South March Highlands: The New Map

click on map to enlarge

The Struggle to Protect The South March Highlands Simplified

What is the Most Important Thing to Know About the South March Highlands

The key things to know about the South March Highlands are:

• it is a popular all year recreation destination for people from all over Ottawa and an international mountain biking destination

• while, within the City of Ottawa, it feels like wilderness when you are in it

• it is a candidate Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI)

• it is the most biodiverse area within Ottawa

• it is the home to a huge number of species of flora and fauna, including many endangered and threatened species

• it contains old growth forests and provincially significant wetlands

• it includes Canadian Shield geology and other significant geological features

• it is the site of numerous pre-contact (pre-European) archaeological sites and may be eligible for UN World Heritage Site status

• it has been declared sacred by Algonquin First Nations chiefs and elders

• the area considered the most environmentally significant, Trillium Woods, is under great ecological threat because KNL's development plans will cut it off from the rest of the city-owned Conservation Forest

• while the privately owned land north of the city-owned Conservation Forest is zoned Environmental Protection, that has been proven not to be enough to protect the land from the threat of development

But the most important thing that you need to know about the South March Highlands is that it is one ecosystem and harm to one part of it harms all of it and if you want to protect part of it you must protect all of it.

The Next Generation of The First Peoples Looks at The South March Highlands

'Sacred Dollars' (Documentary by Aurora Finkle)

Since the tender age of 9 yrs old, Aurora Finkle has had an incredible and impressive musical career. Having won the 2000 dollar grand prize at 08's National Aboriginal Day 'We Got Talent' competition in Ottawa, Aurora has performed at numerous events. She has performed in front of the Senate, Grand Hall in the Museum of Civilization, Pow-wows, Music festivals, Gala's, Conferences as well as having appeared on numerous Television, Radio shows and Newspapers. To top it off...last year she released her debut album entitled after her middle name 'Jade'. Coming from a musical family, Aurora is amazingly comfortable on stage and can quickly command the attention of the entire audience singing everything from Jazz, Folk, Blues, Celtic. Aurora also acknowledges her aboriginal ancestory through Traditional Native songs and is a member of a local women's handdrum group. Aurora is now 11 (12 now) yrs old and continues to perform regularly. (source)

Stand Up and Be Counted for the South March Highlands

Do you support saving the South March Highlands from destruction.

If so, you are probably aware of the fact that Internet trolls, the media and even Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson seem to be doing all they can to foster a myth that this is a NIMBY issue, supported only be people who live near the Beaver Pond Forest.

However the truth is that much more than just the Beaver Pond Forest is at stake. Indeed a whole ecosystem, that has been identified as an Area of Natural & Scientific Interest (ANSI), that includes provincially significant wetlands, many endangered or threatened species and the greatest amount of biodiversity in the Ottawa region - the South March Highlands, is threatened.

And the truth is that support for saving this ecosystem, comes from thousands of people in all parts of Ottawa, and throughout Canada and even internationally.

If you want to show your support for saving the South March Highlands to the world, and the media, please send your photos to savesmhphotos@gmail.com along with your name and where you live. Photos should preferably be a height of 800 pixels, but I can easily resize them (better larger than smaller).

We would like to show the broad range of support across Ottawa and nationally and internationally so please indicate your neighbourhood if within Ottawa, eg. Bridlewood, Katimavik, The Glebe, Centretown, etc. (unless you feel uncomfortable doing so). If you live outside Ottawa please indicate your city or town and province or country. And if you do live near the South March Highlands, please send your photo in. We want to reflect reality, not distort it.

You can view the photos of people who support saving the South March Highlands at South March Highlands Supporters Photos (Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands).

You can stand up and be counted along with them.

click on map to see larger image
Other Coalition to Protect The South March Highlands Sites

Save Ottawa's South March Highlands

Ottawa's Great Forest

I want to save the land North of Beaver Pond Park in Kanata Ontario Facebook Page

SMH (SouthMarch) on Twitter

Mayor Jimmy and Mayor Larry: So Similar, Yet Different

Mayor Jimmy came into office an a platform of accepting Mayor Larry's position on the two big issues of the day Lansdowne Park and Light Rail, as well as having the Mayor's Office draw up the draft budget. Only his style was apparently different.

Ironically, neither one of them understands what leadership is. Mayor Larry seemed to think it was bossership, acting as a CEO and giving orders. Mayor Jimmy seems to think it is avoiding confrontation and issues - that running the city is about good administration, not politics, although, ironically, it was Mayor Larry who ran on the "vote for me because I'm not a politician" platform in his first campaign.

