[jpzk]

Tell The story:

My favorite wildlife/birding "spot" is undergoing a massive change, and not for the better.
and I need to "publish" my photos showing the severity of the situation.

It is the Marais du Gros-Cacouna, in Québec, Canada as shown here:
Corporation PARC Bas-Saint-Laurent - Secteur du Site ornithologique du marais de Gros-Cacouna
and here:
Cacouna.Qc Porcupine country
My apologies about the first link which is French only.

This is supposed to be a "protected" nature area (by the Government of Canada - which officially owns the place ) and it is "controlled" by different agencies such as the Ministry of the Environment, the local township and the "resident" native people (very small population and not really controlling anything really).

What has been happening over a period of 4 years is quite worrisome:

1. plans are well underway to build an unnecessary addition to the existing deep sea warf : a dry dock for maintainance of ships.
I hardly understand why this is going to happen when at least three such "dry docks" are currently under high financial pressure and we certainly do not need this around here while two of those docks are rather close to this site already.
The transport of huge boulders has started last week: that will be part of a "wall" right next to the small mountain where the peregrine falcons used to nest.
(It is a real mess at the moment: trucks, heavy machinery, noise, dust, dirt ... etc ...)
In order to lessen the pressure on those predatory birds, "they" have fenced out the cliffs where the birds used to nest up until two years ago.
The falcons have left the place and now nest much further east .... way too far for any observation unless you sail on the St Lawrence River and pass nearby their new habitat.

2. the ministry of transportation of Québec has built a large building in which they store "road salt" (and what not in there) just a few meters away from the east part of the salt marsh.
Once in a while, trucks carry the stuff in and out of there and create massive amounts of very fine dust depositing into the "protected area".

3. They now allow for "limited" duck hunting in "specific" areas of the marsh !! I am told not to worry because the hunters are far enough as to not place hikers/visitors in danger. Dughhhhh .....
Sure! Quite fun to hear gunshots firing away like machine guns when you hike ... really!

4. Dogs which are supposed to be on leash and are not.

5. Bikes and occasional motorbikes which are not allowed ... but can be seen regularly.

My need: a free "place" on the web where I can show and tell what's going on in this " what used to be " such a great place and it deteriorating more and more each year.

After some searching,I was thinking of this place here, but I believe it may cost something:

Five Best Blogging Platforms
WordPress › Blog Tool, Publishing Platform, and CMS
WordPress › PHP / MySQL Web Hosting

You may call me an "activist" .... and I don't really care, but I want to make this public knowledge ... at least around here.

Cheers to all.

JP

[Eric Auer]

Talk to the local hunters and sport fishermen, They are most likely as interested in conserving things as you are.

Around where I live, Lots of conservation efforts have been led by local Gun & Rod clubs with great success.

[johnyates]

You might want to contact SNAP Quebec | Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and see if they can give you any campaign help.
As for a blogging platform, Wordpress is pretty popular, and it's free. There's lots of support if you need help.

[Lowell Goudge]

It is hard to know what is the best approach. Clearly your town and you have different views on acceptable land use next to a protected area. I do not know how the system works in Quebec , or in your township, but generally there is a requirement to hold public hearings when there is a proposed land use change before anything starts.

I cannot comment relative to the pier , and a new dry dock. It may have been something that was always in their plans since the pier started operation. Many times this is the case, and people will go along with the initial project because they believe that the likelyhood of the final phases happening is small. As a result, it simply may be too late to stop, only because it was approved long ago. This does not make it right, and perhaps it cannot be stopped, but have the issues you note in your post been raised with the company? Depending on the approach you take with them, they might want to help, just as long as you do not either over state your point or become a PITA but approach them reasonably with real data and concerns. Construction is a temporary thing, falcons are highly adaptive, they will come back when the construction stops. In Toronto, they nest on buildings at very busy intersections!

Similarly the MoT will likely listen, to a point, but again, was the project planned and announced,

While it may be hard to accept, if you missed the hearings, and missed expressing your concerns, the companies might just reply that you are too late. It is up to you to keep on top of developments. Having said that, if there were hearings, or planning council meetings, those meetings are public record. What was said at those meetings, are the companies living up to their commitment ? Check this as well, and maybe go to the companies if they promised something, and ask them why they are not doing what they promised? If they are not doing what they committed to, you have a powerful lever to use, so explore those points.

