I am deeply concerned about…

I am deeply concerned about the proposed amendment to permit rock climbing at Devil’s Glen Provincial Park. This proposal directly conflicts with the park’s primary mandate under the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act—to protect ecological integrity for present and future generations.

Ontario Parks’ own studies, including those by Gould (1984) and Jalava (2008), have identified the park’s cliff and talus areas as “Extremely Sensitive” to human disturbance. These ecosystems have developed over centuries in isolation and are not resilient to recreational impacts. Numerous academic and climbing community studies confirm that climbing activities can severely damage these fragile environments.

The current climbing access at Devil’s Glen has expanded through neglect, not policy. Despite existing management plans prohibiting climbing, unauthorized use has grown unchecked, resulting in overcrowding, ecological degradation, and unsanitary conditions. Rather than addressing these issues, the proposed plan suggests infrastructure expansion, such as parking, which will only exacerbate the problem.

The adjacent crown land, acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada for conservation, was intended to be managed as a nature reserve—not repurposed for recreational climbing. Ontario Parks’ recent removal of ecological protection signage and apparent curtailing of impact assessments following political pressure from climbing advocates is deeply troubling.

This pattern of disregard for ecological protection undermines public trust and the credibility of Ontario Parks’ conservation mandate. Without clear, enforceable commitments to prioritize ecological integrity over recreational interests, I cannot support this proposal. Devil’s Glen deserves responsible stewardship—not a compromise of its irreplaceable natural heritage.