Multi-use Trails in the Baselands/Wet Woods

[Ed O'Connor]

The City of Toronto and certain of its member organizations are proposing to construct hard-surfaced, multi-use trails through the Baselands and Wet Woods areas of the Leslie Street Spit and connecting these trails with the Martin Goodman Trail along Unwin Ave. This is intended to make what is currently a wilderness area accessible to cyclists, inline skaters, and dog walkers.

In my opinion, this is a terrible idea and, if implemented, will completely destroy one of the finest bird habitats in the city, if not the country as a whole. Once these trails go in and the crowds follow, you won't be able to watch the Woodcock do their incredibly complex display flights on an April evening, you won't have the opportunity to discover a rarity like the Connecticut Warbler, you won't find any Long-eared Owls sheltering in the Russian Olive trees on a cold winter morning, because the ecosystem that sustains these creatures will have vanished and been replaced by the sort of groomed parkland that already exists at Ashbridges Bay.

There's a meeting to discuss the proposed trails system on Tuesday, April 28 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Toronto Fire Academy, 895 Eastern Ave. Because of a prior commitment, I can't attend, but I urge anyone who has the time and motivation to be there and to raise your voice in protest against this senseless development.

Over the years and with the possible exception of Friends of the Spit, the Toronto birding community has been missing in action on the question of habitat destruction, which poses the greatest current threat to bird populations in North America. If this proposal goes through, it will only serve to confirm what has been a pretty shoddy record of complacency and inaction on behalf of the environment that sustains the creatures we love.

[mc]

http://www.trca.on.ca/events/event.dot?id=205141

[mr.sharp-photo]

yes.
i've booked that into my schedule.
why does this city insist on ruining everything good?
part of the beauty of the wet woods is the solitude. it's relatively quiet. some day, you may only bump into a few people.
and there's nothing wrong with that.

[mr.sharp-photo]

there were about 30 ppl at the meeting, with only 1 or 2 familiar faces.

not sure what to say about what was presented. first, info, including a survey, is apparently being made available on the city of Toronto and the Leslie Spit websites (google it to find it). so please submit feedback.

on one hand, they made positive points. trampling around the vegetation by birders is destructive and pointless. There's rebarr and cinderblocks there that still shouldn't be there and can be cleaned up. giant puddles or mini-ponds on walking paths is silly. so that, i kind of like.

making a proposed bike trail on Unwin and cutting along the fenced area of the wet woods is okish as long as it doesn't cut too deep. there was the concern by someone regarding salting the bike trails and its negative effect on the woods, but Unwin's currently salted, so who knows.

it's the proposed pathway to go through the woods to link to the Spit's gate that has me nervous. the path may be a simple 3 foot wide dirt path. it won't be a giant paved path. it will go down Marina Rd and cut through the woods to link the 2 parts of the park. what makes me nervous is they're encouraging more foot traffic through the woods. they also aren't sure what to do about birder paths, but i have a feeling that the woods will become a bit more restrictive for us to freely use, for good (of nature) or bad (for us).  a city employee basically said he wants to alleviate some of the volume/strain felt at Ashbridges Bay and by connecting the Martin Goodman trail east and west, he envisions that happening. If we're getting some Ashbridges overflow, that's a horrible, horrible situation for the spit.

i stressed that the solitude and inaccessibility's what makes the wet woods a great place. we'll see if they agree

[Ed O'Connor]

Richard: Thanks for going and thanks for the report. It sounds like the situation, though not as dire as feared, still presents cause for concern.

[szhai]

Here are the trails they are proposing. The yellow and pink dashed lines are going to be paved multi-use trails (i.e. bike trails like the current Martin Goodman trail). The thick blue line that goes across the wet woods is a proposed a 1.5m-2m wide pedestrian trail. It may look like the current gravel trail that runs along the water on the south side of the spit. The green dashed lines are proposed foot paths that will replace the current informal trails (shown in black lines) through the woods. The green lines will be narrow dirt trails like the trails there now but more solid under foot, in the words of the presenter. The informal trails there now will be closed and restored to natural state.

The presenters emphasized that the trail designs are not set in stone. It's the beginning of a conversation. They are inviting comments through this online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/baselands. They have not decided on the exact placement of trails or what material they will use. There were talks of constructing boardwalks to get across the wet areas in the woods, or perhaps just elevated footpaths.

What causes me the most concern is the blue pedestrian trail. It will no doubt invite many runners, casual walkers and bikers to cut straight through the wet woods. That's bad for birds and birders!

[mr.sharp-photo]

IF the runners and pedestrians stick to the trail then it may not be horrible. it all depends where the trail cuts through. remember: there are large enough patches of the wet woods that currently only have scrub grass and don't attract birds. i also don't envision that path being overly busy, since the marina road is quite dead.

but new traffic is indeed new traffic.

i tend to avoid the wet woods during high birding days (i.e. weekends during the spring). i selfishly enjoy the solitude and having the space to bird without having to sit on the laps of a dozen other birders. we all know what it gets like during peak spring migration.  i can't imagine pushing the density of birders together in set paths. it will turn it into what i hear Point Pele is like. dozens of birders running to and fro to see one bird that's landed

[nana]

I had to leave the survey partly complete  while I went to a meeting
When I tried to finish, it said I had already replied to the survey and I couldn't get back in
At one point it erased a long answer I had put in to one of the questions
Just a heads up to be aware of glitches...........

here is the link to the survey - a chance to speak up about this important issue

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/baselands

[BC]

If the city is really interested in habitat for birds they'll create a sanctuary and keep everyone out, including birders. Currently, the 'birders' trails are more similar to game trails than any proposed gravel paths and getting your feet wet is the price you may pay for a magical urban birding experience.

Unfortunately, I think we can anticipate another off-leash dog run, no matter what signs will be posted. I was working last Tuesday night but will follow up with the suggested websites. Thanks, Ed et al, for posting.

[mc]

http://trca.on.ca/the-living-city/publi ... trails.dot