South March Highlands: The New Map

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South March Highlands - The Video

The story of the South March Highlands and why it must be saved, in under five minutes. A must watch video.

Best viewed full screen in 720HD

Submission to NCC CEO Marie Lemay on Mountain Biking and the South March Highlands

This is also being submitted directly to Marie Lemay via e-mail
To: Marie Lemay
Chief Executive Officer
National Capital Commission (NCC)

From: Richard W. Woodley
environmentalist, hiker, mountain biker, snowshoer, cross country skier, kayaker

I am writing to you about two subjects of concern to myself and many other residents of the National Capital Region. While they may not seem related at first you will see that indeed they are.

The most critical issue I am writing about at this time is saving the South March Highlands from development. The other related issue is the NCC's attitude to mountain biking.

Myself and many other cyclists in Ottawa were very pleased to read of your vision for cycling in the nation's capital as reported in the Ottawa Citizen:

OTTAWA — The NCC wants to inspire Canadians about the capital region by becoming a model for transportation, combining a network of cycling lanes and pathways across the downtown cores of Ottawa and Gatineau.

Marie Lemay says she hopes that “people would turn to us and say: How is it done in Ottawa? How is it done in our capital?”
...

Although the NCC has maintained recreational biking paths in the national capital region for 40 years, Lemay said she realized last summer the importance of moving beyond those paths to create a safe, integrated network of cycling lanes and pathways across the downtown cores of Ottawa and Gatineau.

As well as being a cyclist who rides the bike paths and roads in the National Capital Region, I am also a mountain biker. The National Capital Region, with it's Greenbelt and Gatineau Park, as well as the South March Highlands, has the potential, and the geography, to be a haven for mountain biking, and mountain biking should be included in any vision for cycling in the capital.

Mountain Biking and the NCC
Unfortunately the NCC has a very poor reputation with mountain bikers, largely due to their lack of understanding of the sport, and policies based on prejudice and misinformation, as I have written previously about mountain biking in the Gatineau Park in The Fifth Column:

The NCC, in it’s wisdom, has decided that mountain bikers should be second class citizens in the park. If they want to ride single track trails they are relegated to a small section of the park (Camp Fortune) run by a private operator where fees are charged. Meanwhile hikers and trail runners have free reign over all of the public trails in the park at no charge, including the wide trails designated for mountain biking.

I appreciate having the wide gravel trails to ride, they are fun, but mountain bikers, like serious hikers, love rough natural technical single track trails, which are a lot more environmentally friendly than widened gravel roads, which the NCC loves to build and call trails.

There are two arguments for keeping mountain bikers off single track trails - user conflicts and environmental damage. However, neither of these arguments holds up to scrutiny.

In various places, including the NCC’s own greenbelt (where bicycle use is against NCC regulations but the regulations are not enforced), hikers and bikers regularly share the trails with each other with few problems. I can personally attest to never having had a conflict with hikers on the greenbelt trails while riding them regularly (several times a week). I can also attest to hiking and mountain biking in the South March Highlands and always having other trail users treat me with respect, whether as a hiker or a biker.

As to the environmental impact, the overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that hikers and mountain bikers have equivalent impacts on trails. See, for example, the reviews done by the International Mountain Bicycling Association and the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

For more information on mountain biking see the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) website and the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association (OMBA) website.

...

The NCC has an opportunity to make the Gatineau Park an internationally acclaimed location for both road cycling and mountain biking. Let us see if they are up to the challenge.

I would also at this time like to reference my three submissions on Mountain Biking in the Greenbelt to the NCC's Greenbelt Review. They provide more details on how the NCC can make the National Capital Region a haven for mountain biking.

Why Mountain Biking Should Be Allowed on the Greenbelt Trails

Winter Trail Conflicts on the Greenbelt Trails

Old Quarry Youth Mountain Bike Skills Park

Saving the South March Highlands and the NCC
When I first moved to Ottawa I spent a lot of time in the Gatineau Park. However when we moved to Kanata we reduced considerably the time we spent in the park. Partly it was due to having the Greenbelt in our backyard but a large reason was because we had our own ecological jewel, our own Gatineau Park so to speak, in Kanata, in the form of the South March Highlands.

