Showing posts with label KNL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KNL. Show all posts

2011-12-07

Saving the South March Highlands: Looking to the Future

The first thing I want to say is that any discussion of saving the South March Highlands has to start by acknowledging that, indeed, some of it has been saved and placed in public ownership and that we might not even be discussing saving the rest of it if that was not so.

On November 10, 2000 the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton announced the purchase of 556 acres of the South March Highlands for $1.6 million at the urging of Kanata Regional Councillor Alex Munter who has stated “his biggest achievement would be putting South March Highland into public ownership to keep it protected.“ The source for these statements was Kanata History Net, which is no longer online, however the text of the November 10, 2000 announcement can be found at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=46087029890&topic=16257.

So the signs recognizing the South March Highlands Conservation Forest are no joke

Indeed a lot of people have put thousands of hours of volunteer work into building a sustainable trail system in the South March Highlands Conservation Forest and getting it recognized, which is what these signs represent. And more is to come in the spring with a comprehensive new map and signage system on the trails. For more background see
OMBA Forums - South March Highlands: Past, Present, and Future.

(click/double click on image to enlarge)

So how does the protected South March Highlands Conservation Forest relate to the South March Highlands as a whole. Simply put, it is part of one ecosystem. While the Conservation Forest may be able to "survive" on it's own retaining the trails and a forest of sorts, it's biological diversity is dependent on being part of a larger ecosystem. If we destroy the surrounding ecosystem it's diversity will undoubtedly be affected, the endangered and at risk species in the forest being most affected.

The question becomes where do we focus our resources in fighting to protect the broader ecosystem.

The focus so far has been on the KNL/Urbandale lands that are threatened with imminent development, which of course is a "nice" way of saying destruction. These lands were originally classified as Environmentally Protected and their development has been fought by the community and environmentalists every step of the way. But it is very difficult to fight an industry that is dealing with a city whose staff may have worked for this industry in the past or expect to work for it in the future, an industry with political connections that donates large sums of money to the politicians who decide on their proposals and an industry with it's own Kangaroo Court, the Ontario Municipal Board. Unfortunately much of this history is not known to the broader general public who have been told by the developer's well funded public relations campaign that they have done everything by the book and that their proposal has all the proper approvals.

Of course this is their version of history. The fact is that the approval process has been replete with all sorts of improprieties and misuse of power and outright ignoring and violation of laws and regulations. Even with all that, the approvals were conditional on the developer meeting multiple conditions that have not been met, and that the developer and the City seem to be prepared, indeed anxious, to simply ignore.

There have been some positive developments within the last few months including the designation of the Kizell Pond as a provincially significant wetland and the revelation that the developer's stormwater management plans are grossly inadequate for the development proposed. These are vital issues that need to remain in the forefront of the public and nothing in this post is meant to suggest otherwise.

This all being said, fighting a development that has been approved, even if it never should have been, is a huge undertaking requiring extensive resources that will never be able to match the resources available to the developer.

None of this is to say that this battle should not be fought but to call attention to other lands in the South March Highlands that also need to be saved but for which the battle may not be as difficult and for which victory might indeed be probable if the fight is taken up early enough.

We are talking about the lands north of the South March Highlands Conservation Forest, a large portion of which are owned by Metcalfe Realty. Unlike the KNL/Urbandale lands, these lands are not approved for development and are still zoned Environmental Protection. And, unlike the KNL/Urbandale lands, the owner is willing to sell and the City is interested in purchasing. This was confirmed by a city staffer as recently as last month, but has been fairly common knowledge for quite some time. Indeed the City has been quietly adding to the Conservation Forest by buying up land in what was known as the "dark side" when it became available at a reasonable price.

The biggest problem in getting political will for the City to buy the KNL/Urbandale lands has been the price for land approved for development, even if it was for sale. On the other hand as fiscal a conservative and non-environmentalist as one could find on the previous City Council, Gord Hunter, has publicly proposed the City purchase the lands north of the Conservation Forest. That being noted, it should much less difficult to convince the City to purchase these lands than it would be to convince them to purchase the KNL/Urbandale lands.

What is needed is a real campaign focused on these lands. And I understand resources are scarce and the natural inclination is to fight for the lands under imminent threat first. But every minute these lands are ignored is an opportunity for the landowner to start quietly working to get their status changed so that they too are under imminent threat, and much more costly to acquire.

At the moment the City is just quietly waiting for the landowner to offer the land to them at fair value for land zoned Environmental Protection while the landowner is offering the land for sale at the price of land approved for development.

There is a way to break through this but it requires political will and political will requires public pressure. The City must move now to start the process to negotiate a fair price for the land based on it's current zoning and status and inform the landowner if that is not successful the City will begin the process to expropriate the land at fair market value for it's existing status and zoning.

Other than some additional administrative costs this will not cost the City more than it is willing to pay for the land. That is a big factor in gaining Council support in these "fiscally conservative" times.

This will require public pressure. It will require an organized effort. But the automatic rejection arguments that the land is too costly and that it is not for sale and that there is an approved development proposal do not exist. Expropriation can be promoted simply as a mechanism to determine a fair price for the land.

This is a winnable battle if undertaken seriously. And right now we need some winnable battles. It may even change the mindset of City Council, making saving most of the South March Highlands a possibility for all to work towards.

2011-08-08

Solving Urbandale's Beaver Pond Forest Subdivision Marketing Dilemma

The normal method of promoting house sales by telling buyers their houses will be close to the wilderness of the South March Highlands probably isn't going to work for Urbandale, because reminding potential buyers that they just clear cut the Beaver Pond Forest is probably not their best marketing strategy.

So I am going to try to put myself into Urbandale's mindspace. One thing they have got to be thinking right now is why does Bill Teron dare criticize them and why is he still a hero and they the villains. After all, it was Bill Teron who, as a developer, assembled the land for development and sold it to Campeau, who sold it to Genstar who sold it to them. And they have a good point.

BUT, they also have to realize that when they acquired the land they also inherited the responsibility for all the actions that got the land to the point it is in the development process, and that includes the bullying and blackmailing that led to the meaningless 40% agreement, which leaves very little land protected - narrow strips of "protected land" are not ecologically sustainable and a developed golf course is not environmentally protected land.

I think they are quickly going to learn that normal does not apply in this case. Normally potential house buyers see rows of pretty streets and and brand new houses and have little thought to what was there before. Urbandale knows that in this case all potential buyers are going to be completely aware of what was there before - the Beaver Pond Forest - part of the most significant environmental lands in Ottawa, the near wilderness South March Highlands. They are going to know it has been clear cut to build the houses they are looking at and that every new house purchased paves the way for more destruction of the South March Highlands.

It may be easy to dismiss the first factor - it's done now, we can't bring the trees back. But the second one is going to gnaw on potential buyers because they will feel the responsibility and guilt of helping to destroy the rest of the forest that KNL/Urbandale plans to develop. And while there may be some potential buyers that don't care, even some who take glee in being anti-environment, anti-earth - is that really who Urbandale wants to market their houses to. No doubt concerns over the destruction of the Beaver Pond Forest is going to affect sales of all Urbandale homes in the Ottawa area.

There is a way out - a way to turn Urbandale into the hero rather than the villain and one that would gain them my praise. Why would I praise the people who just clear cut the Beaver Pond Forest. Because I believe it is never too late to do the right thing, and because I believe in redemption.

The solution of course is obvious. Remove that last factor, the threat to the rest of Urbandale's South March Highlands lands that purchasing a house in the former Beaver Pond Forest represents.

Urbandale can protect the lands by donating them to the City and they can even gain a financial advantage by doing it in as way that maximizes their tax benefit.

Of course I would still expect them to respect the First Nations archeological and cultural heritage within the Beaver Pond Forest site and find appropriate Storm Water Management plans that do not pollute the rest of the South March Highlands.

