TABLE OF CONTENTS Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists Contribute to the Preservation of Cruickston A Word from Jane Jacobs: "Thanks." Carriage Tracks ... Historical Hi Lites The Shifting Balance Syndrome: What You See is What You Come to Expect Archaeological Research of Cruickston's Heritage (ARCH) Cruickston Organic Agriculture Project Nature Notes Art of Cruickston Become a Friend of Cruickston and Experience the Benefits Today! Office Announcements Cruickston Creatures What’s Happening at CCRR?

Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists Contribute to the Preservation of Cruickston

The lazy, hazy days of summer may be just around the corner, but so is the launch of the campaign for Cruickston: A Natural Investment. In fact, there has never been a "quiet" time at Cruickston. Thanks to a growing base of support - financial and otherwise - CCRR has many accomplishments to its credit.

Following charitable registration in 2000, CCRR set out to convince the property's former owner, the University of Guelph, that our vision most closely matched the intentions of the original owners. Early in 2002, after securing a mortgage, the 913 acres were sold to the charity. A rigorous Environmental Management Plan was developed and a full business and campaign plan is well underway.

Recognizing the ecological value of the property, as well as the outstanding costs of protecting this landscape, the Kitchener-Waterloo Field Naturalists (KWFN) have renewed their pledge to Cruickston. The KWFN, also a registered charity, strives to conserve natural heritage in the Region through education of its members and involvement in meetings and outings. On May 31st, they once again clearly demonstrated their conservation priority when they announced a generous gift of $25,000 to Cruickston from their 'Sanctuary Fund.'

In directing the gift to Cruickston's mortgage, KWFN President Fraser Gibson said, "We are pleased to make a contribution that will demonstrate our commitment to preserving environmentally significant areas in the Waterloo region."

The KWFN have long been supporters of Cruickston. Individual members help in various ways; managing the Cruickston Bird Studies Project, assisting with guided walks, aiding with bioinventory, contributing to restoration projects and helping to develop the environmental management plan. CCRR is extremely thankful for the organization's support and for the expertise of many of its individual members.

Over the next few months you will be hearing more about Cruickston: A Natural Investment. In the meantime, should you have any questions or want to support the organization through volunteering or with a gift, Patti would be happy to hear from you at (519) 650-9336 or click here to send her an e-mail.

A Word from Jane Jacobs: "Thanks."

Recognized internationally as the guru of the city landscape, urban philosopher, Jane Jacobs of Toronto spoke with Joy Roberts about the importance of Cruickston to not only our Region but also to the Southern Ontario landscape and its urban population.

When Jane Jacobs speaks, people listen. Some listen so they can argue with her; others listen for words of advice that will help with the effort to create better cities and improved quality of life.

But today, Ms Jacobs has some words for Cruickston volunteers and staff: "Thanks," she says, "thanks from all of us. This sort of thing helps everyone, whether they know it or not. So thanks. And congratulations."

Having spent a lifetime battling specific issues such as a freeway extension through Greenwich Village in the '60s and the more pervasive, general urban planning trends that have destroyed many cities - trends such as Ebenezer Howard's Garden City movement, Le Corbusier's Radiant City and Daniel Burnham's take on the City Beautiful - Jane Jacobs has lots of wisdom to impart to those interested in urban revitalization.

In an article for Columbia University FORUM, in the Fall of 1961, Jacobs makes the case for accepting that vibrant cities have an order of their own, and that only "intricacy and use give to the parts of a city appropriate structure and shape. … When city designers and planners try to find a design device that will express, in a clear and easy way, the 'skeleton' of city structure (expressways and promenades are current favorites), they are on the wrong track. A city is not put together like a mammal or a steel frame building, or even like a honeycomb or a coral. A city's very structure consists of mixture of uses, and we get the closest to its structural secrets when we deal with the conditions that generate diversity."

