Articles
Published Mascaret, Moncton, N.B.There’s a jump to his step, a glint in his eye and a non-ending stream of superlatives coming from his heart. If it weren’t for the fact Pete Hicklin is vintage Acadian you might confuse the CWS (Canadian Wildlife Service) biologist with a leprechaun. The affable Hicklin introduced himself to me, on the “Perfect Day” in July 2000. I was standing on the edge of a bluff, overlooking the Grand Anse of Shepody Bay, and a little inlet known as Johnson’s Mills. I was intensely focused upon one of Mother Nature’s wonders, the synchronized “ballet-du-vol” of the semipalmated sandpipers. As a child and adolescent growing-up on Buck’s Flats I had witnessed the spectacle many times, but never before had the program come with play-by-play commentary. Hicklin, the veteran bird biologist, had slipped in behind me, looked over my shoulder, saw the images appearing on the digital LCD on the back of my 1DS and began whispering in my ear, “I’d like that one and that one and that one is nice too.” “I hope you got it?” he’d say with a hint of anticipation, “it’s the perfect day you know. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my twenty-five years of researching these birds, anywhere,” Hicklin added. “A photographer’s dream,” I added. The thing I liked most about Pete was his no pressure approach to getting what he wants. Pete is an enterprising unleashed atom. If he needs it he asks and if you “get it” he’ll teach you how to share it. I applaud this approach considering the unfortunate federal budget reductions being inflicted upon our conservation and wildlife services. I’ll address the federal budget cuts in environmental protection in a future column but today’s focus is preserving this once thriving species of sandpiper and their sub-species now in decline. Back in the mid and late fifties when my friends and I covered ourselves with the chocolate ooze of Bucks Flats in hopes of a sneak attack on a “peep” little did I know that the Dorchester Cape mud held the richest deposit of Corophium volutator (mud shrimp) in the world. The same little critters required by the “semis” to double their weight in preparation for their four day non-stop flight to their wintering grounds in South America. When a hungry Peregrine Falcon, the semi’s natural enemy, swooped in for a meal, our swarm of thousands vanished and the show came to an abrupt end……for the day, but not our conversations on the future of his precious semis. Hicklin and I have become good friends and comrades-in-arms since our first meeting that day on the bluff and he’s spent countless hours sharing stories, telling tales and providing insightful solutions to the problems being encountered by migrating shorebirds across our continent. Pete’s Master’s Degree from Acadia University has served him well but his twenty-five years of service to his country and research of our environment has served us best. “I saw my first flock of roosting Semipalmated Sandpipers in the Bay of Fundy on July 26, 1974 and from that day forward I was hooked,” said Hicklin. Hicklin points out that since that time negative changes have taken place that need addressing. “The Maritimes Shorebird Surveys, in place since 1974, indicate that declines which began decades ago are continuing: for example, counts in the 1990s were lower than those in both the 1980s and 1970s. Not only did a number of species show statistically significant declines, but the proportion with negative changes was significantly higher than those with positive values,” Hicklin mused. “Causes of declines in shorebird populations are difficult to pinpoint, if only because of the birds’ extensive migrations and their potential to be affected at many different stages of these annual migrations. Habitat loss, such as the infilling of wetlands in the 1960s and 1970s across North America and the conversion of natural grassland to agricultural land has been implicated in the declines of a number of temperate species. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change on the birds’ breeding habitats and, consequently, the production of fledglings, for a number of species remains unclear,” Hicklin continued. Hicklin was quick to point out problems with other speciae as well. “Since the 1970s, counts for adults of 6 species of shorebirds (Red Knot, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin and Spotted Sandpiper) declined significantly. But overall, of 16 species censused on a regular basis, 13 showed negative population trends and only 3 showed positive values. The other species illustrating declining trends are: Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, American Golden Plover, Sanderling, Hudsonian Godwit, White-rumped Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper. The three positive stories in Atlantic Canada are the Semipalmated Plover, Willet and Whimbrel, added Hicklin. So where do we go from here and how do we become pro-active members of the broader community called “the existence of future generations”? “Over the past several years, national shorebird conservation plans in both Canada and the U.S. have been developed, culminating in the publication of the Canadian Shorebird Conservation Plan and the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. In Canada, regional shorebird conservation plans have also been developed in order to deliver on-the-ground shorebird conservation through partnerships between governments and non-government organizations. For example, over the last few years and in collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Service, the efforts of Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy of Canada have resulted in securing important marshlands in the Maritimes and sandpiper roosting sites along the shores of the upper Bay of Fundy. These efforts will prove to be of great benefit to our migratory shorebirds over many years and generations, to come. “But there is still much to do” Hicklin concluded. Hicklin’s observations are critical components to a long range plan and goals intended to reverse the downward spiral of these beautiful creatures One way the everyday photographer can assist in the protection and development of protected areas is to take the time to capture the good, the bad and the ugly on film. Provide the data to authorities and media outlets that “care” and be sure you follow-up on their actions. Push for results that favor environmental protection and species preservation. Our efforts are not just about animals and animal welfare it’s about our survival as a human species-at-risk. The semis will return to Johnson’s Mills and Mary’s Point this month. They’ll feed and fatten-up until they leave around mid-August. The first to arrive will be the females, followed by the males and then the juveniles, born in the artic nesting grounds this summer. They’ll grow from 20 grams in weight to about 36-40 before heading south. You’re invited to share their special days, to enjoy their aerial acrobatics and to watch one of the marvels of nature as it unfolds before your eyes. Learn from the experts on site, confine yourself to the viewing areas, keep your pets off the beach, educate a friend and commit to solving the problems confronting the 13 species of declining shorebirds passing through New Brunswick each spring and summer. Maritimers are blessed with one of God’s great creations here in our midst. The burden and responsibility for the survival of semipalmated sandpipers lies with us. If we’re fortunate, life provides each of us with opportunities to share the wonders that abound around us. I was fortunate to share one of those days with one of God’s special people and a friend. Thanks to Pete Hicklin and his unselfish colleagues at Environment Canada and Canadian Wildlife Service we may have the opportunity to enjoy another “Perfect Day” soon!
Published Mascaret, Moncton, N.B.
If you meander along the sandy shoreline of East Brule from Cap Brule Road to the inlet separating Brule from Cap Bimet you’re struck by the plush firm sand under foot, the sparkling tidal pools resplendent with hermit crab, sand dollars, feeding shorebirds, bank swallows and man-made obstructions with jagged edges awaiting an unsuspecting victim.
At low tide the concrete blocks with rusting steel pipes protruding from their ends appear like sea anemones awaiting their prey.
At low tide they can be easily avoided. But when the tide moves in and children find themselves at play along the shore danger lurks beneath the seductive sparkling surface.
As a grandfather of five energetic and active children it bothers me to find these obstacles obstructing one of New Brunswick’s most pristine beach play-grounds. As a newly arrived home owner at the shore I enquired about the apparent WW II bunker remnants and their purpose. Local longtime residents suggested that years before they had been placed there to prevent beach erosion. The obvious question was by whom?
It was suggested that in years gone by it was acceptable to dump the trash into an eroding area in an attempt to prevent it from being absorbed by the sea. Apparently, at the time of the misdeed, there were no laws prohibiting the practice.
Being somewhat direct I approached the property owner and asked about the debris and its purpose. I was summarily told to get off “his” beach and to stay off his beach or suffer the consequences that a trespassing claim might bring. As an added insult to my injured persona I was told to keep my grandchildren off his property or they would be dealt with accordingly.
This demand made of me by the cottage owner, Pierre Boudreau, came as a surprise. Not only was it not the Acadian hospitality I had been assured of in the region when I bought the home but it defied all principals of the law governing beach usage on New Brunswick’s beaches. Boudreau believed the sandy beach belonged to him. From his front door all the way to where, P.E.I. directly across Northumberland Strait before us? As a matter of fact property owners only own the land above the highest high tide line of the year. Everything below that watermark is public domain. The man obviously was preying on the apathy and ignorance of his neighbors.
Boudreau’s bad attitude is not a trait of the peaceful Acadians I know. It is, in fact, the attitude of an old man obsessed with a need to own and control everyone and everything in his path.
I was not dissuaded and carried my investigation further. The sewage pumping station, adjacent to the Boudreau cottage, and running overflow drains underground and into the sea next to the pile of debris, was built in 1971. According to municipal authorities Boudreau’s father had negotiated the contract with the Village of Shediac to allow them to access the property where the pumping was to be located.
I began to wonder if anyone had obtained a variance to dump trash and concert blocks onto a public beach. If the debris is above the high-water mark it must belong to the owner. If the debris is below the high water mark it must belong to Environment New Brunswick or Environment Canada? Regardless of how it got there, someone needs to pay to have it removed.
The Beaubassin Planning Commission pleaded not guilty to the folly. They stated that they had had nothing to do with the dumping and had never given permission to fill any beach area along this shore. I pressed manager Ron Boudreau, of the Shediac Sewage Commission to give me an answer. He finally proclaimed that a soon to be held meeting would resolve the problem. Unfortunately, two years later we are still awaiting the meeting.
