We absolutely cannot…

We absolutely cannot sacrifice this irreplaceable habitat - once it's gone, it will be gone forever, and with it, all of the beautiful things that make Wasaga Beach so unique and inspirational - including the some of the very little and last remaining contiguous and prime habitat in Ontario for the extremely endangered Piping Plover, for which the number of pairs in Ontario remains in the tens. These birds need our help, and we should value them for their ecosystem services that they provide via keeping natural sand dune habitats IN TACT. Developing the land would harm a federally listed endangered species and should not go ahead on principle, but also for the numerous benefits that keeping habitat in tact will have on the Wasaga Beach community.

Not only do the plovers rely on this habitat, but the sand dunes and beach grasses all serve to create a buffer for the town behind them, protecting it from flooding events, powerful storms and increasing water levels. Further, this sand is not being actively replaced within the lake. As "relict" sand, it has its origins during the glacial period and is ancient. The neach grasses catch the sand, which form dunes, which in turn catch more sand and prevent it from fully blowing away. In areas where there are no dunes present, the sand simply blows away into the town and is lost forever. New sand is not formed in the lake as there is nothing creating new deposits.
Therefore, over time when the sand erodes, it will be lost forever and there will be no beach left to enjoy. Developing the land around the beach ensures that we will lose the beach sand much faster as there will be no dunes to stop it from blowing away into the town.

There have been so many cases where the developed areas behind the raked (flattened and plants removed) areas of Beach One have flooded out completely during such events, damaging businesses and infrastructure, where the areas behind the natural dunes on the remaining beaches did not. One quick Google search of flooding events or an interview with residents will attest to this fact.

In summary, not allowing the development of Wasaga Beach further benefits all - humans, plovers and the other amazing species that called Wasaga Beach home, long before it was developed into a town.

Sources:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/wasaga-beach-provincial-park-beach-manageme…

https://wasagabeachpark.com/geology-and-formations/#:~:text=Wasaga%20Be….

https://stateofthebay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2290-LSSEGBCUF-Haza…

https://nancyislandblog.wordpress.com/category/piping-plovers/page/2/

https://wasagabeachpark.com/piping-plover-2/

https://wasagabeachpark.com/blog/2024/04/25/piping-plovers-2024/