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Archive for the ‘Action!’ Category

Rally at UNB Board of Governors’ Meeting

Posted in Action!, Events, UNB, Wetlands on April 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Thursday, April 14 at 12:15pm – 12:45pm
Wu Conference Centre (on UNB Campus across the street from St. Thomas University)

We have lots of extra signs for everyone. We want to make it clear to the UNB Board of Governors that the Costco development plan violates the guarantee of 80m buffers that was made to the Board of Governors. As documented by UNB, Corbett Brook Marsh and Larch Swale are “Ecologically Sensitive areas”, and the Costco building and parking lot must be built outside this 80m buffer.

If the UNB Woodlot continues to be developed as planned, we are going to see the loss of this valuable teaching and research resource, increased taxes, increased insurance costs, increased flood risk, and decreased quality of life for our community and children.

Don’t pave over our woodlot. Don’t pave over our future.

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Fredericton citizens rally to protect the 80-metre wetland buffer in the UNB Woodlot

Posted in Action!, Big Box Stores, UNB, Wetlands on April 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

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Ongoing protests point out lack of wetland protection in the UNB Woodlot

Posted in Action!, Big Box Stores, Wetlands on April 27, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Ongoing protests point out lack of wetland protection in the UNB Woodlot

About 20 people holding signs in support of saving Fredericton’s UNB Woodlot lined Regent Street in front of the future site of a Costco store over the noon hour today. The action, organized by the Friends of the UNB Woodlot, was meant to draw attention to the infringement of the 80-metre buffer zone of a wetland for the Costco store. Similar to two previous actions at the Woodlot last fall, they used pink flagging tape to demarcate the area that they say should be protected as part of that buffer zone. Over 40 students, professors, alumni and concerned citizens attended the first flagging event in October 2009. Read more at the NB Media Co-op.

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Monday, April 26: Action at the UNB Woodlot

Posted in Action!, Big Box Stores, Events on April 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Please join us next Monday at noon hour at the site of the proposed Costco and gas bar,  directly beside the New Maryland Highway in Corbett Place.   Let’s take a stand and make sure UNB and Costco do not build the Costco gas bar and respect the 80metre buffers for Larch Swale and Corbett Brook Marsh.  We will extra signs available and will have the wood stakes already in place where we will mark the 80metre buffer with flagging tape.

DATE:  Monday, April 26, 2010
TIME:  12:15 – 12:45
LOCATION:   Corbett Place, with parking in front of Home Depot
DIRECTIONS:  At top of Regent Street just past Regent Mall.  Corbett Place is directly across the highway from the RCMP building and the City of Fredericton maintenance depot.
CITY:  Fredericton, New Brunswick

The timing is important because of growing pressure on UNB Administration to stop the destruction of wetlands in the UNB Woodlot.   Also significant is the April 14, 2010 news release by Environment Minister Rick Miles in which he states, “The mistreatment of wetlands will not be tolerated.” “They provide flood control, ground water re-charge, shore line stabilization, storm protection, and some wetlands store carbon, helping to offset the effects of climate change.”  (http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/env/2010e0532ev.htm)
(more…)

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Taking a stand for wetlands in the UNB Woodlot

Posted in Action!, Big Box Stores, UNB, Wetlands on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

unbwoodlotactionoct09

On Monday, October 26 at noon about thirty people gathered at the Corbett Brook Marsh in the UNB Woodlot to participate in a taping-off event called “Taking a Stand for the UNB Woodlot Wetland.” Friends of the UNB Woodlot members measured 80 metres from Corbett Brook Marsh and marked the area with pink ribbon. Read more…

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Have your say about Costco in the UNB Woodlot Tonight!

Posted in Action!, Big Box Stores, Wetlands on April 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

The public presentations to Fredericton City Council will take place tonight starting at 7:30 PM.  Anyone can speak.  You simply have to show up and ask to speak.


