Shimmering clouds and sunsets: Enjoy these photos from around New Brunswick
Your Lens Send your best snaps and video from around the province to cbcnb@ Image | Your Lens 8 - July 20 Caption: Derek Grant captured these noctilucent clouds — which make an appearance from roughly the beginning of June to August in the northern sky — outside the gates of Fundy National Park. (Submitted by Derek Grant) Open Image in New Tab New Brunswickers took a variety of photos this week — from basking animals and blooming flowers to nighttime phenomena. If you snap any nice shots, be sure to send them to us at cbcnb@ for a chance to be featured in next week's edition, but don't forget to include your name and the location where the photo was taken. Image | Your Lens 14 - July 20 Caption: This little friend grabbed a treat at the Sunset U-Pick in Fredericton. (Submitted by Shellie Andrews) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 7 - July 20 Caption: A glowing sunset seen from the Royal Kennebeccasis Yacht Club in Saint John. (Submitted by Chris Breen) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 13 - July 20 Caption: A Canada lily spotted in the southeastern town of Salisbury. (Submitted by Rick Murray) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 15 - July 20 Caption: This porcupine sprawled out on Lesley Anne Cammack's front steps in St. Stephen, trying to cool down from the heat. (Submitted by Lesley Anne Cammack) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 1 - July 20 Caption: Jane LeBlanc of St. Martins took this photo of a black and white warbler. (Submitted by Jane LeBlanc) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 5 - July 20 Caption: Celia Jamieson spotted these red and yellow petunias in a window box in Woodstock. (Submitted by Celia Jamieson) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 11 - July 20 Caption: A friendly frog from Lake George. (Submitted by Beverly Somers) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 3 - July 20 Caption: A tree swallow taking home lunch in Sackville, around 50 kilometres south of Moncton. (Submitted by Chris Turner) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 2 - July 20 Caption: Horses grazing in a field in Harvey, about 50 kilometres southwest of Fredericton. (Submitted by Clayton Carr) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 9 - July 20 Caption: A ruby-throated hummingbird resting on a branch in Chamcook, just north of Saint Andrews. (Submitted by Elaine Goraj) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 4 - July 20 Caption: Some wildflowers blooming in Saint-Léonard-Parent, around 18 kilometres northwest of Grand Falls. (Submitted by Nicole Violette Laforge) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 6 - July 20 Caption: A dewy spider web on a foggy morning on the Gateway Wetland Trail in Oromocto. (Submitted by Edward Tataryn) Open Image in New Tab Image | Your Lens 12 - July 20 Caption: The last of the lady slippers spotted along the Fundy Parkway trails. (Submitted by Heather Olmstead) Open Image in New Tab Send us your photos or videos by email to cbcnb@ and put the words Your Lens in the subject line. Please tell us your name and where the photo or video was taken — we won't be able to use the submission otherwise. Keep in mind this feature is all about New Brunswick, so photos have to be of subjects in this province. Please provide a description that tells us what's happening in your submission and feel free to add any other information that would help us tell the audience about your photo or video. If we don't use your photo in the Your Lens closest to when you sent it, it could be used in a future edition as we are experiencing a high volume of submissions. We don't publish black-and-white photos or heavily edited photos, such as anything over-saturated or with filters. Watermarks will be cropped out.
