You have just learned that a favourite wetland or woodland will soon be destroyed by development unless you do something. Fast action is needed to save the area. Below are the important steps you should take.

This Greenprint of Action was created by Ontario Nature  

Find out who is doing what and why.

1. Call your municipal clerk and/or planner. Be cordial and diplomatic. He/she can be an invaluable ally. Make sure that these questions are answered:
• What type of development is proposed?
• When was the application for development made?
• Has the development proposal been given the go-ahead, and by whom (municipal staff, your municipal council, acommittee of council)?
  
• Is an official plan amendment needed?
• What is the current zoning and is a new zoning bylaw or bylaw amendment needed?
• Has there been or will there be a public meeting hosted by the municipality?
• Does the natural area have any special status in your municipality's Official Plan, for example as an EnvironmentallySensitive/Significant Area (ESA), or as a Provincially.Significant Wetland (PSW), or Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), the latter two being provincial-level designations?
• Do wetlands and woodlands have any protection afforded to them in the official plan?
• Has the official plan been updated to make it consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act? If not, when will this be done?
  
• Are there any government reports, consultants' studies or municipal documents on the development proposal or thenatural area? Can you get copies or take a look at them at the municipal office?
• When can you come in to look at the official plan and zoning bylaws, or are they available online? Are there any secondary plans, and where can you access these as well?
• Will the clerk arrange to notify you of any municipal action You have just learned that a favourite wetland or woodland will soon be destroyed by development unless you do something. Fast action is needed to save the area. What do you do? Below are the important steps you should take.
2. Talk to your Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) district office to find out what they know. You can find the phone number in the blue pages of the phone book, or online at www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/csb/message/mnroffices.html. Be sure to ask them:
• Do they know anything about the proposed development?
• What is MNR’s position, if any, on the proposal?
• Will they give you copies of the DLUG (District Land UseGuideline) and ANSI reports and maps? 
• If the affected area is a wetland:
• Is the wetland “provincially significant”?
• Is it “regionally” or “locally significant”?
• Has the wetland been evaluated to determine if it is provincially, regionally or locally significant? If not, will it be evaluated before approval for the development proposal is consideredand who is going to do the evaluation?
• If the area is a woodland or other natural area:
• Are there arny reports or studies available for the area?
• Have any ecological/biological studies or evaluations been conducted in the area?
• Is it an ANSI? Is it a significant woodland, valley land or fish and wildlife habitat?
• Is it habitat for endangered or threatened species, or any other species at risk?
3. Talk to your local conservation authority (CA), if one exists in your area, to find out what they know. Here are some questions to consider:
• Are there any watershed or subwatershed studies of this area?
• Are there any intentions to undertake these studies? If not, why not?
• Is the site a significant valley land? Does the CA know of any significant species or habitats there?
• Request copies of fill and flood regulations, and any ESA maps that the CA might have.
4. Pay attention to word-of-mouth information. You’d be surprised what the local storekeepers know!

Evaluate your information and get more.

1. Compare what the municipal office, MNR and CA told you. Take a look at the material available:
• If the wetland or woodland is significant, is the municipality giving it proper consideration through the official plan?
• Is the proposal consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement?
• Is the municipality, MNR or CA overlooking something?
2. Get more information. Contact the local naturalist club (see Ontario Nature’s website for a club near you:www.ontarionature.org), local environmental groups,provincial conservation organizations, or the Natural HeritageInformation Centre (www.nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/nhic_.cfm)
• Do these groups know what is going on?
• Do they have records or inventories for the site?
• Is there anything significant that the municipality, CA or MNRoverlooked?
• Do they want to help save the area? What can they do to help?
  
3. Summarize the site’s natural significance.
   
4.  Check records of the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Ontario
   (www.birdsontario.org) to see if any bird species at risk are in
   your general area (based on 10 x 10 km grids).

Now, how do you plan a campaign?

 Write a letter to your mayor and all members of council immediately and express your concerns, even if they are not detailed. You canalways write a follow-up letter later, by yourself or as part of a group.Remember to always ask questions in your letter. This way the mayor and council will be obliged to respond.

1. Find out who your allies are
• Inform neighbours and groups with interests and concerns similar to yours.
• Contact other groups who may have an interest in the issue(ratepayers, anglers and hunters, local university or college).
• Approach local politicians (ones likely to support you).
2. Hold a meeting of your group
• Examine your opportunities for approaching the municipal council.
• Establish an attainable solution to your problem. You want tosave this area, but you might have to be flexible about howthis is accomplished.
  
3. Check historical naturalists’ records of the site through
   your local or area naturalist club.
• Decide on an approach or approaches, such as:
• Delegations and submissions to council;
• Letter-writing campaign;
• Support from provincial-level organiza-tions
• When to write to appropriate ministries and/orministers;
• When to go to the media and how;􀂊 Getting broader community support;
• The possibility of acquiring (purchasing) the land;
• The need for a lawyer.
• Find out what expertise and connections your group has.
• If a municipal election is on the horizon, look at the possibilityof having a member of your group run for a seat on council.
• Assign people in your group specific respon-sibilities.
• Think about creating a more formal group to save the naturalarea (Friends of…) that becomes incorporated and that evenmay seek status as a registered charity.
• Be prepared to negotiate seriously with thelandowner, the developer and/or the municipality.
• Be prepared for the long haul.

How do You Keep the Pressure On?

This is challenging. How do you keep everybody pushing along as theweeks and months drag by without a decision?

• Keep focused on your goal.
• Be creative and keep re-evaluating your strategy.
  
• If one approach isn’t working, try something else.
• Be professional, even if things get nasty. That means being polite and courteous, and not getting angry (at least not publicly).
• Don’t get sidetracked. Once you start, a dozen other related projects will come up.

Finally, remember that the people whose minds you’re trying to change are human and there is a way of reaching them.

Above all, keep your SENSE OF HUMOUR!

ONTARIO NATURE
355 Lesmill Road, Toronto, Ontario M3B 2W8
Tel: (416) 444-8419 Toll free: 1-800-440-2366
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