Keep your dream home in the city
You want a paved driveway and lawn? Stay in the city, Dr. Paul Keddy says.
It happens all the time. You can see it on every side road around Ottawa. Mass destruction of wild nature.
It is called urban sprawl. Somebody severs off a lot. Somebody else buys it. The new owner pays a bulldozer to clear the forest. Then they install a driveway, lawn, and “dream home.” Sometimes the owner even asks the newspaper to write about their “dream home.” Or they take selfies and post them on Facebook. It all seems so virtuous. It is not.
There are important scientific and technical reasons why we should not clear forests and fill wetlands to build houses. There are entire books on this topic.
Today I want to set aside those books. Let us consider just common sense and morality. And let me represent those who cannot speak on their own behalf.
There is a cruel truth behind every new house in the country. That land was already the home to many thousands of other living beings. Now they are mostly dead.
Let us memorialize some of those who have died to make space for dream homes.
Leopard frogs. Wood frogs. Gray tree frogs. Great crested flycatchers. Red-backed salamanders. Yellowthroats. Ovenbirds. Blue-spotted salamanders. Red efts. Barred owls. Painted turtles. Gray rat snakes. Wood thrushes. Ruffed grouse. Monarch butterflies. Scarlet tanagers. (There are hundreds more, but no space here, either.)
Short days ago, they lived. Then the bulldozer arrived. Now your dream home is their tombstone.
People say they want to escape the city. But they buy a small lot and promptly flatten it. Expansive lawns follow. Paved driveways. Swimming pools. SUVs. Outdoor lights. Demands for better roads. Soon the country looks just like the city.
If you wish to live in the country, just put your money into land, lots of land, and live here modestly, with respect for forests and wetlands. Many people already do just that. It is a simple matter of valuing stewardship over self-indulgence.
There are some rules that protect our countryside.
Some self-centred people imagine they can ignore these rules. When such people discover they cannot build their garage, swimming pool or gazebo, they call the local newspaper and their member of Parliament and complain.
Land use regulations are going to become ever more strict. How do I know? Earth’s population is growing. It already exceeds seven billion. The only way to accommodate more people on a fixed surface area is with ever tighter rules. Even in the country. Just simple cause and effect.
Some people pretend they don’t understand. One of my new (human) neighbours expressed “surprise” that her newly purchased property had a wetland. It may amuse you to know that this particular wetland has been there for thousands of years, nearly back to the end of the last ice age, when it was within the Champlain Sea. This same wetland was mapped and evaluated by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources decades ago. It even has a Wikipedia entry, the Scotch Corners Wetland. And, one more thing, it is self-evidently flooded, has cattails, and is filled with calling frogs.
Alas, St. Francis of Assisi has been dead for centuries. Those thousands of my wild neighbours who are frogs, salamanders, birds and turtles have no one to speak for them. So, today, let me speak on their behalf.
Here is their message: “Please stop killing us. If you want a lawn, pretentious house, paved driveway, and swimming pool, do everyone a favour and stay in the city. Or, buy a condo.”
Dr. Paul Keddy (www.drpaulkeddy.com) has been a biologist, professor and scientist for some 50 years, and now lives in Lanark County. His many books range from Wetland Ecology (recently translated into Chinese) to a self-published guide to the natural environment of Lanark County.