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4 - THE PORT PERRY STAR, Tuesday, November 6, 2001 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Saving the Oak Ridges Moraine Victory party in wake of provincial announcements By Rik Davie Port Perry Star Nothing could have been more fitting for the several hundred staunch environmentalists who gathered for the annual Charles Sauriol Environmental Dinner last Thursday than to have the night turn into a victory party in the wake of provincial announcements of wide-sweeping protec- tions for the Oak Ridges Moraine. The government announcement effectively put a permanent freeze on building in the environ- mentally-sensitive area that stretches from Peel Region to Durham Region and caps the City of Toronto like a protective umbrella of creeks and watersheds. Could anything be bet- ter? Well yes, you could have a world-renowned environmental lawyer who's a member of one of America's most illustrious families and an avid out- doorsman give the keynote speech on a night that was the climax in years of battle by thousands of people to save a rich land area that had already felt the rip-and-tear of the bulldozer's of develop- ment. They did have just such a man. Robert F. Kennedy |r. returned to a country he said is "a favourite place" to give that speech, on that night, in front of residents of all the areas of the moraine including Uxbridge and Scugog. It was an interesting night for Mr. Kennedy as he saw the Ontario govern- ment make a similar move to what was done to save the water system of New York City. "Almost an identical sit- uation was faced in New York City in 1997," Mr. Kennedy told The Star "The 2,000 square-mile watershed had to be pro- tected and we had a Republican governor nobody expected to do something that was good for the environment. He came in an orchestrated a deal... to preserve that watershed from develop- ment." Mr. Kennedy hinted at political reasons for a gov- ernment to get environ- mentally friendly. "What a good politician or government does is build up political capital, and then, if they are good governors, they will spend that capital on something as visionary as this." Mr. Kennedy joked that Canada was a familiar place to him. "l want you to know that I have always been fond of Canada and its lands and that I have always thought of the United States as the 14th province," Mr. Kennedy said. He applauded Ontario Premier Mike Harris and the move that will see very limited development on the moraine with most developers being offered land swaps for prime land in the Pickering area. "I have to say that were | living in Ontario I honestly can not say | would be a member of Mr. Harris' party, but 1 must applaud any move as wide-ranging as this one appears to be." Mr. Kennedy told the large group that the envi- ronment is not protected at the cost of the economy. "Good environmental policy has always been good economic policy," Mr. Kennedy said. "We who live in the small communi- ties must remember that development is at the cost of community. "We bring in the big box stores and the malls and pretty soon we are all the same, with the same GAP store and the same Wal- Mart and at the cost of the community," Mr. Kennedy said. He went on to say that the move to protect the moraine was a landmark for the environmentalist movement. "More and more, this is what must be done," Mr. Kennedy said. "If we all got what we wanted when we wanted it, the earth would be destroyed overnight." The move to protect the moraine comes on the heels of announcements by the Oak Ridges Land Trust that over 900 acres had been deeded back to the trust in one form or another and the announced establishment of a government-spon- sored land fund to buy back sensitive land areas now in private ownership is being lauded by local politicians. Marilyn Pearce, the Ward 2 Councillor in Scugog Township and a long-time conservation advocate, said that despite the fact Scugog Township has little of the moraine crossing it, what does cross is vital. "We have long looked at ways to solve the prob- lems represented by the Test Hill area for damage and garbage on the south- ern most tip of the moraine," Councillor Pearce said. "The land trust will give us the opportunity to get back some of that land into gov- ernment ownership and we can better deal with clean- ing it up and preserving it from the ravages of four- wheelers and dirt bikes and the garbage situation they bring with them." "We have to learn that we cannot sell the farm to pay for the groceries, nor can we drain the lake to catch the fish," said Mr. Kennedy. "When we save the moraine from paving it is not for the sake of the land, but because we understand that the land is a vital part of our infra- structure for our communi- ties. "Destroying these things is the moral equiva- lent of tearing the last page from the Bible." Robert F. Kennedy Junior was the guest speaker at the annual Charles Sauriol Environmental Dinner last Thursday evening. He was on hand the day the province announced its wide-sweep- ing protection plans for the Oak Ridges Moraine. Below is a map of the moraine. OUR NINE WATERSHEDS aND WATERFR Oo pve ctl 18 Mose nes a Cerne aoe oe ali Municipal Bounoany ¢ REGIONAL oF LocaL Vv RiveEns a Rouae Panx Ell TCA Prorerry W527 Oa RIDGES MORAINE [] TRCA warensieos * TRCA WATERFRONT | . GREATER TORONTO AREAL