Now that jewel is threatened. While a portion of it has been purchased and protected by the City of Ottawa a large portion is slated for a housing development (KNL/Urbandale lands).

And the protected lands are going to be divided by a four lane highway, the Terry Fox Extension, using what has been described as the worst possible route from an environmental perspective. The City of Ottawa is rushing the project through even though the initial demographic projections for population and traffic have been considerably reduced (without even considering the now possibility that the KNL housing development may not proceed), and they are doing it by playing fast and loose with the environmental assessment process.

The reason for the fast tracking is free money provided as part of the federal government's economic stimulus plan. Now one might expect a government that claims to be fiscally responsible to attach conditions to it's funding requiring that the money be spent wisely and that the partners take the time to do things right. But apparently the only condition placed on the stimulus funding is that it be spent quickly.

So now we have a double threat - a housing development through an ecological jewel and a road being rushed through prematurely to serve that development.

Let us talk about the South March Highlands from an environmental perspective. The south March Highlands have been studied extensively by Dan Brunton who has authored many studies of the area, including:

Natural Environment Area boundary in South March Highlands Special Study Area: Final Report, June 2004

Natural environment assessment: South March Highlands Conservation Forest, May 2008

This is how Dan Brunton described the South March Highlands in his 2004 report:

3) OVERVIEW OF THE SPECIAL STUDY AREA (ADAPTED FROM BRUNTON 2000)

The Special Study Area is situated at the southern end of the Precambrian Shield bedrock outcrop known as the Carp Hills which extends from Kanata northwestward to the Ottawa River in the Galetta area. This wetland-rich landform is unique in the City of Ottawa, constituting a 'island' of rugged, heavily-glaciated, rocky, Gatineau Hills-like habitat on the otherwise ±level, sedimentary lowlands. The end result is a landscape with severely limited agricultural potential and substantial challenges to residential/ commercial development. It has remained largely undeveloped, constituting one of the largest areas of continuous natural landscape in the City. The more or less original natural state coupled with a uniquely complex geology has resulted in the southern portion of the Carp Hills (the South March Highlands) supporting a diverse and significant natural biodiversity including Provincially and Regionally significant features and habitats (Brunton 1992a; 1992b; 1997).

The South March Highlands incorporates a number of watercourses and their watershed areas. The SSA incorporates catchment areas for the Carp River, Shirley’s Brook and Watts Creek. Most of the drainage in the SSA is westward down the Hazeldean Escarpment slope and into the Carp River. The northeastern corner of the area drains eastward, however, flowing into the south branch of Shirleys Brook. So too does the Watts Creek headwaters which commence immediately west of the First Line Road ROW in the southern half of the area and flows easterly through Kanata (‘Kizell Drain’), eventually discharging into the Ottawa River (Dillon Consulting 2002). Numerous small and/ or intermittent drainage channels occur in the many depressions and ravines occurring in this rugged landscape, all other eventually reaching the Carp River system.

The SSA (Figure 1) is part of the South March Highlands natural area which, in various configurations, has been identified as a candidate Provincially Significant Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) (Brunton 1995), a High Value Natural Environment System Strategy (NESS) natural area (Ottawa-Carleton 1997; Brunton 1997) and Natural Environment Area-A and Natural Environment Area B (Ottawa-Carleton 1999). The significance of this area is reflected in the purchase of over 225 ha of natural landscape north of the railway for long-term ecological protection purposes by the former Region in 2000 (Figure 9). This ‘Regional Conservation Land’ area was enlarged by the City of Ottawa through the purchase of an additional 20 ha of adjacent natural landscape in 2002.

The SSA supports a rich diversity of native plant and animal species typical of superior examples of their respective habitats within the South March Highlands (Brunton 1992a). Some of these species are found within the Highlands only in or immediately adjacent to the SSA (see section 4.1, Significant native species, below). The mature upland deciduous forest habitat in the northern half of the study area contributes the greatest number of these representative and locally unique species (Brunton 1992b).

