As a resident of Windsor…

As a resident of Windsor-Essex, it is very important for the Essex Region Conservation Authority to not be amalgamated into other ones that are hundreds of kilometres away and have completely different ecosystems. Windsor Essex exhibits some of the last untouched tallgrass prairie and Carolinian forest in Ontario and this means that it has its own unique challenges and environments that are best managed by local caretakers knowledgeable of them. Having more authorities also means that each region’s ecosystem has a tailored approach that is hyper focused on the needs of the immediate area. The environmental needs of Sarnia, or Haldimand, are different than the ones in Essex. Creating larger conservation authorities will simply increase bureaucracy and decrease the effectiveness of their initiatives and policies as they will be having to tackle problems in completely different parts of the province and in completely different bioregions. Stop the reform and continue the current model.