MUSKOKA HERI1"AGE AREAS PROGRAM A Project of the District Municipality of Muskoka and the Muskoka Heritage Foundation 10 Pine Street, Bracebridge, Ontario PIL IN3 NATURAL HERITAGE EVALUATION OF MUS KOKA P/5pared By Ron Reid aD(l Bonnie Bergsma TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i Executive Summary and Recommendations ii 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Approach .. 1 1.2 Summary of Field Work 5 1.3 Integration 9 1.4 Evaluation of Candidate Areas 10 2.0 MUSKOKA'S NATURAL HERITAGE: AN OVERVIEW 2.1 Geology and Geomorphology 19 2.2 Climate and Hydrology 21 2.3 Vegetation 23 2.4 Wildlife 25 2.5 Definition of Subdistricts 26 3.0 INDIVIDUAL AREA AND SITE DESCRIPTIONS 3.1 Coastal Barrens Subdistrict Bone Island Heritage Area 31 Cognashene Lake-Longuissa Bay Heritage Area 34 Gibson River Corridor Heritage Area 37 McCrae Lake Heritage Area .. 40 Moreaus Bay Heritage Area :.......................................... 44 Pine Islands Heritage Area 47 3.2 Severn Corridor Subdistrict Clipsham's Wood Heritage Area 50 Ellison Bay Wetland Heritage Area 53 Lion's Head Heritage Area 57 Lost Channel Heritage Area 60 Lower Swift Slope Heritage Area 64 McLean Bay Wetland Heritage Area 67 Moose Lake Heritage Area 70 Neipage Lake Complex Heritage Area 73 Port Severn Outlier Heritage Area 76 Potato Island Heritage Area 79 Port Severn Lacustrine Deposit Heritage Site 82 3.3 Gibson Subdistrict Bala Bog Heritage Area 84 Concession Lake Heritage Area 87 Deer Lake Complex Heritage Area 90 Gray Rapids Heritage Area 95 Loon Lake Wetland Heritage Area ..~................................................................. 99 Lower Moon River Heritage Area 103 Morrison Lake Wetland Heritage Area 106 Bass Island A.C.P.F. Heritage Site 110 Coldwater Lake-Swan Lake Heritage Site 112 Gaunt Bay A.C.P.F. / Upper Moon River Heritage Sites 114 Gibson River Valley Heritage Site 117 Muldrew Creek Heritage Site 119 Musquash River A.C.P.F. Heritage Sites 122 Poison Sumac Swamp Heritage Site 124 3.4 Muskoka Lakes Subdistrict Bruce Lake Marshes Heritage Area ...............................•................................... 126 Clark's Pond Heritage Area 130 Eilean Gowan Island Heritage Area 134 Scarcliffe Bay Heritage Area 137 Well's CreekIWalker Point Heritage Area .....................................................•.. 140 3.5 Victoria Highlands Subdistrict Jevins Lake Heritage Area 143 Kahshe Lake Barrens Heritage Area 146 Lewisham Wetland Heritage Area 150 Riley Lake Barrens Heritage Area ....................................•................................ 153 South Three Mile Lake Wetland Heritage Area 156 3.6 Algonquin Beaches Subdistrict Beaumont Bay Carbonates Heritage Area 159 Big East River Delta Heritage Area 163 Cooper's Pond Heritage Area 167 Novar Conifer Peat Forest Heritage Area ~.............. 170 Sharpe's Creek Valley Heritage Area 174 South Muskoka Canyon Heritage Area 178 Axe Creek Modern Alluvial Deposit Heritage Site ;............ 181 Fairy Lake Wave-eut Notch Heritage Site 183 North Muskoka Canyon Heritage Site 185 Raymond Fine-grained Glaciolacustrine Deposit Heritage Site 187 Sage Creek Sub aquatic Fan Heritage Site 189 3.7 Magnetewan Subdistrict Axe Lake Peatland Heritage Area 191 3.8 Lake of Bays Subdistrict Britannia Esker Heritage Area 195 Fawn Lake Wetland Heritage Area 198 Langmaid's Island Heritage Area 201 Lower Oxtongue River Heritage Area 204 Shack Creek Wetland Heritage Area 207 Spring Creek Wetland Heritage Area 211 Port Cunnington Intrusive Heritage Site 214 Port Cunnington Wetland Heritage Site 216 Wadis Creek Marsh Heritage Site 218 Westermain Wood Heritage Site 220 Wood Lake Bedrock-drift Complex Heritage Site 222 3.9 Oxtongue Subdistrict Big East River Corridor Heritage Area 224 Dwight Conifer Peat Forest Heritage Area .. 232 Bella Lake Glaciofluvial Outwash Deposit Heritage Site 235 Bella Lake Till Unit Heritage Site 237 3.10 Other Candidates Considered ...;............................................................................. 239 3.11 Existing Parks and Protected Areas 244 4.0 BffiLIOORAPHY . 248 Appendix 1: Numerical Summary of Heritage Areas and Sites 255 Appendix 2: Vegetation Community Site Type Matrix for Muskoka District 257 Appendix 3: Atlantic Coastal Plain Flora Occurrence and Ranking 264 LIST OF TABLES Summary Table A: Criteria Fulfilled by Recommended Natural Heritage Areas - v - Summary Table B: Recommended Natural Heritage Sites - vii - Table 1: Heritage Areas Selection Criteria: March 1993 2 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Plant Species Diversity/Area: Muskoka 14 Figure 2: Bedrock Geology of the District of Muskoka 20 Figure 3: Major Meltwater Discharge Routes across Muskoka 22 Figure 4: Muskoka Subdistricts 27 ACKNOWLEDGENIENTS This study is the result of the initiative and support of the