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Canadian Environmental Network
Manitoba Eco-Network gratefully acknowledges the support of Manitoba Conservation
Eco-Journal
Volume 14, Number
3
March/April 2004
PDF
Version(1.69 MB)
New Partnership with Fort Whyte Centre: Organic
Farm Co-op Moves to City
by Jody Andrews
2004 Award Winners Announced
Musk ox poop + paper = art that’s good
for the environment: A Recycled Paper Journey
by Heather Laird
Protecting Rare Plant Habitats
by Doris Ames, Native Orchid Conservation Inc.
Successful Small Farms in Southwest MB
by David Neufeld
Help Survey Manitoba's Dragonfly Species
by Lindy Clubb
Review of the Issues in Manitoba: Pesticides Update
by Glenda Whiteman, Concerned Residents of Winnipeg
(CROW)
Manitoba's Digital Elevation Data
by L.Laliberte, GIS/Mapping Centre
New Partnership
with Fort Whyte Centre: Organic Farm Co-op Moves to City
by Jody Andrews
The spring winds of 2004 bring an exciting new development to Winnipeg. EarthShare Agricultural Co-operative, Manitoba’s longest-running community-supported agricultural (CSA) enterprise, is moving its organic vegetable farm to the Fort Whyte Centre. This move takes EarthShare’s farm operations from a 4.5-acre garden in Anola to a permanent 14-acre plot of land within the city limits.
Community development
EarthShare Organic Farm will provide a site for organic fruit and
vegetable production, training and employment for new Canadians
and inner-city youth, as well as agro-ecology research and development.
This partnership between EarthShare Agriculture Co-op and the Fort
Whyte Centre will allow both organizations to build on their educational,
employment and sustainable community development activities.
Started in 1990 by the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council and the Mennonite Central Committee, EarthShare provided a means for campesinos, who had fled El Salvador’s decade-long civil war, to get back on the land in their new home country. Over the past fourteen years, EarthShare has grown from a few new Canadians growing vegetables for their families to a member co-op of 250 families throughout Winnipeg. Fourteen years later, the farm operation continues to provide training and employment for new Manitobans, primarily refugees, who have moved to Canada with agricultural backgrounds. At the new location, students from inner-city schools who take part in Fort Whyte’s Greener Futures Program will also have the opportunity to help out on the farm, and assist with marketing the fruits of their labour.
Work on the farm for the employees begins in early spring with the starting of seedlings in the greenhouse, and then continues with field preparation, seeding and transplanting as the weather warms up. The employees are responsible for producing and delivering an assortment of organically-grown vegetables to members throughout the growing season. This year there will be twenty different vegetables and five different herbs grown such as beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cilantro, corn, cucumber, dill, lettuce, melon, onion, pepper, potato, squash, and tomato. The employees will also begin planting a portion of the farm with perennials including asparagus, culinary and medicinal herbs.
12–14 weekly harvests
Depending on the weather, weekly harvests begin in mid- to late-June
and run until the first killing frost in the fall: for a total of
12 to 14 weeks of fresh produce. Members of the co-op receive between
4 and 8 different vegetables in their weekly basket. The selection
changes over the growing season and the quantity of produce increases
as more vegetables come into season.
Members of the Co-op assist with weekly harvesting, packaging and
supervising of the 8 pick-up points. Members can also join the voluntary
Board of Directors, or one of its committees, to assist with the
management of the Co-op. Those members who are able to are asked
to contribute the equivalent of one working day per season either
on the farm or with the management of the Co-op. Members are also
welcome to visit the farm with family and friends throughout the
growing season. This year with the move to Fort Whyte, the Board
and staff expect, and hope for, an increase in member participation
and visits to the farm.
The move to Fort Whyte brings many other benefits as well. The tripling of acreage will allow EarthShare to take on new co-op members and expand commercial sales as well as begin selling retail at the Fort Whyte Centre. Along with the increased acreage for vegetable production, plans are in the works for turning a further ten acres into orchard over the next two years. The orchard will include apples, cherries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.
