[All] Hidden Valley: Letters needed

Thu Mar 6 11:40:46 EST 2014

I'm familiar with the species mentioned.  The new road will affect a small portion of a wetland, half of which is infested with invasive alien Phragmites, and a portion of an already detached small upland forest for the exit from the new road to southbound travel on highway 8.  Here's my take.  The project now goes into the detailed design phase to address critical specific issues.

barn swallow - not breeding habitat, might forage over wetland if it were present

chimney swift - not breeding habitat, I have only seen it in downtown Kitchener, uptown Waterloo (hawking over my back yard, likely nesting in an old chimney), and Langdon Hall.  You could check with the provincial Swift Watch group which collects records.  They are looking for more volunteers.

bobolink - breeds and forages in pastures, meadows: such habitat not affected by new road

milk snake, snapping turtle - EEAC has asked the Region to submit, in their detailed final design plan, provisions for barriers to prevent such species from straying onto the road.

nighthawk - breeds on rooftops, abandoned parking lots, other flat surfaces.  Not affected by new road.  Declining, like many insectivorous birds, probably due to pesticides.  I am very familiar with it in western Canada, but have seen it very few times in Waterloo Region, always in urban areas where rooftops provide nesting sites.

bald eagle - winters on Grand River, expanding population, one nesting last year down towards Brantford.  There have been thorough studies done that map locations of sightings over last few years; the studies are available to the public, and it is easy to check on its status in the Hidden Vally area.  Well protected, and if you go hiking along the Grand River you will see signs informing you that the approaches to the river are closed from Nov. 1 to April 1 to protect the wintering eagles.  Many local birders have cooperated in gathering observation data.  Not affected by the new road.  Always nests within 150 meters of a lake or large stream. I used to accompany a bald eagle bander in northern Saskatchewan.  We flew around in a small float plane looking for the nests, would land on the lake, wade ashore, and then I would be sent up the nesting tree because of my light weight and long arms and legs, to climb into the nests and lower the young down on a rope to be banded.  There was a real thrill in sitting in a bird nest 40 feet up in a gently swaying tree top.  One of my responsibilities was also to clean the maggots out of the eaglets' ears -- a side effect of sitting around in a lot of smelly fish carcasses.

Canada warbler.  One of my favourite birds, very handsome with a grey back  Worth checking., yellow breast, and a lovely necklace of black stripes.  Declining.  "Breeds in cool, shaded,moist woodlands, thickets, and swamps,generally where there is a dense brushy understory and moist ground cover with hardwood or conifer over story; often found along stream sides or in cool moist ravines"  (J. Dunn and K. Garrett, Warblers.  Houghton Mifflin, New York.  p. 562).  Such habitat not affected by new road.

least bittern.  Its habitat is extensive marshes.  Such habitat is located in central Hidden Valley, but within the well-regulated Jefferson Salamander protection zone which excludes any roads.  It has not been recorded but merits a search this year.

rusty patch bumble bee.  Unlikely to be found in area affected by the road.  EEAC recently reviewed a gravel pit proposal near Ayre on  a portion of a property of diverse, rich habitats and plant communities.  A thorough sampling was done, as now required, for this bumble bee. None was found.

Cerulean warbler.  "Cerulean warblers require large tracts of old growth deciduous forest, primarily along rivers, streams, and swamps.  They also breed in upland habitats as long as the requisite extensive mature broadleaf forest  is present."  (Dunn and Garrett, p. 404).  Such forest not affected by the road, so highly unlikely to be affected by the road.  Might be seen in migration.

Acadian flycatcher.  "A denizen of mature deciduous forests and stream sides"  (Cornell bird laboratory website).  Worth checking for records.  I think it could occur in the interior of Hidden Valley, but likely not in the strip along the new road.

Butternut.  None along the road.  Found elsewhere in the Region; I know of two trees (now protected) on grounds of the new Conestoga College, and in a small woodlot in a new subdivision in southwest Kitchener.  EEAC had the developer modify the subdivision design to provide an enhanced buffer to protect the trees, at the cost of two residential lots.

I don't know about the bat species.

My opinion is that the new road is highly unlikely to affect these species.

My biggest concern is the use and abuse of the interior area of Hidden Valley by atvs and trail bikes.  They are going right into the pristine middle where most of the wonderful things are.  But it's on private land, and the owner (I talked to him once) has given up trying to stop them because they have always found a way around his attempts to control them.  Could GREN offer help for this situation?  It reminds me a bit of when I had my students at UW come up with a landscaping proposal to minimize hideouts for muggers and molesters along sidewalks, trails, roads, and parking lots frequented by female students in the evenings.  The students did a good job, and made a fine presentation to the head of campus security.  He commended them, but afterwards said to me "This was a good study and does address a real problem.  I welcome it.  But I wish someone would finally also do something about date rape in the student residences.  That's the really big problem."  We can focus our attention on one critical problem, and inadvertently neglect another.

