After attending one of the public lectures and seeing the 74-inch telescope for the first time on my 13th birthday, my friends and I made many trips to the DDO.  A few years later we moved to Weldrick Road and the observatory became a favorite place where I could walk, write and take photographs.

I realize my story is not unique.  It has been repeated by thousands of Richmond Hill residents for more than 70 years.  I suspect that all of these stories share at least this in common:  everyone who walks up Donalda Drive, between the towering pines and rounds the corner to see the Great Dome, the Administration Building and Elms Lea is struck by the majesty of these buildings and the solitude that surrounds them.

But there is more to Dunlap than buildings.

Twelve years ago, my wife and I moved into our own home about 2km from the DDO. Once again, the Observatory became a special destination – a place where we took our children and our dog to explore the forests and meadows.  Over the years, we became avid birdwatchers and — along with others — have made a special point of documenting bird sightings on the Dunlap lands. Since the fall of 2007, we have noted 72 species of birds on the property. These include many migratory species such as Eastern Towhee, Black-throated Green and Blue, Blackburnian Warblers (and many others).  Each year, these birds visit the DDO forests to rest and feed during spring and fall migrations.

The Dunlap habitat is also extensively used by northern birds that come south from the northern boreal forests. These include Pine Grosbeaks, Purple Finches and White-winged Crossbills, all of which have been seen on the Dunlap property. While the forests are important, the meadows and regenerating farm fields are crucial for the vole population that provides food for hawks and owls. The Dunlap fields also provide spring and summer habitat for grassland birds such as Field Sparrows, Kingbirds and Eastern Bluebirds.

At this very moment, Red-tails and Coopers hawks are soaring over the property, hunting mice and voles. Deer are browsing in the dense brush. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, juncos and chickadees are feeding in the woods. White-winged crossbills are soaring above the conifers and feeding on the cones.  This natural heritage is interwoven with the cultural heritage – and is enjoyed and confirmed through the daily activities of visitors who walk, cycle, cross-country ski, watch birds and wildlife and take photographs.  But where did these forests come from?

Trees and Nature

When we first moved to Richmond Hill, the signs posted around the Dunlap property read “David Dunlap Observatory and Arboretum”.  As you know, the Dunlap Arboretum was managed by the U of T Faculty of Forestry and the original gift of the property called for the creation of a park that could be used by the public.  Since local volunteers such as the Richmond Hill Naturalists began researching the scope and depth of heritage attributes of the site, I have seen a number of historical documents, including the plan for the DDO Arboretum and learned how many of the trees on the Dunlap Property were planted by astronomers and students.  The Dunlap trees include the “Mulock Oaks” which were planted in 1938 by Chant and Jessie Dunlap and other notable citizens such as Sir William Mulock, the Chancellor of the University of Toronto and Chief Justice of the Ontario Supreme Court.

What is perhaps less well-known is that for many years Mulock was also part of a world-wide movement that recognized the problems of deforestation and promoted the planting of trees. If you search the Toronto Star archives in the 1930’s, you will find other stories of ceremonial tree plantings and public calls for the creation of a local arboretum.  At one such planting in July 1939, Sir William urged Canadians to “bring pressure on their local members to convince all governing bodies it is in the highest interests of Canada to restore our destroyed forests”. And he urged individual action by planting trees wherever possible.

It seems to me that in addition to the astronomical benefits, the trees planted at Dunlap are the direct result of the noble and farsighted actions of these citizens.

From a heritage perspective, I do not know what the difference is between a plan that results in a building or a plan that results in a series of forests and meadows.  I do not know how to count the heritage attributes of the green spaces at Dunlap, though if we could understand them, I suspect the birds and animals that depend on them would have much to say on the matter.  Perhaps one way to view the eastern portion of the property is to consider it as “built habitat” – a series of forests, meadows and a wetland that grew out of the vision Jessie Dunlap, C.A. Chant and Sir William Mulock.

Heritage is Context

Over the course of these hearings, it has been said there are thousands of farmscapes in Ontario and not all of them warrant protection.  But part of the point about Dunlap, is that it sits here in the midst of 181,000 people.  The Dunlap Property is easily reached by thousands on foot. It could be accessible to thousands more by transit – perhaps even a GO Train stop.  The trails could provide a safe and sustainable way to link residents with other sections of the Town.

On the other hand, if you drive west along Major Mackenzie Drive, you’ll see that almost every farm field from here to Kleinberg has been scraped and prepped for development. You will see the same thing if you travel east towards Markham.  As you have heard, the scientific and cultural history of the Dunlap site is rich and unique. But, given the rate of development in the northern GTA, the land itself has become a rarity.

The fact is, the Dunlap property is larger in area than U of T’s St. George Campus. It is about the same size as Montreal’s Mount Royal. And, as you can see from the aerial photograph, it is the last remaining significant greenspace in the heart of Richmond Hill.

