Johnville Bog & Forest Park

The Johnville Bog & Forest Park (French: Parc écoforestier de Johnville) is a protected area in Estrie, Quebec, Canada that encompasses the Johnville Bog (French: Tourbière de Johnville) and its surroundings. In addition to the bog, this also includes a kettle, a lake (Lacs Jenckes), and a pond.

Johnville Bog & Forest Park
Parc écoforestier de Johnville
LocationQuebec, Canada
Nearest cityCookshire-Eaton
Coordinates45°20′39″N 71°44′23″W[1]
Area225 hectares (560 acres)
Established1986
Governing bodyNature Eastern Townships
Websitehttps://web.archive.org/web/20140516203231/http://johnville-park.qc.ca/

Etymology

The park takes its name from the hamlet of Johnville, located in Cookshire-Eaton.[1] Johnville was named after a man named John Sewell Sanborn (born 1819 in New Hampshire) who over the course of his life was a lawyer, deputy of Sherbrooke, senator of Wellington, and Saint-François district Superior Court judge. He sat on the Queen's Bench in Montreal until his death in 1877. He was a "fervent annexationist" and wished for Canada to become part of the United States.[2]

The bog was formerly known as the Marécages de Johnville.[1]

In 2010, on what would have been his 100th birthday, the Arthur-N.-Langford Pond was inaugurated in honour of the founder of the Bishop's University Biology Department.[3]

History

During the urban agglomeration in 2002, the City of Sherbrooke acquired the borough of Lennoxville, and along with it, the bog.[4] Lennoxville had long used the lands as its water source, which has since been abandoned.[5]

In 1989, the Johnville Woodland Conservation Corporation (known today as Nature Eastern Townships) was created to "promote ... the importance of insuring the conservation in perpetuity of the quite unique ecosystems of the Johnville Bog and Forest Park."[5][6]

The park has been open to the public since 2003.[4]

In 2008, the Corporation signed an administrative agreement with the City of Sherbrooke regarding long-term leasing and conservation easement.[6]

In December 2010,[7] following a recommendation by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the City of Sherbrooke transferred ownership of the park to Bishop's University and the Université de Sherbrooke (since the land actually belongs in the jurisdiction of Cookshire-Eaton, not Sherbrooke).[8]

Recreation

The park contains 5.5 km (3.4 mi) of walking trails in the summer, some of which wander on stilts over the bog, and 8 km (5.0 mi) for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing in the winter.[4] Wildlife observers, particularly birders, might be interested in the Cooper's hawk,[9]:7 palm warblers, Lincoln's sparrows, hen harriers, and various waterfowl.[10]

Wildlife

Given its unusual ecosystems, the park contains a number of species of flora and fauna that are unique to the area.

References
  1. Reference number 411537 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (in French)
  2. Reference number 31295 of the Commission de toponymie du Québec (in French)
  3. "Former Professor Honoured with Naming at Johnville Bog". 30 July 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  4. Pion, Isabelle (29 May 2009). "Parc écoforestier de Johnville: Bishop's et l'UdeS bientôt propriétaires" (in French). Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  5. "History". Nature Eastern Townships. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  6. RESOLUTION B.C. LE 2008-0839-00 (pdf) (minutes), Borough of Lennoxville, 28 February 2008, p. 13, retrieved 11 August 2014
  7. "Le parc écoforestier de Johnville: un laboratoire naturel pour Bishop's et l'UdeS" (in French). 13 June 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  8. Pion, Isabel (16 March 2011). "Bishop's et l'UdeS acquièrent le parc écoforestier de Johnville" (in French). Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  9. "Observations saisonnières : Mentions inusitées et rares" (PDF). Le Jaseur (in French). Société d'ornithologie de l'Estrie. 32 (4). Winter 2012–2013. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  10. "Biodiversity". Nature Eastern Townships. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
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