The Quiet Activist
Betty Learmouth has organized many a letter writing campaign and stared down developers before. Now there’s talk of a truck route running through nearby protected areas. Hmm…
by Bruce Gillespie
Betty Learmouth has traipsed into the woods before dawn, cassette player cranked to full blast, trying to lure screech owls out into the open to be counted. She has taken part in a number of inventories – of hawks, butterflies, rare plants. She has also helped found organizations such as the Canada South Land Trust, which works with woodlot owners to turn their properties into conservation areas to be enjoyed for generations to come. And she has written countless newsletters in the past 20 years in the name of helping to protect natural areas. For all this work, she received the 2002 Ontario Nature Achievement Award.
Ravaging the wetlands
by Andrea Smith
T he City of Orillia has been recognized as a leader in waste reduction, recycling and water conservation. Its track record on wetland protection, however, is far less distinguished.
Easements upheld
by Linda Pim
In a move applauded by Ontario Nature and community groups in Durham Region, the Ontario government has brought in special legislation to restore conservation easements on farmlands in the Duffins-Rouge Agricultural Preserve that had been cancelled by the City of Pickering in early 2005 (“Pickering cancels easements,” Earthwatch,Winter 2005/06).
A new and improved OMB
by Linda Pim
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has long been controversial, seen by many as biased in favour of development interests. At long last, the Province has put forward amendments to the Planning Act (Bill 51) aimed at reforming the OMB.
Is it dead yet?
by Douglas Hunter
It’s been a long, drawn-out, complicated mess for the people of Three Mile Lake,” said Susan Pryke, mayor of the Township of Muskoka Lakes, in early December 2005. Toxic algae had bloomed in the lake in September, and everyone hoped it would disappear in a few weeks. But the bloom only began to die off in late November. “It’s almost been like a poltergeist, moving from one end of the lake to the other,” she added. “To think of it lasting all the way into December is really quite staggering.”
Unusual flight patterns
by Christine Beevis
Last fall, bird watchers in Nova Scotia gathered in droves to spot a number of bird species considered rare there, such as barn swallows, that had been blown off course by hurricane Wilma – the 10th hurricane of the season. The birds, which normally would have gone south by mid-October, had been pushed north by the extreme weather and were even reported to have been swept across the Atlantic to Ireland and Europe.
Wellington’s trees
by Christine Beeves
In celebration of Wellington County’s 150th anniversary, Wellington Council announced that it would donate 150,000 tree seedlings to county residents in the hope of leaving a green legacy for future generations. That was in 2004. Since then, the Green Legacy program has become so popular the county decided to establish a native tree nursery.
Logging caribou territory
by Riki Burkhardt
Tucked away in a far corner of northwestern Ontario is the breathtakingly beautiful St. Raphael Signature Site. Named after the patron saint of travel and good health, the remote 153,000-hectare site encompasses St. Raphael Provincial Park and the Miniss Enhanced Management Area (EMA). Within the park and EMA boundaries lie some 400 lakes and 2,500 kilometres of shoreline.
