Ash trees under threat

If you live in Western Ontario, you know all about the Emerald Ash Borer. The tiny irridescent green bug has devastated ash trees (genus: Fraxinus) across hundreds of kilometres. Like the mountain pine beetle in Alberta and BC, the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive species from Asia, is out of control.

The larvae of the beetle consume much of the living layer of the host ash tree, and cut off the tree’s upward flow of water and nutrients. The Emerald Ash Borer can kill a tree in as little as a year, although sometimes it takes three years for the tree to die.

How can you help? This helpful video from the University of Nebraska Lincoln shows how to identify the beetle as well as what symptoms you can look for among ash trees on your property.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you find evidence of the pest, call your local municipality. Unfortunately the affected tree usually needs to be removed. It’s most important that you not move ash trees or wood from ash trees. Invasive species are often transported to new places in firewood; learn more about how this can happen here.

Have you dealt with insect pests attacking your trees?
What do you think should be done when a tree species is at threat?

Canada’s provincial elections are just around the corner. Should you be strategic or vote with your heart? Should you focus on immediate issues, like taxes, or vote for changes that will take a while to pay off? Should you just give up on politics making beneficial change and avoid voting at all?

The health of our environment and human health are directly connected. The purity of our water, our air, our soil, our carbon usage all effect our ability to survive and live well, just as they affect other species. It seems like governments today are focused on short-term pocketbook issues and divisive us-versus-them policies, but ecological and human health affect us all.

Here’s a video from a neat campaign by Environmental Defence. They’re asking you to vote for Penelope, or rather, her future.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do you think we can look long-term in this election? What issues matter to you?

Courtesy Ontario Parks

In late July, a community showed with hard work and with their pocketbooks that they care about their environment – by preserving a piece of it. Neighbours, volunteers, local and national environmental groups and politicians alike got involved, on July 16th they announced that they’d made it happen. The Thousand Islands Watershed Land Trust (TIWLT), Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), The Government of Canada and The Province of Ontario announced the addition of 605 acres of ecologically significant land along Red Horse Lake to Charleston Lake Provincial Park (click here for map), an absolutely lovely area in Eastern Ontario.

According to NCC, “The property boasts a wide diversity of habitats including shorelines, wetlands, rock ridges, and forests, and includes approximately seven km of shoreline on Red Horse Lake and two km of shoreline on Little Long Lake.” What I can tell you is that it’s beautiful. I got the inside scoop on how the people who live in and love this area made this long-term land preservation happen. That’s because my mom, Marnie Ross, is Secretary of TIWLT.

How did this opportunity to protect land in Charleston Lake come to you?
We have worked with other conservation groups in the area in the past, so when interest to preserve the parcel of land was expressed by landowner George Sheffield, we believed it was a project we had to support. Mr. Sheffield volunteers for the County Leeds Stewardship Council, so the idea originally came through that group.

What’s so important about this land? Why were the owners, and TIWLT, keen to protect it?
Red Horse Lake is one of the few unspoiled trout lakes in southern Canada. It is important to maintain high water quality and protect the species of plants and animals in the woods around it. The Sheffields’ father wanted protection to be his legacy and expressed that desire to his four children. They were acting on their father’s wishes. In the deal, they also get to keep their cottages, which are on the property.

Did the project looking daunting at the outset? What needed to be achieved?
At first, a grand idea always seems doable to me.  After the initial euphoria of “doing something good” we came down to earth and realized we were never going to get there unless we dug deep… and acted fast. It was August [2010] and many of the “summer people” would be leaving. They are the people who care most about the area, and they needed to have the opportunity to contribute. That’s when the articles in the newspapers helped a lot [in creating awareness of the project]. Each group approached people who could afford a sizable donation and were influential in the area. This is always difficult but we went from there to going door to door on Red Horse Lake and parts of Charleston. We felt that it was giving people an opportunity to show they cared. And they did.

Which groups were involved in making this come together?
The group included the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Ontario Parks, Charleston Lake Provincial Park, Chareston Lake Association, Friends of Charleston Lake Park and ourselves (TWILT). One thing the current government is doing well is preserving land. Through the NCC, a considerable part of the purchase price of $1.6 M was given. We had to raise $75,000 of that.

About how many individuals contributed funds to this project to complement the government funds?
There were 88 donors and the donations amounted to an astonishing $93,000. Some people contributed $25 and some $10,000. About 25 per cent were Americans; we could offer them receipts for the IRS from American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts of Seattle.

