Forest cover

Before the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Lake Memphremagog watershed was almost completely covered in forests. The establishment of farming, and, more recently, the rapid residential development of rural areas, with its associated road and housing construction boom, have eaten away at this forest cover. What forests remain are primarily privately held. The ecosystem needs this forest cover, and once it disappears, the equilibrium of the entire lake’s ecosystem is threatened. As well, the advent of climate change leads us to wonder what the effect of these increased pressures will be on the hydrological network of the watershed. Do we want to attempt to re-establish this equilibrium? The health of the lake is indisputably tied to the preservation of the forest cover, and, at least in part, to the re-establishment of the forest cover that has been lost.

Documentation on forest cover: