Protecting a Southern Jewel

Reprinted from WILDLAND NEWS, Spring 2002

Published by the Wildlands League

The St. Williams Crown Forest, located in Norfolk County in Southwestern Ontario near Simcoe, represents a fantastic opportunity for the provincial government to create a large new protected area capturing a rich piece of Carolinian Canada. St. Williams' 1,200 hectares, which were originally assembled as part of Ontario's first tree nursery, are home to a large number of species, many of them found nowhere else in Canada.

Historically, the now extirpated Karner Blue butterfly (no longer found in Southern Ontario) and the Frosted Elfin butterfly (known in Canada only from St. Williams) were found in the extensive and good-quality oak savanna that was part of the station.

Recently, four species of bees new to Canada (their nearest locations being Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey respectively) have been found within the site. The antenna waving wasp, a species that has all but disappeared in the United States, is found here and there are a least two species of grasshoppers that have their whole recorded Canadian range on the St. Williams' Station. The acquisition of insect knowledge at St. Williams is just beginning but the initial work suggests a rich and diverse community exists on these lands. Ontario's largest breeding population of hooded warblers is found here as well as goshawks and barred owls (one of the three pairs in Norfolk). In a 1987 report, 511 species of vascular plants and 16 species of amphibians and reptiles were recorded for St. Williams and 120 species of birds have been recorded nesting on these lands.

As impressive as the species lists for the site are, its most important features are its size and location. This is the largest continuous block of forested land in Southern Ontario. It is one of a very few publicly owned blocks of this size in Southern Ontario, a region of the province in which less than three percent of land is in public ownership. The province is no longer operating a nursery at St. Williams and is now studying future uses for the site.

This is the heart of Carolinian Canada, an area that represents less than one percent of the land mass of the country but has more species than any other part. The Carolinian region also has more species at risk than any other part of Canada, due in part to intense land-use and development pressures.

Oak savanna is one of the most threatened habitats in North America. St. Williams boasts a large contiguous piece that could be protected and restored. The infrastructure to manage the property as a park is already in place with Turkey Point Provincial Park being close by. And the land is owned by the province, so there is no need to expropriate or pay inflated purchase prices.

Numerous reports over the years have focused on particular parts of the St. Williams' Station and species that have been recognized as important. These documents are now being pulled together and combined with a new field study that was designed as a rapid ecological assessment of most of the 1,200-hectare site. Many historic plant records have been rediscovered and as many as 12 plant species new to the site have been found. The historic oak savanna, which has been hard hit by past mismanagement, is being mapped by using indicator species and topography.

Unfortunately the local Ministry of Natural Resources office seems uninterested in acting to protect this rich resource. While espousing the importance of the natural heritage values of the site, they appear to be moving to implement a new management structure focused on timber values.

Through the Lands for Life process, the Ontario government responded to the will of the people and created more than 350 new parks in the province's north. What about the south where the majority of people live?