Fort Erie Creeks Watershed Plan - Niagara Peninsula Conservation ...

well as consultation with NPCA and local MNR staff. Ratings were based on species at risk lists
of COSEWIC and OMNR and on NHIC’s rare species list available in 2006.
Site Criteria
The most recent rating of site significance that consistently covers the whole study area is
Niagara Region’s Core Natural Heritage map approved in December 2005 (Regional
Municipality of Niagara, 2005). It rates provincially significant areas – Provincially Significant
Wetlands, Provincial Life Science ANSI’s – as Environmental Protection Areas. It rates
regionally significant areas - significant woodlands, significant wildlife habitat, regionally
significant life science ANSI’s, other evaluated wetlands, significant valley lands, publicly
owned conservation lands – as Environmental Conservation Areas. Significant habitat of
threatened and endangered species qualifies as Environmental Protection Area but has not been
mapped; a check with MNR indicated no information was available at report writing (Vlasman,
Kara, pers. comm.). The above levels of significance meet criteria listed in the Provincial Policy
Statement (2005). Development and site alteration will not be permitted in Environmental
Protection Areas but may be permitted in Environmental Conservation Areas if it has been
demonstrated that there will be no significant negative impact (Regional Municipality of
Niagara, 2005).
The Region’s Draft Core Natural Heritage Map was updated to 2006 conditions by adding the
June 2005 evaluated wetlands and deleting three small areas where draft plans of subdivision
were approved prior to the significance mapping.
The Town of Fort Erie and the City of Port Colborne both have recent draft Official Plans (OPs).
Their use for study area-wide significance rating is limited by: a) differing environmental
designations; and b) environmental designation criteria that extend beyond significance (e.g.,
hazards, rehabilitated waste disposal sites). Although consistent significance rating required use
of the Region’s rating, the draft OP’s will be incorporated into the Strategy.
The significance of every natural area (totalling 455 units) in the Settlement Area was rated in
the Natural Areas Inventory (Dougan and Assoc., 2003). Several natural areas in agricultural
Fort Erie have been inventoried and rated by the Bert Miller Nature Club (2006): these ratings
are incorporated into Fort Erie’s Draft OP that will be incorporated into the Strategy. The lack of
a comprehensive rural inventory, however, precludes use for a watershed-wide significance
analysis.
Subwatershed Criteria
All subwatersheds – both those within the Niagara River Area of Concern and those in the Lake
Erie basin - were analysed for their status compared to the minimum habitat guidelines
Environment Canada (2004a) developed to assist restoration planning in Areas of Concern.
Parameters used and their guidelines are:
• Percent wetlands: >6% per subwatershed; >10% per major watershed
• Percent forest: >30%
• Size of the largest forest patch: at least one patch over 200 ha with a minimum of 500 m
width
March 2008 55 Fort Erie Creeks Watershed Plan
General Report (105116)