A local conservationist has been working for years to bring pollinator habitats to Orillia and Severn Township, but he has grown discouraged with the efforts of both municipalities.
Both Orillia and Severn received ‘Bee City’ status in 2019, a designation that signifies a commitment to protecting and fostering the growth of pollinators, but Severn resident Matt Thomson argues there’s much more both can do.
“I manage both the Bee City initiatives for Orillia and Severn … but I don't know if they really understand what that means. They don't understand what the commitment is,” Thomson told OrilliaMatters.
Recently, he heard Orillia city staff were pulling milkweed – a vital plant for monarch butterflies – from a city garden.
“I've been trying to introduce more pollinator plants to city gardens,” he said. “(Recently), I got a call from someone I know that they spotted a city worker pulling out milkweed from a city garden.”
With a slower monarch migration than usual this year, Thomson said the removal of milkweed plants could make things difficult for the butterflies this summer.
“It's only out for a couple of weeks and then it starts to wither away,” he said. “If the monarchs miss that window, then what else do they feed on?”
Thomson also said he would like to see both municipalities become more deliberate in how they maintain roadside ditches.
Under current practices, he said, pollinators are losing access to plants when they are in bloom.
And he suggested an altered mowing schedule to ensure the butterflies can make use of the plants.
“Timing it right now, when all the pollinators are active, it's kind of silly,” Thomson said.
“They do the road shoulder, you know, like three feet or something like that, and I get that. They have to maintain it for safety and all that," said Thomson. "But when they have this big articulated arm thing, that big mower deck that, you know, they kind of tilt it to the contour of the ditch, and they go down the side of the ditch … then you're losing that much more.”
The roadside mowers used by the municipalities also help spread invasive species and contribute to the proliferation of poison ivy, Thomson said.
“Poison ivy loves the open sunny areas and just thrives along the roadside,” he said. “They're unintentionally creating better conditions for poison ivy to thrive.”
“They also need to exercise better clean equipment protocols, because when they're … roadside mowing they're often picking up a lot of invasive species,” he said. “They're gathering seed heads and then it transports to another site.”
He hopes to see the city work deliberately to stifle the growth of invasive species.
“The city could … come up with a program to help manage some of these invasive species because they just keep on spreading unchecked, and if no one's managing them then it just gets more difficult,” he said.
Thomson said he would also like to see municipalities carry out more work to create native pollinator sites.
He suggested the entrance signs to the City of Orillia could be a good location to host pollinator plants, and he also hopes to see signage installed for existing pollinator sites in local parks.
“There's so much money that's spent on annuals when we can gradually switch to more easily maintainable native perennials,” he said.
As part of his work, Thomson has also worked with corporations and property owners to encourage pollinator sites throughout the area.
Recently, he succeeded in converting a pipeline corridor along Division Road into a large pollinator habitat.
However, work he has done on a similar site on Brennan Line – and managed for close to a decade – was recently torn up as the company carried out work on the property, he said.
“I was trying to create that dialogue with the company (that) I’d appreciate it if you wouldn't go all gangbusters and shred everything down to the dirt,” he said.
“When I got there (recently), everything was shredded right down the dirt, so I lost a lot of milkweed. I lost a lot of red cardinal flower,” he said. “These are all valuable plants that the pollinators are using this time of year, and now I’ve got to figure out how to restore everything.”
Thomson said he would like to see a working group put together to help promote pollinator habitats in the area.
“I can only get so far with it by myself,” he said.
Communication with Severn has been difficult recently, as well, as Thomson said there is no dedicated staff member to respond to his inquiries.
“It used to be the parks and rec person, but then that person just abruptly retired at the end of May,” he said. “Well, who do I talk to now? There's radio silence.”
John McMullen, manager of parks planning and development for the City of Orillia, said the city is currently working “to develop a strategy related to naturalization” in Orillia’s roadside ditches and park systems.
“A capital project has been funded to develop a strategy related to naturalization,” he said. “This study will also consider the city’s horticultural practices and strategies the city could use to increase the amount of native plant materials within specific areas.”
McMullen said the city is “incrementally” planting more perennials within city planting beds, and the study will help identify strategies for introducing more native plants to city spaces.
With regard to the milkweed plants recently removed at a city park, McMullen said this is standard practice.
“Milkweed is removed because of its invasive growing habitat, meaning it can take over a planting bed and smother out other plants,” he said.
“Most recently milkweed was removed from a planting bed in Franklin Carmichael Park; this is a typical maintenance activity regarding weeding the planting beds and is not outside of the normal practices at this time," said McMullen.
“It is the city’s normal practice to allow milkweed to grow undisturbed along fence rows, within naturalized areas, or outside of a designated planting bed.”
The city also manages several wooded areas, such as Scout Valley, which McMullen said provides vital habitat to a variety of species, and he said the municipality also built a new pollinator garden at Tudhope Park two years ago.
McMullen also said the city does not use pesticides, barring “extreme situations” to address poison ivy and giant hogweed.
He noted the city’s environmental advisory committee works on initiatives regarding the city’s natural environment, and encouraged residents to share their input with the committee.
Tracy Roxborough, Township of Severn’s communications officer, said the township actively works with Thomson to forward Bee City initiatives, and encouraged residents to get involved.
“Township of Severn recognizes the importance of protecting pollinators in our community. Everyone can play a part in supporting Mr. Thomson in his efforts to deliver on Severn’s Bee City designation,” she said.
“Pollinators are vital to maintaining healthy, natural systems, and we encourage residents to learn more about how they can help pollinators, and to get involved in local environmental initiatives that keep Severn green and growing.”
She said the township has provided staff support and advice, as well as land for plantings, but she did note the township is actively working to hire a new director of recreation – a newly created position that would act as a new contact for the Bee City initiative.