Our human propensity to categorize and make distinctions often makes it difficult for us to look at complex systems and see, "not chaos" but "functional order." Those who understand - whether from an expert position or simply intuitively - the importance of biodiversity for our planet will readily understand what Jacobs is getting at. At Cruickston, for example, parts of the property are being made more accessible for passive leisure but there is no attempt at utopia, at the imposition of an ideal structure to organize the whole. In fact, large sections of particularly sensitive environments are being left untouched and inaccessible to everything but the most delicate research - Cruickston's attempt to get closest to the secrets of improving the property by leaving it to nature to do what it does best - generate diversity.

For a copy of the complete article mentioned above (Modern City Planning: The Victory over Vitality, Columbia University, FORUM, Fall 1961), please call Patti Leather at 650-9336 or click here to send her an e-mail.

Carriage Tracks ...

• In early April, Jim Enright, Southeast Asia Coordinator, Mangrove Action Project (MAP), Thailand, toured Cruickston with environmental steward, Bill Wilson. They discussed restoration initiatives occurring both "home and abroad".
• Poet Richard Rooke continues his seasonal forays to gather material for his four-season poems about Cruickston. His latest book is Ready to Dance and other poems (Trafford Publishing).
• Teacher Susan Hagey toured a Cruickston trail system on 26 April with her Healthy Active Living Class from Open Door Secondary School for Adults, Waterloo Region District School Board. Thanks Open Door for your interest and donation.
• During the first weekend of May, Friends of Cruickston members and City Green participants (Cambridge) volunteered more than 80 person-hours to the Cruickston Creek Restoration Project. Thanks to all. Cruickston is grateful for the financial assistance of the GRCA via their Rural Water Quality Program. We received a rebate for 75% of the costs of the plant material. Special thank you to Jessica Macmillan, GRCA, for advice and the delivery of the materials. On the day before the event, Ken and Kevin Dance moved equipment to the site and organized the restoration activities.
• Sixty students of the School of Architecture, University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Professor John McMinn, visited Cruickston to become acquainted with the area in which they would set up their no-trace dining pavilions. On Friday, 11 June, the School of Architecture students erected their dining pavilions (10 structures) on-site and hosted an evening picnic that included a tour and evaluation of their projects. Invited guests included Rick Haldenby, Director, Riverside, School of Architecture; University of Waterloo faculty members; Paul Koch, Cruickston Board of Directors; Chris Dalton, ARCH project manager; artist Brent Harding and artist Phyllis Didur, member of the Art of Cruickston planning committee; and Lisa Rapoport and Chris Pommer, PLANT Architect Inc. Fine weather, fine food and a creative array of dining pavilions (see photos on page four).
• Environmental Science students from Southwood Secondary School undertook a five-session field study program this spring at Cruickston. The program designed by teacher Jason Bracey and environmental steward, Bill Wilson, focused on ecological restoration of a stream and associated habitat and animal communities. Assisting with the program were volunteers and Friends of Cruickston, Amanda Borell, Ken Dance, Dallas Johnson, Wynn Watson and Heather Wilson. Mr. Bracey's Environmental Science Class together with the Environmental/Social Justice Club donated $200 worth of tree shelters and stakes that will protect a large number of native tree seedlings that have colonized the restoration site. Thank you Southwood.
• Bill Wilson made a presentation about CCRR to St. John's Anglican Church on 8 May. In late June and early July, members of the congregation also toured portions of Cruickston. Thank you St. John's for your interest and donation.
• Gordon Nelson and members of the University of Waterloo Retirees Association toured the Resource House and stone slit-barn on 11 May. Gordon's enthusiasm and contribution to heritage awareness and preservation is well-known and much appreciated. He spear-headed the initiative to have the Grand River declared a Canadian Heritage River, a designation that celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2004. Thank you University of Waterloo Retirees Association for your interest and donation to Cruickston.
• On 15 May, Community Arts Ontario (CAO) held one of its site visits for the 13th annual Grand Gathering conference at the Cruickston Resource House. The primary theme of the conference was 'The Importance of Place' and the site visit celebrated the natural heritage of both 7 Mile Island with Bonnie Thomson and Cruickston with speakers Mark Fretwurst, CEO Cruickston; Phyllis Didur, Art of Cruickston planning committee; and Bill Wilson, Environmental Steward.
• Unfortunately high water levels on 26 May prevented Preston High School environmental science students from undertaking water quality testing on the Grand River. Instead, students accompanied teacher, Chris Krawchyk, and environmental steward, Bill Wilson, on a guided walk along Linear Trail to learn about some of the natural and cultural heritage of the confluence of the Grand and Speed Rivers of which Cruickston is a significant part.
• On 8 June, Bill Wilson spoke at the Annual General Meeting of the Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation (WRHF) about CCRR, its current initiatives and vision for the future. Thank you, WRHF for your interest and donation to Cruickston.
• University of Waterloo students of professor Sarah Michaels toured Cruickston on 15 May to learn first-hand about conservation and resource management.
• Wednesday evening walks in June and early July at Cruickston were well-attended - a great way to end an early summer day!