Urbandale could use some good press right now and it certainly would boost their marketing ability all over Ottawa. And sometimes (even better late than never) being a hero just feels good.

Lyon Sachs and Mary Jarvis are you ready to feel praise rather than condemnation. Are you ready to become heroes.

2011-05-27

Reflections on Mapping the South March Highlands Kanata Lakes Trails

For purposes of simplicity, although both trail systems are within the South March Highlands, I will refer to these trails, across from the Goulbourn Forced Road (GFR) parking lot, as the KL trails and the ones in the Conservation Forest as the SMH trails.

On Wednesday (May 25, 2011) I started my latest mapping project of what mountain bikers refer to as the Kanata Lakes trails, to distinguish them from the trails within the South March Highlands Conservation Forest. I do this either with a sense of history or a sense of optimism because these trails are located in Phase 7 of the KNL/Urbandale Destruction and are planned to be destroyed along with the forest and geology they are part of, to be replaced with yet another ticky tacky suburban subdivision.

Need I say one more time that losing this land and these trails will be a real tragedy, and indeed the Terry Fox Drive extension (routed over the least environmentally friendly route after public consultations indicated environmental factors should be the first priority in route selection) has already had a devastating effect on the natural and trail connectedness in the South March Highlands. Nevertheless as we fight to save what is left we should enjoy it for as long as we can and hopefully this trail map, when completed, will contribute to that.

As with any mapping exercise I start I quickly discover the trail system is more complicated than I thought and includes more trails than on any existing map. So this is going to take a few rides to complete. At the moment I have tracks from this ride (blue) and another from last summer (red) on the very preliminary map below.

click on image to enlarge

As there did not appear to be any visible trail left at the old Kizell Pond signpost, I thought I would go in from the "Race Track Entrance" (that is not the entrance right across from the parking lot, but a bit south of it where you go "through" a couple of rocks) and see if I could work my way out to the signpost.

I never did get there but I did follow the hydro cut all the way to it's southeast end and discovered it ends in the Kizell Pond Subdivision. In the process I discovered a little loop around part of Kizell Pond, that might provide a pleasant route for short nature hikes with easy access. That was the first time I followed the hydro cut all the way to that end.

I also followed the hydro cut all the way to the northwest end where it ends at the Terry Fox Drive extension close to where it used to cross the rail line. As there was construction going on, and operating equipment right in my route to the other side, I was not able to confirm if you can access the other side. Depending on the gulley along the rail line you should be able to cross Terry Fox Drive at the rail line (traffic permitting) and connect to the rest of the trails.

The other interesting thing I discovered was another open section of trail (blue) west of the hydro cut on "The Dark Side", in addition to the section (red) I discovered open last summer. "The Dark Side" was private land that was fenced in and biking was prohibited on. Some of it is now city land but the status of these sections would require a very careful map comparison/overlay to determine. Both of these sections end at the new Terry Fox Drive extension.

The rest of my mapping experience consisted of following the usual KL trails including one offshoot that leads to a big open field where you can see the rail line across on the other side. If you follow the preliminary map above with these descriptions you should be able to see where much of what I am talking about is.

So why is this land and these trails so important. Very briefly, the South March Highlands is the most bio-diverse area in Ottawa and we are very fortunate to have such an area within our city and so close to the urban area. But, being surrounded by urban land puts its ecological integrity under great stress and if we continue to develop important pieces of it not only do we reduce its size but we increase the outside stresses on the land. We are close to the point of it's losing it's ecological integrity.

But this post is about the trail system and the KL trails have their own character distinct from the SMH trails. For mountain biking much of these trails are at an easier level and more open to riding by beginners. The terrain differences also make these trails much better suited to cross-country skiing than the SMH trails, which are better suited to snowshoeing. The two trail systems complement each other very well and are part of one interconnected ecological system, even with Terry Fox Drive running through the heart of them.

There is one distinct difference between the two systems. The KL trails are older and most were built by hikers and cross-country skiers while many of the SMH trails were by built by mountain bikers and are being maintained by them. It is very obvious that the SMH trails are much more sustainable than the KL trails. If we are successful in saving the KL trails there will need to be a review of the trails, which can probably be done as part of the City of Ottawa - OMBA (Ottawa Mountain Bike Association) joint stewardship agreement that is expected to be signed soon. Much work will need to be done to bring them up to OMBA standards. possibly including rerouting or closing some sections of trail.

But for now I hope to just finish mapping the trails so that we know what is there and can all enjoy the wonderful experience of being in this forest that we all hope to enjoy forever.

Now if we could just get the decision makers to spend a day in this wonderful forest.

2011-03-28

Map of The Kanata Lakes 40% Travesty

click on map for full size image

This map, released by the City of Ottawa, makes it abundantly clear just how much of a travesty the so-called Kanata Lakes 40% agreement is. Indeed it was clearly a public relations exercise that the City of Kanata and Regional Municipality of Ottawa Carleton had to be complicit with, or totally incompetent to be taken in by.

We have an agreement that allows land within the environmentally sensitive South March Highlands to be developed in exchange for "saving" a golf course outside of the South March Highlands (according to the map of SMH in the 2008 Brunton report). When you see just how much of the 40% "greenspace" is taken up by the golf course you realize just how much of a sell-out to the developers this agreement is.

And as we look at the map of the golf course it becomes clear that it was designed to have as many houses bordering on it as possible in order to increase their sales and price. It was clearly all part of a marketing scheme and had nothing to do with saving greenspace or environmentally sensitive land.

This makes the whole process, and the agreement, totally illegitimate and for this reason it is totally legitimate and necessary for the public to continue to fight this and not too late for public authorities to finally do the right thing and save the environmentally important lands northwest of the Goulbourn Forced Road (KNL phases 7 & 8) from destruction by Urbandale/KNL.

2011-02-23

The Struggle to Protect The South March Highlands Simplified

What is the Most Important Thing to Know About the South March Highlands

The key things to know about the South March Highlands are:

• it is a popular all year recreation destination for people from all over Ottawa and an international mountain biking destination

• while, within the City of Ottawa, it feels like wilderness when you are in it

• it is a candidate Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI)

• it is the most biodiverse area within Ottawa

• it is the home to a huge number of species of flora and fauna, including many endangered and threatened species

• it contains old growth forests and provincially significant wetlands

• it includes Canadian Shield geology and other significant geological features

• it is the site of numerous pre-contact (pre-European) archaeological sites and may be eligible for UN World Heritage Site status

• it has been declared sacred by Algonquin First Nations chiefs and elders

• the area considered the most environmentally significant, Trillium Woods, is under great ecological threat because KNL's development plans will cut it off from the rest of the city-owned Conservation Forest

• while the privately owned land north of the city-owned Conservation Forest is zoned Environmental Protection, that has been proven not to be enough to protect the land from the threat of development
But the most important thing that you need to know about the South March Highlands is that it is one ecosystem and harm to one part of it harms all of it and if you want to protect part of it you must protect all of it.

2011-02-01

Bearing Witness at the Beaver Pond Forest

Sometimes, as a social responsibility, people have to bear witness to unbearable things, such as the killing of people in state-sanctioned executions. Thankfully in Canada we have progressed to a state where we are more civilized than that.

However, in Kanata this week citizens take up the responsibility for witnessing just as uncivilized an act as they bear witness to the state-sanctioned execution of the Beaver Pond Forest, except that this execution is neither, quick, painless, nor humane.

They have my gratitude for taking on this responsibility which I believe would be too painful for me to bear.


2011-01-21

Will the Beaver Pond Forest Eve of Destruction lead to the South March Highlands Dawn of Correction



"Make no mistake about it. Those trees will come down."


