Our Natural Heritage Concludes

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

 “OUR NATURAL HERITAGE” CONCLUDES, BUT ONLY AS A COLUMN

Thursday, September 17, 2009 

It has been my pleasure since early March to offer this 15-week series twice monthly on Prince Edward County’s natural heritage. While its intent was to educate readers about our rich natural heritage, it has also been a learning experience for me as well. We always say very fondly that Prince Edward County is a place apart, and indeed it is as we examine the special attributes here that causes the County to be thought of in those endearing terms.

Where else in Ontario can we find a lake perched on a plateau some 60 metres above the level of the Bay of Quinte, or an impressive granite knob in Ameliasburgh where limestone should be, or a peninsula that often exceeds famous Point Pelee as a bird migration stop-off? Where else can we find the largest baymouth sand bar separating fresh water in the world, but right here in Prince Edward County, or a population of 25,000 residents that burgeons to half a million in the summer because of those sand dunes and other attractions?

In a land mass of only 1,048.3 square kilometres, where else in Ontario would you find a county with so much shoreline, over 800 kilometres? And where else would you find such a diversity of habitats from wooded swamps, extensive provincially significant cattail marshes and lakes and bays and inlets, to far-reaching alvars, rich agricultural land, and crops ranging from sunflowers to soybeans and grapes to grasslands?

Like so many others who live here, for a long time, I too was guilty of taking our natural heritage for granted. It was only when I began to compare what we have on our doorstep to other counties in the province, that I began to understand more fully why small centres like Bloomfield hum in the summer, and it is difficult to make a left turn on Picton’s Main Street during the height of the tourist season.

Over the course of the series, we have looked at the geology of the County and how it can be adequately, but reverently, described as a lop-sided layer cake, with  much of the north and east portions of the County boasting an impressive limestone ridge that tapers abruptly to delicately embrace the incoming waves on its south and west shores. We have looked at such attractions as Cape Vesey, Little Bluff, Roblin Lake and what is likely the province’s one and only mesa, McMahon Bluff. Not only did we look at the County’s geomorphology, but also the flora and fauna that occur as a result of this environment, and how changes have taken place in the make-up of species in the last 100 years. How white-tailed deer, otters and fishers have filled spaces formerly occupied by black bears, timber wolves and even some bird species like the passenger pigeon. With nature appreciation becoming one of the leading pastimes in North America, we are paying more attention now to what’s here, and sharp eyes have found rare flowering plants, while others like dog strangling vine, garlic mustard, Phragamites grass and common buckthorn may threaten their very existence.

The Prince Edward Stewardship Council appreciates the interest readers have shown in this series, and the comments that have been received. However, our goal of creating awareness about our natural heritage does not end with this column. The 60 minute presentation, ‘Our Natural Heritage – Prince Edward County, a Natural Gem’ which launched the special series in the Picton Gazette in March has been presented at several venues, including Kente Public School in Ameliasburgh. It is scheduled to be shown at the October 18th fund raising dinner for the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory, and to local naturalists clubs. I am available to present this Power Point show at no charge to the first four interested groups or organizations until March31st.  And we have many other ideas on the back burner to further promote our natural heritage in Prince Edward County.

Thank you again for your interest in this series, and in the presentation. Without exaggeration, I can confidently say that it has truly been one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling projects for me.

This is the fifteenth and  last  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 .