Being located within the city limits will also allow employees to take advantage of the burgeoning farmers’ markets in the area and provide the Co-op with a higher profile in Winnipeg. The move has already brought the employees the benefit of a more than 60% reduction in their daily commute—from 2 hours to 40 minutes.
Research partnership
The proximity to the U of M is also allowing for the development
of a research partnership with the Agro-Ecology Program. Professors,
staff and students from the program will be performing field experiments
on integrated pest management and other areas of research related
to organic production as well as providing EarthShare employees
with information and advice on organic farming techniques.
Perhaps the most important benefit is the opportunity to grow and develop EarthShare’s operations in conjunction with the friendly, professional staff and volunteers at the Fort Whyte Centre. Since the planning for the move began last summer, the Fort Whyte staff members have been extremely supportive and as excited about it as EarthShare’s staff and members. Since the employees of EarthShare began working on site in April, the staff members of Fort Whyte have been very welcoming and have gone out of their way to assist however they are able.
Achieving the full potential of this relocation will depend on the contribution of the employees, members and volunteers of both organizations, as well as the assistance of interested individuals and institutions. EarthShare and Fort Whyte have committed to providing one-third of the capital budget requirements of the project and are currently seeking the remainder through private donations, foundation grants and government program funds.
Sowing the seeds
Over the next six months, besides growing vegetables, EarthShare
employees will be assisting local contractors in the construction
of a 6' wildlife exclusion fence, a straw bale farm headquarters,
and two greenhouses. Working with volunteers from the Co-op and
the community-at-large, the employees of EarthShare and Fort Whyte
hope to sow the seeds necessary for many years of bountiful harvest.
To join, assist, or learn more about the EarthShare Co-op, call Fredy Perez at (204) 977-1000 ext. 292 (Monday to Thursday, 9am-12pm).
The Eco-Network Steering Committee is delighted to announce the winners of the 2004 Manitoba Eco-Network Environmental Awards. Presented “in recognition of significant efforts to protect, preserve and restore Manitoba’s environment”, these annual awards are the environmental community’s way of recognizing the commitment, creativity and diligence of our peers and colleagues.
Group award
This year’s ‘group award’ is to Save Our Seine
River Environment, Inc. St. Boniface and St. Vital based SOS has
been an active participant in the Eco-Network for more than 10 years.
Members of this group are recognized as the stewards and advocates
of the meandering Seine River and its surrounding ecosystems, from
the entrance into the city at the south floodway to the point where
it joins the Red River close to downtown.
Over the years, SOS has engaged in yearly clean ups and tree plantings, trail development, habitat improvements for the river’s 28 species of fish, and most recently, the protection of the splendid and unique Bois des Esprits forest in south St. Vital. Their efforts have engaged literally thousands of citizens, including many young people, and have contributed enormously to the ecological health and wealth of Winnipeg.
Individual award
The 2004 ‘individual award’ is to Ian Greaves, founder
and Chairperson of Campaign for Pesticide Reduction! Winnipeg. An
avid outdoorsperson, and knowledgeable birder, Ian has been an active
volunteer environmentalist for many years. He has participated on
numerous committees of the Manitoba Naturalists Society, and was
active with Friends of Oak Hammock Marsh. Ian is passionate about
the need to reduce pesticides, especially those used for cosmetic
purposes. He is determined that Winnipeg will join the many other
municipalities across Canada who have declared a ban on these products,
and never misses an opportunity to speak out publicly and lobby
for this goal. Ian is known for his thorough research, and willingness
to share his broad knowledge of pesticides and pesticide-free lawn
care.
Special award
The ‘special award’ category for 2004 is awarded to
Virden area farmer, Carl Driedger. Nominated by Lindy Clubb, Carl
and his wife diversified their horse raising operation to include
a company that sells and installs alternative energy driven pumps
and systems.
His solar powered off-site watering pumps have saved a considerable
amount of Manitoba’s waterways from the habitat damage of
direct watering by stock. His systems are durable, affordable, work
year round, and he provides demonstration sites for other farmers
and the agricultural community to follow suit. His products supply
wind and solar power to remote locations, and Carl goes all over
Manitoba making volunteer presentations to communities, soil and
water associations, greenbelt program participants, and any other
organizations or communities that are interested in benign power
sources.
