wes_von_papineäu
Our Roving Correspondent
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- Apr 21, 2006
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- Vancouver, British Columbia
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- Wes von Papineäu
THE RECORD (Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario) 12 July 08 This salamander has a message
In a life-and-death battle between a soft, finger-sized salamander and a steel, diesel-powered bulldozer weighing several tonnes, the bulldozer usually wins. In the south of Kitchener, however, the salamander has stopped the bulldozer dead in its tracks and a $57-million road project with it. For this victory, improbable and fleeting though it might be, we humans should be grateful.
The second delay of the extension of River Road over Highway 8 gives people in Waterloo Region a chance -- maybe their last chance -- to save a spectacular part of their natural environment, Kitchener's Hidden Valley area.
To be sure, the road project was planned, approved and ready to roll ahead through part of Hidden Valley. Then, scientists discovered a rare amphibian known as the Jefferson salamander living in the route of the new road, and everything was put on hold.
Both the federal and Ontario governments have declared this species threatened. Both granted it legal protection. Now, the province is setting rules for how it must be guarded. And on those rules -- which should be released next spring -- hang the fate of the River Road extension, the salamander and Hidden Valley.
There are tough choices ahead. It might not be possible to build the road and protect the Jefferson salamanders. And if it's one or the other, what do we choose?
Let's be clear: Every human action produces a reaction in nature. The environment will suffer, too, if this road isn't built to take pressure off Kitchener's Fairway Road. A 2004 traffic study showed Fairway Road was absolutely overwhelmed during peak hours with six intersections operating at capacity.
Such inefficiencies carry huge, ongoing environmental costs. Traffic jams mean idling cars, the waste of gasoline, the emission of more greenhouse gases than desirable. On top of this, traffic gridlock breeds stress and inconvenience. If we don't get this road right in the coming years, future generations may curse us for it.
But is the human need for this new road more important than a rare species that has almost disappeared from Canada? Our society is supposedly becoming more aware of the need to protect the natural world around us. However, our noble intentions and the laws that flow from those intentions are meaningless if we immediately abandon those laws or skirt them when things get tough.
To our knowledge, the Jefferson salamander makes no discernable noise. But its silent, barely perceptible presence delivers a loud message. It says that if we want to preserve the integrity of the natural world we have to limit our footprint on that world. It says that Hidden Valley is a uniquely healthy ecosystem because it can support a species that has disappeared almost everywhere else.
There is at least another year before the River Road extension can proceed. The public should use that time, and its money, to buy Hidden Valley and, instead of letting it be turned over to housing subdivisions, make it a public park. Together, let us secure this marvellous urban oasis for future generations both because it is home to a threatened species and for its own sake. Then let us carefully rethink the River Road extension. Every cost should be incurred to keep it from the salamander's habitat. And if that isn't doable? Well, we've lived without the River Road extension until now.
Perhaps we should be prepared to live without it forever.
http://news.therecord.com/Opinions/article/382328
In a life-and-death battle between a soft, finger-sized salamander and a steel, diesel-powered bulldozer weighing several tonnes, the bulldozer usually wins. In the south of Kitchener, however, the salamander has stopped the bulldozer dead in its tracks and a $57-million road project with it. For this victory, improbable and fleeting though it might be, we humans should be grateful.
The second delay of the extension of River Road over Highway 8 gives people in Waterloo Region a chance -- maybe their last chance -- to save a spectacular part of their natural environment, Kitchener's Hidden Valley area.
To be sure, the road project was planned, approved and ready to roll ahead through part of Hidden Valley. Then, scientists discovered a rare amphibian known as the Jefferson salamander living in the route of the new road, and everything was put on hold.
Both the federal and Ontario governments have declared this species threatened. Both granted it legal protection. Now, the province is setting rules for how it must be guarded. And on those rules -- which should be released next spring -- hang the fate of the River Road extension, the salamander and Hidden Valley.
There are tough choices ahead. It might not be possible to build the road and protect the Jefferson salamanders. And if it's one or the other, what do we choose?
Let's be clear: Every human action produces a reaction in nature. The environment will suffer, too, if this road isn't built to take pressure off Kitchener's Fairway Road. A 2004 traffic study showed Fairway Road was absolutely overwhelmed during peak hours with six intersections operating at capacity.
Such inefficiencies carry huge, ongoing environmental costs. Traffic jams mean idling cars, the waste of gasoline, the emission of more greenhouse gases than desirable. On top of this, traffic gridlock breeds stress and inconvenience. If we don't get this road right in the coming years, future generations may curse us for it.
But is the human need for this new road more important than a rare species that has almost disappeared from Canada? Our society is supposedly becoming more aware of the need to protect the natural world around us. However, our noble intentions and the laws that flow from those intentions are meaningless if we immediately abandon those laws or skirt them when things get tough.
To our knowledge, the Jefferson salamander makes no discernable noise. But its silent, barely perceptible presence delivers a loud message. It says that if we want to preserve the integrity of the natural world we have to limit our footprint on that world. It says that Hidden Valley is a uniquely healthy ecosystem because it can support a species that has disappeared almost everywhere else.
There is at least another year before the River Road extension can proceed. The public should use that time, and its money, to buy Hidden Valley and, instead of letting it be turned over to housing subdivisions, make it a public park. Together, let us secure this marvellous urban oasis for future generations both because it is home to a threatened species and for its own sake. Then let us carefully rethink the River Road extension. Every cost should be incurred to keep it from the salamander's habitat. And if that isn't doable? Well, we've lived without the River Road extension until now.
Perhaps we should be prepared to live without it forever.
http://news.therecord.com/Opinions/article/382328