The long and short of it is that NO development must occur in the area. The area is deemed to be 700 metres inland from the waters edge. This includes all the cottages on Long Point.
This has not been finalized yet so you still have time. If this does happen to go through you will need to get approval for any 'development' from LPRCA. There is a cost and from all accounts working with LPRCA as a private citizen compares to a root canal. If you happen to buy Backus Woods on the cheap from them, there is no issue getting whatever you want as in the case of NCC.
"Development" is defined in the Conservation Authorities Act RSO 1990, c27 as :
a) The construction, reconstruction, erection or placing of a building or structure of any kind,
b) Any change to a building or structure that would have the effect of altering the use or potential use of the building or structure, increasing the size of the building or structure or increasing the number of dwelling units in the building or structure.
c) Site grading, or
d) The temporary or permanent placing, dumping or removal of any material, originating on the site or elsewhere.
Development undertaken without permission, subject to a court decision, is liable for penalties, including: a maximum fine of $10,000; possible imprisonment for up to three months; a court order for the removal of the development and/or any rehabilitation measures required by the court.
Generally compatible:
Yard work such as maintenance of existing lawns and gardens.
Renovations or the building of small structures such as sheds.
Hiking on existing walking trails.
Recreational use of beach areas that does not result in compaction of the sand.
Generally not compatible
Significant alteration, clearing, or dredging of natural features, such as dunes, ponds and wetlands.
Large-scale construction, such as a housing development or roads.
Replacement of natural dune and beach shoreline with artificial stabilization or erosion control structures such
as break walls or the construction of piers or gryones.
Beach maintenance activities such as grading, grooming and clearing of algae
(if not performed in a manner that maintains habitat functionality for Fowler’s Toad).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Councillor Chanyi's Article in the Port Rowan Good News regarding The Fowler's Toad Endangered Habit and how it affects cottage owners on Long Point, Ontario
"Some cottage owners and people living close to the Lake Erie shoreline received a letter from MNR concerning Fowler's Toad which is on the Species at Risk List.
If there is any concern, there should not be, since this letter is for informational purposes to bring awareness to the public and will not impede present activities at Long Point. Many cottagers must move sand away from their cottages in order to access them. This activity, as I understand it, will be allowed to continue.
Any accommodations that need to occur would be minor in nature and require only timing adjustments in the moving of the sand. The letter was intended to bring awareness to those along the lake shore of the importance of the sand and dunes on which the Fowler's Toad and other amphibians depend for their life cycles. If is appreciated by all that property owners work in co-operation with the MNR to protect a species that is so vulnerable and at risk."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fowler's toad was named in honor of S.P. Fowler, an early naturalist from Massachusets.
Features:
Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) is a medium-sized toad which lives on sandy beaches and breeds in marshy shallows of lakes or permanent ponds. In Ontario, individuals are gray with a few dark blotches; elsewhere, the toads are brown.
Status:
Endangered Provincially and Nationally
Range:
Fowler's Toad is widespread in eastern North America, ranging from the Gulf Coast north to the Great Lakes.
In Ontario, it lives along the northern shore of Lake Erie where biologists estimate there are about 1,200 individuals.
Threats:
Fowler's Toad reaches the northern limits of its range in southern Ontario and, consequently,
its numbers here are low. Historically, it was reported on sandy beaches along the whole of northern Lake Erie. Its numbers fluctuate naturally, but the consensus is that it has declined in Ontario and disappeared from some sites.
Current threats to the Ontario population are beach erosion from winter storms, habitat alteration by humans,
and pollution caused by the presence of herbicides and insecticides in runoff from agricultural lands.
Fowler's Toads do occasionally interbreed with American Toads (Bufo americanus), but this is not considered a threat to the population.
US Federal List: No special status.
State of Michigan List: No special status.
http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Anaxyrus&where-species=fowleri
Habitat Protection
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Species/2ColumnSubPage/MNR_SAR_HBTT_PRTCTN_EN.html
Habitat Protection Summary for Fowler's Toad
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@species/documents/document/mnr_sar_hr_fwlrs_toad_en.pdf
Habitat Regulation Proposal (Go here for updates)
http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?noticeId=MTE5NTA3&statusId=MTc4NzI2&language=en
Highlights
In the areas near Long Point suitable habitat would be protected up to a distance of 150 metres up and down the shoreline from known occurrences of Fowler’s Toad and up to 700 metres inland from the shoreline. Suitable habitats for Fowler’s Toad include open, shrub, or treed sand or pebble beaches, sand dunes, and sand barrens; sandy-bottom ponds; marshes; rock shoals; rocky pools and seasonal pools.
A movement corridor would also be protected where the distance between two occupied areas is less than one kilometre. The above areas would be protected until five consecutive years of documented non-use.
Activities in Fowler’s Toad habitat:
Activities in regulated habitat can continue as long as the function of these areas is maintained and individuals of the species are not killed, harmed, or harassed.
This proposed habit is only showing the inland protection area of 350 metres. The actual proposal is 700 metres.
From the end of Hastings Drive to the Long Point Provincial Park it's roughly 9kms. From the Park to the tip of the Long Point, it's roughly 30kms. Why is it that the 9kms of populated space is required for these toads? With 30kms to choose from is it necessary to label the entire area as Endangered Habit? Since the toads are barely able to survive past their northern limit should money be wasted by sending out page after page of glossy printed former trees? We're all for helping creatures survive but don't kill a forest to do so or come into populated areas telling people what to do on their land. We wonder how much money was spent on this project? A hundred thousand would be a good guess.
By popular vote we've chosen that the American Flamingo would be a graceful addition to our marshlands but unfortunately they don't survive here either.
No comments:
Post a Comment