Conservation Campaigns

June 22 2018

Algonquin to Adirondacks

CPAWS OV Campaigns, Conservation Campaigns

The Algonquin to Adirondacks Program aims to ensure ecological connectivity and help restore biodiversity within a broad region of eastern Ontario and northern New York State stretching from Algonquin Park to the Adirondack Mountains.

Overview

News

Feb 2012 – CPAWS Ottawa Valley comments on proposed amendments to the General Regulation (Ontario Regulation 242/08) under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 to prescribe the habitat for seven species at risk, including the Rapids Clubtail and Grey Ratsnake ( EBR Registry Number: 011-5306 ).

Species at risk

As part of CPAWS-OV’s Algonquin-to-Adirondacks (A2A) campaign, we would like to draw attention to a number of animal and plant species which have been negatively affected by the lack of natural connectivity in the A2A Eastern Ontario region. Fragmentation of forests and the obstruction of natural corridors, both wet and dry, have contributed to significant declines in many plant and animal populations. The following is a just a small sample.

American Eel (Anguilla rostrata)

The American Eel is a freshwater fish whose broad range of habitats and migration patterns are still not fully understood by scientists. The American Eel has a fascinating life history. They mate and lay eggs in the Caribbean’s Sargasso Sea, where mostly-transparent larval forms travel across the ocean upstream to rivers and lakes. They mature there as adults for a few years, then head back to the sea and to the Caribbean, where they mate, reproduce and die.

Dams and other river barriers are major contributors to habitat loss and population fragmentation of the American Eel on their upstream journey to where they would spend most of their adult lives. Unfortunately, for more than a century, most dams have been constructed throughout the species’ Ontario range without even basic mitigation measures such as eel ladders being implemented. Downstream migration is equally difficult for the American Eel as hydro-electric dams’ turbines are a major cause of death and injury during their downstream return to the Atlantic ocean.

Over the past several decades the population of the American Eel in Ontario has plummeted. In many parts of the Ottawa River watershed, the species has been extirpated.

The Chats Falls Generating Station at Fitzroy Harbour, owned by Ontario Power Generation, Inc., is being updated. This generating station is a major impediment to the survival of the Ottawa Valley-based population of American Eels, as it is not equipped with eel ladders. A similar problem occur at most other hydro-electric facilities in eastern Ontario, including sites elsewhere on the Ottawa River, as well as on the Mississippi, Bonnechere, and Gananoque rivers. It is critical that eel ladders and other technologies be utilized at all sites to facilitate the passage of eels both upstream and down. In addition, a monitoring program must be put in place to determine if the measures that are taken are sufficient to allow the recovery of this important species. If not, then additional measures must be implemented. Technologies, such as water ladders, are available to permit the passing of American Eels through these barriers.

For more information, see the American Eel Ontario Draft Recovery Strategy [PDF]

and the following article: Fish unable to pass through dams in U.S. presents ‘cautionary tale’ for developing world

Eastern Wolf

The Eastern wolf once occupied a range throughout eastern North America as far north as the Great Lakes. Due to habitat loss, and deliberate attempts to exterminate wolves over more than a century, Eastern wolves were eliminated in most of their historical range. Today they occupy a narrow band stretching from the Gulf of St Lawrence to southeastern Manitoba. The exact boundaries of this range are still poorly defined. However, wolves are seldom seen any great distance south of Algonquin or Gatineau parks.

For more information, visit our Eastern Wolf Page.

RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS

Producing a science-based report on the Conservation Potential of the Frontenac Axis: Linking Algonquin Park to the Adirondacks;
Publishing the Thousand Islands Ecosystem Community Atlas as a resource for ecologically based planning and policy development in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River;
Carrying out extensive work to raise public and civic awareness of the challenges in and opportunity for conservation in the A2A region;
Providing critical input to management plans developed for protected areas such as Charleston Lake, Kawartha Highlands and Gatineau Park;
Helping to found and support the Algonquin to Adirondacks (A2A) Conservation Association;
Addressing conservation issues in Algonquin Park , the northern anchor of the A2A region;
Playing a key role in establishment of a protection zone for Eastern wolves and coyotes in all the townships surrounding Algonquin Park.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Visit the Algonquin to Adirondacks Conservation Association website.

CPAWS Ottawa Valley has been a supporter and partner of the Algonquin to Adirondacks (A2A) Conservation Association since its founding in 2000. During the past year the Association undertook an in depth review of its mandate and activities, through two workshops and detailed discussions with various partners. As a result, the organizations has changed its name to the Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative, has expanded its board of directors to include those in both Canada and the U.S., and is pursuing a broader program aimed at assisting various organizations across the A2A region to collaborate more effectively, developing a scientific database for the region, etc. CPAWS Ottawa Valley is continuing to help the Collaborative achieve its goals.

