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NEWS
NATURE CONSERVANCY
OF CANADA STAKES A CLAIM
please click here for an area
map.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is a national land trust
with 25,000 members. They have targeted the Carden Plain for
protection due to its globally rare alvar communities. Starting
with 200 acres donated by the MacDonald bothers twenty years
ago, they have purchased the Cameron Ranch (2850 acres), then
the adjacent Windmill Ranch (1500 acres), the Prairie Smoke Reserve
(675 acres), the Little Blue Stem Alvar Reserve (710 acres) and
most recent ely McGee Creek Reserve was donated. All properties
adjoin Cameron Ranch summing to over 6000 acres. In 2005 Ric
Symmes the regional director presented NCC’s grand ten-year
plan for the Carden Plain. As shown on the map, NCC has defined
a “project area” of 25,000 acres that includes all
the quality alvar and borders Queen Elizabeth II Park (3,000
Sq. Km.) on the Canadian Shield. Their announced goal is, by
2015,to directly protect 12,000 acres, either alone or with partners
such as Ontario Parks and Couchiching Conservancy, and indirectly
protect the balance by deflecting aggregate development elsewhere.
As of 2009 they are halfway there.
Property acquisitions continue into 2010. Wolf Run Alvar Reserve
is the latest target. Over 300 acres, it is located north off
Alvar Road within the ANSI (Area of Natural or Scientific Interest).
Aside from offering excellent alvar, it is also strategically
located near Queen Elizabeth II Park, the beginning of a link
to the Cameron Ranch properties to the south. The price is about
$200,000. Much of that will come from government grants but the
Couchiching Conservancy still needs to raise about $80,000 by
October 2010. If you want to help, contact the Couchiching Conservancy
at (705)326-1620 or e-mail gayle@couchconservancy.ca
INTEGRATED CARDEN
CONSERVATION STRATEGY
In
2007 the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Couchiching Conservancy,
the Carden Plain IBA and Wildlife Preservation Canada began
an initiative to expand the 25,000 acre alvar focused project
to include the IBA boundaries into an area of 50.000 acres
focused on species at risk as well as alvar. The goal is to
develop a program that protects species and alvar within the
target area while at the same time creating benefits to local
landowners. The initiative is named the Integrated Carden Conservation
Strategy (ICCS). Initial public meetings revealed that landowners
fear that the designation of their property as environmentally
significant will reduce its economic value. They fear if a
Loggerhead Shrike is spotted on their land they will lose control.
Bird watchers present another landowner irritant sometimes
slowing or blocking traffic and occasionally trespassing. Landowners
question why bird watchers can’t be directed onto conservation
lands and away from private property
Taking advantage of several new sources of funding (Species
at Risk and Lake Simcoe Restoration) to address some of these
issues. A “Birder’s Code of Conduct” was
published in 2008 addressing many birder behavioural concerns.
In addition some parking pull-off areas were built on Wylie
Road and Prospect Road to facilitate traffic flow. A viewing
blind was constructed at Box #10 on Wylie Road to focus attention
toward conservation lands. A parking area and a 3.5 km nature
trail was built on the Cameron Ranch to provide access while
keeping birders and cattle separated.
A grazing seminar was sponsored and well attended. It offered
suggestions to improve grazing productivity. Prompted by the
seminar, a number of landowners have become partners in property
improvement programs such as fencing, water supply and hawthorn
thinning partly paid for by government programs accessed by
the Couchiching Conservancy. A 200 acre wetland property was
purchased on Prospect Road and will be donated along with a
sign stating that naturalists are welcome.
The future plan is to work with quarries to develop a detailed
landscape-based conservation plan for Carden as a supplement
to the municipal Official Plan. ICCS will also create and ongoing
Carden Forum to steer future projects such as ALUS (Alternative
Land Use Services) whereby landowners are paid to support species
at risk. On going funding sources are as yet undefined.
QUARRY
COMFLICTS
Resistance to the McCarthy Quarry proposal, which is backed and
funded by Moyer Aggregates, from the Trent Talbot River Ratepayers
Association (TTRRA), at a cost to them of $300,000, received
another set back when the Environmental Review Tribunal rejected
their appeal. TTRRA didn’t give up. They appealed their
case to the Minister of the Environment who agreed with their
petition and ordered the quarry application to be rejected. Since
then the Minister has been replaced, hopefully for other reasons,
following the 2007 provincial election, and Moyer has reapplied
for a license. The City of Kawartha Lakes Council protested to
the Ministry of the Environment that the current and potential
cluster of quarries in the area could threaten the source water
supply to municipal wells and that before any more licenses were
approved a “Cumulative Ground Water Impact Analysis” (CIA)
was required. The Minister wrote back agreeing and pledging to
conduct the CIA and make the results available, Amazingly six
months later Moyer was granted a water taking permit (PTTW) without
a CIA but subject to public review on the EBR. In December 2009
the PTTW was officially granted in direct contradiction of the
Minister;s promise. In the meantime the CIA has begun by the
Ontario Stone, Sand and Gravel Operators Association (OSSGA)
under the supervision of MOE and TTRRA is appealing the PTTW
to the Minister. The CIA is not expected to be completed until
May 2011.