The SSA contains an extensive complex of common and rare habitats demonstrating a high degree of ecological integrity. Over 80% of this area supports Regionally rare vegetation types (Geomatics International 1995). A number of the nesting bird species present here and in the adjacent forested landscape to the east breed successfully only in extensive woodlands (Brunton 1992b; Muncaster 2002c). Habitat fragmentation is rare here, with the First Line Road ROW providing the only physical interruption crossing the length of the SSA.

A high level of natural biodiversity is identified as an important contributor to the identification of a Provincially Significant natural area (Ontario 1997). The contribution of the SSA to the ecological integrity of the larger South March Highlands natural area is an important element of the latter area’s overall significance and conservation value.

The following is from Brunton's 2008 report, which discusses the impact of reducing the protected area of the South March Highlands to 35% of the original conservation area. Notice the use of terms like "ominously" and "disquieting".

6.1 SIGNIFICANCE AND SENSITIVITY CONCLUSIONS

Remarkably, much of the native biodiversity identified in the 1991 - 1992 South March
Highlands inventories is retained within the 35% of the former South March Highlands conservation area presently designated as Conservation Forest. Approximately 94% of the native vascular plants of the larger area, for example, are (or were) found here. The fragility of this representation is underscored, however, by the wide variety and serious nature of present and increasing environmental stresses described in section 5. Impacts and ecological challenges (above).

It also bears repeating that the 41 Regionally Significant plant species now known from the Conservation Forest represent only 85% of the 48 such taxa known from the larger former conservation area and include none of the known Provincially Significant species of the South March Highlands. More ominously, perhaps, is the fact that 13 (27%) of Regionally Significant taxa, are either known or suspected to have been extirpated. Similarly, one known SARA-scheduled (Threatened) animal species, Blandings Turtle, has only been observed at the very western and northern edges of the Conservation Forest while another SARA-scheduled (Threatened) species, Golden-winged Warbler occurs at a site adjacent to a proposed arterial roadway corridor.

This evidently lower level of sustainability for the most vulnerable components of the native biodiversity of the Conservation Forest is particularly disquieting when future ecological isolation and the fragmentation of remaining natural landscapes is factored in. The proposed residential and transportation development within the South March Highlands (Terry Fox Road arterial, Second Line Road extension, etc.) undoubtedly markedly increase ecological stress on both the representative and exceptional natural features and functions of the Conservation Forest.

And this is how he described, in his 2004 report, the impacts the KNL development and Terry Fox Road extension would have on the South March Highlands.

KNL lands:

Residential development is committed in the majority of the KNL lands between the First Line Road ROW and Goulbourn Forced Road. This has major implications for the ecological significance of both the SSA in particular and the South March Highlands in general. That includes a major reduction in the ecological corridor function presently active between the Regional Conservation Lands north of the Terry Fox Road ROW and the Trillium Woods Urban Natural Feature (UNF) within and immediately east of the Extended Study Area, along either side of Goulbourn Forced Road (Figure 9). It will also increase the edge effect impact of the Terry Fox Road ROW on the adjacent Regional Conservation Lands habitat. The KNL residential development area is transected by Kizell Pond Urban Natural Feature along Watts Creek.

The KNL development plan dramatically reduces the existing area of ecological connectivity between the SSA and other significant natural areas of the South March Highlands (Brunton 1992a; 1992b; 2000). The remaining UNF west of Goulbourn Forced Road constitutes about 100 ac (40 ha) of upland and wetland habitat (S. Murphy, pers. comm.). The Richardson Forest in Lot 6 will be particularly negatively effected, being completely isolated from comparable natural habitats to the north and east. As well, virtually all of the interior forest values of the Richardson Forest will be eliminated.

The loss of continuous forest habitat within the KNL lands north of Watts Creek in the West Block will have similar though less intense impacts on the northern portion of the SSA. The negative impact is lessened in that area by the existence of continuous natural habitat along the top and face of the Hazeldean Escarpment to the west of the SSA (Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5). Development of portions of the West Block on the KNL property will result in the loss of native biodiversity, a reduction in biological restoration and recruitment potential and the initiation of microclimatic changes. It will inevitably reduce the self-sustainability and overall ecological significance of the adjacent portion of the SSA. Without detailed on-site examination of the lands involved, however, it is difficult to quantify the loss of particular natural features.

