Contact Rougeduffinscoalition@gmail.com or whitevalemarsh@gmail.com Park on North Road or Altona Road as it is the opening of Fishing Season
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It has been almost three years since our last post! In the meantime, COVID change our way of living. Going to an office, a cinema, a play, a conference or a workshop were not an option for a while, People communicated by phone or through the internet. However, what increased tremendously was our need for the outdoors, our need to walk or play outside, our connection to nature. The outdoors were relatively safe and we could walk, hike, explore, exercise or run freely outside. The parking lots of the trailheads and local parks were full. We realized even more clearly our need for green space and parks. The Seaton Trail was busy and people signed our petition to protect the Whitevale Marsh. Our group continued to meet on line, or at times face to face with masks, with politicians. We met with MPP Bethlenfalvy, former Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan and councillor Pickles. We were given some hope that there was something in the works to protect the marsh (see attached the letter from former...
Check this poster on the trail: it is advertising our Marsh Petition. Many hikers are walking on the Seaton trail, and many more have discovered it during the pandemic. The parking lots at the Whitevale Community Park and the Green River trailheads are overflowing and many people park on the streets of Whitevale and on both sides of Highway 7. People need the outdoors, the exercise, the fresh air, the experience of spotting wildlife and seeing the change of seasons, now more than ever. These hikers do not know that the Whitevale Marsh and regenerating gravel pit are threatened by the future Seaton development. This area, on the east side of the trail, just north of Whitevale will be offered for sale to developers. Being the site of a former gravel pit, it has a unique topography with cliffs, ridges and valleys occupied by marshes and sand barrens. It has woodlots attracting a wide range of bird species and beautiful meadows, rich in milkweed plants, the preferred food of the...
Check this video of the site on this youtube link posted by Eric Farquharson. It was taken in the fall of 2016. You will see some ATV tracks left by people in the Spring and Fall but as time passes (we are now in the Fall of 2020), some vegetation gains ground on the bare soil and colonizer plant species appear. People on ATV's find this new landscape less attractive, and their absence allows for a more diverse flora ecosystem to flourish. We will shortly post a recent video showing this progression. Whitevale Gravel Pit
We have not given up on preserving this unique site!
The Whitevale Marsh, West Duffins and the trails along the seasons
Visit of MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy, August 2018
On August 3, 2018, our MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy met with us and visited the Whitevale Marsh. He listened to our concerns and saw for himself the reasons why we continue to advocate for the preservation of the former aggregate pit and marsh.