QUARRY
COLLABORATION
In September of 2005, the Carden Plain IBA together with Couchiching
Conservancy, the Carden Field Naturalists and the Victoria Land
and Water Stewardship Council, hosted the Carden Plain Natural
Heritage Conference. Among the ninety attendees were naturalist,
local landowners and quarry representatives. A wide range of
expert speakers expressed why the Carden Plain was special to
them. The objective was to kick off a dialogue between the quarry
industry, conservation interests and local landowners based on
mutual respect and factual inputs. At the end of the conference
the audience was asked to recommend future action. The overwhelming
consensus was to form a multi stakeholder taskforce to seek a
more harmonious future.
In October of 2005 the first taskforce meeting occurred with
representatives of two major quarries, Lafarge and Dufferin (Tomlinson
joined latter), plus the Ontario Stone, Sand and Gravel Association
(OSSGA), the Couchiching Conservancy, Carden Plain IBA, Nature
Conservancy of Canada plus one cattle rancher (later two local
landowners were added). On March 25, 2006 The Taskforce hosted
Workshop #1 “A Dialogue on the Future of the Carden Plain”.
Attendance was by invitation only in order to ensure a broad
representation of views. Approximately 65 people attended. The
purpose was to identify the key issues of concern to local landowners.
Five key issues emerged; security of water supply, quarry operations
especially blasting, the Official Planning process and zoning,
land valuation resulting from zoning, quarry truck haul routes.
On July 9, 2006, the Taskforce hosted Workshop #2 “Quality
and Quantity of Ground Water”. This time invitations were
open to anyone interested. Approximately 50 attended. Expert
speakers presented material on; Hydrogeology on the Carden Plain,
the Role of the Conservation Authority and the Role of Ministry
of the Environment. An extensive panel discussion followed guided
by questions from the floor.
On November 1, 2006, the Taskforce hosted a bus tour of three
local quarries, Lafarge, Dufferin and Miller, to demonstrate
the operations process including a blast. Invitations were open
to all and about 50 attended. In each case the site manager led
the tour and questions were encouraged.
In March 2007, another Workshop was held directed at Official
Plan process. The intent was to provide attendees with a factual
understanding of what Official Plans are intended to accomplish
and how they are created. The timing anticipated that the City
of Kawartha Lakes would publish their revised new Official Plan
in the spring of 2007. This hasn’t occurred to date but
the City did conduct a Haul Route workshop negating any need
for the Taskforce to address that subject. Attendance at the
Official Plan Workshop was down substantially from earlier events
and it was decided to end the workshop program.
Discussions are proceeding with Miller Paving to construct an
interpretive sign on their property on Kirfield Road welcome
visitors to the Carden Alvar. Both Duffeerin and Miller quarries
have contributed gavel and equipment to make the parking areas
and laybys mentioned earlier. The OSSGA is trying to lead the
industry into a friendlier, less intrusive, code of conduct.
ONTARIO
LANDOWNERS ASSOCIATION
The environmental theme is being challenged politically by a
significant group of landowners, both local and away, who call
themselves alternatively the Rural Revolution or the Ontario
Landowners Association (OLA) Theyreject any government planned
use of their private land (i.e. zoning) especially if it interferes
with what they can do on it and who they can sell it to. They
have posted signs throughout the City reading “THIS IS
OUR LAND, GOVERNMENT BACK OFF!”. Seven local landowners,
on the Carden Plain, went further in the summer of 2006 and posted
signs prohibiting birders from looking for birds in their fields
from the road. One local landowner even began stopping birders,
walking on public roads, telling them to stop bird watching.
He ceased this activity after being confronted by the police.
In the spring and early summer of 2007 tensions between OLA and
birders appeared to have abated. Most of the anti-birder signs
were not reposted and no confrontations with birders were reported.
This calm was deceiving. In September the OLA hosted a rally
on a member’s property on the east side of Wylie Road opposite
box #10. They announced that they intended to clear all the hawthorn
trees from 13,000 acres to prevent Loggerhead Shrikes from nesting.
About 70 people attended the rally most of whom came from outside
of Carden. There were numerous speeches and loud cheers before
the rally broke for lunch. In all, about 100 hawthorn trees were
cut down in a 100-acre site. While the threats proved empty,
the rally did attract a good deal of local publicity and sparked
the initiative to create an Integrated Carden Conservation Strategy
mentioned above.
BLUE
BIRD BOX RESULTS
From Herb Furniss, IBA Steering Committee.
2009 got off to a good start when 44 Blue Bird pairs nested,
a considerable increase from 2008.What followed was the coolest
and wettest summer on record. 29 fledges died of starvation as
insect populations collapsed Despite this set back 180 eventually
fledged compared to a similar number in 2008
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LOGGERHEAD
SHRIKE RESULTS
18 pairs of wild Shrikes nested in Carden in 2009 including two
near Fenelon Falls, a first., up from 16 in 2008, 12 in 2007and
just 7 in 2006. They produced 52 fledges compared to 75 in 2008,
51 in 2007 and 25 in 2006. 4 birds originated from the captive
breeding program and returned after migration. Two mated successfully.
