Tag Archives: wetlands

The Escarpment Corridor Alliance Celebrates it’s First Year Anniversary!

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On March 1st, 2022, the Escarpment Corridor Alliance made its public debut over a Zoom meeting. It’s hard to believe all that has transpired over the past year and how far the ECA has come. With this post, we would like to reflect on all that has been accomplished over the past year. And, in our next post, we will share a preview of the very exciting year ahead.

 

Making Our Mission Public

From that first Zoom call, attended by nearly 150 people, the awareness and support of the ECA has skyrocketed. Concerned supporters – residents and visitors – of our beautiful Southern Georgian Bay area have resoundingly connected with our mission for broad corridors that protect our natural heritage and biodiversity, and offer unique recreational opportunities to all. And, while the ECA is absolutely fighting against mega-developments like Castle Glen and Talisman, our supporters clearly recognize that we are fighting for something bigger … a green escarpment for generations to come. “Think global; act (BIG) local” is our mantra!

 

Groundswell of Support

One year in and we now have almost 22,000 supporters who have signed our petition to keep the escarpment free of mega developments. Thousands more supporters are reading our newsletters and actively engaging with us on social media.

 

Our Donor Base

Battling large land developers and creating a professional not-for-profit organization is expensive. Period. We are so grateful to the hundreds of individuals, families, and foundations that have made such generous donations that allowed us to accelerate past the grassroots phase and professionalize the organization. Your support has helped us build our team of scientific, planning and legal experts as well as expand our marketing reach.

 

Media Coverage

With a mission that resonates and a highly engaged board of directors reaching out far and wide across the escarpment, the media have taken notice. The ECA has had coverage in countless newspaper articles, magazine features, social media and on CBC Radio (click HERE to listen).

 

Partnerships

The word Alliance in the ECA name is not an accident. In a single year we have partnered with over a dozen local and regional environmental, recreational, and social organizations often becoming a conduit for their voices to be amplified, all while building our base of support. Working in collaboration with organizations like the Blue Mountain Watershed Trust, Protect Talisman Lands Association, Friends of Silver Creek, and others we have significantly elevated our collective impact.

 

Political Action

Throughout 2022 ECA Directors and volunteers made our case through presentations, deputations, written submissions, and townhalls to our elected officials. Moreover, we worked tirelessly to determine which candidates, provincially and locally, shared our vision for a green escarpment. Our impact on elections across the four municipalities we touch was profound. Nowhere was this evidenced more clearly than in The Blue Mountains where the new council recently voted, and unanimously passed, a motion that called for the protection of greenspace and the creation of natural corridors in Southern Georgian Bay. Critically, the motion spoke to increasing collaboration across municipalities, precisely what we, at the ECA, are aiming to achieve. We could not have written it better ourselves!

 

Now, thanks to the ECA and the incredible work of all our directors, volunteers, and supporters, our vision is well recognized across local municipal governments. This sets the stage for other municipalities to follow suit and sends a clear message to the provincial and federal governments.

 

Nobody said it would be easy, but nothing worth fighting for is!

 

Thanks to all of you for your support in getting us off the ground. Let’s build on this remarkable start and make our second year even better.

Protect the Source of Silver Creek: Our Biodiversity and Natural Environment are Under Threat from Impending Development

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The last significant coastal wetland in our region is under threat – and we need your help to stop it.

Lake of the Clouds in Castle Glen is the source of Silver Creek which flows down the Escarpment, through forest and field before coming to rest in the Silver Creek Wetland and then entering Georgian Bay. Despite being designated by the province as “Provincially Significant,” this wetland, along with Silver Creek and its floodplain, may be lost forever.

If, at the top of the Escarpment, the Castle Glen development proceeds, there will be irreversible damage to the Silver Creek Wetland. Compounding this problem are the Huntingwood Trails and Bridgewater developments at the bottom of the Escarpment destroying forever this Provincially Significant Wetland.

Why is Silver Creek under a particular threat?

As South Georgian Bay’s last remaining intact coastal wetland, any development in its proximity will prove destructive to its very fragile ecosystem and already endangered wildlife. Eventually this will have a negative impact on the water quality of Georgian Bay. Without the wetland to provide a carbon sink to cleanse the water and runoff, the Bay will accept unknown amounts of toxins that will have long lasting and devastating effects on the health of the water and the wildlife that populates it.

In cooperation with the Escarpment Corridor Alliance, Friends of Silver Creek are fighting to protect the creek from top to bottom by working together to force the Ontario government to recognize, respect and enforce environmental protections – and preserve the wetlands they themselves have designated as “significant.” We must curtail development to ensure the lasting beauty and natural heritage that attracts millions of visitors each year to our beloved Escarpment.

Time is of the essence and the impacts are very real.

These developments threaten to destroy endangered wildlife habitat and migration corridors, heighten risks from severe flooding, and will mean the permanent loss of our natural heritage from the Lake of the Clouds, down the Silver Creek to the wetland, and ultimately into Georgian Bay. This area needs immediate protection – it simply cannot wait.

Imagine in the near future if signs along the shores of South Georgian Bay are posted saying “Unsafe Beach” or “No Swimming due to Unsafe Pollution Levels.” Imagine dead trout full of micro-plastics along Silver Creek and no salmon returning to spawn as creek beds have been disturbed. Imagine losing our wild spaces along the Escarpment, replaced by homes with a “view for the monied few.”

We’re determined in our fight to make change happen and preserve this area.

This is your chance to think globally and act locally on climate change. Sign and share both the ECA petition and the Silver Creek petition to help build public awareness of these issues.

We need your help – and so does the environment we all rely on and the nature we all love to enjoy.

By Sunny Wiles, Friends of Silver Creek. The Friends of Silver Creek is an aligned organization with the ECA whose mission is to preserve the Silver Creek Wetlands, the last significant coastal wetlands in the Collingwood/The Blue Mountains region and to stop development, within reasonable proximity, to ensure its environmental protection and natural beauty.