A4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER W ednesday M arch 29, 2000 Area's growth biggest environmental threat-report A time capsule lake, 1,000-yearold white cedars, a dozen rich wet lands - H alton's natural treasures may be threatened if development contin ues. C onservationist Brian Penman knows the time to act is now. Penman, chair o f C onservation Halton (formerly the Halton Region Conservation Authority), says rapid urban development that is expected to double the watershed's population to nearly 550,000 people by 2020 pre sents a real threat to the natural envi ronment. Already development is bulldozing its way through Oakville. Burlington, Milton, Halton Hills and other water shed communities, he said. By September, the so-called "big pipe" construction project, which will bring Lake Ontario water to Milton and connect it to sewage treatment plants in Oakville, will be completed. The big pipe is the servicing con duit developers have been waiting for to open up thousands o f acres of prime development land. That prospect was a chief reason Conservation Halton began two years ago to work on a strategic plan to pro tect the natural places in a watershed that includes a slice of the geological ly magnificent Niagara Escarpment. Recently the agency made public its plan, called Inspired by Nature, which it is introducing at meetings of watershed m unicipalities and other major land users such as agricultural associations and golf course owners. Penm an said the plan includes expanding land stewardship programs for watershed valley and creek sys tems, a review of the agency's own park master plan to ensure trails and natural areas can be sustained, and for est improvements to maintain health and diversity. "We will make conservation an integral part of community develop ment and will produce an annual report card on the natural environment to ensure that nature's blueprint is given high priority," he said. "The primary goal is to create a legacy of treasured green spaces for now and future generations," said Conservation Halton chief adminis trative officer Theresa M aguireGarber. With the continuing growth of Toronto, Mississauga and Brampton on its eastern border, HamiltonWentworth on the west, and Halton's own urbanization, pressure on the region's natural areas will intensify, said agency spokesperson Gary Hutton. The watershed covers 1,046 square kilometres, taking in most of Halton Region, and pieces of Mississauga, Dundas, Flamborough and Puslinch Township. About 3,645 hectares are owned or managed by Conservation Halton. It is drained by 17 watercourses takes place. (2,000 kilometres of streams), the gered species of plants and animals. Fossilized com pollen found in lake Conservationists fear that without major ones Sixteen Mile Creek, Bronte Creek and Grindstone Creek, vigilant efforts by government offi led to the discovery of 10,000 Iroquois that flow into Lake Ontario. More cials, land owners, developers and res artifacts. `T he lake bottom amounts to a natu than 25 per cent of the watershed is idents, specific flora and fauna will rally occurring time capsule and every become threatened. forested, a rem arkable distinction "The quality of coldwater streams, thing that settles to the bottom - leaves, given its location. Some of the major natural features which harbour brook trout and red pollen grains, micro-organisms - is per sided dace, could suffer. If woodlots fectly preserved in the sediment," Hutton include: -- Cultural and archaeological are decimated, birds such as scarlet said. In 1971, Dr. Jock McAndrews, a areas near Crawford Lake in Milton, tanagers, veery and wood thrushes which is the site of a reconstructed would be reduced or elim inated," botanist from the Royal Ontario Museum, found fossilized com pollen Iroquoian Village, central to a 25-year Hutton said. If wetlands are threatened, amphib grains, imbedded and perfectly preserved study of more than 100 nearby native ians such as yellow-spotted salaman in the lake sediment. settlements. That clue led to further archaeological -- Some of Ontario's oldest growth ders, wood frogs, green frogs and studies in the area that unearthed over 25 forest at Kelso Conservation Area spring peepers would disappear, he years more than 10,000 artifacts that where specim ens of dw arf white said. Hutton said misuse of conservation greatly expanded our knowledge o f cedars clinging to limestone cliff lands could damage the 1,000-year-old Iroquoian culture. edges are more than 1,000 years old. A popular display at Crawford Lake -- The Bruce Trail, Canada's oldest white cedars, destroy turkey vulture nest heritage site is a detailed reconstructed and most well-known hiking trail, ing sites on the escarpment and threaten Iroquoian village that includes two com includes a 75-kilom etre stretch such distinctive natural features as plete longhouses and three others in var Crawford Lake, a meromictic lake, through the watershed. ious stages of completion. -- 5,500 hectares of conservation Hutton said. `T h e impact of growth on these Crawford Lake shares special