Parks Canada needs help planting 30K trees in Cape Breton park

Parks Canada needs volunteers to help plant 30,000 new trees in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park this fall because moose have eaten so many of them in the last 15 years that grasslands now cover 11 per cent of the park's land.

Public outreach education officer Daniel Sinclair says the problem started 40 years ago after an outbreak of Spruce Budworm in the park's forests. New trees grew where old trees died.

For the moose, the treelings became breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

"Over time, what happens is that moose population increases so we now have a hyper-abundant moose population and a lot of food for them, a lot of regenerating trees. So over time, they've just taken everything out," Sinclair said. 

"Now we have just grasslands where there should be boreal forests." 

The areas where trees aren't regenerating have been dubbed "moose meadows". The popular Skyline Trail, which has one of the larger meadows, is a target for the planting project. 

"The Bring Back the Boreal Project is to plant trees to bring back a bit of that forest. We've noticed that forest regeneration isn't happening naturally or very quickly. By planting trees we're hoping to jump start it," said Sinclair.

'A drop in the bucket'

He says the plan is to first plant White Spruce, which the moose aren't as fond of. Next year, Balsam Fir will be planted in a fenced-off area in what the park's staff have dubbed a "moose exclosure." 

The goal is to allow the trees to grow to a larger size the moose can't eat and by doing so, encourage diversity of forest life. 

"It's kind of a drop in the bucket. But the ripple effect of that could be helpful." 

Weather has been the only barrier when it comes to finding volunteers. But when it cooperates, teams are out along the trail from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday. 

"On the [Victoria Day] long weekend, around 90 to 95 per cent of people who walked by said, 'Sure! Let's plant a tree.'" 

But 30,000 trees is a big goal, and so a moose-removal plan hasn't yet been totally ruled out. 

"It's a concern. And it is something that we are looking at now, but like I said, it's a process."