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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-04-05, Page 5Letters to the editor THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1989. PAGE 5. A few cattle in stream aren't pollution cause THE EDITOR, We enjoy reading your paper and its very interesting articles. In you March 22 issue I noticed headlines “Big Stink’’, MVCA study says poor farm practices hurting Maitland,’’ as I slowly turn the pages to Page A10 we see a beautiful picture of water, grass, trees and cattle. We also see that this is our farm, if it is not we stand to be corrected. This is the farm that the Lord has provided us with and gave us to be caretakers of and to pass on to the next generation in better shape than when we found it. This is not a farm credit farm, it is not a bank farm, it’s not a foreign investor farm it is our humble farm, which we bought 39 years ago. Now I am part Irish and I don’t want to get mad because if we throw dirt we lose ground. But MVCA Community Relations Co­ ordinator Paul Weitendorf implies that my cows and calves are polluting the Maitland River. We would like to inform him that if this is true how come the river on our Citizen's letter policy While we prefer letters to the editor to be signed and feel they are much more effective be­ cause readers give them more credibility, we do recognize there are times when the letter writer may want to publish a letter without his or her name attached. A pseudonym may be used if the letter is clearly signed (with the name of the writer printed clearly) and the address and telephone number included. The name will be withheld on request but will be available to anyone directly involved with the subject of the letter. Off-farm income need increasing THE EDITOR, At the risk of further fueling the controversy over the rail to trail conversion in the area, there are a few comments I wish to make. I am from the area, specifically Morris Township. There are a number of trends occurring locally that I find noteworthy. Looking through the 1986 Census of Canada, I see that Huron County has 374 fewer farm­ ers than in 1981. Of the 3,416 census farms in Huron County, 1,247 or 36.5 percent report the incidence of off-farm employment and income to keep their operations viable. Finally, I would wager that even in our “rural” townships a significant proportion of the popu­ lation are no longer farmers. What is my point? I intend no disrespect to farmers, or the impor­ tance of the farming industry. I come from a farm myself and I recognize that this area was built on agriculture. However, it is apparent to me that agriculture, in terms of employment and income, is not as dominant in this area as it once was. Nor is it likely to be again. Where do .over one third of the county’s farmers find off-farm work? Where have those 374 farmers gone? The farm population of Huron County has continued to decline for the past 35 years. One need only count the vacant stores in downtown Brussels to see where these trends lead. These trends are common to many rural communi­ ties, and I fear they will continue if alternative sources of employment and income are not developed. Consequently, 1 was not surpris­ ed to read in a recent tourism report that 67.8 per cent of Huron County’s population wants to ere- farm is in much better shape than it was 20 years ago. Whoever took this picture pro­ bably didn’t spend over 39 minutes on our farm, we have lived here 39 years. In June of 1970 hundreds of fish died along the river banks the first hot week of June, the water was so low and hot the green algie grew and used up the oxygen and caused the fish to die. We contacted an official from M.N.R. Wingham to come to our place and he confirmed what we already suspected. But governments don’t really solve problems: people do. Pro­ blems quite often make govern­ ment a lot of money and cause people a lot of expense. Okay, on our own we solved this problems by building a dam across the Maitland River with 14 stone piles from our adjoining farm plus two culverts. We raised the water level about three feet. This served two purposes. It gave us access to land behind the river and it also made a wonderful habitat for fish. Now there are hundreds of Red Finn and many other kinds in that deep cool water, and on a quiet evening I enjoy watching those fish jump for flies, and since we built the dam 19 years ago we have not seen one dead fish. Now on weekends and holidays, town people and children drive out to fish on our property above the dam. We do not charge them any money, we are glad they enjoy to fish. We do not fish in our river because we understand we would have to buy a licence from the government to fish in our own river. Mr. Weitendorf stated in this article that MVCA are going to educate us farmers to make neces­ sary changes so we don’t pollute the environment. But when you think of it 9.5 per cent of the people in this country have their garbage taken from their properties and ate more jobs by attracting more tourism. From the same survey, 79.9 per cent feel that tourism can exist easily with agriculture, and there is a consistent belief