Are you a high school student with a passion for nature, desire to learn more about the environment, want to meet like-minded friends?

Ontario Nature is holding their 2013 Youth Summit for Biodiversity and Green Solutions from September 20 -22nd at YMCA Geneva Park, Orillia, ON

The Youth Summit will feature numerous workshops and hands-on activities to help students become environmental leaders in their community.  Topics include sustainability, green technology, bird banding, Ontario’s species at risk and MORE!  The venue is Lake Couchiching with nightly campfires, canoeing and nature walks.  See further details at www.ontarionature.org/youthsummit OR email the co-ordinator, Sarah Hedges at sarahh@ontarionature.org.

How to Apply for Sponsorship?           Deadline is Friday June 28, 2013.

Please email to smithfam@nexicom.net an outline of your experience and interest in nature and why you would like to attend the Youth Summit weekend.  Also, would you be willing to share your Youth Summit experience and what you learned, at a Peterborough Field Naturalist Club meeting?

We look forward to hearing from you!

What do you think of the need for a road and the comparative evaluations? What more information can you provide? What questions do you have or what more information do you need? Are there other alternatives or routes you might suggest?

Please send your comments by April 19 to the City of Peterborough at ParkwayCorridorEA@peterborough.ca and/or the consultant at kevin.jones@aecom.com

Please also copy your comments to: ​

​friendsofjacksonpark@gmail.com
​and/or  info@peterboroughnature.org

For more information on the Parkway Corridor Class EA, please see:

​City’s website with information on the Parkway EA:
​http://www.peterborough.ca/Business/Studies/Parkway_Corridor_EA.htm

City’s background information at the Public Information Centre #2 on March 21, 2013 (choose the full set or the separate displays):
PDF document from www.peterborough.ca/Assets/City+Assets/Engineering

​City’s 2012 Comprehensive Transportation Plan Report:
PDF document from http://www.peterborough.ca/Assets/City+Assets/Transportation

​Contact for information from the Friends of Jackson Park:
​friendsofjacksonpark@gmail.com

​Website of the Peterborough Field Naturalists:
​http://peterboroughnature.org/

​Website of the Friends of Peterborough Trails:
​http://friendsofpeterboroughtrails.ca/

Mark your calendars….Two upcoming spring meetings!

1)    Lake Ontario North Regional Meeting

Date:                   Saturday April 6, 2013

Time:                  10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Hosted by:        York Region Environmental Alliance   www.yrea.org

Location:         Oak Ridges Community Centre

12895 Bayview Ave., Richmond Hill, ON  L4B 4P9

• Please bring your own lunch and mug
• Agenda Items include, “Social Media and Nature Clubs” – tips and tricks in reaching our target audiences, improving our outreach to members and communities.
• Host, Gloria Marsh, Executive Director of York Region Environmental Alliance will present their work in Biochar.  Biochar (charcoal) is used as soil amendment, often used for agricultural purposes.  ”Biochar may represent the single most important initiative for humanity’s environmental future,” says Tim Flannery, author of  The Weather Makers
• The afternoon hike will be led by Sharon and Jim Bradley around Lake Wilcox which is significant because it is the largest Kettle lake on the Oak Ridges Moraine.

 2)  Ontario Nature’s 82nd Annual General Meeting

Date:              Saturday June 8, 2013

Time:             7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Location:       Cawthra Mulock Nature Reserve, the Bathurst St. (east) entrance

• You will have the opportunity to participate in a bioblitz and/or hike the Reserve with naturalists who will highlight flora and fauna and unique features of the property.
• For further details and to register check the website:     www.ontarionature.org/discover/annual_general_meeting.php

Along with the PFN Board, club members have become concerned about the Lily Lake Functional Planning Study which Peterborough City Council voted to receive last December. Drew Monkman wrote a feature article on the subject for the December 13th Peterborough Examiner.

