by PAT CURRIE
Rural feathers in southwestern Ontario are being ruffled by a Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) plan to complete a natural "prairie passageway" as part of a project to clean up and protect the St. Clair River and wetlands system.
An MNR decision to let farmers’ leases expire on 87 acres of prime farmland in Chatham-Kent has provoked protest led by Wallaceburg-area farmer Will DeGoey.
"One-third of the world is crying for food so what are they doing? They’re taking 87 acres of Ontario’s best farmland out of production, 15 acres of it from me," DeGoey said.
The land along Highway 40 was taken by the province 30 years ago to accommodate future widening of the highway. "The agreement was that if it wasn’t needed to expand Highway 40 into a dual (four-lane) road, then it was to be returned to the farmers," DeGoey said.
The leases actually expired at the end of 2009 but farmers were given a one-year extension to crop it in 2010.
DeGoey argues that the MNR’s plan to turn the roadside strip into a natural "prairie passageway" linking three wildlife areas across Chatham-Kent and Lambton County – from Walpole Island to Sarnia — flies in the face of provincial regulations designating the land as top-grade farmland that must be protected against non-agricultural uses.
"I can’t get it through their heads that they’re breaking their own regulations," DeGoey said, adding that part of the prairie passageway already established in Lambton is a wilderness "of weeds and rats."
He said wild grasses in the corridor have to be burned off every year, creating a safety hazard "on a road that’s full of school buses" and that fishermen and hunters attracted to the wildlife strip will become a dangerous nuisance for farmers.
"They’re planning to pay $1,500 a acre to plant (the strip). I’d like to have a piece of that – that’s more than any other crop I ever heard of," DeGoey said.
Ron Ludolph, MNR stewardship co-ordinator for Chatham-Kent, said the prairie passageway is part of an international strategy between Canada and the United States.
The passageway "is on crown land so it is exempt for regulations barring non-farm use," he said.
Jake Lozon, assistant stewardship co-ordinator at the MNR’s Chatham office, said only four farmers, including DeGoey, oppose the plan.
"We have widespread support from many groups, including farmers. They like the idea of more trees planted along the highway to cut down on whiteouts caused by blowing snow," Lozon said.
As for hunters and fishermen, "there has been no discussion at all about opening the passageway to anyone," Ludolph said.
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Maria VanBommel said that the MNR and Ministry of Transportation are trying to reach a compromise.
"There are valid points on both sides," she said. BF
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