Imagine, if you would……..a summer cruise on the St. Lawrence River through the scenic Thousand Islands, past Kingston and the islands of Lake Ontario, to the mouth of the Bay of Quinte, and onward to an imposing three-storey hotel, beside the shore of the Bay of Quinte, near Belleville. The ship is a beautiful steam driven paddle wheeler named "The Brockville." It is filled with well to do ladies and gentlemen, off to enjoy a weekend or a week's holiday at a picturesque location, highlighted by this elegant structure, and accented with large verandahs completely encircling all three levels. Already present at the hotel are ladies with parasols and men with derbies, all strolling down toward the dock to meet the incoming boat. Those on board are filled with anticipation of afternoons of boating, picnicking, or walks beside the Bay of Quinte through a park-like landscape filled with century old oaks and the limestone barrens farther away from shore. These afternoons will be followed by evenings of fine dining, wine, dancing, and the pleasure of company with others from throughout eastern Ontario.

The site is known as Massassauga Park and the hotel at the site was a popular resort during the Victorian Era between 1870 and the early 1900s. With the arrival of the first motor vehicle in Prince Edward County, in 1900, and the subsequent wide spread use of cars for personal transport, the popular vacation spot soon began to lose money and the resort was closed by the 1940s. There were no roads leading to the resort, so imminent closure of the hotel was only a matter of time.

The oaks remained, and Nature carried on with little interference, with certain trees and shrub species gaining a foothold and growing unchecked. The former splendour of the park-like savanna was rendered all but unrecognizable. The land on which the resort stood was purchased by the Prince Edward Region Conservation Authority in 1971.

The site's limestone barrens were recognized and investigated as an area of Alvar habitat during the 1990s by the International Alvar Conservation initiative. This Alvar Working Group's findings were published in 1999 by the Nature Conservancy in the publication "Conserving Great Lakes Alvar". The area supporting the oaks had, by this time, become filled in by young Red Cedar and European Buckthorn and were noted by this group.

In 1999, the presence of open grown oaks at the site was noted by Ed Heuvel of Halloway Farms Consulting who, with Quinte Conservation, contacted Wasyl Bakowsky of the Natural Heritage Information Centre to evaluate the site. The area was confirmed to be a Bur Oak Savanna associated with the Alvar habitat and was considered provincially rare and globally imperiled.

 The non-native and native shrubs in the area were very dense and were impacting negatively on the native ground cover, which in some areas had disappeared entirely due to heavy shade. Some of the oaks were loosing lower branches due to the same cause. It was felt that the site was in need of restoration activities (primarily in the form of shrub removal) to ensure the survival of the oaks and to restore the ground cover to a more open condition.

A plan was formulated with the support of Quinte Conservation (in 1996 the Prince Edward Region Conservation Authority became one of three local conservation authorities forming Quinte Conservation), The Friends of Massassauga as well as the Quinte Watershed Cleanup. Funding was sought and granted through the Eco-Action program at Environment Canada. Additional funding was granted by TD Canada Trust-Friends of the Environment, Community Fish and Wildlife Improvement Program - Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (CFWIP-OMNR) and the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan Habitat Enhancement Program. Along with equipment and technical expertise from Quinte Conservation and Halloway Farms, clearing of the under storey species on a 10-acre plot at the site were commenced in July of 2001. Operations continued with additional assistance provided by the Lennox Addington and Prince Edward County Ontario Works Program. Work continued until late September, 2002.

The results were amazing. As operations gradually teased out the oaks from the shrubs enveloping them, each was found to be a beautiful individual, in spite of the harsh growing conditions. In shape, each is unique with twisted trunks and branches that spread with reckless abandon in all directions. The trees were obviously very healthy with lush green leaves, but stunted by the harsh environment of the site. The average age of the oaks was found to be approximately 200 years. Also discovered at the site were 175+ year old, rare hybrids of Chinquapin and Bur Oak, known as Deams Oak.

Operations opened up the habitat so that dozens of the centuries old oaks can now be seen in the savanna habitat. This habitat includes not only the oaks, but also centuries old Shagbark Hickory and Red Cedar. The views have now been widened to what is believed to be pre-settlement conditions, and the area presents sweeping vistas of the open grown oaks with the Bay of Quinte serving as a backdrop. The aesthetics of the site have been increased dramatically with the clearing of the shrubs in this area. The preservation of these aesthetics and the continued maintenance of the natural heritage of the site, however, depends greatly on the continued management of the site.

Future plans for the site include an improved interpretive program, continued clearing of additional areas of oak savanna, and monitoring of the ground cover to measure the success of the operations in 2001 and 2002. It will be exciting to see if seeds from plants that once grew in the former oak savanna, and have been lying dormant all these years, will reappear in their newly refurbished habitat. Already, Alvar species such as Early Buttercup, Prairie Smoke, Side Oats Grama, and Blue-eyed Grass are tantalizingly close to the rehabilitation site. A number of interpretive walks have been planned by Quinte Conservation, Prince Edward County Field Naturalists and the Quinte Field Naturalists. Why not come along?