4.8.3 Terry Fox Road extension impact

Dillon Consulting (2003) has established that construction of the proposed Terry Fox Road extension across the SSA will have a significant, negative ecological impact ....“Terry Fox Drive will form a barrier and break between the northern and southern portions of the presently continuous South March Highlands [natural] area”. Recognizing the importance of maintaining ecological connectivity across this barrier, Dillon Consulting. (2003) proposes a system of modified culverts and a major sub-roadway ecological passageway along the preferred roadway ROW to partially mitigate these loses.

As part of the recent discussions on the design of this road, an alternative route crossing the SSA and located slightly west of the preferred route (Dillon Consulting 2003) was suggested by a landowner. Dillon Consulting (2003) considered that the Balys & Associates alternative route would have “a higher impact on the environment (volume of rock knolls to be removed, and wetland impacted)”. In a later assessment of the natural environment implications of the Balys & Associates proposed route, it was suggested (Muncaster 2002b) that the degree of ecological disturbance along this alternative route for the crossing of the Hazeldean Escarpment and the SAA might be no greater or even somewhat reduced to that of the preferred Terry Fox Road ROW. That opinion, however, does not address the question of maintaining ecological connectivity across the roadway ROW other than to suggest that roadway development along either alternative will inevitably have some impact

Regardless of the route selected, it is clear that the extension of the Terry Fox Road arterial across the South March Highlands will constitute a major ecological challenge to the Provincially Significant values in and about the SSA and throughout a large segment of the South March Highlands. Major mitigation measures, as described above, will be required to at least reduce the losses of significant ecological value here.

So where do we go from here.

The Sierra Club has launched a campaign to stop the Terry Fox Drive extension as reported in the Ottawa Citizen:

OTTAWA — The Sierra Club Canada plans to start a national campaign this week attempting to stop the extension of Terry Fox Drive through the sensitive wetland habitat of the threatened Blanding’s turtle.

John Bennett, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, said the club will use its network to reach thousands of environmentally minded citizens, asking them to put pressure on municipal, provincial and federal politicians to stop the four-kilometre, $47.7-million roadway.

“It’s just a stupid, stupid plan. This is about greed and avarice and building more houses in a place that’s not appropriate,” Bennett said. “They don’t need to build this road through this wetland.

As well, the Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee has recommended that the City halt construction on the Terry Fox Drive extension as reported in the Ottawa Citizen:

The Ottawa forests and greenspace advisory committee will ask city council to put the construction of the Terry Fox Drive Extension on hold and order a more thorough environmental review.

The committee passed a unanimous motion Monday night to ask the city to "immediately re-examine the demographic, transportational and economic rationale" for the project and to halt construction until an "in-depth ecological analysis is undertaken."

The request will come before the city's planning and environment committee, where it would need the endorsement of councillors before it could be voted on by City Council.

This has rekindled interest in the preservation of the whole South March Highlands and led to local residents forming a Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands .

What needs to be done now is to find a way to preserve what has not yet been developed in the South March Highlands or face a situation, as indicated by Dan Brunton, where only 35% of the original conservation is preserved and that 35% is at a great risk of being unsustainable, as Brunton indicates in his reports.

The following map is from Brunton's 2008 report. The Terry Fox Drive Extension route is added (not on the original Brunton report map).


Many believe that the South March Highlands can only be saved if the NCC becomes involved and acquires the SMH lands that remain undeveloped. I believe that may be our only hope. Although the City has been purchasing adjacent lands, they do not have the funds to buy the KNL lands, nor the other undeveloped SMH lands. And even though much of the remaining land is zoned "environmental protection" that becomes meaningless once a developer goes before the Ontario Municipal Board. The only way to really protect environmental lands is to purchase them and the only entity capable of purchasing the undeveloped SMH lands is the National Capital Commission.

Some have suggested that the NCC swap land in the Greenbelt for the KNL lands, but I believe that would be a short sighted solution that would be regretted in the future. The Greenbelt is a corridor and it all serves a purpose. Some of the farmland may not be environmentally sensitive but in many cases it provides a buffer between environmental lands and developed land. As well we are just beginning to realize the potential role that urban farmland can play in our society.

