Wee shorebird vs. the Feds
by Helena Rusak
Conservation groups across Canada, including Ontario Nature, have rallied behind the plight of a small, endangered shorebird. Late last year, a coalition of leading environmental organizations filed a lawsuit against then environment minister Rona Ambrose for her ministry’s refusal to identify critical habitat in the recovery strategy of the rare piping plover, which is listed as endangered in Ontario and nationally. The identification of critical habitat in the species recovery strategies under the federal Species At Risk Act (SARA) is critical to effective protection for any endangered species, because it defines the geographical area and ecological requirements for a species to nest and produce young successfully. Read the full article…
Park named for Len Gertler
by Linda Pim
The Ontario government has established the Len Gertler Memorial Loree Forest in honour of Len Gertler, the father of Niagara Escarpment protection, who died in late 2005. This 339-hectare park in the Blue Mountains is one of the larger properties in the system of 131 escarpment parks from Queenston to Tobermory. Read the full article…
Rare species may get a break
by Wendy Francis
The wait is nearly over. An improved Endangered Species Act that will strengthen protection for Ontario’s at-risk species is inching closer to becoming a reality. In November, Minister of Natural Resources David Ramsay released the Report of the Endangered Species Act Review Advisory Panel. The panel was charged with reviewing and updating the act, which has long been in need of an overhaul. Read the full article…
Poplar improvements
by Sharon Oosthoek
We know that food can be genetically modified. Now, it appears that trees can be genetically rearranged as well. Last fall, a team of international scientists announced they had sequenced the complete set of genetic “instructions,” or genome, for assembling the black cottonwood poplar. Read the full article…
Mine the gap
by Wendy Francis
Dufferin Aggregates intends to expand its operations on the Niagara Escarpment, one of Ontario’s four UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves. Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet has approved the plans to enlarge its 468-hectare Milton Quarry, already the largest active quarry in Canada, by a further 83 hectares. This decision runs contrary to the intent of the Greenbelt Plan, which includes the Niagara Escarpment, and will cause irreparable environmental damage. Read the full article…
Escarpment hotspot
by Wendy Francis
Late last year, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) issued a decision that paves the way for the largest single development on the Niagara Escarpment since 1975. Castle Glen Developments wants to build more than 1,600 residential units and 300 hotel units, as well as commercial and retail space, and up to three golf courses within the Town of Blue Mountain in Grey County on a 620-hectare tract that spills over the brow of the escarpment. Read the full article…
