Featured Park - Long Point

Ontario Parks Insider

The natural treasures found in Ontario’s southern extremes are just as fascinating as the ones found in the province’s far north. A perfect example is Ontario’s fourth oldest provincial park, Long Point, established in 1921. This elongated 40 kilometre sandy spit is located on the northwest shore of Lake Erie.

The sand dunes of Long Point are constantly on the move and can reach heights of 30 metres. The action of wind and water over the millennia has eroded land to the west and formed the sandy deposits of the eastern side of Long Point. Visiting the park is like travelling through time as you observe older vegetation communities on the west side of the point and younger communities to the east.

Field naturalists have recorded the complexity and importance of the fauna and flora found here for some time. These include a number of rare or uncommon wildlife species such as Gentians, orchids, prairie grasses, the Melanistic Garter Snake, Fox Snake, both the Spotted and Blanding’s Turtles and the Fowler’s Toad. As a result, the Long Point National Wildlife Area became recognized as a wetland of international significance in 1982 under the Ramsar Convention and in 1986 it was designated as a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

What gives Long Point its true fame, however, is the incredible number of birds that rest here during Spring and Fall migration. A total of 320 species have been recorded. Long Point has been a mecca for bird watching enthusiasts for a very long time and this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Long Point Bird Observatory. Founded in 1960, the Observatory was the first of its kind in North America; a non-profit organization dedicated to researching and monitoring bird migration in hopes of conserving them and their habitats. The bird banding station has housed countless volunteers over the years, following the simple idea that many people working together can accomplish a great deal more than could a few professionals working alone. And from its inception, the Long Point Bird Observatory has been a leader in developing, coordinating and sponsoring a variety of volunteer based projects, all the while maintaining a massive collection of scientific data on bird behaviour. To date, more than 800,000 birds have been banded here, giving it the title of the most productive banding station in North America.

A number of activities will be held in 2010 to help celebrate the 50th anniversary, starting with a gathering of past (and future) volunteers on the weekend of May 14-16. Click here for more details.

It’s impossible to talk about Long Point without mentioning the exceptional sandy beaches, shallow swimming areas and the warm waters of Lake Erie – perfect for swimming, kite boarding, sailing and boating. The Inner Bay of Long Point is considered to be one of the finest bass fisheries in North America but the lake also offers opportunities to fish for pike, walleye, perch, trout, and salmon. Better still is the fact that all 253 campsites at Long Point are within a five minute walk of the beach.

Ontario Parks’ Go for Green Strategy strives to green the green

Ontario Parks Insider

With 10 million visits annually, on average, the operational impacts of our protected areas can be substantial. We use energy to run campgrounds, we produce waste, we consume water, we develop buildings, and we consume fossil fuels.

So how do we deal with all these impacts? In June of 2008, Ontario Parks created a Go for Green Strategy. The strategy outlines greening initiatives for Ontario Parks, which include;

  • Energy conservation retrofits
  • Minimizing environmental impacts of new infrastructure
  • New vehicle fleet strategy
  • Climate change as a component of the natural heritage education programs


Since the Go for Green Strategy was implemented, Ontario Parks has made significant improvements to conservation retrofits (i.e. making older buildings more efficient) and is using leading edge environmental technology to create new facilities.

Take Fushimi Lake Provincial Park for example; In 2007, staff initiated the process to create a completely off-the-grid operational park. By fall 2008, the park warehouse was retrofitted with a 6 kW solar grid-tie-in system. The solar panels are directly connected to the existing hydro grid. With every beam of sunlight, the solar panels are producing an excess of hydro to operate the park and the remainder is fed back into the grid. So not only does the solar panel system run the park it produces extra energy!

Another off-the-grid project is thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Misery Bay Provincial Nature Reserve. This small but significant protected area now houses a completely off-the-grid visitor centre to support education and awareness of Misery Bay on Manitoulin Island. The brand new visitor centre features solar panels, battery pack with an inverter, large windows for passive solar heating and an eco-friendly septic system.

Ontario Parks is also working hard towards improving and updating operational vehicles. Staff often use vehicles for travel between and within parks. Staff are encouraged to cycle around parks to visit campers or get from one building to the next. When biking is not possible some parks are now using electric or hybrid vehicles. Ontario Parks also owns a SmartCar which travels around to various parks to offset the use of other less fuel-efficient vehicles.

