Column Series At Half Way Point

O U R   N A T U R A L   H E R I T A G E

NATURAL HERITAGE COLUMN SERIES AT HALF WAY POINT

Thursday, June 25, 2009 

It was a daunting task deciding what to include in a natural heritage presentation last March at Bloomfield Town Hall, and what to exclude. In the one hour presentation, we looked at many natural features of Prince Edward County and the challenges they face. A somewhat emotional experience, I found, when putting the final touches on the presentation, for I have lived in this wonderful county all my life and have seen features disappear, other features being endangered,  while still others optimistically preserved for future generations to enjoy.

The Prince Edward Stewardship Council whose mandate as a volunteer group is to work towards achieving, and maintaining, a healthy environment in Prince Edward County, and addressing stewardship needs, agreed we needed a presentation to bring together in a package, some of the heritage highlights of the County. The debut of that presentation, “Our Natural Heritage” at Bloomfield Town Hall on March 26th, drew over 70 people, which clearly illustrates that County residents are profoundly interested in the flora, fauna, geomorphology, as well as the history that has brought all this together. 

A series of 15 columns on our natural heritage that have appeared every second week in the Picton Gazette since March 5th, serves to round out the effort to bring more public awareness to this subject. As we sit back and reflect on the last eight columns, it has been equally challenging to decide what components  to focus on each week, and how best to present them in such a way so as to stir the emotions in all of us, and to serve as a stark reminder that our natural heritage is precious. In the words of author John Benson,   “If we extinguish wild nature, we will extinguish with it our ability to wonder, and we will have extinguished a part of our consciousness.” 

To date we have looked at Sandbanks Provincial Park, a rare gem that draws a half million people to its sandy beaches each year, in a county of only 25,000 residents.  While some many contend that the County is a land of flat rock, it is far more than just limestone shelves, and we have examined some of the natural features in which limestone has played a leading role in their formation, like Lake on the Mountain, McMahon Bluff, Cape Vesey, Little Bluff and the interesting limestone ridge that borders Prince Edward County on its south and north sides giving the geological snapshot of the County a sort of lopsided look. Of course, the solid granite Ameliasburgh Inlier interrupts this limestone continuity, adding additional mystery to the area.

What exactly grabs the attention of readers? Well, if the senior grades of Kente Public School are any indication, it must surely be the islands we have, for among their comments on both the column series and the presentation, the islands rate the highest, and we discussed a few of those too in a past column, from distant Main Duck Island, to a few of the more local ones like Scotch Bonnet, Timber and Waupoos Islands.

And, of course, wildlife  – a component of our natural heritage that has always been in transition as a result of population change and agricultural practices. In fact, the County lies within the Transition Life Zone where many southern species reach their northern limit of range in the northeast. We have a striking mixture of both boreal and austral forms of wildflowers and wildlife, and we have examined some of the trees in a past column, with examples of black walnut, hackberry, shagbark hickory, black maple and a few other southern species.

Next week, we will look at some of our wildlife, past and present, and the changes that have occurred. However, there is so much more to discuss in the remaining six columns of this series. We hope you have enjoyed these special columns thus far as we celebrate the midway point in our 15-week series, and that you will stay tuned as we learn even more about “Our Natural Heritage.” 

This is the ninth in a series of columns by Terry Sprague on the natural heritage of Prince Edward County, sponsored by the Prince Edward Stewardship Council. For more information, check out their website at http://www.ontariostewardship.org .