What do you think was most important in terms of making this initiative such a success?
Teamwork. We had people who knew people [who could donate funds] and others who were willing to go door to door. And we didn’t quit when we only had about $400 at the end of August. By the end of September we had almost all of the $93,000. Also, the legal people didn’t quit [in trying to work out the agreement], nor did the family [in sorting through the negotiations]. These things are never easy and they take far longer than you’d think. Then Ontario Parks was delayed in accepting the land. You have to all work and hope and believe it will work out. It was important for the Sheffields to know that people cared and were contributing because of their love for the land. That kept them going.

How will the Red Horse Lake area, now within the park, be preserved going forward?
We transferred the property to Ontario Parks, so it has become a part of Charleston Lake Provincial Park. It lies alongside the portage and includes two lovely bays with mature forest up hills and beyond as far as your eye can see. Ontario Parks will never promise to protect forever. That is the mandate of National Parks. Ontario Parks may eventually allow logging and many other activities or even sell the land. But it is as safe and as well looked after as possible.

While it’s relatively cool on Canada’s west coast, those of us in the central and east part of the country are feeling the heat. Smog is air pollution, that, according to the Toronto Environmental Alliance, is made up of ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and sulphates. Smog days are starting to stack up, making life less healthy for, well, everyone, but particularly for those with asthma.

How can you be part of the smog solution? Here are a few ideas.

Smog fighting tips provided by renewable energy supplier Bullfrog Power, the Asthma Society of Canada and Canadian Physicians for the Environment:
1. Leave the car at home and take public transit
2. Buy local, sustainable food to help reduce transportation-related emissions
3. If you live in Ontario, send a letter to your local paper or MPP supporting Ontario’s coal power phase-out
4. Support renewable energy with Bullfrog Power

And here are a few ideas from me:
5. Use your bike or your own two feet to do errands. Try commuting to work on your bike, but route through paths and side roads rather than major streets.
6. Try starting a carpool group at work. This tip saves money, too!
7. Consider making your next car an electric vehicle (EV). A few models should be for sale in Canada this fall.
8. Reconsider the camp fire. Sure, they’re romantic, but do you really need a fire on a hot summer night?
9. Retire you gas-powered lawn mower, power washer, leaf blower or trimmer. Electric models do a great job, and people-powered options offer a little character-building exercise!
10. Cut your power consumption to eliminate need for coal-fired plants (if you aren’t using renewable electricity and green natural gas). Right now that means avoiding using air conditioning, ensuring you have an efficient fridge and other major appliances, having faster, cooler showers and making more cold meals, such as salads.

When a smog day is announced:
- Stay indoors
- Exercise indoors or much later in the day
- Breathe through your nose if you are outside during high smog situations
- If you have asthma, monitor your asthma symptoms closely and talking to your doctor about having a written Asthma Action Plan that you can use if you start to have asthma symptoms.

Are you bothered by smog?

1. Involve artists. Who better to help understand the beauty and character of a place than those who can capture it for all time? Stop the Mega Quarry is a movement dedicated to halting plans for what would be Canada’s largest quarry cut from prime agricultural land, wildlife habitat and important source water. As one of many events to raise awareness, on July 3 the group is hosting the Plein Air “Paint In.” Artists are invited to a farm property in the Hills of the Headwaters to paint the landscape. The artistic works will later be auctioned off at a fundraising event. For more background on the proposed mega quarry, read the earlier post here.

2. Bring the music. Check out this music video from 10 year old Ta’Kaiya Blaney of Sliammon First Nation in B.C. Her song tells a story about the health of the oceans. Who couldn’t be affected by her beautiful voice and the reality she paints through her lyrics? The video is made that much more powerful with images and editing support by The Vancouver Aquarium, Greenpeace Canada and others.

Click here to view the embedded video.

3. Reverse psychology. On May 5, a group of about 50 people from The French Network of Students for Sustainable Development (REFEDD) (story here) decided to cause a little confusion by holding a public rally with signs that seemed to show support for big oil and inaction on climate change. Gathering at the Grande Arche de la Défense in Paris, the group held up signs saying (translated), “No gas, no growth,” and “More UV makes a better tan,” and, “Who cares about pandas, except with soy sauce” among other oddball, perhaps offensive, remarks.

4. Bare your soul. Nakedness is always attention-getting! Even though we were all born naked, somehow it’s really shocking to see other people in the buff. Protesters who are also cyclists seem to particularly like showing some skin, at rallies to get bike lanes, to reduce car traffic and to cut pollution, as these Ottawa cyclists did in 2008.

5. Rebrand the offender. After the horrific Gulf oil spill caused by BP, Greenpeace held a logo design competition, challenging entrants to “design a logo that better fits who the company really is and the kinds of things it stands for.” The results are here on this Flickr page, complete with changes to the slogan “Beyond Petroleum.” According to logo designers, British Polluters, Bad People and Black Pelican are more appropriate tag lines.

