30 May 2007
for the love of trees
...it is you who give the life,Leaves are not more shed from the trees, or trees from the earth
than they are shed out of you.
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Gentle reader, are you aware that Algonquin Provincial Park continues to be logged? This, the third largest provincial park in Ontario @ 763,310 ha, has the following primary land uses: 56% managed forest 424,550 ha; 22% other recreation (lakes, wetlands, rock outcrops, areas of concern reserves) 170,310 ha; 11.9% wilderness 90,475 ha; and 5.1% has been set aside as a nature reserve 39,250 ha.
Ontario Parks Board has recommended to the Minister of Natural Resources (1) the following:
a. Increase from 22 to 54% the protected areas of the park (409,481ha ) to include
i. Representative ecosystems + 3,070 ha & old growth forest stands
ii. 200 m setbacks for key-self-sustaining brook trout lakes and primary canoe routes (including
lakes) + 67,430 ha
b. Decrease size of recreation/utilization zone where logging is allowed from 78% (594,860 ha) to 46%
(353,828 ha). The net impact of this change? 17% of managed forest will no longer be logged but wood supply shound not be negatively impacted.
Cost of logging to environment?
i. Footprint of roads and impact of road construction including mining of aggregate for road construction; hence, the Parks Board is calling for more rigorous standards for aggregate pits (reduced size & progressive active rehabilitation will be required
ii. Habitat fragmentation * cf. "Environmentalists say the logging roads--about 20 metres wide to accommodate heavy equipment--have a huge impact on the eco-system because of the habitat fragmentation they cause." (3)
iii. Creation of edge habitat
iv. Impairment of hydrological function and sedimentation of streams and lakes;
*Species at risk: wood turtle makes its home in Algonquin Park. " Historically, the Wood Turtle (Clemmys insculpta) was known as "old redleg" owing to the orange or brick-red colour of it legs. The Wood Turtle's aquatic habitat consists of clear rivers, streams or creeks with a moderate current and sandy or gravelly bottom. It spends proportionately more time on the banks of watercourses and in a variety of terrestrial or intermediate habitats than other native Ontario turtles. Although it uses wooded areas, it prefers more open habitats such as wet meadows, swamps and fields. Wood Turtles overwinter on stream bottoms. Status: Endangered (not regulated) Provincially, Special Concern Nationally (1)
Note: The concept of ecological footprints is relatively new, but it is rapidly gaining popularity as a way of both measuring human impacts on the environment and of drawing attention to the demands -- for energy, food, water and waste absorption -- that we place on the finite resources of this planet. The Ecological Footprint Quiz & rest of blog to be read at this link: http://grandriver.blogspot.com/search?q=ecological+footprint
Sources: (1)Ontario Parks Board, Ligthening the Ecological Footprint of Logging in Algonquin, Provincial
Park, * Dec 2006 available at this link: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/Ebr/altf/document_en.pdf;
note the Ministry is still accepting public comments regarding this proposal;
(2)http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?doc_type=fact&lang
(3) Colin Perkel, "Logging Roads criss-cross Alqonquin," Canadian Press.
Photo copyright Sandamara Images 2002: logging truck on Renfrew County Road with the forested hills of Algonquin Park in the background.
Labels: boreal forest
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Hi Rambling Rose,
Thank you for posting that information about Algonquin.
Here's a website that will help people take action to stop logging in the park:
www.savealgonquin.ca
Evan
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Thank you for posting that information about Algonquin.
Here's a website that will help people take action to stop logging in the park:
www.savealgonquin.ca
Evan
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