I think it’s time for property owners in conjunction with Environment New Brunswick, Environment Canada, and the Shediac Sewage Commission et al to remove the mess and return the beach to its original state.
Why am I so adamant?
Protecting your land, as long as the law permits, is fine. However, if as one property owner claims the entire beach is his, he should clean it up. There are jagged edged rusty razor sharp outcroppings with the potential of inflicting significant damage to anyone who comes in contact with them. The time and distance required to get appropriate help to anyone seriously injured by these outcroppings may be too long and too late.
Boudreau became belligerent, aggressive and threatening when I approached him with the suggestion that he clean up the mess on his property. . It appears that the only resolution can be found in the courts. Responding pro-actively has always proved to be the prudent way to approach a problem. However, a lawsuit may be required to get the attention of Beaubassin Planning Commission, Shediac Sewage Commission and Beaudreau. Solving the problem now before someone is injured, and possibly seriously, is the right thing to do. The cost to all, if an injury occurs, may be to high a price to pay for everyone.
Common sense should prevail, however, “common sense is not so common.”
Published Mascaret, Moncton, N.B.
The legal hunting season is over but hunting is not. Whether you reside in Cape Tormentine, Coles Island or Haute Aboujagane, the probability exists that if you own a gun, a significant weapon, your cooler either is, or could be filled with venison, bear, and moose in the near future.
For many in the know, it is just a matter of time. According to a variety of knowledgeable sources, the probability of poachers being successful increases if you own a significant piece of property in, on or near a woodlot or boggy land.
I was impressed in 2004 by the presence in the back woods of Aboujagane of DNR officers, both during daylight and twilight hours. The Irving clear cuts, woodlots and lakes tucked away between highway 15 and 16 and the Trans Canada Highway near Scoudouc abound with the type of creature I enjoy photographing in the fall of the year.
A four hundred and fifty pound black bear is not uncommon if you know where to sit and patiently wait. It’s not surprising when a 26 point Bull Moose, as ugly as he may be, saunters by a few feet from you and ignores your presence. This magnificent beast stops for a moment, surveys his surroundings, shakes his head in disbelief and continues toward his favorite lily pond now exposed by the unscrupulous clear cutting that has go on over the winter.
If jogging is your pastime, you may enjoy and evening jog along a logging road with a Coyote or two. Every once in a while, a fox will pop in, take a look and scamper off. If you sit patiently in a clearing, you will see the 14 points of a white tail buck before the big fellow actually comes into view.
A walk along these unused logging roads guarantees you an encounter with the timid porcupine as he waddles toward his favorite tree for his usual dinner of bark or juicy leaves. If you are lucky, he may scamper up a tree and remain clinging there for dear life, at eye level, as you carry on a conversation with him, reassuring him that you are the least of his problems.
I have enjoyed more wondrous morning, evening and daylong sessions with Gods creatures than I can remember, but nothing breaks my heart more then when I come across a carcass, a victim of irresponsible, unchecked, ruthless killers better known as “the poacher”. It goes without saying that the penalties for illegal hunting are significant. Our problem however, is that our Government fails to provide the necessary resources or the manpower required to enforce the laws protecting nature and her creatures.
Consequently, poachers are willing to risk it all. Apparently the potential of losing their truck, their weapon, jail time, and maybe even their home, when caught, doesn’t concern them. They are bold, they are blatant, they are ruthless, they are cunning and they are killers.
I have encountered them in the woods. They are braggarts and are more than willing to share locations, sizes, types of species, patterns of behavior and respond to any question I might have relative to where I can get up close and personal for that once in a lifetime shot. Once that information is provided, it never ceases to amaze me how quick they are to quip, “Get your shot now. I have my eye on him and I am going to take him down fairly soon”.
Let it be known that I have no problem with legal hunting. I believe that hunting has been with us since the beginning of man. Man for his part is a hunter. He has been since the earliest times, his role has always been to provide for his family. I have no intention of preaching a sermon on gun control, gun registration or removal of any gun from the hands of any man or woman. Frankly, I believe it is our right and our duty to have and to own a weapon. However, it is also incumbent upon us to be responsible, be trained, and be licensed and to be held accountable for the improper use of that weapon.
There used to be an assumption that poachers were those who had to feed their family in a time were lean. That time no longer exists. The cost of licenses and weapons, cost of ammunition, the cost of a vehicle to transport the kill, all overshadow the need to provide for one’s family. Poachers are individuals who have complete disregard for the laws of nature and probably all laws in general. Most of the poachers I have met learned their irresponsible habit from their fathers, uncles, grandfathers and even some from their great grandfathers. For many it is a game. It is a game of pushing the envelope as far as possible without getting caught. It is not a game of outwitting the witty creature, because with baiting, tree stands and dogs, ATV’s, GPS units and unlimited access these days to once treasured, secluded locations the animals don’t stand a chance.
Society and civilization are encroaching upon our wildlife. Clear cutting has opened vast acres of forest land and now, when new growth begins to appears, bears, deer and moose become the casualties of the clear cut. My stomach turns when I hear one of my Aboujagane poachers brag about the fact that he knows where the 26 point Bull Moose is and the area that he frequents. Even though it is long after the hunting season, his intentions are to jack it some night, bring it down, quarter, pack it off in the back of his pickup truck and fill his freezer. For those of you who don’t know the term “jack”, it means to hunt with a powerful light, which blinds the creature. While he is standing there with eyes fixed on the beam of light radiating from your powerful lantern, you shoot it. Done under the cover of darkness and far removed from DNR Law enforcement, the culprit gets away clean, leaving only the innards and remnants of what was once, a majestic beast.
Then there are those who proclaim that if you live between Port Elgin and Cape Tormentine, between Melrose and the Amherst Shore, that sitting in your kitchen, overlooking your apple orchard you are guaranteed a freezer full of illegal venison. Simply open your kitchen window and blast away at the deer, bear or other creatures eating the succulent fallen apples under your apple trees a few feet away. Those plentiful trees planted long ago by an ancestor to serve your grand mothers needs now serve a vial disservice….as bait for an illegal deer meal.
And then there is the strapping young man earning his living as a fisherman, who blatantly states that “When I hunt my deer in Coles Island and spend .00 for 300 lbs of apples and grain and I lay out my bait pile in the hopes of attracting that big white tailed buck and a bear comes by, as bears do in Coles Island, and begins to feast on those apples and the grain and defecates in the area, I choose to shot him on the spot”. He’s not a trophy, he is a nuisance. And no I didn’t claim the body and harvest the meat, I left him there to rot and when my buck comes back, I’ll kill him too.”
Poaching is an unforgivable sin and poachers should be prosecuted to the limit of the law. Instead of manifesting bad behavior, or perpetuating bad behavior, quite possibly the time has come for Dad’s to enjoy a sport and to enjoy bringing up their sons with them, to hunt, to fish and to become part of a wilderness filled with natural wonders in N.B. Possibly it is time for Dad’s to bring up their sons to love and respect the creatures that abound here and to report all poachers to the DNR so that the abundant harvest and pleasures, available to us in Nature, may continue uninterrupted in perpetuity.
Maybe the time has come?
Ken Dryden, Canada's Environment Prime Minister 2016?
Is there a better prospect, as Canada's Prime Minister 2016, than Ken Dryden? Dryden, a candidate for the liberal party, was elected recently to the riding of York Centre, a suburb of Toronto.
For those of you born after 1970 and who may (heaven forbid) not know of Canada's legacy as a world hockey power, Ken Dryden was an NHL All-Star goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens and Team Canada '79 of that era.
To his credit, Dryden, while the professional athlete, was simultaneously obtaining his law degree from McGill University. For those of us who also played, coached and watched during that generation admitted that Dryden deserved the title as "the coolest man on ice". The pressure of playing in the world's greatest sports organization (Montreal Canadiens) and before the toughest fans in professional sports seemed to fuel the "fire in the belly" needed to be the best of the best in his field.
As we spring forward to the present and look to the future we're obligated to ask, "Who in the liberal party was the genius behind the Dryden capture?â"
Consider the potential the Dryden name brings to the table: He is respected and recognized across the western hemisphere by its powerful political players. His undergraduate degree in history from Cornell University, in upstate New York, was obtained at one of the great environmental universities in North America.
What Anglophone could better reach and understand the challenges presented to us in Quebec? By its people, its culture and the disaster a break in the confederation link would mean to the dominion if it was allowed to be broken. Dryden's has potentially powerful allies in the Quebec effort, if he needed them, in his former teammate and Quebec power broker Serge Savard. Savard is one of the most successful businessmen in the province and a leader of the province's influential arts and culture community.
Undoubtedly, there are other attributes this man among men will bring to the back bench in Ottawa, but how long will he be a "back-bencher"? He's never been a back-bencher in his life and don't expect him to be one in Ottawa.
Don't blink! This cream will rise to the top faster than Jean Chrétie's memory forgets the definition of scandal.