Congratulations to all of the Award Winners! (For a complete list of all previous award winners, please visit our website: www.mbeconetwork.org).
The 2004 Awards will be presented at the Annual General Meeting of the Eco-Network, taking place on June 10, at 2-70 Albert Street. The business meeting (for Member Groups) begins at 7:00 pm. The awards and dessert reception will begin at approximately 8 pm. Please let us know (947-6511) if you plan to attend
Musk ox poop + paper
= art that’s good for the environment
A Recycled Paper Journey
by Heather Laird
In 1993, Cyndi Foster was a teacher in Cambridge Bay, in Canada’s central Arctic. She was looking for activities she could do with her students that would spark their creativity, and teach them environmental awareness at the same time. With this in mind, Cyndi went to the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik.
Among the many workshops she attended was one on recycled paper making presented by Evelyn David of Edmonton’s Indigo Print and Paper. Evelyn mentioned that in some parts of Africa and India, elephant dung is processed into paper as a way of recovering the plant fibre it contains. This is a necessity because the tree population in these areas is dwindling or non-existent, and there are no other sources of wood pulp to make paper. The elephant dung makes a strong and attractive paper that is sold through the export market. Cyndi immediately recognized the similarities between the treeless plains of Africa and the treeless Canadian Arctic, and a new paper-making project was born.
Herbivores are walking pulp mills
Back home in Cambridge Bay, Cyndi set up a small-scale paper recycling
mill and set her students to work collecting musk ox dung.
There are practical reasons for incorporating animal dung into paper, even if trees are available. Conventional paper making uses large amounts of water, energy and often-harmful acids to break down plant fibres into pulp that can make paper. As Cyndi likes to point out, herbivores are “walking pulp mills.” The animal’s gut will break down cellulose in a natural way, and the processed pulp can be removed from the dung by boiling and soaking. As long as only dried dung from strictly plant-eating animals is used, there is little to no health hazard in making “poop paper.”
The individual characteristics of each animal can contribute to the finished paper. One of Cyndi’s favourite papers was made from porcupine droppings; porcupines eat pine bark, and the soaking process “smelled like a cedar sauna!” she enthused. They don’t all smell that good, but the finished paper will have no smell, since the smell is contained in oil-like compounds that will not bond with the paper.
Cyndi’s first experiment with community paper-making in Cambridge Bay was a popular success, and along the way, the students got to learn about the uses of different fibres and the interactions of their local plants and animals. As well, recycled paper making was appropriate to a community where all electricity comes from diesel generators. Processing recycled paper and musk ox dung needed only three to ten minutes of electricity, where conventional paper making could take eight hours of power use.
Just about anything organic
Cyndi eventually moved to Canmore, Alberta, where she opened a studio
to make and sell this type of environmentally friendly “Earth
Paper”. Earth Paper has incorporated just about anything organic
and plant-based, including coffee grounds, vegetable scraps, dried
flowers, leaves, and fabric scraps, along with the ever-popular
animal poop.
Cyndi now lives in the Interlake area of Manitoba, where she collects droppings from the local horses, cows, and her neighbour’s mule to add to paper. She was featured on the CBC- TV program “On the Road Again”, along with a couple who had Earth Paper wedding invitations made with contributions from their farm’s horses. Cyndi also sells her paper and gives workshops through the Selkirk Art Gallery. A typical homemade paper mix starts with paper from a recycling depot, and then plants and other materials are added.
Earth Paper is unique and individual—a herb enthusiast might
want to incorporate dried leaves into their paper, and a quilter
could use favourite fabric pieces. Recycling paper the Earth Paper
way is creative, fun, and doesn’t cost the environment. Cyndi
Foster offers a whole new way of looking at the paper you use and
take for granted every day.
For more information, you can e-mail Cyndi Foster at earthpaper@hotmail.com.
Protecting Rare Plant
Habitats
by Doris Ames, Native Orchid Conservation Inc.
