Lovers of NCC woodlands, frustrated by storm cleanup, worry about Greenbelt's future

Some frequent users of National Capital Commission (NCC) greenspaces are criticizingthe cleanupof thousands of trees toppled by a devastatingwindstorm three months ago, and say they're frustrated that it'sbeen so tight-lipped about efforts to date and restoration plans moving forward.

But they're also afraid that if they push too hard and complain too much, the Crown corporation responsible for conserving the Greenbelt a largebutlittle understood ecological treasure encircling the inner city,more than half ofwhich wascovered in trees before the May 21 derechostorm will wash its hands of the problem by letting go of certain of its natural spaces.

And they don't want that, either.

NCCwoodlands took a hugehit during the storm thatkilled 12 people, according to researchers with the Northern Tornadoes Project,and felled thousandsof treesacross a long stretch of Ontario and Quebec.

Every Greenbelt sector was affected: Shirley's Bay,Stony Swamp, Southern Farm &Pinhey Forest, Pine Grove,Mer Bleue and Green's Creek. The NCC said it was the first time it could recall ever having to close the entire Greenbelt, and sometrails are still closed today.

WATCH | Stark drone visualsfrom across Greenbelt:

Drone video shows damaged trees after derecho in Ottawa

2 years ago

Duration 0:30

This video by the National Capital Commission shows hundreds of fallen trees across Ottawa, including Pinhey Forest, Mer Bleue and Conroy Pit.

Some of the footage of damage collected duringdrone surveysis startling: ribbons of trees thrust down like dominoes and wide swaths of woods pressed down in one direction, as if by some giant foot (in reality, by microburstsconsistent with EF0, EF1 and EF2 tornadoes that struckintermittently, but particularly hard in the south of the city).

The NCCis stilldigging itself out of the unprecedenteddetritus, and will continue to deal with the effects of the storm for yearsas ittriesto holdbackinvasive species given fertileroom to spread, plantsreplacement trees in some places, keeps tabson the decomposition of all themulched debrisand manages fire risk, among other things.

So farthe commissionsaidit's spent $1 million on removing hazards to people, which is still ongoing.

More spending is to come as it later removes coarse debris along trails, paths and boundaries, assesses fences and boardwalks, and sets restoration priorities.

Angerin Pine Grove and Conroy Pit

You can findpeople concerned aboutcleanupefforts and progress to dateacross the Greenbelt, but some of the most vocal surround Conroy Pit off-leash dog park, in theespecially hard-hitPine Grove sector in south Ottawa.

The NCCjust reopened the off-leash areacloseto the main parking lot butsaid the densewoodsremain closed because they're still unsafe.

Dale Schierbeck, a dog owner who lives close byand has been using the parkdaily for 20 years,saidthat he wasperplexed bythe en-masse removal oftrees some of them young and healthy in select areas along trails throughoutthe park,wheretrunks and branches chewed into mulchby heavy machinery left some dangerous chunks behind.

I mean, it's shrapnel that they've turned the trees into.- Dale Schierbeck, resident

Indeed, across the Greenbelt, forestrywork akin to whatyou'd see in a commercial harvest in B.C. is underway, leaving wide, open spaces with little to no trees left.

But there aredifferences.

The NCCcontends that nothing has been "clear-cut," though there's no question that many areas have been strippedof all trees.

The difference is that some of the debrishasbeen mulched and leftto decompose naturally, restoring carbon to the soil to aidnaturalgrowth in the future.

Healthy trees are only removed when they're close to damaged trees, according to the NCC, allowing contractors to work more safely (the NCC doesn't perform this work itself; contractors do under the direction of an NCC forester).

But Schierbeck wonders whether the debriscould be better processed, at least in Conroy Pit.

"You would stand to question why a place where people are going to be walking and dogs are going to be allowed off leash would be leaving ... splinters that are three feet long, literally,"he said.

"I mean, it's shrapnel that they've turned the trees into."

