Recent Projects

The conservation team observed for the first time in 2025 the presence of a heronry at the summit of mount Pinacle. The grand heron is not a vulnerable specie but its habitat, the heronry is protected under public land. The park is on private land but our team is dedicated to the protection of this natural habitat. As with the peregrine falcon, an annual monitoring of the number of individuals nesting will be realized. The presence of the heronry is a positive sign of the success of our conservation efforts aiming at finding a balance between the protection of our natural habitats and the presence of hikers. A proof that cohabitation is possible when everyone plays its role in the respect of others. 

Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria), or goutweed, is the main alien invasive species present in the park. We unfortunately find it from the entrance of the trails all the way to the summit. Ground elder is a very efficient ground covering plant that could be found in most gardening centres. Its popularity had the unfortunate effect of distributing seeds from the plant in every habitat often from the soles of hikers shoes. Since ground elder is one of the first plant to deploy its leaves in spring, it deprives all other indigenous species from the required light for their development. The plant has been present in the park for several years, but intensive eradication actions were adopted in 2025 in the hope of being able to totally erased its presence from the territory of the park in the following years. 

During your hike, you may have noticed some roped zones. Those are regeneration zones. They are the result of off trail trampling from some users. In order to limit further damages and allow nature to regain its place, we have roped those areas to avoid further trampling. The progress of the regeneration of each zone is periodically monitored in the hope to eventually remove these zones. Thank you for staying on the trails in order to preserve our natural habitats.

Students from the Sherbrooke's Cegep in Bioecology Techniques program, accompanied by their teacher, carried out a major data collection on the herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians), flora (trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants) and small mammals of Parc Harold F. Baldwin. This acquisition of knowledge about the park's flora and fauna will enable us to develop future projects to better enhance and protect this biodiversity, which deserves to be better known. This "win-win" collaboration enabled the students to learn in a concrete and authentic work context, and enabled the PHFB to acquire invaluable data.

The PHFB took part in the Quebec government's 2018-2021 program to support the upgrading and improvement of trails and outdoor activity practice sites (PSSPA) in order to refurbish its trails. The project was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Estrie trails team and Aménagement et sentiers vert, in partnership with the town of Coaticook. The aim of the project is to ensure optimal trail quality for hikers, durability and reduce off-trail trampling.