Much work remains, but most of P.E.I. National Park will be ready for visitors 

While many areas of P.E.I. National Park were damaged during post-tropical storm Fiona, most will be open or partially open this summer. 

Parks Canada has come up with a plan for the 2023 tourism season. 

But it warns, some sites will look different than they have in the past. 

Tara McNally-MacPhee, visitor experience manager for P.E.I. National Park., said in the days after Fiona, staff surveyed the damage and were overwhelmed by what they saw. 

"I still think back to that day and the emotional reaction that we all had instinctively. When we entered the park, there was such a change.... Where do you start?," she said.

"There were so many trees down and so much infrastructure compromised. And at that point we didn't even know the extent of it all. All we could see was kind of destruction everywhere." 

Beach access is currently allowed at two locations — Covehead Harbour beach and North Rustico beach.

Parks Canada staff said more beach access points will reopen as repairs to access points are completed. 

Robinson's Island

McNally-MacPhee said many of the trees that didn't come down in post-tropical storm Dorian came down during Fiona. 

One place that was particularly impacted is the causeway to Robinson's Island. It sustained a lot of damage and erosion from waves and storm surges. 

Parks Canada plans to remove the asphalt road to Robinson's Island, and replace it with an unpaved multi-use trail. 

While emergency response vehicles will continue to have access, people wanting to use the trail system will have to park at the Brackley Beach complex and hike or cycle to the island — about 3.5 kilometres according to Parks Canada. 

"We've known for years that at some point that causeway will be compromised with sea-level rise and flooding. And of course, Fiona brought that," said McNally-MacPhee. 

"And we did notice that the roadway was compromised ... so we made the decision to start to retreat from that location."

Camping

When it comes to camping, both Stanhope and Cavendish campgrounds will be open this summer. 

McNally-MacPhee said 16 campsites at the Cavendish site were impacted by Fiona. 

"The erosion was incredible and the storm surge brought so much sand and stone and rock and debris up onto the coastline. There's a lot of work to do there, but it will reopen." 

McNally-MacPhee said staff members are very concerned about the coastline, and the dune system in the park. 

"In 2023, we're putting a real effort on really asking for folks to help us preserve the dunes so they can rebuild, and that means we need to keep people off of them, so they're given an opportunity to build again." 

The park's future

As for the future, Parks Canada will be looking at many options. 

"We don't want to build back infrastructure along the coastline. We want to start retreating inland. We don't want to replace like with like," said McNally-MacPhee.

"We want to give more strategic thought to how we're building and the services that we're providing. This will be an ongoing process. It will be a long-term planning process." 

Louis Charron, climate change specialist and impact assessment practitioner with the P.E.I. National Park, said staff measured shoreline retreat of between three and 10 metres throughout the park. 

As for the forested areas, Charron said when the snow and ice are gone, regrowth will begin, likely bringing ample berries and greenery for animals to feed on.

"The forest will bounce back. We're probably going to have a beautiful green flush next spring. The coast and the dunes are going to rebuild," said Charron.

"We were already kind of seeing a little bit some sign of embryonic dune, baby dune that we're hoping will slowly regrow."