Algonquin Park, Ontario

The diverse, cross-country beauty of the nation is depicted on 12 provincial and territorial parks stamps to be issued for Canada Day 1993. Canada's oldest provincial park is celebrating its centennial this year. Algonquin Park stretches across the southern edge of the Canadian Shield between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, approximately 200 kilometres north of Toronto. Humans have been in the area for some 4,500 years. Champlain certainly explored the vicinity and coureurs de bois must have passed through as they travelled westward. But it was in 1805 when Philemon Wright started the lumber industry by taking a small raft of pine down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, that the area took on a real importance. Logging was initiated on such a scale that by the end of the century the old forest had disappeared, with a new growth emerging. Concerns over the use of the area and demands for wildlife preserves led to the park being established in 1893. Although intended as a wildlife sanctuary and to exclude agriculture, it was not intended to stop logging, which continues to this day. Several tourist lodges were opened with the coming of the railway, but as highways were built their importance declined. As the area has a blend of forests it contains both northern and southern mammals. The scenery that enthralled Tom Thomson remains today and quiet water and loons still await visiting tourists. Outdoor activities abound, with a new visitor centre and logging museum ready for the centennial. The stamp designs convey the feeling that the artist visited these spectacular locations and was awed by their beauty.