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NTARIO, which already gets about 60 per percent of the entire tourist traffic entering Canada from the United States, will make a bid for still higher figures this year, And, chances are, we'll make it, Major factor in the increase is a stretch of highway, completed last fall, which opens up thousands of miles of excellent hunting and fishing territory hitherto almost unknown, It's the stretch between Sault Ste, Marie and Port Arthur, closing the formidable "Gap" which for three generations had challenged engineers, road builders and governments, The new highway, built by both federal and provincial governments, provides a second stretch of trans-Canada road, It was opened one day after the speckled trout season closed last September; in nice time for the moose season, The result: The greatest influx of American moose hunters on record, They paid at least $101 for a licence to hunt North Ameri-' can's biggest mammal; almost all got a moose, But there are just as many moose left, if not more, In this wild and previously inaccessible area, old-timers claim the moose were "dying of old age or being eaten by the wolves." CTUALLY, the new route has an old history, Back in the Thirties, unemployed men went north under the regime of former Prime Minis- ter R, B, Bennett and for "board and tobacco" worked under extremely arduous conditions to survey and in some cases begin work on the "trans-Canada." The route was abandoned through pressure from more highly populated sections of the province, But time passed, Pulp and paper mills were established along the wild stretch of the southern route, thé mining field of Manitou- wadge came into being, And Wawa started to howl, The small community, its economy wrapped up with the fortunes of the Algoma Steel Corporation, couldn't see why it should be isolated, You have to understand the people of Wawa, nam- ed after the cry of the wild goose, to under- stand what happened, Black Top To Wild Goose Premier Leslie Frost of Ontario and Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker were "given the treatment." Bo was every other business, political or commercial tycoon who came within miles of the area, White River, Terrace, Mani touwadge, Port Arthur-Fort Willim == even Duluth, Minn, and communities in adjacent Michigan and Wisconsin joined in, S80 Wawa ~~ and the other northern com- munities =~ had their way, What about the rest of Ontario? According to Travel and Publicity Minis- ter Bryan Cathcart, Ontario's tourist business runs up to around the 100-million dollar mark, Increased population, plus the tourist business, was rapidly driving fishermen and hunters further north, or to other places where fish ing and hunting is equally good, say Mexico, Yet, in Ontarlo, one good long day's drive from Toronto and a man could be hunting moose with every possibility of at least getting a shot at North American's biggest mammal, Or wading a foaming stream literally full of speckled trout, Or trolling in a lake for 25. pound-or-better lake trout, Or maybe catching pickerel or pike faster than he had ever dreamed of doing, : N recent years, there has been a continual outcry for more camping facilities for "the people" whe couldn't == or wouldn't == go to the more expensive and probably more com- fortable tourist or outfitters' camps through- out the north, Here was a chance to kill not one bird, but a whole flock of ducks with a single missile =~ an arrow of highway pointing into the heart of one of the continent's best sports: men's areas, That was, in part, the reason for the closing of The Gap, So far, what has happened? There isn't enough acommodation along the stretch be- tween the Soo to the Lakehead, There are no gas stations, hot dog stands, restaurants, in stretches of 60 to 100 miles, But the gov- ernments has been swamped with requests for suitable locations, There's a brand-new SATURDAY, Avr. §, 1961 restaurant, for instance, in White River, along with small motel as modern as anything you can find on the outskirts of Toronto, There are literally miles of parking areas where the motorists with his tent, sleeping bags, cooking equipment, can obtain space at around $4 a week (including firewood) and have access to beaches on the world's biggest inland lake, Superior, According to present government policy, no "summer cottage" locations are being sold, nor are commercial enterprises being allowed to purchase land which would tie up access to inland lakes or streams, CENERY? Simply terrific, There are a few stretches of road which aren't paved, but will be by the time school holidays roll around, From Sault Ste, Marie to Batchawana Bay, the road is never too far from Lake Superior with brooding Batchawana Mountain, 2100 feet high, looking down, In this area ~-- an old tourist section == there are many sum- mer resorts, cottages, restaurants, Fifty miles from Sault Ste, Marle, they begin to peter out and it's wise to fill up with gas for the 100 mile stretch to Wawa, At Montreal River, where the water pours down in a foaming torrent = incidentally providing the Soo with electricity from a power plant == there's a terrific view of the islands out in Lake Superior, Pancake Bay and Lake Superior Provin- cial Parks begin here, with miles of beaches and plenty of fish, either in the big lake or in nearby lakes or streams, There are at least three speckled trout rivers at Agawa Bay, the Old Woman, Pancake and Agawa, Soon, the road cuts straight north, away from Lake Superior, for Wawa which itself is situated on a beautiful large lake with good fishing closeby, Then it swings west again to White River, with fishing all the way, even in the culverts along the highway, The pickerel or pike enthusiast can simply cross the railway tracks in front of the hotel at. White River and be back in five minutes with pickerel for breakfast,