Those words from City of Ottawa senior legal counsel Tim Marc, in late July 2010, make it clear that the City never intended any real consultation with the community or with any Algonquin First Nations representatives. Indeed nothing has changed since the election as far as developers determining city policies is concerned, other than perhaps an even more pro-developer City Council.

How naive do they think the public is that they expect them to believe their "pretty pleases" to the developer mean anything after they have given them full speed ahead approval to clear cut and blast the forest away.

So where do we go from here. We know the City has no intention to stand up to KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) even in the face of documented flaws in the environmental assessment process, inadequate and inappropriate storm water management plans and alleged outright illegalities, not to mention the lack of a proper response to the archaeological information provided to them and the complete lack of constitutionally required consultations with all First Nations with an interest in and concerns about the land.

We still hold out hope that someone, perhaps another sovereign level of government, will have the political will to step in and save the Beaver Pond Forest before it is destroyed.

Cutting has now been delayed till February - time to write your federal and provincial representatives and the NCC.

Regardless of the outcome of the fight for the Beaver Pond Forest the fight to save the rest of the South March Highlands continues.

We must all recognize that it is not only the KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) lands that are threatened, and it is not only the privately owned lands currently zoned Environmental Protection that are potentially threatened.

The South March Highlands are one ecosystem and one habitat for flora and fauna. If all the lands surrounding the city owned South March Highlands Conservation Forest are destroyed the ecological integrity of the protected lands will be under great stress and undoubtedly will be affected negatively. Trillium Woods, identified by the City as the most environmentally significant zone, will be under the greatest stress if destruction is allowed to continue as planned, as it is only connected to the rest of the forest by a narrow connecting strip with Terry Fox Drive running through it.

The smaller an environmentally protected zone is, the least chance it has of surviving as anything other than an urban park. That is why the 40% agreement narrow strips of land are meaningless, as is "Marianne's Pathway", essentially an urban pathway the cost of which was twice as much protected land elsewhere.

I say to the city of Ottawa do not let what happened to the lands south of the Conservation Forest happen to the lands north of it. Act immediately while these lands are zoned Environmental Protection (and valued accordingly) to bring them into public ownership and protection before it is too late, using the City's expropriation powers, if necessary. Even former councillor and fiscal conservative Gord Hunter recommended that.

As for the KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) lands south of the Conservation Forest, they are the most important to save as they provide the connection between Trillium Woods and the rest of the Conservation Forest. But we know that we cannot depend on the City to save them.

That is why we have to get the message out to our provincial and federal representatives that these lands are special. Anyone who has spent time in them or has studied then knows this. And these lands are not just environmentally significant but culturally significant to the Algonquin Peoples containing archeological sites and have been declared sacred by their Elders.

The National Capital Commission is currently studying whether to add the South March Highlands to the Greenbelt as part of their Review of the Greenbelt Master Plan, but the Final Master Plan is not scheduled to be completed till Fall 2012. This may be too late for significant parts of the South March Highlands.

Everyone must urge the NCC to expedite the decision making process on adding these lands to the Greenbelt. Write or email NCC CEO Marie Lemay and other federal government representatives and tell them how much the South March Highlands means to you and how important it is to save all of it as a complete ecosystem.

Meanwhile we have to buy time for the NCC and other levels of government to act. We must do what we can to stop the destruction of the Beaver Pond Forest and to stop KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) from moving on to the next phases of destruction.

Usually when house buyers purchase houses, they just see a housing development. They do not know what was there before. This will not be so for the Beaver Pond Forest. Potential house buyers will know that they are buying houses on destroyed sacred land. And they will know that if they buy these houses KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) will move on to destroy more land to build more houses. This fact alone can have a huge impact on preventing KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) from moving ahead to further phases of destruction.

It is time to let our elected leaders know that it is never too late to do the right thing.




Further resources on the South March Highlands

South March Highlands Overview

Save Ottawa's South March Highlands

Ottawa's Great Forest

I want to save the land North of Beaver Pond Park in Kanata Ontario Facebook Group

The Fifth Column SMH posts

The Fifth Column SMH Management Plan posts

Virtual Nonsense (Paul Renaud) SMH posts

South March Highlands Advocacy

South March Highlands Stewardship Plan

Brunton 2004 Report

Brunton 2008 Report


2011-01-15

RESPECT

City of Ottawa Consultations with Algonquin First Nations re South March Highlands

It is not the purpose of this post to suggest to the Algonquin how they should represent their people in consultations with the City of Ottawa, but rather, as an Ottawa resident, to suggest to the City of Ottawa that it should deal with respect with the Algonquin in representing our interests.


The Ottawa Citizen reports:

OTTAWA — The planned construction on the South March Highlands can’t begin until the city has held consultations with Eastern Ontario Algonquins, a native group says in a new letter to Mayor Jim Watson.
...

The letter from the Kichesipirini Algonquin First Nation, a non-status band under the Indian Act, says the land is in the group’s traditional territory and so they have a right to a say in how it’s used.
...

After a recent discussion with the Algonquins of Ontario, [Deputy city manager] Schepers said, the city acted as a go-between with KNL, seeking to have the tree-cutting put off until the Algonquins can review the studies of the land, a process she understands could take till the end of the month.
There is more than a constitutional requirement to consult here, there is also a matter of respect. Respect for the First Nations of these lands would mean the city would not simply "seek" to have the clear cutting delayed but would refuse to allow it until meaningful consultations were completed.

Respect would mean that they City would follow the recommendations of the Aboriginal sub-committee to the Arts, Heritage & Culture Advisory Committee to Ottawa's City Council which states
BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

1. The City undertakes a comprehensive and meaningful consultation with all Aboriginal peoples who wish to participate regardless of status;

2. The current and planned site preparation and alteration activities, including tree-clearing, in the South March Highlands for the Richardson Ridge, Uniform, and KNL subdivisions be immediately halted pending consultation with the Indigenous people of the Ottawa River Watershed;

3. That the City request the assistance of the National Capital Commission who have a licensed archaeologist on staff;

4. That the City takes a leadership role in assuring that a full and credible archaeological survey is performed independent of the third party interest of developers.

5. That such an archaeological survey encompass the entirety of the South March Highlands.

6. That this be set in place as soon as possible.
Respect for the archaeological heritage of the First Nations means no clear cutting or other work on the lands would occur until proper studies can be done when the forest is clear of snow and the ground no longer frozen.

But respect for this heritage means much more. These are not just isolated archaeological sites, they occur within a context. Identifying them, fencing them off and putting up plaques does not represent respect. These sites are within the context of the forest and destroying the forest context and replacing it with "ticky tacky" does not show respect for the First Nations heritage or the forest.

It is time for everyone involved, the developers and all levels of government to show respect.

Respect for the Community
Respect for the First Nations
Respect For the Land

2011-01-08

Who Speaks For The Forest - Beaver Pond Song



Rough Cut: Beaver Pond Song
By Julie Comber


So much noise out there
Can be hard to hear your own voice
So much power used against us
make ya feel you have no choice
We may each feel small
But together we stand tall

So wake up and raise your voice
Go on and make your choice
Who’s gonna fix this
If we back down
Who’s gonna save
Our sacred ground


Its an old story
We don’t have much time
To stop the chainsaws
To stop this crime
A beautiful forest
Home to many species
Bit by bit
Cut into tiny pieces
No one paid
To take the long view
Except developers
Makin’ profits for the few
The rich play golf
While the forest crashes down
Basements get flooded
Can we turn this around?
Where is Ottawa City Hall?
Where is NCC?
Where is the province?
Why is it just you & me?

Why do humans use our power against life
Against life
Against life
And that is our fight
for life
that is our fight
for life
that is our fight
for life

Beaver Pond Forest
took centuries to grow
A week to destroy
This is our chance to show
That we’ve become wiser
That we fix mistakes
That we value life
That we’ve got what it takes
Will we listen to our Elders?
Which path will we choose
This is a key time
Not a moment to lose
So stand up and raise your voice
Go on and make your choice
Who’s gonna fix this
If we back down
Who’s gonna save
Our sacred ground


Vote with your dollar
picket Urbandale
prove this is the wrong way
to make a sale
Cut through the busy
You know its right
Save Beaver Pond Forest
Please join our fight!

