[All] The letter that may have secured the retest

Tue Oct 6 21:02:09 EDT 2009

Below this letter is the correspondence sent from Minister Cansfield as sent earlier today.

Lulu :0)
_______________________________________________________

Dear Minister Cansfield, Mr.Cornelisse and Waterloo City Council members. 

I gave Mr. Bogart, 13 dead Easter Newt road kills found along the stretch of land between the Owen property and 741 Wideman Road. I also witnessed a live Easter Newt on September 23rd 2009 as seen in the attached photograph where it is crawling on my hand.

At this point, it is unreasonable and illogical to state there are no salamanders in the area of the Owen Property. I have witnessed red backs for years in ESPA 19 and Mr. McNally who lived on the property adjacent to the Owens Lands witnessed them breeding in his ponds for years. 

Please review the contents of the Affidavit of Dr. Dean Fitzgerald, ecotoxicologist. ichthyologist and salamander expert who taught classes at Cornell University on how to find these animals. He was my expert for the West Side Lands OMB process. Please review section 22 onwards to review the failure of the MNR to adequately identify salamanders in the Waterloo Region area. 

This entire process of trying to secure retests for the Owen property is a repeat of the same sort of flaws I dealt with in regards to Hidden Valley and the West Side Lands.

In the case of Hidden Valley, I was part of a group of citizens who gave presentations to Regional EEAC to secure the retests for Jeffersons which resulted in one of the largest Jefferson Salamander finds in Ontario. Prior to the retest, Mr. Bogart gave the "Opinion" that there were no Jeffersons in Hidden Valley after examining "NON VIABLE" egg masses. In my view it is completely illogical to attempt to assume the presence of Jeffersons based on rotten eggs but that is exactly what happened. 

In my view it is illogical for the MNR or the city to assume there are no Jeffersons in the area of the Owen property when clearly multiple reports have identified them in this area for years. The studies conducted for the Owen EIS have been clearly inadequate due to poor test timing and methodologies, lack of nocturnal surveys, lack of survey during the March window. Lack of knowledge on how to effectively test using pit traps etc.

Has the MNR consulted with the salamander experts I have referred them to including Tom Woodcock at Wilfrid Laurier? Have they approached Ecology Professor Larry Lamb to investigate the Region of Waterloo policy that states how Jefferson Salamanders will not be used as a reason to deny development proposals? Has the MNR actually attempted to contact Albert Hovingh, an environmental planner for the Region of Waterloo? He was the one to stated that Activa woods, located adjacent to the Owen property was designated as G1 due to the Vesper Sparrows and Jefferson Salamanders.

To date there has yet to be any study conducted using proper methodologies during the correct time frame at the proper time of day to study these animals. I've been asking for these studies from City, Regional staff since 2005. 

I have been privy to the data of the MNR's observations in 2008 because I secured that process by way of the OMB. Even then it was clear that study was not a comprehensive review and Mr. Cornelisse admitted that right in the report. 

Jeffersons are the first ones in and out of the pond. This is how they avoid predation. They breed first, before other varieties. Yellow Spotted Jeffersons were clearly identified in W 12  at the time of Mr. Cornelisse's observations which took place weeks after the optimal time to study for Jeffersons. Do we even have reasonable evidence to understand the location where these animals migrated from? The site visit did not study all ponds. It did not include nocturnal visits with pit traps over a reasonable length of time to assess the risks. It does not replace the need to secure at least one year worth of proper amphibian survey for Jeffersons.

My experts proved, by way of the OMB process, that the EIS studies have had little to no regard for the protection or preservation of the capture zones of these vernal pond habitats. It is my fear the same mistake is being repeated in regards to the Owen property. My objective is to mitigate risk. By protecting these vernal ponds we are also making the effort to protect and preserve the recharge areas for the Waterloo Moraine.  It is illogical to not properly study all the ponds and migratory paths that may be negatively affected by this proposal. 

I encourage you to visit this website to view the photographs I took of the amphibians that are actively using Wideman road as a migratory route along this area as taken on the evening of September 23rd 2009. http://www.waterloomoraineact.com/widemanroad 

Although there will be no Wideman road access, the evidence is there to state that amphibians exist here, that there are pond habitats in the area and that construction upon this primary recharge area located on site in the Owen Property will most likely have adverse impacts to those existing habitats. Once again, please view the REGIONAL MAP showing the recharge on site.

In closing I have attached a Google Earth photo which I titled OwenSalamanders. Please review to understand what I am observing by way of reports and data. In my view it is illogical to proceed without securing at least one year's worth of proper amphibian testing in the area prior to development. 

As for the concerns of the birds, not one of the EIS studies has been conducted in a year without disturbances by way of road construction, tree removal, dewatering and construction activities during the breeding period. All I'm trying to secure from the MNR is the prohibition on disturbances during the breeding season in this area so we can reasonably conduct another bird study under normal undisturbed circumstances. The MNR has the power to secure this. 

Your response as noted below confirms the rare birds have been using ESPA 19. That means that ESPA 19 is subject to the conditions of the new Ontario Endangered Species Act. The land is performing a function in the lives of these animals, either by way of providing grounds to hunt, shelter or possibly breeding habitats. 

