Cavendish Grove Stream and Watershed Restoration Project

What is happening and why?

Parks Canada has a legislated mandate to protect ecological integrity, and the PEI National Park is dedicated to monitoring, and whenever possible, improving ecological integrity throughout the park. Freshwater habitat in PEI National Park has been flagged as an area of concern for protection, as the current trend for ecological integrity is decreasing.

The Cavendish Grove Stream and Watershed Restoration Project, which encompasses the stream restoration at Cavendish Grove and Balsam Hollow Brook leading in to the Lake of Shining Waters, aims to remove old dam infrastructure, culverts and stream crossings which, in recent history, have limited the connectivity of the aquatic ecosystem and have acted as barriers to fish passage and have changed the natural flow and watercourse. Infrastructure to be removed is currently found throughout the Cavendish Grove site (dams constructed to facilitate Rainbow Valley amusement park), culverts and stream crossings downstream and adjacent the Simpson House and Green Gables Golf Course, as well as the culvert and stream crossing in Balsam Hollow Brook (old entrance to Green Gables Heritage Place).

The proposed stream and watershed restoration project (including the removal of the infrastructure mentioned above) will improve the integrity of PEI National Park’s freshwater ecosystem overall, as well as the resilience of our coastal Park to climate change impacts such as increased precipitation and flooding events.

Detailed Impact Assessment

Parks Canada is undertaking a Detailed Impact Assessment (DIA) for the pending project and welcomes your input. Public engagement in the DIA improves the process by adding important insights, information and values. It gives Parks Canada a more complete perspective when considering the project, and improves transparency for the Canadian public.

Please note that due to the Government of Canada’s duty to consult with Indigenous rights-holders, the plan may change based on any recommendation the Mi’kmaq have relating to this project. This rights-based consultation will occur following the public engagement, and is an important legal part of the process that may impact final decisions regarding this project.

How to view the draft DIA report and submit feedback

Information about how to request a copy of the draft DIA report is posted on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry. We encourage you to consider the following when reviewing the draft:

• What aspects of the environment or cultural history of the area are you most concerned about?
• What impact to the environment or cultural history of the area are you concerned about?
• What knowledge do you have of the environmental or cultural history, potential impacts or potential actions that might help lessen impacts of the proposal?
• Why do you think the potential impacts you identified are important to raise?
• Are there any other projects that you are aware of that might contribute to any cumulative effects associated with the proposal?
• What opportunities can you suggest to increase the conservation gains of the proposal?

You can request a full electronic copy of the draft DIA by visiting the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry on or before June 13, 2022.

Public input is invited on or before June 13, 2022, via:

• email: cavendish@pc.gc.ca
• phone: 902-672-6350
• or mail: Prince Edward Island National Park, 2 Palmers Lane Charlottetown, PE C1A 5V8

PLEASE NOTE: Public input from previous formal and informal consultations regarding the Cavendish Area of PEI National Park--such as maintaining some pond habitat for the wildlife currently occupying the Cavendish Grove each year--has already been integrated in to the proposed project. This proposed project focuses solely on the stream restoration and ecological integrity of the freshwater ecosystem at this time and does not incorporate other aspects of the overall Cavendish Grove site.