Mayor Larry was a big idea man, he wanted to turn the City into a Corporation, something Mayor Jimmy has done a better job of with behind the scenes executive decision making only rubber stamped in public with none of the annoying public debate and confrontation that democracy entails.

One thing, however, that no one could accuse Mayor Larry of was cowardice. The man had guts. He tried to break the OC Transpo workers union - a stupid but gutsy thing to do.

Mayor Jimmy, on the other hand, likes to run away from controversial issues and the public that elected him. When it comes to the battle to protect the South March Highlands he wants to pretend it doesn't exist claiming the previous Council dealt with the issue, when the last thing the previous Council did was defer a motion forward to the new Council.

Mayor Jimmy refuses to meet with the proponents of saving the forest ecosystem, even when they are right at his doorstep (on several occasions), does not answer emails and reportedly diverts emails to SPAM without even having anyone read them. We can only surmise that he does not want to know what the public thinks. But of course he knows very well what the public thinks.

He simply wants to pretend there is nothing he can do so that he can avoid having to choose between the public that votes for him and the developers who fund his election campaigns.

It is time for Mayor Jimmy to show some leadership and try to find a solution for the people of Ottawa rather than running away from the public and the issue.

Bearing Witness at the Beaver Pond Forest

Sometimes, as a social responsibility, people have to bear witness to unbearable things, such as the killing of people in state-sanctioned executions. Thankfully in Canada we have progressed to a state where we are more civilized than that.

However, in Kanata this week citizens take up the responsibility for witnessing just as uncivilized an act as they bear witness to the state-sanctioned execution of the Beaver Pond Forest, except that this execution is neither, quick, painless, nor humane.

They have my gratitude for taking on this responsibility which I believe would be too painful for me to bear.

An Atheist Visits The Sacred Fire

I am an atheist. I do not believe in god or mythical beings, nor do I believe in organized religion. I think of myself as a physical and intellectual being and not as a spiritual one.

So what does "sacred" mean to me. That is a good question for I do not usually think of things in that manner. But if I was to think of anything as "sacred" it would be the land, and in particular, land in it's natural state.

I love being in the forest, and while many safety experts recommend against it, I love being in the forest alone. I always tell people that they should not be afraid of being alone in the bush because you are never alone in the bush. But I do not fear the animals in the bush for I mean them no harm.

So for me it was important to visit the Sacred Fire to pay my respects to the forest and the land that we all want to protect and it was a particular honour to be smudged by Algonquin Medicine Man Ron “Big Bear” Goddard.

The Sacred Fire represents the prayers and hopes of many peoples. Indeed, as far as all involved know, this is the first time that non-aboriginals have been given the responsibility, and honour of tending a Sacred Fire. This is indeed a very important milestone in the development of the Canadian multicultural mosaic. And it represents what the land means to all of us.

Not that there is not some "culture clash". The media have expressed an interest in Sundays Day of Prayer for the Land, and want to know when the protest is and when the leaders will be speaking. But to the Algonquin this is not a protest and it is not a day for the leaders but a day for the people. This, of course makes it much more significant, but not so good for "sound bytes"

Indeed recent reports indicate that people all across Canada and across the world will be taking some time Sunday to participate in the Day of Prayer for the Land.

I invite all of you who do not quite understand what this is all about or the significance of it to spend some time in the forest and to spend some time sitting by the Sacred Fire.

Pray For The Land

(please click on above image to enlarge and read)

Statement by the Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands

Attached is a download link to the Pray for the Land announcement planned for this Sunday, Jan 30, in the South March Highlands [announcement appears above this statement]. The current outlook, which we are still working hard to prevent, will have tree clearing begin in Beaver Pond Forest on Jan 31. Tree clearing has already occurred on Richardson Ridge prior to our OMB appeal being heard.

It is apparent that the City’s infrastructure approvals staff intend to push this subdivision thru regardless of how many rules they have to bend/break.

The provincial government is acting like an inert bowl of jelly. Despite irrefutable evidence of provincially significant archaeology, the Ministry of Culture has done nothing. Despite the fact that the City of Ottawa lacks the authority to approve the mass killing of wildlife, the Minister of Natural Resources has done nothing. Despite the fact that the planned subdivision will illegally divert water from one watershed to another, the Minister of Environment has done nothing. Despite the fact that the most-biodiverse area in Ottawa is being clear-cut, in his own back-yard, the Premier of Ontario has done nothing.

