Posted By Monte Sonnenberg, SIMCOE REFORMER
The committee that hopes to rebuild the Long Point causeway is committed to sparing as many trees along the road as possible.
Rick Levick, spokesperson for the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project, said yesterday that the message from the community on this count has been heard "loud and clear."
"We've heard from the community that this is an issue," Levick said. "We're going to see what we can do to ensure no trees are removed."
When the causeway project was first proposed, the people behind it spoke of removing trees that impede bike paths and pedestrian walkways and trees that got in the way of viewing areas for bird watchers. They also spoke about replacing existing trees with native Carolinian species.
The tree issue prompted a backlash in the Port Rowan area from people who like the causeway the way it is. They have come together to form FOCAS, which stands for Friends of the Causeway Association.
In May, FOCAS hired local forester Ron Thayer to take an inventory of trees along the 3.5-kilometre causeway and provide a report on their health.
Thayer documented 224 healthy trees. Of these, 166 are black willow while 58 are poplar. Smaller numbers of silver maple, alder, red maple, Manitoba maple, white birch and lilac were also found. Sixteen dead trees were recorded, all of them black willow.
In his report, Thayer concludes that the trees are key stabilizers of the causeway, which divides the Big Creek marsh from Long Point Bay.
"The trees initially planted along the causeway were carefully selected to perform the function of stabilizing the structure beneath the road," Thayer says. "As a result, the Long Point causeway is today as secure and as maintenance free as it ever was and is likely to remain so for as long as the core species exist in their current locations.
"I have seen causeways that cross other wetlands. Many have fallen into disrepair due to a lack of the foresight that is seen to have been present in those people that planned the Long Point causeway."
Stu Ross of Long Point, a retired biology teacher and spokesperson for FOCAS, says the causeway trees also have aesthetic and symbolic value. "The trees provide habitat and they keep the road where it is," he said. "For those of us who have been here for many years, the trees signify the entrance to a very different part of the world. You take away those trees and you take away some of Long Point's essence; you take some of its distinctiveness away."
Levick says a long-term plan to reintroduce Carolinian trees is compatible with keeping trees that are already in place. He added the causeway committee is a long way from firming up plans for the rebuild, which could cost as much as $15 million.
Ross took the causeway project committee to task last week at Norfolk council when he criticized the installation of silt fencing on either side of the road to reduce the incidence of roadkill.
Ross says the fencing attracts predators that take advantage of frogs, goslings and other creatures that come up against the barrier.
The animals are defenceless because the fencing has been placed in areas where the surrounding vegetation has been cut. Rather than preserving species at risk, Ross says the fencing is contributing to their demise.
Levick responded to the allegation at Tuesday's meeting of Norfolk council.
"We suggest this is more speculation than fact," Levick said, adding the fencing strategy has the approval of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Service.
Long Point Causeway Improvement Project
http://longpointcauseway.com/article.php/20090716210515414