Time for Nature

Protecting the barrens, beaches, bogs and brooks

August 9, 2004

Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada

Black Brook Beach, Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada
© T. Grant, Parks Canada

For more and more Canadians, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are becoming part of their lives. Staff of Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada are working with local communities to build awareness about the area’s barrens, beaches, bogs and brooks and to encourage responsible use of ATVs in wilderness areas around the southern boundary of the park.

Sensitive habitats

ATV Tracks on "fen" type of wetland, just outside Cape Breton Highlands National Park
© C. Barrett, Parks Canada, 2001

As ATVs have grown in popularity, so has their impact on the environment. On beaches, nesting shorebirds, such as the endangered piping plover , and the beach grass that stabilizes the dunes are very sensitive to visits by ATVs. The ruggedness of the barrens contrasts with its tremendous fragility and sensitivity to tracks left by ATVs. When an ATV crosses a brook, it disturbs the habitat where trout and salmon deposit their eggs or “spawn” and where the young fish develop. This, in turn, affects species such as mink and otter.

Wetlands are particularly vulnerable. Only 10 passes by an ATV over a bog trail can destroy 60 percent of the trail’s plant species, creating a deteriorated habitat for moose , yellowlegs (a shorebird) and dragonflies. These slow-growing bogs—which increase at rates of only 1 to 2 millimetres per year - may take centuries to recover from ATV damage, if they recover at all.

From ATV to "STV"

Many drivers are simply not aware how much damage they can do, or how long-lasting that damage could be. A little awareness can go a long way to protect habitat. For the park, part of the solution is to work with drivers to get them to consider their ATVs as "some"-terrain vehicles and to avoid the four "B" habitats - barrens, beaches, bogs and brooks.

To develop an awareness program on how to drive with the least impact on fish and wildlife habitats, the park is working with natural resource managers from the five Mi'kmaw bands on Cape Breton Island and with local snowmobile and ATV associations.

Tips for responsible ATV use

The park has some tips for ATV users in any part of the country:

• Drive with respect for the land
  • Avoid sensitive habitat, namely the four Bs: barrens, beaches, bogs and brooks
• Be sensible about where to use ATVs
  • Stick to forest roads
  • Avoid excessive speed

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