Will New Brunswick's Best Remaining Wilderness be Protected?

Time and time again, studies about Canada’s remaining wilderness areas show that we still have spectacular wilderness opportunities in New Brunswick - but they're getting smaller each year! The wild areas left in the Restigouche River watershed of northern New Brunswick are important to our heritage, our economy and our way of life. They are also still open to all forms of development, including mining, clearcut logging and road-building. Less than a half of 1% of this internationally recognized wilderness is protected.

When I started working on a conservation project in the Restigouche 10 years ago, I knew very little about the history of the area, or the hundred-year-old economy related to the salmon angling lodges. Who knew there are hundreds of jobs and over fifteen million dollars generated by providing quality experiences for the folks from away who visit Restigouche each year! (well, lots of people in Restigouche knew, but I didn't!!)

Restigouche has now become a home away from home for me. I’m so impressed by my friends who work on the river – telling our stories, guiding people on their trip of a lifetime, welcoming back those who make an annual pilgrimage to this Restigouche paradise (for angling, canoeing, hiking the International Appalachian trail...).

Every time I experience the Restigouche flowing gently over its deep, dark pools around Kedgwick River, or catch that glimpse of the misty mountain vista around the Upsalquitch Valley, I feel the privilege of my job. I get to help people protect the natural areas they love, and in the process learn to love another corner of our beloved province.

If you want to support the "Keep Restigouche Wild" campaign and have the wildest parts of Restigouche kept free of development, please visit http://www.wildrestigouche.ca/. We’re trying to get 3000 supporters to tell the New Brunswick government how important it is to protect Restigouche wilderness.

(top and middle photos: Roberta Clowater; bottom photo: Steve Reid)

Where is the best viewscape in New Brunswick?

Last summer, my partner, a friend and I discovered one of the best views of New Brunswick wilderness. Funnily, it's from a scenic lookout in Ste-Alexis-de-Matapédia, just across the NB border in Quebec. We drove a winding road, past horses in fields and other countryside sights. Once at the lookout, we were astonished by the spectacular views of the Restigouche River and the wild forests that line the valley in both Quebec and New Brunswick.

I couldn't believe how many times we had been up to the Restigouche River area and still hadn't found this gem of a lookout.

It solidified to me how important it is to the future of northern New Brunswick's tourism economy and natural environment that we protect this world-class landscape and keep it as wild as possible. There is still so much ecotourism opportunity that has yet to be tapped along the Restigouche.

This little trek made me wonder how many other lookouts we've yet to discover. How many views are being lovingly tended by locals to the best of their capacity, but don't become known to the broader public who would appreciate them? I would love to hear from people about other natural viewscapes we could explore on future excursions around New Brunswick.