Two area MPs, Gordon O’Connor and Paul Dewar, have asked the NCC to show leadership and step in. The NCC has the archaeologists and natural environment assessment resources that the city lacks. Yet the NCC has done nothing and the Minister of the Justice continues to ignore the illegality of a mass killing of wildlife, the Minister of Indian & Northern Affairs continues to ignore the constitutional duty to consult with all First Nations who have stepped forward in protest, and the Minister of the Environment continues to ignore a travesty that is playing out within 20 minutes of Parliament Hill.

Thousands of letters have been sent and yet we still have to ask “WHERE ARE OUR LEADERS?”

It’s time to make our voices visible. It’s time to make our prayers heard by all.

A large turnout will be important to help bring this issue into the consciousness of the thick heads of politicians at all 3 levels of government. Please advise your distribution lists. We will be sending out a media advisory as well as Action notice to our list.

Thanks for your continued support to Protect the South March Highlands.

Algonquin Chiefs Statement re proposed development in the South March Highlands (Beaver Pond Forest)

This is posted at the request of the Chiefs

January 22, 2011

Kwey Kwey,

We are writing to you on behalf of several Algonquin communities who remain outside of the comprehensive land claims process and thus have not been consulted about the proposed development in the South March Highlands. The Beaver Pond Forest is one of the only remaining stands of forest in southern Ontario that contains old growth trees. Most of the original forests that existed here have been lost because of unsustainable logging practices and settlement of Indigenous homelands by Europeans and their descendants. As retired Chief Robert Lovelace has brought forward, Philemon Wright was the beginning of sustained British Settler colonialism in the Ottawa Valley. Soon after his arrival in 1803, he was caught attempting to cut down an entire sugar bush by a group of Algonquin people. At that time, they stopped him and questioned his actions and why they had not been consulted about the changes he was in the process of bringing to their homeland. Wright told them that he had authority to do so by the Colonial Office. We now know that this was a lie and that Wright had no such authority from any British officials, and even if he had, he did not have the authority from the Original People who have the ultimate responsibility for maintaining balanced relationships within this homeland. Wright did not consult with Algonquin people who would be impacted by his development. In fact when confronted, he dismissed Algonquin concerns about the forest and their relationships with the forest as superstition. He informed them that they needed to “be sensible” and abandon their way of life in favour of the “gift of civilization” that came with English settlement and development.

Wrightʼs actions were a direct violation of the Proclamation of 1763 which guaranteed Algonquin people that third party interests such as developers would be prevented from appropriating Algonquin lands without those lands being first sold to the official British government operating through the Colonial Office. Algonquin people received this guarantee by John Johnson, then Indian Agent, who signed a copy of the Proclamation and gave it to them to keep in their possession. Historical evidence shows that Algonquin people carried this with them and mentioned it in various petitions to the British government concerning Algonquin lands.

Two hundred and eight years later, we are very aware as Algonquin people that these ancestors were right to question Wright and his actions that day. In that period, the great forests were still mostly intact; there was little damage from mining, or forestry on the land, and there were few toxins or contaminants in the soil and water. All of that degradation has happened as a result of settlement that came subsequent to Wright. He and his sons built all of the “colonization” roads in and around Ottawa, which aided the intense settlement in the area after the War of 1812 by British Loyalists. This settlement across what is now southern Ontario and Quebec led to the establishment of a resource extraction industry, which fueled the economic and political development of Canada as a nationstate. In a contemporary sense, Canadaʼs economy is still based upon resource extractions. This is why Canada, under the Conservative government, had refused to ratify the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. To do so was seen as a possible threat to the economic and political longevity of Canada as a nation-state. Even now the acceptance of the Declaration by Canada happened only with “conditions” attached to it that would prevent Indigenous communities from articulating the rights that are embedded in international law. Canada continues to maintain its colonial legacy with Algonquin people so that it can maintain its status as a nation-state.

The Algonquin homeland, the Kiji Sibi, has suffered great ecological degradation as a result of settler colonialism over the past two hundred years. The land and waterscapes have been so altered that we are not sure our ancestors would recognize it any longer. Their fears about the actions of developers such as Wright have been realized across the expanse of our homeland. Not to mention in every other Indigenous homeland on the planet. Settler colonialism has also had catastrophic impacts on our identity as Algonquin people. Not just because of the Indian Act and residential schools, but because of the specific ways that these policies and legislation have impacted our minds, bodies, and spirits. As a result of this destructive colonial process we struggle to know ourselves as people and we struggle to restore in ourselves the comprehensive understanding of our relationships within our homeland that our ancestors enjoyed and which Wright witnessed.

