|
Great Lakes
Article:
Habitat Watch # 281
Great Lakes United
August 10-August 16, 2003
Efforts underway for expropriation of Marcy's Woods:
ACTION NEEDED!
The Bert Miller Club of Fort Erie is leading the charge
for expropriation of Marcy's Woods, a rare forest and
shoreline property recently sold to a hotel and casino
developer. The site is one of the best remaining Carolinian
sites in Canada, home to dozens of rare, threatened and
significant species, and the very last area suitable for
a public nature preserve in the Fort Erie region. See
Habitat Watch #280 for more.
The Club is organizing a 4-day canoe voyage to Toronto
to call for expropriation and ensure the protection of
Marcy's Woods. In addition, the effort aims to draw attention
to inadequate protection of critical natural resources
and endangered species by all levels of government. The
canoe flotilla, including two 35 feet war canoes, will
leave the Fort Erie region on Friday August 22nd. On Monday
August 25th the group will present a petition to preserve
Marcy's Woods to government leaders in Toronto. To participate
in any part of this demonstration, contact Melanie Mullen,
905-356-9090, whispergreenwings@yahoo.ca, or Rob Eberly,
905-894-5850, eberly@inter-pc.com.
If you cannot be part of the demonstration, the Club
encourages you to take action by sending a letter, email,
fax or make a phone call in support of expropriation and
protection. The Club has provided a list of key decision
makers to contact, at: www.bertmillernatureclub.org/help.htm
Please take a moment and be part of this important effort
to protect a remaining piece of the Great Lakes natural
history.
Ontario Timber Environmental Assessment gets green light
(from Northwatch News Summer 2003) Early last month the
Ontario Ministry of the Environment released their "Declaration
Order" which gave the green light to the changes
the Ministry of Natural Resources proposed to the 1994
Timer Class Environmental Assessment Approval (Timber
EA). The 1994 Timber EA consists of 115 terms and conditions
that must be met for forestry practices to occur on Ontario
crown lands. The MNR is responsible for forestry in Ontario.
The MNR proposed changes guarantee levels of wood volume
to the logging industry, reduce MNR's accountability to
the public, and eliminate obligations to develop a sustainable
framework for forest management. See Habitat Watch #264
for more.
The MoE-sanctioned-Timber EA does not place any limits
on the size of a clear-cut or the total area logged by
clear-cutting. It does not set an expiry date for the
Timber EA. It removed conditions requiring a roadless
wilderness policy. It removed conditions requiring development
of a conservation strategy for old growth forest ecosystems.
The overall number of terms and conditions that must be
met have been reduced from 115 to 54. And the term limit
for a forest management plan (which is held by the timber
industry in the vast majority of cases) has been extended
from five to ten years.
The 603 written comments provided to the MoE appear to
have had little effect in the writing of their Declaration
Order. MoE staff told Northwatch that a number of comments
are "substantive" and they are in the process
of reviewing the comments to determine if changes are
to be made. The MoE has also stated that some changes
from this decision need to be finalized within one year,
but neither MNR nor the MoE have provided any indication
of when or how this internal review and approval process
will become public.
For more on this issue, go to the Northwatch website:
www.web.ca/~nwatch/forests.html#approval
Great Lakes United's Habitat and Biodiversity task force
produces Habitat Watch with support from the George Gund
Foundation and GLU coalition members. The task force is
committed to protecting natural areas, wildlife, and strong
conservation laws across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
River ecosystem. To join the coalition, subscribe, or
send stories, contact GLU at: (716) 886-0142; fax: (716)
886-0303; or email: jen@glu.org. Past issues of Habitat
Watch can be found at: http://www.sustain.org/Bulletins/index.cfm
|
