1: wearing loose shoes 2: shabby *3: careless, slovenly
* After two factual errors were discovered in his article, the young reporter was warned that slipshod journalism would not be tolerated.
[From the Merriam-Webster desk calendar for May 2, 2007]
The author of a recent article in NOW Magazine would have everyone believe that the entire valley around the Don River is ecologically sensitive conservation land. Well, that simply is not true. One only has to look at any public domain map to find that out.
This map from Google, shows the difference between conservation lands and "other" uses. The green area is conservation land, but it is funny that this author would have you believe that the areas marked up with the point marker and the purple and red polygons are included in the conservation lands and that simply is not true. The purple areas are lands that are designated as "Sewage Treatment Facilities" and the red area is land designated as "Vacant Residential Land". All along the train tracks there is also a corridor that is designated as "Railway Right of Way".The author also refers to 3 photos in the article as "daredevil jumps" but actually have nothing to do with jumps. They are merely trees that have fallen and have a small ramp leading up the ride over. And speaking of those photos, those are not jumps at all. They certainly do not see that there are ladders built on sensitive slopes to preserve the flora and protect from erosion. The whole “jumps” section is located next to the train tracks and on land that is deemed "Vacant Residential Land". The author also refers to steep slopes and downhill sections. Most of these are located on land that is deemed "Sewage Treatment Facilities".
There is one line in the article commenting on anything to do with IMBA cleaning up the valley. Think if that “3-tons”, and I thought we were using the metric system in this country, were allowed to fester. The iron-oxide from the decaying metal would further contaminate the soil and render the forest dead with no chance of regeneration. There is also no mention of the trail maintenance that goes on in order to preserve the forest and stop erosion from the slopes or the various planting events that have happened along the trail system to protect those sensitive areas and re-routing trails away from others.
There is also no mention of the City maintenance programs to preserve the forests in the Lower Don like the “Trees Across Toronto” program that we had attended April 28th, (see my previous posting for the story) and the ONLY mention about the city at all is in the by-line under the photos “The city looks the other way…”
The reason mountain bikes are banned from other parks has nothing to do with preserving the ecology of the area and everything to do with area residents groups who have been grossly misinformed by the author and others like her about recreational activities such as mountain biking.
The way this article is written, the author seems to represent herself as an expert botanist and that the City of Toronto do not have any botantists or arbourists on staff to maintain these areas.
The trails that go through the conservation lands, are just that… TRAILS! There has been trail maintenance done on these trails, but to the extent to keep them free from litter and garbage, hazards like broken glass and shards of metal and the ensure that erosion controls are in place to preserve the surrounding flora.
Photo © Tony Bursey
Photo © Tony Bursey
Photo © Tony Bursey
Forested trails also offer safety in this respect to trail users of all kinds. I bring a camera whenever I am in the trails and have and will continue to photograph extensively. I suppose this author would have you believe that photography in the trail systems like these also degrades the trail and should not be permitted.
Another thought came to me yesterday morning and has had its time to brew... and this has ABSOLUTELY no ill feeling for runners, an activity I have also done. I heard that the impact on your feet when you run is something like 8 times your body weight. Well, I am 200 pounds, which would mean that with every step for a contact patch the size of my size 12 shoe (roughly the same as both my tires), I am exherting 1600 pounds of pressure as opposed to my 200 pounds being spread out over two tires and as long as they remain in contact with the trail is slightly more than my 200 pounds (from pedalling). You tell me which activity will put more strain on an ecologicall sensitive area. You also have to keep in mind that the trails are being used by all sorts of different activities and the sensitive areas are within the wooded vegetated areas.
Another HUGE point that this author fails to realize is that this entire valley is a flood plain for the river and will occasionally flood. That is why there is no building in areas like this.
I will check the next time I ride, but Crothers Woods is only a very small section of the green area, that also has pavement constructed through it. If it were such an ecologically sensitive area, why would they allow construction of this sort here and not natural wood-chip trails like in High Park???
A co-worker asked what publication this was in, and when “NOW” magazine was mentioned, the concensus around the office was the same… “That is not a real publication. They are in it just for the ads!”