Sturdy Park, along Lowther Avenue in Cambridge-Preston, extends into Linear Park along the north shoreline of the Grand River immediately across from Cruickston. The two parks merge in a shallow hollow of manicured lawn and riparian vegetation that slopes gradually to the river. Along the river from this location, in either direction the park's topography is terraces with steep inclines extending directly to the river (actually, the mill race) or to the floodplain. Similarly on the Cruickston side the river's shoreline slopes gradually into the expansive floodplain. Downstream, however, limestone bedrock erupts along the shoreline forming substantial cliff faces while upstream the bank of the river forms steep embankments.

In the early 1800s, this location provided a river crossing for travellers on foot, on horseback and with horse and wagon. Dodge's Fording, as it was called, was one of several main fording places along the Grand and Speed Rivers in what is now the municipalities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. In the Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, 1988, Ellis Little describes and illustrates Fording Places in Waterloo Township During the 1800s. Little suggests that Dodge's Fording, leading to Nathaniel Dodge's log cabin and nearby trail, was "probably much used in the first two decades of the nineteenth century as settlers made their way to the Biehn and Bechtel tracts" on the south side of the river. In late spring each year, a fording bee would be held to maintain the crossing. Holes created by swirling spring flood waters would be filled in and larger stones and boulders shifted by ice break-up would be removed. Fordings, or river crossings, were documented on early maps, in diaries and in reminiscences about early years in Waterloo Township. Dodge's Fording was the southern-most of 13 known fording places maintained on the Grand River through Waterloo Township during pioneer times.

The Shifting Balance Syndrome: What You See is What You Come to Expect

This article is the first of a series of articles examining the value of green spaces within the urban landscape that preserve our natural heritage and make possible the natural processes that maintain and revitalize the integrity of ecosystems whose processes and functions ultimately provide the quality of air, water and soil that sustains life.

"Human beings" says Ecologist Michael Rosenzweig "can get used to almost anything. And what we get used to, we come to prefer." In his recent book, Win-Win Ecology: How the earth's species can survive in the midst of human enterprise, Rosenzweig opines that environments can affect us in the same way. We get used to concrete; we expect noxious fumes in our living spaces. In the context of inter-generational time, human beings adjust their sense of what the environment should be like. Some of us now accept the storm management pond as wetland, ribbons of trees as forest, Canada geese, gulls and house sparrows as wildlife. The adage that people don't miss what they never had sets the next generation's expectations and acceptance of what Nature is.

Fisheries biologist, Daniel Pauly (cited by Rosenzweig) coined the expression the "shifting baseline syndrome" for this failure of inter-generational memory: Nature is what it is when we first see it. How then can you consider an old-growth forest as part of your environment if you've never seen one? What if your only sense of forest in your community's landscape is an old photograph or recollection of a grandparent?