Native Orchid Conservation Inc. was founded in April of 1998, and we now have approximately 150 members. We are a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect unique mini-ecosystems and their plant communities, specifically native orchids.
Botanical surveys
Our conservation work involves conducting botanical surveys to find
native orchids and their habitat as well as other rare plant species.
At present we are conducting surveys in northern and western Manitoba
including the Riding and Duck Mountains. This July we intend to
survey areas in Grand Rapids, Thompson and Churchill for native
orchids as well.
Since 1999, we have been conducting research into the effects of selective cutting on understory plant growth and regeneration especially native orchids. We are writing a report on this work at present and it should be available on our website soon. Some of the findings are interesting and lead us to want to continue monitoring this site for some years to come. We are also working on publishing a field guide to the orchids of Manitoba, as none exists at the present time.
For some time now we have been working to secure protected status for the Brokenhead Wetlands about 50 miles north of Winnipeg. This proposed ecological reserve would be 820 hectares in size. Part of this wetland contains a rare rich calcareous fen and this wetland is home to 28 species of native orchids and many other rare plants. We are now part of a committee chaired by the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, which was formed to protect this wetland. Achieving protected area status in southeastern Manitoba is difficult because there are so many stakeholders involved, but we are encouraged by recent progress and hope to see it protected soon.
Loss of native orchid species and their habitat is a significant environmental problem in Manitoba, as it is all over the world. Habitat loss is the primary threat to native orchid species. Most of the 36 species of native orchids in Manitoba grow in wetlands or in the boreal forest and their numbers are generally believed to be declining. We have already lost 70% of our wetlands and much of our forests because of agriculture, resource harvesting and extraction and housing development.
Habitat protection and public education
It is imperative that we set aside large amounts of their habitat
now in order to protect these plants from disappearing. They also
need to be protected from human activities like being picked and
being dug up for transplanting into gardens. Public education is
the best way to achieve this and we try to work this into all our
activities.
To this end, we give talks on orchid conservation to horticultural groups and other plant lovers. We build portable displays, which we take to environmental events and shopping centres where people can see them and learn about native orchids and the need for their conservation. We also contribute articles on orchid conservation and our work, to periodicals and newsletters, and seek to cooperate with other like-minded groups to protect the environment. We run field trips to areas with large populations of native orchids so that people can see these plants in their natural habitat.
Please view our website at www.nativeorchid.com. It contains information about or projects and activities as well as photographs and information about Manitoba’s native orchid species and other rare plants. It also lists the dates of our 2004 field trips and information on becoming a member, if you would like to join us.
Successful Small
Farms in Southwestern Manitoba
by David Neufeld
The following article is from the introduction to Successful Small Farms: A Study of Successful Small Farms in Southwestern Manitoba, commissioned by the Agriculture Committee of the Turtle Mountain Development Corporation. A number of small farm operators in the Turtle Mountain area were interviewed to find out what makes them sustainable and profitable in the agriculture industry. The goal of the study is to develop case studies and financial models from the interviews.
David M. Neufeld, Boissevain area farmer, and Chair of the Agriculture Committee wrote this introduction to the study report:
A living on less land
Welcome friends, to a visionary piece of work.
Our aim is to attract more people to live and work on the land in our community. We want to highlight ways for people to make a living off of less rather than more land.
Please first, though, consider our collective dilemma. We as a prairie society want to continue growing and raising quality food for ourselves and for export, but we’re steadily making it more difficult for our children to become farmers, Our rural population is shrinking and the goods and services we offer each other are becoming fewer. This state of affairs is not entirely of our own making, but it looks like it’s up to us to turn the situation around.
The next generation
It has always been the task of agrarian societies to prepare the
next generation of farmers—often against tough odds. Agrarian
societies all over the world are vulnerable to being manipulated
and undervalued by those who wield power. There have been countless
peasant revolts and revolutions as workers of the land have resorted
to violence to protect their way of life and to insist on fair returns
for their labour. It seems we’re choosing a different way
of protest. We’re telling our children not to farm. Contrary
to our deepest desires, we’re sending them to the cities and
small towns to do anything but grow food for a living.