The questions about Dryden are obvious. Can Ken Dryden be his own man? Can he tackle the tough issues before Canada's future generations? Can he become a member of the liberal team or will he become the team's leader?
Canada's future requires immediate and microscopic political attention. Years of inertia and double-speak are dooming us. Most of tomorrow's problems were there yesterday. Most of today's problems are the same ones presented to the electorate before the elections of years gone-by. Why are we still addressing the same issues again today?
What is a politician anyway? A public servant or glorified member of the public dole? When was the last time your elected public servant served you? Or do you care?
It begs the question, why do we continue to elect impotent and shameful politicians who do little, say much, and accomplish less?
Our elected obvious leaders are under the influence! If we could only develop a believable truth test and administer it regularly we might be further ahead.
Unfortunately public servants are marionettes of the puppeteers of power. These influence peddlers can buy anyone for a price. Say it won't be so, Ken!
Wouldn't it be a joy to refer to a Canadian icon as our next environmental prime minister? Or, will we be obligated to heap him onto the same smoldering political compost heap in our legislative chambers at both the provincial and federal levels?
Let me introduce you to a few "four" letter "ists" words that must be removed from our political vocabulary and suggest they be added to our everyday accomplishment: Environmentalists, conversationalists, naturalists, activists, ecologists, and more.
So, Mr. Dryden, are you prepared to meet the challenge before our children and grandchildren's generations?
Let's start right here in New Brunswick. Why is your party encouraging the importation of toxic waste from the United States to the pristine area of the province called Belledune? To be incinerated? And where will the fallout fall? Are the people and eco-sensitive marshes and waters, wildlife and fish of the Acadian Peninsula expendable? How about he the Pedicodiac? Is the Riverview causeway/dam so vitally important to the selfish needs of the influence peddling residents of Lake Pedicodiac that its impact could be causing an international wildlife crisis? The dumping of Lake Pedecodiac waste into the Grande Anse of Shepody Bay may be destroying the sensitive feeding grounds of hundreds of thousands of migrating shorebirds.
What about applying existing environmental restrictive regulations to former political hacks who want to destroy a sensitive marsh and replace it with a tourist development plot in Cap Brule? There's plenty more, Ken! Plenty more!
When are we going to find a leader with enough intestinal fortitude to refill the depleting coffers of Environment Canada – and especially the wildlife research and protection areas instead of allowing them to shrink to extinction levels?
When can we count on you to step in and reverse the devastation being caused to our fishing industry, its people and the industries that matter so much to us here? Obviously, your colleagues in the party from our local ridings aren't capable of accomplishing a thing in that regard. And, apparently they don't want to either.
You made a choice, Ken. You have turned down your political sheets and you‘re about to climb into bed with ?. It won’t take us long to see who you choose as bed mates. Hopefully, your choice will be for life. To-date, the choices of other recent prime ministers have been the choices of death. To continue down that path only assures our grandchildren of no hope for a future.
Your leadership on the ice as a sports icon and soft spoken demeanor off the ice is now center stage. Can you star again? Or, will you be a tarnished memory in the history books of time?
The lineup is set, Ken, the metaphorical puck has been dropped, and this former pro hockey player and member of the same great traditional hockey family would like to literally walk you through each point of concern and introduce you to the real people these uncontested issues will and are affecting.
Before you decide on your bed fellows, Ken, give me a call (506-532-2121). Let's go dutch-treat so no one can ever say that an eco-activist was guilty of paying for something so obvious or being called an influence peddler.
"Shooting memories and preserving life" is my mantra, and I'd like to keep shooting, but the days remaining are growing shorter and shorter.
Best wishes, Mr. Dryden, and God's blessings on your newest and most promising high profile public servant role.
Huck Finn and I shared the same dreams. Huck realized his in and around Hannibal, Missouri, I realized mine and grew into manhood in Dorchester, New Brunswick, Canada; Buck’s Flats, Johnson’s Mills, the Cherry Burton Road, the flat iron and the town square were playgrounds, and nature and her creatures my playmates.
The responsibilities of adulthood, parenting, meeting career goals and surviving life in the fast lane temporarily interrupted my relationship with Mother Nature.
However, my maternal grandmother’s love of nature had proved infectious and returning to the cherished days of my youth was simply a matter of time.
Visits to local zoos, an occasional stroll down a paved big city bike path, or arguing over sun bathing rights on an overpopulated freshwater beach didn’t fill nature’s call. The Maritimes, my home, was beckoning and I needed to return where breathing deeply was healthy, drinking from a babbling brook was a way of life and PCB, in the swimming hole, stood for pretty cute blonde, not some cancer causing chemical.
Home was a place where we ate shad, tuna, haddock and halibut and my day at the beach was shared with feisty sea gulls, not thousands of human ants.
As retirement beckoned, I enthusiastically packed my camera gear and headed for an extended stay in the woods, along the beaches and in the salt marshes of the Tantramar and Beaubassin eco-systems of Fundy’s tidal shore.
The scent of the sea was magnetic. My anticipation mounted, as I navigated each bend in the road that brought me closer and closer to l’Acadie and the Acadian paradise I had left years before.
My naiveté and belief that time had stood still quickly faded as I ran the gauntlet between Riviere du Loup and Edmunston where even money says you will hit a moose as you drive through the forested gauntlet. The revitalized Trans Canada Highway was leading me into paradise lost and not the Shangri-La of my youth. What had happened to the home I once knew”?
Pulp plants along the St. John River had poisoned this magnificent estuary. The Miramichi was no longer the pride of salmon rivers, the Restigouche and Madapedia rivers are fading memories of great salmon and trout runs and the tidal bore needs a push to make it up the dammed Petitcodiac.
Voracious clear-cutters had systematically violated every virgin timber stand in the province; foreign interests are making it worthwhile to deplete our fishing resources. Greed has dried up our cod. The once plentiful shad no longer populate the Bay of Fundy. There is a moratorium on Halibut fishing and our haddock stocks are waning.
Our beloved lobster is threatened. Contaminated shell fish warnings dominate our sea coasts and most of our oysters have a government mandated thirty day de-contamination “clean-up” process they must meet before they are deemed eatable. We sell our mercury laced tuna to the Japanese and Americans, only to buy back the polluted behemoths in a processed form, in neatly wrapped lunch packs we feed to our school age children.
We have mastered the art of “roe-ing” the very future out of our herring schools. We squeeze their eggs into instant-freeze packs and send them of to the lucrative Asian market. However, as conscious stewards of our fishing resources, we quietly smoke and salt their shriveled lifeless remains and send them off to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, making us good stewards of a dying industry. What cannot be smoked, we sell to fish-processors who give us back fertilizer for our gardens.
We allow local and provincial governments to indiscriminately develop our coastlines while destroying their sensitive eco-systems, as we systematically dismantle funding resources for important environmental protection programs.
Why does it appear that Mother Nature finds herself in a constant battle with local politicians? Why is it that only a few of us are willing to reach out and take her by the hand and extricate her from the brink of ecological annihilation?
When I committed to conservation through photo-journalism eight years ago, I left behind a twenty-three career in professional sports and twelve years as a political activist in the United States. Apparently, my dream of becoming a retired, laid-back easy-going photographer is rapidly coming to a close. I had expected to create a homestead on the shores of Northumberland Strait at Cap Brule for my grandchildren with the hope that they would experience the same joys there that I had in Dorchester. Unfortunately, that may not happen if I do not get involved in the conservation and preservation challenges we are faced with here at home.
When I returned to the shores of Shepody Bay, my childhood playground, six summers ago, I cringed. The magnificent aerial displays of the million or so migrating semipalmated sandpipers that congregate there every from mid-July through August were gone. That number had dwindled to a quarter-million.
However, on the bluff overlooking Johnson’s Mills I had a providential and enlightening encounter with a diminutive leprechaun, from the offices of Environment Canada’s Wildlife Services bureau in Sackville.
Peter Hicklin was conducting his annual semipalmated sandpiper research along the shores of Buck’s Flats and the beaches I had patrolled as a boy. Being the opportunist I am, I moved alongside Hicklin and began listening for his impromptu comments….“I like that one,” he’d utter, to no one in particular. I quickly realized that “I like that one,” was a Hicklinism that meant take a picture, you fool! The aerial acrobatics provided by these feathered wonders was nothing less than special. To quote Hicklin, a veteran of twenty-five years of researching these birds, “This is the perfect day!”
Hicklin and I have spent countless hours discussing the future of shorebirds migrating through Atlantic Canada, and the stories are almost always the same….we, the private sector, must extend our helping hands to Mother Nature before it is too late!
The building of the causeway/dam in Riverview has deprived the regions around Dorchester Cape, Buck’s Flats, Johnson’s Mills, Daniel Flats and Mary’s Point of the abundant food reserves it has supplied millions of migrating semipalmated sandpipers in the past. Instead of a rich fertile feeding ground for migrating shorebirds the region is becoming a vast burial ground for the lipid rich Corophium (shrimp like invertebrates) living there in the chocolate colored sub-straits.