To get to the Council chamber, you walk up the front steps of CIty Hall that face Queen Street.   Once inside, you turn right and go up the stairs to the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor, and the public gallery on the 3rd Floor.

Here are 2 key points:

(1)  NO NEW EIA WILL BE REQUIRED BY THE DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT

The Friends of the UNB Woodlot just learned that the gas station will be allowed by the Department of Environment.  There will be conditions placed on the gas station such as a monitoring plan, and a surface runoff plan.  There will be no encroachment allowed within 30metres of Corbett Brook Marsh.  Also, there is a condition for a compensation plan to be prepared for the loss of the 0.7 hectare wetland (the one beside the New Maryland Highway) which is being lost due to the construction of the gas station.

(2)  UNB COMMITTED THAT IT WOULD NOT ALLOW ENCROACHMENT OF 80 METRE BUFFERS ON WETLANDS & WATERCOURSES

Here is the proof of UNB’s commitment back in 2004 to preserve 80metre buffers and ecologically sensitive areas.
(Note:  A permanent record of this pdf will always be available on the Internet Archive website.  The Internet Archive retrieved this page from the UNB website on Dec. 27, 2004.)

And the same information sheet can be found as part of the many public presentations given by Dr. John McLaughlin and Mike Ryan. (click on the “Display Panel 3 – UNB Woodlot – Endowment Conservation Lands” found on the UNB website: http://www.unb.ca/lms/woodlot/openhouse.html



Therefore, the proposed Costco development cannot proceed without a significant change to the footprint of the building and the parking lot.  The 80metre buffer on the sensitive wetland Corbett Brook Marsh must be preserved.

Please show up at CIty Council tonight and add your voice in support of the Woodlot.

Sincerely yours,

Mark D’Arcy and Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy

379 Northumberland Street
Fredericton, NB
(506)454-5119

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Letter Reaffirming Call for Moratorium

Posted in Action!, Forest Research, UNB, Wetlands on March 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

March 4, 2009

To: President John McLaughlin, University of New Brunswick
Stephen Strople, UNB Board of Governors
Roland Haché, Minister of Environment
Fredericton City Council
Media

The UNB Woodlot, located on unceded Wulustuk land, is over 3,500 acres of woods, wetlands and wildlife, home to mature forest, herons and lady slippers.

Many residents of Fredericton enjoy the Woodlot as a place of recreation and refuge from the increasing proliferation of concrete, asphalt, litter, light, noise and visual pollution. How many cities can boast a wild area of its size in its city limits? Many people value the UNB Woodlot for its trails.

The development of the UNB Woodlot, replacing forest and wetland for big box stores, is unthinkable in today’s knowledge of the conservation importance of such natural gems. Today, we are deeply concerned about the proposed Costco development that will adversely impact a wetland.

The UNB Woodlot is used by students and UNB Faculty as an important natural research lab for fish ecology, forestry and other studies.

Urban forest such as the UNB Woodlot reduce air pollutants and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is a key factor in mitigating climate change.

Rain capture by the UNB Woodlot supplies the headwaters and tributaries of Corbett Brook, Phyllis Creek, Garden Creek and Baker Brook watersheds, and smaller watercourses that flow through Fredericton and towards New Maryland. The forested wetlands of the UNB Woodlot contribute to our aquifer – the sole drinking water supply for the City of Fredericton – and act as a giant sponge during severe rain events by retaining water and slowly releasing water to surrounding forests and aquifers that supply our drinking wells.

UNB’s land endowment plan in its current form will result in irreversible adverse changes in the ecological goods and services provided by the UNB Woodlot to the City of Fredericton.

We feel there has been inadequate public engagement on the proposed developments in the UNB Woodlot.

We call upon the Board of Governors of the University of New Brunswick to immediately put into place a moratorium on all development in the UNB Woodlot until there is a time for adequate public engagement on the issue. We call on the university to engage the community, including First Nations, conservation groups, forest and wetland ecologists, users of the UNB Woodlot as well as the wider community in any future proposals for the UNB Woodlot.