I would only consider a Greenbelt land swap to be a solution as a last resort and even then the land would have to be very carefully selected. Swapping urban development land that might be in the NCC's possession might be an alternative though.

Fast action by the NCC is necessary in order to be able to convince the City of Ottawa to stop the Terry Fox Drive Extension work before even more damage is done to the environment of the South March Highlands. As well, KNL plans to start work on its housing development very soon.

The NCC has, I believe, a short window of opportunity to save the day and save this precious environmental jewel in the National Capital Region, but they should do so without sacrificing that other jewel of the National Capital Region, the Greenbelt.

The NCC and Mountain Biking in the South March Highlands
The South March Highlands and Kanata Lakes trails are known as the place to go for technical mountain biking in Ottawa. If you are not sure what technical mountain biking is think of a rugged natural trail that you have hiked and could not imagine anyone riding a bike on, and then think about someone riding through the trail on a mountain bike and you've got it.

The City of Ottawa is currently developing a management plan, for the South March Highlands Conservation Forest. This is the 35% of the original conservation area that is owned and protected by the City of Ottawa. In developing the management plan the City has worked closely with all user groups and one of the main items of consensus was that the trail system would be a shared system with mountain biking as one of it's main uses. The City is currently negotiating a shared stewardship agreement for the SMH trails with the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association.

While I may not agree with everything in the city's draft plan, such as the denaturalization of some of the single track trails, I would hate to see the consensus that has developed regarding shared trail use threatened.

I have raised my concerns about the South Mach Highlands Conservation Forest draft management plan in the submissions referenced below:

Submission re: South March Highlands Conservation Forest Management Plan

Submission re: South March Highlands Conservation Forest Management Plan Draft Trail Plan

South March Highlands Trail Plan – Where Are The Environmentalists

Saving the remaining undeveloped lands in the South March Highlands from development can only benefit the mountain biking community, by increasing the potential trail system, to keeping the trails further from the impact and noise of development, to eliminating the need for a four lane highway beside and through the middle of the trail system.

However, you can appreciate that considering the NCC's historical record and attitude to mountain biking that the mountain bike community would have serious concerns regarding any involvement of the NCC in the South March Highlands.

There are a number of potential scenarios that could happen if the NCC was to step in and do what is necessary to purchase the remaining SMH lands and save the South March Highlands from further development. Certainly the idea of having one land manager is going to come up. There are a number of ways that this could be dealt with. One is to have the NCC deed all the lands to the City because the City has already started the process of drafting a management plan for the area. Another is to have the City and NCC jointly manage the lands. And a third option might see the NCC take over all the lands. All of these options have potential benefits.

Whatever option may be chosen, for the South March Highlands to be saved from development the more stakeholders that support the plan the better. Getting support from the mountain biking community for an NCC role, which I believe is vital, is going to require strong assurances that all the work that has been done in developing a strong consensus on a shared trail system recognizing mountain biking as an important activity in the South March Highlands will not be ignored.

I call upon the NCC to give a strong corporate assurance, and yourself to give a strong personal assurance, that if the NCC is involved in the South March Highlands that they will recognize that the trail system will be shared and mountain biking considered a legitimate and important activity in the South March Highlands.

Together we can save the South March Highlands.

What We Don't Know About the Terry Fox Drive Extension (TFD) and the South March Highlands

This is based on what I have learned from from information provided by many interested local residents and activists who have been looking into the details of this project and are contributing to an informal mailing list. This is a very complex issue and to avoid writing a documented treatise I will just be presenting highlights without attribution to their sources.

For more detailed information please contact Paul Renaud at paul@renaud.ca

Fast-Tracking the Environmental Assessment Process

It has become clear that the City of Ottawa has been fast-tracking the environmental assessment process for the project in order to expedite it to gain federal economic stimulus funding. Indeed it appears the City has been playing fast and loose with the environmental assessment process for the project and taking advantages of any and all loopholes in the process. I have read copies of extensive correspondence with the authorities regarding this and the complexity makes it impossible to summarize.

The following letter has been sent (by one of the mailing list participants) to Ottawa City Councillors.