So stand up and raise your voice
Go on and make your choice
Who’s gonna fix this
If we back down
Who’s gonna save
Our sacred ground

Light your candle for hope
Don’t give in
The truth will rise,
we can all still win
Light that candle
Don’t give in
Truth will rise,
we can all still win.

2011-01-06

Protest Urbandale Plans to Needlessly and Mercilessly Kill Beaver Pond Forest Wildlife

Demand Destructive Clear Cutting Be Put Off Till Spring

Save Beaver Pond Rally - At Urbandale Sales Office

Where: Urbandale Kanata Sales Office (They are the lead developer)
When: Saturday, January 8 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Meet at All Saints High School Parking Lot & we will walk across the street to Urbandale Sales Office

Implications of Destruction (courtesy of Evelyn Abell)


Are we a society that has become desensitized to violence en masse but overwhelmed at the thought of physical harm to a specific individual or pet. We are mortified to learn of a puppy thrown from a truck window and seek due punishment for the perpetrator. Why then do we yawn in the face of mass destruction? Or do we? Are we changing our paradigm from “It’s not my problem” and “They should do something” to “I truly am connected and I must take some action. Moreover, if I just do nothing, it will still affect me.”

Martha Webber, a well known Ottawa botanist shares this perspective: “The more I think of the wildlife massacre, the angrier I get. Many animals and birds shelter against the winter weather in tree cavities, even those in dens in the ground, are warm. insulated with dry leaves, The and others in deep hibernation,may be lucky enough to die of shock and fright when their tree is cut. If they survive the tree fall, with or without broken bones and bodies, confused by noise of the machinery, loss of shelter and food, few will make it to the nearest garbage can. If a dog is mistreated the owner is penalized. It makes news in the Citizen. But the half tamed birds and animals of the forest who have shared it so long with so many of us, have no concept of what man can do if the price is right.”

How do we 21st century humans protect wildlife? Marianne Wilkinson, our councillor who generally weighs in on the side of ecology reports: “The City of Ottawas wildlife protocol … directs construction be phased to avoid trapping wildlife”. and construction will occur… such that at the end of each phase the outer edge of development will extend further north , allowing the wildlife to respond by moving north towards the core of the South March Highlands.

This is truly a war zone, but the ammunition is all fired from one side. Do we really expect hibernating animals to march ahead of the chainsaws? And what of the food stores the squirrels and chipmunks sequestered through the fall? Is mass animal starvation of no consequence to humans?

Julie Comber speaks well for the future home buyers – the current “younger” generation: "I'm glad the plight of the wildlife is moving you. The problem is our society treats animals arbitrarily, based on their relationship to humans, not based on their ability to suffer or their cognitive development, so laws only protect owned animals (pets) and are very lax on farm animals. Wildlife are not covered by animal welfare legislation. This is why legally, Urbandale can do this, while morally, clearly they shouldn't. I think this is another great example of how this Beaver Pond issue that seemed so local and contained at first really is interconnected with so many other issues, and forces us to ask questions about our society and the path we are on."

Let’s not forget economic implications. According to Earth Economics, Forest and watershed-filtered water utilities contribute billions of dollars to local and regional economies by providing ecosystem services such as fresh water filtration and storage, flood protection, habitat and recreation. This contribution is currently not generally recognized or valued and therefore the acquisition and management of these natural systems is difficult and burdensome.


Further resources on the South March Highlands

South March Highlands Overview

Save Ottawa's South March Highlands

Ottawa's Great Forest

I want to save the land North of Beaver Pond Park in Kanata Ontario Facebook Group

The Fifth Column SMH posts

The Fifth Column SMH Management Plan posts

Virtual Nonsense (Paul Renaud) SMH posts

South March Highlands Advocacy

South March Highlands Stewardship Plan


2010-10-17

The Coalition to Protect The South March Highlands Changed Everything - The Need For A Moratorium on Development in SMH

Before the Sierra Club raised the issue of the Terry Fox Drive Extension and the Blandings Turtle, which was taken up by a group of concerned residents who expanded the mandate to include protecting all of the South March Highlands (SMH), there was no hope.

It was pretty well assumed that Terry Fox Drive would go through the middle of SMH, the KNL development south of the road would destroy that part of SMH and the only part of this ecological jewel that would be protected would be the city-owned South March Highlands Conservation Forest, including Trillium Woods and the land the city purchased thanks to Alex Munter.

My best hope at that time was that maybe the city would purchase at least some of the land north of the SMH Conservation Forest that is zoned Environmental Protection and add it to the protected lands.

Then came the Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands and due to their hard work in researching the environmental issues and raising public awareness of the South March Highlands everything changed.


I would like to thank them publicly for bringing us to the point that saving all of the South March Highlands is very much a possibility and saving at least more of it is virtually a certainty. I know how hard they have worked and how much dedication they have put to the cause and it is remarkable. I will not name names simply because I believe they would want the focus put on the land and not on individuals.

It is clear that their is a consensus among the community and City Council that the South March Highlands is an ecological jewel that should be saved. The only point of discussion seems to be how much money the City should spend, or can afford to spend, to save it.

Even City Council's most environmental neanderthal has proposed that the City spend money to purchase the lands north of the SMH Conservation Forest and the National Capital Commission (NCC) is considering adding the South March Highlands to the Greenbelt. Even the developer, KNL, is willing to give up a small portion of their lands to increase the protected area.

These lands are all environmentally inter-connected and dependent on each other, the loss of parts of it may have devastating effects on what is left. Those of us who are environmentally minded and forward thinking know that if we do not save all of the South March Highlands, or at least all of it that has not yet been developed, our descendants will look back at this lost opportunity with deep regret that we did not find a way to make it happen.

I will be the first one to recognize that there may be financial considerations that make it difficult for a municipality, the City of Ottawa, to buy all the KNL lands at their current value, the lands having been inappropriately rezoned for development when they should not have been. The blame for that must be shared by a lot of people.

But a way must be found to save this land that is of provincial significance from an environmental viewpoint, and of national significance being in the nation's capital. The responsibility and costs should be shared by all three levels of government.

What we need is a moratorium on all development in the South March Highlands until the community and all three levels of government can come together and find a solution to save this ecological jewel. All three levels of government must make a commitment to do what is necessary to put such a moratorium in place and the must do it immediately.

The decision makers must act now or their grandchildren's grandchildren will never forgive them.

2010-10-04

Saving the South March Highlands - Urgent Call to Action


The story of the South March Highlands and why it must be saved, in under five minutes.
A must watch video. (Best viewed full screen in 720HD)

Who would have thought this spring, when the battle to save the South March Highlands was reignited, first by the Sierra Club of Canada in relation to the Terry Fox Drive Extension and the Blanding's Turtle, and soon after that by a coalition of concerned residents and community groups, focusing on the road and the proposed development lands, that we would be looking towards a possible victory in the battle.

However, as I write this, a motion is about to go before Ottawa City Council on Wednesday October 6 to expropriate the KNL lands, known as the Beaver Pond Forest, that are in imminent threat of clear cutting and urban development.

It is urgent that this motion pass as the first step in saving the South March Highlands. But it is only the first step. Originally all of the South March Highlands was zoned "environmental protection" and presumably protected. But as we all know, in Ontario, where developers have their own kangaroo court known as the Ontario Municipal Board, zoning is meaningless when it comes to protecting environmentally sensitive lands. In order to save the rest of the South March Highlands the city must purchase all of the remaining SMH lands that have not yet been developed, both those that have been rezoned for development, and those that remain zoned "environmental protection".

