Baie Lavallière

(Cadastral map of site also available: 121 K)

Baie Lavallière, situated near the mouth of the Yamaska River on the south shore of Lac Saint-Pierre, is a major natural habitat. Composed of marsh, swamp and flood-prone agricultural land, this environment is affected by the annual spring floods that occur on Lac Saint-Pierre and the Yamaska River. It therefore offers favourable conditions for waterfowl and for more than 25 fish species, including about ten that spawn there.

Marsh of the Baie Lavallière site. Photo: Jean-Pierre Lamoureux, CWS

Baie Lavallière also has a very diverse community of aquatic birds, raptors and passerines, and is known for its sizeable amphibian populations, particularly leopard frogs and bullfrogs. Other species can be observed there too, notably numerous muskrats along with red foxes, minks, ermines, otters and snapping turtles.

Many parcels of land have been acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and by the Société d’aménagement de la baie Lavallière, an organization which has dedicated itself to the conservation of this vast area since 1989. This land covering an area of 21.88 hectares, primarily wet meadow, has consolidated acquisitions made by the Quebec Department of the Environment and Wildlife in the sector.