District Municipality of Muskoka, particularly Bill Calvert, Jim Green, and Judi Brouse. Ms. Brouse acted as the primary liaison for the project, and her frequent guidance was appreciated. The participation and encouragement of the Muskoka Heritage Foundation has also been crucial throughout, particularly the involvement of Janet Grand and Rob Purves. The Ministry of Natural Resources has provided considerable financial and technical support, particularly through the involvement of George Moroz, Bill Crins, Jan McDonnell, John Riley, and Evan Thomas. Ontario Hydro provided welcome support to the project through the secondment of Bob Bowles for two field seasons, which is gratefully acknowledged. Mr. Bowles brought with him an exceptional knowledge of Muskoka' s natural heritage, as well as species checklists which formed a framework for our data collection and storage. A checklist of vascular plant species was provided through the extensive previous work of Emerson Whiting and Jim Goltz. Dr. Goltz and members of the Muskoka Field Naturalists and the Toronto Field Naturalists also assisted with field work on occasion. Financial support for the joint study of the Severn River corridor was received from the County of Simcoe, Canadian Parks Service, and Southern Region of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Funding support to carry out mapping of surficial geology for Muskoka and to identify representative and distinctive geological features was provided by the District Municipality, Ministry of Natural Resources Parks and Natural Heritage Branch, and the Ontario Geological Survey. Assistance in information gathering on scenic preferences was provided through the generous donation of an original oil painting by Geoff Miller of Grillia. Other financial support over the course of this project and associated landowner contact activities was received from: Environmental Youth Corps Muskoka Lakes Association Environmental Partners Fund Numerous Individual Donors Ontario Heritage Foundation Wildlife Habitat Canada World Wildlife Fund (Canada) The McLean Foundation Finally, we wish to acknowledge the skills and dedication of the various field workers and support staff who made completion of this project possible, in particular we would like to thank Bob LaCroix and Joan Gray for their cartographic skills and Deb Crowder for her assistance in typing the final report. - 1 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS The purpose of this report is to integrate and summarize the results of three years of field data collection related to the natural heritage of Muskoka. This final report builds on seven previous interim reports from the Heritage Areas Program, including: - 1990, 1991, and 1992 Field Program Reports; - a Severn Corridor study sponsored jointly by Simcoe County; - a biotic study of the Georgian Bay coast; - surficial geology mapping and recommendations from the Ontario Geological Survey; and - a Scenic Areas study carried out in 1992. Selection of Heritage Areas is based on a set of selection criteria, which were developed and reviewed early in the project. The full criteria and their application are described in Chapter 1 of this report. For Natural Heritage Areas, the relevant criteria can be summarized as: - distinctive/unusuallandform features - representative landform types - regional hydrological systems - biotic representation - high diversity of species or communities - high quaHty/lowdisturbance - habitat for rare species - wildlife/fish concentrations - large size or linkages - biogeographic significance - scenic value As part of the fmal integration phase, these criteria and their application were reviewed to ensure they were applied consistently. The criteria are supported by an analysis of vegetation community representation, a plant species/area graph, a scoring system for Atlantic Coastal Plain vegetation, and a series of updated appendices on species rarity. The application of the scenic criteria is based on a public survey of viewer preferences, together with an analysis of nominated sites and corridors. Because of this review, in the case of any discrepancies with the previous reports, this report should be considered the governing document. For the purposes of biological evaluation, 74 candidate areas were visited at least once in the field, as well as 121 scenic site candidates. A total of 48 candidates meet two or more criteria to qualify as Natural Heritage Areas. These Areas cover a total of 25,500 hectares, or approximately 6% of Muskoka's land base. Approximately half of the total extent of Natural Heritage Areas is on Crown land. - ii - Natural Heritage Sites are generally smaller than Areas, and identify a single feature of interest through one of the biotic, abiotic, or scenic criteria. These sites are included on the