Since the process of flushing the lake behind the dam began, worthless silt has accumulated on the feeding grounds denying the birds access to the reserves needed to affect their lengthy 4,000 km, non-stop flight to their South American wintering grounds.
In 1950, as a boy of 14, I watched a million “peeps” swarm over the bay in their patented wing-tip to wing-tip acrobatic flight. By 2004 only 75,000 were on hand to carry-on the show.
Sad!
Sadder still is the knowledge that although New Brunswick hosts thirty-five species of migrating shorebirds on their way to and from their Artic breeding grounds each year their numbers are dropping precipitously.
Of the thirty-five species re-fueling on our shores, twenty-eight are in decline, thirteen are in significant decline and three are on the “species-at-risk” list. A recent scientific study reveled that the once abundant Red Knot will be EXTINCT by the year 2010.
The Red Knot has become a victim of uncontrolled over harvesting of the horseshoe crab in the Delaware Bay, off Cape May, New Jersey.
Members of Environment Canada’s Wildlife Services departments have allowed me to listen, learn and respond to nature’s call for help. As a result of their generous efforts I have been able to capture and share thousands of educational images that help educate the public to some of the pressing problems before us.
Over time I hope you enjoy our walk through nature and the insights I have to offer. My wish is for you and me to work together to effect an integral change in how we go about conserving and preserving our environments for future generations.
The subject matter available is unlimited. I look forward to drawing you out of your comfort zone with thought provoking insights that will require you to act. No fence sitters allowed.
I invite you to walk with me through the devastated wastelands left by clear-cutters acting with impunity or serious government oversight. Let me introduce you to the splendor of my new found paradise I call the Acadian Peninsula or the magnificence of the 36-foot high tides of the Bay of Fundy.
Come ride with me and my fishermen friends as we catch a wave, a boatload of fish and enjoy the cool morning sunrise under the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Or walk with me along the tidal sand bars of my home along the Northumberland Strait and be mystified by the hundreds of shorebirds sharing the beach with us.
span>At day’s end I’d like to introduce you to the heavenly cuisine of Acadie and the people who know fish and how to prepare a succulent seafood meal that will leave you spoiled for all future fruits de mer.
However, there is a dark side and you’ll need to see it for yourself. I’ll ask you to join me in making a difference there and in your own “backyard.” I’ll show you how bureaucrats are not good for the environment, why enforcement of environmental and wildlife protection laws is virtually impossible within the labyrinth of red tape.
I’ll take you inside the local lobster industry and explain why it is in dire straits.
I’ll help you understand why saving the environment for our grandchildren is the most important commitment we can make for the future.
I am reminded of the days when coal miners, deep in the mine, hung a canary in a cage. As long as the canary sang, all was well. The moment the singing stopped or the bird died, everyone bailed out… they were next to go.
Welcome to my world! The “fat-lady” my still be singing…but the environmental canary maybe wailing its final song? Let’s make a difference!
New Brunswick is home to a small population of sparrow sized migratory shorebirds known as Piping Plovers. These annual visitors to the Acadian Peninsula region of Northern New Brunswick are considered, “Species-at-Risk.” In other words, they are on the verge of extinction. However, we the people, naturalists, environmentalists, tourists and local nature lovers, have within us the ability to STOP this precipitous decline if we choose to respond to their call.
I have patrolled these sensitive nesting areas for the past eight years and have enjoyed an intimate relationship with the birds and the beauty of their nesting habitat. Unfortunately, these sand and pebble colored residents of the beaches are so well camouflaged it works against them, especially when 4 x 4 vehicles or itinerant ATV riders roll over the nests and chicks who are comingled with the rocky seashore they choose as their temporary home.
The approximate global population of Piping Plovers consists of some 6,000 adults, of which approximately 2,000 are found along the coastline of Atlantic Canada.
Beginning in April, the Piping Plover arrives in New Brunswick from its southerly wintering grounds--Florida, North Carolina and the Bahamas.
They search for suitable nesting beaches that provide food, security and protection for their brood of chicks.
The prognosis for this species at risk may be improving. Studies and research conducted by the federal government (Environment Canada – Canadian Wildlife Service; Canadian Heritage – Parks Canada); provincial Department of Natural Resources and Energy; and non-government organizations such as the Piping Plover Project of the New Brunswick Federation of Naturalists and the Irving Eco-Centre – La Dune de Bouctouche—have begun to show a few positive signs.
But how do you define HOPE?
Is it governmental concern for the survival of the species? Is it finding adequate funding for more research and protection programs, encouraging volunteer groups to do the work the Federal and Provincial Governments cannot or will not, or, as some feel, all of the above?
Instead, HOPE can only be defined as a concerted effort by concerned citizens to step-up and do what we can with or without the cooperation of faceless bureaucrats in the nation’s capitol.
Legislative leaders and bureaucrats are so self absorbed with their own importance and survival that they have no clue of the world around them. As concerned citizens, can we wait for ineffective policies and unfunded programs to respond to matters of urgency? The simple answer is NO!
Government employees walk on egg shells when asked to help privately initiated programs. The standard bureaucratic response is “Please don’t make waves!” Job security comes first for a bureaucrat, and ruffled political feathers can make life in the bureaucracy a hell-hole for anyone who attempts to tell our public servants what is needed. So while bureaucrats kowtow to ineffective politicians, hope for the future of the Piping Plover dangles in the balance.
Why is the Piping Plover endangered?
The three main threats to the Piping Plover’s survival are: (1) habitat loss or degradation; (2) predation; and (3) human disturbance.
Habitat loss
Piping Plover nests and their off-spring have become victims of unpatrolled nesting beaches by uneducated users of vehicles, tourist foot traffic and unleashed dogs.
The quantity and quality of habitat available for nesting Piping Plovers has also decreased because of beach destabilization that has resulted from draining wetlands for subdivision and cottage development, public beach sites and other community park development programs. These disturbances physically alter the characteristics of the land adjacent to these sensitive beaches and make them unsuitable for nesting.
Beaches also become unsuitable from natural causes such as vegetation encroachment or erosion caused by ice scour and storms. These natural habitat losses normally would force Piping Plovers to relocate to new beach areas; however, with an increasing amount of coastal development, few habitats exist that allow plovers the option of finding suitable alternative nesting sites. As a result, Piping Plovers are often forced to nest in areas of sub-optimal habitat. The number of young produced in sub-optimal habitat is usually lower.
The obvious question is “does commercial expansion trump protecting of a wildlife species? The answer is not necessarily yes.
Predation
The eggs and young of Piping Plovers are vulnerable to several predators commonly found in these areas. The main predators of Piping Plover are crows, foxes and gulls, but raccoons, weasels, mink, owls, small birds of prey and even domestic and feral dogs and cats may kill adult birds and chicks or destroy eggs.
Agricultural and housing developments near nesting beaches can attract predator populations and increase the risk of nesting failure. Beaches with ineffective or insufficient litter management also tend to maintain unusually high predator populations and can lead to lower survival rates for young birds.
Human disturbance
Increased beach visitation by people, and unrestricted or supervised recreational vehicle use on beaches, poses a considerable threat to critical nesting habitat throughout the nesting area. New recreational equipment including all-terrain vehicles, personal watercraft, wind surfers and kayakers make it possible for humans to access areas that were once difficult to reach. Therefore, many formerly isolated nesting areas now receive an increasing amount of human traffic.
Off-road vehicles are especially problematic. Vehicles may crush eggs since the nests are well hidden in the sand and resemble small round pebbles. Vehicles create ruts in soft beach sand that make movement for small chicks difficult and, if sufficiently deep, may actually trap chicks so they cannot escape. Vehicles imbed seaweed in the sand so developing plovers cannot access their food often located there.
Studies have demonstrated that fewer chicks survive on beaches with heavy human disturbance. When Piping Plovers are disturbed, they spend a great deal of time and energy in trying to distract potential predators or in some other way of trying to protect their chicks. On very cool and very hot days, young plovers must be sheltered by the adults since downy chicks are unable to regulate their own body heat effectively. Since chicks must grow very rapidly in order to be able to fly within 25 days after they hatch, the chicks must spend their time continually feeding during favorable weather conditions in order to gain the necessary body weight. Research indicates that chicks that are unable to achieve a critical body weight by ten days of age do not survive.
What can you do to help?
- Learn more about Piping Plovers, the threats they face and educate others about responsible beach use in nesting areas.
- Contact an agency in your area working to protect the Piping Plover. You could become a Piping Plover guardian or help in some other way with the recovery of the species.
- Respect all areas with signs and fencing identifying them as sensitive wildlife areas or nesting areas. Move through the area quickly and adhere to the posted signs and observe the birds from a distance with binoculars or with a spotting scope.
- If you think a Piping Plover is nesting in an area you are visiting, do not try to find the nest or linger in the area. Report your findings to the local Wildlife Service.
- Always keep pets on a leash while you are on a beach with nesting Piping Plovers, or when young chicks are present.
