| John
L. Riley
 John
Riley is director of science and stewardship for the Nature Conservancy
of Canada, where he delivers programs in support of NCC’s conservation
activities. To this end, he is directing the design of consensus-based
conservation blueprints for Canadian ecoregions at greatest biodiversity
risk. John has worked with the Royal Ontario Museum as a botanist,
the Ontario Geological Survey as a geologist, and the Ontario Ministry
of Natural Resources as regional ecologist for south and central
Ontario. He served as director of conservation and executive director
of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. He was a leader of the
Partnership for Public Lands during Ontario’s Lands for Life
land-use planning, a signatory to the Ontario Forest Accord committing
6 million new acres of protected areas, and a member of the Ontario
Forest Accord Advisory Board. John was member of the Oak Ridges
Moraine Advisory Panel, the North Pickering Land Exchange Panel,
and is a founding member of the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. He
is also presently serving on the Niagara Escarpment Commission.
He has written broadly on topics such as natural heritage systems
in land-use planning, “big pictures”, southern Ontario
woodlands, alvars, wetlands and peatlands, the Niagara Escarpment
and the Rouge, and has a new book out this year on the Hudson Bay
Lowland.
WRAP UP OF
DAY #1 AT THE ECOLOGY OF THE NIGHT SYMPOSIUM
JOHN RILEY
Nature Conservancy of Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
John Riley of the Nature Conservancy of Canada helped to wrap up
the symposium with a summary of the major speakers' addresses.
1.1. Sharon
Wise and Bryan Buchanan
This husband-and-wife
team spoke about amphibians and the "obligative" environment
- the night. They made a commitment to research and an acknowledgement
of the value of the research
1.2. David Crawford
Mr. Crawford
spoke about the International Dark -Sky Association that is active
in 70 countries - www.darksky.org
"A billion
dollars to light up the bottom of birds" "Glare bombs"
1.3. Monte Hummel
Monte Hummel
laid down the challenge - "What needs to be done?" Who
should do it?" "What are you going to do?" To apply
the principles of "protect, manage, and restore" to the
night sky. Monte identified WWF's advocacy for wilderness and protected
areas as being equivalent to advocacy for dark skies.
"No external
lighting on my cabin for the next ten centuries"
"Taking back the night"
"Totally emotionally embedded in the skies"
1.4. Henry Lickers
and Tom Hill
"Some are
openers - the brothers of day and some are night people - the brothers
of night.
The balancing of day and night in aboriginal myth with the goals
of balance and of responsibility
"If you propose research work at night or in winter, you are
considered crazy."
What I heard
were deep personal commitments to keep alive their myths and stories
and realities of the night. And we all heard a clear interest in
this traditional knowledge in the questions.
1.5. Terence
Dickinson
"Oh, there
really is a Milky Way"
"Rivers
and streams and floods of stars"
"Our nitrogen, carbon and oxygen had their origins in the explosion
of the stars."
Terence called for permanent dark sky policy achieved in the Frontenac
Axis of Eastern Ontario. He showed us the magic of his skies and
used the word "colossal" to describe the impacts of light
pollution.
1.6. Tony Bidwell
"Scotobiology
- one plant's pollution is another animal's lifeblood"
Plant life has
evolved with night as its fundamental, as much as it has evolved
with light as its fundamental. He suggested government-led Kyoto-style
approach to incenting retrofits of lighting.
1.7. Michael
Mesure
Billions and
billions of migratory birds are vulnerable to and disoriented by
lit urban areas. Up to 100 billion birds per year die. A clear commitment
to publicize, reduce, and eliminate urban light.
1.8. David Welch
"Twenty-eight of
forty-three national
parks or marine conservation areas are in the illuminated zone."
Parks Canada is stressed for resources. He is committed to incremental,
field-based improvements, new guidelines, and examples of policy
statements for park managers. Building codes need changing. We should
pursue a professional management and municipal awards program.
1.9. Johanne
Hills
"My own
payback for the Torrance Barrens"
Johanne shared her Christian perspective on the genesis story, that
light and dark are both good and honoured gifts of God, to be revered
in awe. She expressed a deep personal commitment to revealing the
divine, the restorative and the revelatory in the planet Earth.
1.10. Chad Moore
No single resource
has stimulated man more than the night sky. The US National Parks
are the last and most defensible refuge of dark skies. He is committed
to recording, mapping, and communicating light pollution in US National
Parks and to relating dark skies to other wilderness values.
1.11. Jenik
Hollan
There are reasonable
and achievable rules and technology for conserving energy and dark
skies. "Laws work: declarations don't."
1.12. Joan Roberts
The balance
in our circadian rhythm is to be protected and revered. The effects
of imbalance are severe and diverse. Use the circadian rhythms in
our medicinal practices and lifestyles. She expressed a clear commitment
to research and education.
1.13. Stephen
Lockley
Effects of sleeplessness
and light at night on circadian rhythms are severe; this includes
shift stress, jet lag seasonal depression, cancer, loss of immunity,
vehicular accidents, surgical mistakes, blood-fat levels, etc.
"Demand
an end to the 24/7 lifestyle and economy"
1.14. Robert
Dick
Advised of the
Light Pollution Abatement Program Awards for municipalities. RASC
commitment to public awareness. Suggests that we address safety
and security directly.
1.15. Brian
Whitehead
Discussed Muskoka's
framework of development regulation and corporate action under the
authority of provincial legislation. Loathe to express commitments,
like a good planner.
1.16. Tony Rutenberg
Tony said that
there are high-performance technological solutions available but
their use must be implemented through by-laws and other legislation.
1.17. Dorothy
Shaver
OMNR commitment
to embedding dark sky policies into its plans for conservation reserves.
"The velvet
night" "Light trespass" "Light spam" "Second-hand
light"
"Just turn
it off" "Let's have an annual blackout"
2. The Natural
History of a Resolvable Problem
· Definition
of the issue
· Commitment
· Community and corporate non-government partnership
· The win-win formula
· Publicity and public awareness
· Government adoption and regulation
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