While we have begun the journey to reclaim our humanity and our dignity as distinct human beings, it is a hard journey filled with continual obstacles because of the colonial consciousness that has been created and perpetuated in Canada. That consciousness relegates the Natural World to a subservient position to human beings where those spiritual beings are seen as nothing more than resources that can be extracted for the economic and political benefit of Canada. Every day we struggle as Algonquin people to find comprehensive ways to reconnect ourselves culturally and spiritually to those spiritual beings in our homeland. Mining, clear-cutting, and numerous other development projects impact our ability as people to make that reconnection and to sustain it into the future. “We are the land and the land is us”. Many Elders and Knowledge Holders have said this in all parts of the World, and it is true for the Original People of the Kiji Sibi.

The Beaver Pond Forest contains over ten thousand years of history and relationships in our homeland that has survived settler colonialism. It is a place where we can go as human beings and connect (or reconnect) with our ancestors and the spiritual beings that still exist there. It is a place where we can gather as people and heal from the destructive processes we have had to endure over the past four hundred years. It has been argued as well by various anthropologists and archaeologists that this forest is a national heritage site that should be protected from development because of this very history and the added bond that settlers have developed with this landscape.

Many people now see the Algonquin homeland as their home and also want it to be protected. It has also been noted by various scientists that Beaver Pond Forest has hundreds of diverse species with respect to animals, birds, amphibians, insects, trees, plants, to name just a few categories that will be directly impacted by the proposed development. For Algonquin people, there is the additional knowledge that comes from Pimaadiziwin that recognizes these beings as spiritual beings who have specific roles and responsibilities that must be maintained within the forest. Our responsibilities and their responsibilities working together maintain the ecological diversity and longevity of the Natural World. The compounded loss of these spiritual beings within our homeland as well as the continued colonization of Algonquin people jeopardizes the entire ecosystem. As human beings, it is our responsibility to make sure that we act in balanced ways so that these spiritual beings can maintain their responsibilities. In other words, it is not the Natural World that needs to be managed; it is the interactions of human beings with the Natural World that need to be managed. When we think about development today as Algonquin people, we look at it comprehensively based on the fact that our homeland has already had 200 years of impacts as a result of settler colonialism. Given this reality, we have to consider the compounded impacts on lands and watersheds from any proposed project. We also have to consider the social and cultural impacts on our identity as people because of the ways in which development and resource extractions impact our relationships with the Natural World and thus our ability to develop positive identity into the future as distinct human beings.

These complex relationships make it vitally important that all Algonquin people be consulted so that we can discuss and decide for ourselves whether or not a particular project should go forward. These decisions must be based upon more than western scientific paradigms. Western scientific thought within our homeland is very young in its development and thus limited when it comes to true comprehension. Our knowledge system and ways of understanding the Natural World, however, are much older because it emerged over thousands of years through ongoing direct relationships with all components of the Natural World. This process enabled Algonquin communities to develop complex social and political structures that guided both individual and collective behavior in ways that promoted balance and the continued sustainability of the entire ecosystem.

Our ability to maintain these responsibilities within our homeland are continually under assault by the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec which have assumed control of our lands as a result of The BNA Act and Canadian Confederation. British and then Canadian Law created an artificial border that continues to separate Algonquin people from each other and to limit our ability to work together to maintain our relationships and responsibilities within our homeland. Algonquin people in what is now Quebec are never consulted about development or resource extractions within what is now Ontario, and we are never consulted about development or resource extractions within the Algonquin homeland in Quebec. We are forced to deal with Ontario and they are forced to deal with Quebec. The Algonquin people on both sides of this colonial border need to be able to come together to discuss and make decisions about all development and resource extractions throughout the entirety of our territory. These decisions need to be made based upon our collective directive based upon our customary law that was developed by our ancestors. We need to come together in a united fashion to reassume jurisdiction within our entire homeland collectively based upon our own principles set out to us in Algonquin Law.