- Greg Michalenko

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From: All [all-bounces at gren.ca] on behalf of Louisette Lanteigne [butterflybluelu at rogers.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2014 10:12 AM
To: GREN2
Subject: [All] Hidden Valley: Letters needed

Hi folks

I've been busy keeping up on fighting to protect Hidden Valley.  The Region wants to do the River Road Extension to basically make a secondary route to bypass traffic from Manitou to Best Buy. They say it will reduce traffic collisions from Fairway road, but they don't tell you it will simply transfer the collision risks to the new point of intersection instead.

The plans are based on a 1999 master plan, before the Region even grasped the concept of climate change. Their remedy back in the day is that when traffic grows, build more roads. But now we've built so many the only areas left are the ones that have the highest ecological constraints. They are the habitats for rare species and natural recharge areas we rely on for our Municipal Water.

I started fighting to protect Hidden Valley in 2004. I know the area is primary recharge and we know it has pristine water conditions because they confirmed endangered Jefferson Salamanders here. Those animals breath through the skin so any toxicity issues shows up in this indicator species. The fact that they are there represents and incredible quality of water that we need to help dilute our road salt issues and legacy contamination issues.

The original cost was 24 milion but now it's up to 74 million dollars because they kept having to redesign the road around the salamanders. I work with a group called Friends of Hidden Valley and with Naturalist Neil Taylor and we all pressured the Region to do this in compliance to Species At Risk Act.  For 74 million they can afford to purchase 144 hybrid buses at 500,000 each or they could extend the LRT for another 3km. I went to council yesterday to state that before they decided on the final plan so it's on record. In my view you can't build more roads to solve the problem. Back when this plan was first proposed in 2004, population was 495,000. Our population is jumping up to 742,000 in the next 17 years. That's our provincial growth target. Whatever benefits of offsetting traffic is bound to be negated by the fast growth we have. The only way to mitigate the traffic and associated health and pollution risks is to mitigate cars off the roadways by investing in reasonable public transportation options.

In my speech I researched collisions in Waterloo Region. The main cause is rear end collision and the hour it happens the most is 5 o'clock. When folks drive hungry and tired, accidents happen. They need to look at the actual stastics and stop thinking they can make an infrastructure solve the problem of human behaviour.

I also found out at the last open house that there is a HUGE number of rare species in Hidden Valley that the public has not been reasonably notified about. I read about these in the LGL Environmental Impact reports. They include the following:

Barn Swallow (threatened) Butternut Trees (Threatnened) Chimney Swift (Threatened) Bobolink (Threatened) Milk Snake (Special Concern) Snapping Turtle (Special Concern) Nighthawk (Special Concern) Bald Eagle (Special Concern) Canada Warbler (Special Concern)

Suitable habiat exists but data is lacking to confirm the presence for Least Bittern (Threatened) Rusty Patch Bumble Bee (Endangered) Northern Myotis (Long Eared Bat)

Naturalist Neil Taylor also knows about Cerulean Warblers (threatened) and Acadian Flycatchers (endangered)

His data is online here: http://www.kwfn.ca/Conservation/River%20Road%20Extension/NT%20Response%20to%20River%20Rd%20Exten.pdf

I know about most of these species because I saw the Environmental Impact Study at the Open House. It was not on display but someone left a copy and I took the time to go through it with my Camera. I posted the photos online here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/64027613@N00/sets/72157636164364475/

I've been discussing the issues with the Wildlands League, Ecojustice and Ontario Nature. Right now the best way folks can help is to write to the Provincial MNR Minister, the Minister of Transportation and the Region of Waterloo to request the following.

Bump up this Class EA Schedule C project to a Class EA schedule D which has higher constraints and better monitoring to to the complex nature of this project to mitigate risks and secure better quality of data upon which the ministries can form their decision.

There can be no judiciary review of this issue until critical habitat has been identified for ALL the listed threatened and endangered species identified in Hidden Valley.
Request that the Region of Waterloo and the Ministries pursue the proper authorization for all the listed species at risk.

It appears that discretionary powers were used to scope the Environmental Assessment process to the area of the roadway itself excluding reasonable habitat protection provisions in compliance to the Ontario Endangered Species Act and the Species At Risk Act therefore the supporting data of this project as it stands currently is insufficient.

Here are the folks to email:

Waterloo Region Regional Council regionalcouncil at regionofwaterloo.ca<http://regionalcouncil@regionofwaterloo.ca/>
MNR Minister David Orazietti   dorazietti.mpp at liberal.ola.org<mailto:dorazietti.mpp at liberal.ola.org>
Ministry of Transporation gmurray.mpp at liberal.ola.org<http://gmurray.mpp@liberal.ola.org/>

If you can pass this along through your channels I'd appreciate it. Deadline for public comments to the ministries and region at this point is APRIL 5th.

Letters to the Editors regarding this would be super too.

Thanks!

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