News/Reports
Raspberry Harbour Purpose Statement, 2003
Raspberry Harbour Ecological Reserve (ER# 91) Purpose Statement
This 143-hectare ecological reserve is located on the eastern half of a peninsula between Omineca Arm and Finlay Reach of Williston Reservoir in the Rocky Mountain Trench. The ecological reserve is about 144 kilometres west of Hudson’s Hope, with access via logging roads from Raspberry Harbour.
The level landscape of this ecological reserve was once a terrace above the Finlay River before the flooding of Williston Lake.
Raspberry Harbour Ecological Reserve includes a site with very high productivity values for the Mackenzie region, and a good selection of the forest and moor associates of the sub-boreal spruce biogeoclimatic zone. The ecological reserve consists of about 35% treeless bog, 35% black spruce bog, 5% black spruce forest and 25% upland forest (largely lodgepole pine – trembling aspen).
Primary Role
The primary role of Raspberry Harbour Ecological Reserve is to preserve outstanding lodgepole pine stands and adjacent bog land near the northern edge of the Sub-Boreal Spruce Zone. This Reserve is intended to be used for silvicultural research, and for future seed and tree breeding programs.
See the complete PDF: raspberry_harbour_er_ps
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Known Management Issues |
Response |
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No management presence |
Commence efforts to recruit an ecological reserve warden for the site. |
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Lodgepole pine management |
In order to protect the stand of very high quality lodgepole pine, all fires should be suppressed. Efforts to protect the stand from mountain pine beetle may be undertaken (fall and burn) to protect the stand after a MPB Assessment and Management Strategy is completed for the Ecological Reserve.
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- Situated in the Parsnip Trench (PAT) Ecosection, which is very poorly represented in the protected areas system (2.67%). The ecological reserve’s contribution is negligible (only 1.13% of overall protected area representation of this ecosection). The majority of the representation of this ecosection is provided by Muscovite Lakes (53.51%) and Heather-Dina Lakes (42.09%) provincial parks.
- Situated in the SBSmk2, which is under-represented in the protected areas system (3.7% protected). This ecological reserve’s contribution is negligible (only 1.22% of overall protected area representation of this subzone). Muscovite Lakes (55.14%) and Heather-Dina Lakes (39.8%) provincial parks provide the vast majority of the protected areas system representation of the SBSmk2.
- Exceptionally tall lodgepole pine trees.