Wallace Bay National Wildlife Area Management Plan: document information

Acknowledgements

This management plan was developed by Colin MacKinnon of the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada. Thanks to Canadian Wildlife Service employees who were involved in the development or review of the document: Kevin Davidson, Al Hanson, Andrew Kennedy and Matthew Horsman. The Wallace Bay area, or the Valley of the Remsheg, has a long and rich settlement history. The current stewards of the region, many being descendants of the Remsheg’s first grantees, are acknowledged. A special thanks to Betty Brown, whose father wrote the Wallace Bay history, for all her help as well as a note of thanks to past and present members of the Wallace Area Development Association as well as the Wallace and Area Museum for their assistance over the years.

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
Atlantic Region
17 Waterfowl Lane
Sackville, New Brunswick E4L 1G6

Environment and Climate Change Canada Protected Areas Website

How to cite this document:

Environment and Climate Change Canada. 2016. Management Plan for the Wallace Bay National Wildlife Area [Proposed], Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service Atlantic Region, [40p.]

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:

Cover photos: left- Eurasian Teal © R. Lavoie; centre - Common Tern © Environment and Climate Change Canada; right- Aerial view of Wallace Bay NWA © Environment and Climate Change Canada; background - marsh Wallace Bay NWA © N. McLellan

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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 twelve 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 which 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 other 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 administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada 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 web site at www.ec.gc.ca/ap-pa/ or contact the Canadian Wildlife Service in Ottawa.

Wallace Bay National Wildlife area

Wallace Bay National Wildlife Area (NWA) was established in 1980 to protect coastal waterfowl habitat. Consisting of a rich mosaic of salt and freshwater marshes fringed by an upland border, the NWA is an important staging area for ducks and geese during their spring and fall migrations. Wallace Bay NWA is located in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia at the head of Wallace Harbour, which empties into the Northumberland Strait. The low-lying and gently rolling landscape is surrounded by mixed farms that raise predominantly cattle and sheep.

The productive land at the site of Wallace Bay NWA has a long history of human use. The coastal marshes and clam flats would have been an important area for aboriginal people, and Fox Island at the mouth of the bay was a favourite camping area. European settlement dates to the early 1700s, followed by the dyking of the marshlands by Acadian settlers. Farming on the drained wetlands at the site continued well into the twentieth century. Extensive use of dykes and water control structures, known as “aboiteau”, throughout the Maritime Provinces has resulted in the loss of many of the region’s productive salt marshes. Wallace Bay NWA was created in order to protect some of these remaining coastal wetlands. In addition, in collaboration with Ducks Unlimited Canada, a series of controlled water level brackish and freshwater wetland impoundments have been created over long-abandoned agricultural dykelands at the headwaters of the system.

There are no roads or buildings within Wallace Bay NWA. A parking lot and boat launch are maintained for public use. Routine inspection and maintenance of boundary lines, regulatory signs, and public access points are conducted as required. As posted in public notices on site, traditional land uses such as hunting, fishing, and trapping are permitted in the NWA in accordance with applicable federal and provincial regulations.

Co-Management

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 aboriginal peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

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Date modified:: 2017-08-31

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