Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM) is a coalition of 25 citizen's groups and individuals dedicated to preserving the ecologically sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine in Ontario, Canada. Formed in 1989, its primary goal has been to lobby the Government of Ontario to create legislation to protect the moraine.
The coalition was founded when two groups (one from Peterborough that was supporting a group in Durham Region, and one in King Township) discovered that they had the same name (STORM), and networked with other local groups to organize a first coalition meeting. The brief that the Peterborough group prepared had a significant impact on the Environmental Assessment Advisory Committee who held a hearing to hear perspectives on the disputed land use proposal near Kendall in Durham.
STORM has played an important role in triggering political action to preserve the Oak Ridges Moraine. Soon after its formation, it raised the profile of the Moraine at both the local and provincial levels, causing the provincial government to declare an "expression of provincial interest" in the Moraine in 1990.
STORM was appointed as a member of the government-sponsored Oak Ridges Moraine Technical Working Committee. In addition to STORM, membership on the committee included: Regional Municipalities of Durham, Peel and York, MNR, MMAH, MOE, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA), Conservation Council of Ontario (CCO), Urban Development Institute (UDI), Aggregate Producers Association of Ontario (APAO), and Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON). The committee operated from 1991 to 1994. Its task was to develop a long-term preservation strategy for the moraine. The committee's final report, submitted to the province in 1994, was never implemented. Instead, the province expanded the powers of the municipalities in administration of the lands that were the subject of the committee's report.[1]
The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional Municipality of York in 1970. It replaced the former York County in 1971, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The regional government is headquartered in Newmarket.
Whitchurch-Stouffville is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately 50 km (31 mi) north of downtown Toronto, and 55 km (34 mi) north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is 206.22 km2 (79.62 sq mi) in area, and located in the mid-eastern area of the Regional Municipality of York on the ecologically-sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine. Its motto since 1993 is "country close to the city".
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of 1,900 square kilometres (730 sq mi) between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most significant landforms in southern Ontario, the moraine gets its name from the rolling hills and river valleys extending 160 km (99 mi) from the Niagara Escarpment east to Rice Lake. It was formed 12,000 years ago by advancing and retreating glaciers. The moraine is a contested site in Ontario, since it stands in the path of major urban development.
The Rouge River is a river in Markham, Pickering, Richmond Hill and Toronto in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. The river flows from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario at the eastern border of Toronto, and is the location of Rouge Park, the only national park in Canada within a municipality. At its southern end, the Rouge River is the boundary between Toronto and southwestern Pickering in the Regional Municipality of Durham.
Steve Gilchrist is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.
King City is an unincorporated Canadian community in the township of King, Ontario, located north of Toronto. It is the largest community in King township, with 2,730 dwellings and a population of 8,396 as of the 2021 Canadian census.
Pottageville is an unincorporated community located in northeastern King Township, in Ontario, Canada. It is near Schomberg. It is named for one of its early settlers, Edward Pottage.
The politics of the Oak Ridges Moraine in southern Ontario, Canada, have centred on the question of how to preserve this extensive natural resource that is increasingly threatened by human modification. Although preservation of the moraine was first suggested in the 1940s, and intermittently over the subsequent fifty years, it was not until 1991 that the issue achieved prominence in political discourse. For the ensuing decade, use of the moraine was hotly contested between the interests of local residents, developers and environmentalists.
Preliminary research on the hydrology of the Oak Ridges Moraine began in the 1970s, but a broader research effort including the impact of urban development on the aquifer system and Great Lakes water quality was established in 1993. The research locus is the Geological Survey of Canada and the University of Toronto Groundwater Research Group, though other groups have made substantial contributions to this project.
The Oak Ridges Trail Association (ORTA) is an incorporated charitable organisation whose purpose is to develop, maintain, promote and expand the hiking trail system across the Oak Ridges Moraine in south-central Ontario, Canada. ORTA has ten chapters, each of which maintains a section of the approximately 250 km of trail. The Oak Ridges Trail is connected to the Bruce Trail, Ganaraska Trail, Nokiidaa Trail and Trans Canada Trail. ORTA is governed by a Board of Directors who have responsibilities for managing the various aspects of the organization. Directors on the Board are elected at an Annual General Meeting. ORTA Mission Statement is "To build and maintain a public hiking trail system on the Oak Ridges moraine, off-road where possible, and To organize and promote hiking on this trail system, and To encourage responsible stewardship of the Moraine's natural environment."
The Township of Alnwick/Haldimand is a township in central Ontario, Canada, in Northumberland County, situated between Lake Ontario and Rice Lake. It was formed in 2001 by the merger of Alnwick Township in the north and Haldimand Township in the south. Alderville First Nation is an autonomously governed First Nation contained within the township boundaries, in two non-contiguous sections along County Roads 45 and 18.
The Greenbelt is a permanently protected area of green space, farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds, located in Southern Ontario, Canada. It surrounds a significant portion of the Golden Horseshoe.
The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority is a conservation authority established in 1951, and is among the oldest in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Ashburn is a hamlet in the town of Whitby, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada, located approximately 15 kilometres north of the town core, and centred on the intersection of Ashburn Road and Myrtle Road. It is a rural settlement area on the Oak Ridges Moraine, situated on the headwaters of the Lynde Creek watershed and part of Ontario's protected Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt.
Cold Creek Conservation Area, usually Cold Creek, is an ecologically diverse protected Area of Natural and Scientific Interest in south-central Ontario, Canada. The 190-hectare (470-acre) conservation area was opened on 20 June 1962 by Wilf Spooner and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. It is located on the western end of King Township, overlapping the Oak Ridges Moraine. The Government of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources classifies the area as a provincially significant Area of Natural and Scientific Interest for its "provincially or regionally significant representative ecological features". The area was also a site classified for the International Biological Program. The Life Science area, known as Cold Creek Swamp, is composed of a swamp and forest.
There are numerous natural areas in King, a township in Ontario, Canada. These areas are zones officially designated by the Government of Ontario that are within the township and exhibit provincially or regionally significant features representative of the region. The list of zones is defined and maintained by the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Information Centre.
The Fleetwood Kames is a 939 hectare provincially significant Earth Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest in Ontario, Canada. The topographical feature is located on the north slope of the Oak Ridges Moraine, in the city of Kawartha Lakes. Part of the parcel, known as Fleetwood Creek, is owned by the Ontario Heritage Foundation.
The Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation (ORMF) is a non-profit organization based in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2002 as a governing body dedicated to the enhancement and preservation of the Oak Ridges Moraine as a healthy and vibrant ecosystem.
The Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2006 is a regional growth management policy for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) area of southern Ontario, Canada. Introduced under the Places to Grow Act in 2005, the Plan was approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and enacted on June 16, 2006. Administered by the Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure (MOI), the plan identifies density and intensification targets, urban growth centres, strategic employment areas, and settlement area restrictions designed to mitigate negative environmental, economic and human health impacts associated with sprawling, uncoordinated growth in the region.
The Toronto waterway system comprises a series of natural and man-made watercourses in the Canadian city of Toronto. The city is dominated by a large river system spanning most of the city including the Don River, Etobicoke Creek, Highland Creek, Humber River, Mimico Creek and Rouge River.
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