Wildflower Preserve In the News

Spring flowers grace the Wildflower Preserve

The Saturday Star features an article by Cameron Smith on the Todmorden Mills Wildfower Preserve. A typical article by an average Torontonian who is clueless about the Don but who stumbles across a hidden gem and has an epiphany.

Wonscotanach Watcher

Poster seen on Lower Don Trail

No, I don't plan to change the name of this blog but there is at least one person who laments for the earlier names. Underneath the Riverdale Park footbridge on an old concrete abutment, someone has placed this rather bedraggled poster describing how the river lost its original native name the "Woscotonach". At the bottom is a barely legible signature but it points to another blog called the "Missing Plaque Project".

Wonscotonach or maybe Wonscoteonoch was first mentioned in Elizabeth Simcoe's diary. She said that it meant "black burnt land". This is possibly an Anishnawbe word. In 1788, Alexander Aitkin a surveyor created a map of the area and named the river Necheng qua kekonk. Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe followed tradition and placed English names on everything of note. He named the Don River because the valley reminded him of a similar river in Yorkshire, England.

This blog is dedicated to producing historical plaques about forgotten events of Toronto history that the powers that be don't like to remember. Ever heard of the Christie Pits race riot? How about new city hall built on the razed rubble of Toronto's first Chinatown. You can view these posters in this archive.

It has been awhile since these names have been heard but I think the name Don is easy enough for most people so I think we are stuck with this name for awhile.

Don Stewardship Forum

The TRCA is hosting a forum for Don River groups to here about stewardship initiatives in the Don Watershed. This will also be a chance to network with other groups in the Don and to share ideas and thoughts.

It will be held on October 12th, 6-9PM at the St. John's Anglican Church near York Mills and Yonge. For directions you can visit the church website.

For further information I created a PDF of the invitation. If you plan to attend, you should RSVP to Amy Thurston of the TRCA.

Salmon in the Don (reprise)

I got a call this morning from CFRB, the talk radio station asking me if they could interview me about the salmon sightings. I said "Sure!". The interview took place at 12:45 PM today and boy was that tough! It was all OK up until the last moment and than she asked me all these questions!

Suddenly I was nervous and stumbling over my words, but eventually I got through it. It lasted less than five minutes. I didn't say all the right things but I got most of the message across. I am not sure what good it will do but you never know. Any publicity about the the river is a good thing.

Salmon in the Don

A reporter from the National Post called up yesterday and asked me a bunch of questions about salmon seeing swimming in the Don. I answered her questions but she didn't say anything about writing an article nor did she ask permission to quote me. Now I find that she published an article in the paper this morning and touted me as "John Routh, who heads the Bring Back the Don task force".

It's actually an easy mistake to make. The name of the chair is actually John Wilson, I'm just a lowly citizen member.

Anyways, the article goes on to describe this phenomenon and tries to answer the question, why are there salmon in the Don? You can read the article but briefly, the MNR stocks Lake Ontario with Chinook or Coho salmon for the sports fishing industry. They dump them in rivers including the Don and the fish swim away to live out their life in the lake. Any fish that aren't caught return a few years later hoping to spawn. Unfortunately a combination of stormwater runoff and manmade barriers conspire to make this a futile effort.

Still it's an inspiring sight to witness as these fish leap the rapids on the Don. The best place to see it happening is on the Lower Don Trail, just north of Pottery Road where there is a short series of rapids.

Update: Marnie at Beechwood Wetland Blog took a picture of a dead salmon. Visit her blog for a picture.

Taylor-Massey Creek Hike

Just by coincidence, I happen to be leading a hike along the length of Taylor-Massey Creek this Saturday, September 30. In partnership with Friends of the Don East and the Toronto Bruce Trail Club. This is your chance to see first hand the good and bad parts of the creek.