The Spanish River Provincial Park, on the shore of Lake Huron north of Manitoulin Island, was created in 1999 as part of the Living Legacy process. The park protects a diversity of forest types, including red and white pine forest, boreal forest types, and stands of silver maple and other hardwoods. Many historical sites along the river remind us of the days when the Spanish was an important log-driving river. At its narrowest the park is only two hundred metres on each shore of the Spanish, however it beefs up significantly at the headwaters of the river, and below Pogamasing Lake, where it incorporates some of the more important stands of ancient forest found near the river.

Like many conservation victories, the park was as much compromise as victory. Most of the ancient forest stands further from the river have been sacrificed. The total area of the new park is 37,125 hectares, but less than one third of that is known to be ancient forest. Less than 15,000 hectares of the roughly 40,000 hectares of ancient pine forest found in the Lower Spanish Forest was actually protected in the park. One critical area is still being considered as an addition to the park, and that is the remainder of the old growth around Rushbrook and Marion Lakes, which are part of a watershed that is entirely pristine, and they are largely surrounded by old growth pine. Click here to learn more about visiting this wilderness canoe area. The area is threatened by logging, please consider writing or phoning Domtar, ask the company to work to protect all old-growth in the Spanish River area, and to start with the Marion Lake Area. Here are a few contacts at Domtar, the company which holds the licence to log the remaining old growth around the Spanish River. We encourage you to contact them and ask them to stop logging old-growth forests in this area.

Guy Boucher, VP, Legal and Environmental Affairs, Domtar
395 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1L6
PHONE : 514-848-5176 FAX : 514-848-6558
EMAIL : guy.boucher@domtar.com

Christian Tardif, Manager, Corporate and Financial Communications, Domtar
PHONE : 514-848-5515 EMAIL : christian.tardif@domtar.com

Razvan Theodoru, Corporate Secretary, Domtar
PHONE : 514-848-5866 EMAIL : razvan.theodoru@domtar.com