- Never leave litter on a beach. This may attract potential predators to the area.
- Follow laws and regulations restricting the use of off-road vehicles in sensitive habitats. If you are unsure if vehicle restrictions are in effect, contact the nearest office of the Department of Natural Resources.
Make a difference:
-
- Help your political leaders develop a plan that restricts vehicles and pedestrians from accessing the nesting areas during breeding, incubation and chick development times.
- Become a volunteer and beach watcher in conjunction with a local conservation group.
- Educate friends and family about the need to protect sensitive nesting areas.
My friends and I would appreciate you help.
There’s a jump to his step, a glint in his eye and a non-ending stream of superlatives coming from his heart. If it weren’t for the fact Pete Hicklin is vintage Acadian “Breyon” (according to the American Heritage dictionary; a subatomic particle with a mass equal to or greater than that of a proton, such as a nucleon), you might confuse the CWS (Canadian Wildlife Service) biologist with a leprechaun. Actually, Pete is a WW II concoction of an Edmonson New Brunswick miss and an Australian warrior.
The affable Hicklin introduced himself to me, on the “Perfect Day” in July 2000. I was standing on the edge of a bluff, overlooking the Grand Anse of Shepody Bay, and a little inlet known as Johnson’s Mills. I was intensely focused upon one of Mother Nature’s wonders, the synchronized “ballet-du-vol” of the semipalmated sandpipers.
As a child and adolescent growing-up on Buck’s Flats I had witnessed the spectacle many times, but never before had the program come with play-by-play commentary. Hicklin, the veteran bird biologist, had slipped in behind me, looked over my shoulder, saw the images appearing on the digital LCD on the back of my anon 1DS and began whispering in my ear, “I’d like that one and that one and that one is nice too.” “I hope you got it?” he’d say with a hint of anticipation, “it’s the perfect day you know. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my twenty-five years of researching these birds, anywhere,” Hicklin added. “A photographer’s dream,” I added.
The thing I liked most about Pete was his no pressure approach to getting what he wants.
Pete is an enterprising unleashed atom. If he needs it he asks and if you “get it” he’ll teach you how to share it. I applaud this approach considering the unfortunate federal budget reductions that has hampered the critical work of wildlife and conservation research scientists across North America for years.
I’ll address federal budget cuts in environmental protection in a future column but today’s focus is preserving this once thriving species of sandpiper and their sub-species now in decline.
Back in the mid and late fifties when my friends and I covered ourselves with the chocolate ooze of Bucks Flats in hopes of a sneak attack on a “peep” little did I know that the Dorchester Cape mud held the richest deposit of Corophium volutator (mud shrimp) in the world. The same little critters required by the “semis” to double their weight in preparation for their four day non-stop flight to their wintering grounds in South America.
When a hungry Peregrine Falcon, the semi’s natural enemy, swooped in for a meal, our swarm of thousands vanished and the show came to an abrupt end……for the day, but not our conversations on the future of his precious semis.
Hicklin and I have become good friends and comrades-in-arms since our first meeting that day on the bluff and he’s spent countless hours sharing stories, telling tales and providing insightful solutions to the problems being encountered by migrating shorebirds across our continent.
Pete’s Master’s Degree from Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada has served him well but his thirty-two years of service to his country and research of our environment has served us best. “I saw my first flock of roosting Semipalmated Sandpipers in the Bay of Fundy on July 26, 1974 and from that day forward I was hooked,” said Hicklin. Hicklin points out that since that time negative changes have taken place that need addressing. “The Maritimes Shorebird Surveys, in place since 1974, indicate that declines which began decades ago are continuing: for example, counts in the 1990s were lower than those in both the 1980s and 1970s. Not only did a number of species show statistically significant declines, but the proportion with negative changes was significantly higher than those with positive values,” Hicklin mused.
“Causes of declines in shorebird populations are difficult to pinpoint, if only because of the birds’ extensive migrations and their potential to be affected at many different stages of these annual migrations. Habitat loss, such as the infilling of wetlands in the 1960s and 1970s across North America and the conversion of natural grassland to agricultural land has been implicated in the declines of a number of temperate species. However, the impact of climate change on the birds’ breeding habitats and, consequently, the production of fledglings, for a number of species remain unclear,” Hicklin continued.
Hicklin was quick to point out problems with other species as well. “Since the 1970s, counts for adults of 6 species of shorebirds (Red Knot, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Dunlin and Spotted Sandpiper) declined significantly. But overall, of 16 species censused on a regular basis, 13 showed negative population trends and only 3 showed positive values. The other species illustrating declining trends are: Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, American Golden Plover, Sanderling, Hudsonian Godwit, White-rumped Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper. The three positive stories in Atlantic Canada are the Semipalmated Plover, Willet and Whimbrel, added Hicklin.
So where do we go from here and how do we become pro-active members of the broader community called “the protectors of future generations of migrating shorebirds”?
“Over the past several years, national shorebird conservation plans in both Canada and the U.S. have been developed; The Canadian Shorebird Conservation Plan and the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. In Canada, regional shorebird conservation plans have also been developed in order to deliver on-the-ground shorebird conservation programs through partnerships between governments and non-government organizations. For example, over the last few years and in collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Service, the efforts of Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy of Canada have resulted in securing important marshlands in the Maritimes and sandpiper roosting sites along the shores of the upper Bay of Fundy. These efforts will prove to be of great benefit to our migratory shorebirds over many years and generations, to come” stated Hicklin. “But there is still much to do!” Hicklin concluded.
Hicklin’s observations are critical components to a long range plan and goals intended to reverse the downward spiral of these beautiful creatures
One way the everyday photographer can assist in the protection and development of protected areas is to take the time to capture the good, the bad and the ugly and make it available to others on the web or the appropriate government offices. Once submitted we need to push for results that favor environmental protection, conservation of sensitive areas and species preservation.
Our efforts are not just about animals and animal welfare it’s about our survival as a human species-at-risk.
The semis will return to Johnson’s Mills and Mary’s Point again next year they’ll feed and fatten-up until they leave around mid-August. The first to arrive will be the females, followed by the males and then the juveniles, born in the arctic nesting grounds in summer. They’ll grow from 20 grams in weight to about 36-40 before heading south.
You’re invited to share these special days, to enjoy their aerial acrobatics and to watch one of the marvels of nature as it unfolds before your eyes. Learn from the experts on site, confine yourself to the viewing areas, keep your pets off the beach, educate a friend and make a commitment to solving the problems confronting the 13 species of declining shorebirds passing through the Atlantic flyway each spring and summer.
Maritimers are blessed with one of God’s great creations. The burden and responsibility for the survival of semipalmated sandpipers lies with us.
If we’re fortunate, life provides each of us opportunities to share the wonders that abound around us. I was fortunate to share one of those days with one of God’s special people and a friend. Thanks to Pete Hicklin and his unselfish colleagues at Environment Canada and Canadian Wildlife Service we may have the opportunity to enjoy another “Perfect Day” soon!
Pete is finishing his reports and writing his papers based upon his years of research and should have them completed within a year. After thirty-two years of dedicated service Pete has retired from service with the Canadian Government while he completes his passionate effort to tell us all of the wonders of these magnificent little creatures.
Once completed we’ll have the opportunity oif sharing his words of wisdom and guidance to us for the future preservation of not only Semipalmated sandpipers but all migrating shorebirds along the eastern coastline of North America.
Thanks Pete for all you have done!
Especially being the Perfect Mentor.
New Brunswick is home to a small population of sparrow sized migratory shorebirds known as Piping Plovers. These annual visitors to the Acadian Peninsula region of Northern New Brunswick are considered, “Species-at-Risk.” In other words, they are on the verge of extinction. However, we the people, naturalists, environmentalists, tourists and local nature lovers, have within us the ability to STOP this precipitous decline if we choose to respond to their call. I have patrolled these sensitive nesting areas for the past eight years and have enjoyed an intimate relationship with the birds and the beauty of their nesting habitat. Unfortunately, these sand and pebble colored residents of the beaches are so well camouflaged it works against them, especially when 4 x 4 vehicles or itinerant ATV riders roll over the nests and chicks who are comingled with the rocky seashore they choose as their temporary home. The approximate global population of Piping Plovers consists of some 6,000 adults, of which approximately 2,000 are found along the coastline of Atlantic Canada. Beginning in April, the Piping Plover arrives in New Brunswick from its southerly wintering grounds--Florida, North Carolina and the Bahamas. They search for suitable nesting beaches that provide food, security and protection for their brood of chicks. The prognosis for this species at risk may be improving. Studies and research conducted by the federal government (Environment Canada – Canadian Wildlife Service; Canadian Heritage – Parks Canada); provincial Department of Natural Resources and Energy; and non-government organizations such as the Piping Plover Project of the New Brunswick Federation of Naturalists and the Irving Eco-Centre – La Dune de Bouctouche—have begun to show a few positive signs. But how do you define HOPE? Is it governmental concern for the survival of the species? Is it finding adequate funding for more research and protection programs, encouraging volunteer groups to do the work the Federal and Provincial Governments cannot or will not, or, as some feel, all of the above? Instead, HOPE can only be defined as a concerted effort by concerned citizens to step-up and do what we can with or without the cooperation of faceless bureaucrats in the nation’s capitol. Legislative leaders and bureaucrats are so self absorbed with their own importance and survival that they have no clue of the world around them. As concerned citizens, can we wait for ineffective policies and unfunded programs to respond to matters of urgency? The simple answer is NO! Government employees walk on egg shells when asked to help privately initiated programs. The standard bureaucratic response is “Please don’t make waves!” Job security comes first for a bureaucrat, and ruffled political feathers can make life in the bureaucracy a hell-hole for anyone who attempts to tell our public servants what is needed. So while bureaucrats kowtow to ineffective politicians, hope for the future of the Piping Plover dangles in the balance.