Maps indicating the boundary of the South March Highlands (from Brunton report)
and zoning of the lands (from City of Ottawa)

(click maps to enlarge)


Zoning Codes Used on Map
RESIDENTIAL ZONES
Residential Third Density Zone R3
Residential Fifth Density Zone R5
OPEN SPACE AND LEISURE ZONES
Parks and Open Space Zone O1
ENVIRONMENTAL ZONE
Environmental Protection Zone EP
RURAL ZONES
Agricultural Zone AG
Rural Residential RR
Rural Countryside Zone RU
OTHER ZONES
Development Reserve Zone DR


I therefore urge all of you to immediately email your City Councillor and urge them to support the expropriation motion and the acquisition by the city, by negotiation or expropriation, of all of the remaining SMH lands.

This is a jewel, a piece of wilderness in the city, that we cannot let become just more cookie cutter subdivisions.

2010-08-07

Marianne's Folly - Kanata Lakes 40% Agreement


It seemed like a good deal - a developer agreeing to protect 40% of it's land as "greenspace" instead of the normally mandated 5%. It seemed like a good deal till you realize none of that land should be developed in the first place as it was all zoned as environmentally protected conservation lands. The only thing that made it seem like a good deal was the fact that developers rule in Ontario and have their own kangaroo court - the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) to threaten communities, municipalities and environmentalists with.

We can argue till the proverbial cows come home whether the deal should have been made or whether the developers bluff should have been called and the original zoning defended by the cities of Kanata, Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton and City of Ottawa.

What we do know is that the agreement could not have been implemented in a worse way, resulting in very little actual environmentally sensitive land being protected and a private golf course being designated as "greenspace".

The first mistake was in designating the allegedly "protected" land as "greenspace" rather than environmentally important land. The second mistake was in not identifying the protected lands at the very beginning before any development took place in Kanata Lakes. And the third, and most important mistake, was in virtually letting the developer decide what was to be in the 40 of "greenspace", leading to such absurdities as the golf course being included in the "protected" lands.

So now we have an unsustainable corridor of protected land, surrounded by development and barely connected to the rest of the South March highlands . That is what we got for giving up the fight to protect all of the South March Highlands - folly indeed.

2010-06-16

South March Highlands - The Video

The story of the South March Highlands and why it must be saved, in under five minutes. A must watch video.


Best viewed full screen in 720HD

2010-06-05

Saving the South March Highlands - Pursuing the Possible

(click map to enlarge)

As the above map indicates only approximately one third of the South March Highlands are protected within the city owned South March Highlands Conservation Forest, although originally all the lands were zoned with environmental protection.

The way zoning works, as far as environmentally protected land is concerned, is that developers can apply for rezoning through the municipal process or by appealing to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) as many times as they want. If they lose they can keep coming back with new proposals using the outspend, outwait and outfrustrate strategy to combat environmentalists and communities that want to protect environmentally important lands. However once land is zoned for development it is virtually impossible to undo it - because that would be taking away landowners rights. The environment, apparently, has no such rights.

Indeed developers make a large portion of their profits from "political development" - buying protected land cheap and using their influence to get it rezoned for development and massively increased in value.

If you look at the zoning map below (with the protected land approximately indicated in orange) you will see that about half of the non-protected lands in the South March Highlands are developed or zoned for development, and about half are zoned as Environmental Protection Zone (EP) or Parks and Open Space Zone (O1). We know that the zoning does not provide protection as all the lands were originally zoned protected.

(click map to enlarge)

Zoning Codes Used on Map

RESIDENTIAL ZONES
Residential Third Density Zone R3
Residential Fifth Density Zone R5
OPEN SPACE AND LEISURE ZONES
Parks and Open Space Zone O1
ENVIRONMENTAL ZONE
Environmental Protection Zone EP
RURAL ZONES
Agricultural Zone AG
Rural Residential RR
Rural Countryside Zone RU
OTHER ZONES
Development Reserve Zone DR


So how do we set priorities in terms of protecting the undeveloped land from development.

One strategy, and one hard to argue with, is to focus on the most urgent threats to the land, which at the moment is the construction underway on the Terry Fox Drive Extension and the imminent start of work on the KNL housing development. This brave battle has been taken on by the Coalition to Save the South March Highlands (website in progress) and the I want to save the land North of Beaver Pond Park in Kanata Ontario Facebook Group. Unfortunately these are both very difficult battles to win.

The City seems determined to ignore its own demographic information indicating no urgent need for the road and to completely undermine the environmental assessment process in order to get free federal money for this environmentally devastating project. Everyday that construction continues we get closer to the point of no return. Perhaps the old saying needs to be rewritten to "free money is the root of all evil".

The battle over the KNL lands has been fought between the developers, the community and environmentalists for literally decades until the community just ran out of the ability to keep fighting. A brave last stand is underway but unless KNL can be convinced to sell the land and someone can be convinced to buy it and protect it, it's loss is inevitable.

But there is another strategy. One that can be undertaken alongside these brave attempts to stop the highway and save the KNL lands. It is a strategy that looks to the future - to save SMH lands before it becomes almost impossible to do so.

On November 10, 2000 the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton announced the purchase of 556 acres of the South March Highlands for $1.6 million at the urging of Kanata Regional Councillor Alex Munter who has stated his biggest achievement would be putting South March Highland into public ownership to keep it protected. These are the lands that along with Trillium Woods form the bulk of the currently protected lands in the South March Highlands Conservation Forest.

If one examines the zoning map you can see that an additional area of almost the same size within the South March Highlands is zoned either as Environmental Protection Zone (EP) or Parks and Open Space Zone (O1).

No matter what happens in the battles over the Terry Fox Drive Extension and the KNL development the City of Ottawa must move immediately to acquire this land, using it's expropriation powers if necessary, before it undergoes the "political development" process and it's value is increased. As it stands, there is very little the landowners can do with it other than pay taxes on it. The City would be doing them a favour by purchasing the land (their hopes of using their political influence to increase it's value being irrelevant).

It is clearly in the public interest to purchase these environmentally sensitive and important lands and it is becoming increasingly apparent that is also what the public wants.

This strategy is clearly very possible.

As to those pursuing the strategy of trying to achieve the near impossible - Keep up the battle you might yet succeed and if you do not you will have raised public awareness and moved public opinion in a way that hopefully provides City Council with the political will to do the possible and save two-thirds of the South March Highlands rather than one-third.

2010-05-28

Walk the Land to Heron Pond -- Sunday May 30th 1:00 pm

Bring your friends and family! Spread the word -- please pass this on to your networks. We've invited all municipal election candidates and we want to show them that people care about the South March Highlands and don't want the Terry Fox Drive Extension!

The Coalition to Protect South March Highlands is inviting everyone out to hike in this special and little-known area. This area is an overlooked gem of biodiversity within the City of Ottawa, on a par with Gatineau Park or Algonquin Park. It contains unique Canadian Shield geology, wildlife habitats and pristine forests, and is the most densely bio-diverse area in the City. It is home to more than 654 species, seventeen of which are species-at-risk, including the Blanding's Turtle, American Ginseng, Whip-poor-will and Butternut tree.

The Terry Fox Road Extension, currently under construction, and the planned residential development to follow, will devastate this ecologically significant and sensitive area. Come out and see why we're fighting so hard to protect it.

We will hike to Heron Pond, which is the largest body of water in the South March Highlands. We expect to see Blanding’s Turtles.

WHERE: The hike will leave at 1 pm from the intersection of 2nd Line and Klondike. There is ample parking along 2nd Line on both shoulders of the road. The walk will take place rain or shine, so dress accordingly and with proper footwear for hiking in the woods.