Do you think these tactics can help bring attention to environmental issues?

Where did the lake go?

That great Canadian summer pastime — hanging out by the shore — needs to be defended. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria — a toxic algae that is harmful to people and wildlife — is growing out of control in many watersheds. Cottagers, beach-goers and the hook-and-reel crowd may find really gross evidence that their favourite waterway is under pressure from industry, agriculture and residential sources.

The offending blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, is bad news because:
– It looks disgusting
- It smells horrible
- It can cause skin infections among those crazy enough to swim in it
- It can cause stomach cramps and even liver damage in those who consume it (see WHO fact sheet)
- It takes over habitats
- It can kill fish, birds and other wildlife through toxins and reduced oxygen levels in the water
- It can introduce toxins into drinking water sources.

Why is this happening? The simple answer is too much nutrient. There’s simply too much food for these bacteria, and they’re growing and blooming out of control.

Where is the nutrient coming from? Three main areas:

- Agricultural runoff. Fertilizer and animal manure are two key sources. Farms that don’t work to contain nutrient, particularly those with drainage to a waterway, are contributing to the problem.

- Industrial runoffs of high-nutrient materials

- Water treatment runoff, from our own wastes and from the soaps and other products that go down our drains

- Septic systems from rural and cottage residences along the water

This nutrient runoff is compounded by climate change, since most areas are experiencing a general warming trend with of higher daily low temperatures. Warmer water temperatures also cause changes to the water column.

So, if you like cottaging, hanging out by the water, fishing, safe drinking water, biological diversity… what can you do?

- Ask your MP to push for adoption of the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations, which would harmonize standards across the country, linked here.

- Change household habits. Switch to phosphate, scent and dye-free personal care and cleaning products. The lake doesn’t need a “spring fresh” scent.

For an in-depth look at how a lake can be affected by blue-green algae, watch Save My Lake, a CBC documentary.

Do you think we need better pollution controls and water monitoring in Canada’s lakes and rivers?

Maybe we can help each other out by raising our voices for important local issues wherever they arise across our beautiful country. Here is Donna’s story about a mega quarry that threatens an area dear to her, the Hills of the Headwaters, and how you can help.

**

A look across the Hills of the Headwaters. (Copyright held.)

The sun shone brightly over our small farm in Dufferin County yesterday as I worked in my garden, weeded the vegetable patch and watched tractors plow the dark earth in nearby fields.  It was one of those perfect spring days in the country. Our little “homestead” is perched on the top of a hill about 90 minutes northwest of Toronto. We’re surrounded by rolling pastures, gabled farmhouses and grey-weathered barns that have survived a century of seasons. It’s one of the most stunning regions of Ontario and is known as “The Hills of Headwaters.” But looming over the landscape is the threat of a mega quarry that will destroy vital farmland, jeopardize fresh water and devastate our environment.

As you drive westward from our farm, the land rises to a vast and fertile plateau in Melancthon township, north of Shelburne. It’s the highest point of land in southern Ontario and contains the best grade of soil in the province: Honeywood silt loam. Farmers love it. Not only is it fertile and rock-free, it sits upon a massive limestone aquifer, which offers a perfect drainage system for growing potatoes and other crops. Fifty per cent of the potatoes consumed in the Greater Toronto Area are grown on this plateau.

The region is also the source of water for four watersheds, including the Grand and Nottawasaga rivers. It’s estimated one-million people downstream rely on the fresh water. Local wells, ponds and streams count on the headwaters for replenishment.

Agriculture or Aggregate

Enter the Highland Companies. Over the past few years, Highland, which is backed by a $22-billion Boston hedge fund, has purchased about 7,000 acres of the 15,000-acre plateau. At first, Highland said its focus was growing potatoes and, after assembling so much land, it’s now the largest potato producer in Ontario.

But, in March, Highland confirmed suspicions that it was far more interested in the limestone beneath the fields. Highland filed a 3,000-page application to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to tear up the fields and excavate the largest open pit quarry in Canada for the lucrative aggregate market. The proposed size is staggering. The mega quarry would span 2,300 acres. It would be deeper than Niagara Falls and plunge 200 feet below the water table.

Forever is a long time

In order to keep the quarry from filling up with water and draining the watersheds, Highland says it will have to pump 600-million-litres of water a day, 24 hours a day. Forever. That’s the same amount of water used by 2.7 million Ontarians each day.

