Conservation Archive

Carden Alvar Top

1600 Acre Windmill
Ranch is Conserved!

I am very pleased to report that late in January the Nature Conservancy of Canada successfully closed the real estate deal on Windmill Ranch, 1600 acres of grasslands, alvar, and wetlands in the Carden Alvar Natural Area. Thanks to many TOC members, and to others like you, NCC was able to mobilize the funds to protect this important piece of land -- which is home to globally-rare alvar plant communities and the endangered Eastern Loggerhead Shrike -- forever. Carden is at its most spectacular in early June when the grasslands are a display of vibrantly-coloured spring flowers and singing grassland bird species. Donors who would like to join one of our spring tours of the Alvar, or would like a full written Progress Report on our work there, should feel free to contact me.

Support from our local partner, the Couchiching Conservancy, and from both TOC and OFO has been tremendous. The local landowners who sold the property to conservation, and not to an aggregate operator, are to be commended for their commitment.

Our on-going talks with the aggregate industry are proceeding well and we look forward to a day when most of the aggregate operations are located in the southwestern quadrant of the Alvar -- near transportation routes and away from lands of highest conservation value.

The successful acquisition of Windmill Ranch brings the total area protected by NCC on the Carden Alvar to 4700 acres. We plan to acquire -- through NCC and its partners -- a total of 12,200 acres on the Alvar over the next ten years; we already have another 700-acre parcel scheduled for purchase in February, and negotiations on other parcels scheduled for the summer.

The Upland Sandpipers, Prairie Smoke, Early Buttercup, Grasshopper Sparrows and all of their colleagues thank you.

Alissa Lee Tel: 416-932-0050 ext 223
Director of Development, Ontario Region Toll Free: 1-800-465-0029
The Nature Conservancy of Canada Cell: 416-846-6300
110 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 400 Fax: 416-932-3208
Toronto, Ontario M4R 1A3

Dec 2005

The Nature Conservancy of Canada has recently signed an agreement to purchase a third land parcel at Carden Alvar. To be known as “Prairie Smoke”, this 725-acre property adjoins Cameron Ranch at the northwest corner and runs west to Lake Dalrymple. Title to this property will be retained by NCC, which plans to make it one of its flagship areas.

A replacement sign at the entrance to Cameron Ranch now lists, in addition to donors of $10,000 or more towards the purchase and stewardship of the ranch, all members of the stewardship committee including Toronto Ornithological Club.

Unfortunately funding towards the purchase of Windmill Ranch is still incomplete. The closing date is January 28, 2006, and $262,604.00 of the original purchase and stewardship cost of $817,750.00 remains to be raised in only a few short weeks. If you are able to help preserve this distinctive alvar property and its rare bird, insect and plant species for future generations to enjoy, please contact:

Alissa Lee Tel: 416-932-0050 ext 223
Director of Development, Ontario Region Toll Free: 1-800-465-0029
The Nature Conservancy of Canada Cell: 416-846-6300
110 Eglinton Avenue West, Suite 400 Fax: 416-932-3208
Toronto, Ontario M4R 1A3

Colonel Sam Smith Park Top

Skate Boarding Cancelled

Word came late last fall (2006) that the proposed skate board facility that was to be placed in direct conflict with a flyway for birds migrating to and from their Canadian nesting grounds was being withdrawn by its proponent Councillor Mark Grimes. Very good news!

Background

Several deputations, pro and con the proposed Lakeshore Grounds as the site for a $500,000 regional skateboard facility, spoke at the City’s Economic Development and Parks Committee on March 9. Committee member and Ward 6 Councillor Mark Grimes heavily favours this parkland site, one of four under consideration. The site, presently open meadowland, adjoins the north end of Etobicoke’s Colonel Samuel Smith Park.

None of the five Councillors present at the meeting are known to be interested in conservation of bird habitat. The city’s staff report supports the Lakeshore Grounds site, leaving unanswered many questions from Citizens Concerned for the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront led by former Provincial Environment Minister Ruth Grier. A sympathetic staffer observing for the Toronto Region Conservation Authority had unfortunately been muzzled by her Director.

The Committee voted to “receive” the staff report, meaning they will take no action. The report goes to full Council on April 25th.

Ruth Grier now urges TOC members to call or write Mayor David Miller and their local Councillors, expressing their outrage at the proposed replacement of parkland and important migratory bird habitat by tons of concrete. While TOC has no objection to the provision of a skateboarding facility for Toronto’s young people, the Lakeshore Grounds, whose Master Plan states that passive recreation should be dominant in the park, is the last place to put it.