Dunlap’s Heritage is more than a sum of attributes.  In addition to the forests, meadows and buildings, Dunlap’s heritage can be found in thousands of newspaper articles, scholarly papers, photographs, stories and memories. The entire Dunlap Property, including the Great Telescope, the Administration Building, Elms Lea and all of the forests and meadows is a noble reminder – a much-needed reminder – that we are better than we think we are.

It deserves protection.

This growth will come largely because of federal immigration policy which is slated to admit some 300,000 immigrants per year.  As a Queen’s University study notes “Immigration has become the central dynamic in both population and labour force growth in Canada.”  The authors of this study explain that in the late 1980′s Canadian immigration policy moved away from setting immigration levels to match short-run economic conditions.  Instead, our government now takes  an optimistically long view of things and ignores current unemployment and economic performance when setting immigration targets.  I would add that the feds also ignore environmental factors and the carrying capacity of the land when setting these levels.

Instead, the problem of where to house those extra four million bodies has been downloaded to Ontario.  And Ontario, with dubious wisdom, has cranked out the “Places to Grow” plan. This “plan” is really more like a menu that details how the southern half of this province will be carved up and served to developers. I ranted over the folly of this plan a while back, and groups such as the Neptis Foundation have found their own faults with it.  They point out that Ontario’s Places to Grow plan:

1. Does not contain measures that would result in the better, more productive development of currently unbuilt areas within urban boundaries, nor in significantly increased re-urbanization of the built-up areas of the region.
2. Does not provide strong protection for environmentally sensitive lands not associated with the Greenbelt. Much stronger policies are needed in a growth management plan.
3. Does not protect agricultural land across the whole region. The proposed policies retain the standards currently in force, which have failed to protect farmland.
4. May not decrease automobile use and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the plan’s support for transit, complementary measures to reduce automobile dependence are not included.
5. Contains few specifics on how success will be tracked and measured.

Even the Neptis critique, while it makes valid points, never questions the fundamental assumption that Ontario’s population needs to grow significantly beyond current levels.  Of course, the issue of immigration — since the majority of Canadians are immigrants or the children of immigrants — is a touchy one. But it is an issue that must be addressed if we are to make real progress in reducing our environmental footprint in order to ensure long-term survival and a decent life for our children.

But can we even trust the authenticity of this particular atrocity? After all, this Xinhua news agency story was fed to Reuters, filtered into English, bounced 10 thousand miles around the planet and then regurgitated in CNN's "Offbeat News" feed.  If true, this momentous leap for science took place at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Centre at Shandong University of Science and Technology. There is even a quote from the lead 12-year-old animal torturer/scientist:

"It's the first such successful experiment on a pigeon in the world," Xinhua quoted the center's chief scientist, Su Xuecheng, as saying. 

Perhaps this misguided, waste of time is a symbol of what is going on in China these days: rampant pollution, out of control growth, human rights abuses, a tanking stock market. Maybe I don't really believe that — I'm just goofing around. China is a big, complex place, with plenty of scientific resources that can be used for good as well as for sci-fi horror purposes. Perhaps the Chinese were just responding to America's own efforts in the remote-controlled animal race. A casual Google search for "American remote-controlled animals" yields this website, a site which details that country's long and checkered history of using remote-controlled "spy animals" for combat and national security. An excerpt:

The American spy cow is the newest addition to a series of radio controlled robotic farm animals which were developed by Armorobotech Weapons, Inc. for the US Army's Military Farm Animal Operations Program or MFAOP to innocently walk into enemy territory where they would be mistaken for real harmless farm animals. The program was first used during the gulf war when explosive chickens were used to attack people and buildings in enemy cities. After the war MFAOP was used by the FBI to track down and chase dangerous criminals. In 1994 a mechanical race horse chased a convicted murderer from the scene of a fatal hostage situation for an hour and a half before he finally collapsed from exhaustion. The Animals were also used for rescue purposes. In 1993 a team of 5 Mechanical Ducks rescued a five year old from the raging waters during the Great Mississippi River Flood. After the Oklahoma City bombing skinny tom cats were used to search through the rubble for survivors. Since the Gulf war 42 different species of farm animals have been developed for various uses. 

Clearly, American science has been quite creative in putting remote-controlled animals to work. In contrast, the Chinese report "did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for the remote-controlled pigeons". May I humbly suggest there can only be two uses for this technology: fiction and satire. And I'm afraid that when it comes to remote-controlled animals, the Yanks may well be winning the satirical race.

So where has all the power gone? If I didn’t know better, I’d guess that the protagonist in Ralph Ellison’s 1952 Invisible Man just might know the answer. Ellison’s guy is alive and well and living near Harlem, but in order to survive, the Invisible Man must live underground, must operate beneath the radar of a dominant culture that refuses to include him. He writes:

I have been carrying on a fight with Monopolated Light and Power for some time now. I use their service and pay them nothing at all, and they don’t know it. Oh, they suspect that power is being drained off, but they don’t know where. All they know is that according to the master meter back there in their power station a hell of a lot of free current is disappearing somewhere into the jungle of Harlem… My hole is warm and full of light. Yes full of light. I doubt there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine, and I do not exclude Broadway. Or the Empire State Building on a photographer’s dream night.