For more information contact Andrea Prazmowski at praz@magma.ca

2010-05-12

Submission to NCC CEO Marie Lemay on Mountain Biking and the South March Highlands

This is also being submitted directly to Marie Lemay via e-mail

To: Marie Lemay
Chief Executive Officer
National Capital Commission (NCC)

From: Richard W. Woodley
environmentalist, hiker, mountain biker, snowshoer, cross country skier, kayaker

I am writing to you about two subjects of concern to myself and many other residents of the National Capital Region. While they may not seem related at first you will see that indeed they are.

The most critical issue I am writing about at this time is saving the South March Highlands from development. The other related issue is the NCC's attitude to mountain biking.

Myself and many other cyclists in Ottawa were very pleased to read of your vision for cycling in the nation's capital as reported in the Ottawa Citizen:
OTTAWA — The NCC wants to inspire Canadians about the capital region by becoming a model for transportation, combining a network of cycling lanes and pathways across the downtown cores of Ottawa and Gatineau.

Marie Lemay says she hopes that “people would turn to us and say: How is it done in Ottawa? How is it done in our capital?”
...

Although the NCC has maintained recreational biking paths in the national capital region for 40 years, Lemay said she realized last summer the importance of moving beyond those paths to create a safe, integrated network of cycling lanes and pathways across the downtown cores of Ottawa and Gatineau.
As well as being a cyclist who rides the bike paths and roads in the National Capital Region, I am also a mountain biker. The National Capital Region, with it's Greenbelt and Gatineau Park, as well as the South March Highlands, has the potential, and the geography, to be a haven for mountain biking, and mountain biking should be included in any vision for cycling in the capital.

Mountain Biking and the NCC

Unfortunately the NCC has a very poor reputation with mountain bikers, largely due to their lack of understanding of the sport, and policies based on prejudice and misinformation, as I have written previously about mountain biking in the Gatineau Park in The Fifth Column:
The NCC, in it’s wisdom, has decided that mountain bikers should be second class citizens in the park. If they want to ride single track trails they are relegated to a small section of the park (Camp Fortune) run by a private operator where fees are charged. Meanwhile hikers and trail runners have free reign over all of the public trails in the park at no charge, including the wide trails designated for mountain biking.

I appreciate having the wide gravel trails to ride, they are fun, but mountain bikers, like serious hikers, love rough natural technical single track trails, which are a lot more environmentally friendly than widened gravel roads, which the NCC loves to build and call trails.

There are two arguments for keeping mountain bikers off single track trails - user conflicts and environmental damage. However, neither of these arguments holds up to scrutiny.

In various places, including the NCC’s own greenbelt (where bicycle use is against NCC regulations but the regulations are not enforced), hikers and bikers regularly share the trails with each other with few problems. I can personally attest to never having had a conflict with hikers on the greenbelt trails while riding them regularly (several times a week). I can also attest to hiking and mountain biking in the South March Highlands and always having other trail users treat me with respect, whether as a hiker or a biker.

As to the environmental impact, the overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that hikers and mountain bikers have equivalent impacts on trails. See, for example, the reviews done by the International Mountain Bicycling Association and the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

For more information on mountain biking see the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) website and the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association (OMBA) website.

...

The NCC has an opportunity to make the Gatineau Park an internationally acclaimed location for both road cycling and mountain biking. Let us see if they are up to the challenge.
I would also at this time like to reference my three submissions on Mountain Biking in the Greenbelt to the NCC's Greenbelt Review. They provide more details on how the NCC can make the National Capital Region a haven for mountain biking.

Why Mountain Biking Should Be Allowed on the Greenbelt Trails

Winter Trail Conflicts on the Greenbelt Trails

Old Quarry Youth Mountain Bike Skills Park

Saving the South March Highlands and the NCC

When I first moved to Ottawa I spent a lot of time in the Gatineau Park. However when we moved to Kanata we reduced considerably the time we spent in the park. Partly it was due to having the Greenbelt in our backyard but a large reason was because we had our own ecological jewel, our own Gatineau Park so to speak, in Kanata, in the form of the South March Highlands.

Now that jewel is threatened. While a portion of it has been purchased and protected by the City of Ottawa a large portion is slated for a housing development (KNL/Urbandale lands).

And the protected lands are going to be divided by a four lane highway, the Terry Fox Extension, using what has been described as the worst possible route from an environmental perspective. The City of Ottawa is rushing the project through even though the initial demographic projections for population and traffic have been considerably reduced (without even considering the now possibility that the KNL housing development may not proceed), and they are doing it by playing fast and loose with the environmental assessment process.

The reason for the fast tracking is free money provided as part of the federal government's economic stimulus plan. Now one might expect a government that claims to be fiscally responsible to attach conditions to it's funding requiring that the money be spent wisely and that the partners take the time to do things right. But apparently the only condition placed on the stimulus funding is that it be spent quickly.

So now we have a double threat - a housing development through an ecological jewel and a road being rushed through prematurely to serve that development.

Let us talk about the South March Highlands from an environmental perspective. The south March Highlands have been studied extensively by Dan Brunton who has authored many studies of the area, including:

Natural Environment Area boundary in South March Highlands Special Study Area: Final Report, June 2004

Natural environment assessment: South March Highlands Conservation Forest, May 2008

This is how Dan Brunton described the South March Highlands in his 2004 report:
3) OVERVIEW OF THE SPECIAL STUDY AREA (ADAPTED FROM BRUNTON 2000)

The Special Study Area is situated at the southern end of the Precambrian Shield bedrock outcrop known as the Carp Hills which extends from Kanata northwestward to the Ottawa River in the Galetta area. This wetland-rich landform is unique in the City of Ottawa, constituting a 'island' of rugged, heavily-glaciated, rocky, Gatineau Hills-like habitat on the otherwise ±level, sedimentary lowlands. The end result is a landscape with severely limited agricultural potential and substantial challenges to residential/ commercial development. It has remained largely undeveloped, constituting one of the largest areas of continuous natural landscape in the City. The more or less original natural state coupled with a uniquely complex geology has resulted in the southern portion of the Carp Hills (the South March Highlands) supporting a diverse and significant natural biodiversity including Provincially and Regionally significant features and habitats (Brunton 1992a; 1992b; 1997).

The South March Highlands incorporates a number of watercourses and their watershed areas. The SSA incorporates catchment areas for the Carp River, Shirley’s Brook and Watts Creek. Most of the drainage in the SSA is westward down the Hazeldean Escarpment slope and into the Carp River. The northeastern corner of the area drains eastward, however, flowing into the south branch of Shirleys Brook. So too does the Watts Creek headwaters which commence immediately west of the First Line Road ROW in the southern half of the area and flows easterly through Kanata (‘Kizell Drain’), eventually discharging into the Ottawa River (Dillon Consulting 2002). Numerous small and/ or intermittent drainage channels occur in the many depressions and ravines occurring in this rugged landscape, all other eventually reaching the Carp River system.

The SSA (Figure 1) is part of the South March Highlands natural area which, in various configurations, has been identified as a candidate Provincially Significant Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) (Brunton 1995), a High Value Natural Environment System Strategy (NESS) natural area (Ottawa-Carleton 1997; Brunton 1997) and Natural Environment Area-A and Natural Environment Area B (Ottawa-Carleton 1999). The significance of this area is reflected in the purchase of over 225 ha of natural landscape north of the railway for long-term ecological protection purposes by the former Region in 2000 (Figure 9). This ‘Regional Conservation Land’ area was enlarged by the City of Ottawa through the purchase of an additional 20 ha of adjacent natural landscape in 2002.

The SSA supports a rich diversity of native plant and animal species typical of superior examples of their respective habitats within the South March Highlands (Brunton 1992a). Some of these species are found within the Highlands only in or immediately adjacent to the SSA (see section 4.1, Significant native species, below). The mature upland deciduous forest habitat in the northern half of the study area contributes the greatest number of these representative and locally unique species (Brunton 1992b).

