The Dominion - Matthew Lowell-Pellettier

Hanlon Creek Essay 8

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:05:24 +0000

This photo of the same location was taken just over a month later – after Drexler Construction, a Rockwood-based company, began work on a road crossing for the proposed development. Without tree cover, this fragile cold-water creek was left without shade to cool the river in the hot summer months. During the occuption, local tree farmers donated saplings to plant along the bank of the river to prevent erosion and to return native tree cover.

Hanlon Creek Essay 7.5

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:04:07 +0000

Tributary A of the Hanlon Creek gets wider here as watercress and tall grasses grow in the shallow water. This area became the base for the 19-day occupation that disrupted development long enough to stop the project for a little under a year.

Hanlon Creek Essay 7

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:03:07 +0000

These deer tracks were found during the occupation last summer in the road dug for construction on the contested land. Wild animals are constantly threatened by development and sprawl. As hedgerows, fallow fields and forests become scarce, wild animal populations diminish as less land is available to support life.

Hanlon Creek Essay 6

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:01:50 +0000

Tributary A of the Hanlon Creek flows through the contested land. This creek is one of many that feed into Speed River and then into Grand River, eventually meeting Lake Erie. Pollutants upstream, created by industry, agriculture and development—such as the Hanlon Creek Business Park (HCBP)—contaminate the drinking water of communities like the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) community and the city of Brantford. The struggle against development in Guelph is also a struggle for clean drinking water for communities downstream.

Hanlon Creek Essay 4

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:59:50 +0000

This Flowering Bloodroot is blooming in early spring on the forest floor. Indigenous plants, local to this region, have a hard time competing with invasive, foreign plants such as manitoba maples and garlic mustard.
These woods, like others throughout industrialized Southern Ontario, have kept most foreign plants at bay. This is a remarkable affirmation of their strength.

Hanlon Creek Essay 3

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:58:35 +0000

This decaying beech, like the one pictured before, is one of many indigenous tree species that contribute to the old growth features of this forest. Dead and decaying trees provide habitats for insects, bugs, mushrooms and mycelium; they open spaces in the canopy for younger trees and nurture the forest floor with nutrients gathered when the trees were alive. Old growth forests like this one have characteristic waves in the ground that hint at where, long ago, trees have fallen.

Hanlon Creek Essay 2

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:56:51 +0000

On May 2 and 3, 2009, Land Is More Important Than Sprawl (LIMITS) organized a campout and walking tours to get the public acquainted with the fields and woods slated for development. Many unique trees, like this large beech, can be found throughout the woods.

Hanlon Creek Essay 1

Moira Peters — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:44:24 +0000

Spring floods raise the water table of the Hanlon Creek and bring new life into the woods of the HCWC. These woods are part of a unique bioregion, characterized by the beauty of both southern Carolinian and Northern Coniferous forests, create a habitat for rare and endangered species. Southwestern Ontario has already lost 80 per cent of its forest cover and 99 per cent of its old growth forests.