Your correspondence also confirms Pileated Woodpeckers in the affected area which are also protected by the Endangered Species Act under the term "Habitat. Please review the following as taken directly from Endangered Species Act, 2007 S.O. 2007, CHAPTER 6

“habitat” means, 

(a) with respect to a species of animal, plant or other organism for which a regulation made under clause 55 (1) (a) is in force, the area prescribed by that regulation as the habitat of the species, or 

(b) with respect to any other species of animal, plant or other organism, an area on which the species depends, directly or indirectly, to carry on its life processes, including life processes such as reproduction, rearing, hibernation, migration or feeding, 

and includes places in the area described in clause (a) or (b), whichever is applicable, that are used by members of the species as dens, nests, hibernacula or other residences; (“habitat”) 

Pileated Woodpeckers cause the trees to fall to the forest. Those trees provide a key habitat for Jefferson Salamanders in the area. Any disruption of the birds in this location will have adverse impacts to the salamander therefore measures must be taken to protect them.

I have heard the coyotes in ESPA 19 on the evening of September 23rd shortly after midnight and the coyotes are also a key animal to protect if we are to preserve the amphibian and low nesting birds in the area from over predation by raccoons. 

Please do not give up on helping to secure a proper scientific review of this area's salamander populations. By doing so it may give us the tools we need to properly mitigate serious risk to our municipal water supply. We must protect the deep aquifer systems. If it takes a fish, salamander or a bird to make it happen, the least we can do is to assure good quality testing under normal circumstances without disturbances using proper test times and methodologies. 

Thank you kindly for your time and for your timely response.

Louisette Lanteigne
700 Star Flower Ave.
Waterloo Ontario
N2V 2L2

--- On Tue, 10/6/09, MIN Feedback (MNR) <minister.mnr at ontario.ca> wrote:

From: MIN Feedback (MNR) <minister.mnr at ontario.ca>
Subject: Message from the Minister
To: butterflybluelu at rogers.com
Cc: "Cornelisse, Ken (MNR)" <ken.cornelisse at ontario.ca>
Received: Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 10:01 AM

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MNR3006MC–2009-2578
October 6, 2009 

Ms. Louisette Lanteigne 

Dear Ms. Lanteigne: 

Thank you for your e-mail regarding development in the northwest area of the City of Waterloo. 

I understand that you are concerned that recent land clearing and development activities may not be consistent with planning approvals and you have asked my ministry to investigate. As I have noted in previous correspondence, development is a municipal planning matter, reviewed through public processes under the Planning Act, over which the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has no approval authority. I have provided you with contact information for the City of Waterloo and the Region of Waterloo, and suggest that you address your concerns to them. 

You have also requested that MNR investigate whether or not work on this site has contravened the Endangered Species Act (ESA). As I have also mentioned to you in previous correspondence, it is the responsibility of the proponent to be compliant with the ESA or they may be subject to prosecution under the act. Additionally, the significant habitat of endangered and threatened species is protected from development through the Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act and municipal planning decisions must be consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement. 

As I have also mentioned previously, MNR is not aware of any species at risk being negatively impacted by this development and therefore we are not pursuing an investigation at this time. 

I understand that Ken Cornelisse, Acting Planning and Information Management Supervisor in our Guelph District Office, was in touch with Lyle Friesen of the federal Canadian Wildlife Service about the Acadian flycatcher, hooded warbler and redheaded woodpecker observations in ESPA 19 in Waterloo . Mr. Friesen provided the following information to you on March 12, 2009: 

The data obtained from CWS studies does not confirm the breeding of these species in this area. 

CWS biologists have been participating in a long-term study in the area and have frequently, and almost daily, visited this site from 1997 to 2008 during breeding seasons. The long-term study is supported by CWS, the City of Waterloo , the University of Waterloo , and the Region of Waterloo . The available evidence does not support the notion that this site represents important breeding habitat for any of the three identified species at risk. The three species at risk in question have occasionally been observed in ESPA 19, and this is why they appear on lists of birds seen during the breeding season. But there has been no confirmed breeding at this site for any of the three species since the start of the study. As part of the study, participating scientists scour this habitat for nesting birds, and check video cameras daily from mid-May to mid-August. It is highly unlikely that any paired or nesting Acadian Flycatchers, Hooded Warblers or Red-headed
 Woodpeckers would have been missed. The Owen property supports regionally significant birds — Pileated Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Blue-winged Warbler, and Nashville Warbler — but no species under the Species at Risk Act. 

The data summary provided by Mr. Friesen for the Acadian flycatcher, the hooded warbler and the redheaded woodpecker indicates that these birds are not nesting in this woodlot. As a result, the proposed development is not anticipated to impact these endangered, threatened and special-concern species. We are fortunate that we have an independent expert like Mr. Friesen who has collected so much data about breeding birds in ESPA 19. 

With regards to the Jefferson salamander, my ministry undertook monitoring of several vernal pools on the west side of ESPA 19 in the spring of 2008. No Jefferson salamanders or their polyploids were found during this study. As well, MNR participated in a salamander monitoring study in the area of the Owens property in the spring of 2009, and no salamanders were captured. 

If you would like further information on any of the issues raised in your correspondence, please contact Ken Cornelisse, Acting Planning and Information Management Supervisor in our Guelph District Office, at (519) 826-6849. 

Thank you again for writing. 

Sincerely, 

Original Signed By 

Donna Cansfield 

Minister of Natural Resources 

c:         Ken Cornelisse, Acting Planning and Information Management Supervisor, 

Guelph District Office 
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