In May, a class of environmental resource studies students from Southwood Secondary School spent 63 person-hours undertaking restoration work on a three-acre site adjacent to Cruickston Creek. An obvious question of interest to these students: what would the restoration site along this reach of the creek look like 100 or more years from now? Fortunately, Cruickston can offer answers - and a glimpse into the future. On a pleasant sunny day in June, the students visited Cruickston's Indian Woods with its one- and two-century-old trees and Bauman Creek a spring-fed coldwater stream running along its northern edge. This Cruickston guided walk gave these students a glimpse of what their restoration efforts could contribute in future to the site along Cruickston Creek. Indian Woods and its associated creek stand in considerable contrast to their generational sense of what forests and streams look like in the urban landscape. No surprise for after all Indian Woods is an old-growth remnant deciduous forest of which only 0.1 % of what existed in 1800 now remains in Southern Ontario.

Future generations of humans must have the opportunity to experience old-growth forests within the context of their own living space - the urban landscape - and opportunities to participate in efforts to restore to some extent what has been lost. Taking a trip or holiday to a distant wilderness park isn't enough. This is merely expecting Nature to serve as a once-in-a-while exotic backdrop. We need to connect with Nature within our living spaces. The shifting baseline syndrome (SBS) acknowledges that by degrading the environment, each generation expects and accepts less of it. But, argues Rosenzweig, "SBS can be a double-edged sword: improving our environment will cause us to expect more. By providing diverse habitats within the urban landscape, we encourage diversity: orchard oriole, bald eagle, scarlet tanager, blue-spotted salamander, butternut, lizard's tail, cliff-brake fern, greater redhorse, lamp-mussel, for example ... the biodiversity of Cruickston at the edge of Cambridge in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo - our urban landscape and our living space.

Archaeological Research of Cruickston's Heritage (ARCH)

ARCH has had a busy spring. The ARCH team of Peter Brennan, John MacDonald, Bill Wilson and I held biweekly meetings to plan surveys and initiate an Archaeological Management Plan. Team members have been out on the property every Sunday rain or shine joined occasionally by interested supporters, Harvey Reid and Patsy Winger. To date, by means of test pits, we have discovered 30 new sites that will be registered with the Ministry of Culture. Some of the Sundays were spent traversing the property; any locations yielding artifacts were noted for future mapping and reference. There is still no sign of a paleo site but we continue to hope. I finally received my Avocational License for Archaeological work in southern Ontario. With the information we have accumulated we have started our archaeological assessment survey. This summer will continue to yield new sites at Cruickston. ARCH has also applied for membership in the Archaeology Society of Ontario.

John MacDonald spent three days on the property with three Archaeology students from area Universities - University of Western Ontario and Wilfrid Laurier University. They did test pitting with John along the alvars and found a couple of the 30 sites mentioned. The students had a great time and expressed interest in the Cruickston vision. A group of students under John's direction will also be starting a dig on one of the Princess Point sites that we located this spring. This is exciting material and just the beginning of years of inventory and research into the past that is the Cruickston Heritage.

Cruickston Organic Agriculture Project

Even though the season is a little bit late, we have been busy seeding, planting and transplanting many different varieties of greens, peas, beans, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, squash and other produce. For example, we have 23 varieties of tomatoes and a myriad of herbs with a rainbow of flowers. On the 24th of June, we started our first weekly food basket with some early greens and some surprises, too. The next basket is on July 8th and every week from there on for 17 weeks. (The June 24th basket was an extra one!) The recipe book for CSA members should be available at the end of July. Thanks to the volunteers for putting together this first edition of the Cruickston cookbook! At the Resource House, we have designed and planted an herb garden. We look forward to volunteers and Friends of Cruickston working in the herb garden and harvesting the herbs. As well, a hothouse has been constructed behind the Resource House in which early tomatoes and peppers are growing for early picking. I'm wishing you a delightful season, especially those who will be enjoying our fresh organics

