[thistleclub]

Dundas Eco-Park buys first property
(Hamilton Spectator, Matthew Van Dongen, Mar 12 2013)

The Hamilton Conservation Authority has stepped in to help the fledgling Dundas Eco-Park meet a looming deadline to buy its first property.

Supporters of the urban park hope to eventually connect more than 1,300 hectares of natural land between Cootes Paradise and the escarpment, from Dundas to Highway 6.

To do it, they need to obtain about 162 hectares of private land in Hamilton and Halton, either through donations or purchases. Project partners have a Friday deadline to finalize an $800,000 land purchase — their first — negotiated last year in the Pleasantview area.

They’ll make it — thanks to close to $400,000 in bridge financing from the Conservation Authority.

“The board wanted to ensure this acquisition opportunity wasn’t lost,” said Chris Firth-Eagland, the authority’s chief executive officer.

The Hamilton Conservation Foundation has raised about half the money needed to buy the 21-hectare, L-shaped slice of grasslands between York Road and the railroad, said executive director Joan Bell.

“That first purchase is making it seem very real,” said Bell, who noted conservationists in Hamilton have long dreamt of creating one of Canada’s largest urban parks. “There has been a concerted effort to protect these lands from development for some time.”

Park supporters have the rest of the year to pay back the financing.

A group of McMaster University students is hoping to raise $25,000 for the cause, said Scott MacDonald, director of the MACgreen sustainability group.

“We see this as a good opportunity to engage students, get them out of the McMaster bubble,” he said.

Land acquisition specialist Jen Baker said Friday’s purchase will help connect public, natural areas between the harbour and the Mountain, including Royal Botanical Gardens lands and Conservation Halton’s Cartwright Nature Sanctuary.

The former farm fields will create a “wildlife corridor,” but also protect habitat for rare or threatened bird species such as the bobolink and the meadowlark.

The eco-park effort has recently attracted several high-profile donations, including $502,000 from the federal government to restore lands along the old Desjardins Canal and 15 hectares in Aldershot.