Doing Good; Not Harm
Thursday, August 20 2009 @ 05:18 PM EDT
Letter to the Editor, Simcoe Reformer, Tillsonburg News
We wish to counter some erroneous information presented by the “Friends of the Causeway Association” (FOCAS) in a deputation to Norfolk Council recently about the low-level temporary fencing that the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project Committee has installed to reduce the large annual roadkill of turtles and other wildlife, some of which are species at risk, along the Long Point Causeway.
Unfortunately, your newspaper repeated this incorrect information under the headline “Doing more harm than good,” giving your readers an inaccurate perception of our conservation efforts on the Causeway. If your reporter had contacted us to fact-check the story, he would have learned that:
• Our proposal to install fencing was reviewed and approved by scientists at Environment Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Both levels of government provided grants to support the work.
• Our efforts are based on recovery goals established within provincial and national recovery strategies, and reviewed by species experts from the Ontario Multi species Turtles at Risk Recovery Team and national Eastern Fox Snake Recovery Team.
• We rely on the expertise of our own Science Committee, which includes biologists from Parks Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as members of the Ontario Road Ecology Group.
• The fencing installation is guided by the best available science, both from scientific literature and that which is currently implemented by researchers nationally and internationally. In addition, fencing installation also follows established Ontario Ministry of Transportation guidelines.
• We have secured all of the necessary permits from the Ministry of Natural Resources under the Ontario Endangered Species Act (ESA2007) and the Wildlife Conservation Act.
• Fencing and cleared swaths on each side of the Causeway represent a very tiny percentage of the total area of Big Creek Marsh, and primarily include areas that are within the existing road allowance.
• The fencing is being monitored on a regular basis for damage and evidence of animal movement along fencing and through escape hatches
• No trees and only very low hanging branches or deadfall were removed to make way for the fencing. This area was first scouted and approved by biologists, and County staff carried out the work.
• With regard to disrupting animal movement between the Marsh and the Bay, we will be creating gaps in the fencing by Sept. 15 as recommended by our Science Committee.
This information was available to FOCAS and your reporter had they
chosen to contact us. We believe that Council was rightly skeptical of their claims and we presented the correct information as noted above to Council the following week.
Paula Jongerden,
Chair
Long Point Causeway Improvement Project
We wish to counter some erroneous information presented by the “Friends of the Causeway Association” (FOCAS) in a deputation to Norfolk Council recently about the low-level temporary fencing that the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project Committee has installed to reduce the large annual roadkill of turtles and other wildlife, some of which are species at risk, along the Long Point Causeway.
Unfortunately, your newspaper repeated this incorrect information under the headline “Doing more harm than good,” giving your readers an inaccurate perception of our conservation efforts on the Causeway. If your reporter had contacted us to fact-check the story, he would have learned that:
• Our proposal to install fencing was reviewed and approved by scientists at Environment Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Both levels of government provided grants to support the work.
• Our efforts are based on recovery goals established within provincial and national recovery strategies, and reviewed by species experts from the Ontario Multi species Turtles at Risk Recovery Team and national Eastern Fox Snake Recovery Team.
• We rely on the expertise of our own Science Committee, which includes biologists from Parks Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as members of the Ontario Road Ecology Group.
• The fencing installation is guided by the best available science, both from scientific literature and that which is currently implemented by researchers nationally and internationally. In addition, fencing installation also follows established Ontario Ministry of Transportation guidelines.
• We have secured all of the necessary permits from the Ministry of Natural Resources under the Ontario Endangered Species Act (ESA2007) and the Wildlife Conservation Act.
• Fencing and cleared swaths on each side of the Causeway represent a very tiny percentage of the total area of Big Creek Marsh, and primarily include areas that are within the existing road allowance.
• The fencing is being monitored on a regular basis for damage and evidence of animal movement along fencing and through escape hatches
• No trees and only very low hanging branches or deadfall were removed to make way for the fencing. This area was first scouted and approved by biologists, and County staff carried out the work.
• With regard to disrupting animal movement between the Marsh and the Bay, we will be creating gaps in the fencing by Sept. 15 as recommended by our Science Committee.
This information was available to FOCAS and your reporter had they
chosen to contact us. We believe that Council was rightly skeptical of their claims and we presented the correct information as noted above to Council the following week.
Paula Jongerden,
Chair
Long Point Causeway Improvement Project