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economist suntribune the environment in 2002 saturday jdn 5 2002 expect debate on pesticides ecological footprints sayswhitchurchsto bymikeadler staff writer the misty shores of bond lake seemed as good a place as any to break out the champagne sipped in a december drizzle the bubbly was a longawaited drink this month for environmen talists gregor beck debbe crandall and glenn de baeremaeker save the oak ridges moraine formed 12 years ago in king city to fight for the landform when the provinces oak ridges moraine conservation act finally passed on dec 13 it was time to celebrate president of save the rouge valley system de baeremaeker predicted that after the moraine defenders unexpected success 2002 will be a year of continued advances in protection the momentums just start ing he said before heading to the toast at bond a deep kettle that instead of being surrounded by thousands of new homes will be part of a moraine park in richmond hill people in the 905 belt have figured out you can fight city hall and you can win waiting to pop the champagne cork was a metaphor frequently used while people waited for an opportunity to fix the legislations many loopholes now that the plan is here york region and its municipalities have 12 months to adjust their official plans and two years to prepare a watershed plan and a water budg et less time than given to other areas on the moraine debbe crandall executive director of storm is among those who think this local work must be carefully watched we have to make sure munici palities implement this plan as we fought to have it written she said more alarming to environmen talists is the number of new roads stillpossible through the moraine including the bayview avenue extension now underway and the planned continuation of hwy 427 ah extension of stouffville road west of yonge street they believe could threaten the health of anoth er kettle philips lake we have to stop it before it begins crandall said some fear the provincial plan will ultimately fail if as a result of the moraine being saved subur ban sprawl accelerates to the north and south none of us were involved to staff photosteve somerville glenn de baeremaeker- president of the save the rouge valley environmental lobby group pours champagne for gregor beck conservation direc tor of the federation of ontario naturalists arid debbe crandall executive director of save the oak ridges moraine storm as they celebrate the designation the bond lake area in richmond hill as part of an oak ridges moraine park the provincial governments move stopped construction of potentially thousands of homes iri i the environmentallysensitive area protect the moraine at the expense of other areas said beck a biolo gist and conservation director for the federation of ontario naturalists- even if we can get 50 per cent of the people to think about what theyre doing thats a huge drop jn pesticide use mark carroll gta wetlands watch expect environmental educa- tion on how we live and work to be stressed in 2002 suggested mark carroll a whitchurchstouffville councillor and program coordi nator for an environmental group gta wetlands watch the debate on pesticides and alternatives to using them will come into the spotlight he predicted even if we can get 50 per cent of the people to think about what theyre doing thats a huge drop in pesticide use the toronto region conservation authority is popular izing an idea called the ecological footprint the resources a com munity or an individual uses in a year as part of its living city campaign whitchurchstouffvilles volun teer environmental corhmittee is bringing in an expert to explain the concept next month they say if everybody in the world lived like an american it would take four and a half earths to supply us carroll noted the lake simcoe region conservation authority will con- tinue its initiatives to control the lakes excessive phosphorus load and is adding more stations to test surface water quality we have to make sure municipalities implement this plan as we fought to have it written debbe crandall executive director of storm perpetual land preservation through donations or conserva tion easements is a method that took giant local steps forward in 2001 the oak ridges moraine land trust attracted its first donors and lakesimcoearea naturalists said they intend toforrri a trust of their own- the province interidstojielp by establishing an oak ridges moraine foundation to secure land and improve the tocal trail system john riley- an interim board member said hes confident the foundation can open for business halfway through the year initial provincial investment is believed to be 15 million but riieyi science director for the nature conservancy of- canada said the board will look for match ing funds from- municipal and other governments frankly were going to have to grow it the investment some how he said chapel ridge funeral h cvm e 89 1 1 woodbine avenue markham ontario l3r 5g1 3 blocks north of hwy 7 9053058508 email chapelridgehomecom wwwchapelridgefhcom toll free 18778898808 k a caring part of our community