Posted on October 27, 2011.
By DANIEL PEARCE, SIMCOE REFORMER
It’s taken five years of planning, fundraising — and arguing with opponents — but environmentalists are now one step closer to creating a safe passage for wildlife underneath the Long Point Causeway.
Drawings have been completed showing three spots where concrete underground culverts will be built to allow turtles, frogs, and snakes to migrate back and forth between the marsh and the inner bay.
The plan has undergone an environmental study, which was presented to Norfolk council Tuesday night. A 30-day review period will now take place after which construction can begin.
When they’re finished, the culverts will help alleviate an environmental disaster along the causeway, a narrow two-lane strip that takes motorists from the mainland to Long Point.
The stretch is considered to have the fifth worst roadkill rate in the world for turtles, many of them from species at risk, said Stephen Burnett of S. Burnett & Associates Limited, the firm that did the environmental study.
To entice animals to use the culverts instead of the road, soil and plant matter will be put into the underground passages while air and sunlight will come in from grates at road level, Burnett said.
The three crossings will also allow for an increased exchange of water between the marsh on the west and the bay on the east.
“Experts that were part of our team feel there are no issues associated with draining the bay. It’s already connected in several places,” noted Burnett.
Improving the flow between the two bodies of water will actually help the health of both the bay and the marsh, said Rick Levick of the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project, the group behind the culverts.
But not everybody is happy with the plan.
Stu Ross of the Friends of the Causeway Association warned council that the true impact on the marsh remains unknown.
“Poking holes in the road will cause more rapid draining” than in the past while the best way to prevent roadkill remains using fencing, not culverts, Ross said.
The county must approve the work because it owns the road, but Levick noted the cost has been covered from the $750,000 his group has raised, including grants from government bodies.
The culverts need to be added, he said. If the causeway was being built today, he noted, “it wouldn’t be allowed to pass without proper eco-passages” for wildlife.
Levick’s group has been working on plans to upgrade the causeway for five years. Volunteers erected low-level fencing to prevent animals from going on the road and flashing signs warning motorists to watch for turtles.
Those moves alone dropped mortality rates on the causeway by half and 60% for some species at risk, he said.
Plans also call for the addition of bike paths and lookout spots along the causeway.
Posted on August 4, 2011.
By BARBARA SIMPSON, SIMCOE REFORMER
Ecological projects benefitting the Long Point wetland have received cash from south of the border.
The U.S.-based Sustain Our Great Lakes has presented a $110,000 grant to the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project and the Long Point Waterfowlers’ Association. Both organizations work to improve ecological conditions on the land spit.
The long anticipated ecopassage project in particular will benefit from the funding. Three culverts are expected to be installed underneath the Long Point Causeway, allowing aquatic wildlife to safely travel from Big Creek Marsh to Long Point Bay.
The project is undergoing an environmental assessment.
“The (environmental assessment) process is quite lengthy,” said Rick Levick, co-ordinator of the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project. “Right now, we are waiting for the draft report prepared by the consultant for the county.”
Once the draft report is complete, it will go before Norfolk council. A 30-day public comment period follows. Feedback will be included in a final report to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
Installation of the culverts is expected to take place during the off-season.
“We’re looking at next year (for the installation), but the funding is for 18 to 24 months,” Levick said.
The work of the community organization has already reduced the amount of animal deaths along the causeway. Roadkill of snakes and turtles has dropped 50% over the last three years and 60% for species at risk.
The Long Point Causeway Improvement Project has installed temporary fencing, monitors roadkill levels and operates signs.
“We’ve made people aware of the issue,” Levick said.
The eco-passage project already has a $200,000 grant from Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program.
The Long Point Waterfowlers’ Association is expected to use its part of the funding to create more open water at the Crown Marsh. President Jim Malcolm could not be reached for comment as of press time.
The Sustain Our Great Lakes program is administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It is funded through a variety of partners, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and mining company ArcelorMittal.
Posted on August 4, 2011.
The Long Point World Biosphere Reserve is getting a boost from the Sustain our Great Lakes Program.
The Biosphere is one of 30 organizations receiving a total of 940 thousand dollars with the organization taking home $110,000.
The money will go towards the improvement of aquatic connectivity and fish passage between Big Creek Marsh and Long Point Bay by installing a large culvert or eco-passage under the Long Point Causeway.
Posted on June 21, 2011.
By Monte Sonnenburg, Simcoe Reformer
June 17 — The Long Point Causeway Improvement Project is in the running for a $100,000 grant from Shell Canada.
The project is one of 54 across the country that Shell Canada has short-listed for its $1 million FuellingChange program.
Under the program, Shell Canada leaves it to Canadians to decide which projects are worth the largest possible grant. All projects have qualified for at least a $10,000 payout.
Depending on the level of support they receive from the Canadian public, projects could qualify for grants of $25,000 or $50,000. The two projects with the highest number of votes will receive $100,000. Voting ends at noon, Oct. 31.
Shell Canada will award 10 votes to anyone who goes to its website and sets up a profile page. Shell customers are awarded additional votes on a coded receipt when they fill up at participating stations. It is up to customers to get into the habit of inputting this information at the appropriate website between now and the contest deadline.
“I’ve been buying all my gasoline at Shell stations since the contest began,” Rick Levick of Toronto, coordinator of the Long Point causeway project, said in an email.
The contest kicked off in early May.
As of Thursday, the Canadian Commuter Challenge in Calgary, Alta., was sitting at No. 1 with 4,584 votes. Sponsored by the Sustainable Alberta Challenge, the Canadian Commuter Challenge aims to get motorists to find alternative means of getting around other than their personal vehicle.
Sitting in second with 2,091 votes is a project in southwestern Alberta designed to reduce conflicts between ranchers and carnivores in the wild.
The Long Point causeway project sits in third with 1,566 votes. Project sponsors hope to install ecopassages under the causeway so endangered turtles, snakes and other animals can move between Long Point Bay and the Big Creek Marsh without being crushed on the highway. Sponsors of the project also hope to improve the exchange of water between the marsh and the bay.
For more information on how to participate, check out www.shell.ca/fuellingchange.
Posted on June 21, 2011.
By aaron gautreau · June 15, 2011
CD 98.9 NewsCentre, Norfolk County ·
A group behind the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project has put in a bid with Shell to help land funds to help improve water quality there.
Shell is offering two 100-thousand dollar grants to help repair environmental projects.
Coordinator for the Long Point Causeway Project Rick Levick says the money won would be used to fix waterways
Right now the Long Point project sits third out of seven projects in the running.
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http://www.fuellingchange.com/main/project/94/Long-Point-Causeway-Improvement-Project