The SSA contains an extensive complex of common and rare habitats demonstrating a high degree of ecological integrity. Over 80% of this area supports Regionally rare vegetation types (Geomatics International 1995). A number of the nesting bird species present here and in the adjacent forested landscape to the east breed successfully only in extensive woodlands (Brunton 1992b; Muncaster 2002c). Habitat fragmentation is rare here, with the First Line Road ROW providing the only physical interruption crossing the length of the SSA.

A high level of natural biodiversity is identified as an important contributor to the identification of a Provincially Significant natural area (Ontario 1997). The contribution of the SSA to the ecological integrity of the larger South March Highlands natural area is an important element of the latter area’s overall significance and conservation value.
The following is from Brunton's 2008 report, which discusses the impact of reducing the protected area of the South March Highlands to 35% of the original conservation area. Notice the use of terms like "ominously" and "disquieting".
6.1 SIGNIFICANCE AND SENSITIVITY CONCLUSIONS

Remarkably, much of the native biodiversity identified in the 1991 - 1992 South March
Highlands inventories is retained within the 35% of the former South March Highlands conservation area presently designated as Conservation Forest. Approximately 94% of the native vascular plants of the larger area, for example, are (or were) found here. The fragility of this representation is underscored, however, by the wide variety and serious nature of present and increasing environmental stresses described in section 5. Impacts and ecological challenges (above).

It also bears repeating that the 41 Regionally Significant plant species now known from the Conservation Forest represent only 85% of the 48 such taxa known from the larger former conservation area and include none of the known Provincially Significant species of the South March Highlands. More ominously, perhaps, is the fact that 13 (27%) of Regionally Significant taxa, are either known or suspected to have been extirpated. Similarly, one known SARA-scheduled (Threatened) animal species, Blandings Turtle, has only been observed at the very western and northern edges of the Conservation Forest while another SARA-scheduled (Threatened) species, Golden-winged Warbler occurs at a site adjacent to a proposed arterial roadway corridor.

This evidently lower level of sustainability for the most vulnerable components of the native biodiversity of the Conservation Forest is particularly disquieting when future ecological isolation and the fragmentation of remaining natural landscapes is factored in. The proposed residential and transportation development within the South March Highlands (Terry Fox Road arterial, Second Line Road extension, etc.) undoubtedly markedly increase ecological stress on both the representative and exceptional natural features and functions of the Conservation Forest.
And this is how he described, in his 2004 report, the impacts the KNL development and Terry Fox Road extension would have on the South March Highlands.
KNL lands:

Residential development is committed in the majority of the KNL lands between the First Line Road ROW and Goulbourn Forced Road. This has major implications for the ecological significance of both the SSA in particular and the South March Highlands in general. That includes a major reduction in the ecological corridor function presently active between the Regional Conservation Lands north of the Terry Fox Road ROW and the Trillium Woods Urban Natural Feature (UNF) within and immediately east of the Extended Study Area, along either side of Goulbourn Forced Road (Figure 9). It will also increase the edge effect impact of the Terry Fox Road ROW on the adjacent Regional Conservation Lands habitat. The KNL residential development area is transected by Kizell Pond Urban Natural Feature along Watts Creek.

The KNL development plan dramatically reduces the existing area of ecological connectivity between the SSA and other significant natural areas of the South March Highlands (Brunton 1992a; 1992b; 2000). The remaining UNF west of Goulbourn Forced Road constitutes about 100 ac (40 ha) of upland and wetland habitat (S. Murphy, pers. comm.). The Richardson Forest in Lot 6 will be particularly negatively effected, being completely isolated from comparable natural habitats to the north and east. As well, virtually all of the interior forest values of the Richardson Forest will be eliminated.

The loss of continuous forest habitat within the KNL lands north of Watts Creek in the West Block will have similar though less intense impacts on the northern portion of the SSA. The negative impact is lessened in that area by the existence of continuous natural habitat along the top and face of the Hazeldean Escarpment to the west of the SSA (Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5). Development of portions of the West Block on the KNL property will result in the loss of native biodiversity, a reduction in biological restoration and recruitment potential and the initiation of microclimatic changes. It will inevitably reduce the self-sustainability and overall ecological significance of the adjacent portion of the SSA. Without detailed on-site examination of the lands involved, however, it is difficult to quantify the loss of particular natural features.

4.8.3 Terry Fox Road extension impact

Dillon Consulting (2003) has established that construction of the proposed Terry Fox Road extension across the SSA will have a significant, negative ecological impact ....“Terry Fox Drive will form a barrier and break between the northern and southern portions of the presently continuous South March Highlands [natural] area”. Recognizing the importance of maintaining ecological connectivity across this barrier, Dillon Consulting. (2003) proposes a system of modified culverts and a major sub-roadway ecological passageway along the preferred roadway ROW to partially mitigate these loses.

As part of the recent discussions on the design of this road, an alternative route crossing the SSA and located slightly west of the preferred route (Dillon Consulting 2003) was suggested by a landowner. Dillon Consulting (2003) considered that the Balys & Associates alternative route would have “a higher impact on the environment (volume of rock knolls to be removed, and wetland impacted)”. In a later assessment of the natural environment implications of the Balys & Associates proposed route, it was suggested (Muncaster 2002b) that the degree of ecological disturbance along this alternative route for the crossing of the Hazeldean Escarpment and the SAA might be no greater or even somewhat reduced to that of the preferred Terry Fox Road ROW. That opinion, however, does not address the question of maintaining ecological connectivity across the roadway ROW other than to suggest that roadway development along either alternative will inevitably have some impact

Regardless of the route selected, it is clear that the extension of the Terry Fox Road arterial across the South March Highlands will constitute a major ecological challenge to the Provincially Significant values in and about the SSA and throughout a large segment of the South March Highlands. Major mitigation measures, as described above, will be required to at least reduce the losses of significant ecological value here.
So where do we go from here.

The Sierra Club has launched a campaign to stop the Terry Fox Drive extension as reported in the Ottawa Citizen:
OTTAWA — The Sierra Club Canada plans to start a national campaign this week attempting to stop the extension of Terry Fox Drive through the sensitive wetland habitat of the threatened Blanding’s turtle.

John Bennett, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, said the club will use its network to reach thousands of environmentally minded citizens, asking them to put pressure on municipal, provincial and federal politicians to stop the four-kilometre, $47.7-million roadway.

“It’s just a stupid, stupid plan. This is about greed and avarice and building more houses in a place that’s not appropriate,” Bennett said. “They don’t need to build this road through this wetland.
As well, the Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee has recommended that the City halt construction on the Terry Fox Drive extension as reported in the Ottawa Citizen:
The Ottawa forests and greenspace advisory committee will ask city council to put the construction of the Terry Fox Drive Extension on hold and order a more thorough environmental review.

The committee passed a unanimous motion Monday night to ask the city to "immediately re-examine the demographic, transportational and economic rationale" for the project and to halt construction until an "in-depth ecological analysis is undertaken."

The request will come before the city's planning and environment committee, where it would need the endorsement of councillors before it could be voted on by City Council.
This has rekindled interest in the preservation of the whole South March Highlands and led to local residents forming a Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands .

What needs to be done now is to find a way to preserve what has not yet been developed in the South March Highlands or face a situation, as indicated by Dan Brunton, where only 35% of the original conservation is preserved and that 35% is at a great risk of being unsustainable, as Brunton indicates in his reports.

The following map is from Brunton's 2008 report. The Terry Fox Drive Extension route is added (not on the original Brunton report map).


Many believe that the South March Highlands can only be saved if the NCC becomes involved and acquires the SMH lands that remain undeveloped. I believe that may be our only hope. Although the City has been purchasing adjacent lands, they do not have the funds to buy the KNL lands, nor the other undeveloped SMH lands. And even though much of the remaining land is zoned "environmental protection" that becomes meaningless once a developer goes before the Ontario Municipal Board. The only way to really protect environmental lands is to purchase them and the only entity capable of purchasing the undeveloped SMH lands is the National Capital Commission.