Adding to thefrustration isthatit was residents touting their own chainsaws, not NCC'scontractors, who cleared trails of fallen trees in about three-quartersof the park, according to hispartner Jessica Schierbeck.

Those wooded areas cleared by volunteers officially remain closed, but the trailscontinue to be used by the Schierbecks and othersevery day.

CBC counted dozens of people visiting the site with their dogs on an afternoonvisit earlier this month, before any of the park had been reopened, and entrances to the woods off residential streetsare not blocked and boast no signsaboutany closure.

"The only reason the [wooded] south end of the park [near RosebellaAvenue and Sixth Street] is walkable is because of volunteers, not because of the NCC," Jessica Schierbecksaid.

WATCH | Residents describefrustrations andfears:

Residents disappointed with derecho cleanup in Ottawas Greenbelt

2 years ago

Duration 2:13

Dale and Jessica Schierbeck, who frequent the Conroy Pit dog park, say theyre disappointed in the National Capital Commission due to a perceived lack of progress on derecho cleanup.

Dale Schierbeck doesn't understand what the holdup is, given that it took volunteers a short time to clear trails on their own.

For its part, the NCCsaid it knows people are anxious to use closed trailsbut is asking people to"remain patient while our teams secure and clear" sites, and that "handling fallen trees is a risky task that should be handled by professionals."

It's hoping to have all trails open sometime in the fall.

Monoculture stands of red pine particularly battered

There are other, more longstanding problems in the Greenbelt.

Much of what makes up Conroy Pit, Pine Grove and Pinhey Forest which suffered the worst damagewas actually planted by the province as a crop in the 1950s and '60s to make telephone and utility poles, according to NCC biologist Alexander Stone, who works inthe commission's Greenbelt team.

While red pine does pop up naturally in the region it's not normallyso prolific, andstraight row after straight row of thetrees have created acidic soil thathasn't allowed for healthyundergrowth and other native species to move in, Stone said.

WATCH | NCC biologist says there's an opportunity to improve forests:

Debris from derecho will help regenerate damaged forests, NCC says

2 years ago

Duration 1:17

Alexander Stone, biologist at the NCC, says the derecho offers an opportunity to develop a more resilient forest canopy through natural regrowth and the planting of wind-resistant tree species.

Now that so many of them have fallen it presentsan opportunity, Stone said, to plant diverse native species of trees and shrubs that will betterreplicate the great forests that existed prior to colonizationand logging, and better stand up to the effects of climate change.

But it will take a lot of time and work to get there, and some people doubt whetherthe NCC is up to it.

A longstandingmaintenance problem

For years,the commissionhas made no secret of its inability to properly maintain its assets.

Report after report andplan after plan mentionitsdeferred maintenance cycle or loop in whichit's locked into handlingonly critical issues and repairs, leaving everything else to slowly deteriorate,because it doesn't have themoney andresources to keep everything it ownsin good condition all the time.

NCC woodlands are typicallyleft to their own devices to allow natural work to unfold.

Butongoing maintenance pressurescould spellparticular troublein the Greenbeltin the context of climate change, as increasing temperatures create storms that are both more powerful and more frequent, creating more and more work for the NCCin the woods.

The derechoperfectly illustrated thisjust asNCCteams and leaders were coincidentally finalizing aClimate Vulnerability and Risk Assessmentreleased in June to little media attention as the capitalstill reeled from the exceptional May storm.

Consider thisline from the assessment: "If climate risks are not proactively managed, the NCC will need to seek more funds, decrease service level standards, and/or abandon assets and programs."

The maintenance pressure will likely only increaseas hotter temperatures drive more and more people into the shade for relief, creating more stress on already delicate ecosystems, as the risk assessment points out.

It worries people like the Schierbecks, who want NCC forests to be better looked afterbut also don't want to rattle the cage.

"Whether in the context of pandemic planning orclimate change or ... any number of things, the canopy, the forest in here,it's important to not just ...the users ofthis park, it's important to the entire city and our overall geography," Dale Schierbeck said.

"I'm afraid that if we push the NCC and become a pain in their butt, they'll just close the doors on something like this."

