Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan INVENTORY, ISSUES and OPPORTUNITIES

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Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan INVENTORY, ISSUES and OPPORTUNITIES Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan INVENTORY, ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES Prepared for Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System May 2018 Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System Partners Funding for the preparation of this report was generously provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario. Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan: Inventory, Issues and Opportunities page i Project Study Team North-South Environmental Inc. Leah Lefler – project manager, primary report author Mirek Sharp – project manager, report editor Holly Dodds – natural heritage research, contributing report author Melissa Tonge – report editor Pauline Catling – data management, contributing report author Richard Czok – GIS analysis, mapping LURA Susan Hall – public consultation, facilitation Lily-Ann D’Souza – public consultation Ryan Adamson – public consultation Schollen & Company Inc. Markus Hillar – recreation expertise, contributing report author Cecelia Paine – cultural heritage expertise, contributing report author Andlyn Ltd. Ken Dakin – planning and policy expertise, contributing report author Project Steering Committee Peter Kelly, Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System Nigel Finney, Conservation Halton Jen Baker, Hamilton Naturalists’ Club Cathy Plosz, City of Hamilton Wayne Terryberry, McMaster University Tys Theysmeyer, Royal Botanical Gardens Lindsay Barr, Royal Botanical Gardens Gary Beaudoin, Bruce Trail Conservancy Matt Hall, Hamilton Conservation Authority Kathy Smith, Hamilton Conservation Authority Cover Photograph: Cootes Paradise by Holly Dodds, 2017 Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan: Inventory, Issues and Opportunities page ii Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Study Context 1 1.2 Purpose and Scope of Work 3 1.2.1 Purpose of the Management Plan 3 1.2.2 Scope of Work 3 1.3 General Overview 5 1.4 Study Methods 6 1.4.1 Project Governance and Study Team 6 1.4.2 Community Engagement 6 1.4.3 Data Collection and Analysis 8 1.4.4 Method for Planning Inventory 9 1.4.5 Method for Recreation Inventory 9 1.4.6 Method for Natural Heritage Inventory 10 1.4.7 Method for Cultural Inventory 12 1.4.8 Method for Management Issues Inventory 12 2.0 Land Use 12 2.1 Existing Land Uses 12 2.1.1 Utilities Adjacent and Within Current EcoPark System Lands 13 2.2 Future Planned Uses 15 2.2.1 Niagara Escarpment Commission Development Permit Applications 15 2.2.2 Environmental Assessments 17 3.0 Planning Policy and Regulatory Framework 18 3.1 Planning Inventory Summary 18 4.0 Recreation Inventory 19 4.1 Study Area Recreational Resources 19 4.1.1 Trails 19 4.1.2 Access Points 24 4.1.3 Recreational Uses 26 4.1.4 Existing Infrastructure 31 4.1.5 Existing Programming 33 4.2 Adjacent Recreational Resources 34 4.2.1 Trails 34 4.2.2 Access Points 35 4.2.3 Recreational Uses 35 4.2.4 Existing Infrastructure 35 5.0 Natural Heritage Inventory 36 5.1 Physiography and Surface Geology 36 5.2 Surface Water 37 5.3 Vegetation Communities 39 5.3.1 Inventory 39 5.3.2 Significant Vegetation Communities 48 5.4 Flora 50 5.4.1 Inventory 50 5.4.2 Invasive Floral Species 50 Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan: Inventory, Issues and Opportunities page iii 5.4.3 Significant Flora 51 5.5 Fauna 52 5.5.1 Inventory 52 5.5.2 Invasive Fauna Species 61 5.5.3 Significant Wildlife Habitat 62 5.6 Other Natural Heritage Designations 63 5.7 Natural Heritage Connections and Linkages 64 5.8 Natural Heritage Inventory Summary 65 6.0 Cultural Heritage Inventory 67 6.1 Cootes Paradise Cultural Heritage Overview 67 6.2 Cootes Paradise Cultural Heritage Inventory 68 6.2.1 Indigenous Use of Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands 68 6.2.2 Boathouse Community 68 6.2.3 Princess Point 69 6.2.4 RBG Desjardins Trail 70 6.2.5 Westdale Teaching Garden 70 6.2.6 Coldwater Creek (Ancaster Creek) 72 6.2.7 Desjardins Canal 72 6.2.8 McMaster University 73 6.2.9 McMaster Historic Core 73 6.2.10 RBG Churchill Park 73 6.2.11 RBG Princess Point 74 6.2.12 Westdale Original Subdivision 74 6.2.13 100 Macklin Street North 74 6.2.14 Rasberry Farm 74 6.2.15 Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railway 75 6.2.16 St. Augustine Roman Catholic Cemetery 76 7.0 Management Issues and Opportunities 76 7.1 Overarching Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System Management Issues 77 7.1.1 Issues 79 7.1.2 Opportunities 81 7.2 Land Use Planning Issues 83 7.2.1 Issues 83 7.2.2 Opportunities 83 7.3 Access, Parking and Infrastructure Issues 84 7.3.1 Issues 84 7.3.2 Opportunities 86 7.4 Recreation Issues 87 7.4.1 Issues 87 7.4.2 Opportunities 91 7.5 Encroachment Issues 94 7.5.1 Issues 95 7.5.2 Opportunities 96 7.6 Hydrologic Impacts 97 7.6.1 Issues 97 7.6.2 Opportunities 99 7.7 Ecosystem Management 100 Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan: Inventory, Issues and Opportunities page iv 7.7.1 Issues 100 7.7.2 Opportunities 108 7.8 Cultural Heritage Issues 111 7.8.1 Issues 111 7.8.2 Opportunities 112 8.0 Next Steps 112 9.0 References 113 Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan: Inventory, Issues and Opportunities page v List of Tables Table 1. Key Engagement Components. ....................................................................................................... 