The reasons behind this shift are numerous and complex. In a nutshell, most farm families want to have less debt, more income and more leisure time to be with family. Most of us feel the only way we can succeed is by farming more land and buying larger equipment. The price of land remains high due to the resultant competition for land. The costs of equipment and inputs are steadily rising, and the prices we’re offered for the crops we grow are essentially staying flat. This means we have more debt, less income and leisure time when all is tallied up. Why would we encourage our children to do this? There are options that appear to be more promising.
Rural population losses
We increasingly hear each other comment on our loss of near-by neighbours.
Forty years ago, every half section of arable land had a homestead
and a family with at least three children. In our municipality,
we’ve lost half of our population in the last four decades.
With the loss of population, our smaller towns are losing businesses,
schools, churches, hospitals and ice rinks.
We’re not only losing people and institutions from the land and small towns, though. We’re losing knowledge of the land and what it requires to sustain living communities. We’re losing hope for the future and consequently we’re losing belief in our own worth and resourcefulness. If our children are to grow food we want them to do it with passion and a strong sense of ownership—not as employees of distantly managed firms.
The up side is that we’re gaining farmers from more congested and regulated countries—like England, Holland and Germany. These immigrants see our big spaces and relatively low land prices as being their ticket to a more progressive, hassle-free life. We appreciate the enthusiasm and diversity this adds to our mix. There’s plenty of room for immigration. But we should not let it distract us from the bigger questions, such as: How do we make sure the profits from farming stay close to home so that we can confidently encourage our own youth to farm? And how do we establish the farming of this land as a cooperative effort?
Seven times the gross income
Canadian farmers today are generating seven times the gross income
they generated in 1970. But our net income has stayed the same.
History has shown that nobody—governments, churches, universities
or benefit concerts—will turn this situation around unless
rural communities give the lead. With this document, we’re
adding a rare voice to that leadership—a collection of small
farmers from one region.
They don’t profess to have all the answers to our dilemma. In fact, just about every one of them laughed when we suggested they might have something to show the world. You’ll be hard pressed to find fancy equipment on these yards and you may not be too impressed at first glance by their annual incomes, but you may be impressed with their values, their financial ratios and stability.
They’re not your out-front-raising-a-ruckus kind of leaders. Rather, they prefer to lead by example if we care to look their way. We invite you to read the stories and decide for yourself if these farmers are successful—in the contexts of their communities, and in the context of what we want prairie agrarian society to be for our children, grandchildren and the world. Enjoy!
Want to learn more? The stories in this report are an interesting read. We have a copy available for loan in our library here at the Manitoba Eco-Network, or you can obtain your own copy by contacting: Turtle Mountain Community Development Corporation, Box 368, Boissevain, MB R0K 0E0. Copies cost $10 each, plus $2.75 for postage, and cheques should be made out to TMCDC–Ag.Committee. You can also email at turtlemountain@mts.net or phone 1-800-497-2393.
Help Survey
Manitoba's Dragonfly Species
by Lindy Clubb
We’ve all looked up to watch helicopters in the sky, but how often have we noticed the helicopters of the insect world in the air around us? Dragonflies and damselflies together make up the order Odonata, an ancient and distinctive insect group. I’ve admired the acrobatics of the blue darners that hover over my country garden many times, but I didn’t know much about them.
Mosquito hawks
These flying insects have primitive features and more specialized
body parts for manoeuvering and catching prey. Yes, dragonflies
are predators; they just don’t breathe fire. They can spot
flying prey and plot a course to intercept from 20 meters away.
They didn’t earn the nickname “mosquito hawks”
for nothing!
Dragonflies have been clocked at more than 50 kilometres per hour and can make a 90-degree turn at full speed without banking. Their vision is spectacular. Their eyes have up to 25,000 lenses to bring them close to a 360-degree view. They merit a closer look, or, as Manitoba Conservation says, “Since the dragonfly monitoring has been in place, 11 species have been documented for the first time (in Manitoba), bringing the total found in Manitoba to 94. They include black tipped darners and cobra clubtails.”
