Muskoka Watershed Information

SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMY

The area has been inhabited by First Nations for at least 5,000 years, first by Algonquin, then Iroquois and by the mid 18th century, by the Ojibway. By the mid to late 1800's, European settlers were drawn by the timber industry, and the first sawmill in the watershed was established in 1865. By the 1870's, 20 sawmills and shingle mills were operating in Muskoka Bay and Gull Lake alone. Many of the now reconstructed dams along the waterway owe their origins to the timber industry. The dams, constructed of stone and timber, would have been used for waterway transportation and/or to float logs through shallow points along the river. The timber industry peaked in the late 1800's and most of the sawmills and all of the log drives are now gone. However, the forest products industry is still an important economic activity in the watershed and there are considerable areas under timber license with several sawmills in operation.

Since the establishment of the first sawmills in the watershed, hydroelectric power production has been an important component of the local economy. Although many of the small mills and their associated power producing facilities shut down following the downturn in the logging industry, hydroelectric power generation still maintains a presence on the river. There are 10 hydroelectric generating stations in the Muskoka River watershed, with five being owned by Ontario Power Generation (OPG), three by Lakeland Power and one each by Algonquin Power and the Orillia Power Corporation. These facilities co-operate with MNR in the control and management of flows in the Muskoka River.

Over the years, tourism has grown and is now the most prominent industry in the watershed. Numerous public lodges and resorts throughout the system provide employment and support a variety of other service-based industries. In addition to tourists, seasonal and permanent residents contribute to the economic base through consumption of goods and services. Commercial and business operations within the watershed are concentrated along the transportation corridors and in centers such as Bracebridge, Gravenhurst and Huntsville.