Archives

Cover Page

Introduction

Keynote Speakers

Speakers

Agenda

Forum Summary

Participants

Links

• It's our future
• We share the planet
• We have an ethical responsibility
• We can't afford not to
• Why stop now?
• Who else is going to do it?

• Consider roads and road crossings in planning process for all roads
• Municipal government co-operation; to have government change their culture and have ownership
• Municipal level environmental committee
• Elimination of single purpose trips by automobiles
• Natural heritage features as standard features looked at when designing roads
• Look at whole transportation system and take multiple modal approach
• Big picture of Ontario, unified vision based on development and connectivity
• Short-term goal - convert existing culverts, bridges structures to accommodate wildlife, make improvements
• Standardized mitigation techniques
• Every road improvement project viewed as a possible ecological restoration project
• No negative impact
• Ensure both terrestrial and aquatic connectivity (include roads, railways and dams)
• Shared information
• Increase awareness and understanding, and to create a social norm
• Continued populations of small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and all wildlife
• Remove animals from SAR lists
• Permeability - 100% permeability in all human transportation pathways for other organisms in our environment

• Concerned citizens that are willing to collect data and communicate road problems
• Generalists/holistics who can 'hear' the various ecosystem messages and input them into processes
• Carolinian Canada Coalition 'big picture project', habitat connectivity of Carolinian zone
• Provincial Policy Statement
• Natural Heritage Reference Manual
• Municipal Official Plans
• MNR and Conservation Authorities mapping natural heritage systems
• Expertise and experiences outside of the province that we can learn from
• Champions - people who are able to reach broad range of others
• Participants of this forum - researches, consultants, government, non-profit, public citizens
• Media, CBC -can use climate change angle
• Endangered species legislation that will benefit other species
• Transportation master plans
• Maps, pool of data across all kinds of organizations to share
• Hunting organizations - potential support
• Large models along the road (i.e., snake at Narcisse snake dens)
• Federal Fisheries Act, Dept. Fisheries and Oceans
• Transportation planning system that has Environmental Assessment and provides public input (project level)
• Funding, grants
• Growing list of mitigation measures, examples of fencing and passages
• Large awareness of environmental issues, good political position
• Environmental bill of rights - a toolkit of rights
• Ontario Nature greenway strategy
• Organizations with wide audience
• MOT bridge database
• Motivation, passion, energy
• Education alliance, Biodiversity strategy
• Ontario Herptofaunal Summary
• Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas

• Contact list, who to contact, names and numbers
• Partnerships and opportunities to build them, networking
• Forum for communication amongst us
• Data share, willingness to share data, make data available/accessible
• Legislation on data sharing; innovative MOU's (memorandum of understandings)
• Standardization of data
• Endorsement and acceptance from members of our government, senior level buy-in
• Healthy relationship with hunters, anglers, recreationists (i.e., ATVers)
• Better story telling ability, knowing the audience, how to get message out, bridge gap between science and public
• Cultural change to responsibility, acceptance of ecosystem integration
• Participation from the public and NGOs in the public consultation process
• Incentives
• Funding, effective distribution of funds
• Appropriate level of staffing so the job of managing natural resources is manageable
• Champions - people that can take this and run with it
• Citizen guide to transportation planning
• Enforce political will - send proceedings to provincial, municipal level
• Readily available set of design guidelines for wildlife-friendly roads
• Ask for EA process on projects, better use of what is available to us
• People to listen, involvement
• Engineers to be involved and provide innovative ideas
• Policy wording so that mitigation is not optional, something we have to do
• Connectivity analysis
• Natural heritage criteria in planning process of roads
• Parks be responsible to sections of mandates, i.e., ecological integrity
• To know how things work, process, influences
• Understanding, view from other side, recognize other pressures/influences
• An education component
• Professional training and certification programs to ensure issues are identified and addressed

• Summary, clear statement, hard copy communication tool - send clear statement from this meeting to government
• Issue press release of this meeting
• 'Take our hats off' - release reluctance of saying things because representing an agency/organization, be honest
• Appreciation, letters of thanks
• Promote our successes, what we're doing well, that there are people creating solutions. Show people road kill is avoidable, demonstrate through 'crown jewels' like the Banff ecopassage
• Task force
• Habitat Conductivity Analysis
• Communication strategy
• Inter-agency connectivity
• Invitation to Federation of Anglers and Hunters
• Take on list of contacts
• Set up web forum or chat room
• Make a submission on the Environmental Bill of Rights - government to establish processes, training certification programs, standardization
• Approach engineering faculty to set up curriculum with roads/permeability
• Approach ERSI about GIS data availability
• Set up depository for data, central place
• Use media (TV, web, web casts), send letters, open houses, get on the street, face to face
• Get feedback, public participation
• Lobby exceptions
• Speak at facilities - children, seniors
• Schedule next meeting, pick a date

• Bob Johnson (Toronto Zoo)
• Christopher Gosselin (Region Municipality of Waterloo)
• Ellen Schwartzel (Office of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario)
• Fred Schueler (BMNHC)
• John Middleton (Brock University)
• Kari Gunson (State University of New York)
• Marlo Johnson (MTO)
• Rod Bilz (FRi Ecological Services)
• Stephane Bruneau (Parks Canada)

• Carolinian Canada
• Conservation Ontario & Authorities - Jackie Scott will look for a person
• Consultant (Ecoplans)
• Engineer
• Federation of Anglers and Hunters - Victoria Evans will look for a person
• GIS specialist
• MNR Species At Risk Biologist
• Municipal Affairs and Housing
• Municipal engineer and planner
• Municipal Environmental Advisory
• Ministry of public infrastructure and renewal
• NGOs, Ontario Nature
• University representative
• Urban development institute

• Ontario Parks integrate info from this meeting
• Point Pelee comments and suggestions added, presentation to office
• Presentations to engineers
• Compile education info gained
• Learn driver motivations
• Contact agent for task force, chair meetings
• Outline for what we need for habitat connectivity analysis (K. Gunson)
• Compile SAR recovery teams that have identified roads threat (K. Querbach)
• Consultant report to municipalities, report back their responses/concerns (G. Gartshore)
• Long Point study report back to others involved
• Continue research
• Natural Heritage Connectivity in the economy
• All participants to promote issues related to road design and ecopassages within their own organizations