The history of the present land clams process in Ontario is evidence of this urgent need. When issues around development or resource extractions emerge, the province makes very limited attempts to consult with the AOO (Algonquins of Ontario). The title of the organization working with the province and federal government to extinguish Algonquin title and jurisdiction is misleading, however, because the AOO does not represent all Algonquin people in Ontario. There are other Algonquin communities who choose to remain outside the comprehensive land claims process because they consider it to be fraudulent and not in keeping with Algonquin Law and the responsibilities that we have to maintain balanced relationships within our homeland. For twenty years community leaders outside the claims process have consistently reminded the province and the federal government that there is a duty to consult with all Algonquin people not just the communities who sit at the claims table. As communities outside that process, we MUST be consulted about proposed development within our homeland. The AOO has shown through past actions that they cannot be trusted to represent the interests of all Algonquin people with respect to decisions about development and resource extractions. The AOO has not and does not consult with us about their decisions. Therefore their interests are not ours, and do not take the place of free, prior and informed consent for development projects or resource extractions within the Algonquin homeland. This fact became evident to us as we struggled through the uranium exploration project and resulting conflict beginning in 2006. Our struggle to stop that development was undermined by the AOO who signed an agreement to allow uranium development on Ardoch lands without any consultation whatsoever having taken place with Ardoch leadership. In fact the province refused to consult with Ardoch leadership about the project and instead helped to facilitate the deal between the AOO and FVC. We consider this to be a betrayal of Ardoch Algonquin people by the AOO and also the thousands of local residents who worked tirelessly to support our efforts. It is also a betrayal of the duty that the province and the federal government has to us as the Original Peoples of this homeland.

The truth we came to realize is that the current claims process with the AOO does not represent the majority of Algonquin people and therefore cannot take the place of comprehensive consultation with all Algonquin people. In each of the areas, claimed by the table, and represented by an ANR (Algonquin Nation Representative) there are other Algonquin communities who have chosen not to participate in the process to extinguish Algonquin title and jurisdiction. This does not mean they have given up their right to be consulted, each community outside of the process has asked for direct consultation on various issues, but the Crown has refused to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility. Unlike what happened in previous historical treaty processes, this particular table has not been particularly successful in hiding the true colonial nature of the process or the ongoing documented opposition to it by a majority of Algonquin people, including those in Quebec. As communities, we continue to fight against it and to bring attention to the fact that we are not surrendering our interests as Algonquin communities in our homeland. Algonquin Law is still in effect in our homeland and we remind both the Province of Ontario and Canada that you have a fiduciary responsibility to consult with us as Algonquin communities about any development that has been proposed to happen. Consultation with the AOO is not consultation with our communities.

We have not been consulted about this project as Algonquin people and we demand that you to begin that process now. This is our homeland and we have no other place that we can connect to as human beings. We will utilize Algonquin Law and international law to protect our homeland as we have been instructed to do within our Original Instructions and by our Elders and Knowledge Holders. We call on you now to honour the responsibility that you have under the Proclamation of 1763, the Constitution Act of 1982, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We do not support this development and call on you now to stop it and to meet with us to discuss the larger issue of Algonquin title, rights and jurisdiction.

We also call on the Algonquin people and communities presently working within the AOO process to take a step back and consider the impacts of this process on our people and on the Natural World. We urge you to abandon participation in the present claims process and return to Algonquin Law and work with us to develop a collective unified Nation that can work locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally to restore autonomy within our homeland.

Miigwech,

Paula Sherman- on behalf of:

Chief Paul Lamothe: Ottawa Algonquin First Nation
P.O. Box 198, Wendover, ON. K0A 3K0
613-673-2217: pelamothe@videotron.ca

Chief Grant Tysick: Kinounchepirini Algonquin First Nation
3689 B-Line Road, Pembroke, ON. K8A 6W7
granttysick@hotmail.com

Chiefs, Mireille Lapointe or Paula Sherman:
Kapishkawandemin Family Headʼs Council, Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
1045 Canoe Path, Ardoch, ON. K0H 1C0
613-273-3530: Mireille Lapointe, mimikwe@gmail.com
705-750-7490: Paula Sherman, omamikwe@bell.blackberry.net

Chiefs, Melinda Turcotte or Melissa Graber:
Pasapkedjiwanong Algonquin First Nation
1585 Pinery Rd., Smiths Falls, ON., K7A 4S7.
Melinda Turcotte: kiwe@rideau.net
Melissa Graber: algonquin.1@live.ca
algonquins.of.pasapkedjiwanong@gmail.com

Will the Beaver Pond Forest Eve of Destruction lead to the South March Highlands Dawn of Correction

"Make no mistake about it. Those trees will come down."