The study begins a process that may eventually see as many as 3,000 new dwellings and more than 8,000 people occupy the area bounded by Lily Lake Road on the north, to almost Fairbairn Street on the east, Jackson Creek and the Trans-Canada Trail on the south and the City boundary with Selwyn Township (formerly Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield) on the west. The wetland known as Lily Lake is west of the study area. Although it may take more than 30 years to fully build out, this truly massive development causes us all concern in many areas, especially because sensitive wetlands adjoin it to the west and south. There is also a wooded ravine with steep slope and riparian habitat along Jackson Creek within the southern limits of the study area. Those concerns include contamination by sewage and storm water run-off, erosion, destruction of habitat, loss of open space and the intrusion of houses overlooking the Trans-Canada Trail.

However, we need not object just because the study area is large. By planning a large area, at one time, the City will be reducing the number of problems that can occur when small subdivisions are added to one another piece by piece. By looking ahead, major infrastructure requirements, such as feeder roads, schools, transportation, linear parks and trails, and other major systems, can be planned in a logical manner.

The PFN Board at it’s meeting on January 9th , formed a four person subcommittee mandated to work with the City’s Planning Dept. to find ways to address the above concerns, while providing the residents of the new subdivision with a people friendly natural environment that includes plenty of trails and parks. The committee consists of myself, Jim Cashmore, with Martin Parker, Club President, and Board members Lynn Smith and Jim Young.

On January 29th this committee met with Brad Appleby, the City’s Planner responsible for the new development, to exchange ideas and receive information. One concern that we raised involved the issue of intensifying housing in the downtown core. Mr. Appleby handed out brochures that the City uses to encourage downtown property owners to do just that and we acknowledge that there are
several successes in this area. The old post office on Charlotte St. was converted to apartments several years ago while the former St. Joseph’s Hospital, the old YMCA building, the upper stories of the new Collins Barrow building at the corner of Charlotte and Stewart, the propose development of the former Albert’s scrap yard on Bethune St., and a controversial addition of two floors to the former Toronto Dominion Bank at the SE corner of George and Hunter are all examples of such projects in the making.

We encouraged the City to continue progress in this area where the Province of Ontario will require 40% of new accommodations to be achieved through intensification in the City core starting in 2015.

However, we agree that people cannot be forced to live downtown and that, if developers believe they can sell them, new houses will be built on the perimeter. A lot of time and money has been invested in the Lily Lake project already and it will go ahead in some form, so now our job must be to make sure that, first and foremost, the development proceeds in a way that pays attention to the
protection of the wonderful natural areas around it and then be constructed in such a way that it provides the residents with an environment that is more people friendly and natural than the typical dreary conforming subdivisions that we’re used to. The City should use this new development to SHOWCASE what can be achieved in the way of parkland, linear parks and trails.

The main points of concern that we took to Mr. Appleby were the following:

1. The City increase its efforts to provide intensification of accommodation in the downtown core, and, with regards to the Lily Lake area, the City:
2. Require that developers protect the surrounding natural area, for example, by addressing the concerns outlined in the second paragraph.
3. Take steps to provide a linear park & trail along the top of the southern ridge, that overlooks Jackson Creek and the Trans-Canada Trail, so that a buffer zone is provided.
4. Work with developers to provide one or more linear parks, with trails, to connect the above ridgetop park and the Trans-Canada Trail to Lily Lake Road.
5. Consider incorporating the Jackson Creek and Trans-Canada Trail valley, plus the new ridge-top park, as an extension of the existing Jackson Park.

We agreed that the meeting with Mr. Appleby was friendly and positive, and certainly helpful to both sides. Mr. Appleby and his staff also provided us with several excellent maps that will help us develop our approach to the issue. The next stage for the City’s Planning Department is to produce a Secondary Plan for the Study Area which Mr. Appleby expects to have ready “sometime this year”. This study will establish the conditions which will have to be met before any plan for redevelopment is considered by the city.

The PFN will monitor this process closely! In the meantime we encourage all club members to give this matter some thought and to contact the committee members with questions and any ideas that you may have. Contact information for the three Board members can be found in The Orchid.

You can access plenty of information on this topic by going to the City’s website.

DATE:
Saturday April 6, 2013

Location:
at the Oak Ridges Community Centre, 12895 Bayview Ave, Richmond Hill, ON

HOSTED by the York Region Environmental Alliance

Watch for more details to follow soon!