One senior member is three years old., Shrikes are returning
to territories long ago abandoned. The birds were seen in Pembroke,
Gray-Bruce, Smith Falls and Napanee. Wildlife Preservation Canada,
who manage the Shrike recovery have initiated an “adopt-a-site” program
whereby local volunteers are assigned a potential, but historically
unused, nesting site to monitor through spring in case a pair
of shrike or other species of interest decide to nest there.
The behaviour of nesting Shrikes was also more closely monitored
in 2009 and should yield important more detailed territory habitat
requirements. This information will be available when Environment
Canada officially identifies potential Shrike habitat to be protected
under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2010. The banding of
wild fledges will recommence in 2010 after a two year hiatus
The captive breeding program remains productive with 94 juvenile
Shrikes released into the wild and 7 retained for breeding in
2010 compared to 102 fledges released in 2008, 94 in 2007 and
100 in 2006. For the first time49 Shrikes were released with
geolocators. These devices measure and record light levels. The
data can later be analyzed to map where the bird has traveled
over the winter. The only catch is that the bird has to return
and be recaptured so the data can be retrieved. This technique
has been successfully pioneered by Bridget Stutchbury (Silence
if the Song Birds) using Purple Martins. Bridget Stucthbury was
a consultant on the Shrike project. The findings could reveal
where they go for the winter, how they get there and how they
return.
Funding the captive breeding program has stabilized through an
significant increase in sponsors both public and pribvatedespite
a short term crisis in 2007 when Environment Canada reduced their
support.
Thanks primarily to Boisset Winery, makers of French
Rabbit Wine, The program remains viable www.wildlifepreservation.ca
NATURE
GUIDES TO THE CARDEN PLAIN
This fold out map and guide was first produced in 2005 and proved
to be very popular It was repeated in 2007. Copies are still
available from the Couchiching Conservancy office (705)326-1620
or picked-up at the City Service Center in Kirkfield. Copies
can also be downloaded from two websites of interest www.theCardenProject.com
and www.ofo.ca/CardenAlvar.
A new edition is planned for 2010.
CARDEN
NATURE FESTIVAL JUNE 4, 5 and 6, 2010
June 2007 saw the launch of the inaugural Carden Nature Festival
as a celebration of the natural wonders of the Carden Plain,
a smorgasbord of biodiversity in southern Ontario, close to the
GTA, and formed by a distinctive geological history. In 2009,
the third year, 280 people attended, compared to 270 in 2008,
plus 80 attendees at the Ontario Nature AGM, and 200 in 2007
Attendees came from from all across the province with about half
from the GTA and another third from Simcoe County. Market research
has revealed the Festival contributed $60,000 to the local economy.in
2009 Comments from participants were extremely positive
CARDEN
NATURE FESTIVAL
FRIDAY JUNE 4, SATURDAY JUNE 5, SUNDAY JUNE 6, 2009
www.CardenGuide.com/Festival to
browse and register
(or call 705-326-1620 for a free brochure)
COME ONE COME ALL
TO THE CARDEN NATURE FESTIVAL
EXPERIENCE A SMORGASBORD OF ENVIRONMENTAL DELIGHTS
Bird
Watching:
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Grassland
Birding
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Birding
for Beginners |
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Calling
in Birds |
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Birding
by Ear |
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Sparrows
by Voice |
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Lawn
Chair Birding |
Alvar Plants
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Alvar
Flowers |
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Alvar
Grasses |
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Forestry |
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Lichens |
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Mosses |
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Ferns |
New Sites to Explore
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Little
Blue Stem |
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Prospect
Marsh |
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McGee
Creek |
Learning
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• |
Reflections and Gratitude |
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• |
Spirituality
of a Tree |
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• |
Watercolour
Painting |
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Aquatic
Wildlife |
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Local
Species at Risk |
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Recording
Bird Songs |
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Learning (continued)
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Bridget
Stutchbury |
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Nature
Photography |
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Loggerhead
Shrike Captive |
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Breeding |
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Blue
Bird Box Care |
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First
Nations in Carden |
Photo Contest:
Exhibitors:
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15 vendor booths inside |
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Painter,
Jewelery maker, Weaver, |
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Bird
House maker outside |
Insects:
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Dragonflies and Butterflies in the
Field |
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Butterflies and Dragonflies for Beginners |
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Spiders |
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Moths by UV Light |
Exploring
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Bike
Tours |
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Wilderness
Hike |
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Boat
Tours |
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Float
Plane Tours |
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Wilderness
Hikes |
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• |
Cameron
Ranch Tours |
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• |
Paddle
Lakes and Wetlands |
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• |
Voices
of the Night |
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Fossil Hunt |
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Carden Land Forms |
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CONVENIENT Less than
2 hours from Toronto and 30 minutes from Orillia
AFFORDABLE 1/10th the cost of an exotic eco-vacation weekend
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