La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve

La Vérendrye Wildlife Reserve
Réserve faunique La Vérendrye
Jean-Peré Lake at Le Domaine
Location	Quebec, Canada
Nearest city	Grand-Remous, Quebec
Coordinates	47°02′N 76°32′W / 47.033°N 76.533°W / 47.033; -76.533Coordinates: 47°02′N 76°32′W / 47.033°N 76.533°W / 47.033; -76.533
Area	12,589 km2 (4,861 sq mi)
Established	1939
Governing body	Sépaq
http://www.sepaq.com/rf/lvy/en/

La Vérendrye wildlife reserve is one of the largest reserves in the province of Quebec, Canada, covering 12,589 square kilometres of contiguous land and lake area (Assinica wildlife reserve is the largest in the province, but its territory is broken up in four non-contiguous parts). It is named after Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, a French-Canadian explorer. Located 180 kilometres (110 mi) north of Ottawa (Canada’s capital), it is traversed from south to north by Route 117.

With more than 4000 lakes and rivers and two huge reservoirs (Cabonga and Dozois), the wilderness territory is a venue of choice for outdoor enthusiasts. In addition to hunting and fishing, it also offers the opportunity to practice wilderness camping or canoe camping on more than 800 kilometres (500 mi) of interconnecting canoe routes.

Two First Nation communities are found within the boundaries of the wildlife reserve: Kitcisakik on Great Victoria Lake and Lac-Rapide on Cabonga Reservoir.

The reserve was established in 1939 with the name Reserve Route-Mont-Laurier-Senneterre. It was that year that the road linking Mont-Laurier to Abitibi (now known as Route 117) was expected to be completed. Because this new road made an exceptionally rich wildlife territory accessible to thousands of hunters and fishermen, it became thus important to protect it.

In 1950, the government transformed the hunting and fishing reservation into a park and renamed it in honour of explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Lord of La Vérendrye, on the 200th anniversary of his death (1749). It gained the status of wildlife reserve in 1979.