Lisa, is that a dome over the dunes, or a dome over Greenhorns to stop evaporation.If I recall correctly..the brews at the horn dont stay around much to evaporate...
mind you I do recall seeing Gary evaporate a jug or two....

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"How does one "Seem to think"? Either you did or you didn't! "
-ZenGary

Poison Ivy

Dan O.

It's better than nuclear waste.

Anyone who subscribes to the idea that pedestrian traffic can actually have some significant measurable effect on the dunes is a member of a very limited club.

I have been walking the same path through the dunes for sixty years and the only thing that has changed is that the path is now elevated about 3 feet higher as the dunes that are now present on the beach were formed in the last sixty years. Before that there was nothing except a few ridges about 3 feet high. Since the dunes grew higher at a time when they were frequented by pedestrian traffic you could say there is coincidental evidence that pedestrian traffic is good for dunes.

Wind and water shape the dunes and the dunes are transient before the mighty forces of nature. The effect of pedestrian traffic doesn't even show up on the curve. The one way to freeze the dunes (a moving target) has been suggested and that is to put a dome over them. Put them inside out of the weather.

As the water level recedes an area of flat beach that is no longer subject to wave action will be subject to settlement of primary growth. That is, the beach grasses will colonize the area. As the grass thickens it is enough to change the velocity and flow of sand carrying winds and some of the sand drops out. Dunes start to form.

Just as this process starts anew a tractor dragging a huge rake passes by on a regular schedule and tears at the grasses. In one day more damage is done then decades of exposure to a few thousand widely dispersed pedestrians.

Meanwhile a select bunch of well intentioned locals band together to tell the tourists and the newcomers that the dunes are a many thousand year old ecosystem and that the holy grail is to fly over the dune structure on elevated pathways of wooden boards. These chicken littles even manage to convince the local council that the dunes must be protected from pedestrians. Soon signs are as thick as the people who make it their mission to stop people from walking in the dunes. What they don't understand is that the real thousand year dune ecosystem has cottages built on it. What kind of pedestrian footprint is that? Hell we drove and parked on the beach when I was younger and there were no lasting effects like the one you get when you put a building on the dunes.

In the end what will be accomplished? Those who are less than honest will lose their credibility. The people will walk through the dunes as they have always done. They will take shelter there on a cold day and know the joy of a sun soaked dune slope.

One thing we don't need is more signs. If you have a piece of paradise you don't promote the hell out of it by hiring a full time tourism director to increase the number of trampling hordes on a few select summer weekends. You don't channel the results to the beach like cattle through a loading gate. You don't give any environmental credibility to a Chamber of Commerce whose stated goal is to maximize the profit that can be realized by promoting the beach as a cash generating asset for two months a year. You don't spend $30,000 in a futile attempt to turn Willie into a bankable asset and promotion tool.

The dunes can take a little abuse but there is a limit. The don't walk crowd is a little off the mark though. I know I won't make any friends for writing this piece but the real problem needs to be laid out. Property owners are being taxed and huge dollars are directed into tourism promotion. This is hardly justified under the real reason for property taxes which is delivery of basic services. The tourists will come on their own and the numbers in attendance will perk along at seasonal rates but add promotion and a festival a week into the mix and you start increasing the wear and tear quotient on the dunes. It is a paradox that those of us who live here and love the beach and the kind of mixed rural and town community structure we have are forced to pay for tourism promotion that leads to a kind of unbalanced use. The human footprint gets enlarged at the expense of the natural ecosystem. You see people walking across the dunes and ask what more can be done to protect the beach? Understand the paradox of tourism promotion and you will be close to the answer.

What lies ahead in the next five years? Look to the south Sauble beach as one answer. Why are there line ups to pay to bring cars in? It is a rhetorical question. You say it couldn't happen? Well a lot depends on who gets control of the public portions of the beach.

Councillors such as Dan Kerr and others of his mold are positioning themselves to run for mayor and control of council in 2010. They are lining up their ducks for a takeover by the commercial interests in Town of South Bruce Peninsula. They are now maneuvering to get rid of the ward system so that they can run a pro development slate with big election backing and take control of Council once and for all. What you see is the tip of the iceberg. It was apparent where Dan Kerr was heading when he agreed to vote for a new direction for a small Sauble waste treatment plant only with the provision that the expansion for the Wiarton water treatment plant was kept on track. This expansion is not needed for Wiarton and never was. Wiarton growth is sewage (nutrient) limited meaning they cannot significantly add to the throughput without affecting Colpoys Bay. The only reason for expansion of the Water treatment plant is to supply other developments. Right now Wiarton residents have an enviable position holding the rights to unlimited water from a paid for system with a permanent supply. That benefit will change if we lose the ward system and while the expansionist plans were mothballed for 4 years after the 2006 election the direction we are heading in has been indicated. If this happens and the election scenario is fulfilled you will see the floodgates open to development and tourism promotion. The dunes cannot exist as we know them in the face of this. In fact the entire Sauble Beach Community will lose its present form.

You ask what you can do about people walking through the dunes? Try opposing the end run by Kerr and all to try and get the Ward system dropped. Most folks have no idea what is coming their way. By Jan. 2010 it will be obvious. The current voting patterns since 2006 make it obvious to me. There are other hints. The ridiculous attempt to look at burial of dry pipe in Hepworth was a pretty obvious one.

If you do nothing to oppose the political change expect to pay higher taxes for things not considered basic services. Expect to see your community and your local environment and ecosystems change. If that change is in a direction we are not comfortable with we will come to wonder why we were so concerned about a few footprints in the sand when the political climate was being manipulated.

You only need to put up signs that say "Poison Ivy". Nobody says that you need to plant it. It's the same as a "Beware of dog" sign. Cheap burglar protection.

Dan O.