Life Is A Journey: Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid

The previous post focused on involvement in protecting two provincially significant natural areas, that eventually became legally protected as a provincial park, or a provincial conservation reserve. There were lots of other evaluations of natural areas in the OMNR district in my jurisdiction over the years, to determine their future as being protected or altered for development.

One of those involved a westward extension of the Bickford Oak Woods Conservation Reserve (BOWCR). As mentioned in the previous post, BOWCR was the eastward extension of a woodland corridor that varied in width for the entire 6 kilometres ending at the St. Clair River. It was in about late 2006 or early 2007 that we became aware of a sizeable area of woodland being proposed for industrial development by the Royal Dutch Shell Company (RDSC). It was in an area that had not been very carefully evaluated before, but since it was part of the woodland corridor between the St. Clair River and BOWCR, it warranted further examination before not objecting to development. With its profile for quality habitat for species at risk, as well as the value of quality forest cover that could be lost, it was a combination of some of my district colleagues, as well as those from main office who became involved with a few site visits.

What we found was indeed quite significant. The forest itself was impressive, with more than a few examples to determine its value as Old Growth Forest. There were some intact areas that not only represented OGF, but also represented good quality habitat for the endangered Prothonotary Warbler, as shown first.

Next is an example of a large Shumard Oak, another provincial species at risk.

An exciting discovery was this next one: Spoon-leaved Moss. My colleague Ron, who is in the above photo, and I were walking through a section of the better quality forest and paused for a short time. He mentioned that where we were standing would be a good spot for Spoon-leaved Moss to be. And in mere seconds, after glancing around the forest floor, we saw several nice patches of it! It is an endangered species, as prior to this, it had only been found in two locations in Ontario: a small woodlot southwest of London, and also in a wet-wooded area in the Niagara Peninsula. So this was a very significant discovery.

We also discovered a few Butler's Garter Snakes, another provincially endangered species.

There was also habitat for what was a species at risk at the time, Hooded Warbler, and one or more were present in that spot. The species has expanded its Ontario range since that time, and is no longer a species at risk.

It is interesting to note that while a few of us from OMNR were roaming the site and discovering more than a few significant things, the RDSC also had a crew of environmental consultants looking for things. And what was significant, was that in spite of the fact they spent much more time at the site than we did, they found virtually nothing of any significance! Presumably they had been hired to cover the area, but with specific instructions to not find anything that might make future development restrictive. The end result, perhaps a combination of what we found as well as a change in the industrial opportunity was that the site was left undeveloped.

One of the other sites that got a lot of attention in the early 2000s was in the Windsor area. For decades there had only been one bridge connecting Ontario with Michigan, the Ambassador Bridge, which was privately owned. There was also a tunnel under the river, but only the one bridge. So there was a proposal to construct a second international bridge, slightly downstream from the Ambassador Bridge. It was undoubtedly a very practical idea, but unfortunately some of the footprint to alter road access to it, as well as the footprint of the bridge itself would impact some of the most significant tallgrass prairie habitat in Ontario.

A previous post or two illustrated some of the significant prairie habitat found in the Ojibway Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve. There are many, many significant species at risk in this area, and of course the overall provincially significant habitat scattered throughout. This first photo shows an impressive display of Colic-root, an endangered species, and is not within the OPPNR, but in an area that would be severely altered for road access expansion.

Dense Blazing-star at OPPNR

OPPNR display

Fortunately the environmental consultants evaluating the site for potential development, were more efficient than the ones working for the RDSC. Some of the most significant sections were identified, and even some significant species were documented at new sites, such as the endangered Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, next.

There have been some sections permanently altered, as the project goes ahead. An interesting perspective by one of the persons promoting the project was to "just dig up some of the more significant species and plant them elsewhere, such as a roadside patch". In other words, create a garden rather than maintain the quality habitat. I tried to point out that this was just large-scale gardening and did nothing for the overall provincially significant habitat let alone the species survival. Some of the folks understood that, but not enough. And since this project has continued long after I retired, I am sure that some of those impractical thoughts by the proponent were carried out. In fact this new bridge is not yet completed, more than 15 years after it was begun. I haven't been back in that area very often since I retired, in part because I don't want to see the major changes in the high quality habitat that I recalled being there.

Life wasn't all work, at all. Marie, Kristin and I managed a few trips. Some were related to my work interests, such as attending North American Prairie Conferences, first in Nebraska in 2006. The first photo shows them overlooking a river valley of the Niobrara Wildlife Reserve. Marie and Kristin found some things to do while I was attending the conference.

Next, is an example of some of the wide-open prairie area of western Nebraska...

...and watching an elk, wandering around the Niobrara reserve.

We also went to the NAPC in Winona, MN, in 2008, and this time had an extra member along. A student exchange participant, Agnes, from France, was with us. We stopped at a few prairie sites along the way, of course.

Orinoco Prairie

And at Winona, which is right along the Mississippi River, we ventured to a nearby mountain area to get an overview of the city and river. The prospects for sunset photography were promising, so we stayed a bit longer.

There were a few other things going on, and some of it was work related. For example beginning in about 2002, I was invited to become a member of the provincial Committee on the Status of Species At Risk in Ontario (COSSARO), and I was on this committee until about the time I retired. There were well over 100 species at risk known in Ontario even back then, and many of them occurred in the district I was in. I know I was on, or at least involved with, more Species Recovery Teams than anyone else in Ontario, due to the numbers of them occurring in my area. I was also on a handful of Habitat Recovery Teams, which were starting to get more profile since there wasn't much use trying to protect a species unless one also tries to protect the habitat it requires. This was always important to me, and I know for quite awhile I had the following trailer on my work emails:

"Trying to save a species at risk without saving the spaces at risk that it occurs in, is like trying to treat a life-threatening disease with an aspirin"

I was also the regional coordinator for the second Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas (2001-2005). The region I was coordinator for was Chatham-Kent and Walpole Island.

I was also on a team of editors for the newsletter of the Ontario Field Ornithologists for several years.

So many worthwhile things to do!

Marie, Kristin and I also included another trip westward, in 2007, and not work-related. We went through the upper mid-west and eventually ended up in Nelson, BC, before our return. The South Dakota Badlands have always intrigued me, and Marie and I had been there before, but not Kristin, so it was a natural place to stop and explore.

Marie and Kristin are overlooking the rugged landscape.

We camped overnight in our van, and were able to enjoy this sunrise

We explored the Devil's Tower National Monument...

...as well as Grand Teton National Park. This next photo was taken from approximately the same location that Ansel Adams took his famous photo, but he was there at a much better time of day. We had to keep going!

We also went to Yellowstone...

and a few others, such as Mt. Rushmore, Craters National Park, and Little Bighorn National Battlefield.....

Memorial markers at Little Bighorn NB

...before getting to BC to visit my sister and husband. While there, we explored other areas, such as the Davis Creek area, near Lardeau. Next, Kristin and Marie are enjoying and photographing the impressive mountain scenery at Kootenay Lake!

After leaving Nelson, we went to Calgary, to visit Marie's brother Gerry, and also visited Banff National Park. Fortunately the park was not as super crowded as it often is. We saw a Clark's Nutcracker.