At a recent public meeting hosted by Highland, I expressed doubts about a pumping system running in perpetuity. The hired water-management consultant replied “We have the technology.”  Well, the Japanese thought they had the technology to protect their nuclear reactors from earthquakes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was equally confident about its levees around New Orleans. Pumps fail, and when that happens, the results will be catastrophic for those downstream.

Not Welcome in the Neighbourhood

The mega quarry would also be a troublesome neighbour for the Niagara Escarpment, which runs through the Hills of Headwaters and is recognized by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve. The Florida Everglades and Galapagos Islands share the same designation. The Niagara Escarpment Commission says it is “one of the world’s unique natural wonders.” The Escarpment also supports “300 bird species, 53 mammals, 36 reptiles and amphibians, 90 fish and 100 varieties of special interest flora including 37 types of wild orchids.”  Yet, the largest quarry in the country would stretch alongside this environmentally-sensitive area. No government would ever allow a quarry of any size near the Florida Everglades or in the Galapagos Islands.

Deep Down on the Farm

Once Highland extracts the limestone it intends to farm the bottom of the pit. That’s right, the bottom. The company claims it will spread topsoil in this deep, massive scar and, if the pumps don’t fail, it will grow crops. But according to current provincial legislation, Highland is under no obligation to rehabilitate the quarry pit because it would be below the water table.

Help Stop the Mega Quarry

There’s so much more. Up to 300 heavy diesel trucks an hour would rumble to and from the pit each day, polluting our air and clogging our roads. And, incredibly, the largest proposed quarry in Canada is not subject to an Environmental Assessment in Ontario. This is unacceptable.

The Hills of Headwaters is normally quiet and bucolic. But it’s now noisy with opposition to the proposed mega quarry. What can you do to stop it?  Write letters of objection to the province of Ontario. Please demand an Environmental Assessment. The deadline is July 11, 2011. Click here to learn more.  You can also e-mail Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty here.

And for further information about the mega quarry, visit www.ndact.com and www.citizensalliance.ca, and join us on Facebook at Stop the Quarry for news updates and events.

**

Eco Logic readers: use the comment space below to let Donna know you’re with her!

Dusk at the marsh

Not far from my house, there’s a large park that runs through an old ravine. Thanks to the work of the City of Toronto and volunteers, the park has several naturalized areas. The made-made marsh shown above is small, and it’s a bit of a showcase of itself, what with its interpretive signage and gravel pathways. But it’s proof that, even flanking a soccer pitch and not far from a dog run, a little bit of habitat, even man-made habitat, can support a lot of birds and other life. Seeing wildlife thrive motivates me to volunteer for these kinds of habitat projects. I’m really glad that environmental organizations are making their volunteer opportunities known.

Tomorrow I’ll be planting trees with the East Don Parkland Partners on the northern end of the Don River in Toronto. It feels great to get some trees into the ground and meet like-minded people.

If you’re looking for something you can do in your area, check out the Nature Conservancy’s Conservation Volunteers program. You could help pull garlic mustard and herb Robert, two invasive species, from sensitive habitats. You could help survey for rare wildflowers. You could help maintain a woodland trail. You could help plant new native plant seedlings. And that’s just what’s happening in May!

Do you think it’s worth creating man-made habitat to support wildlife?

The common reed, or phragmites australis, is taking over wetlands, water courses and roadsides in Ontario, Quebec and beyond. This invasive aquatic species is crowding out native plants and thus removing important habitat, as shown in this Universite Laval study. Since the common reed is invasive and not from Canada, birds, animals and insects that are habituated to our environment aren’t supported by this troublesome grass.What does it look like? The common read has a dense, broom-like flower head, with a feathery sweep when it’s mature.

I mention it because gardening with tall, sweeping grasses is a popular phenomenon. If you’re going to plant a tall grass in your garden this year, check that you’re buying a native species using a tool such as the Evergreen Native Plants Database, linked here.

As an alternative to common reed, why not try Sorghastrum Nutans, or “Indian Grass.” Isn’t it pretty?

Sorghastrum Nutans

Do you think garden centres and seed stores should be prohibited from selling invasive species?

The problem is, it takes time to sort through all those pesky platforms. So I’ve done it for you. Here is an edited, brief version of each party’s environmental platform for the upcoming election with links to the original text. What you believe is up to you!

