Southern comfort

Riki Burkhardt’s article “Crisis? What crisis?” [Last Word, Spring 2006, page 46] highlights the economic circumstances that are faced by many people in northern Ontario, including First Nation communities. Her statistics and text provide a brief glimpse of the challenges we face in the North. Based on forecasts, economic conditions will become more demanding and disheartening. Northerners are envious of the South’s prosperity. We marvel at your unconstrained consumptive behaviour, your pollution, your traffic gridlock and your garbage piles. Interestingly, a major source of the material that fuels your consumption originates in the forests and mines of northern Ontario.

For communities in the North to prosper, a land base along with associated raw materials is required to provide for a mix of economic, social and cultural activities. Forestry and mining can continue to be a source of economic well-being for northerners. In fact, our forestry and mining activities are among the most sustainable and environmentally acceptable in the world. The fact that many forests in northeastern Ontario have acquired Forest Stewardship Council Certification as an independent assessment of forest practices is supported by Ontario Nature.

Increasingly, materials from the developing world like China and Russia have occupied the marketplace by virtue of their low prices. Purchasers in southern Ontario clamour for these products in spite of the fact that there are few to no environmental controls in these countries and labour standards are non-existent. So, in the end the market may displace all raw material production in the North, and a silent landscape that is proposed by Burkhardt may be the result. Although protected areas are an integral component of sustainably managed forests, these areas do not contribute economically to local communities.

James Miller, Sault Ste. Marie

Logging near the nests

Riki Burkhardt’s article “Logging caribou territory”[Earthwatch, Spring 2006, page 8] gives readers the mistaken impression that nests of eagles, herons and ospreys in the St. Raphael Signature Site are threatened by proposed logging. During timber harvesting operations, all known nests of these species are protected by Area of Concern (AOC) prescriptions, including reserves and timing restrictions. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) develops science-based prescriptions for sensitive species and works very hard to test their effectiveness. An excellent example is an OMNR project in 2001 that evaluated effectiveness of routine prescriptions using 150 osprey nests and 150 heron colonies in the largest study of its kind in North America. It showed that the AOCs used since the early 1980s have been effective and, in fact, much more conservative than necessary to protect these nesting birds. Also noteworthy is MNR’s recent proposal to downlist the status of eagles in northern Ontario from “endangered” to “special concern.” This will not change the AOCs that have been applied effectively around their nests since 1987.

Kandyd Szuba, Biologist, Domtar Inc.

Teamwork

Congratulations on your recent anniversary issue [Winter 2005/06] celebrating Ontario Nature’s 75th birthday. We read with interest “The trailblazers” [page 18], which highlights the role played by the Brodie Club in the founding of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON). We were disappointed, however, that you chose to focus anniversary coverage on a single group when so many other groups and individuals also played major roles in the birth of FON. By 1931, individual naturalists, as well as clubs in Ottawa, London, Hamilton, Toronto (several groups) and smaller centres, were already starting to coordinate some of their activities to further their conservation goals. W. E.

Saunders, the London businessman (not a dentist) who became the first president of FON, was the most respected and loved naturalist in the province. In this anniversary year, we recognize, salute and thank all the founders of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists.

Katherine Turner, President, McIlwraith Field Naturalists of London