Friends of Sam Smith Park

FYI.. from Dan Brooks & Deborah McLennan It's amazing what I m learning from this group Angela
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel R. Brooks FRSC [mailto:dbrooks@zoo.utoronto.ca]
Sent: July 13, 2006 9:21 AM
To: Paul and Angela Giraudy
Subject: Re: Skateboard Park in Sam Smith Park - PUBLIC INPUT CRITICAL
> Hi Dan,
> Can I send this out to the bigger group of people, just so they can
> understand the importance of the meadows? I didn't.
Absolutely -- this is the major take-home message for Saturday's little hike. Deborah has also done a lot of work on documented and traditional uses of various species. There's a bit thistle out there called teasel, for example, and the name comes from the fact that in England, it was used to tease wool apart in processing it. The plant was introduced here for the same reason. There is St. John's wort, a good sedative, camomile, a nice herbal tea, deadly nightshade, very poisonous, colt's foot, whose leaves are carcinogenic, some very nice-looking decorative grasses that can cause severe discomfort to dogs that wander into them, and so on. Every species has a story, and every species has value in some way.
> Also Ruth Grier phoned me on the Wednesday afternoon and was thrilled
> with everybody taking such an active role.
Excellent.
dan
> Angela
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel R. Brooks FRSC [mailto:dbrooks@zoo.utoronto.ca]
> Sent: July 13, 2006 8:56 AM
> To: Good Neighbours; Paul and Angela Giraudy; Alexandra Gillespie;
> McLennan, Deborah
> Subject: FW: Skateboard Park in Sam Smith Park - PUBLIC INPUT CRITICAL
>
> Additional support. I don't think Mr. Grimes has many friends.
>
> dan
>
>
> Daniel R. Brooks FRSC
> Department of Zoology
> University of Toronto
> 25 Harbord Street
> Toronto, ON M5S 3G5
> Canada
> tel: 416-978-3139
> FAX: 416-978-8532
> email: dbrooks@zoo.utoronto.ca
> Home Page: http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/brooks/
> Parasite Biodiversity Site: http://www.parasitesrus.com
>
>
> ------ Forwarded Message
> From: "Daniel R. Brooks FRSC"
> Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 08:53:43 -0400
> To: Ruth Grier
> Conversation: Skateboard Park in Sam Smith Park - PUBLIC INPUT
CRITICAL
> Subject: Re: Skateboard Park in Sam Smith Park - PUBLIC INPUT CRITICAL
>
>> I have been away and have missed the incredible work being done by
you
>> and lots of others to stop the Sam Smith skateboard. Thank you,
>> thank you! I knew my emails would be full so drove down today to
>> check them all!
>>
>> The biologist with Marshall, Macklin etc. was Jeff Warren. When I
>> was doing the EA submission I tried to find someone to critique it
and
>> one consultant I talked to described it as a planning rather than a
>> biological document - which I thought was apt! I also tried to
> find
>> an expert on monarch butterflies as I am convinced they use the site
-
>> perhaps you could help with that aspect?
>
>
> Dear Ms Grier,
>
> Many thanks for your reply. As Deborah McLennan (my spouse and
also
> a
> biology prof at the U of T) looked closer and closer at the
"biologist"
> report, we became more and more displeased with it. I think that
calling
> it
> a planning document (i.e., justification rather than evaluation) is
> exceptionally nice.
>
> What we have done is our own assessment of the area, which we have
> made into a short guided tour for interested citizens this coming
> Saturday during environment Day at the park. We have also put together
> a screen saver
CD
> of
> images of the park and some of its inhabitants.
>
> The bottom line, as far as we are concerned, is this: The park
> supports a large number of species of plants, most of which are
> members of the aster and the legume families. These are plants that
> thrive in disturbed and poor quality soil. The legumes in particular
> are the vanguard of biological reclamation -- they host
> nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots that actively improve the soil
> quality, thus paving the way for more permanent species of plants.
> This means that the park, while showing great signs of life, is still
> in its infancy, and is fragile. This means that every patch of land
> associated with the wetlands and their margins needs to be protected.
> One thing we will point out to people who take the tour
with
> us
> is that each patch of meadow/field in the park has a slightly
different
> appearance, due to having different species of plants and different
> abundances of each species. If the conserved habitat is not a large
> contiguous piece, the various patches (fragments) become even more
> important with respect to conservation and development. So, the
> primary
statement
> by
> Mr. Warren, that losing one patch of meadow was not a problem because
> there are others in the area is a statement that we would give zero
> marks to on an examination in first year biology.
>
> We are also seeing birds, such as the great egret and the black
> crowned night heron, setting up shop in the park for the first time.
> These are birds that have begun moving north as global climate change
> proceeds apace.
> While
> they are an indication of climate change on the one hand, they are
also
> species that are native to North America, so their moving in will help
> guard against unwanted invasions by warm-adapted species from other
> places.
>
> I also want to thank you personally for your actual personal reply.
I
> know you received an enormous number of messages. But given that all
we
> received from the Mayor's office was a form email response from one of
> his relatives (Joanne Miller - wife, sister, daughter, mother?), your
reply
> is
> truly a breath of fresh air. I am at your service if I can be of help
in
> ay
> way in the future.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> dan brooks
>
> Daniel R. Brooks FRSC
> Department of Zoology
> University of Toronto
> 25 Harbord Street
> Toronto, ON M5S 3G5
> Canada
> tel: 416-978-3139
> FAX: 416-978-8532
> email: dbrooks@zoo.utoronto.ca
> Home Page: http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/brooks/
> Parasite Biodiversity Site: http://www.parasitesrus.com
>
>
> ------ End of Forwarded Message
Daniel R. Brooks FRSC
Department of Zoology
University of Toronto
25 Harbord Street
Toronto, ON M5S 3G5
Canada
tel: 416-978-3139
FAX: 416-978-8532
email: dbrooks@zoo.utoronto.ca
Home Page: http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca/brooks/
Parasite Biodiversity Site: http://www.parasitesrus.com

// posted by Friends of Sam Smith Park @ 3:49 PM