charac areas that protect distinctive natural unique natural areas must not be taken teristics with fewer than 1 per cent of features including Hilton Falls, lightly. There will be, and are now, huge Crawford Lake, Rattlesnake Point, Ontario's lakes. Its great depth (24 metres), small sur demands for commercial and residential Bronte Creek Provincial Park and the face area (2.5 hectares) and sheltered development that put the environment at Royal Botanical Gardens. risk," he said. -- 12 wetlands considered provin- location surrounded by limestone cliffs "Watershed residents have easy cially significant, among them and forest mean there is little wind and access to more than 9,000 acres of con wave action to dissolve and circulate Hayesland, Beverly and Badenochservation lands for recreation, education oxygen. Moffat Swamps. As a result, it has an oxygen-depleted and enjoyment," Hutton said. -- Remnants of the Carolinian for Natural areas operated by and constantly cold bottom where noth est zone, the richest vegetation zone in Conservation Halton recorded 480,000 ing survives and very little breakdown by Canada, which includes 50 per cent of visitors last year, he said. Ontario's rare, threatened and endan worms, bacteria and other organisms -- Torstar Wireservice Colorectal cancer sem inar April 6th Individuals with rectal cancer and their families are invited to attend a free health seminar entitled "Understanding Colorectal Cancer" on Thursday, April 6th, at 7 p.m. at the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (O.T.M.H.). The seminar is being presented by the Canadian Cancer Society, Oakville Unit and Halton Healthcare Services, Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital site. It is made possible due to an educa tion grant from AstraZeneca Canada Inc. and the OTMH PharmaCare Centre. Displays will be available from 6:30 p.m. and the seminar will commence at 7 p.m. To reserve a seat, call 338-4379. Reservations are required. If you are unable to attend this event, but would like more information on this topic, call The Canadian Cancer Society at 845-5231 or the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada at 1-888-3189442. 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Maytag" major appliances & Hoover® vacuums are A L L O NS A L E Plus... Use your Sears Card and Don't pay for 1 year on all major appliances Don't pay until March 2001, on approved credit, with your Sears Card. Minimum $200 purchase. $35 deferral fee and all applicable taxes and charges are payable at time of purchase. Excludes items in our Liquidation/Outlet stores and Catalogue purchases. Offer ends Sunday, April 2, 2000. Ask for details. NPO 3 5 0 4 0 0 C opyright 2000 . Sears Canada Inc Come see the m any side s o f Sears® Visit Sears O akville Place Mon.-Fri. 9:30 am-9:00 pm. Sat. 8:00 am-6:00 pm. Sun.11 am-6 pm. Finally, stalled traffic leads to an increase in pollution and driver rage. To the rescue is the action plan, which details what police, fire and ambulance crews need to do in the event of a major accident or disaster. It's also jam -packed with maps clearly showing diversion routes to usher motorists off the jam m ed road and on their way. The QEW, for example, has been divided into five zones in the plan. Each of these are mapped out with both primary and secondary diversion routes to help police keep traffic flow ing. "What this does is safeguard the community against the kind of gridlock we've experienced in the QEW and Regional Road Five area," said Halton Chair Joyce Savoline. Pulling the plan together took about five months and entailed listing the name and home and business phone numbers of virtually everyone respon sible for lending a helping hand in the event of a traffic crisis. `T his road closure plan will allow us to direct traffic in a more orderly fashion," said Halton Regional Police Chief Ean Algar. "It doesn't mean the traffic will flow like there's no problem at all. But it will move. There will be direction." The plan was backed by OPP Staff Sergeant Bob Weekes. "At the present time, when the pub lic leaves the highway, they have no direction to get them back on the high way," he said. "This region has reacted to a significant problem and taken steps to relieve the problem." The final piece of the puzzle -- and likely the last one to snap in place -- are signs. Permanent signs alerting motorists of diversion routes could be in place by September, said Murphy. And changeable message signs will eventually warn drivers of accidents ahead. Other than the signs, the plan is ready to roll, said Algar. "We've already put some of the plan in action," he said, referring to an acci dent that threatened to shut down Regional Road Five (Dundas Street) in mid-March. "It helped reduce the grid lock and kept traffic moving." The plan isn't com plex, but it hinges upon proper communication, said Murphy. "With all things simple, the devil is in the details, and in this case, that's communication," he said. `Trying to get the right people at the right time and having them know they're respon sible for certain actions."