From the NDP platform (read the entire document here on their website):
- Adopt the Climate Change Accountability Act, legislation that aims to bring Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2050, with interim targets for the period 2015-2045. (This act was passed by the House of Commons but, in a surprise move, rejected by the Senate, a shameful Canadian first. Read more here.)
- Create a cap-and-trade system to put a price on carbon and to create funds to invest in green technology and related jobs, energy and conservation.
- Help Canadians and those abroad mitigate their impact and adapt to climate change effects.
- Create a long-term energy security plan.
- Create Green Bonds to fund research and development of e.g., green energy research and development and its commercialization and community-scale renewable projects.
- Create a National Public Transit Strategy to maintain and expand public transit across Canada.
This thought appealed to me: “Recognizing that oil and gas will continue to play a prominent role in our energy mix in the medium term, we will discourage bulk exports of our unprocessed resources and encourage value-added, responsible upgrading, refining and petrochemical manufacturing here in Canada to maximize the economic benefits and jobs for Canadians.”

From the Liberal platform (read the original text here on their website):
- Become a global leader in clean resources by reducing the impact of resource-based products and supplying knowledge, technology and expertise to other markets for responsible management, development and consumption of natural resources.
- Create a Clean Energy Partnership with the provinces and other stakeholders to develop a plan for a low-carbon future with related jobs, climate change targets, efficiency programs.
- Install a $400 million Green Renovation Tax Credit program for homeowners (tax credits up to $13,500 per home), which sounds like a variation of the EcoEnergy Retrofit program, which was a reprise of an earlier program with a different name…
- Quadruple energy production from renewable sources (solar, wind, tidal, biomass) from 2009 levels by 2017 through the Renewable Power Production Incentive.
- “Cleaner” oil sands development to bring its carbon footprint in line with development of other oil sources, improve regulation and related monitoring. Related: Immediately cancel tax breaks to the oil sands industry.
- Establish a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions by large industrial facilities.
- Commit to long-term greenhouse gas reduction target of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050; mid-term targets to be set.
- Protect more intact wilderness areas and create “eco-corridors” to allow species to move from one protected area to another.
- Create a Canadian Freshwater Strategy to improve water consumption efficiency; protect groundwater from contamination; deal with drought and flooding, protect water from bulk export; address some invasive species issues; work to restore degraded and threatened areas in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence; clean up excess nutrient levels in Lake Winnipeg.
- Expand marine protected areas.
- Create an oil spill contingency plan.
- Halt new leasing and oil exploration in Arctic waters.
- Formalize the BC Crude Oil Tanker Moratorium.

From the Conservative Party (read the original document here):
- Facilitate the creation of new protected areas, including national parks and marine conservation areas.
- Make land between protected areas more permeable to wildlife.
- Use digital technologies to help connect Canadians to nature.
- Take action toward the establishment of a new National Park in the Rouge Valley (east of Toronto).
- Support research and development in “clean energy” and energy efficiency.
- Support “clean energy projects” with national or regional significance, financial merit that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Stated climate change goal is a 17 per cent reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2020.

Unfortunately, the platform does mention resource exploration in the gulf of St. Lawrence, mining tax credits and other initiatives that sound bad for the environment. But I’m trying to stick to the other side of the ledger, so I won’t go into that here.

The Green Party of Canada’s platform (linked here) is extremely detailed. It’s certainly worth a read if you would like to dream a little about what a more environmentally focused Canada would look like. There are hundreds of ideas in the platform; here are just a few:

- Reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, and to 85% reduction below 1990 by 2040.
- Create a green transportation strategy, including public transportation, a national railroad strategy that includes increased service to more nodes and some high-speed rail, and efficiencies in frieght and trucking.
- Bring in new monitoring for pesticides, herbicides, hormones and other chemicals used in food production.
- Bring local food to school meal programs.
- Help farmers make the move to efficient production (e.g., water use) and organic farming; improving the Canada Organic standard.
- Promote local food production and culinary tourism.
- Allow farmers to save their own seeds. Encouraging heritage seed banks and seed exchange programs.
- Promote urban agriculture such as roof-top and community gardens.
- Protect watersheds from farm nutrient runoff.
- Protect at least half of Canada’s Boreal Forest and improve wildlife corridors between areas.
- Develop a Genuine Forest Health Indicator to assess state of forests.
- Give tax breaks to FSC-certified companies.
- Promote non-tree sources of cellulose for paper production (agricultural waste, hemp).
- Reduce air pollution through the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, including smog-causing heat and pollution.
- Protect Canadians’ fundamental right to clean freshwater, including future generations.
- Pass legislation to prevent bulk water exports.
- Develop a plan for restoring the health and cleanliness of water bodies.
- Increase monitoring and protection in National Parks and other protected areas.
- Make it a criminal offence to kill an animal listed under the Species at Risk Act.
- Regulate all substances shown to pose a significant risk to human health under a revised Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
- End the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes.

Do you think there’s a party you can vote for, from an environmental point of view?