Our Photo Contest

Just a few shots from our fall photo contest, won by Andre Denis (microphotography), Elton Law (the marsh) and Mary Evans (the trail). The irony is that we thought Andre's shot was of a Milkweed pod, an ubiquitous presence in the marsh site, beneficial to the Monarch Butterfly, but that it was in fact a shot of the noxious weed commonly called "Dog Strangling Wine", an invasive species colonizing many locations in Southern Ontario.




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Write an email to the politicians asking them to work together to create the Whitevale Urban Park

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Provincial and Municipal politicians need to sit down and work together as Pickering is reviewing its official plan (May 27, 2024 Council Meeting) .  The marsh and former aggregate pit immediately north of the hamlet of Whitevale (west of North Road) needs to be protected. It is for now in the hands of the Province but has been offered for sale to developers. We are asking you to sign the petition on May 25, 2024 during the Whitevale Festival and to start writing letters of support for the creation of this Whitevale Natural Urban Park to our MPP Bethlenfalvy (peter.bethlenfalvyco@pc.ola.org,   Constituency office. Suite 213 1550 Kingston Rd. Pickering, ON L1V 1C3   Tel.: 905-509-0336),   our Mayor Kevin Ashe ( mayor@pickering.ca ), and our Ward 3 councillors David Pickles ( dpickles@pickering.ca ) and Shaheen Butt ( sbutt@pickering.ca ). Other councillors should be contacted too, as they have expressed their continued support. They need to receive these emails b...
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Some Background

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The Whitevale Nature and Marsh Committee is dedicated to preserving and restoring the former quarry located immediately North of Whitevale and West of North Road. This area is for now in public hands, owned but the Province of Ontario but Infrastructure Ontario has included in Package 10, which is presently offered for sale to developers. Infrastructure Ontario has even applied for rezoning with the City of Pickering, and has proposed a residential plan, which seems superimposed to the site, without consideration to its ecology nor topography. This site has not been recently studied for its environmental significance. This area is in the process of regenerating. Its flora and fauna are rich, including milkweed where monarch find the ideal habitat, numerous patches of thyme thriving in the sandy areas, woodlots and meadows with diverse habitats for birds and other wildlife. Its striking topography of valleys occupied and marshes, as well as dramatic cliffs overlooking these lower a...
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