Nature Notes

• Andy Steinberg observed a singing golden-winged warbler on the alvar, 15 June 2004. This is the first known sighting of this species at Cruickston since the early 1980s by Fred Gilbert et al.
• John Hanselman and Charli Mini of Cruickston Organic Agricultural Project prepared a plaster cast of a footprint thought to be a bobcat's. Further identified tracks were located elsewhere on the property by Bill Wilson. Though rare in southern Ontario, bobcats range widely throughout this portion of the province according to OMNR biologist, Pud Hunter.
• John MacDonald observed a somewhat less than one-metre milk snake and the regionally rare smooth green snake in May.
• Orchard oriole, a regionally significant Carolinian species, returned once again to Cruickston although this year they have nested on the north shoreline across the river.
• Eight Friends of Cruickston and guests took part in Wynn Watson's moss ecology and identification workshop. More than 16 species were located in the field that morning and studied under microscopes during the afternoon in the Resource House.
• John Hanselman, COAP, spotted a high-flying bald eagle soaring above Cruickston in early May.
• During Wynn Watson's moss workshop, Wynn pointed out firefly larvae attached to tree bark - well-camouflaged from all but the sharp, experienced eye. Watch for the adults this summer.
• At least one - possibly two - great-horned owlets were heard and observed flying the evening of 10th of June. Another successful nesting season completed for this species.
• Significant reports from the Cruickston bird banding station headed up by Dallas Johnson include the recapture of a female yellow warbler banded in 2003 at Cruickston and banding of black-billed cuckoo, blackburnian warbler and Wilson's warbler, all firsts for the banding station.

Art of Cruickston

In May we concluded a very successful series of artist tours! While the weather cooperated for most tours (which began last fall), some unpleasant weather conditions such as rain, cold and snow didn't discourage over 95 artists while they generated ideas for their pieces.

We anticipate the exhibit will feature approximately 80 pieces! Combining the extraordinary talent of the artists and the captivating landscapes of Cruickston, this exhibit will undoubtedly be remarkable!

We are now busy processing artist entry forms (due July 9th) and developing strategies to promote this unique event to engage the community! Please spread the word! If you would like to volunteer with distributing posters, please call me at the office.

I'd personally like to thank the Art of Cruickston Planning Committee for their tireless work thus far! They are Phyllis Didur, Ardythe Campbell and Jane Bayne.

Become a Friend of Cruickston and Experience the Benefits Today!

By joining the Friends of Cruickston membership program, you help to ensure the protection, conservation, restoration of interpretive resources and the education and interpretive programs related to the natural, archaeological, historic and cultural resources of CCRR.

Plus, you can enjoy the following benefits:

• receive our quarterly newsletter, The Cruickston Carriage
• free-of-charge & discounted, guided walks scheduled along trails, lanes and hedgerows of CCRR
• discounted admission to illustrated talks
• advance notice & discount for seasonal workshops
• special events just for members
• use of Interpretive Centre library (coming soon)
• membership card

Cruickston Creatures

Blue-spotted Salamander: One of the more interesting pieces of DNA trivia for the naturalist is that salamanders (and some primitive fishes) have the largest amounts of DNA per cell of any animal. While there is a minimum amount of DNA required to achieve a degree of complexity of organization, there seems to be no consistent relationship between the two. In fact, little of the total DNA in animals actively codes for proteins including enzymes: much of the DNA consists of repeated copies or codes for nothing (hence "junk DNA").

Some salamanders remain of interest genetically speaking for another reason that has to do with "extra" genetic material. The blue-spotted salamander, found in the black-soil bottomland and vernal ponds of the Hogsback in Cruickston, belongs to "The Mole Salamander Complex". This Complex consists of the blue-spotted salamander, Jefferson's salamander and hybrids resulting from interbreeding between these two species. The offspring are intermediate in form and slightly larger but difficult to separate visually. Genetically, these hybrids are "polyploid" that is instead of having two sets of 14 chromosomes, they have various combinations of chromosome sets from both parental species. Furthermore, these offspring are invariably females. When these females mate with one of the two parent types, their offspring inherit no genetic information from the male; the sperm only serves to induce development.

Although blue-spotted salamanders inhabit Cruickston, no Jefferson's salamanders or their hybrids have yet been confirmed. In their six-year survey, 1976-81, of the herptefauna of Waterloo Region, George Francis and Craig Campbell (1983) recorded blue-spotted, Jefferson's and their hybrids particularly in the vicinity of Cambridge. Maybe next spring...

What’s Happening at CCRR?