Why is the Piping Plover endangered?
The three main threats to the Piping Plover’s survival are: (1) habitat loss or degradation; (2) predation; and (3) human disturbance.
Habitat loss
Piping Plover nests and their off-spring have become victims of unpatrolled nesting beaches by uneducated users of vehicles, tourist foot traffic and unleashed dogs. The quantity and quality of habitat available for nesting Piping Plovers has also decreased because of beach destabilization that has resulted from draining wetlands for subdivision and cottage development, public beach sites and other community park development programs. These disturbances physically alter the characteristics of the land adjacent to these sensitive beaches and make them unsuitable for nesting. Beaches also become unsuitable from natural causes such as vegetation encroachment or erosion caused by ice scour and storms. These natural habitat losses normally would force Piping Plovers to relocate to new beach areas; however, with an increasing amount of coastal development, few habitats exist that allow plovers the option of finding suitable alternative nesting sites. As a result, Piping Plovers are often forced to nest in areas of sub-optimal habitat. The number of young produced in sub-optimal habitat is usually lower. The obvious question is “does commercial expansion trump protecting of a wildlife species? The answer is not necessarily yes.
Predation
The eggs and young of Piping Plovers are vulnerable to several predators commonly found in these areas. The main predators of Piping Plover are crows, foxes and gulls, but raccoons, weasels, mink, owls, small birds of prey and even domestic and feral dogs and cats may kill adult birds and chicks or destroy eggs. Agricultural and housing developments near nesting beaches can attract predator populations and increase the risk of nesting failure. Beaches with ineffective or insufficient litter management also tend to maintain unusually high predator populations and can lead to lower survival rates for young birds.
Human disturbance
Increased beach visitation by people, and unrestricted or supervised recreational vehicle use on beaches, poses a considerable threat to critical nesting habitat throughout the nesting area. New recreational equipment including all-terrain vehicles, personal watercraft, wind surfers and kayakers make it possible for humans to access areas that were once difficult to reach. Therefore, many formerly isolated nesting areas now receive an increasing amount of human traffic. Off-road vehicles are especially problematic. Vehicles may crush eggs since the nests are well hidden in the sand and resemble small round pebbles. Vehicles create ruts in soft beach sand that make movement for small chicks difficult and, if sufficiently deep, may actually trap chicks so they cannot escape. Vehicles imbed seaweed in the sand so developing plovers cannot access their food often located there. Studies have demonstrated that fewer chicks survive on beaches with heavy human disturbance. When Piping Plovers are disturbed, they spend a great deal of time and energy in trying to distract potential predators or in some other way of trying to protect their chicks. On very cool and very hot days, young plovers must be sheltered by the adults since downy chicks are unable to regulate their own body heat effectively. Since chicks must grow very rapidly in order to be able to fly within 25 days after they hatch, the chicks must spend their time continually feeding during favorable weather conditions in order to gain the necessary body weight. Research indicates that chicks that are unable to achieve a critical body weight by ten days of age do not survive.
What can you do to help?
Learn more about Piping Plovers, the threats they face and educate others about responsible beach use in nesting areas. Contact an agency in your area working to protect the Piping Plover. You could become a Piping Plover guardian or help in some other way with the recovery of the species. Respect all areas with signs and fencing identifying them as sensitive wildlife areas or nesting areas. Move through the area quickly and adhere to the posted signs and observe the birds from a distance with binoculars or with a spotting scope. If you think a Piping Plover is nesting in an area you are visiting, do not try to find the nest or linger in the area. Report your findings to the local Wildlife Service. Always keep pets on a leash while you are on a beach with nesting Piping Plovers, or when young chicks are present. Never leave litter on a beach. This may attract potential predators to the area. Follow laws and regulations restricting the use of off-road vehicles in sensitive habitats. If you are unsure if vehicle restrictions are in effect, contact the nearest office of the Department of Natural Resources.
Make a difference: Help your political leaders develop a plan that restricts vehicles and pedestrians from accessing the nesting areas during breeding, incubation and chick development times. Become a volunteer and beach watcher in conjunction with a local conservation group. Educate friends and family about the need to protect sensitive nesting areas.
My friends and I would appreciate you help.
"The Meaning Of the Bull's Eye" is intended to get all lovers of wildlife and hunters closer together in the control and harvesting of wildlife. The points advanced in this article are fair and just for both sides; animal and human. Comments are welcomed!"
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Marcel Belliveau holds a special place in my heart. He was not only a hero, he was a fighter who overcame obstacles on the ice surface as a member of the vaunted Montreal Canadiens of 1914-15. In the fall of 2009 he was honored by the Montreal Canadiens when his name was included on the plaque in the Molson Center, home of the Canadiens, in Montreal, of the players who played for the greatest sports organization in the past 100 years. However, my grandfather was was more than an Acadian hero, he was a patriot who fought for his country and paid the price for our freedoms. I dedicate this story to all veterans and the bravery and valor they gave in defense of our values. Thanks, Grampy!
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Published Mascaret, Moncton, N.B.
Conservation is a fascinating word. Obviously its root comes from the word conserve, to save, to preserve, to protect from and to prohibit evil from negatively impacting the subject. Conservation however, is a complex word wrought with dichotomies.
To members of Nature Conservancy, it means protecting habitat so that birds and other forms of wildlife will always have a sanctuary to which they can retreat, stopover or next upon.
To members of Ducks Unlimited it means marshy land with plenty of nutrients for migrating ducks who can stop, fill up, replenish their depleted reserves before moving on to their wintering grounds in the south and where hunters can “harvest” a quota, a bounty, or an excess of migratory fowl.
For a biologist, whose primary focus is the protection and conservation of a species, the harvesting of a few samples of captured birds may be justified so that extensive research can be done to determine their prognosis for the future.
For an absolutist, conservation means no research, no harvesting and allowing nature to take its course without human interference.
To a pro-lifer, it means conserving and protecting the life of the unborn, human or animal.
To a pro-abortionist, it means harvesting the human life for the preservation of the environmental habitat so that over population does not take place.
To a pro-choicer, it means allowing the individuals in question the opportunity to make a free will choice as to whether to harvest or allow to be born, the product of their union.
To a hunter, conservation means protecting the land and habitat where harvesting can take place through any number of means, shotguns, rifles, pistols, arrows, muskets or snares.
To a photographer, conservation means shooting memories while preserving life.
As a realist in the world of conservation, the ideologies that may have driven me decades ago have been modified so that today, cynicism is the determining factor by which many of my decisions are made. I have no problem with hunters harvesting members of the animal population as long as it is done within the law as prescribed by the bureaucrats and politicians who can see the seasons. I have no problem with researchers sacrificing the lives of a specific number of subjects needed to do evaluations to determine the present status and potential future status of the species. My preference however, is to allow nature to take its natural course and to preserve all life, human and animal regardless. Once conception has taken place, then it is the obligation of the natural law to determine the ultimate success or failure of the product on the union. In my travels and associations with hunters, it never ceases to amaze me when I watch as products of their interest are knocked from the sky, filled with lead, mortally wounded or tearing through a thicket with an embedded arrow, never to be found, but knowing that ultimately their wounds will cause their death. There is no harvest here, only death and destruction of the species in the most inhumane way.
It never ceases to amaze me how a goose or another member of the waterfowl family can be knocked from the sky with a wide pattern of buckshot, suffering from a broken wing, a perforated eye or a concussion only to have that species delivered to the hunter by a soft mouthed dog so that subtly and sometimes not so subtly the creatures neck can be broken to justify the harvest and to put the creature out of its misery.
Conservation, human or animal is a complex procedure in today’s society. Billions of dollars have been raised to conserve land that affords protection for wildlife so that the avid outdoorsman and hunting enthusiast has a geographical domain upon which life can be taken and justified. So often the same protectors of creature habitat are in favor of removing all protection from unborn human life. It is also interesting to listen to the argument about freedom of choice and freedom of speech. To oppose freedom of choice is insensitive, mean spirited and cruel. To oppose protection of habitat and the creature comforts required by wildlife is also looked upon as being cruel, mean spirited and unacceptable. Obviously it depends on whose ox is being gored.