Subject: RE: CEAR, Assessment 09-01-51616

Marianne, and other members of Council,

Further to my prior correspondence, you should be aware that the 2004/2005 EA Addendum for Terry Fox Drive that was approved by City Council did NOT include ANY realignment of Shirley’s Brook. A realignment of the stream on the north side was added only in the 2007 EA, documented as Exhibit C-10, dated April 2006. However, the City did NOT file a Notice of Completion for this EA and that proposed realignment in the 2007 EA was NEVER approved by Council. This does not meet my definition of fiscal responsibility and I wish to confirm that it doesn’t meets yours either.

Subsequently the scope of the realignment has increased significantly and it is evident that this project is now out of control. It is time that Council revokes any delegated authority to staff and re-assert its control over this project.

Council should also insist that staff stop fighting with provincial authorities and follow the Municipal Class EA Process as required by law. The law states that the City should be filing a single integrated EA document, based on the provincial process and updated as required to meet federal standards, for this project.

It is inconceivable that the project is proceeding, at the provincial level, under a stale EA dated 2005, and simultaneously proceeding at the federal level (not requiring public consultation), under a newer plan dated 2010. This does not meet any definition for an integrated process.

Even worse is that the federal CEEA documentation contains significant changes to both planning and environmental context that, according to provincial law, requires the proponent to file an EA Addendum and seek feedback from interested parties.

Council should not be permitting staff to operate in a lawless and irresponsible way. What are you going to do about this intolerable situation?

Biodiversity and the Brunton Report

The following is a extracted from a summary(prepared by one of the mailing list participants) of Brunton's 2004 Study of Biodiversity in the areas impacted by the Terry Fox Drive Extension (TFD).

The area is very bio-diverse with 268 species of vascular flora and over 134 species of birds cataloged. In addition to the provincially rare species found in the area, there are also 4, formerly 5, Regionally Rare species of plants:

- Rusty Woodsia
- Southern Blue Grass
- Wood-Rush
- Long-leaved Chickweed

According to this study, page 13, the 5th regionally rare species of plant life, “Spiny Coon-tail (Ceratophyllum echinatum) [was] extirpated in 2003 by the destruction of wetland habitat in Richcraft Property east of First Line Road right of way.”

This is the very same Richcraft that proposes to use the Plan B extension of TFD to appeal to the OMB to further destroy (I mean “develop”) lands west of the planned road!

The area of our first hike included the Richardson Forest habitat straddling the watershed divide between the headwaters of Watt’s Creek (which I have previously incorrectly referred to as Kizell Creek because it runs thru the Kizell Drain wetland) and the Carp river. According to Brunton, page 15, this area is one of the 4 most significant areas for ecological connectivity in the South March area and contains a White Pine forest area that is Regionally Significant.

TFD will sever this connectivity and development of the KNL land will “result in a major reduction in the ecological corridor function presently active [in the area]” and “virtually all of the interior forest values of the Richardson Forest will be eliminated.” (pages 23-24).

Evidently the Kizell Drain wetland scored 585 out of the 600 minimum points required to qualify as a Provincially Significant Wetland. So close! Given that the City of Ottawa’s Official Plan has a goal of protecting Locally Significant Wetlands, I doubt that city planners can reconcile why Kizell Drain is being allowed to be ecologically severed from South March and be turned into a storm sewer for the surrounding urban development. Saying that the “OMB made me do it” doesn’t cut it as an excuse.

Also making this area special is the presence of 18 Regionally Uncommon species of flora and 8 Regionally Uncommon species of birds. These birds require “uncommonly pristine forest habitats” now threatened by the development that will accompany this road. Brunton notes that the open condition caused by right of way (i.e. TFD) facilitates the spread of invasive, non-native vegetation.

Brunton also found the largest local population of Regionally Rare Short-headed Sedge (Carex brevior) growing on the bedrock outcrops near Richardson Side Road. He also observed Blanding’s turtle and the Golden-winged Warbler in the Special Study Area that we hiked through.