that tourism in the county should be brought inland from the lakeshore. Based upon the opinions express­ ed, the leaders of our communities have a mandate to pursue. Those in favour of a trail argue that it will do all of the above. It would seem that the proponents of a trail hbve a logical argument to make. Nevertheless, I for one would not for a minute wish to see a trail developed that infringed upon the property and personal rights of farmers along the line. I respect and share the concerns voiced by the opposition and feel many of their points are valid. However, based upon documented examples in the United States, I understand that issues of vandalism, mainten­ ance and nuisance have not been a problem. I have reviewed five documented examples of trail con­ versions in agricultural areas in Hastings County, Lambton County, Waterloo Region, Grey County and Halton Region. I found that nearly all of them faced the same vocal, adamant opposition from the farm­ ing sector in the beginning. How­ ever, I have found no evidence that local land owner fears have mater­ ialized. The trails are well planned and supervised. Landowner com­ plaints do exist, but they are scarce. And the economic benefits are real, not just to the towns and villages, but to farmers as well. These are not perceptions. They are facts. Of course, they do not prove that a trail from Goderich to Guelph would be a success, or would cause no problems. But dumped in the farmer’s environ­ ment, it makes you wonder who should be educating whom. It seems nobody wants their own garbage, dump it somewhere else and then blame the other fellow for pollution. We all should be respon­ sible and maybe the best place to look is our own life style. The MVCA would like to fence our cattle from the water. We only have 30 cows and calves on three-quarters of a mile of river bank so they don’t spoil it. If we had a large set-up it might be quite different. But if cattle are polluting the streams in 1989 when there are hardly any cattle left out on pasture what were the rivers like in 1949 when every farmer had cattle Slow down, think about trails THE EDITOR, As the debate heats up over the future use of the C.P.R. railway corridor, perhaps the time has come to slow down and view this matter with a broader, more open- minded scope. Which use would benefit the most, and harm the least - and we’re not speaking of the effects on individuals only, but on the environment as well. This land could go to the individual landowners - mostly farmers - bordering the corridor. But just how much benefit would this truly give them? The rail-line is a heavily compacted bed of gravel and clay. In many areas it is a raised embankment, which means it would have to be leveled. It is NOT exactly prime agricultural land! It is hard to believe that the efforts to reclaim it as viable farm land would be worth the time, money and effort to make it so. It is true that access to property on other side of the tracks will the be beperhaps there are things to learned from past experiences. From what I have seen, the rails to trails group is aware of all the issues and implications. They seem committed to' ensuring that the trail, if converted, would be de­ veloped in the best manner pos­ sible. Despite the tone of my letter, I am not suggesting that everyone should favour the trail concept. That is not for me to say. There are many issues to resolve and many alternative options to consider. 1 just want to bring to the table information that I have discovered. I have not yet heard a concern voiced by the opposition that hasn’t been raised elsewhere and effec­ tively resolved. For the time being at least, 1 feel negative judgements on the trail are premature. 1 am not a member of the rails to trails group. But I am a member of this community and I care about its future. 1 believe all alternatives for keeping our area economically viable need to be investigated. From what I have been able to assess, the development of a trail holds some of that promise, with little or no evidence to support the proclamations of opponents. 1 feel the trails issue deserves at least some serious and fair considera­ tion. As a community, we may in the end determine that a trail is not what we want.*But let us make that judgement based upon all the information that we know, not on ill-founded perceptions, nightmar­ ish worst case scenarios, or least of all, who yells the loudest. Paul Nichol RR 4, Brussels, Ont. pasturing along waterways. We hadn’t heard of pollution then. You know when you think of it we didn't have any pollution people hired to tell us. What we do have that could be causing pollution are hundreds of wild geese and ducks up to 300 to 500 geese on some days. They live on our crops and grass, maybe they too should be fenced by the government. I do like to see a few along the river but they can be quite pollut­ ing. We dare not have a picnic in some areas any more. After reading this article about rules and regulations planned for farmers, I began wondering what improved by the removal of the trains. However, whether that strip becomes green belt or farm land, the easy accessability of the “other-side’’ lands could be assur­ ed. Years ago, in order to put every possible bit of land into production, and to get maximum benefit from the bigger, efficient, but very expensive farm machines, farmers were encouraged to clear away trees, fencerows, woods - every­ thing possible. Now, the reality of tons of topsoil being blown and washed away, lack of adequate water, and insect problems have proven to us, what many farmers understood all along - we NEED green belts. Moreover “greenbelt" growth encourages bird life, a valuable asset to insect control. As the increasing numbers of organic farmers will testify, these eager, costfree, pest-eradicators are a great ally in the battle to control insect damage without expensive, polluting, and often potentially dangerous chemicals. We’re not talking about a green weed belt, but about trees. A joint venture by the C.P.R. and the Ministry of Natural Resources could carry out the appropriate planting. Rather than howling about mythical doom and gloom fears, should we not be looking at the success stories of other rails-to- trails schemes? It has been done all over North America - yes Canada too, - and by using these experien­ ces to guide us, to do it even would benefit managed green So would thousands of other citi­ zens benefit, all of whom have the right to do so, since this land belongs to ALL of us. We have paid for it with our taxes! The notions “it won’t work", “it can’t be done’’, “there are too many problems’’, “people won’t help out’’ should not be tolerated. Are we Huronites so gutless, so apathetic, that we can’t do what others already have done? We emphatically believe we are not! One reason: doom and gloomers once prophesied that people would never care enough to sort their garbage. Well, they were proven very wrong - people DO care. Surely the best way to augment the growing concern for our total environment - a concern we MUST enhance if we are to ensure the survival of our children and grand­ children’s world - is to provide places where people can increase their appreciation, love and under­ standing of the and trails. The problems mountable. The on how to establish the right kind of growth to develop a minimum­ maintenance system and to dis­ i we should be able better! Farmland from a properly belt-trail system. outdoors - parks are NOT insur- knowledge exists wouiu uappen h we larmers went into town someday with hunting guns and fishing poles and tramp­ ed around the homes and yards of the people who are going to regulate and educate us. Would we be welcome? I doubt it. So let’s be reasonable, no more rules and regulations than we already have. We have enough bankrupt farmers as it is. Sorry if this letter hurts anyone’s feelings. I don’t mean it too, as a concerned farmer I just want to tell our side as it looks from out here in this beautiful country of ours and let’s keep it that way. Glen Van Camp RR 4 Brussels, Ont. can be problems. How- be solved. Moreover, many, many interested courage competitive populations - i.e. deer. Adjacent fields pasturing animals are already fenced. Any fence problems on other trail systems have usually occurred where the trail actually crosses a field, and hikers didn’t use the stiles properly - thus fence dam­ age. In this case, adequate access points, readily available maps, and clear signs should prevent most trespass problems. As property owners who have permitted a public access trail to cross our land, we are well aware that there ever they are usually minor and they can there are groups and organizations that, once the commitment is made, could share in the maintenance of the trails. Dismal forebodings of lawsuits from injuries are made. Well, maybe it is time that we humans accepted a bit of responsi­ bility for our actions, and not look for others to blame everytime something goes wrong. Knowing that as humans we can make mistakes, we are thus aware that we risk life and limb every time we get into our cars - yet most of us do so daily. Surely then, knowing that weather and events can change conditions, we can accept that when we set out on a trail, we are doing so at our own risk, and that it is our own foresight and common sense that we must depend on. (This is also where good public education and trail signs show their value.) Another important point is that, if the corridor were made into a trail, and after a fair period it was found that it wasn’t working out, the property could still be turned over to the adjacent landowners. The only major problem that we can see, is that of motorized vehicles (snowmobiles, dune bug- Continued on page 6 Delegates decendants sought THE EDITOR, We are interested in locating Descendants of Delegates to the September 1864 Charlottetown Conference. If any of your readers are Descendants or if they have information on Descendants, they are asked to call toll-free Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland 1-800- 565-0243 or write: The Festival of the Descendants P.O. Box 2000 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island CIA 7N8 All Descendants will receive a guest of honour information kit. Rick Coles Chairman Festival of the Descendants