7 Table 2. Fieldwork dates and locations. ........................................................................................................ 9 Table 3. Vegetation communities of Current EcoPark System Lands in Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands . 39 Table 4. Vegetation communities of Current EcoPark System Lands in Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands per management unit ........................................................................................................................ 42 Table 5. Floristic Quality of the Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ............................................................... 50 Table 6. Major invasive floral species found within Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ................................ 51 Table 7. Species at Risk and provincially rare floral species in Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ............... 53 Table 8. Significant faunal species recorded within Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ................................ 59 Table 9. Some of the invasive fauna species recorded in Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ....................... 62 Table 10. Summary of natural heritage inventory findings for Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands. .............. 65 List of Figures Figure 1. Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System Study Area Location ....................................................... 2 Figure 2. Current EcoPark System Lands within Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ....................................... 4 Figure 3. Trails, Parking and Access Locations at Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ................................... 11 Figure 4. Royal Botanical Gardens’ Cootes Paradise Trails Map ................................................................ 20 Figure 5. Watercourses of the Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ................................................................ 38 Figure 6. Ecological Land Classification of Current EcoPark System Lands in Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands .................................................................................................................................................. 41 Figure 7. Distribution of provincially rare flora, fauna and vegetation communities in Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands .................................................................................................................................... 49 Figure 8. Cultural Heritage Resources in Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ................................................. 71 Figure 9. Examples of management issues in Current EcoPark System Lands ........................................... 78 List of Appendices Appendix 1: Data Sources Referenced to Prepare the Inventory, Issues and Opportunities Report for Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ....................................................................................................... 120 Appendix 2: Planning Characterization Matrix and Detailed Review of Planning Policy and Regulatory Framework ....................................................................................................................................... 127 Appendix 3: Natural Heritage Data Gap Analysis ..................................................................................... 150 Appendix 4: Information Gathering Session Participants ......................................................................... 155 Appendix 5: Flora Species Observed at Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ................................................. 158 Appendix 6: Carolinian, Prairie and Savannah Indicators Observed at Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands 195 Appendix 7: Fauna Species Observed at Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands ............................................... 199 Appendix 8: Summary of Management Issues and Preliminary Opportunities ....................................... 212 Appendix 9: Management Issue Photographs and Index ......................................................................... 216 Cootes Paradise Heritage Lands Management Plan: Inventory, Issues and Opportunities page vi 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Study Context Between 2007 and 2009, a group of public agencies and organizations consisting of the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG), Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA), Conservation Halton (CH), City of Hamilton, City of Burlington, Halton Region, Bruce Trail Conservancy, Hamilton Naturalists’
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