In this report, Brunton expresses concern that the mitigation proposed by the City for TFD is an ecological passageway whose location may be sub-optimal. Evidently a developer proposed an even less optimal location than the one originally determined by Dillon Consulting’s 3-month winter study (when most wildlife are hibernating). Evidently, discussion on the merits of one location over the other centered on the amount of rock to be removed and whether this was any worse than the earthwork impact on wetlands caused by the road itself. (perhaps this line of thinking should be given a name - the logic of incremental destruction)

Brunton’s report points out that ecological connectivity would be the more important criteria for planners to use! Final selection of this route was not determined by the time Brunton’s report was completed, so it would be important to find out the rationale & facts relied upon by the City in choosing the location of these “mitigation” measures.

Brunton, page 29, recommends a 50 meter protection zone (per the Ontario Natural Heritage Manual) around all lands zoned NEA due to the “uncommonly sensitive nature of the South March Highlands landscape. … This is particularly so in light of South March Highlands soils being generally more vulnerable to disturbance and less capable of supporting disturbance-tolerant natural vegetation than landscapes on the clay and loom based lowlands which dominate eastern Ontario.”

He also goes on to recommend that the waterways that drain some of the area into the Carp River maintain their natural course and that the standard City of Ottawa 30 meter no-development buffer is applied.

As for TFD, he states bluntly “the finished roadway would constitute: (1) a significant impediment to wildlife movement along the Hazeldean Escarpment, raising public safety as wildlife mortality issues, and (2) increased fragmentation of the habitat.”

2004 Brunton Report

2008 Brunton Report

Species at Risk

There are many species at risk in the habitat of the South March Highlands that are potentially impacted by the Terry Fox Drive Extension. The City of Ottawa has identified Trillium Woods as the most environmentally significant section of the South March Highlands. The Terry Fox Drive Extension will cut off this smaller section from the larger conservation area placing its habitat under great stress and at great risk.

One of the challenges facing the public is the incomplete documentation surrounding the patchwork of environmental studies done by the City over the years. Each document discovered seems to surface more facts not previously disclosed and often omits other information previously disclosed about the South March Highlands ecosystem and the Terry Fox Road project that seeks to sever it in two.
The total is now 17 species-at-risk:

3 x Endangered Species
- American Ginseng (Plant)
- Butternut (Tree)
- Loggerhead Shrike (Bird)

6 x Threatened Species
- Blanding’s Turtle (Reptile)
- Whip-poor-will (Bird)
- Western Chorus Frog (Amphibian)
- Eastern Musk / Stinkpot Turtle (Reptile)
- Olive Sided Flycatcher (Bird)

8 x Special Concern Species
- Bridle Shiner (Fish)
- Short Eared Owl (Bird)
- Black Tern (Bird)
- Common Nighthawk (Bird)
- Snapping Turtle (Reptile)
- Eastern Milksnake (Reptile)
- Monarch (Insect)
- Bald Eagle (Bird)

The Ontario Species at Risk at will provide automatic habitat protection for 4 of these 12 species within 2 years. Some would consider it immoral for the City to act now in a way that it knows will be illegal in 2 years. Hundreds of residents have already objected to Richcraft, KNL, and Urbandale developing subdivisions in this ecologically sensitive area.

Shirley's Brook Realignment

There are some serious issues regarding the extent of the Shirley's Brook realignment that is being done as part of the Terry Fox Drive Extension (as well as the KNL development), especially as regards the inaccurate reporting of fish populations done as part of the environmental assessment process.

Misinformation appears to have been the City’s agenda because any statement that fish are not present is unfounded on fact. The 2000 ESR notes the presence of Central Mudminnow, Northern Redbelly Dace, Finescale Dace, Bridle Shiner, Buntnose Minnow, Fathead Minnow, and Brook Stickleback in the area where Shirley’s Brook will be relocated near the rail crossing.

The 2007 Addendum further notes that “the presence of larval fish within the area [i.e. in the location of the rail crossing] indicated that the site is utilized as a rearing and nursery habitat.”

In the area most affected by the diversion, the 2007 Addendum notes the presence of Central Mudminnow, Brook Stickleback, Northern Redbelly Dace, Blacknose Shiner, and Creek Chub. The report states “Based on the fish species present within this watercourse, this watercourse is characterized as providing seasonal spawning, nursery and forage habitat during spring and/or high flow conditions for cyprinids [minnow species] and other baitfish species.”

