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Snakes alive! And all thanks to Anne
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Cameron Smith, The Toronto Star
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"Did you hear that?" She was almost whispering. "No," I said, but then I'm a little deaf.
"It's a rattlesnake." She was poking in the long grass with her walking stick, trying to locate it. We didn't find it, but she has enough photographs of those she has found, that I didn't doubt her word.
"They're very shy and quick to get away," she explained.
I'm not going to tell you where we were in Muskoka, nor am I going to tell you Anne's last name, because poachers would love to know the location. They catch Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes and baby turtles for the pet trade and full-grown turtles, even species at risk, for sale to restaurants offering turtle soup.
But this isn't a column about poachers; it's about the construction of a road and a remarkable effort to save the habitat of species at risk.
The road will pass through land owned by the province and is being built for people who bought cottage lots in the Township of Georgian Bay. It will cross a wetland where there are several species at risk, including Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes and Blanding's turtles, both threatened species. Predictably, there was a struggle between the cottage lot owners and area residents, most of whom own cottages with roads but want to protect the wetland and its many inhabitants.
In the end, the road will be built. But thanks to the determination of one woman – the Anne with whom I went walking in the wetland – it will have minimal impact and set a precedent for protecting species at risk. When the cottage lot owners applied to Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) for a construction permit, they were told to obtain an environmental impact study. They hired a Bracebridge consulting firm that declared there was nothing to be worried about. The ministry then issued the permit. Immediately, Anne and other area residents objected and the manager of MNR's Parry Sound district relented, giving them 30 days to produce their own impact study.
To prepare their study, they recruited members from naturalist clubs in Barrie, Muskoka and Midland, many of whom are retired biologists. Their findings tore the consultant's report to shreds. They had photographs of Massasauga rattlers and Blanding's turtles. They also had located Eastern Hog-nosed snakes (listed as threatened), Five-lined skinks and Eastern Ribbon snakes (both listed under "special concern"). They had global satellite positions for their sightings. They even had videos. They counted 81 species of birds and several plants rare to the region, including the Sundew, a carnivorous flycatcher.
MNR officials decided to visit the site. They confirmed the sightings and immediately slapped conditions on the construction permit, giving area residents almost everything they wanted; Construction is restricted to winter months between Nov. 1 and March 30. Width of the road surface is restricted to four metres and the total road allowance to seven metres, with no turnaround spots. A bridge over a small creek in the wetland must be made of open-grate steel, which allows light through and the creek bed cannot be touched. There must be fencing through the wetland to prevent snakes and turtles from getting on the road and reptile tunnels so they can cross under it. The tunnels must have open grates at the road surface to let in light, so reptiles won't be afraid to enter. Finally, there will be no blasting of rock – which will result in a road like a roller coaster. Drivers will be forced to steer slowly. These are excellent conditions and should set a standard for construction in protected areas elsewhere in the province.
Much of the credit for achieving them goes to Anne, a tiny woman with laughing eyes, a big stubborn streak and, at age 64, galvanizing energy.
I asked her why she was so intent on protecting this wetland. "This has been a small battle," she said. "If we couldn't win it, then how can anyone ever hope to save the big spaces?"
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