The Peterborough Field Naturalists have been stocking seed during winter at Ecology Park off Ashburnham Ave. and adjacent to Beavermead Park for more than 20 years. You probably know this beautiful place and the lovely native gardens and the plant sales that occur here, mostly due to a crack force of volunteer gardeners, but there many reasons to visit this urban oasis at any season. A variety of trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables can be found growing and for purchase. Paved and accessible trails lead around Beavermead, the city campground and farther on to beaches at both Rogers and Beavermead Parks.

The workings of intrepid beaver can be seen on several trees lining the rills nearby and sometimes partial attempts at dams have been made. Red Fox, muskrat and (rare) mink can be seen in the area, often in daylight and when there is considerable human activity. A variety of butterflies and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are attracted to many of these flowering plants. There are also plenty of birds, through at least the warmer seasons. Winter is quiet, but the three main bird feeders, easily found in Ecology Park, are well stocked by Field Naturalist
volunteers. Some of the winter residents here include the usual chickadees, nuthatches, Mourning Doves and goldfinches. Dark-eyed Juncos, American Tree Sparrows, and House Finches have recently enlivened the feeders. This is a great spot to learn how to identify common birds and
take photographs. During spring and fall migrations Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Chipping, White- throated, White-crowned and Fox Sparrows can occasionally be seen at the feeders, especially during bad weather. In December a Barred Owl was seen a few times near feeders, likely looking for small mammals attracted to spilled seed.

After checking the feeders, scanning Little Lake/Otonabee River in winter, early spring or in late fall can always yield birds of interest. Fall of 2012 brought sightings of Canvasbacks, Northern Shovelers and Long-tailed Ducks and a very late immature Red-necked Grebe was seen within the Christmas count period. Soon after Christmas, at least in recent years, rare gulls such as Lesser Black-backed and Glaucous can be found sitting on ice edges. Spring, depending on remaining ice on lakes farther north, can be very active for waterfowl on Little Lake with ‘staging’ flocks of all three merganser species, Wood and Ring-necked Ducks, scaup and goldeneye, and occasional Common Loons, Horned and Red-necked Grebes. For the last couple of winters PFN members Don Finigan and Sean Smith have been keeping the feeders full and building up the clientele. In the past this was also one of the many volunteer tasks that Bob Quinn, George Maynard and Del Burke and several others put their hearts and souls into on behalf of the Peterborough Field Naturalists.

In the afternoon of February 23, there will be a field trip along the Otonabee River that will include Ecology Park and these very active bird feeders. Come out and join us!

Family-level Benthic-invertebrate Identification Course:
New Dates

29-31 January 2013

We [the Ontario MOE in Dorset] are hosting a course on family-level benthic-invertebrate ID that might interest members of the Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network, or anyone involved in benthic-invertebrate biomonitoring (see attached flyer). The course will prepare new taxonomists for the Society for Freshwater Science’s Taxonomic Certification Exam.

The course is co-hosted by Saugeen Conservation and the Dorset Environmental Science Centre. It will be held from 29-31 January 2013, at the Bracebridge, Ontario campus of Nipissing University.

Download Poster: Course Announcement_Identification of Ontario benthic-invertebrate families

Thanks,
F.C. Jones
Ontario Ministry of Environment
Dorset Environmental Science Centre
1026 Bellwood Acres Road, Box 39, Dorset, P0A1E0
705 766-1724

f.chris.jones@ontario.ca

Tuesday, November 27, 6:30 p.m.
Holiday Inn

As Trent approaches its 50th anniversary, the Trent Lands Plan is being developed to ensure the University and the community continue to prosper over the next 50 years.

Past and current students, faculty, staff and residents throughout the Greater Peterborough Area are being encouraged to take part in the development of the new Trent Lands Plan. Over the next six months there will be multiple and varied opportunities to provide comments, thoughts and suggestions. Through online and in-person forums, meaningful and constructive conversations with all interested parties will help us create the guiding principles, general framework and specific decisions that will ultimately shape the final Trent Lands Plan.

