Beaubears Island in New Brunswick is home to Boishébert and Beaubears Island Shipbuilding National Historic Sites/Parks Canada
Boishébert and Beaubears Island Shipbuilding National Historic Sites in New Brunswick has a new management statement.
Reviewed every 10 years, management statements and plans are a requirement of the Parks Canada Agency Act and guide the management of national historic sites, national parks and national marine conservation areas.
Statements differ from plans in that they guide management decisions and actions at heritage places with limited management complexity, which are either owned by Parks Canada but are non-operational or operated by a third party, or that have a minimal service offer.
In this case, Friends of Beaubears Island is responsible for delivering visitor services on behalf of Parks Canada.
The new statement outlines a long-term direction for the sites along with management objectives under five key headings:
Building relationships with Indigenous Peoples in New Brunswick.
Cultural and natural resource management.
Partner, stakeholder and rights holder relationships.
Visitor experience and outreach.
Site maintenance.
The statement includes commitments to work with Mi’gmaq representatives, Friends of Beaubears Island Inc., Acadian representatives and other stakeholders to offer more diverse and inclusive stories through interpretive programming, maintaining adequate protection of the sites, and increasing awareness and appreciation of the sites’ role in history.
Beaubears Island covers 178 acres and sits at the confluence of the southwest and northwest branches of the Miramichi River, immediately downstream from what is today known as Wilsons Point and has served as a gathering place for Indigenous peoples of the Miramichi watershed for at least the past two millennia.
Boishébert first obtained designation as a national historic site in 1930. The reason of designation was revised in 2000 to more clearly commemorate the experience of the Acadians who sought refuge following the deportation that began in 1755.
Beaubears Island Shipbuilding National Historic Site was designated in 2002 for its association with the 19th century shipbuilding industry of the Maritimes.
