Marianne and I held the fort at the Ward 6 Fall BBQ today to let residents know about the Richmond Hill Naturalists and to raise awareness of the possible sale of David Dunlap Observatory lands. Despite stiff competition from the Richmond Hill Rams hockey team, town mascots and many other community groups and service organizations, our table drew plenty of interest from concerned residents. Most people were aware of the David Dunlap Observatory, but many were surprised to learn that the University of Toronto has run evening lectures and stargazing programs for many years. Many others did not realize the public is welcome to walk around the DDO lands during the day.

Everyone who stopped to talk was concerned with the prospect of losing the Observatory and surrounding land to development. We met families with young children who were eager to attend DDO stargazing evenings, a number of U of T alumni, local councilors and dozens of local residents. In all, more than 40 people signed letters, calling for the the University of Toronto to halt the process of selling the Observatory lands so that Richmond Hill residents, the Town, Provincial and Federal governments can explore ways to preserve it, and, if possible, continue running the Observatory.

When I left the event, I walked west along Bantry over the CN tracks to catch the Yonge Street bus and was struck by the panoramic view of the David Dunlap Observatory from the bridge over the tracks. The photo below illustrates how development has crept up to the edge of the DDO property and that, for now at least, a considerable amount of forest cover remains on the property.

– Rod Potter

The Richmond Hill Naturalists have recently learned that the University of Toronto is planning to close David Dunlap Observatory, declare the lands ‘surplus’ and sell it off in an ‘open bid’ process to those who can most afford this 189 acres, i.e., developers!

The University of Toronto’s Governing Council will meet on October 30th at 4:30pm to determine whether to accept the proposal of the Observatory lands becoming “surplus” and therefore to be put up for sale. There are 30 reserved seats and 30 first come-first served seats. To RSVP for a seat call 416 978-6576 and to send letters or speak as a deputant (3 minutes max) contact Matthew Lafond, Recording Secretary at matthew.lafond at utoronto.ca. The meeting is at Council Chambers, Simcoe Hall, University of Toronto, 27 King’s College Circle (attached to Convocation Hall).

We ask deputants and letter-writers to ask the Governing Council to NOT declare the lands ‘surplus’ and refer this matter back to staff to look at alternatives to selling the lands in their entirety, and work with the Town and public on determining the best use for these lands, in the name of science, not money!

Alternatives to development

This DDO property could become a small satellite northern campus, much like Mississauga and Scarborough. With financial support from Alumni, many of whom live in the wealthy suburbs around these lands in Richmond Hill whose children now attend UofT as students. Graduate students in particular are said to be the focus of U of T’s growth plans and this location would be ideal for a small graduate research ‘think-tank’ campus. Many of the best and brightest scholars in Ontario come from Richmond Hill high schools already, so reducing the need to travel to downtown Toronto should be considered by U of T planners. Universities can no longer continue to plan for growth for its own sake. They must also consider the social and environmental impacts they place on the outlying communities they serve. The development of new university capacity should strategically improve air and water quality and combat climate change by reducing CO2 emissions. The development of smaller satellite campuses and the creative use of high-speed network applications such as video conferencing, is an approach that could help.

As a last resort, we will fund-raise to purchase the property, an approach that would require broad public support, especially from University of Toronto Alumni. That scenario is not ideal for either the University in terms of future fund-raising (they will become the ‘bad guys’ in the eyes of Alumni in this town), nor for us as residents of Richmond Hill who will have to raise millions of dollars to compete with developers’ deep pockets. In addition, taxpayers would have to pay for a potential OMB hearing over the rezoning of the lands, which we know will be inevitable. We have long supported the Town’s initiative to protect this parcel of green-space, which is currently zoned ‘institutional’ by the Town. The Town has designated the buildings and immediate lands as ‘heritage’.

Currently, it appears that taxpayers will have to compete with land speculators in an open bid process. This was clearly stated by U of T Dean of Science, Pekka Sinervo, who told the Richmond Hill Post: “We have no restrictions on who to sell the property to. It will be based on making the highest value of sale to the university”. Thus, the price of real estate in this Town will once again be driven artificially high, just to line the pockets of the Dunlap heirs, the University of Toronto and the developers. Once again, the cost to nature and the cost to residents’ health and well-being will be unaccounted for.

As an alternative to this nasty scenario, the land should be deemed ‘public property’, kept in the hands of the U of T and turned into a northern campus. If there is any sale of land, it should be to the Town at a reasonable price with a proper Community Plan done for any land parcels that do come up for sale in future. The U of T would be far better off to look at all funding alternatives and keep the DDO operating as a spectral observatory.

It should be remembered that the DDO land is the last significant green space in the south section of Richmond Hill. The loss of this 189-acre urban wilderness will have a devastating impact on wildlife and will affect thousands of Richmond Hill residents who live in the surrounding area. Paving over the DDO lands will add traffic and noise to our already-congested roads. The loss of this property will also rob current and future generations of healthy green space that provides a host of free services including: insect control, air and water purification and carbon storage and habitat for deer and dozens of birds species.

Why close a productive Observatory?

In addition, the Richmond Hill Naturalists have learned that contrary to what the U of T officials have stated in their press release, the David Dunlap Observatory continues to operate successfully as a spectral observatory (light pollution only really is detrimental to optical astronomy) and attracts astronomers from around the globe. DDO astronomers continue to publish numerous research papers and work on special projects with institutions such as NASA. For decades, the DDO has also provided outreach programs to thousands of families and school children in the GTA by hosting school trips, special lectures and observation nights.