CBC
22-06-2025
- CBC
Scoudouc River bridge replacement in the works as Shore-Line trail nears halfway mark
Trail was conceptualized in 2016, and plans now include connecting 12 municipalities in southeast N.B. Image | Scoudouc River Caption: These piers across the Scoudouc River will be the supports for a new bridge that will be built to connect the regional trail network. (Victoria Walton/CBC) Open Image in New Tab The historic steam engine railbed in Shediac has been unused, at least in any official capacity, for decades. Locals bike and walk along the railbed-turned-trail, but it comes to a dead end when it meets the Scoudouc River. But that's going to change soon. "We hope that by the end of next year we have started and hopefully finished converting this," says Marc Leger, regional trails co-ordinator for Plan 360, the land use planning division of the Southeast Regional Service Commission. The plan is to install a new bridge across the 80-metre span, using the old piers that are still in place. "It'll be a pretty humble bridge, steel spans, and then it'll be a wooden deck with an observation space at the midway point," says Leger. "Because it's a really pretty view here up and down the river." 'You eat an elephant one bite at a time' The span will add a piece to what's set to be the Shore-Line Trail, a 170-kilometre trail network connecting every municipality in southeastern New Brunswick. Phase 1 of the project will start at Fundy National Park, and connect Fundy Albert, Riverview, Moncton, Dieppe, Shediac and Cap Acadie. Phase 2 will turn that 170 kilometres into 202 kilometres by connecting outlying communities to the trail: Three Rivers, Maple Hills, Salisbury, Straight Shores, Tantramar, and Memramcook. "Phase 1 is really the spine of the network, and Phase 2 is all these branches out to all the remaining communities," said Leger. Leger says this project was first conceptualized back in 2016, and work has really kicked off this year. "We have a commitment over the next 10 years to try to build out our whole regional network, that we'll have a trail connect to every municipality in the region. That's our timeline," he said. Leger spends much of his time making connections with landowners to try to get permission for the trail to cross their land. Some landowners have concerns about theft or privacy, but Leger says usually he can mitigate their worries. "Trails bring people into places, and where there's people regularly, you see less trouble because there's eyes on the street," he said. But every landowner negotiation has to take place individually, and Leger is taking it piece by piece. "You eat an elephant one bite at a time, and this is kind of one of those projects," he said. "There's lots of different challenges, but the long and tedious work in this project is finding the space, getting agreements in place. Building the trails is really the easy part." Connecting broken links The good news is that many municipalities already have trails, they just aren't connected to each other. "We really bridge the gaps between the municipalities, the municipal networks that exist today," said Leger. The Shediac section is a priority to complete because it'll connect people in Moncton to Parlee Beach, a popular destination in the summer. "We really believe that this is going to be one of the more heavily used segments of the trail," Leger said. "To be able to bike from, from your home to the beach is a pretty unique experience. From downtown Moncton it'll be about just shy of 40 kilometres. So that's a doable biking distance for a lot of folks, especially where e-bikes are becoming more and more popular." Leger says the regional service commission has committed to the project financially, but hopes that the provincial and federal government will also commit funds. A private fundraising campaign will also raise money for "benches and washroom facilities, and all of those other accoutrements that go along... with a great trail experience." By the end of this summer, Leger estimates that the Shore-Line trail — which may be renamed in the future in consultation with First Nations — will be about 45 per cent complete. "I always say that the trail is the infrastructure," said Leger. "The product is nature, the product is community, is history, is all of these things."
CBC
01-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Volunteers hold search and rescue simulation at Fundy National Park
Em Fabry was out at Fundy National Park on a rainy Saturday searching for a man in his 40s, having very few details about him. She was participating in a mock search with more than 50 others from various ground search and rescue teams, joined by the members of the RCMP, Parks Canada, New Brunswick's emergency measures organization and some paramedic students. Fabry had some training with Tri-County Ground Search, but she said this weekend gave her a chance to put her skills to the test. "I've learned a lot of new skills and it's really neat to see all of that come to fruition today," Fabry said. "I'm trying to see how it plays out in a real search situation." In the simulation, participants looked for a man after an incident between a husband and wife who went on a hike Saturday morning. It's unclear exactly what happened between the two, but searchers were given a description of the man they were looking for. Searchers were deployed in groups of four to five people with each group being assigned a task, she said. "There's a little bit of an adrenaline rush," said Fabry. Shawn Steele, team leader with Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue, said 30 people were on the ground searching and another 20-30 at a command post. Volunteers had to exercise skills like clue awareness, tracking communication, searching, first aid and extrication. "We try to make it as realistic as possible," he said. There can be a few random events tossed in. A team member might be asked to fake an injury, which would force the searchers to respond. Training officer Randy Breau, who was at the command post, said it is critical to have current information to be able to effectively deploy the ground teams. He said he tried to make this weekend's exercise as real as possible. He had a person in the woods — the one reported missing by his wife — pretending to be the injured 48-year old man. "They have mocked up an injury and they're actually really well hidden," Breau said. Breau said the searchers may also find issues like the computers not working, not everyone having the correct information from the initial report, challenging weather, or some other unexpected ones. "One of the key things is most people think that a lot of the searching is done by paid professionals when about 90 per cent of it or more is actually done by volunteers," he said. "After all this we're going to debrief the members and then take a look at what was learned, what was done well, and then what we can improve on from what we did today."