Sincerely,

Tracy Glynn and Julie Michaud,
Fredericton Chapter of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick
180 St. John St.,
Fredericton, NB
E3B 4A9
Tel: 506 458-8747
Email: forest@conservationcouncil.ca

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CROAKER’S CROSSING AT CORBETT CENTRE WILL DRAW A LINE IN THE ROAD FOR BIG-BOX RETAILERS

Posted in Action!, Events, Road, Species, Wetlands on November 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fredericton, N.B., Canada October 31, 2008
In the aftermath of the so-called “froggy carnage”, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot will put several hundred popsicle-stick white crosses along a section of Knowledge Park Drive near the Corbett Centre retail complex.  Each cross will remember the needless death of these small wetland frogs on the night of October 26th. This will take place next Monday (Nov. 3, 2008) at 1:00 PM.
Frogs are key indicator species of the health of our wetlands, and biodiversity in general.  With our changing climate, these creatures truly serve as our “canary in the coalmine”.  Also, their body contains anti-cancer chemicals which are attracting great excitement in the field of cancer research.
The Friends of the UNB Woodlot is sending letters to the University of New Brunswick, City of Fredericton, and the major retail stores at, or coming to, the Corbett Centre.  The retail stores include Winners, Home Depot, and Costco.  These letters request their immediate attention to the construction of an amphibian culvert that will allow these animals to pass underneath Knowledge Park Drive as they migrate between wetlands.
Dr. Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy of the The Friends of the UNB Woodlot, points out that,  “This highlights the need for COMPLETE surveys of animal and plant species in the UNB Woodlot as well as a comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the ENTIRE  3800 acres of this urban forested wetland. The fact that UNB has taken a piecemeal approach to EIAs to date, and that roads are studied separate from development on that road, must stop.  The entire development strategy for the Woodlot must be assessed under a comprehensive EIA.  As demonstrated by the recent “froggy carnage”, the Woodlot’s animals and plants are paying the price for this archaic, non-sustainable approach to land use planning.”
An amphibian underpass is required before the spring season next year.  This underpass should also be able to handle the other aquatic wildlife that are common to these wetland areas.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Charlene Mayes and Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, Spokespersons, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot
Telephone: 1-506-447-3442 (Charlene)
Telephone: 1-506-454-1230 (Caroline)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE FRIENDS OF THE UNB WOODLOT
Facebook: “I don’t want the UNB woodlot turned into Big-Box Strip Malls”
YouTube: search for “UNB Woodlot”
Telephone: 1-506-454-5119

Caroline Lubbe – D’Arcy
379 Northumberland Street
Fredericton, NB
(506)454-5119

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Activist alleges company broke law

Posted in Action!, Public Consultation, Wetlands on August 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

From the Daily Gleaner, 16 August 2008: A Fredericton activist has filed an affidavit with the Office of the Attorney General of New Brunswick alleging that a local business has breached the Clean Water Act, Clean Environment Act, the Health Act and provincial wetlands policy. Mark D’Arcy, who spent three days this week digging up soil at 584 Bishop Dr. on land owned by RAR Properties Inc. to draw attention to the alleged breaches, filed his affidavit Friday with Nancy Forbes, a lawyer with the provincial attorney general’s office.  Read more…

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WOODLOT Walk, Run, or Ride

Posted in Action!, Events on July 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Join us every Sunday afternoon at 2pm to enjoy UNB’s Woodlot. Interested people can meet up at the parking area across from the Hugh John Fleming Forestry Complex. Just turn into the Forestry Complex street at the intersection of the Regent Mall, and you will see the gravel parking area to your right. This is one entrance into the UNB Woodlot.
This is a great way to discover this huge wildlife refuge. Bikers, hikers, and walkers are all welcome.
Visit the Facebook group site.


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