In the wonderful world of nature that we live in, and this planet that we see slipping away, I for one choose the following solution:
Let us let life live, born and unborn, human or animal
Let us as humans control the drives that result in consequences some might call negative, that we choose because of our selfishness to terminate.
Let us continue to preserve and conserve territory where our animals, where teachers of nature can thrive, procreate, raise their young and flourish. And if we are to harvest these creatures of nature then let us do it in a way that is truly humane.
Let us change the laws and mandate that hunters must hunt as the creatures they are hunting hunt. That we must stalk in the open and pit our human intelligence against their animal instincts. That we must kill with single shot the object of our pursuit. That if we are not able to accomplish our objective and that we are found out, then we must pay a penalty, a monetary penalty and possibly a civil penalty (loss of license for an indeterminate period of time). Let us require that all those who would harvest be required to go through stalking training like our aboriginal forefathers used to provide for their families. Let us determine what the replacement price is for each subject harvested and have an add on replacement surcharge for each subject harvested, the cost being over and above the purchase price of a license. This surcharge per subject will replace the reduction in funds that has taken place over the past few years by budget constraints at the Federal and Provincial levels. Let us also hire enforcement officers who will police those areas most important to the survival of the species so that laws, presently in place, restricting access at critical times by unscrupulous individuals who endanger the lives of habitat users, can be dealt with legally and criminally and civilly. Let us empower our neighbors to submit those names and license plate numbers of our neighbors who would indiscriminately destroy habitat or creatures willfully and maliciously by violating existing laws. Let us not only impose severe financial penalties on these violators but also more importantly require that they attend educational programs and perform extensive community service to make amends for their illegal activity. Let us also encourage more donors to give generously of their properties to conservation organizations so that they will be encouraged by the government to do so and in return receive far greater tax benefits while living and protect their estates once they are dead. One final thought…let us impose sanctions upon companies whose trash is found scattered helter skelter in our preserves, sanctuaries and natural habitats. Let us add a new dimension to recycling: for every time we find a Tim Horton’s coffee cup in the deep woods, along the shoreline or floating on the surface of one of our bays let us collect it and return it to a distribution center where our bureaucracy then issues TH with a standard fine for clean up and to those human pigs who enjoy littering, discarding and cluttering our natural habitats with their biological or man made waste products, who are found out, once again, let us have them not only pay for the cleanup but be required to go through extensive training on why carrying out what you carry in is good policy. Not only will we educate our adult population but also roll models will be established that will positively impact the youth of our nation. Corporations, whether Tim Horton’s, Irving Oil, Irving Paper or others will take it upon themselves, voluntarily, to begin an extensive educational program throughout their region that will encourage users of their products to recycle rather than discard the no longer significant containers. As we develop an appreciation for ourselves first, a love for the beauty of nature, an appreciation for the cleanliness of our environment, an awareness that a little energy goes a long way to protecting habitats, we may then simplify the definition of conservation and include once again, the conservation, preservation and protection of all life, human and animal and become true photographers who shoot memories while preserving life.
Published in Come on In!, Moncton, N.B. I was shocked! Shocked I say! So much so that I had to pull my “gas guzzling” pick-up truck to the side of the highway so I could wipe the tears from my eyes. I was overcome by the news alert I had just heard blaring over my radio. Occupants of passing cars must have wondered why the Santa look alike in the foreign vehicle was in hysterics. | “News Alert,” the voice on the radio blurted out, “United States President, George W. Bush has just acknowledged that Global Warming exists!” shouted the excited reporter. “However, China has resisted reductions in emissions, arguing that it is still a developing country and needs to balance environmental improvements while maintaining economic growth,” the reported continued. “The Group of 8 Summit, in Germany, has just awarded poorer nations around the world, $350 million if they will curb their irresponsible deforestation programs,” he went on. “Hostess of the Summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, herself a physicist, assured the Group of 8 attendees that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had already made a conditional pledge to support world wide emissions controls,” concluded the reporter. “We now return you to our regular schedule of programs,” said the deep baritone voice buried deep inside the dashboard of my car. | Just imagine, we have arrived at the year 2007 and the world is awakening to the fact that their might be a problem on planet earth. | The Group of 8, or maybe they should be called the Group of the Naïve, are the most industrialized nations in the world; (Canada, United States, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy and France) and together they are responsible for the majority of the world’s air pollution… until now! | While President Bush won’t endorse the Kyoto Accord on carbon emission controls, he proudly informed the Summit attendees that American industry has been instructed to “voluntarily” reduce carbon and chemical emissions into the atmosphere. However, in the interest of truth and fairness, G.W. is not the only cowboy wearing a black-hat while minimizing the crisis confronting God’s Green Earth. | Scientists have determined that by the year 2020, the newest major player in our booming global economy, China, will use four times more coal than the U.S. and dwarf the United States carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Apparently, the hundreds of millions of oppressed worker bees in China’s slave labour pool need more power to fuel their less adequate manufacturing machines. | A recent study disclosed that China is opening two new coal burning energy plants a week to meet these needs. Unfortunately, for us, it does not appear that any world leader has the gallstones to demand that China consider the impact of its projected pollution emissions. And why should it? No one else is taking the issue seriously. | As a matter of fact, my fellow Canadians, we are not without shame! "Canada is the homeland of the world’s worst polluter!" | According to a recent study of the world’s leading industrial nations, the by-products from the oil sands being processed at Fort McMurray, Alberta are the single biggest polluter in the world. Ouch! | The Group of 8 has determined that growing Third World economies like India, Korea, Brazil, and especially the Congo and the island of Madagascar should be awarded huge amounts of money “IF” they will refrain from their massive deforestation programs. The latter two are using clear-cutting (like our logging companies in New Brunswick do) and massive burning programs to eliminate millions of acres of once virgin timberland. The fall-out from these massive deforestation programs (burning) and fossil fuel burning energy plants are carried on trans-global winds eventually ending-up on and in the pristine shores and waterways of New Brunswick. | I was recently babysitting two of my six grandchildren, at their home in Hollywood, California and was surprised to learn that most of the pollution and smog in the area is not a product of the daily bumper to bumper traffic and the millions of cars travelling the roads and freeways of Southern California but Asian pollution collecting on the western edge of the coastal mountain ranges along the pacific coastline from Mexico to Alaska. Ultimately, this poison laden concoction ends-up being deposited in the pristine waterways in New Brunswick. This condition is compounded by our own lack of respect for the environment and our contribution to the growing problem called Global Warming. Melting Ice Caps, rising water temperatures (3 degrees higher in Caraquet Bay in 2006 over 2005), rising sea levels, expanding ozone holes over the poles, and waterways filled with PCB’s and other carcinogens are a recipe for disaster. | Once again we are confronted with the age old question; “What do we do now?” First, we must become pro-active! We must stop pointing the finger of blame at others and accept responsibility for our own lack of attention to the problem. When I was a lad I was reminded that every time I pointed the finger of blame at someone else I had three fingers pointing back at me. I was also reminded that my idealism was somewhat naïve and regardless of how hard I tried I would not change the world BUT I could have an impact on my little corner of it if I chose to embark on the adventure. Making this choice is the most difficult of any you will make in your lifetime. It requires you to become informed and once you possess the knowledge you are required to act upon it. | Therefore, let’s begin with an introspective look at our province and how we can become pro-active contributors of change. Why can’t we become a model for the rest of Canada? North America? The world? If we, collectively and comprehensively, resolve our own problems we become a united body of concerned and unselfish citizens in our corner of the universe. | Starting at home what do we intend to do with: Energy New Brunswick’s Belledune power plant ( 3.2 megatons green house gas emitter [GHG] per year), and other provincial polluters; The Irving Oil refinery in St. John (3.3 megatons of GHG); the Coleson Cove power plant (2.9 megatons); and the Dalhousie power plant (1.6 megatons). Three of these polluters are answerable to the Premier through his surrogate Energy New Brunswick. Therefore we must ask the question, “What will the Graham Government do to clean-up its own house as an example of stewardship for the rest of us?” | David Coon, head of the New Brunswick Conservation Council applauds Premier Graham’s efforts to correct the pollution problem in New Brunswick. However, I question Coon’s support of the Government’s use of a band aide to cover a major wound oozing enormous amounts of polluted puss. | Let me present my idea of a pro-active Global Warming Reduction Plan: - Why don’t we leave everything just as it is? For now! Let the government freeze all emission levels and emission producers; no more no less, for a period of time.
- Let us start over and do it right this time! If we do not we will continue spinning our political wheels with tainted decision makers in control. We don’t need anymore grey murky water; we need a clear and present strategy, drafted by a comprehensive and coordinated planning commission that represents all affected parties, including you and me.
