The Conservation of Threatened or Vulnerable Plant Species: The Des Cantons-Lévis Transmission Line Experience

Céline Belzile and Clarisse Cohen

In 1994, Hydro-Québec was authorized by governmental decree to implement a new 735-kV transmission line as well as a new substation. The 181-km line, called Des Cantons-Lévis, is now under construction in southern Québec and will be completed in 1997. The line crosses large agricultural and forested private lands. As a condition of the governmental decree, Hydro-Québec had to address the issue of plant species susceptible of being designated threatened or vulnerable by law. A complete conservation program, including rare plant inventory, mitigation measures and systematic monitoring, has been planned and implemented by Hydro-Québec’s environment specialists. From 1994 to 1998, this program will cover all line implementation activities, from the initial deforestation to the right-of-way landscape development and maintenance. Five species susceptible of being designated threatened or vulnerable have been discovered in the future line right-of-way. One species, wild leek (Allium tricoccum), designated vulnerable in 1995, has been inventoried in many sites along the line route. Mitigation measures have been developed for 14 populations of these species and mainly consisted in preserving the plants natural habitat by special deforestation methods. From 1995 to 1998, an annual monitoring assesses the actual impacts of the Des Cantons-Lévis transmission line on these plant populations and evaluates the effectiveness of the mitigation measures.

Keywords: Hydro-Québec, Des Cantons-Lévis, transmission line, threatened species, vulnerable species, rare plant, mitigation measure, environmental monitoring, conservation