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8-Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, January 4, 1989 C The Federation of Ontario Naturalists F ON Conservation Centre, Moatfiôld Park 355 Lesjyjil Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3U 2W8 Phone: (4>6) 444-8419 WOODS, WATER AND WILDLIFE by Marion Strebig Adventures in the New Year Eat too much over the holiday? Feeling heavy and otit-of-sorts? Need something zippy for the new year. FON's 1989 Membership Trips and Canadian Nature Tours (CNT), offer you plenty of opportunities opportunities for adventure and for learning. learning. The unique feature of these trips is that, because they are aimed at people who are interested in natural history and conservation, they visit areas outside the usual tourist track. Also all of the leaders are volunteers with an intimate knowledge of the trip area plus expertise expertise in aspects of'natural history, canoeing, camping, history, or orienteering. Any profit from our trips program goes towards our various conservation enterprises like preparing school kits on subjects subjects such as Acid Rain and Endangered Endangered Species, working to get a provincial wetlands policy, participating participating as an intervenor in the Class Environmental Assessment for Timber Management on Crown Lands in Ontario, producing our quarterly magazine Seasns and this weekly column, and preserving significant natural areas in Ontario through purchases of our 14 nature reserves. The Membership Trips Program which concentrates on short day or week-end trips, provides more than a hundred opportunities to explore the natural features of Southern Ontario with expert guides. For instance, instance, in November, I spent a day with Martin and Kathy Parker, Membership Trips Coordinators, finding exotic gulls on the Niagara River. To get you out of your post- Christmas doldrums the program offers several cross-country ski weekends in scenic locations like thç Bruce and the Muskokas which will combine working on your skiing technique with observations of winter wildlife. For the really adventurous, there is a wilderness weekend in the Temagami area where participants will ski into a wilderness campsite, and camp in heated tents. Equipment and supplies supplies will be transported by dog- sled. Spring outings will follow the rhythm of migration. In March you can go to Lqng Point to see the Tundra Swans in their thousands as they pause briefly on their way to the Arctic. Also in March the hawk " watch starts at Beamer's Point near Grimsby. Other trips cover locations locations for specific hawk species. For instance, there is a trip to the Bruce to see Rough-legged Hawks. In May, trips concentrate on the "jewels of.the woodland," the warblers, with visits to Point Pelee and the less famous but equally rewarding Pelee Island. Other outings explore unique plant communities and areas of special botanical interest like the Carolinian region. Activities offered offered in connection with some of the trips are bicycling, canoeing, kayaking and birdbanding. These trips offer everyone an affordable chance to learn about the diversity and beauty of the natural areas of Southern Ontario. Keeping the focus on natural history, Canadian Nature fours eot'.ilucls longer trips to more exotic destinations. Trip destinations range from the rainforests of Costa Kiva to Wager Hay on the nor thwestern rim of Hudson's Bay, just below the Arctic Circle. And from the charms of Grand Manan, a naturalist's paradise in the Bay of Fundy, to the towering trees, looming looming totem poles ana rainswept beaches of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Several years ago I was fortunate fortunate enough to visit Grand Manan with a CNT trip. It began a love affair with the island which only only a lack of cash keeps me from renewing annually. As well as these trips to yearn about and save for, like the trip up the Yukon River, or the one exploring exploring the Rockies on horseback, there are many trips closer to home. There is a cycling trip on the Bruce, a week-long trip to Long Point to participate in birdbanding, and à lodge to lodge canoe trip on the historic French River. The canoe trips offered during July and August follow the course of northern rivers made famous by their association with the fur trade- the Missmabi (soon to be designated as a provincial waterway park), the Montreal and the Spanish. These trips are graded according according to your expertise as a pad- dler, ranging from novice to advanced, advanced, a designation which denotes considerable white water paddling. Trips like these are a brief respite from the stresses of civilization, civilization, and a chance to establish real contact with the land. Brochures for both programs are available by sending a stamped self- Mainstream Canada Short end of the stick By Ann M. Smith From the banks' point of view, being a small business owner usually means having to line up behind the proverbial eight ball whenever it comes time to negotiate a bank loan. In fact, a recent study by the Canadian Federation Federation of Independent Business on the state of small business/banker relations found that one-third of small firms in this country are dissatisfied with the size, terms and transaction details relating relating to their financing experiences. Unfortunately, though, the questionable questionable treatment of small business owners doesn't end there. CFIB has just released the second part of this massive study and concludes that underneath the first layer of discrimi- addressed envelope to me at the FON, 355 Lesmill Road, Don Mills, M3B 2W8. The trip descriptions in the brochures are so compelling that you don't even need to leave your armchair in order to see the warblers, smell the salt air, enjoy alpine meadows or Arctic tundra, or savour the feel of the paddle digging digging into white water. Getting the trip brochures will be like getting the first seed catalogues in the dead of winter, a welcome invasion of sensual impressions. nation, there is an even "more discomforting discomforting message: women who own and run their own small firms are being treated less favorably than their male counterparts by the major chartered banks. * CFIB chief economist and director of research, Catherine Swift, says this study is unique in that it breaks new ground by permitting a direct comparison comparison of the terms of credit received by male and female small business owners. The study compared terms of credit for male and female entrepreneurs entrepreneurs after ensuring that differ 7 ences arising from firm size, sector, location, age, growth rate and type of business were accounted for. "What we discovered," said Swift, "is that for nearly one half of all small businesswomen respondents the banks were demanding collateral of at least 300 per cent on lines of credit. "On the other hand, this requirement requirement was faced by only 20 to 30 per cent of the male respondents." These obscenely high collateral demands are bound to affect the impact women may or may not have on today's highly volatile and competitive competitive marketplace.'For example, the Big Five major chartered banks in this country--Royal Bank, Toronto Dominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Nova' Scotia and Bank of Montreal--have done an excellent job of maintaining iron-fisted monopolies in most communities communities across the country. And since obtaining a line of credit is a key aspect of developing or expanding a business, inordinately high collateral demands--combined with the monopoly monopoly factor--are enormous hurdles to any further development of firms operated by women entrepreneurs. Says Swift: "Projections in both Canada and the United States strongly indicate that 50 per cent of all businesses will be female-owned by the year 2000. The banking community, therefore, must Share the responsibility of removing these discriminatory obstacles as well as encouraging and nurturing this very positive growth potential. " As a result of the survey findings, CFIB will be pushing the banks to investigate and justify just why collateral collateral requirements are so much higher for women business owners. When, and if, this is ever completed, says Swift, they will have to move quickly to reduce these onerous demands. CFIB Feature Service Planning a Be sure to view the selection of Invitations announcements Reply Cards and others at the Orono Weekly DOWNTOWN ORONO Rhone 983-5301