COOTES TO ESCARPMENT ECOPARK: COORDINATING CONSERVATION

NRU
Jan. 11, 2017
Leah Wong

As Burlington and Hamilton continue to grow, public landowners struggle to find the balance between increased access for recreational uses and preservation of environmentally significant lands. Their collaborative management guidelines set the tone for voluntary stewardship.

A landowner coalition— Bruce Trail Conservancy, City of Burlington, Conservation Halton, Halton  Region, City of Hamilton, Hamilton Conservation Authority, Bay Area Restoration Council, Hamilton Naturalists’ Club, McMaster University, Royal Botanical Gardens—is finalizing its second and third of six  anagement plans for the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark. EcoPark coordinator Peter Kelly told NRU that the landowners are coordinating their conservation efforts through the management plans.

“The plans take a more regional approach and look at the connectivity of the lands regardless of who owns them,” said Kelly. “You get [a sense of] the consistent issues [the various partners] are finding throughout the heritage lands.”

The two newest management plans—for the Clappison-Grindstone and Waterdown-Sassafras Woods heritage lands—have been completed and are awaiting approval by Burlington council. The conservation authorities and the City of Hamilton have already approved the plans.

One of the central issues that was raised through the planning process was the danger to the species at risk located in these areas given the increased pressure for development and recreational uses. Kelly said the Hamilton- Burlington area has one of the highest rates of biodiversity in the country.

“One of the main points that came out through the [planning] process was that you have people that... would like to hike or bike [in these areas] and then at the same time you’ve got the managers and property owners that... don’t want [them] there... because there are threatened species in that area.”

Conservation Halton science and partnerships associate director Kim Barrett told NRU that the collaborative nature of the plans also improve the conservation efforts of the individual partners.

“Given the fact we have this significant natural area and there are so many partners that own lands that are close to or adjacent to each other, [the collaboration] is important from a management perspective,” said Barrett. “If we’re managing [an invasive species] on our properties but there is an adjacent landowner who has it all over their property, our efforts [will be more] successful if we... coordinate with other landowners.”

Burlington parks and open space manager Rob Peachey told NRU that the management plans include an assets inventory, which provides all landowners with a base of knowledge.

“It’s a good starting point for [landowners] to really better understand our own land holdings and the opportunities and constraints that are there.”

To balance recreation use with conservation, the plans include recommendations to improve and expand interpretive signage in the EcoPark. The new signage is intended to educate the public about where people are allowed and provide information about why people are prohibited from certain areas.

“In 2017 one of the things we are hoping to come out of the plan is the movement towards an integrated signage system within each of the heritage lands and then eventually across the entire EcoPark system,” said Kelly.

Representatives from each of the 10 partners meet monthly to discuss progress on the management plan recommendations.

Though the Clappison-Grindstone and Waterdown-Sassafras plans are still being finalized, Kelly said one of their early outcomes has been the creation of the Hamilton Burlington Mountain Bike Association.

“We wanted representation from the mountain bike community, but there wasn’t [a formal] one,” said Kelly. A local bike shop owner served on the stakeholder advisory committee and was involved in the eventual formation of the association. “I think having these two plans prepared was one of the impetuses for getting this group organized.”

The first EcoPark management plan, approved in 2014 by the conservation authorities and municipal councils in the coalition, was for the Burlington Heights heritage lands. This area includes the Dundurn National Historic Site, Hamilton Cemetery, High Level Bridge and the Royal Botanical Gardens’ rock garden. It is distinct from the Clappison-Grindstone and Waterdown-Sassafras areas because it includes more cultural spaces than other clusters within the EcoPark. However, it was the testing ground for the process and through it the coalition established a framework for public consultation.

“The process, with regards to preparation of the next two plans basically followed what had been developed for the Burlington Heights plan because it had worked,” said Kelly. “And [a similar process] worked for the next two plans.”

Kelly said that the plans are not regulatory, so their implementation is voluntary on the part of the partnering landowners. In Burlington, this has garnered support from a number of private property owners with land in the EcoPark agency coordination has streamlined stewardship opportunities.