Marie-Jean-Eudes Ecological Reserve

The Marie-Jean-Eudes Ecological Reserve constitutes a public conservation, education and research. Its territory is located in the township of Desaulniers, in the unorganized territory of the regional county municipality of Maskinongé, in the administrative region of Mauricie, in Quebec, Canada. This ecological reserve is enclosed in the eastern part of the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve.

Its raison d'être of the Marie-Jean-Eudes Ecological Reserve is to ensure the protection of ecosystems representative of the ecological region of the Middle Laurentians of Mauricie, which belongs to the sugar maple-yellow birch domain.

This small reserve of is administered by the Quebec Ministry of the Environment.

History
This ecological reserve was created in 1992. It was named after Sister Marie-Jean-Eudes (née Marie-Bernadette-Eugénie Tellier) (1897-1978), a botanist. Tellier is considered a pioneer in the study of natural sciences in Quebec. In particular, she worked for more than 30 years in the field of scientific popularization within the Circle of Young Naturalists. Several articles in biology, geology and especially botany, have been published under his pen.

Geography
On the south side, its territory is delimited by Lake Gauthier and Lake Shawinigan; on the east side, by Lac Brodeur. This territory includes the Girard, Bellemare, Hector, Gélinas, Cresson and Merle lakes. In short, this territory is at the eastern limit of the Mastigouche wildlife reserve, therefore very close to the western limit of La Mauricie National Park.

The relief of this reserve in the middle Laurentians is hilly. Topographically, the altitude of this reserve varies between 335 m, near Lake Shawinigan, about 489 m to the northwest. According to specialists from the Ministry, the source rock of the reserve is mainly composed of gneiss, original rocks formed in the Precambrian period. On the surface of these rocks, the last glaciation left sand-textured tills, thick on the slopes and thinner towards the summits. The territory of the reserve also includes fluvio-glacial sands and gravels in the valley bottoms, as well as recent peat deposits in poorly drained basins. While the soils mainly contain Dystric Brunisols and Humo-Ferric Podzols.

Stands dominated by deciduous trees and those dominated by coniferous trees are approximately equivalent. Among the deciduous group, the sugar maple-yellow birch grove occupies the slopes facing south and west. The sugar bush, yellow birch and large-leaved beech colonize areas of altitude above 400 m. On the other hand, the conifer group is divided into four stable stands: pure black spruce, balsam fir-black spruce, black spruce-white pine, and balsam fir-yellow birch.

Get in
From the reception stations of Pins Rouges of the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve, the trip by the forest road is to the bridge over the outlet of Lac Gauthier. In the Mastigouche wildlife reserve, all you have to do is take the forest road along the Loup river, then the forest road passing near Lac Jouet, Lac du Pimbina, to Lac Shawinigan; then take the branch leading to the west shore of Lac Brodeur. A segment of the forest road passing on the north side of Shawinigan Lake more or less constitutes the southern limit of this reserve; this forest road leads to a small resort hamlet on a peninsula (attached to the north shore) between Lake Shawinigan and Petit lac Shawinigan.

By car

 * From Montreal (. Time: 2 hr 34 min. Take highway 40 (north shore) heading east; take Chemin Caron (northbound); take route 138 (eastbound) to the village of Louiseville; take Rang Barthélemy (northbound), and cross the villages of Sainte-Angèle-de-Prémont and Saint-Alexis-des-Monts; take the rang des Pins Rouge (direction nod), up to the Reserve reception station.
 * From Quebec (city) (. Time: 2 hr 43 min. Take highway 40 (westbound) and cross Trois-Rivières; take highway 55 (northbound) to Saint-Étienne-des-Grès; take Chemin des Dalles (westbound); take the chemin du 2e rang (northbound) to the village of Charrette; take route 350 (westbound) to the village of Saint-Paulin; take the 349 (westbound) to the village of Saint-Alexis-des-Monts; take the rang des Pins Rouge (direction nod), up to the Reserve reception station.

Go next

 * – A wildlife reserve in Quebec dedicated to the conservation, development and use of wildlife as well as the practice of recreational activities. This reserve is north of Saint-Alexis-des-Monts, Saint-Paulin and Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc.
 * (Réserve faunique du Saint-Maurice) – Park administered by Sépaq on the west bank of the Saint-Maurice river and north of the Matawin river. This park offers chalet rental, small game hunting, fishing, camping and ready-to-camp services. The main entrance is the Mékinac bridge which spans the Saint-Maurice river.
 * – National park offering several recreational and tourism activities: sport fishing, hiking (160 km of trails), cycling, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, interpretation trails, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, camping (both in summer and in winter), canoe-camping, long hike in complete autonomy. A promenade road crosses the park right through. This park is bounded by the Matawin River to the north and the St-Maurice River to the east. It has two entrances: Saint-Mathieu and Saint-Jean-des-Piles.
 * – Controlled exploitation zone (ZEC) created in 1978 in the MRC de Mékinac, in Mauricie. This zec covers, covering the townships of Badeaux, Arcand, Seigneurie du Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Brehault, Livernois and Normand.
 * – Controlled exploitation zone (ZEC) created in 1979. Its territory covers in the municipalities of Mandeville, Saint-Damien and east of Saint-Zénon.
 * – A municipality of Lanaudière focused on recreational tourism and forestry.
 * – The municipality of Trois-Rives has five hamlets or villages: Saint-Joseph-de-Mékinac, Rivière-Matawin, Olscamps, Grande-Anse and part of Rivière-aux-Rats. Its economy is focused on forestry, agriculture and recreational tourism activities (vacationing, hunting & fishing, swimming, snowmobiling, mountain biking, etc.). The bridge erected at Matawin (over the Saint-Maurice river) gives privileged access to the ZEC du Chapeau- de-Paille and the Saint-Maurice wildlife reserve.
 * – The municipality of Trois-Rives has five hamlets or villages: Saint-Joseph-de-Mékinac, Rivière-Matawin, Olscamps, Grande-Anse and part of Rivière-aux-Rats. Its economy is focused on forestry, agriculture and recreational tourism activities (vacationing, hunting & fishing, swimming, snowmobiling, mountain biking, etc.). The bridge erected at Matawin (over the Saint-Maurice river) gives privileged access to the ZEC du Chapeau- de-Paille and the Saint-Maurice wildlife reserve.