Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area Management Plan: document information

Document information

Acknowledgements

This management plan was developed by Laurie Maynard of the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada and Ron Reid, Bobolink Enterprises. Thanks to Canadian Wildlife Service employees who were involved in the development or review of the document: Madeline Austen, Alain Baril, Lesley Dunn, Susanne Emond, Lyle Friesen, Krista Holmes, Jack Hughes, Andrea Kettle, Shawn Meyer, Nancy Patterson, Jeff Robinson, Rich Russell and Ken Tuininga, and to Marie-Claude Archambault, Emily Ashley, Krista Holmes, Mark Richardson and Paul Watton for preparation of maps and figures. Thanks also to Rob Argue of the Wildlife Enforcement Directorate of Environment and Climate Change Canada. Special thanks to David Okines, Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, and Todd Norris (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) for their contributions to the early drafts. Migratory bird data for Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area was collected over many years by a number of observers. Special thanks to the numerous volunteers: the Kingston Field Naturalists, the Prince Edward Field Naturalists, and the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory for their efforts.

The 1985 Management Plan: Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, prepared by Hélène Lévesque of the Canadian Wildlife Service (Ontario), provided the groundwork for this update.

Copies of this plan are available at the following addresses:

Environment and Climate Change Canada
Public Inquiries Centre
7th Floor, Fontaine Building
200 Sacré-Coeur Boulevard
Gatineau QC K1A 0H3
Telephone: 819-997-2800
Toll Free: 1-800-668-6767 (in Canada only)
Email: ec.enviroinfo.ec@canada.ca Environment and Climate Change Canada - Canadian Wildlife Service
Ontario Region
4905 Dufferin Street
Toronto ON M3H 5T4

Environment and Climate Change Canada Protected Areas website

How to cite this document:

Environment and Climate Change Canada. 2016. Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area Management Plan. Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Ontario, [52 pp.]

Unless otherwise specified, you may not reproduce materials in this publication, in whole or in part, for the purposes of commercial redistribution without prior written permission from Environment and Climate Change Canada's copyright administrator. To obtain permission to reproduce Government of Canada materials for commercial purposes, apply for Crown Copyright Clearance by contacting:

Environment and Climate Change Canada
Public Inquiries Centre
7th Floor, Fontaine Building
200 Sacré-Coeur Boulevard
Gatineau QC K1A 0H3
Telephone: 819-997-2800
Toll Free: 1-800-668-6767 (in Canada only)
Email: ec.enviroinfo.ec@canada.ca

Environment and Climate Change Canada hosted an information session on August 24, 2016 in Picton, Ontario, regarding the proposed Management Plan for Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area. Information and comments received at this session have not yet been considered in this posted version of the Management Plan. Upon conclusion of the 60-day consultation period, the Department will review and consider all comments received to inform the final Management Plan.

Cover photos: © Environment and Climate Change Canada (left - Yellow-rumped Warbler, taken by David Okines; middle - Short-eared Owl, taken by Christian Artuso; right - aerial view of Prince Edward Point peninsula, includes Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area)

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About Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Protected Areas and Management Plans

What are Environment and Climate Change Canada Protected Areas?

Environment and Climate Change Canada establishes marine and terrestrial National Wildlife Areas for the purposes of conservation, research and interpretation. National Wildlife Areas are established to protect migratory birds, species at risk, and other wildlife and their habitats. National Wildlife Areas are established under the authority of the Canada Wildlife Act and are, first and foremost, places for wildlife. Migratory Bird Sanctuaries are established under the authority of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 and provide a refuge for migratory birds in the marine and terrestrial environment.

What is the size of the Environment and Climate Change Canada Protected Areas Network?

The current Protected Areas Network consists of 54 National Wildlife Areas and 92 Migratory Bird Sanctuaries comprising more than 12 million hectares across Canada.

What is a management plan?

A management plan provides the framework in which management decisions are made. They are intended to be used by Environment and Climate Change Canada staff to guide decision making, notably with respect to permitting. Management is undertaken in order to maintain the ecological integrity of the protected area and to maintain the attributes for which the protected area was established. Environment and Climate Change Canada prepares a management plan for each protected area in consultation with First Nations, the public and other stakeholders.

A management plan specifies activities that are allowed and identifies other activities that may be undertaken under the authority of a permit. It may also describe the necessary improvements needed in the habitat, and specify where and when these improvements should be made. A management plan identifies Aboriginal rights and allowable practices specified under land claims agreements. Further, measures carried out for the conservation of wildlife must not be inconsistent with any law respecting wildlife in the province in which the protected area is situated.

What is protected area management?

Management includes monitoring wildlife, maintaining and improving wildlife habitat, periodic inspections, enforcement of regulations, as well as the maintenance of facilities and infrastructure. Research is also an important activity in protected areas; hence, Environment and Climate Change Canada staff carries out or coordinates research in some sites.

The series

All of the National Wildlife Areas are to have a management plan. All of these management plans will be initially reviewed 5 years after the approval of the first plan, and every 10 years thereafter.

To learn more

To learn more about Environment and Climate Change Canada’s protected areas, please visit our website or contact the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa.

Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area

The Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area (NWA) was established in 1978 at the eastern end of the Long Point Peninsula at the southeastern corner of Prince Edward County, along the northeastern shore of Lake Ontario to protect a nationally significant area for migratory passerine birds (small perching birds) that pass through the area on route to their breeding sites in the Boreal Forest from their wintering areas in the southern USA, Mexico, and Central and South America. There is no other location on the Canadian side of Lake Ontario where birds are known to occur in such high densities during migration. More than 300 species of birds have been recorded on the point, including songbirds, waterfowl, owls and hawks. In 1998, the south shore of Prince Edward Point, in which the National Wildlife Area is located, was designated as a globally important bird area (IBA) by BirdLife International because the numbers of Greater Scaup (Aythya marila), Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), and White-winged Scoter (Melanitta fusca) exceed 1% of the global population.

The 512.9 ha of forest, grassland and wetland habitats is protected as a National Wildlife Area for conservation under the Canada Wildlife Act and Wildlife Area Regulations. Due to the tremendous numbers of migratory birds that pass through the area, the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory (PEPtBO), a non-profit organization, was established as a migration monitoring station in 1995 within the NWA. Every year, the PEPtBO bands numerous species of birds under permit from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Thirty-one species at risk, listed under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), have been recorded within the NWA. For listed avian species at risk, including the Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus), Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) and Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis), the NWA serves both as an area of respite during migration and as breeding habitat. In addition, Prince Edward Point NWA is an important staging area for migrating bats and Monarch (Danaus plexippus). This NWA was one of the first sites in Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Protected Areas Network to protect essential habitats for migrant songbirds.

Prince Edward Point NWA is one of ten NWAs in Ontario. This Prince Edward Point NWA Management Plan is an update of the Management Plan: Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area (Lévesque 1985) and replaces all other versions.

For greater certainty, nothing in this management plan shall be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for existing Aboriginal or treaty rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.