Some have suggested that the NCC swap land in the Greenbelt for the KNL lands, but I believe that would be a short sighted solution that would be regretted in the future. The Greenbelt is a corridor and it all serves a purpose. Some of the farmland may not be environmentally sensitive but in many cases it provides a buffer between environmental lands and developed land. As well we are just beginning to realize the potential role that urban farmland can play in our society.

I would only consider a Greenbelt land swap to be a solution as a last resort and even then the land would have to be very carefully selected. Swapping urban development land that might be in the NCC's possession might be an alternative though.

Fast action by the NCC is necessary in order to be able to convince the City of Ottawa to stop the Terry Fox Drive Extension work before even more damage is done to the environment of the South March Highlands. As well, KNL plans to start work on its housing development very soon.

The NCC has, I believe, a short window of opportunity to save the day and save this precious environmental jewel in the National Capital Region, but they should do so without sacrificing that other jewel of the National Capital Region, the Greenbelt.

The NCC and Mountain Biking in the South March Highlands

The South March Highlands and Kanata Lakes trails are known as the place to go for technical mountain biking in Ottawa. If you are not sure what technical mountain biking is think of a rugged natural trail that you have hiked and could not imagine anyone riding a bike on, and then think about someone riding through the trail on a mountain bike and you've got it.

The City of Ottawa is currently developing a management plan, for the South March Highlands Conservation Forest. This is the 35% of the original conservation area that is owned and protected by the City of Ottawa. In developing the management plan the City has worked closely with all user groups and one of the main items of consensus was that the trail system would be a shared system with mountain biking as one of it's main uses. The City is currently negotiating a shared stewardship agreement for the SMH trails with the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association.

While I may not agree with everything in the city's draft plan, such as the denaturalization of some of the single track trails, I would hate to see the consensus that has developed regarding shared trail use threatened.

I have raised my concerns about the South Mach Highlands Conservation Forest draft management plan in the submissions referenced below:

Submission re: South March Highlands Conservation Forest Management Plan

Submission re: South March Highlands Conservation Forest Management Plan Draft Trail Plan

South March Highlands Trail Plan – Where Are The Environmentalists

Saving the remaining undeveloped lands in the South March Highlands from development can only benefit the mountain biking community, by increasing the potential trail system, to keeping the trails further from the impact and noise of development, to eliminating the need for a four lane highway beside and through the middle of the trail system.

However, you can appreciate that considering the NCC's historical record and attitude to mountain biking that the mountain bike community would have serious concerns regarding any involvement of the NCC in the South March Highlands.

There are a number of potential scenarios that could happen if the NCC was to step in and do what is necessary to purchase the remaining SMH lands and save the South March Highlands from further development. Certainly the idea of having one land manager is going to come up. There are a number of ways that this could be dealt with. One is to have the NCC deed all the lands to the City because the City has already started the process of drafting a management plan for the area. Another is to have the City and NCC jointly manage the lands. And a third option might see the NCC take over all the lands. All of these options have potential benefits.

Whatever option may be chosen, for the South March Highlands to be saved from development the more stakeholders that support the plan the better. Getting support from the mountain biking community for an NCC role, which I believe is vital, is going to require strong assurances that all the work that has been done in developing a strong consensus on a shared trail system recognizing mountain biking as an important activity in the South March Highlands will not be ignored.

I call upon the NCC to give a strong corporate assurance, and yourself to give a strong personal assurance, that if the NCC is involved in the South March Highlands that they will recognize that the trail system will be shared and mountain biking considered a legitimate and important activity in the South March Highlands.

Together we can save the South March Highlands.

2010-04-27

The Truth is Coming Out About the Terry Fox Drive Extension Through the South March Highlands

After hearing from City staff and concerned residents, the Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee passed a unanimous motion to ask the City of Ottawa to immediately stop construction on the Terry Fox drive Extension through the South March Highland until an "in-depth ecological analysis is undertaken."

The Ottawa Citizen reported:

The Ottawa forests and greenspace advisory committee will ask city council to put the construction of the Terry Fox Drive Extension on hold and order a more thorough environmental review.

The committee passed a unanimous motion Monday night to ask the city to "immediately re-examine the demographic, transportational and economic rationale" for the project and to halt construction until an "in-depth ecological analysis is undertaken."

The request will come before the city's planning and environment committee, where it would need the endorsement of councillors before it could be voted on by City Council.

The $47.7-million Terry Fox Drive Extension is being built now to take advantage of $32 million in federal and provincial stimulus funding that runs out in March 2011.

The original plan to build the road dates back to a 1983 Ontario Municipal Board decision to expand Kanata's urban boundary into the South March Highlands, with the road marking the outside perimeter of development.

Once the road is built, 182 hectares of natural lands inside the arc of the road are expected to be bulldozed for housing.

But the highlands, a 895-hectare area of near-pristine woodlands and wetlands, have been identified by the province as a candidate for the designation of Area of Natural and Scientific Interest containing a complex of Provincially Significant wetlands.
At the meeting many residents expressed concerns about the project.

The Ottawa Sun reported:
It was standing room only at the city’s forest and greenspace advisory committee meeting Monday evening.

Marjorie Edwards, who lives on Old Carp Rd., said she fears the extension of Terry Fox Dr. will lead to more development and further destruction of sensitive environmental areas, with devastating consequences.

“The land is going to be developed. It started out as environmentally protected land from the province and it still is, but people seem to be able to find ways of circumventing it,” she said.

The road will encroach on habitat of about a half dozen species at risk, including the Blanding’s turtle and the western chorus frog. The project will also pass through four significant wetland areas and require about 10.5 hectares of clear cutting.

Judy Makin, who also lives in the area, shares Edwards’ concerns.

“Unbeknownst to most of the city of Ottawa, we’ve got a little Algonquin Park in our backyard and we’re putting a road through it. It’s not wise,” she said, comparing the South March Highlands to the protected provincial park.

Makin called on the advisory committee to recommend council issue an immediate stop work order to prevent any further construction. She also called for the establishment of a governing body, what she called the Ottawa Forest Keeper, to protect sensitive areas and deny destructive planning proposals.

“We cannot allow this roadway to provide the final doorway to even more destruction,” she said.
Paul Renaud made a very interesting presentation on "Ottawa's Other Transportation System" in which he stated:
As you can see from this aerial photo, looking down from 50 km, we can see 3 major eco-corridors running in parallel to each other:
-Gatineau Park to the North
-Constance Lake – Shirley’s Bay along the River
-South March Highlands to the South
Each of these eco-corridors plays a vital role in the transportation system of the National Capital:
-They enable the transportation of animals, fish, and birds who live in and travel within them
-Who in turn carry native seeds, pollen, and other genetic material up and down these corridors
-This transportation of vital genetic material helps the City fight off the invasive species that our now threatening us as a result of the combination of irresponsible development and climate change
-These eco-corridors also help absorb the GHG emitted by the City’s other transportation system, turning these noxious fumes back into life-giving oxygen.
How is it that City planners have been oblivious to the whole transportation picture?
I encourage you all to read the full text of his presentation in his blog Virtual Nonsense: Can You Still See The Forest?, and be sure to view the very interesting slides he presented.

I must say, knowing how difficult it is to stop road construction in our automobile dominated society, I was very sceptical about the prospects of success for this campaign. However, it appears that the hard work being done by a lot of people behind the scenes in ferreting out the truth about these projects is starting to have an effect and I am beginning to think that there may indeed be hope, to not only stop the Terry Fox Drive Extension through the South March Highlands but to also stop the destruction proposed by the KNL development plans.