Supplement to 
S)P/k.(rft/ A 
JAN 1 1 1991 
THAI L&LAN D SCAPE 
Volume 25 No. 1 - Spring 1991 s ]] 
WW k i k 
a**!* 1 * 
The GREEN LINE , 
CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATU 
MUSf=E CANADIEN DE LA NATURE 
L I BRARY BtB MOT M feQU S 
k 
IDE “ * * 
1901 will be an interesting year anc and Environmental Management poli- 
wiil bring many new opportunities for cies of the Regional Official Plan anc 
Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club mem- our Conservation Committee will be 
bers, including our new editor as well inviting OFNC members to take part 
as new and previous members of to ensure the necessary policy 
OFNC committees and Council. changes are brought forward, 
_ . . . ..._reviewed and implemented. 
Ontario has a new provincial govern- 
ment, formed by the New Democratic The City of Ottawa will soon release 
Party. During their campaign they hac its latest revision of “A Vision for 
a strong environmental platform. Now Ottawa”, the local Official Plan. The 
that they have a strong majority at latest edition is supposed to incor- 
Queen’s Park, we must each do our porate the recommendations con- 
part to ensure they keep their pro- tained in three massive volumes of 
mises, especially during their forma- submissions and transcripts from the 
live first year of government. Please public - including the OFNC - over the 
write letters, attend meetings, and last two years. Members of the Con- 
make your views heard. 
During the coming year, the 
Municipality of Ottawa-Carieton will) 
|be reviewing the Rural Developme 
servatlon Committee will take the 
time to review and comment exhaus¬ 
tively on the new document. This is 
very important, since Official Plans of 
influence! 
of lands 
municipalities have a great 
on the planning and use 
within their scope and form the I 
basis of any planning review the 
public may seek. Ottawa’s plan - 
when approved - will be its first in 
over thirty years and we’ve got to get 
it right. 
Local politicians will be listening to us 
more carefully than usual, because 
there will be municipal elections 
across the province in November. We 
will have a long-awaited opportunity 
to re-elect environmentally-friendly 
councillors and to replace environ- 
mentally-hostlle ones! Let’s take the 
time to find out the difference. 
HAPPY NEW YEAR! 
nil sum sm v... 
by Michael Murphy 
Wychwood 
Also known to OFNC members as Blueberry Point, a 1.5 
acre parcel of this mixed red-white pine forest area has 
been sold to Helene Tremblay-Alien, who plans to sub¬ 
divide it. This forest area has been described by Dan 
Bruntcxi in his book “Nature and Natural Areas in Canada’s 
Capital”. The developer, confronted with opposition by local 
citizens and environmental groups, has stated “If they want 
to save it, they can buy it.” Unfortunately, her firm price is 
an amazing $70,000. The City of Aylmer is willing to buy it, 
at current market value, for $ 18 , 500 . The difference 
represents the profit the developer stands to make by 
replacing the natural area with roads and housing. 
Constance Creek 
The province’s Environmental Assessment Advisory Com¬ 
mittee came to town on November 14th, for the second 
time, to hear opposing opinions on whether the Eagle 
Creek Golf Course should be designated subject to the 
Environmental Assessment Act. The Ontario Municipal 
Board has already rejected the zoning bylaw that woulc 
permit golfing on the four holes in the Constance Creek 
Wetland, but the OMB decision didn’t make any provision 
for restoration of the 47 acres already destroyed. 
Lawyers for the developer and the township of West 
Carleton claimed that designation under the EAA was 
nappropriate, since only proposed developments are sub¬ 
set to the act, and that designation would sen/e no purpose 
anyway since the golf course was already completed. The 
EAAC has not yet made its recommendation to Ruth Grier, 
the Minister of the Environment, who will decide whether 
the project should be subject to the EAA; the Act provides 
for conditions to be applied to approval (such as the 
restoration of the shoreline of the creek). 
Leitrim Wetland 
The OFNC and several other naturalist groups have been 
meeting with Tartan Homes Ltd to see if a compromise can 
be reached to save the class 1 wetland on the land parce 
owned by Tartan and other companies. These negotiations 
are particularly significant since the municipal planning 
process had already failed to protect or even formally 
acknowledge the wetland when the regional and loca 
official plans were amended - over our objections - to 
permit a residential community for 10,000 to be developec 
at Leitrim. It is to Tartan’s credit that they have been willing 
to delay the project and spend quite a lot of money to 
explore alternatives that could permit them to develop 
without destroying the wetland and Findley Creek, b this 
possible? Will a mutually agreeable and satisfying propose 
emerge from these negotiations? Tune in next issue for the 
exciting conclusion on the Green Line... 
The OTTAWA hTHLD-N AT U R AL1STS’ CLUB 