Cormorant Management Top

A Symposium on Double-crested Cormorants - Sorting facts from the "fishy" myths about their impact on the Great Lakes ecosystem.

May 5

Topics include

  • The history of cormorants in the Great Lakes basin
  • Effects of cormorants on native fish in the Great Lakes
  • Current threats to the Great Lakes ecosystems and fish population
  • The effects of cormorants on bird diversity around the Great Lakes
  • Cormorant management within the Great Lakes basin

The Symposium will take place on Saturday May 5, 2007 from 9am - 5pm in Room 308/309, Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Toronto, Ontario.

Keynote speaker: Dr. Linda Wires, scientist and renowned cormorant researcher. Check out www.cormorants.ca for more information. Admission is free but space is limited. To reserve a ticket contact:

2646 St. Clair Ave. E Toronto, 416-285-1744

Also join us for a day of birding at the largest cormorant colony on the Great Lakes on Sunday May 6th, 2007 at the Toronto Leslie St. spit.

Cormorant Management at Presquile Park - March 2007

TOC recently expressed concerns to the Ministry of Natural Resources related to its proposed amendments to the Cormorant Management Strategy. TOC is concerned that the continued nest disturbance and egg oiling is a strategy that is not based on sound science. TOC requested participation on the Scientific Panel and asked that an independent observer be allowed to ensure the stated protocol is being followed. We were unsuccessful in both these requests.

The TOC has been invited to attend with Ministry staff to share TOC views on the Cormorant population issues in the Great Lakes.

Lake Ontario Park (including Leslie Street Spit/Tommy Thompson Park)Top

Background

TOC Conservation Councillor Margaret Kelch sits on this committee of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), providing input regarding activities at Tommy Thompson Park (aka the Leslie Spit), one of Toronto's most significant birding areas.

When the TRCA, late in 2004, expressed to the Advisory Committee its intention to consider lethal measures of controlling breeding colonies of Double-crested Cormorants at the park, it received a mixed response. In April 2004 TOC had unsuccessfully opposed the shooting of 6030 nesting cormorants by the Ministry of Natural Resources at Presqu’ile Provincial Park. This time TOC Council authorized the formation of a Cormorant Study Group to oppose such measures at the Spit. Working with “Friends of the Spit” and a number of environmental groups, members wrote letters to politicians and made presentations at TRCA meetings. The result was an assurance by TRCA that no lethal cull of cormorants would take place at the Spit in 2005.

On April 12, a celebratory reception organized by Toronto Residents for Cormorants and Nature was held at City Hall, where a proclamation signed by Mayor David Miller announced “Welcome Back Home Cormorants Day”. City Councillors and the press were invited to view positive displays about cormorants, Glenn Coady gave an upbeat talk on their history in Canada, and the Toronto Reference Library loaned its Audubon cormorant painting for the occasion. Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher, representing the Mayor, spoke warmly about the Spit and its colonial birds, and accepted a framed print of the Audubon painting for the Mayor’s office.

Now there are new threats to the Spit. Toronto’s Parks Department plans to move its tree farm, which supplies trees and shrubs for city parks, to a site on the baselands. And Parks Canada has proposed a huge Discovery Centre, a museum that explains Canada to Canadians but has nothing to do with the Spit, for the baselands as well. The baselands’ zoning is Gr, a designation that restricts their use to a wilderness park or nature reserve. They should be left in their present state.

Response from Mr. John Campbell

January 30, 2007
Margaret Kelch
Conservation Councillor
Toronto Ornothological Club

Re: Public Forum Response - January 17, 2007

Dear Margaret:

Thank you for your letter of January 26, 2007 regarding our concept design for Lake Ontario Park sent on Monday, January 26, 2007. We appreciate your concerns and thank you for your upfront support of our process.

We are making every effort to keep Lake Ontario Park as wild as possible along the Spit transect.

We do value the wildness of Tommy Thompson Park and the globally recognized Important Bird Area and support its protection. Rest assured that we are working toward a plan that minimizes vehicular use on the spit.

The baselands is to be developed as a wetland and as such must be cleaned first and then a meandering channel will travel through to recharge the wetlands and discharge the water. This channel is as much for the habitats as it is for the paddlers. It is expected that these two communities can co-habit.

It is very important for us to hear from the public and we encourage you to continue to be a part of the discussion.

Sincerely,

John W. Campbell
President, TWRC
cc: Chris Glaisek Kristin Jenkins

Letter to Mr. John Campbell - January 17th 2007

Mr. J. Campbell
President and Chief Executive Officer
Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation
20 Bay Street Ste 1310
Toronto Ontario
M5J 2N8

Dear Mr Campbell,

Many members of the Toronto Ornithological Club attended the Concept Plan presentation held on January 17, 2007. We would now like to offer our comments.