Meeting Place for Guided Walks will be at the Cruickston Resource House and Slit Barn, 768 Blair Road. Guided walks are offered rain or shine. Please dress appropriately - hat, long sleeve shirts, full-length pants and sturdy walking shoes or hiking boots are recommended for all event activities. Guided walks and workshops are designed and conducted for adults. In future, programs will be developed and offered for children. To register, call Kelly at the CCRR office, (519) 650-9336.

Guided Walks:

• Wednesday, 11 August 2004, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Cruickston Laneways. Take an evening stroll along some of Cruickston's laneways. Hedge-rows and field crops will be in full-leaf and full-height creating dense walls of greenery along our pathways. Free to members of Friends of Cruickston. Non-members = $5.00. Please register by noon Monday, 9 August. Maximum number of participants = 12
• Sunday, 19 September, 2004, 8:30 am to 11:30 am. Fall Migration at Cruickston. Join Andy Steinberg for a morning search for fall migrants. We'll check known migration vegetation corridors and the bird banding station for a variety of migrating songbirds. Free to Friends of Cruickston. Non-members = $10.00. Please register by noon Thursday, 16 September. Maximum number of participants = 8
• Sunday, 26 September 2004, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Bountiful Berries. Join Larry Lamb to discover the variety of wild berries growing in the forests and fields of Cruickston. Larry will identify and offer facts & folklore about them. Free to Friends of Cruickston. Non-members = $10.00. Please register by noon, Thursday, 23 September. Maximum number of participants = 12

Special Events:

• Sunday, 18 July 2004. First Annual Cruickston Butterfly Count. What species of butterfly and how many live within CCRR? The purpose of this event is to begin a process of documenting butterflies on the property. Located at the interface of the Carolinian and northern hardwood forests, Cruickston has more than 24 habitat types. Does this diversity translate into butterfly species diversity as well? Let's find out. Join butterfly enthusiasts at the Resource House at 9:30 am for morning and afternoon hunts separated by a lunch break (bring your own lunch) to share findings, references, etc. The count tally will take place at the Resource House between 3:15 and 4:00 pm. Please register by noon Thursday, 15 July. No Fee.
• September 12 - October 31, 2004. Art of Cruickston Exhibit at Homer Watson House & Gallery (Kitchener, ON). Meet the Artists Official Opening: Sunday, September 12 from 1 - 4pm. For more details, contact Kelly at the CCRR office, (519) 650-9336 or visit The Art of Cruickston at www.cruickston.com. Click on Links & Downloads.

Seasonal Workshops:

• Saturday, 21 August 2004, 9:30 am - 3:00 pm. Water Quality and River Ecology. Visit a reach of the Grand River flowing through CCRR to explore the community of animals living between and beneath the cobblestones on the river's bottom. Learn to identify stonefly, mayfly, damselfly, caddisfly larvae and others. Measure several chemical parameters including Dissolved Oxygen, CO2, pH, nitrates, and phosphates. Learn about the significance of these organisms and these chemical parameters to water quality. The morning session will take place at the river and the afternoon session will be at the Resource House. Bringing your own rubber boots/hipwaders is optional. Instructors include Amanda Borell, Ken Dance, Andy Steinberg and Bill Wilson. Please register for this workshop by noon, Wednesday, 18 August 2004. Cost to Friends of Cruickston members = $10.00 per person, $14.00 per couple; non-members = $16.00 each.
• Saturday, 16 October 2004 (rain date: Sunday, 17 October) 2004, 8:30 am – 11:30 am. Composition Photography Workshop and Hike. Join photographer, Thelma Beaubien at the Cruickston Resource House where participants will receive an overview of composition before heading out on a hike to learn the elements of composition and be assigned challenges to find and photograph. Participants will bring their own cameras – any type of camera as well as any type of camera technology is suitable. Please register for this workshop by Friday, 8 October 2004. Cost to Friends of Cruickston members = $35.00 per person; non-members = $45.00 each. Maximum number of participants = 12.

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Newsletter Editor: Bill Wilson