Petition Against Mowing Lawns at
Conservation Areas
   We, the Friends of Coyle Creek (the FCC) hereby humbly call upon the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority to desist forthwith its current ecologically harmful practice of maintaining artificial habitat (i.e. mown lawns) at conservation areas, especially ones located within the Welland River watershed. Such as, for example, E.C. Brown Conservation Area, Chippawa Creek Conservation Area, and Binbrook Conservation Area. It is earnestly desired by the signatories of this petition that the ground presently occupied by mown lawns at these conservation areas (and all others) be reforested with native tree species in order to help restore Niagara's natural environment.
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Why Should the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority do this?
1. Mowing Lawns is very harmful to the environment for numerous reasons.  Firstly, a short-mown, green grass lawn is not a natural habitat, but rather an artificial one created by humans for aesthetic purposes.  Accordingly, a lawn cannot provide needed habitat for wildlife, and in fact represents a loss of biodiversity in the natural ecosystem.  Furthermore, maintaining lawns is the complete opposite of conservation, since they do not occur naturally and require regular maintainance.

2. Secondly, the act of mowing lawns has direct adverse effects on wildlife and the environment.  Lawn mowers can and do kill amphibians, which is simply unavoidable so long as machine mowing continues.  Furthermore, the loud noise of lawm mowers can scare away and disturb wildlife that would otherwise make conservation areas their homes.  Lastly, mowing lawns requires the burning of fossil fuels, which pollutes the air and contributes to global warming.

3. The mown lawns of the NPCA occupy ground that could and should be used to plant native tree species on.  This would help restore Niagara's natural environment, as well as provide needed habitat for local wildlife.  In addition, by planting trees and ending the practice of cutting lawns, the NPCA would be helping to improve air quality and fight global warming, as trees act as carbon sinks---producing oxygen and taking in carbon dioxide.

4. As a final point, this proposal makes good economic sense: mowing lawns is expensive and thus draws funds away from real conservation initiatives.  Over the long term, the cost of planting trees will undoubtedly prove far less expensive than the continuiing cost of mowing lawns year after year.
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