# ZEC de la Rivière-Blanche

The ZEC de la rivière Blanche is a controlled exploitation zone in the townships of Larue and Neilson, in the unorganized territory of Lac-Blanc, in the regional county municipality (MRC) of Portneuf, in Haute-Batiscanie, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale.
The Rivière-Blanche ZEC is a territory of 729 km$^2$ (281 sq mi) on the eastern slope of the valley of the Batiscan River and on the northern slope of the rivière à Pierre. This ZEC is crossed by the rivière à Moise and its territory is entirely part of Batiscanie. This ZEC was incorporated in 1978, following the abolition of private hunting & fishing clubs on public lands.

## Understand

The only ZEC reception station is located at "Chutes de la Marmite", 7 km (4.3 mi) northeast of the centre of the village of Rivière-à-Pierre. The administrative office of the ZEC is located at 710, rue Bouvier local 195A, Québec (Québec), G2J 1C2.
* 47.03419-72.131471 Home of the ZEC, Reception: 1995, rue Principale, Rivière-à-Pierre, ☏ + 1 418-323-2546, info@zecdelariviereblanche.com. (updated Dec 2021)
The main recreational tourism activities on the territory of the zec are: berry picking, hunting, fishing, nautical activities (swimming, canoeing, kayaking, boating), mountain biking, snowmobiling, camping, forest expeditions, observation of flora and wildlife, etc. On its website, the ASM publishes various calendars: fishing, hunting, opening and closing of water bodies, and forestry operations. Nature lovers can thus obtain information to plan their activities. recreational tourism. The ZEC has four semi-developed campgrounds on the shores of lakes Batiscan, Blanc, La Salle and Lietto.
The main species of fish caught in the ZEC are: brook trout (speckled trout), arctic char (red trout), lake trout (gray trout) and perch. Sport fishermen have access to 27 bodies of water for fly fishing. Two sections of river and also 22 lakes (generally those reserved for fly fishing) open the 2nd Saturday in June in order to distribute the quality of fishing. In addition, 15 lakes are fished only on Saturdays in order to avoid their overexploitation and consequently their too rapid closure during the season.

### Geography

The territory of this ZEC is bounded to the south by Portneuf Wildlife Reserve, to the west by ZEC Jeannotte, to the north by Réserve faunique des Laurentides and to the east by the ZEC Batiscan-Neilson. The Batiscan River constitutes the western limit of the ZEC, north of Miguick River. Mount View, reaching 426 m (1,398 ft) in altitude, is the highest peak in the ZEC.
The five rivers of the ZEC are all exploited for fishing:
* Blanche River whose head lake is Lac-Blanc,
* rivière aux Éclair] which has its source at Batiscan Lake,
* rivière à Moise,
* Miguick river,
* Batiscan river.
The territory of the ZEC has 240 lakes, 150 of which are used for fishing, in particular the Brochu, Drôle, Gaston and Gorren lakes. The main lakes are:
* the Batiscan Lak] (oriented east-west) which forms the northeastern limit of the territory of the ZEC,
* Lake Lasalle, located in the centre of the ZEC,
* on Lac-Blanc,
* the "lac Ci-Joint",
* Lake Constantine.

## Go

From the village of Rivière-à-Pierre, the main access road to the zec consists of a section of forest road of 30 km (19 mi), partly going up rivière à Pierre and the Blanche River, as well as crossing the Portneuf Wildlife Reserve (routes 2 and 29). The zec road network comprises 130 km (81 mi) suitable for vehicles. The road north of the rivière aux Éclairs provides access to about ten bodies of water, in particular lakes Seaton, Montplaisir and "des Passes", as well as the river à Moise. The Batiscan Lake is accessible by land or by boat using the river to Moïse.

### By car

* From Montreal (257 km (160 mi). Time: 3 hr 23 min. Take highway 40 (north shore) heading east, to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade; take road 354 (northbound) to Saint-Casimir; take route 363 (northbound), crossing the villages of Saint-Ubalde, Notre-Dame-de-Montauban and Rivière-à-Pierre; take rue Principale (eastbound) to the ZEC reception.
* From Quebec City (103 km (64 mi). Time: 1 hr 39 min. Take highway 40 (direction West), until Neuville; take route 365 (northbound) passing through the villages of Pont-Rouge, Saint-Raymond, Saint-Léonard-de-Portneuf and Rivière-à-Pierre; take rue Principale (eastbound) to the zec reception.

## Do

* Randonnée pédestre. (updated Dec 2021)
* Canoeing and boating. The panorama is bucolic around the main forest and wild lakes. (updated Dec 2021)
* Chasse aux gros gibiers (Big game hunting). Bow, crossbow and firearm hunting according to the authorized periods for moose, white-tailed deer and bears. (updated Dec 2021)
* Chasse aux petits gibiers (Small game hunting). Ruffed grouse and hare hunting (hunting or snaring). (updated Dec 2021)
* Sport fishing. Fishermen are required to respect fishing quotas according to species. (updated Dec 2021)

## Sleep
### Camping

* Four camping sites in the zec. The ASM offers four campgrounds which are respectively set up on the shores of Batiscan, Blanc, La Salle and Lietto lakes. These rustic type campsites have pit toilets, picnic tables, fire pots. At the reception, visitors can stock up on wood to fuel the campfires. The zec offers a storage area at km 27, at Lake Lorenzo. ZEC has adopted a code of conduct for users. (updated Dec 2021)
* Camping dans la zec (2e site) (Camping in the ZEC (2nd site)). Includes 9 campsites with drinking water supply and sewer service. (updated Dec 2021)

## Go next

* 47.1463-72.28341 Réserve faunique de Portneuf A wildlife reserve in the MRC de Portneuf, in the Capitale-Nationale, Quebec. It is administered by SÉPAQ.
* 47.3796-72.51672 ZEC de la Bessonne Controlled exploitation zone (ZEC) covering 524.5 square kilometres (202.5 sq mi), straddling the territories of La Tuque, La Bostonnais and Lac-Édouard. It is 10 km east of downtown La Tuque. Six rivers cross its territory.
* 47.413-73.26673 ZEC Jeannotte Controlled exploitation zone (ZEC) located in the municipality of Lac Édouard, about 30 km east of the town of La Tuque. Its territory, which turns out to be an island, is more or less framed by Lake Édouard, the Jeannotte River and the Batiscan River.
* 47.7464-71.254 Réserve faunique des Laurentides Formerly designated "Parc des Laurentides", this park covers 7,934 km$^2$ (3,063 sq mi) straddling the Capitale-Nationale and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions. This park is part of Quebec's wildlife reserves.
* 47.4587-72.68285 La Tuque City of Haute-Mauricie, with 11,000 inhabitants. The three Indian reserves which are landlocked on its territory, have their own administration. The territory of Haute-Mauricie (covering 28,099 km$^2$ (10,849 sq mi)) has long been traversed and inhabited by Indigenous communities. Since the middle of the 19th century, Haute-Mauricie has experienced considerable economic development thanks to forestry and recreational tourism (vacationing, hunting & fishing, snowmobiling, mountain biking, nautical activities, observation of flora and fauna, boating, etc.)
* 47.5913-72.26676 Lac-Édouard Municipality of Haute-Batiscanie, the village of Lac-Édouard is located on the shores of Lake Édouard. This locality is famous for its forestry and for its recreational tourism activities (resort, outfitters, nautical activities, snowmobiling, mountain biking).
* 47.1797-71.86677 ZEC Batiscan-Neilson Controlled zone of exploitation (ZEC) of the MRC of Portneuf, forming part of the hydrographic slope of the Sainte-Anne river.