I am not saying it is your fault, just that you need to be really aware of what is happening , coming in at the end is difficult

[altopiet]

You know, I don't like social media like Facebook and Twitter much, but they are tools that can be used in a case like this, to create awareness and gather support. Once you get the ball rolling, the nature of the platform actually seems to have a snowball effect all of it's own.....

[Lowell Goudge]

In re reading the op's post, and I do not by posting this, in any way necessarily agree what is happening is correct, but

Fr the dry dock construction and the falcons. He states that they are building now, a see wall near where falcons used to nest? I have to ask, what came first, the start of construction, or the departure of the falcons. I know this is nit picking, but it could be that the falcons left on their own accord first.

As for hunting at the marsh, hunting is a real mixed bag. Are the marshes over populated? This can lead to destruction of the habitat, just as much as hunting or other land use changes. Look carefully at this issue.

In toronto where I live, they have banned feeding water fowl because the waterfront had become so polluted it was unsafe. Water quality has improved greatly since the number of canada gees especially has been reduced or , in reality just more correctly distributed. We still have amazing variance of waterfowl at the waterfront , it is just now, you have to work a little to see them. The point is, overpopulation is just as dangerous in the long run. Sometimes (not always) people who allow limited hunting do actually know what they are doing!


As for dogs , bikes etc etc, this can be a real problem, and should be addressed, if they are forbidden then you need to address this with who ever is responsible for local bylaw enforcement.

[bdery]

I'd create a blog so the information is well structured, then use social networks, send messages to traditionalmedias. There are a lot of people on LaPresse in particular who could be interested in covering this. Especially in Quebec, if it's on LaPresse.ca it gets much more exposure.

You could also try TVA, if they can spin it as a scandal they will love it. JE maybe? I despite Paul Larocque but he has his purpose.

[dadipentak]

You may call me an "activist" ....

Indeed I will--it's a compliment in my book. I'm afraid I can't provide any meaningful advice, though.

[jpzk]

Talk to the local hunters and sport fishermen, They are most likely as interested in conserving things as you are.

Around where I live, Lots of conservation efforts have been led by local Gun & Rod clubs with great success.

The talks with hunters has been ongoing for quite a few years.
As a matter of fact, there is this older guy who was (he is now quite ill and unable to pursue any such activities) quite involved in trying to sort out the hunting issue, besides other things he did for the marsh.
It ended up having to "cope" with hunters who fire away across the other side of the marsh.
The initial intent was to stop hunting altogether but it never happened. Seems like thee hunters have quite a voice in that region.
I don't mind hunting if done where it is supposed to be done.

Anyway, that is something which I will obviously discuss when I get this "blog" going.
Note this will be done in a courteous and civilized manner ... no bashing: just reporting facts.

Thanks for the reply.

[jpzk]

You might want to contact SNAP Quebec | Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and see if they can give you any campaign help.
As for a blogging platform, Wordpress is pretty popular, and it's free. There's lots of support if you need help.

That is one great link !
As a matter of fact, from this very site, I saw this: Help protect the wonders of the Lower Saint-Lawrence
and it is exactly where the present issue is ... The Lower St Lawrence area.

I am keeping this under my favorites and will most likely contact them when the time comes.

Cheers!

JP

[jpzk]

It is hard to know what is the best approach. Clearly your town and you have different views on acceptable land use next to a protected area. I do not know how the system works in Quebec , or in your township, but generally there is a requirement to hold public hearings when there is a proposed land use change before anything starts.

Of course I have different views, otherwise I wouldn<t be doing this.
As for the public hearings, they have been held alright, but the little village where this is taking place is not really prompt at announcing hearings ahead of schedule ... my fault: I missed a couple obviously.