Public participation survey
The Manitoba Dragonfly Survey is a project of the Wildlife and Ecosystem
Protection Branch of Manitoba Conservation, and they offer a very
complete package of free information for this public participation
survey. What’s the survey all about? Since they spend part
of their life cycle in water, dragonflies are an indicator species
for assessing habitat and water quality in a variety of wetlands,
riparian forests, and lakeshore habitats around the globe.
Citizen and school groups, teachers, nature societies and individual volunteers have been recruited for monitoring projects that contribute data and specimens to a scientific network. In turn, the collections result in atlases, field guides, and contributions to an international database. As well, the surveys provide information for ecological studies, and specimens for taxonomic studies.
Who could resist?
You may discover broadwinged, spreadwinged or pond damselflies;
darners, clubtails, cruisers, emeralds or skimmers among the dragonflies,
and such intriguing possibilities as identifying ruby meadow-hawks,
chalkfronted corporals, wandering gliders, blue dashers, ebony boghaunters,
boreal snaketails, or paddle tailed darners. Who could resist?
The intense curiosity our scientists (and our children) have to learn more about these gorgeous winged predators is contagious. Since the dragonflies prey on mosquitoes and deerflies, those awful pests of both humans and wildlife, it seems like a good investment to monitor their range, their abundance and the security of their future. And, of course, protecting the habitat that supports such beneficial insects is essential to the protection of the species.
Want to get involved? Call or write to Jim Duncan, Wildlife Branch, Box 24, 200 Saulteaux Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 3W3, phone (204) 945-7465, or email jduncan@gov.mb.ca. You can also visit the department’s website at www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/wildlife/involved/dragonfly.html
You Can Also Survey Frogs, Worms, and more!
There’s a federal/provincial program called Naturewatch, sponsored
by the Canadian Nature Federation that collects trend data from
volunteers in various locations across Canada. Frogwatch, Plantwatch,
Icewatch and Wormwatch contribute data to Environment Canada via
their website at www.naturewatch.ca, or you can fill out the forms
or booklets the program organizers provide.
It’s simple and easy, gets folks out to the wilds, woods, and bush around their cottages, and is a lovely way to connect with what your world has to offer in the way of frogs calling, plants blooming, worms digging and ice forming. Try it. It works. And they give you free bookmarks and frog posters. Share the good news and the monitoring opportunities with your friends and families, please.
Review of the
Issues in Manitoba: Pesticides Update
by Glenda Whiteman, Concerned Residents of Winnipeg (CROW), Inc.
Momentum seems to be building in Manitoba towards reduction of pesticide use. This is not just a local phenomenon, as currently 68 municipalities across Canada have adopted pesticide by-laws—including Toronto, Montreal and Halifax—in spite of intensive lobbying by the lawn care industry. In fact, even globally there is reason to celebrate, as May marks the phase-out of twelve persistent organic pollutants under the Stockholm Convention. According to the Pesticide Action Network North America, “Our world just became a safer place.”
Weed and insect control
However, we must not allow our celebrations for the victories to
prevent us from keeping our eyes open to the big picture. So what
can we do on the local level? First, be aware. There are essentially
two pesticide debates happening in Manitoba as summer approaches:
weed and insect control. This review will attempt to provide an
update of each.
Winnipeg and Capital region residents ought to be aware of some changes to the Mosquito Control Strategy for 2004. The City and Province have made an effort to improve their notification system. Residents can request to be notified by phone or e-mail of insect control operations in their neighbourhood. E-mail requests must come from the e-mail address at which one wishes to be notified. Residents (including apartment dwellers and renters) can also request buffer zones around their property.
Since 2002, these buffer zones no longer provide protection from
applications of larvicide, nor for fogging for West Nile virus,
should another “imminent health emergency” be declared.
To register your opposition to pesticide use and protect your home,
request a buffer zone and/or notification from both Insect and Weed
Control Branches, at: insectcontrol@winnipeg.ca and kcoates@winnipeg.ca.
Please cc CROWinc@mts.net.
