Below is a sample letter outlining issues that key decision makers should address when planning for the new Rouge National Park. Send this letter or one that you compose yourself to this LIST OF LETTER RECIPIENTS (Use this link to launch your default email service, or right click for more options.).
If you need more information about the Rouge watershed or the park, you can read the previous post, which features a presentation, or any of the other posts that we have made available on this site.
We hope that you enjoy your visit and gain an appreciation of the immense opportunity this park represents for Toronto and for Canada as a whole.
Subject: Please create a sustainable and ecologically healthy 100 km2 Rouge National Park
Dear Prime Minister, Ministers, MPs, and Parks Canada:
Southern Ontario has 1/3 of Canada’s population and 1/3 of Canada’s endangered species but only 1/400th of its land protected in National Parks.
The existing 47 km2 provincially-created Rouge Park and the adjacent 53 km2 of federal public lands in north Markham and Pickering offer the last chance to create a large National Park in southern Ontario.
I commend the federal government for its commitment to create a Rouge National Park by taking over the existing Rouge Park and adding adjacent public lands which are designated Provincial Greenbelt.
However, the federal government’s May 2012 Rouge National Urban Park Concept is creating growing public concerns by:
1) ignoring the environmental policies of approved Provincial Greenbelt and Rouge Park Plans;
2) Ignoring longstanding plans for a 600 metre wide forested Rouge Park ecological corridor;
3) Excluding important public lands needed for a healthy and sustainable Rouge National Park;
4) Ignoring the ecological integrity role of the existing Rouge Park & a true Canadian National Park.To protect and restore the ecological health and integrity of Rouge National Park for current and future generations to enjoy, I respectfully ask the Government of Canada to:
1) Expand the current 57 km2 park study area to include the 100+ km2 public land assembly;
2) Strengthen and implement the ecological vision and policies of approved Rouge Park plans and the Provincial Greenbelt Plan to create a true Canadian National Park;
3) Protect and restore a 600+ metre wide mainly forested Rouge Park “main ecological corridor” between Lake Ontario and the Oak Ridges Moraine;
4) Conduct a scientific and transparent public planning process to create Rouge National Park’s legislation and strategic plan;
5) Include First Nations and Friends of the Rouge Watershed on the Rouge National Park Planning and Advisory Board.I look forward to your favourable response to these reasonable requests.
Name and Address:
