By John Francis,
Bruce Peninsula Press
As the widening of Highway 6 was underway this summer, other changes were incorporated. One of these was a combination of wildlife fencing and under-road wildlife passageways. One lot of fencing was installed in front of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Hunting Ground, south/east of Emmett Lake Road.
SON objected, saying that the fencing was much too tall and would interfere with movement of bear and deer, not to mention preventing SON members from accessing their hunting grounds.
MTO promptly removed the fencing, but took some weeks to respond to requests for an explanation. Here is their response:
“The purpose of the overall highway project is to improve the condition of the pavement (mainline and shoulder), improve drainage (ditches; side road, entrance, and centreline culverts) and enhance roadside safety on Highway 6 between Lindsay Road 20 to Maple Golf Crescent, Tobermory. This work began in 2020 and is expected to be completed this fall.
As part of this project, wildlife fencing was to be installed at two locations on Highway 6 to protect Species at Risk reptiles. The location in the north near Cameron Lake Road was chosen due to increased road mortality of reptiles (turtles and snakes) identified through a hotspot analysis completed in 2018. A second fencing location, south of Willow Creek along the Saugeen Ojibway Nations’ Hunting Grounds, was identified in 2019 as it was shown to be an area of high road mortality for reptiles. MTO had previously installed wildlife-mortality awareness signs in this corridor. Fencing was designed with the eco-passages to keep reptiles off the road in these hotspots and to reduce road user and wildlife interaction.
During installation, it came to our attention from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation that the reptile fencing may have unintended effects on the movements of other wildlife species including bear and deer. MTO has removed portions of the fencing that had already been installed, and will be re-examining alternative approaches to protect wildlife near the highway. In the project redesign, MTO is committed to ensuring SON is meaningfully consulted as this project further progresses. MTO will be consulting with Saugeen Ojibway Nation on potential alternative approaches to avoid and mitigate adverse impacts on SON’s Aboriginal and Treaty rights. The Ministry hopes to benefit from SON’s knowledge about the wildlife in this area in the re-design of this fence.”
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After five and a half months of daily runs from Tobermory to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island, the MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry made her last run of the season on Oct 17. She left her berth in Tobermory early in the morning on Oct 18, bound for Thunder Bay, where she will undergo a once-every-five-years drydock hull inspection. Barring any nasty surprises with the inspection, she should return to her regular winter berth in Owen Sound some time in November.