For more information on the Algonquin to Adirondacks campaign or to get involved, please contact John McDonnell at jmcdonnell@cpaws.org or by phone at (613) 232-7297.

RESOURCES

A2A map companion – providing further information on the ecological connections identified in the maps below.
Map I – Bedrock Geology of the A2A Region [PDF]
Map II – Forest & Wetland Cover of the A2A Region [PDF]
Map III – Road Network of the A2A Region [PDF]
Map IV – Protected Areas of the A2A Region [PDF]
Map V – Terrestrial and Island-Chain Ecological Connections [PDF]
Map VI – Aquatic Connections of the A2A Region [PDF]
CPAWS Ottawa Valley comments on proposed amendments to the General Regulation (Ontario Regulation 242/08) under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 [PDF – February 2012]
The Conservation Potential of the Frontenac Axis (CPAWS-OV, prepared by Cathy Keddy, 1995) [PDF]
Thousand Islands Ecosystem Community Atlas (CPAWS-OV, 2004) [PDF]
Wildlife Friendly Waterfront Booklet [PDF]
‘Lightening the Footprint of Logging’ letter
CPAWS-OV Comments on the Bissett Creek Mine
CPAWS-OV Comments on the Jock River Dam
CPAWS-OV Comments on Recovery Strategy of Americal Eel [PDF]

Header photo by Mdf CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

June 22 2018

Road Ecology

CPAWS OV Campaigns, Conservation Campaigns, FrontPageOurWorkSlider, Past Projects category, Road Ecology Campaign

The Road Ecology program aims to engage citizens to maintain and restore connections across landscapes, between parks and protected areas. Ensuring ecological integrity of natural ecosystems and preventing the decline of any species in the Ottawa Valley from road constructions and operations is one of our biggest goals.

Overview

OVERVIEW

Roads and other linear fragments are a major threat to ecological connectivity and to the preservation of biodiversity – all across Canada, but even more so in Central Canada where large cities continue to expand leading to the construction of new roads or improvements to existing roads making them much wider and faster. Roads have a major impact on numerous species of wildlife, and side from the direct mortality caused by roads, roads also break up the landscape into ever smaller fragments of habitat leading to a fragmented and degraded landscape; that is less resilient and less suitable to the species that depend on it. This is a particular problem in the Ottawa Valley, where the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau continue to expand and where major highways are being expanded between the urban area and smaller towns outside the city. Seeing the threat posed by roads to connectivity, CPAWS OV has launched a new road ecology program at the chapter where, in collaboration with other organizations, we will work to ensure that new roads and those that are rehabilitated are designed in such a way as to reduce their impact not only in terms of direct animal mortality, but also designed in such a way as to maintain key connections that exist across the landscape. The chapter has already commented on several road projects and, thanks to the support of the Ontario Species at Risk Stewardship Fund, the chapter is developing a new road ecology guide to help citizens and decision-makers understand the threats and the opportunities associated with designing roads with connectivity in mind.

The CPAWS-OV Road Ecology program’s current objectives are:

To develop a fully resourced road ecology program within CPAWS Ottawa Valley;
Develop guidelines and recommendations specific to road issues and connectivity in eastern Ontario and western Quebec;
Address specific road construction and reconstruction projects as they emerge;
Engage with other organizations, decision-makers and the public on road ecology issues;
Expand program capacity.

Identifying road-kill hotspots for turtles along highway 17

By David Seburn

Road mortality is a major reason many species of turtles are declining. In eastern Ontario, two species at risk turtles face significant threat from road mortality:
• Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), threatened both federally and provincially
• Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina), special concern both federally and provincially
The identification of areas of significant road mortality (hotspots) is an essential first step in mitigating these areas.
Highway 17 northwest of Arnprior has been identified as a road to be upgraded in the future. Our goal in this project is to identify road-kill hotspots along highway 17. By identifying hotspots before the upgrading begins we can work with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) to mitigate these hotspots to reduce future road-kill.

Thanks to generous funding from the Canadian Wildlife Federation, in the spring and summer of 2014 road surveys were undertaken along highway 17 to record all turtles found alive or dead on the road. A total of 84 turtles were found during these surveys. Four turtles were found alive (3 Painted and 1 Snapping Turtle) and the remaining 80 turtles were all dead. Considering living and dead turtles there were 8 Blanding’s, 24 Snapping and 52 Painted Turtles. Although turtles were found along most of the road, approximately half of them were found in one stretch a road.

Global ‘roadmap’ shows where to put roads without costing the earth