U of T’s September 10th press release also contains inaccurate information about the current cost of the maintenance of the facility. The $800,000 per year figure quoted in the release reflects a time when (which was only when it was operating with full-time staff),

The University also cites the need to close the facility because of light pollution. In fact, the Town has had a lighting by-law since 1995. This has helped keep light conditions of the Richmond Hill night sky at 1970′s levels. Remember, it was in that decade when U of T’s own Dr. Tom Bolton discovered the first black hole. There is no real reason to close this facility as it is still being used for astronomy.

Given that many Richmond Hill students have attended the University of Toronto over the years, the destruction of the David Dunlap property would be an unwanted, unfair and unneeded lesson for thousands of U of T Alumni. The announced plan is especially hurtful because it was brought forward with no consultation with area residents.

For these reasons, the Richmond Hill Naturalists are asking the University of Toronto cease its plan to sell off these lands. We call upon the Town of Richmond Hill, the University of Toronto and all levels of government to work together to preserve this property. We believe there are ways the Observatory can continue to operate, perhaps as an independent entity that is shared by all Ontario universities. We believe this green space can and must be saved.

Please visit our Save the Observatory page and start sending lettersto local and provincial politicians and University of Toronto officials.

By Denise Potter

While Rod and I have tried to explore every public park and ravine in our neighbourhood, the David Dunlap Observatory property was always off limits to us, the dense forest surrounded by a fence laced with “Private Property! No Trespassing!” signs.

We’d often see deer in the meadow fronting on Bayview, and once a coyote, and once a fox streaking into the woods like a ghost, but rarely had we ever passed the gates and climbed the winding road up to the Observatory itself.

It is not an old forest. Our people chopped down the original forest to farm the land before Confederation. Decades ago, U of T students planted many of the trees we see now, and many are transplants from Europe and elsewhere, but still they have grown to make a place that is something like wild.

Because the University of Toronto may soon declare these 189 acres of meadow and forest to be “surplus land”, we need to explore the interior, document it, get to know it, just in case it disappears forever beneath the asphalt desert that has buried much of the rest of Richmond Hill.

So for the past few weekends we’ve walked the DDO, and have been startled by the diversity and abundance of wildlife we’ve found. In a brief hour on Thanksgiving weekend we surprised a Cooper’s hawk, three passing Sharp-shinned hawks, and a red-tailed hawk…a triple-handful of flickers, hairy and downy woodpeckers, a pair of Eastern Towhees, an astonishing number of robins, hermit and wood thrushes. There were gold finches, house finches, purple finches, chickadees…tiny ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, red- and white-breasted nuthatches. Some thickets were full of white-crowned sparrows, others offered cover to hordes of white-throated sparrows and juncos. Yellow-rumped warblers and cedar waxwings trilled while a family of catbirds mewed at us.We didn’t see deer but they clearly saw us…we heard their alarm calls in the forest all around us but never laid eyes on them through the thick undergrowth. On later walks we’ve seen a phoebe and even a merlin, glowering at us from the radio tower.

The following Saturday was the Ontario Nature meeting of representatives from Nature groups around central Ontario. Keynote speaker was Ian Shelton, a well-known U of T astronomer longing for Dark Skies, but pointing out that much real valid work still goes on at the DDO.

Despite the blustery weather, some of the visiting representatives and several Richmond Hill naturalists spent another pleasant hour walking the DDO lands. RH Naturalist Joe Ag, a long-time neighbour of the DDO lands, led us along a well-used deer trail through meadow, orchard and thicket to a kind of secret place. Coyote, raccoon and other creatures have left their mark in many places on the path. Not far from Bayview, but completely hidden from the traffic, among the stands of maple, birch and hawthorn, we found the fascinating yellow birch trees, standing on their toes above the dirt, their tangled roots sprawling naked to the world over the ground.

Fortunately an MNR forester (not sure of his name) was there to explain that the yellow birch often begin growing on the stumps of dead trees, so their roots begin above the ground and grow down over the stump, spreading across the top of the soil. The damp earth beneath the roots was scored with the prints of deer hooves.

Several explorations later Rod and I realize we have barely begun to know this piece of land. I suppose to many people it’s just an obstacle they have to drive around. To me it is the largest remaining fragment of wilderness within walking distance of my home, a refuge where hawks spiral across the empty sky and the sounds of traffic are slightly muted, a place where you might see anything, if you look carefully.

Anyone who has a pet can testify that play is not exclusive to humans. And, in the wild, different species often are at odds. But, Stuart Brown witnessed something different. Here, he describes Norbert Rosing’s striking images of a wild polar bear playing with sled dogs in the wilds of Canada’s Hudson Bay. >> Watch slideshow.

The forest north of the French River is the songbird nursery of Ontario. Its ecosystem is threatened by development. Ms. Baker will share information on the forest and its feathered migrants, such as the warblers, woodpeckers and wrens.
Please join the Richmond Hill Naturalists on October 18, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. for this special presentation at Wallace Hall, Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church, 10066 Yonge St. (west side, first block north of Major Mackenzie Drive).

For further information on the Richmond Hill Naturalists or this event, contact Marianne Yake, 905-731-8380. Non-members welcome.