I cannot comment relative to the pier , and a new dry dock. It may have been something that was always in their plans since the pier started operation. Many times this is the case, and people will go along with the initial project because they believe that the likelyhood of the final phases happening is small. As a result, it simply may be too late to stop, only because it was approved long ago. This does not make it right, and perhaps it cannot be stopped, but have the issues you note in your post been raised with the company? Depending on the approach you take with them, they might want to help, just as long as you do not either over state your point or become a PITA but approach them reasonably with real data and concerns. Construction is a temporary thing, falcons are highly adaptive, they will come back when the construction stops. In Toronto, they nest on buildings at very busy intersections!

No, this is something that has taken off only recently and promoted by a businessman who is not from our region.
Whether he had something going with the authorities way back when, I have no idea.


Similarly the MoT will likely listen, to a point, but again, was the project planned and announced,

While it may be hard to accept, if you missed the hearings, and missed expressing your concerns, the companies might just reply that you are too late. It is up to you to keep on top of developments. Having said that, if there were hearings, or planning council meetings, those meetings are public record. What was said at those meetings, are the companies living up to their commitment ? Check this as well, and maybe go to the companies if they promised something, and ask them why they are not doing what they promised? If they are not doing what they committed to, you have a powerful lever to use, so explore those points.

That should be easy enough to get access to the documents as I have some contacts in the right places.
Thanks for the suggestion(s).

I am not saying it is your fault, just that you need to be really aware of what is happening , coming in at the end is difficult

Hard to predict sometimes but you are right: I should have known (better).

Cheers!

JP

[Eric Auer]

Let us know when youre up and running.

Maybe we can push some traffic your way.

[jpzk]

Let us know when youre up and running.

Maybe we can push some traffic your way.

Thanks for the offer !
That will be great indeed.

JP

[jpzk]

You know, I don't like social media like Facebook and Twitter much, but they are tools that can be used in a case like this, to create awareness and gather support. Once you get the ball rolling, the nature of the platform actually seems to have a snowball effect all of it's own.....

Facebook was the first thing that came as an idea.
Then I thought of trying to find/use something a bit more "professional" looking, so that people would take this more seriously.
I have no idea how this would go on Facebook/Twitter but you have a good point.

Thanks.

JP

[jpzk]

In re reading the op's post, and I do not by posting this, in any way necessarily agree what is happening is correct, but

Fr the dry dock construction and the falcons. He states that they are building now, a see wall near where falcons used to nest? I have to ask, what came first, the start of construction, or the departure of the falcons. I know this is nit picking, but it could be that the falcons left on their own accord first.

In 2012, there was a rumour that a "project" was in the works, but no public announcement was made. Summer 2012: surveyors were seen browsing around the site, but still no official news about what was in store.
Then, during late summer - early fall of 2012, "they" fenced (with bright orange plastic mesh) two known sites on the nearby cliffs where the falcons used to nest. Obviously, "they" knew that they had to make sure that the falcons would not approach .... so, yes, there was action taken before anyone was aware of what exactly was going on.


As for hunting at the marsh, hunting is a real mixed bag. Are the marshes over populated? This can lead to destruction of the habitat, just as much as hunting or other land use changes. Look carefully at this issue.

This is certainly not overpopulated and there are even new species of marsh birds which had started to nest, back two years ago) for the very first time in that place.
There were no further reports of the "new" birds being observed after that.

In toronto where I live, they have banned feeding water fowl because the waterfront had become so polluted it was unsafe. Water quality has improved greatly since the number of canada gees especially has been reduced or , in reality just more correctly distributed. We still have amazing variance of waterfowl at the waterfront , it is just now, you have to work a little to see them. The point is, overpopulation is just as dangerous in the long run. Sometimes (not always) people who allow limited hunting do actually know what they are doing!


As for dogs , bikes etc etc, this can be a real problem, and should be addressed, if they are forbidden then you need to address this with who ever is responsible for local bylaw enforcement.

Even with the posted signs that specifically announce "No bikes", "No motorcycles" , "No unleashed dogs", the problems persist.
I even had a nasty encounter last summer with a woman who simply said that her (large) dog could take a swim where the ducks nest, as he wishes because it was "so hot" ... she is the local orthopedic surgeon too but I don't really care who she is. I know her, she doesn't know me ... yet.


Thanks for the feedback.