Saturday, January 14, 2012

Help create a Songbird Meadow

An important initiative from Conservation Halton needs your support!
See the reasons why here ====>   Couple on Quest to Protect Bobolink

 







Help create a Songbird Meadow in Oakville through Shell's Fuelling Change initiative


The next round of the Shell Fuelling Change contest Shell Fuelling Change  is underway and the Conservation Halton Foundation is in the running to raise $50,000 for the Songbird Meadows project. The project's goal is to create new wetland and grassland areas at the Glenorchy Conservation Area in Oakville.

The project needs to finish in the top four in the category to receive $50,000 to create needed habitat for songbirds and wetland birds and creatures. Songbird Meadows is currently in third place, we hope you can provide your support to keep us in the top four. 
Conservation Halton Foundation Songbird Meadow project 

Shell FuellingChange

It's easy to support the Conservation Halton Foundation Glenorchy Songbird Meadows project:

Please feel free to share this site to help support environmental projects benefiting Canada's land, air and water. 

About Glenorchy Conservation Area
Conservation Halton is restoring the natural habitat at Glenorchy Conservation Area, which is not currently open to the general public. Less than three per cent of pre-settlement grasslands remain in Ontario and wetland areas have been reduced by 60 per cent through urbanization and conversion to agriculture.

The Shell Fuelling Change funding will help to create grassland habitat to benefit songbird and grassland bird species such as the Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Kingbird and Spotted Sandpiper, and wetland habitat to provide foraging and nesting areas for ducks, and creatures like the Snapping Turtle and Western Chorus Frog. 


To achieve this, we will create almost 5 acres of wetland (an area the size of 4 1/2 football fields) and 33 acres of grassland habitats (covering an area the size of 30 football fields). The grasslands surrounding the wetland are key to providing habitat.
The wetland and grassland areas will be created by excavating select areas, creating a berm to contain surface waters, and planting plant material to create the habitats.


How Our Project Helps the Environment
The Songbird Meadows project will positively impact the environment by creating important new wetland and grassland habitat for songbirds and other wildlife.
The expected benefits are: the creation of 5 acres of wetlands and 33 acres of grassland areas. This will provide important habitat areas for songbirds, ducks, turtles and frogs.
We will measure the success of this project by the completion of this project by May 2013; by the establishment of the wetland and grassland areas; and by the use of these new habitat areas by songbirds and other wildlife.


About Conservation Halton Foundation
Biodiversity and Wildlife protection/management
Contact information
Legal Name: The Halton Region Conservation Foundation
Phone: 905-336-1158
Email:bhobbs AT hrca.on.ca
Website: www.conservationhaltonfoundation.ca
Address: 2596 Britannia Road West
Burlington, ON
CA, L7P 0G3

Thank you for helping us raise $50,000 for new habitat in Oakville!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Trails Master Plan for the Natural Heritage System Coming Back To Council

from OakvilleGreen....

Trails Master Plan for the Natural Heritage System Coming Back To Council

A couple of years ago, Oakvillegreen fought a plan that would put 3 m wide, paved pathways with 1 m mowed buffers on either side, that were lighted in some areas and de-iced in winter through our Natural Heritage System in north Oakville because we believe, call us crazy, that you can’t preserve nature while paving it over. In the end, Council approved the Master Transportation Plan without approving the NHS trails plan. Staff was to go away and come back with a report. The Mayor also struck a trails committee that released a report that included the suggestion that “natural trails” that are narrow and consist of only natural materials, be added to the Parks list of trail types. Now we understand a trails plan for the NHS is coming to the Planning and Development Council meeting on November 14. We have asked for, but have not yet received the plan. We believe it is essentially unchanged from what was presented previously and, if so, we will fight it again. We will need your support on this issue and will get back to you with how you can help. Please stay tuned.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halton Region Transportation Master Plan

Master Transportation Plan
Notice of Study Completion
Appendix D - Environmentally Sensitive Areas

REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF HALTON
NOTICE OF COMPLETION
Transportation Master Plan to 2031 - The Road to Change
PR-2414

Background
Halton Region has completed a Transportation Master Plan – The Road to Change to develop a sustainable and integrated transportation plan that considers all modes of travel (automobiles, transit, cycling and walking) to the year 2031. The Transportation Master Plan was conducted in accordance with the master planning process following the requirements of Phases 1 and 2 of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process (October 2000, as amended 2007) which is an approved process under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act.
Process
The Transportation Master Plan provides the Region with the strategies and tools needed to manage traffic safely, effectively, and cost efficiently. This plan offers a range of transportation choices to meet the needs of Halton residents through Active Transportation, Transportation Demand Management and infrastructure related improvements. A key outcome of the study is a list of transportation projects that the Region can incorporate into its 20-year Roads Capital Program.
The Transportation Master Plan incorporates public, local municipal and agency comments received during the course of the study. While the Transportation Master Plan addresses need and justification at the broad level, more detailed studies for Schedule C projects included in the Transportation Master Plan will be completed in subsequent studies as per the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process.  We would like to take the opportunity to thank those members of the Halton community who participated in the Transportation Master Plan project. Your time and input was appreciated. Copies of the Transportation Master Plan document are available for your information at the following locations and on Halton’s website www.halton.ca/htmp.



City of Burlington
Clerk’s Department
426 Brant Street
Burlington, Ontario L7R 3Z6
Tel: 905-335-7600
Mon - Fri: 8:45am – 4:30pm



Town of Halton Hills
Clerk’s Department
1 Halton Hills Drive
Halton Hills, Ontario L7G 5G2
Tel: 905-873-2601
Mon - Fri: 8:30am – 4:30pm



Town of Milton
Clerk’s Department
150 Mary Street
Milton, Ontario L9T 6Z5
Tel: 905-878-7252
Mon - Fri: 8:30am – 4:30pm



Town of Oakville
Clerk’s Department
1225 Trafalgar Road

Oakville, Ontario L6H 0H3
Tel: 905-845-6601
Mon - Fri: 8:30am – 4:30pm



Halton Regional Centre,
Citizen’s Reference Library
1151 Bronte Road
Oakville, Ontario L6M 3L1
Tel: 905-825-6000
Mon - Fri: 8:30am – 4:30pm



Further Information requests or comments can be directed to:


Ms. Melissa Green-Battiston, P. Eng.
Supervisor, Transportation Planning
Halton Region
Phone: 905-825-6000, Ext. 7623
Fax: 905-847-2192
Email: melissa.green-battiston@halton.ca



Please provide all written comments to Halton Region by Monday, November 14, 2011 (within 30 days of this Notice).This Notice issued October 13/14 and October 20/21, 2011.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Are we reaching 'peak car'? - Globe and Mail


Are we reaching ‘peak car’?

Oct 22, 2011 – If car culture is on the wane, as some transportation experts suggest, it’s not just because of high unemployment or soaring gas prices, or any ideological campaign. People are simply opting out, writes

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Bobolink

Couple on quest to protect  bobolink


It’s unfortunate the bobolink can’t read. Otherwise, it would see the writing on the wall and make the necessary migration adjustment.
As it is, within the next decade, with the extension of the James Snow Parkway and other designated development, the songbird’s nesting space in the tall grasses of the expansive farmlands between Milton and Oakville could be wiped out.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Michigan Lily

Michigan Lilies in the floodplain of Sixteen Mile Creek