Dursban and malathion still in use
The City continues to use Dursban (chlorpyrifos) for larviciding
in outlying areas, as well as the less toxic Bacillus thuringiensis
(Bti) in residential areas, although they generally do not release
all the data that would confirm where Dursban is used. Dursban has
been linked to effects on the nervous, cardiovascular and respiratory
systems, and residue can persist in the human body for long periods
of time, causing delayed symptoms. The City continues to use Dursban
on boulevard elm trees and on private property for elm bark beetle
control.
Increased public awareness is the purpose of the City’s TEEAM project that will see youth at community events and at randomly selected homes throughout the city teaching techniques to reduce mosquito breeding. A change in the program this year is that help will be available for seniors or others incapable of doing the physical labour required to eliminate mosquito-breeding sites. Contact the Bug Line at 986-3210 to request a TEAAM audit of your yard.
Malathion fogging in open spaces
Another change this year is the purchase of mobile equipment to
fog open spaces such as parks and golf courses with the mosquito
adulticide, malathion. The City hopes this measure may reduce the
numbers of adult mosquitoes and thus reduce the need to fog in residential
areas.
I hope it doesn’t lead to an increase in the cancer clusters that have been shown to exist around golf courses.
As the lawn-care debate and corresponding pesticide by-law movement sweeps across Canada, we can expect this issue to become more prevalent in the media in Winnipeg. Organisations in the province will soon be asked to join a Partnership for Pesticide By-laws, a coalition of groups requesting a cosmetic pesticide by-law in Winnipeg, organised by Campaign for Pesticide Reduction! Winnipeg and CROW, Inc. Individuals wishing to assist in this process can contact crowinc@mts.net to get involved.
Organic lawn care alternatives
As well, we can eliminate pesticides in our own yards and encourage
our neighbours to do the same. Organic lawn care workshops are provided
by the Manitoba Eco-Network. One can proudly display a Pesticide
Free Naturally lawn sign with the purchase of a lawn care information
kit, available from CROW for $5.
Remember how effective your voice is. Let your politicians know how you feel. Fogging with adulticides is ineffective at best, and at worst may increase our risk to West Nile virus (www.cche-info.com). Continued use of lawn-care chemicals for cosmetic reasons reduces our immune system functioning, in other words, our ability to defend ourselves from the risk of West Nile virus, not to mention putting us at risk of cancer, dermatologic, chronic neurological and mental health effects. Request an end to these practices today.
Manitoba’s Digital Elevation
Data
by L. Laliberte, Eco-Network GIS/Mapping Centre
A Digital Elevation Model or DEM, consists of a range of elevation points representing a number of ground positions at regularly spaced intervals. A typical DEM contains three data values including x and y coordinates that represent a location on the earth’s surface, often specified as latitude x and longitude y, and a third value, z, that corresponds to a height in metres or feet above sea level.
In 2000, NASA launched the international Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) which consisted of a specially modified radar system that flew on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The radar bounced signals off the earth’s surface, which were received by two onboard antenna systems; computers at a ground facility in order to produce three-dimensional (3-D) images then combined these signals. Over the course of eleven days, this mission obtained elevation data on a near-global scale and in the process generated the Earth’s most complete high-resolution digital elevation model.
In 2003, the Canadian portion of this data was released to the public. Recently, the Manitoba Geological Survey has converted this data for the province of Manitoba into a format that can be easily integrated into Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) 3D analysis software. The Manitoba Eco-Network’s GIS/Mapping Centre now has a copy of this data set.
Uses of the DEM Data
The SRTM digital elevation data along with ESRI’s 3D Analyst
software allows GIS users to extend mapping beyond the traditional
two-dimensional (flat) surface. It provides analysis and visualization
tools that enhance the understanding of space, and the sense of
the place that surrounds us.
Some of the common applications involving DEM data include displaying the slope and its direction (or aspect) of a given landscape area, in order to aid in understanding sunlight and wind exposure on the terrain. Users can also generate hill shades as an easy way to enhance the perception of depth in any two dimensional surfaces. The software will also create contours, or lines of equal elevation, in order to delineate areas with the same surface height. Using ESRI’s 3D Analyst GIS, users can navigate simulated fly-throughs over and around a 3D surface and then export the resulting animation for playback in other video applications.