In many ways the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and almost everyone in southern Lebanon seem to be invisible these days. How else can one explain the indiscriminate way in which Israel has been pulverizing Beirut? Who would drop bombs on young children if they were not invisible? Of course, Hezbollah and Hamas are living in a dream world if they do not believe in Israel’s right to exist. But, at the same time, the only way Israel can truly disarm these militant factions is by offering Palestinians a full share of life in the region. They could start with an equitable distribution of water and electricity. Since israel bombed a power station serving Gaza City, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have gone with out electricity and without enough water (since electricity is required in order to pump it). As far as water goes, it is interesting that Israel wants to push Hezbollah north of the Litani river. As Marq De Villiers noted in Water:

The Israelis have never really given up thinking of the Litani as rightfully theirs. And since almost half the water used in Israel is already captured, diverted, or pre-empted from its neighbors, why stop there?

Although much of the electricity in Queens, Lebanon and Gaza has gone “missing” of late, it will ultimately be restored with the help of engineers and line workers. But these electrical repairs will only be temporary fixes unless we also repair cultural and economic circuit breakers. Anything less and the global grid will remain broken and increasingly unreliable. The displaced and the invisible will get some of what they need one way or another.

The House Sparrow and other European species was introduced for both esthetic and environmental reasons. Pike and others mistakenly expected the birds to help control worm infestations in forests. Between 1872 and 1874, the Cincinnati Acclimatization Society introduced 4000 European songbirds (18 species), but only House Sparrows and Starlings found a foothold and spread. They wanted to “aid people against the encroachment of insects” and to make sure that the “ennobling influence of the song of birds will be felt by the inhabitants”. Unfortunately, these exotic introductions helped cause a major decline in the population of North American native songbirds by driving away Bluebirds, swallows, warblers and other species. It is sadly ironic that because House Sparrows are primarily seed-eaters, their introduction in North America actually encouraged more widespread insect infestations.

A few years ago, Graeme Gibson wrote an interesting book called The Bedside Book of Birds: an Avian Miscellany. It’s a collection of writings from many places and times that deal with the symbolism of birds. I’d like to suggest that in North America, at least, the House Sparrow has nothing to do with symbolism and everything to do with realism. The lowly House Sparrow is more of a mirror — a direct reflection of our strivings and our capacity for colossal error.

In spite of my previous gripes, things may soon get better for cyclists north of Toronto. York Region, is apparently coming to the conclusion that it is not healthy to cede absolute control of the landscape to roads and automobiles. Development in this region has proceeded so quickly that there are areas where walking (never mind cycling) is all but impossible. The Region has now taken a baby step to fix this problem by unveiling its own Pedestrian and Cycling Master Plan Study. This was introduced to the public at the end of May, but it is still early days, so it is possible to get involved. If you happen to live here or have cycled the Region’s glacier-made, rolling countryside, then you can provide direct feedback through an online survey.

It’s too easy to be cynical about efforts such as these — especially when you live in a region where the developer has reigned supreme for so many decades. But an expanded network of bike lanes and bike/pedestrian paths is just too important for this region to allow for cynicism. In any case, there are a few reasons to remain optimistic. Cyclists are known to be unusually stubborn and persistent and they rarely give up. Consider the number of Canadians and Americans who cycle coast to coast each year. Or consider the recent attempt to break the world cycling speed record in Casa Grande, Arizona. The recumbent bicycle is the preferred human-powered vehicle for these races in which top spinners sustain average speeds of over 80 Km/hour. The world record-holder, Sam Whittingham, is Canadian from British Columbia and the proprietor of Naked Bicycles, “a custom bicycle and accessory fabrication company based on Quadra Island, B.C.” Are you lobbying for an expanded network of bike lanes, Sam?

I hope you enjoy the previous 90 tips:

• 13 Steps to Successful Blogging
  The 13-step program is by Yaro Starak, an EzineArticles.com “Expert Author”.
• 7 Tips for Successful Blogging by Michele Schermerhorn
  These tips come from Michele Schermerhorn, a self-described “Corporate Freedom Fighter” who wants to liberate cubicle prisoners so they can experience their own successful online business.
• Top 10 Tips for Blogging
  This Top 10 list comes from Sharon Housley, a marketing manager with FeedForAll.
• 40 Tips from Dehumanizer.Com
  This huge list of tips comes from Pedro Timóteo, a 31-year old network/systems administrator from Portugal.
• 10 Tips for Attracting More Comments
  These come from Chris Garrett, a UK-based former marketing consultant who now works for Performancing.Com
• Blogging For Beginners And 10 Blog Traffic Tips
  Yaro Starak “literally put together a 1500 word collection of blog traffic tips in an hour demonstrating that my brain is really full of Blog Traffic content ready to be poured out”.