The ZEC Capitachouane is a ''

zone d'exploitation contrôlée A ''zone d'exploitation contrôlée'' (; acronym ZEC) is a "Controlled harvesting zone" located in public lands areas of Quebec, in Canada. ZECs are a system of territorial infrastructures set up in 1978 by the Government of Quebec to take over fro ...

'' (Controlled Harvesting Zone) (ZEC), located in the municipality of

Senneterre Senneterre () is a town in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of northwestern Quebec, Canada. It is in La Vallée-de-l'Or Regional County Municipality. There are three schools in this city: St-Paul elementary school, Chanoine-Delisle elementary ...

in the RCM

La Vallée-de-l'Or Regional County Municipality La Vallée-de-l'Or () is a regional county municipality in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region in Northwestern Quebec, Canada. The seat is in Val-d'Or. It is named for its gold deposits in the Harricana River and Bell River valleys. History Ori ...

, in the administrative region of

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...

and partially in the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

region,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. This ZEC is administered by the "Association de chasse et pêche Rousillon inc".

Geography

The ZEC covers a wild and completely forested area. It is located northeast of

Cabonga Reservoir The Cabonga Reservoir () is a man-made lake in central Quebec, Canada, with a total surface area of and a net area (water only) of .Natural Resources Canada, Atlas of Canada Lakes It is located on the boundary between the unorganized territories ...

and southeast of the city of Val d'Or, north of the Zec Petawaga and directly adjacent to Zec Festubert. The ZEC has 88 lakes (52 of which are operated for fishing) and 10 rivers (five used for fishing). The two largest lakes are Bouchette Lake () and Landron lake (). Other major lakes are: Aveluy, des Trois Baies (Three Bays), Bailleul, Bonaparte, Bimbo, Cather, Chip, Danin, Farrington, Fayolle, Fitzgerald, Fricourt, Graincourt Gregg, Griffith, Harris, Hopkins, Kâmakadewagamik, Kean, Kessler, Leask, Lindsay, Loucks, Martin, Maxwell, Proville, Rawlinson, Reynolds, Rock, Round, Simionescu, Thiepval, Weber and Young. The main rivers of the ZEC are: Berlinge, Festubert, Chochocouane and Capitachouane; lake head of the latter (flowing south-west) is the Capitachouane lake. Camping is allowed in the ZEC, as well as the installation of a trailer. Access to the area is via Route 117, connecting

Mont-Laurier Mont-Laurier () is a town and incorporated municipality in western Quebec, Canada, located on the banks of the Lièvre River (''Rivière du Lièvre''), a tributary of the Ottawa River. Known as the "Capital of the Haute-Laurentides", the motto o ...

to Val d'Or. The main forest road is R0713. Secondary access roads are: R0715 and R0716.

Wildlife

Hunting quotas are regulated by the ZEC based on species, periods and the type of hunting gear. Species governed by hunting quotas are including the

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is Endemism, endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with ...

, gélinotte (grouse) and tétras (grouse). Lakes abound with several types of fish:

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater Salvelinus, char living mainly in lakes in Northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, laker, and grey trout. In Lake Sup ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

and

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

Toponymy

This name of Amerindian origin of the Algonquin Nation means "long water course". Three names use the term "Capitachouane": the Zec, the lake and the river. The toponym "Zec Capitachouane" was formalized on August 5, 1982, by the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

(Geographical Names Board of Québec)./ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=120669 Commission de toponymie du Québec (Geographical Names Board of Québec) - Bank of place names - Toponym: "Zec Capitachouane"
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capitachouane, ZEC Protected areas of Outaouais Protected areas of Abitibi-Témiscamingue Protected areas established in 1978 1978 establishments in Quebec