The Symphony of Science is a musical project by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form. Here you can watch music videos, download songs, read lyrics and find links relating to the messages conveyed by the music.  Who knew the likes of Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye could teach us about the universe and sing. With the help of modern autotuning technology, digital sampling and his impressive video editing skills, Boswell weaves together haunting melodies and stunning visuals in this growing collection of science music. So far he is focusing on the wonders of the cosmos, but this approach could be used to promote biology and botany just as easily. Let’s hope the Symphony of Science continues to unfold and expand.

The Town of Richmond Hill has postponed a December 1st public meeting to discuss draft planning options and conservation management principles for the DDO lands until January, 2010. A statement sent out by Donna L. McLarty, Town Clerk reads:

In order to provide residents additional time to review the draft options and provide feedback to staff, the concepts will be released on the Town’s web site on Friday December 4th.  Hard copy printouts will also be available from Access Richmond Hill (ground floor 225 East Beaver Creek Road).  Written or e-mailed comments on the concepts may be provided to Town staff up to and including December 20th (e-mail your comments to [email protected]).

Based on input received, the concepts will be refined and presented to a Committee of the Whole meeting early in the new year (more details to follow).  Residents will have an opportunity at this meeting to offer their comments directly to Committee members.

Many RHN members have participated in the Town’s planning process as it relates to the Dunlap lands. All members of the public are encouraged to take the time to comment on the draft options that are to be released on December 4th.  For more information, please see the Town of Richmond Hill’s DDO information.

In other DDO news, on November 23rd, Richmond Hill Town Council voted to “pursue fines and penalties to the fullest extent possible in response to Metrus’ actions during its archaeological assessment of the observatory’s southwest field”.   Mayor David Barrow told a packed council chamber the town is preparing legal documents for a January 15th, 2010 court date and that a fine against the developer would be decided in court.  Some controversy remains over the actual number of trees that were illegally removed, since Town bylaw officers have not yet been able to access the site to untangle and measure a large pile of cut trees. For more details, please see the Richmond Hill Liberal.

Trees being removed on the Dunlap property.

TORONTO – The Save Ontario Species coalition (S.O.S.) is happy for the Jefferson salamander and the wood turtle, not so much for the American badger. The three are among nine endangered species that have just received habitat protection under the Ontario government’s Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Ten habitat regulations were scheduled to be in place by June 2009. Nine have been completed for the following species: American badger, barn owl, eastern prairie fringed-orchid, Engelmann’s quillwort, few-flowered club-rush, Jefferson salamander, peregrine falcon, western silvery aster and wood turtle. The woodland caribou regulation has yet to be released.

S.O.S. is pleased with several of the habitat regulations, noting that those for the Jefferson salamander and the wood turtle set a particularly strong precedent by closely following the science-based recommendations of the recovery teams.

“We’re happy to see that the habitat regulation for the Jefferson salamander takes an ecological approach and protects breeding, overwintering and migratory grounds,” says Amber Cowie, greenway conservation coordinator for Ontario Nature. “We hope that this regulation gives the salamander a toe up in its fight to survive amid the development pressures that continually threaten its home.”

The Jefferson salamander is a tiny amphibian with four front toes and five rear toes that lives under logs, in loose soil or in leaf litter. It is threatened with extinction in Ontario mainly because of habitat loss and degradation.

The wood turtle will also receive greater protection against habitat loss as well as poachers in the pet trade.

“This is a species that is declining across much of its range,” says Dr. Anne Bell, Ontario Nature’s senior director of conservation and education. “Given the impact of habitat loss and degradation on these turtles, it was critical to make sure that the habitat needed for nesting, feeding and hibernating was covered. The government has delivered a strong, science-based regulation for the wood turtle.”

Under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, a habitat regulation does not restrict all land uses, but rather defines the area where the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) will regulate harmful activities. Activities that do not harm habitat can occur without change. Activities that harm the habitat can only proceed if the MNR issues a permit.

Many southern species such as the barn owl and badger have learned to eke out an existence in an already altered rural landscape. In many cases, habitat protection for these species means maintaining current land uses; for example, keeping working farms working and protecting against development.

The badger habitat regulation was an opportunity to break new ground in how habitat in working landscapes could be defined. Instead, the regulation sets a poor precedent by reducing habitat to actual badger residences, few of which are known.

“We recognize that habitat identification for the badger is not easy, but a more precautionary approach should have been applied here,” says Rachel Plotkin, biodiversity policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation. “A five-metre buffer around known dens does little to protect this highly secretive and imperilled creature.”

Estimates suggest that fewer than 200 badgers remain in southern Ontario.
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For more information contact:
Anne Bell, Ontario Nature – (416) 444-8419 ext. 239
Amber Cowie, Ontario Nature — (416) 444-8419 ext. 273; 647-330-3576 (cell)
Rachel Plotkin, David Suzuki Foundation – (613) 594-9026; (613) 796-7999 (cell)

About Save Ontario’s Species: S.O.S. is a collaboration among CPAWS Wildlands League, the David Suzuki Foundation, Ecojustice, Environmental Defence, ForestEthics, and Ontario Nature. For more information, visit www.saveontariospecies.ca .

All members of the public are invited to a Public Design Charette on Saturday, November 7th, being held as part of the David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study:

The DDO Study intends first, to establish a Conservation Management Plan that assists in managing and protecting the property’s heritage attributes; and second, to develop a land use vision and strategic direction for the future of the site that will celebrate its uniqueness and special value. This workshop is the second consultation event for the Study following the Open House held on October 20, 2009. The purpose of the workshop is for the community to help develop conservation management principles and planning options for the site through a number of visioning and design exercises.

Staff from the Town and Planning Alliance (the consulting firm retained to lead the David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study), will be on hand to facilitate the workshop.

