wes_von_papineäu
Our Roving Correspondent
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- Wes von Papineäu
THE RECORD (Kitchener, Ontario) 04 July 07 The salamander that stalled a road
The most powerful creature in Waterloo Region today is a tiny amphibian that lives under logs and eats worms for breakfast.
The Jefferson salamander may not boast long teeth or a venomous bite and, in fact, doesn't even grow longer than 18 centimetres. But it has single- handedly delayed bulldozers, dump trucks, construction workers and a major Kitchener road project that has been planned for decades and is worth up to $62 million. Good for the salamander. It has reminded us we are not alone in this world.
It has reminded us, and it has stalled this project, not because of its size or strength but, instead, owing to its great rarity. In all of the vastness that is Canada, this grey, blue-spotted creature is found in only a few isolated parts of southern Ontario.
For this reason it is classified as a threatened Canadian species. And for this reason it is protected by both federal and Ontario laws. And because it has been recently discovered in Kitchener's Hidden Valley, the extension of River Road in the south part of the city is on hold for at least a year until consultants review what the project means to the salamander. This is the proper decision.
Some people will find it ridiculous, perhaps even outrageous, that an important public project deemed necessary for the growing communities of Waterloo Region should be delayed or possibly stopped by a creature that seems so insignificant.
And it is true that there are compelling reasons for the River Road extension to proceed. Traffic is chronically congested on Fairway Road and in much of south Kitchener. Relieving that congestion by building new routes is not just a matter of convenience, it enhances road safety. This newspaper has, in the past, supported the River Road extension for all these reasons.
Yet human priorities are not the only ones that matter. If there is any lesson our advanced technological civilization is learning and must learn, it is that the needs of the planet's environment are as easily as important as the needs of humanity. Again and again we have realized the intricate web that connects all life.
We have realized that poisoning insect pests can poison ourselves. We have discovered that if humans raise global temperatures a few degrees, they, as well as other species, will suffer. We become fearful when ponds in the Arctic dry up. We worry when the march of progress steamrolls over a rare animal species.
Moreover, we have experienced a moral transformation that has made us recognize the right of other animal species to exist. They have this right not merely because we might one day realize some monetary, scientific or practical gain from them but because they simply have the right to be -- and be left alone.
The Jefferson salamander is so rare in Canada and its future so precarious that it has been afforded the protection of our environmental laws. If those laws are to matter, if they are to be worth more than the paper on which they are printed, they must be respected by the government and people of Waterloo Region.
To be sure, the regional administration does owe the public an explanation. It is odd that while the River Road extension has been planned for more than 20 years, and while it has been the subject of much environmental study in that time, it is only now that researchers have discovered the Jefferson salamander in Hidden Valley. Had regional officials discovered this rare salamander earlier, it is possible the project could have been modified and allowed to proceed without delay. But because the region failed to locate the salamander, the project will be stalled. And because it might now proceed after next year's widening of Highway 8 in that area, the River Road extension could wind up costing the public far more and disrupting traffic far more than would otherwise have been the case. This is not smart planning.
That said, the region is acting properly in delaying the River Road extension and determining what impact the project would have on the Jefferson salamander. There should be room in Waterloo Region for people, for cars and for roadways, to be sure. There should also be a place for the salamander named Jefferson.
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/...8&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546
The most powerful creature in Waterloo Region today is a tiny amphibian that lives under logs and eats worms for breakfast.
The Jefferson salamander may not boast long teeth or a venomous bite and, in fact, doesn't even grow longer than 18 centimetres. But it has single- handedly delayed bulldozers, dump trucks, construction workers and a major Kitchener road project that has been planned for decades and is worth up to $62 million. Good for the salamander. It has reminded us we are not alone in this world.
It has reminded us, and it has stalled this project, not because of its size or strength but, instead, owing to its great rarity. In all of the vastness that is Canada, this grey, blue-spotted creature is found in only a few isolated parts of southern Ontario.
For this reason it is classified as a threatened Canadian species. And for this reason it is protected by both federal and Ontario laws. And because it has been recently discovered in Kitchener's Hidden Valley, the extension of River Road in the south part of the city is on hold for at least a year until consultants review what the project means to the salamander. This is the proper decision.
Some people will find it ridiculous, perhaps even outrageous, that an important public project deemed necessary for the growing communities of Waterloo Region should be delayed or possibly stopped by a creature that seems so insignificant.
And it is true that there are compelling reasons for the River Road extension to proceed. Traffic is chronically congested on Fairway Road and in much of south Kitchener. Relieving that congestion by building new routes is not just a matter of convenience, it enhances road safety. This newspaper has, in the past, supported the River Road extension for all these reasons.
Yet human priorities are not the only ones that matter. If there is any lesson our advanced technological civilization is learning and must learn, it is that the needs of the planet's environment are as easily as important as the needs of humanity. Again and again we have realized the intricate web that connects all life.
We have realized that poisoning insect pests can poison ourselves. We have discovered that if humans raise global temperatures a few degrees, they, as well as other species, will suffer. We become fearful when ponds in the Arctic dry up. We worry when the march of progress steamrolls over a rare animal species.
Moreover, we have experienced a moral transformation that has made us recognize the right of other animal species to exist. They have this right not merely because we might one day realize some monetary, scientific or practical gain from them but because they simply have the right to be -- and be left alone.
The Jefferson salamander is so rare in Canada and its future so precarious that it has been afforded the protection of our environmental laws. If those laws are to matter, if they are to be worth more than the paper on which they are printed, they must be respected by the government and people of Waterloo Region.
To be sure, the regional administration does owe the public an explanation. It is odd that while the River Road extension has been planned for more than 20 years, and while it has been the subject of much environmental study in that time, it is only now that researchers have discovered the Jefferson salamander in Hidden Valley. Had regional officials discovered this rare salamander earlier, it is possible the project could have been modified and allowed to proceed without delay. But because the region failed to locate the salamander, the project will be stalled. And because it might now proceed after next year's widening of Highway 8 in that area, the River Road extension could wind up costing the public far more and disrupting traffic far more than would otherwise have been the case. This is not smart planning.
That said, the region is acting properly in delaying the River Road extension and determining what impact the project would have on the Jefferson salamander. There should be room in Waterloo Region for people, for cars and for roadways, to be sure. There should also be a place for the salamander named Jefferson.
http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/...8&call_pageid=1024322168441&col=1024322320546