Evidently, the City would like to bury the 2007 study as it seriously contradicts their assertion that no fish are present.

FYI, the 2000 ESR also notes that muskrat was observed in the area of Shirley’s Brook.

The Terry Fox Drive Extension and A Quebec Bridge

TFD might also become a major arterial route for the proposed site of the western bridge to Quebec.

The most logical site for a western bridge would be up Moodie where the 416 meets the 417, but that cuts through an existing developed subdivision and the river is wider at that point. Terry Fox is the City's next best choice - especially since it will eventually cut thru the wetland on the other end to link to Hunt Club via Maple Grove Road.

The reason that the transportation factor scores were low for the bridge at Riddell was that March Road provided the only link to the 417. Earlier bridge studies (e.g. 1995, 1999) had included the dotted line for Terry Fox, and referred to it as a "ring road". Now it's happening... So not only would it be a link between Morgan's Grant and Centrum/ Stittsville, it would also eventually be a trucking route from the 417 to Aylmer/ Gatineau!

Alternative Roadway

It has been suggested that an upgrade of Goulbourn Forced Road would be a suitable alternative to the Terry Fox Drive Extension.

While a road may be needed to facilitate access between the Centrum and Morgan’s Grant, it does not have to follow the route currently chosen. NONE of the environmental assessments conducted by the City for this road have ever considered the impact on these species-at-risk in decision-making about where the road should go. Incredibly, in the 10-year planning history of this road the City has consistently opted for road alignments that have greater impact on the natural environment than other alternatives. Better alternatives were discarded by planning staff because they failed to apply any prioritization to the criteria that they obtained during public consultation.

An upgrade of in Goulbourn Forced Road (GFR) in conjunction with the Part A re‐alignment of GFR will meet the local transportation needs of residents and has already been studied and identified as the environmentally best alternative by the City’s 2000 Environmental Assessment (EA). There is no need for Part B other than to support development in a sensitive area. The only objection to using GFR as an alternative is based on the assumption of significant development in sensitive areas and the increased traffic that it will generate. Although future development has been approved by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), final development plans have not been approved.

Left un-opposed, the Terry Fox project could ultimately devastate 3 wetlands (Cederview, March Highlands, Ottawa River/Morgans Grant)

Can KNL's Development Be Stopped

Since the damage from the KNL development is related to and arguably much greater than that from the Terry Fox Drive Extension, can it be stopped. While I tend to think that this is not possible there is another view.

The clock doesn’t have to be rolled back, it just has to go forward in a different direction.

Refusing the road significantly undermines the economics of development in the area and creates a basis for limiting future development. Developers will have to modify their plans and they cannot force the road to be built.

Meanwhile Federal infrastructure dollars can be applied to upgrading GFR which was already studied as alternative 4-3B in the 2000 ESR. This is just as “shovel ready” as the poorly conceived TFD Part B.

Land repurchases to protect NEA land is consistent with the City’s official plan and can further shrink the urban footprint on the area. Strategic repurchases to augment already protected land can save valuable eco-corridors and eco-connectivity in the triangle between South March Highland, Trillum Wood, and Watt’s Creek.

With no new road, reduced economics, rising costs, and an opportunity to recoup land costs with a reasonable profit, it is likely that developers can be convinced to sell land back to the City.

So why can’t we buy the land back and build a park instead that will rival Gatineau park? Even if not all the land in the area is repurchased, any repurchasing reduces urban pressure on both the environment and traffic volumes in the area.

Creation of a larger, better-managed, South March Park will create a recreational destination that also will boost tourism dollars spent in your ward, benefit local business and increase property values.

I also believe that it is possible to raise matching funds for purchasing land for a park from the high tech sector. They will respond to an alternative vision for the area as well as to the perpetual branding opportunities that it might contain (think “RIM-park”, “Mitel-interpretive centre”, etc.). If 3-year branding of the Palladium can be sold for $25 Million, perpetual branding in a highly visible tourist destination nearby can certainly be sold.

All that is missing is bold leadership at a time when everyone else at City Hall is wringing their hands and saying “the OMB made me do it”.

For more detailed information please contact Paul Renaud at paul@renaud.ca