Page 3:
The Preservation of a Landscape
The effects of the river's action have produced their most dramatic
results in the stretch after the river has made it's abrupt change of
course at what we now call the Souris Bend. From the bend on to
Wawanesa, the river valley is at it's most rugged. Steep cliffs
overlook the river bends and quick drops in elevation produce rapids at
regular intervals. There are places here that defy the stereotype of
the "prairie landscape".
The very attributes that make this a special place for the wilderness
enthusiast, the wildlife enthusiast, the hiker and paddler, make it
unsuitable for cultivation - and that is a happy circumstance. In the
area immediately surrounding the "Bend", a large tract has been set
aside a a wildlife management area, meaning - no homes, no roads, no
hydro lines, no cultivated fields. It is possible to walk (or canoe)
for miles without encountering any of the usual noisy, smelly,
intrusive ways in which we humans mark our territories. The Souris Bend
Wildlife Management Area has no roads beyond dirt trails that follow
the paths used by the pioneers. No commercial use of the land is
allowed - even for pasture - so there are no barbed wire fences, or
buildings of any sort. Miles of rough hiking / riding trails take you
across the prairie grassland, along the ridge of the escarpment with
it's panoramic views of the river valley, down the valley walls, and
along the river itself. |
In some areas the river meanders across a wide
valley.
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Even beyond the boundaries of the
wildlife management area one seldom sees houses or farm buildings from
the river, and those you do see are usually along the top of the
escarpment far from the water. On the upstream sections of the Souris
it is not uncommon to find cows grazing along the banks or to see a
farm tractor working nearby. You sometimes encounter a fence strung
across the stream. But here the terrain generally forbids cultivation
on the valley floor. And even some of the pastures are fenced at the
edge of the escarpment. While hiking in the river valley or canoeing
the stream one seldom encounters other people.
Yet it wasn't always so.
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Typical section of the trails. They alternate
between dense woods and dramatic escarpment vistas.
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