The NCCtwice did not answer questions about whether it has a list of assets it could potentially divest itself of, and whether any greenspacecould be on the chopping block if funding and resources don't improve.

It said only that it's 2013 Greenbelt Master Plan calls for the expansion of the Greenbelt, and while the plannotes "exploring options to expand the Greenbelt," it also "proposes the addition of 481 hectares of land ...to compensate for the removal of 1,347 hectares that constitute the airport operating area. The result is a Greenbelt that is 20,600 hectares in size."

Tree-plantingtargets now under extra pressure

Before the storm hit, the NCChadjust recently committed to plant 100,000 trees as part of its 2021-2026 Forest Strategy.

But in the face of climate change, increasing stress on ecosystems "will make it increasingly difficult for the NCC to maintain the tree canopy and achieve its tree-planting targets,"according to the climate adaptability assessment.

"With the NCC's recent commitment to plant 100,000 trees, additional resources will be required to maintain this existing resource in a functional state. Even more resources will need to be allocated for the planting and management of additional trees because of the effects of climate change."

Another issue is that the NCC has not yet updated itslist of which species are best to plant.

That means many of the trees being planted now and until the list is finished (which could be far away as 2026) may not be capable of adapting to projected changes in temperatures and precipitation, according to the assessment.

'It would be very helpful if they communicated'

The Schierbeckssaid the NCC has left them and other residentsacross the Greenbeltin the darkfor months about its cleanup strategy and rationale, and that they just want to know what the plan is.

And if the NCC needs assistance, Dale Schierbecksaidthere are peoplemore than willing to pitch in.

"I think it would be very helpful if they communicated with the community, the users of the park. There's certainly lots of ways that they couldbe doing that ... andeven more appropriately, I think to engage us and ask us what would be of help," he said.

The NCC said it's been posting updates about trail reopeningsand noticesabout upcomingforestry operations online, and that if people want more information, they can reach out to their community associations, which the NCC has been in contact with.

Mike Vorobej, a longtime user of Greenbelt trailswho has workedwith community groups and organizations like Save the Hunt Club Forest, ReImagine Ottawa and the Council of Canadians, said he thinks NCC forests have been languishing for many years, and that the NCC doesn't work hard enough to engage people about its woodlands and trails, and their ongoing development.

"The COVID situation created such interest in people [in the Greenbelt] ...looking for a safe place to go. And I think there's so many more people that have discovered the trails, which I think is wonderful because we need them to be used, to be valued. But we need a dialogue with the NCC on what's going to happen," he said, adding the storm has created opportunities to expand some gravel parking lots and forge new trails.

"I don't like to pile on to stereotypes, but there is a stereotype of the NCC being an ivory tower, being responsible to no one and not feeling the need to explain themselves to anybody.And ...if that is not true, then let them disprove it."

Master plans and strategies in the works

The commission is holding a news conference Monday morningat Pinhey Forest to provide more details and statisticsabout the damage cause by the derecho.

On Sept. 10, the NCCwillholdopen houses for the publicat 10 of its sites. Details are expected sometime next week, but one of them will be held in the Greenbelt to talk about the storm.

In the longer term, the NCC's Greenbelt Master Plan is supposed to be reviewed every 10 years, meaningthe next review should come in 2023.

And now thatthe climate risk assessment is out of the way, a 10-yearClimate Adaptation Strategy is starting to be developed this fallwith completion expected in fall2023.

Meanwhile, do you need some pine logs?

When forestry work is done, the NCCwillallow peopleto salvage red pine logs between 2.5 and 3.5 metres long, which are beingstockpiled at damage sites across the Greenbelt.

Anyone interested can apply by filing aLand Access Permitrequest, but the NCC said residents are advisedthat salvaging wood will be done at their own risk because the logs are heavy.

UPDATE | On Aug. 30,the NCC told CBCit hadsince decidedto secure the services of a local mill to salvage the lumber instead, and the opportunity to pick up red pine logs is closed to the public.