We invite everyone to participate in the consultation process and to have your say. It’s important that we receive comments, thoughts and suggestions from interested individuals and groups, especially those who have given so much to make our University a world class institution.

A community workshop is being held Tuesday, November 27, 6:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Peterborough – 150 George Street North.

The focus group sessions will begin with a presentation, followed by small table group discussions to ensure everyone has an opportunity to share their insights and to discuss the tremendous possibilities.

The Trent Lands Plan builds upon the work set out in a number of planning documents including the original Trent Master Plan (1964), the Peterborough Biotechnology Park Study (2004), the Athletics Master Plan (2004), and the Endowment Lands Master Plan (2006). The Trent University Endowment Lands comprise approximately 226 hectares (556 acres) or 27 per cent of the University’s total land holdings in Peterborough.

The University has established the Presidential Steering Committee on the Trent Draft Development Plan Community Consultation Process to help guide the consultation activities which are being led by the firms The Planning Partnership and Greenberg Consultants.

Source: Trent University — Trent Lands Plan, http://www.trentu.ca/trentlandsplan/

ELECTION:  Kevin Shackleton stepped down as Director and accepted the position of vice president of Ontario Nature board.  Otto Peter was elected Lake Ontario North Regional Director.  He is a member of the Durham Region Field Naturalist Club.  Welcome Otto!

2012 ROUGE PARK BIOBLITZ UPDATE:   From 3 p.m. on 15June2012 until 3p.m. 16June2012, about 250 participants searched, collected, identified over 1350 species of plants and animals in Rouge Park.  It was the largest Bioblitz in Canadian history, raising awareness of the diversity of species living within the GTA. Check out the species identified at www.ontariobioblitz.ca   A second bioblitz is planned for September 2013 and Naturalist Clubs will be invited to participate.

AGGREGATES 101: The Ontario Aggregate Forum was founded in 2008 by members of both the aggregate industry and environmental groups (including Ontario Nature).  One important goal of the Forum is to develop a certification standard for companies to extract aggregates in a greener, more sustainable way.  Certification standards would take into account the natural environment when sites are selected for aggregate extraction, rehabilitation of quarries and pits and the procedure for recycling aggregates and construction materials.  Talks continue.

NEWEST NATURE RESERVE : The Reilly Bird Nature Reserve, located in the Ottawa Valley, brings the total to 23 nature reserves protected by Ontario Nature and partners.

AMPHIBIAN & REPTILE ATLAS : A smart phone App is being developed which will make it very convenient to contribute sightings of amphibians and reptiles to the Atlas.  More to come on this!

BUTTERFLY SIGHTINGS: Check out www.ebutterfly.ca to enter and display butterfly records.

Friday, November 9th – 7 pm
Wenjack Theatre, Trent University
Trent Students – Free
Community Members – $10.00

Join Jon Young, globally recognized leader in the movement of nature connection and community development, for an inspiring talk at Trent University!  As a naturalist, mentor, author and storyteller, Jon has dedicated his life and work to re-connecting people to nature, to each other, and to their highest potential. Jon has studied and worked intensively with traditional communities worldwide that maintain vibrant systems of mentoring their people into strong relationships with nature. Jon’s work is founded on the belief that what we connect to, we care about. And if we are connected to nature and to other people in meaningful ways, we can re-build healthy, vibrant communities that exist on the planet in a peaceful and regenerative manner. In this spirit, Jon shares ‘best practices’ for re-connecting people and communities to nature through his inspiring stories and powerful teaching style.

Jon is the founder of Wilderness Awareness School and co-founder of the 8 Shields Institute. He is the author or co-author of What the Robin Knows, Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature (with Forward by Richard Louv) and the Kamana Naturalist Training Program. Jon has facilitated programs and immersion experiences on nature connection and community development worldwide. For more information about the talk, visit www.trentu.ca/impact/events.php. For more information about Jon Young and the work of the 8 Shields institute, visit www.jonyoung.org and www.8shields.org .

This talk is sponsored by the Impact Leadership Program, the Trent Central Student Association, and the Colleges of Trent University.