Bracing for climate change: How P.E.I. land management is evolving after Fiona

This is part one in the CBC P.E.I. series Changed by Fiona, exploring the impact the post-tropical storm will have on the Island's people and industries moving forward.

For the people whose job it is to manage P.E.I.'s land and make policy decisions around trees, coasts and wildlife, post-tropical storm Fiona was a milestone event that changed everything.

When Fiona made landfall in the Atlantic Provinces on Sept 24, 2022, it was one of the strongest storms in Canadian history. On Prince Edward Island, the fierce winds knocked down millions of trees and the crashing waves eroded hundreds of kilometres of coastline.

With the arrival of spring, researchers and biologists are getting back outside to survey the damage and figure out what comes next.

"All our plans changed after Fiona," said Kate MacQuarrie, director of the province's forest, fish and wildlife division.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the province focused on safety on the land it managed, removing ill-placed piles of debris and clearing trees posing a public danger before winter came.

Only now are P.E.I. officials starting to shift focus from reaction back to planning for the future, fresh from Fiona showcasing the upper range of storms that could lie ahead.

"We'll start looking at, for instance, what do we do with some of our natural areas? Our recreational areas? Which ones need to be opened, which ones may not be?" MacQuarrie said.

"Just take a look at some of our longer-term management priorities and how they need to change in the wake of the reality that we now have."

MacQuarrie spoke to CBC News while standing in the Royalty Oaks natural area in the southern reaches of Charlottetown. 

Despite now being surrounded by subdivisions, a church and a fast food restaurant, Royalty Oaks once stood tall as one of the last groupings of historic red oak trees.

Three centuries ago, such trees covered the ground stretching from Charlottetown clear up to the North Shore, but logging for shipbuilding, settlement and agriculture dwindled their presence to a few key areas like this one. 

Here, Fiona took out trees that were up to 300 years old.

"The impact was severe at Royalty Oaks for sure," MacQuarrie said, adding that she couldn't begin to guess the number of fallen trees. "Anybody that's familiar with the site will know that it looks very, very different today than it did prior to Fiona."