Importance of Muskoka's Water
| What's on this page |
|---|
| Economic Muskoka |
| Muskoka Tourism |
| History of Tourism in Muskoka |
| Current Tourism in Muskoka |
| Social Muskoka |
| Environmental Muskoka |
Three Main Reasons Why Muskoka's Water is Important
- Economically Important
- Socially Important
- Environmentally Important
Economically
Located just two hours north of Toronto, Muskoka has been a vacation area of choice in Ontario for well over 100 years. Vibrant natural beauty abounds set within a mosaic of pristine lakes surrounded by rocky shorelines and majestic forests.
Several thriving urban centres provide excellent shopping and entertainment services and a wide variety of employment possibilities. First class resorts, artisans shops and visitor attractions complement the heritage landscape and growing communities.
Muskoka’s economy includes an active tourism and service sector, a growing public service sector, several international manufacturing firms and a significant forestry and extraction industry.
Traditionally, Muskoka is thought of as a tourist destination with a large component of the population being seasonal residents with cottages on the many lakes and rivers. While the tourism and service industry is important to the local economy, Muskoka’s economy has expanded into different sectors. A four season economy has attracted new investment and a growing, trained and educated, workforce.
Water is an integral component of Muskoka's healthy environment. Trees, lakes and rivers are not just resources, they are treasures. It is the natural beauty of Muskoka's lakes and rivers that draw many people and businesses to the area, contributing to a healthy economy. In Muskoka, it is important to maintain a balance between the environment and a vital economy.
The basis of the Muskoka economy is tourism with over 11,000 people employed in the Tourism and Service sector. This represents 43% of the labour force. In 2001, over 1.7 million tourists came to enjoy the water-based environment in Muskoka and spent over $1.25
million.
There are over 120 resort facilities in Muskoka, all centred on our water resources.
A study of second homes in Muskoka was conducted in 2004 by the District Municipality of Muskoka and a report detailing the economic impact of this sector was released in the fall of 2005.
Historical Tourism Activities within Muskoka
Muskoka is predominantly a forested landscape that supports diverse and functioning ecosystems including lakes, wetlands, forests, barrens, and open fields. This explains why the area was originally settled to harvest timber, with natural waterways and a railway developed to transport the lumber.
With the improvement of navigation, steamships were introduced to the area in 1866. The water bodies were developed to improve navigation with canals, locks and roads to these areas.
Settlement of Muskoka gained force in the 1860's following the commencement of the Free Grants and Homestead Act. Many of the large homes, such as Windermere House and Cleveland's House, were later converted into resorts as people realized they could make a better living by running a resort than through farming.
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Current Tourism Activities within Muskoka
Today there are abundant lodges, motel, and resorts to satisfy an individual's
interest. There are also many parks and conservation reserves. Tourism is becoming a year round occurrance with fall colour tours, spring waterfall festivals, and winter skiing and snowmobiling drawing people to the Muskoka region.
Muskoka Tourism
was established in 1930 and is a non-profit membership based organization. Muskoka
Tourism's mandate is to engage as a leader in Muskoka's tourism marketing and
represent its partners and members interests.
Socially
Cottaging in Muskoka represents a long-established tradition that has significantly influenced Muskoka's social and cultural heritage. Seasonal residents are vital contributors to our communities and comprise a significant proportion of the total population in Muskoka. Muskoka has traditionally been a popular summer destination for second home residents, however, the influence of the seasonal population over four seasons is becoming more pronounced.
Muskoka's water provides for many social activities and outdoor recreation. There is nothing like a day near the water relaxing with friends or family.
Visit the Area Municipal websites for more specific information on the recreational activities available.
There are many water related recreational activities in Muskoka including;
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Environmentally
Muskoka contains over 400 lakes within 4000 square kilometers of land.
Water, in any context, is particularly important within our environment.
It is the connecting thread within our ecosystems that ties it all together.
The air, soil, plants, animals, people, and water are all interconnected.
By managing our resources we will have a healthy environment that can support life and thrive.
Muskoka's water provides many opportunities for our community to
expand and grow stronger. We just need to look after it through good management practices and keep in mind the ecology of the surrounding ecosystems.
