Not a nimby issue

Site 41 was originally rejected as a possible landfill site during the environmental assessment process in 1989. Since then, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and various independent experts have raised numerous technical issues that have confirmed the concerns of many Simcoe County residents. In addition, the Environmental Commissioner’s 2003/04 report asked for a review on this “highly contentious issue.”

I believe the citizens’ response has hardly been a NIMBY one; they have suggested a number of alternative locations for the dump and also proposed an extensive recycling program for Simcoe County that would have diminished the need for a dump in the first place. They lobbied the provincial government to fund a program that would have made Simcoe County a demonstration community for all of Ontario. Simcoe County ignored these efforts. Instead, the program went to Guelph.

Everyone would like a higher degree of waste diversion. We all want greater participation in recycling programs and the markets for these products to be expanded. We have to examine all of our options, and it has never been more important than right now to do that.

This is not a “Not in My Back Yard” issue. The residents of Simcoe County asked these same questions 20 years ago. Is it acceptable to place our waste in a flood plain, a source of pristine water? Do we continue to allow the poisoning of our precious resources through the dilution of contaminants? And when will MOE put in place laws that protect areas similar to Site 41?

Anne Ritchie-Nahuis, Elmvale

 

Trusting the land

What a pleasure to see our donor, Eric Eberhardt, featured in your story on conservation easements [“How to protect paradise,” Winter 2005/06, page 28]. Such pioneering conservation donors are precious, and it is great to see them get the recognition they deserve. The article highlights the role that Ontario Nature has played in establishing the land trust movement in Ontario, and rightly so, but there is more to the story. Individual member clubs have been the incubators for many of our new land trusts. In the case of the Thames Talbot Land Trust (TTLT),we simply could not have come into existence without the support and encouragement of the McIlwraith Field Naturalists (MFN) of London. The driving forces behind the incorporation of the TTLT were MFN members, including Mary Kerr, a former Ontario Nature president. The MFN held the first few grants to establish the TTLT and have since been regular contributors.

MFN and the TTLT are currently working together to acquire a conservation property in our region in tribute to two former MFN members. Clearly, partnerships between the land trust community and other Ontario Nature members can contribute much to the cause of conservation.

Donald Gordon, Thames Talbot Land Trust, London

 

Memory lane

As a long-time (over half a century) member, a life member and a former vice-president of what I still keep calling Federation of Ontario Naturalists, I enjoyed your anniversary issue more than any other that I can recall. It brought back so many memories – of Camp Billie Bear (which I attended as a teen on a Nunn scholarship) in the company of “Covers” and “T.F.” (McIlwraith); of recording bird songs with my friend Bill Gunn; of outings with Fred Bodsworth, Bruce Falls and my mentors Jim Baillie and Doris and Murray Speirs; of sharing a semi-detached home with J.R. Dymond and his family; of board meetings with Jim Woodford and Gerry McKeating; of meeting Lester Snyder in his office at the Royal Ontario Museum; of debates about whether to acquire Dorcas Bay and establish it as a nature reserve; and on and on. I simply had to let you know.

Fred Helleiner, Brighton

 

Loon call

Your magazine is always beautiful, but the winter issue is not only beautiful but tragic. If we lose our loons, we will lose part of ourselves. We will become smaller people and less worthy of respect. Why are we not rising up in effective indignation to forbid the use of all-powerful engines on all lakes visited by loons? This would also help us to regain peace and tranquility around our lakes. Why are we tolerating this self-indulgent nonsense?

Ann Oakley, Oakville

 

Get outside

My family has had a long-time subscription to ON Nature, and I must take a moment to congratulate you on your terrific anniversary issue [Winter 2005/06]. I have read it virtually cover to cover. Good, strong advocacy on issues on Roundup and leaded fishing tackle; lovely story on the Brodie Club (now everybody will want to join) and inspiring descriptions of junior nature clubs and land trusts.

One of the smartest things is the Calendar of Events for 2006 on pages 44–45. What a compelling reminder that we need to get out with our kids and experience what we are trying to protect.

Ellen Schwartzel, Toronto