Those words from City of Ottawa senior legal counsel Tim Marc, in late July 2010, make it clear that the City never intended any real consultation with the community or with any Algonquin First Nations representatives. Indeed nothing has changed since the election as far as developers determining city policies is concerned, other than perhaps an even more pro-developer City Council.

How naive do they think the public is that they expect them to believe their "pretty pleases" to the developer mean anything after they have given them full speed ahead approval to clear cut and blast the forest away.

So where do we go from here. We know the City has no intention to stand up to KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) even in the face of documented flaws in the environmental assessment process, inadequate and inappropriate storm water management plans and alleged outright illegalities, not to mention the lack of a proper response to the archaeological information provided to them and the complete lack of constitutionally required consultations with all First Nations with an interest in and concerns about the land.

We still hold out hope that someone, perhaps another sovereign level of government, will have the political will to step in and save the Beaver Pond Forest before it is destroyed.

Cutting has now been delayed till February - time to write your federal and provincial representatives and the NCC.

Regardless of the outcome of the fight for the Beaver Pond Forest the fight to save the rest of the South March Highlands continues.

We must all recognize that it is not only the KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) lands that are threatened, and it is not only the privately owned lands currently zoned Environmental Protection that are potentially threatened.

The South March Highlands are one ecosystem and one habitat for flora and fauna. If all the lands surrounding the city owned South March Highlands Conservation Forest are destroyed the ecological integrity of the protected lands will be under great stress and undoubtedly will be affected negatively. Trillium Woods, identified by the City as the most environmentally significant zone, will be under the greatest stress if destruction is allowed to continue as planned, as it is only connected to the rest of the forest by a narrow connecting strip with Terry Fox Drive running through it.

The smaller an environmentally protected zone is, the least chance it has of surviving as anything other than an urban park. That is why the 40% agreement narrow strips of land are meaningless, as is "Marianne's Pathway", essentially an urban pathway the cost of which was twice as much protected land elsewhere.

I say to the city of Ottawa do not let what happened to the lands south of the Conservation Forest happen to the lands north of it. Act immediately while these lands are zoned Environmental Protection (and valued accordingly) to bring them into public ownership and protection before it is too late, using the City's expropriation powers, if necessary. Even former councillor and fiscal conservative Gord Hunter recommended that.

As for the KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) lands south of the Conservation Forest, they are the most important to save as they provide the connection between Trillium Woods and the rest of the Conservation Forest. But we know that we cannot depend on the City to save them.

That is why we have to get the message out to our provincial and federal representatives that these lands are special. Anyone who has spent time in them or has studied then knows this. And these lands are not just environmentally significant but culturally significant to the Algonquin Peoples containing archeological sites and have been declared sacred by their Elders.

The National Capital Commission is currently studying whether to add the South March Highlands to the Greenbelt as part of their Review of the Greenbelt Master Plan, but the Final Master Plan is not scheduled to be completed till Fall 2012. This may be too late for significant parts of the South March Highlands.

Everyone must urge the NCC to expedite the decision making process on adding these lands to the Greenbelt. Write or email NCC CEO Marie Lemay and other federal government representatives and tell them how much the South March Highlands means to you and how important it is to save all of it as a complete ecosystem.

Meanwhile we have to buy time for the NCC and other levels of government to act. We must do what we can to stop the destruction of the Beaver Pond Forest and to stop KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) from moving on to the next phases of destruction.

Usually when house buyers purchase houses, they just see a housing development. They do not know what was there before. This will not be so for the Beaver Pond Forest. Potential house buyers will know that they are buying houses on destroyed sacred land. And they will know that if they buy these houses KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) will move on to destroy more land to build more houses. This fact alone can have a huge impact on preventing KNL (Urbandale/Richcraft) from moving ahead to further phases of destruction.

It is time to let our elected leaders know that it is never too late to do the right thing.

Further resources on the South March Highlands
South March Highlands Overview

Save Ottawa's South March Highlands

Ottawa's Great Forest

I want to save the land North of Beaver Pond Park in Kanata Ontario Facebook Group

The Fifth Column SMH posts

The Fifth Column SMH Management Plan posts

Virtual Nonsense (Paul Renaud) SMH posts

South March Highlands Advocacy

South March Highlands Stewardship Plan

Brunton 2004 Report

Brunton 2008 Report