Rouge National Park and the Pickering Airport: Opportunities and Challenges

by Gloria Boxen

Photo of Jim Robb addressing Richmond Hill Naturalists, October 2013, by Deb Chute

This was Jim Robb’s message to the Richmond Hill Naturalists at the October 2013 meeting: Tell the Canadian Government to protect the ecological integrity of the Rouge Park by honouring the original vision and rehabilitation plans. Together, we can create a 100-square-kilometre National Park our children will be proud of! Sign the letter at http://rougenationalparkfriends.com/.

General Manager of Friends of the Rouge Watershed (FRW), Jim Robb is passionate about the Rouge area. He told the Naturalists about the amazing diversity of plants and animals found in the Rouge Park including flying squirrels, possums and Blanding’s turtles.¹ He outlined the Park’s origins, the lack of national parks in Ontario; and the current plans and problems as Canada Parks prepares to take it over as a National Park.²

The creation of the Park in 1995 was the result of an extensive public campaign to protect the Rouge River watershed and keep as green space the farm lands that were expropriated by Ontario for the Pickering Airport. The Park’s creation stopped the development of the Morningside Expressway, estate homes, and another garbage dump in its watershed³. The Park and Rouge River watershed was given special recognition in Ontario’s Greenbelt Plan (Section 3.2.6).

However under Premier Mike Harris, the provincial portion of the land in Pickering, the Duffin-Rouge Agricultural Preserve was sold to the original owners, or farmers holding leases, for a very low price similar to the expropriated cost. Lands that might have sold for $200,000 an acre went for an average of $7,000 an acre. Developers provided financing with the view to developing those lands in the future. Public pressure resulted in Pickering requiring an agricultural easement placed “in perpetuity” on the deeds for the periphery of each property. However, public pressure has had to be kept up to maintain these easements^4,5 . (Feb 2007).

In 2001, Transportation Minister David Collenette announced that the Oak Ridges part of the Federal lands would be conserved as green space. “March 2001, the Federal Government made another effort to support the Rouge Park by announcing its intention to designate parts of the former Pickering airport lands on the Oak Ridges Moraine for Rouge Park purposes.⁶ ” Nothing concrete was ever done to protect its status^7,8 . Of the 30.5 sq km announced by Collenette little more than 17 sq km are included in the study area for the Park.

The Rouge Park had been managed by the Rouge Park Alliance until recently. Its board consisted of elected officials from the watershed’s municipalities and upper levels of government, and representatives from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Toronto Zoo, Waterfront Regeneration Trust Corporation and the non-profit agency Save the Rouge Valley System Inc. Non-profit organizations with the participation of volunteer groups have been integral to the rehabilitation of the Rouge Park. FRW has been one of these NGOs. Jim Robb had the vision to turn barren land beside the Beare Landfill into the Beare Wetland and did so with the City of Toronto. According to Alan Wells, [former] Chair, Rouge Park Alliance^9:“Friends of the Rouge Watershed has developed very successful ecological restoration methods which utilize good site preparation, native trees, shrubs and wildflowers, and locally collected seed, to help restore a rich and biodiverse mixture of forest, riparian, and wetland and meadow habitats. FRW projects involve thousands of youth and community volunteers in environmental education and action”.

The Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) has been given the management role for the interim. This past summer, the TRCA limited the habitat restoration activities of NGOs and volunteer groups. It cancelled FRW’s seasonal planting contracts and required non-profit groups to obtain a permit for each individual planting event. The Province has not yet handed over its lands to the Federal government.
A campaign was initiated by Rouge National Park Friends over concerns that the Federal Government’s draft National Park concept did not include the environment, but was focused on visitor experience and farming. “We envision the building of a ‘people’s park¹⁰”. Also troubling was that instead of farmland within the Rouge Park being used for local, sustainable food production, it would continue be leased below market rates to farmers growing cash crops¹¹. The current concept does include sustainable agriculture and ecological health, but they are far down the list with the latter second last! Other concerns are the inadequate size of the proposed park, fragmentation of habitat in the Rouge watershed, the low forest coverage in Markham at 5%, and lack of attention to the amount of interior forest habitat needed for some bird species as described by Environment Canada in, “How Much Habitat is Enough”¹². A BC government document says, “Given that microclimatic edge influences can extend 200 m or more into the forested patch, a minimum patch width of 600 m should supply a 200-m wide section of interior habitat¹³“.

Jim Robb noted that the development in Stouffville to the edge of the Park presents a significant barrier to the wildlife corridor if plans go ahead to limit the Rouge Park study area to 57 sq km. It was noted at our October meeting by Marianne Yake that the usual practice for a study area includes the surrounding area so that impacts of projects can be evaluated. A 100+ km2 public land assembly surrounds the Rouge River and Duffins Creek watersheds in Toronto, Markham and Pickering. This publicly-owned provincial, federal and municipal land is predominantly designated Provincial Greenbelt “natural heritage system” and it is

home to the endangered Carolinian forest and mixed-woodland plain life zones of Canada, zones with 1/3 of Canada’s endangered species;
the ancestral home of Mississauga, Huron Wendat and Seneca First Nations and their sacred burial & village sites;
the last chance to create a large national park in southern Ontario, an area with 34% of Canada’s population, 77% of its land in agriculture and human settlement uses and only 1/400th of its land protected in National Parks.

Rouge National Park Friends commend the Government of Canada for creating a Rouge National Park; however, they criticize Park Concept as sorely lacking. In order to create a park that puts the emphasis on the original ecological vision, they are asking the Federal Government to

Expand the current 57 km2 park study area to include the 100+ km2 public land assembly;
Protect and restore a mixed-woodland and Carolinian forest “main ecological corridor” that is 600+ metres wide linking Lake Ontario to the Oak Ridges Moraine; as identified in Section 3.2.6 of the Greenbelt Plan
Strengthen and implement the ecological vision and policies of approved Rouge Park plans and the Provincial Greenbelt Plan to create a true Canadian National Park;
Conduct a scientific and transparent public planning process to create Rouge National Park’s legislation and strategic plan based on ecological integrity, a healthy watershed, fisheries and natural heritage system plans and science;
Ensure that the deep community roots of Rouge Park continue to inform and influence Park planning, protection and implementation by including on a Rouge National Park Advisory Board, First Nations, Friends of the Rouge Watershed and other groups with a history of working for the Park.

A plea to support the original vision

During the 2012 comment period that followed the draft concept, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society — CPAWS — wrote in their submission “The Rouge: Getting it right for Canada’s first National Urban Park” http://www.cpaws.org/campaigns/rouge-park

“The proposed Rouge National Urban Park in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is an opportunity to protect and restore an important ecosystem in Canada’s largest urban centre, and to provide millions of Canadians with the chance to directly experience wild nature without leaving the city. In such a busy urban landscape, assuring the long-term health of the park will require strong management tools that prioritize conservation and provide clear guidance for visitor use.”

Please support the original vision and sign the petition at http://rougenationalparkfriends.com/.

by Gloria Boxen

A plea to support the original vision

Further Reading