Finally, one of the more powerful applications involving DEMs is the ability to “drape” or place on top of a generated 3D surface, other GIS data layers. This is very useful in enhancing GIS data such as watersheds that are reflected in the elevation and slope of the land. Watersheds visually come to life when their boundaries are delineated and the volume of water flow and its direction are modeled.
3D Elevation Model of Manitoba
While the traditional two dimensional map of Manitoba is extremely
useful in looking at various themes, (such as road networks, provincial
parks, lakes and rivers, populated places and geological features,
to name a few), a different visual understanding of the landscape
can be generated using DEM data.
For example, this inset map has been produced as a quick example of viewing the 3D landscape of Manitoba, with such elevation components as the Red River Valley, Assiniboine River, Hudson Bay Lowlands and Baldy Mountain noted. It should be stressed that the image has been vertically exaggerated (stretched) in order to overcome the limited elevation change in Manitoba, a range of only 832 metres. For some amazing full color 3D views and animations of Manitoba see the Geological Survey website at: http://www.gov.mb.ca/itm/mrd/geo/3dmodel/index.html
Upcoming Events
On June 12th, the Manitoba Eco-Network GIS/Mapping Centre will be
conducting GIS/Mapping exercises during the Save Our Seine (SOS)
celebration of Canadian Rivers Day, Saturday June 12th 2004 in John
Bruce Park. One of the exercises will be the application of 3D visualization
methods to the Seine River watershed, including draping GIS data,
production of hill shades, and simulated fly-throughs.
Sources
Further information about the SRTM dataset can be obtained by visiting
the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory website at: http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/index.html
Manitoba Eco-Network is pleased to announce that the Organic Lawn Care Education Project is up and running for another season. Promoting healthy yards and teaching alternatives to pesticides, the workshops offered through this project have proven popular with homeowners.
Support from the Province of Manitoba’s Urban Green Team, the Federal Government’s Summer Career Placement program, and the City of Winnipeg’s Parks and Open Spaces Division has allowed us to hire two students to implement this summer’s project. They are Michelle Osadczuk, an environmental science and biology major at University of Winnipeg, and Tim Hoover, an electrical engineering student at the University of Manitoba. Both are enthusiastic about educating people on organic methods of lawn care as they believe strongly that pesticide overuse is a major environmental concern in Winnipeg.
The project will, as usual, offer free public workshops at locations all around the City of Winnipeg. Most venues are Winnipeg Public Library branches—offered free of charge as part of our partnership with the Library. Over June and July, for a complete list of dates and locations, please check the Organic Lawn Care page at www.mbeconet.org/projects_lawncare.asp.
The project also offers workshops in the workplace over lunch hours, and informative displays at community events. If you are interested in booking a workplace seminar, or a display for an event in June or July, give Tim or Michelle a call at 947-6511. We also want to thank Councillor Gord Steeves for a per capita grant of $100 to assist with overhead costs.
Additional Gardening Resources
Copies of “How to Get Your Lawn and Garden Off Drugs”,
by Carole Rubin, are available in the Manitoba Eco-Network’s
Alice Chambers Memorial Library. The following is condensed from
a book review by John Hollinger, Organic Agriculture Specialist
at Mb. Agriculture.
Originally published in 1989, this 100-page handbook is sub-titled “Pesticide-Free Gardening for a Healthier Environment”. Ms. Rubin focuses on organic techniques, but alternative “least-toxic” treatments are also outlined in the event that pests become unmanageable. Rubin inspires the reader towards the healthy and sustainable care of lawns and gardens by encouraging foresight, energy and creativity as important inputs.
The organic approach to lawn and garden care that is described in this practical, “how-to” book consists of six basic principles: Soil preparation; Plant Selection; Tolerance Levels; Proper Maintenance; Monitoring; ‘Least-Toxic’ Pest Management.
These basic steps provide the homeowner with healthy soils in a way that respects and assists the balance of nature. Whatever this book costs, it’s worth ten times the price!
| Copyright 2007 Manitoba Eco-Network |