National Park status is being considered for Cootes Paradise
By Craig Campbell, Ancaster News StaffThe Cootes Paradise National Park could stretch from Princess Point across the Royal Botanical Gardens nature sanctuary, through Pleasant View to the Niagara Escarpment. Though the idea of naming Cootes a National Park is still in its earliest stages, with several issues to address and a very lengthy, complicated review process yet to begin. But local Member of Parliament Russ Powers started the ball rolling this week with a letter asking federal Environment Minister Stephane Dion to look into the possibility.
"We have to find out if there is an appetite to consider a new park," Mr. Powers said from his Ottawa office last week. "I think it would certainly warrant a look. I don't think we'll get the answer overnight."
He thinks Cootes Paradise offers a perfect opportunity for Parks Canada to name its first "urban" National Park.
The request comes at a time when the Royal Botanical Gardens, which maintains and studies part of the Cootes Paradise area, is undergoing a management review. The future of the RBG sanctuaries ñ including Cootes Paradise, its biggest and most significant ñ is unclear.
John Hall of Environment Canada is the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan co-ordinator. The idea of making Cootes Paradise a National Park is no surprise to him.
He said the area is unique partly because it combines the northern limits of Carolinian forests and the southern limits of northern forests.
"Between Cootes and the escarpment is a very special ecosystem. It has some of the highest biodiversity of plans in all of Canada ñ if not the highest," Mr. Hall said.
He noted that Cootes is home to several threatened and endangered species, so it's not surprising there would be a request for National Park designation
"Because these lands are so naturally significant, it may be significant enough to have some sort of national park," he said.
"The marsh is the largest in Western Lake Ontario. Restoration work has been done there for the past 10 years. You've seen the biodiversity of the plant life become more diverse."
According to Mr. Hall, the increase in plant diversity has meant more diverse bird populations staying longer in the marsh because of improved food sources.
"It's a land ecosystem that's very significant and it's in the heart of an urban area," he said. "We have a limited number of these really special natural lands and we need assistance to manage these lands. The RBG recognizes they have something extremely special ñ but you have to manage them properly."
Cootes Paradise has already been named a Provincially Significant Class One Wetland ñ the highest designation available from the Ontario government, an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest, and an Environmentally Sensitive Area.
The Niagara Escarpment, which runs through the Cootes Paradise area, is a United Nations World Biosphere Reserve.
Ken Whitbread, manager of the Niagara Escarpment Commission, had not heard of Mr. Powers' request, but said the commission would not oppose a Cootes Paradise National Park.
"We live in harmony with the Bruce Peninsula National Park. There's no downside to the feds becoming involved. The upside is everyone knows the federal government has more money than the provincial government, or the RBG, to spend on maintenance and upgrades."
Canada's oldest and longest footpath, the Bruce Trail, runs right through Cootes Paradise. The trail reaches north to the Bruce Peninsula National Park. Cootes is also home to the Bruce Trail Association headquarters.
Cootes Paradise was first recognized for its significant wildlife in the 1770s, when Captain Thomas Coote, a British soldier, regularly visited the area to hunt and fish. When the area was first settled in the 1790s, it was called Coote's Paradise.
Former RBG field botanist Tyler Smith produced a checklist of natural plants in Cootes Paradise two years ago. More than 1,050 naturally occurring plants were listed.
"There are a number of federally endangered species listed in this document, including Few-Flowered Clubrush. The population in Cootes Paradise is the only sizable population of this species anywhere in Canada," Mr. Smith said.
Also in 2003, the Hamilton Naturalists' Club produced an inventory of Cootes Paradise. The report notes Cootes has several significant hydrological ecological functions, and is a significant educational and scientific research site. It also features a unique "drowned valley" topography.
The inventory notes at least eight different species of trees in several woodland areas of Cootes Paradise's more than 1,100 hectares. The inventory also found 172 species of vascular plants.
"This area contains the second highest total of rare plant species along the Niagara Escarpment," the report states.
Eighty-seven species of fish are recorded, including one extripated in Ontario and two of National special concern. Four are considered provincially significant.
A total of 97 bird species were recorded, including the nationally rare hooded warbler.
Carl Rothfels, field botanist and natural land steward at the RBG, said he's not aware of any other largely intact natural area in a highly urban setting in Ontario. He said Cootes also has a well-documented human history, and preserves large amounts of nationally significant habitats.
"It's the first, unconfirmed, commercial fish santuary in North America, established in 1864," Mr. Rothfels said. "It contains a bewildering list of breeding Species At Risk."
He listed at least 24 species of plants, amphibians, birds and fish which were breeding in Cootes Paradise in 2004 while on the federal endangered species list.
Mr. Rothfels said Cootes Paradise would be better protected as one large area, along with surrounding natural lands. The area's natural history value could be lost by fragmentation into smaller systems.
Despite the well documented national significance of Cootes Paradise, even if Mr. Powers' request is successful there could be a long wait for Cootes Paradise National Park.
Most of the parks take about five years to be realized. Complicating the situation for Cootes Paradise is the fact that Parks Canada is currently involved in a five-year project to place parks in specific regions of Canada by 2008.
Kevin McNamee, director of parks establishment at Parks Canada, explained that the country is divided into 39 natural regions.
"In 2002, a goal was set to establish 10 new national parks. Right now we're focussed on the unrepresented regions," Mr. McNamee said. "We undertake ecological studies to find which areas best represent a natural region."
Once the best location within a region is decided on, there's plenty of negotiation with provincial governments, property owners and the public before a park is named.
Cootes Paradise falls into the same region as both the Bruce Peninsula National Park and Point Pelee National Park. With two National Parks in this region, and several regions without a National Park, Cootes Paradise might not be on the radar at all ñ if it wasn't for the official request in the hands of Environment Minister Stephane Dion, who reportedly promised to pursue the idea at the recent meeting of the local Federal Liberal Riding Association.
And Thys Theysmeyer, acquatic biologist at the RBG, figures the Parks Canada policy is flawed, when it comes to Cootes Paradise ñ and that could end up working in the local area's favour.
He recognizes this region is already represented with two National Parks, but argues the Parks Canada region for southern Ontario lumps the Carolinian forest with the mixed deciduous forest.
"Most species at risk in Canada occur in the Carolinian Region, and Parks Canada is one of the agencies mandated to protect species at risk," Mr. Theysmeyer said. "Parks Canada is very weak for Carolinian Canada. RBG properties have more species at risk than any other in Canada."
He argued Point Pelee is not a proper representation of the region, because it only features marsh and sandspit species. Only Cootes Paradise can meet the Parks Canada mandate and fully represent the region.
"The only legitimate potential place in the Carolinian Region is our area, particularly as Parks Canada would be looking for a relatively big piece of land to work with. Our properties from Cootes Paradise to the Escarpment...are the best shot there is left in Carolinian Canada, they just need to realize it."
Environment Minister Stephane Dion, and his office, did not respond to requests for an interview.
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