I am strongly opposed to the…

I am strongly opposed to the Ontario government removing segments of the beach from Wasaga Beach Provincial Park and allowing the town of Wasaga Beach to take over the management of this beach area. As a life long naturalist and birdwatcher, I have been thrilled by the fact that starting in 2007, the Piping Plover returned to nest on beaches in the Ontario Great Lakes area. The beach as Wasaga Beach was one of the most important beaches for nesting Piping Plovers in Ontario. These birds are very sensitive to disturbance during the nesting season on beaches. We humans like to have beaches to recreate on which often leads to mechanically changing and 'cleaning' the beach. But the debris on the beach is exactly what the Piping Plovers need for their nesting to be successful. But it is more than just leaving the beach debris. Nesting Plovers are so sensitive that without fencing around the nesting area people will, on purpose or by accident, enter a nesting radius of the Plover resulting in failed nesting. Also these birds, especially the Plover chicks, are prone to predation which needs to be monitored. The success of Piping Plovers at Wasaga Beach and other parts of Ontario has been due the dedication of biologists, volunteers and care-takers educating the public about the nesting Piping Plover and monitoring what is happening at those nest sites. If this beach area is removed from the provincial park, one of the most effective protections that these endangered birds is removed.

But in my humble opinion, there is a larger ecological consideration than just Piping Plovers at Wasaga Beach. Beaches draw people to them like a magnet attracts metal. Many beaches in Ontario have large numbers of people walking on the beach or swimming/wading in the adjacent waters. Very few of these sensitive beach ecology are preserved for all living things, not just humans. However, in a provincial park that can happen. In fact, by law, it is the obligation of the people who run the provincial parks to maintain and preserve sensitive beach habitat and all ecosystems found within the park boundaries. Removing portions of the beach from Wasaga Beach Provincial Park will mean there will be fewer places for Piping Plovers, tiger beetles, dune grasses and all the other flora and fauna that make up a sensitive beach ecosystem. And Ontario will be a much lesser place if this decision is allowed to go ahead.