The presentation was impressive in its vision and global thinking so needed for this critical area of the waterfront. We commend the design team for its work to date.

As a birding organization committed to the ongoing conservation of habitats that attract and retain both local and migrating birds we will confine our observations to issues related to those objectives.

We have welcomed the ongoing involvement with other interested parties on the Tommy Thompson Park Advisory Committee that is lead by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).Many of our Club‘s views have already been put forward at meetings of this Committee.

We congratulate you on the removal of the Bow Transect from the Concept Plan .This was of great concern to the Club as it would have bisected the Black-crowned Night-Heron nesting colony, inviting pedestrian access where it is not presently permitted.

The Spit is, as you know, a globally recognized Important Bird Area (IBA) and as such its protection is crucially important. Here local resident birds thrive and migrating birds are provided with a safe stopover on their lengthy journeys through southern Ontario .This necessitates both retaining the spit in as wild a condition as possible and the protection of the critical Baselands.

With this in mind we are seeking your reassurance that the Spit peninsula will continue to be free of vehicular traffic, save and except bicycles, the TRCA maintenance vehicles and the bus that picks up weary walkers!

With respect to the Baselands and the vital role this area plays in providing habitat for exhausted birds to rest and feed before migrating up the Don River Valley, our members remain opposed to the proposed canal. The addition of a boardwalk to this area also causes alarm as this would mean loss of birding habitat and the increased public access would disrupt resting birds.

Specifically, the canal would sever the Baselands land mass which we believe to be critical .Disturbance of this area creates many challenges, as the consultant also mentioned, as these are toxin laden soils. In addition although we understand the observations made related to the soft or swale like nature of the concept for this waterway we continue to be concerned about the potential for motorized watercraft to access the area and the challenge such a canal will face due to the changing water levels of the lake.

The potential for dogs on the Spit, discussed at the Forum, is a serious concern for wildlife, as their presence, particularly running at large, can lead to the disruption of roosting, feeding and ground nesting birds and other mammals. Under no circumstances should dogs be permitted in the park.

We also feel the need to provide observations related to the addition of playing fields to the park .While acknowledging the ever growing need for places that afford young people an opportunity to practice physical fitness activities, an objective we also pursue, we must ask whether there may not be better locations for such activity centres as such playing fields are very sterile places for birds and other wildlife. Our concerns here also relate to the potential lighting of these fields which can negatively affect birds in migration by causing confusion and leading to their potential death by striking nearby manmade features.

Finally we would like to enquire as the maintenance commitment that will be required once the park is open seven days a week and attracts increased usage .The issues of waste pick up and vandalism come to mind. These are issues that are very important in all of the other parks in the city and will undoubtedly be significant here as well. You mentioned at the January 17th meeting that 24million dollars have been set aside to begin construction work. What will the ongoing maintenance and stewardship budgets look like?

Toronto Ornithological Club thanks you for the opportunity to comment further on the concept plan for Lake Ontario Park and we welcome the opportunity you have afforded me as a representative of our Club to participate on the Stakeholder Advisory Committtee .We look forward to continuing dialogue with you as these concepts develop further into the specific plans for Lake Ontario Park.

Margaret Kelch
Conservation Councillor
Toronto Ornithological Club
Cc Tommy Thompson Park Committee Members
John Carley Friends of the Spit
Mayor Miller
Brenda Webster (TWRC)

Thickson‘s Woods Top

Members Raise $12,000

When an anonymous member of the TOC offered to match donations to Thickson‘s Woods Land Trust dollar for dollar for a 3-month period, few thought about how much would be donated. Many members had donated to Thickson’s before, as well as to the Cameron and Windmill Ranches, World Wildlife Fund, and other worthy causes.

By the cut off date for donations, $5,875.01 had been donated. Thirty-four members – about a third of the TOC membership – contributed. The anonymous member – someone so generous deserves a better name; even Mr. or Ms. X would sound better – had promised to match this figure, but generously rounded it up so the total was $12,000.

“It was great”, said Brian Steele, treasurer of Thickson’s Woods. “We’d had only $3,000 in donations in November, and TOC’s contribution really boosted our November mortgage payment. Thanks to TOC’s efforts only about $36,000 is still due on the mortgage. We hope to pay if all off by May, 2006, almost a year early.”

The Meadow in Whitby, Ont. was bought for $507,000. to insulate Thickson’s Woods from industrial development and to ensure it continues as a “magical place” that attracts as many rare birds as Point Pelee National Park. It’s remarkable that such a large huge sum can be raised in a few years by dedicated volunteers, aided by hundreds of concerned people.