As visitors to Ontario Parks you too can do your part. Balsam Lake, Darlington, Killbear, Killarney, Long Point, MacGregor Point, Pinery, and Sandbanks parks ask visitors to “Park Once”. The program challenges campers to keep their vehicle parked for the duration of their stay in the campground. As campers you can also be aware that you are only camping on designated sites, cleaning up after family pets, using biodegradable soaps and staying on designated hiking trails to keep vegetation trampling to a minimum.

With a rising concern for global warming and climate change many Ontarians are searching for ways to reduce their environmental footprint, while still enjoying a fun family vacation. So remember when you visit Ontario Parks, enjoy what nature has to offer, take only pictures, leave only footprints and ask staff about some of the green initiatives happening in your favourite park!

YouTube hit video - a serious threat to the Great Lakes

Ontario Parks Insider

Asian carp, made famous by their distinctive acrobatics and complete ecological dominance, are currently one of the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem. Despite their Youtube popularity, there are several initiatives underway to prevent them from entering Canadian waters. Here is what you should know about Asian carp:

What are Asian carp?
There are actually four species of Asian carp that are considered invasive and a threat to the Great Lakes, the bighead, silver, black and grass carp. Silver, bighead and grass carp are filter-feeding fish and consume plant and animal plankton at an alarming rate. Bighead carp can grow to very large sizes of over 1.5 metres (5 feet) in length and can weigh 45 kg (100 lb) or more. Black carp differ in that they consume primarily mollusks, and threaten native mussel and sturgeon populations. Adult grass carp can grow to nearly 1.2 metres (4 feet) in length and over 18 kilograms (40 lb) in weight.

Why are they a problem?
Asian carp are a problem because of their feeding and spawning habits. Bighead carp are capable of consuming 40% of their own body weight in food each day. Silver carp are smaller, but pose a greater danger to recreational users because of their tendency to jump out of the water when disturbed by boat motors. They have severely impacted fishing and recreation on the Illinois River. They can spawn multiple times during each season and quickly out-compete native species by disrupting the food chain everywhere they go.

Click here(video) to see how they have devastated the Illinois River.

Asian carp could have a huge negative effect on the Great Lakes ecosystem and a significant economic impact on the $7 billion fishery. They are well suited to the water temperature and food supply; they lack natural predators in the Great Lakes; and could quickly become the dominant species. Once they arrive in a lake, it is very difficult to control them.


Where did Asian carp come from?
Asian carp were originally imported to the southern United States in the 1970s to help aquaculture and wastewater treatment facilities keep retention ponds clean. Flooding throughout the early 1990s allowed these fish to escape into the Mississippi and migrate into the Missouri and Illinois Rivers. They now threaten the Great Lakes by possibly spreading from the Mississippi watershed through man made connections and through natural events like flooding.

What is stopping them from entering the Great Lakes?
To prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes, the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed an $18 million electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal less than 60km upstream from Lake Michigan. The barrier deters fish from swimming through it by creating an electrical field. The barrier currently operates at 2 volts per inch - a voltage many feel is adequate to deter both adult and juvenile fish.

Other ways that Asian carp can enter the Great Lakes are through intentional or unintentional live release. On the Canadian side of the border, the Ontario government has banned the purchase, sale and possession of live Asian carp. It is known that some people purchase and live release carp in hopes of receiving good luck.

You can do the following to prevent the spread of black, bighead, silver, and grass carp and other aquatic invasive species:

  • Learn to identify grass, black, bighead and silver carp
  • Dispose of bait properly: Do not release bait into the water
  • Always drain water from your boat, live well, and bilge before leaving any water access
  • Never dip your bait bucket into a lake or river if it contains water from another water source
  • Never dump live fish from one body of water into another body of water



If all else fails, the folks at the Rick Mercer Report(video) have contrived their own solution to curb the invasion.

Pay More for Energy

Ontario Parks Insider

Thousands of Canadians just like you have signed up for Bullfrog Power and made the choice to pay a little more for energy.
But why would anyone voluntarily pay more for their energy?

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We all make decisions to pay more for things that align with our values.

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In Canada, our electricity comes from a range of sources like coal, nuclear, oil and gas, and large hydro. Only a tiny fraction comes from clean emissions-free sources like wind power. There’s a price to pay for the status quo: climate change, air pollution and a future at risk.

But the solutions are within our power. If we’re willing to acknowledge the true price of carbon. If we commit to building a conservation culture. If we work together to reshape our energy landscape to promote the development of clean, renewable energy sources.

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