- Let’s focus our efforts on a long term strategy to eliminate most of the pollution, create and mandate new and cleaner modes of producing energy, implement and enforce a rigid air quality standards grid for industry and consumers, and initiate a thorough clean-up plan that will remove and destroy the remnants of the problems that are with us today.
| The first question any logical human would ask is “How much will it cost?” The answer is a relatively simple one: “How much are we willing to pay for life?” | If the Provincial and Federal governments were to place a moratorium on further power plant or refinery construction would we be willing to pay the price in increased fuel costs? Or rationing? Perhaps we should consider a Research and Development assessment (tax) on all licensed drivers to help pay for new discoveries in pollution emission controls? Home owners or communities could demand to receive a tax credit if they erect solar panels or energy producing wind turbines in their back yards or communities! Maybe the government could give willing home owners substantial grants or no interest loans to convert the inefficient insulation in their homes to more energy efficient ones? Imagine that, home owners could not only generate their own energy but sell their excess to the power companies for a profit. Unfortunately among us are a number of purists who will scream, “Not in my back yard!” and argue that too many of these energy producing machines constitute an eye sore and detract from the aesthetics of the neighbourhood. As future new home buyers are we willing to pay premium for a home that meets the new standards for energy efficiency? | Maybe our local insurance companies will join our unselfish effort? Isn’t it in their best interest to reduce our car and home premiums if we go “green”? One way might be to limit driving privileges to those under 21? School and after school work programs only. After all, aren’t adolescents the cause of more accidents and excessive fuel consumption than any other group? | Why not introduce a well managed and mandatory car pooling program within our cities? California has carpool lanes (two or more occupants only please) and they get where their going ahead of the crowd, too. In my plan, employees who carpool to work, three or more per car, would be entitled to drive into the inner city without penalty. All others would be required to park at mass transit depots and embark on a free transit system that travels exclusively within the city limits. Employers and employees would jump at this opportunity. You car pool to the drop-off sites, hop aboard your spacious “contemplation trolley,” resplendent with TV monitors carrying business and up-to-date news, and reclining seats with built in head phones carrying “your” kind of motivational music, air conditioning and a customer service representative ready willing and able to provide free re-turn able umbrellas and rain gear for those less than perfect days, and embarkation and debarkation assistance when requested. Et voila, in no time you arrive at your destination relaxed, refreshed and far more productive that you would if you had to fight morning traffic and compete for a parking space. | Economically, you win; your fuel costs are reduced by 2/3rds or more, so you are earning money. You are reducing carbon emissions and improving the air quality. You are more productive at the office. You are home and at work on a regular schedule. You are a more compatible companion for your spouse, and a better parent; less rattled, tired and frustrated…….let’s hear it for the next generation! By becoming more unselfish, you have reduced the chances for road rage, there will be fewer accidents, lower insurance costs, and a more compatible population of workers and co-workers every day…..utopia? We could also impose a “Pay for Use” assessment on all provincial inter-urban roads. You use them, you pay for them! Politicians were afraid to impose this sanction a few years ago but Premier Graham should “Just Do It” and get it over with. Once we establish our revised plan, we will be ready to address our present problems. | Why will my approach be considered “Back-ass-wards” by some? Simple, if we do not set our goals for a revised approach for cleaner air and a reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere, we will find ourselves mired in the muck of yesterday while trying to plod our way to tomorrow. However, do we have the intestinal fortitude to demand that our elected public servants get down to business (eliminating all political interference) of solving the problems before us, NOW? Are we the people, as the ruling government, prepared to force industry and government bodies to join with us, in a mutual effort, or allow them to remain chattels of high powered lobbyists and unsympathetic multinationals? With all we know, if we are not prepared to get serious, now, we’ll go on killing ourselves slowly and leaving nothing but a polluted, sickening environment for our children and future generations to come. If we don’t move creatively now then maybe we will be forced into adopting some of the extreme proposals of the Green Peace organization, the Hemlock gang, insurance companies and other groups that espouse forced population sterilization, euthanizing the elderly (that’s our generation), those who pose a burden on our economic system, and those requiring medical attention after their productive years have passed them by. | I consider our culture one of contradictions! We want life but espouse death. We want clean water but continue dumping PCB’s and Mercury poisons into it. We want wholesome foods but continue feeding our meat providers and spraying our crops with chemicals. We crave clean air but keep pouring contaminants into the atmosphere. We want someone else to lead instead of becoming leaders ourselves. Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was read a story entitled, “Bad things happen when good people do nothing!” If the shoe fits, and it does, we should not wait any longer we must take-up the mantel of change and urgently press forward to Save Ourselves Soon, by saving our corner of the world or assume the fetal position and accept the inevitable outcome. | The passers-by, gawking at me in my truck, wiping tears from my eyes thought I was laughing uncontrollably when in fact I was wrought with frustration and disgust in a world that cares not for itself. Lets show that we can and will make a difference! |
Published Mascaret, Moncton, N.B.
As human beings we were provided providentially with a characteristic called “freewill”. So why is it that so many of us avoid the logic potential associated with “freewill” and allow it to be pushed aside by supreme ego.
Eco tourism is a gift. A prosperous blending of Mother Nature’s gifts and our ability to translate the natural into financial success. For whatever reason I have found that common sense is not so common. It took 5 years from conception to the opening of the Ecological Park in Lameque…… a dream of naturalists and conservationists, an opportunity for mankind to commune with hundreds of species of plants, insects, birds and wildlife. So why did it take so long. Why after 25 years is an ecological project of significant magnitude still nothing more than idle chatter by the village council in Dorchester. Successful eco tourism is hampered by a three-letter word…ego. Logic would tell us that a collective set of intelligent beings could in short order conclude that a plan put in place and in motion to protect wildlife and their habitat is best done sooner rather than later.
The Ecological Park at Lameque is now in its 3rd year of operation and I cordially invite readers to make the 3-hour trek to this quaint corner of New Brunswick. Not only is the Park itself worth the visit and a guided tour, but the culture of our Acadian brothers and sisters is a must see and do interactive opportunity. Photo opportunities are vast, the seafood is fresh, the aquarium at Shippigan is a must, the Acadian Village in Caraquet is an absolute ……and dropping in on Canada’s Rockwell…Donald McGraw at his gallery in Pokemouche is mandated.
The Acadian Peninsula is a collection of villages and towns along the Bay of Chaleur, Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Wholesome people with big dreams who have risen to meet the challenge presented to them by what they have on their doorstep…gifts from Mother Nature. But, like Dorchester at Johnson’s Mills, nothing comes easy. The Acadian Peninsula is a treasure. It is unknown to most, including the residents as the last identified migratory shorebird stop over point in North America. Thirty-three (33) species of migratory shorebirds make their way north and south at various times during the year. From magnificent breeding plumage to recently fledged chicks heading back, the 33 species can be observed at different locations and different times across the Acadian Peninsula from early May through mid-October.
Dorchester has a treasure also. During a six week period, from mid July to the end of August, the heaviest concentration of south bound semipalmated sandpipers, semipalmated plovers and a host of other migrating shorebirds stop in at Bucks Flats and Johnson’s Mills, five miles from the village center of Dorchester. They gorge themselves on the Corophium, better known as mud shrimp, double their weight and then soar into flight on their 4500 mile, nonstop flight to South America and their winter grounds. A few curious bird lovers have experienced the incredible aerobatic displays, provided by thousands of these sparrow sized birds as they deke and dive as they search the mud flats for their long distance fuel reserves.
Nature Conservancy of Canada is buying up a lot of the shore property now. They have a small interpretive Center and yet Dorchester has done very little outside of its back woods attempt at a Sandpiper Festival to capitalize on the extreme potential to educate vast numbers of north Americas population and to reap the financial rewards that come with controlled eco tourism.
It is becoming apparent that the innate logic that we are born with as humans is not necessarily applied when two or more are gathered in the name of conservation. Unfortunately, when groups of naturalist, bird lovers, environmentalists and conservationists get together around a table to discuss the best way to educate, protect, preserve and enjoy nature and its inhabitants, the dreadful disease of inertia has a tendency to take over the process. Inertia, the Siamese twin of ego; brought on by a severe case of “if it isn’t done my way, it’s not going to get done” is a doomsday scenario.
The Semipalmated sandpipers of my childhood (mid-fifties) numbered around a million. By 2004 that number had dropped to approximately 78,000 according to Canadian Wildlife biologists.
The inertia plagued brain-trusts in my maternal home of Dorchester could help these birds but a few “big fish in small ponds” are unable to commit to a broadened effort to develop the region as an eco tourism educational and research center. Maybe the Dorchester town council should take the drive north to Lameque and see how it can be done. Learning is the first step to saving a dying breed of migratory shorebird.
Does anyone in Dorchester have any common sense?
Marcel Belliveau holds a special place in my heart. He was not only a hero, he was a fighter who overcame obstacles on the ice surface as a member of the vaunted Montreal Canadiens of 1914-15. In the fall of 2009 he was honored by the Montreal Canadiens when his name was included on the plaque in the Molson Center, home of the Canadiens, in Montreal, of the players who played for the greatest sports organization in the past 100 years. However, my grandfather was was more than an Acadian hero, he was a patriot who fought for his country and paid the price for our freedoms. I dedicate this story to all veterans and the bravery and valor they gave in defense of our values. Thanks, Grampy!
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