For further information, contact Joanne Leung in the Planning & Development Department at (905) 771-5498 or by e-mail [email protected].

When and where:

Saturday November 7th, 2009    9:30 am – 12:30 pm

Langstaff Community Centre,
(Tollgate Room)
155  Red Maple Road
Richmond Hill

More information:

• Town of Richmond Hill DDO web page
• David Dunlap Observatory Lands Planning and Conservation Management Study Open House Information [PDF]

From the DDO Defenders:

It is important for everyone who cares about the fate of the David Dunlap Observatory and its lands, who wishes to protect its heritage and the greenspace to come this Saturday to the design charette with a vision that sends a clear message:

NO RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE DDO LANDS – on any part.

Whether you are a resident of Richmond Hill or York Region or not, show elected officials that this is an important issue for you.  Make your voice heard at meetings and by written word.  Attend Saturday’s design charette visionning the future use and protection  of the DDO lands.  Let Richmond Hill Council know that the zoning must remain institutional and that the site be used for research, educational, cultural, and re-creational, not for residential and commercial development– and that the Official Plan must reflect these uses.

The City of Toronto would not allow the sale of  High Park or Edwards Gardens.  It is developing the Toronto Brickworks.  Why has Richmond Hill and York Region not made strides for the acquisition of the David Dunlap Observatory and lands?  This could be Richmond Hill’s Central Park or Mont Royal, a tranquil oasis in an a busy urban setting. A sanctuary for wildlife.  Continued use as a way station for migrating birds.

Currently, it appears that the only piece of property that the Town will protect is the swath of land that is the continuation of the lands north of the panhandle.  This area contains the Observatory, Admin building, and the Marshes’ homestead, Elms Lea.

We want the Town to be responsive to the Community,the expressed wishes of its residents, and all those who value the David Dunlap Observatory and its lands.  Only then will it have credibility when approaching other levels of government.  The further along the process of planning and official plan amendments is, the higher the cost to bring back the lands into the public domain.  Only continued pressure from the public can reverse the process.

This comment from the online petition gives us in a nutshell why it is so important to save this special place.
https://www.rhnaturalists.ca/save-the-observatory/petition.php :

I worked at the DDO as an undergraduate researcher from 1999 to 2003, and I have a lot of great memories there.  My decision to make Astronomy my career was crystalized during my time at the DDO, and I would be deeply saddened if we lost a source of inspiration for young, inquiring minds.

Furthermore, the DDO land is extremely beautiful and wonderfully tranquil, providing a haven for those seeking a brief respite from their hectic lives.  More importantly, it provides a space to make Astronomy accessible to the public.  I think we would be losing an important part of our history, and we should work hard to preserve and cherish the DDO.

• This is the second of 3 mandated public meetings regarding the Town’s “Planning and Conservation Management Study” for the DDO Lands.

[Planning and Conservation Management Study it's]  more to do with “planning” than it is with “heritage”.  The landowner and developer is working on their own “concept plan” which is called a “Master Environmental Servicing Plan” (MESP), which will lay out their “vision” for development on the Dunlap Lands, a sub-division which they are calling “Observatory Hill”.  This also has to be publicly vetted, and will be “peer-reviewed” by the Town.

• “No development on the Dunlap Lands, not now, not ever”.

We speak for the Dunlap Site as an integral whole.  That is the position we adopted right from the get-go beginning, nothing has changed.  The Dunlap Site houses Canada ’s largest optical telescope, where many important and groundbreaking astrophysical discoveries and confirmations took place over its 73 year storied history.  The Dunlap Telescope is still a viable and valuable astrophysical research instrument which should be in the hands of astrophysicists so they may manage and direct the research and public outreach programs this facility should be, and could be, undertaking.

The Dunlap site encompasses 189 acres of pristine open greenspace – arboretums, forests, meadows, wetlands, marshes, springs, heritage woodlots, heritage hedgerows – which is home to a multitude of flora and fauna which must be protected – a resident deer herd, coyote, foxes, many species of forest wildlife, insects, butterflies, pollinators, owls, hawks, birds of differing species and an invaluable safe harbour for migratory birds.

The Dunlap lands straddle the southernmost edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine, The massive below ground Oak Ridges Moraine Aquifer Complex runs beneath it, feeding the headwaters of German Mills Creek.  The ecological necessity of these undisturbed lands cannot be overly stated in the role they play in the health of all who/which inhabit its space, the surrounding areas, and, very importantly, in controlling the flood plain and storm water runoff.

This remarkable oasis in the middle of urban sprawl must be protected against the ravages of development of any kind.

We have consistently stated and maintained for 2 years now that the Dunlap Observatory and Park should remain as is and as it was intended – a professional research Observatory and public education outreach facility, a Park and Arboretum, home to the Marsh heritage farmstead and surrounded by protecting acres of green space and mature trees, enabling the Observatory’s scientific function.

That is our message, plain and simple, we, the public, want and insist the Dunlap site is saved an protected for all for posterity.  We do NOT support ANY vision for development of any kind.  We ask and insist that OUR voice is heard, respected and listened to.

We hope to see you all at the meeting on [Saturday morning], and that many of you will step forward and let the Town and Planning Alliance, and developer, know just how much we intend to ensure the Dunlap Lands are not disturbed.

We have been given information that some RH residents have received flyers telling them not to attend the meeting tomorrow as the Dunlap is a “done deal”.  We are investigating this claim thoroughly and attempting to receive confirmation.  If anyone on this list has received such notification or you know of anyone who has, please contact me ASAP – 416-990-6694.   Please inform anyone who may contact you about this, that it is unequivocally erroneous disinformation and their attendance is, now more than ever, required at tomorrow’s meeting.

Thank you all again for your continued support…

Karen Cilivitz,
Chair, DDO Defenders