Many Conservation lands have…

Many Conservation lands have been donated by local residents to the local authorities, not to an amalgamated large bureaucracy. They have been donated on the assumption that the authorities they were donated to would manage the properties.

How will these conservation areas be maintained at a reduced cost if the property maintenance crew has to drive further to get to each one. Some need lawns mowed. Garbage managed.

This is so wrong on so many levels.

How will local people be able to contact the management to raise their concerns?
Conservation Authorities manage water issues like flooding, erosion, water quality. Local accountability would be eroded.

The transition would add significant cost and complications. Shifting administration, IT systems and land management without benefits.

Who will these amalgamated authorities report to? There are many question up in the air without clear answers.

I live across the road from a Conservation property. I have worked with the authority volunteering my time to help clean the area of trash in the spring and helped with other projects including planting native species at the local cenotaph in Eugenia Falls Conservation area. The local legion has a ceremony on Remembrance Day at the cenotaph. The local church has a service on the Sunday before Remembrance Day. Communication between the church and Legion and the authority is vital.

Do not amalgamate these authorities. At this time when the environment is so important and water quality is threatened, we do not need to be diluting our environmental protections.