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Environmentalist‘s ciiscovery of fish breeding grounds might bolster her OMB appeal Fish story his is a story about the fish that didn‘t I get away, and it just might help a local environmentalist in her upcoming Ontario Municipal Board appeal. Louisette Lanteigne said in preparation for the community cleanup event in the run up to Earth Day last week she found some interesting signs of life in the headwaters of Clair Creek. It‘s interesting because it‘s the same area that the local environmentalist is contesting in her OMB appeal against local developers, the city and the region as she tries to put the brakes on a plan to build three new subdiviâ€" sions on the west side of Waterloo. Part of her appeal is that the area is a potential fish breeding ground, and that the proposed development could negatively impact this natural habitat. But it‘s the conâ€" tention of the parties poised against her that there are no fish habitats and that any impact would be negligible. But even the chair of the dismissal proâ€" ceedings in February warned that evidence of life could throw a wrench into the proâ€" ceedings, which continue with a preâ€"hearing on July 24. So there she was walking through an area that is a familiar passive recreation spot for the local mother of three, when she spotted something moving under a fallen tree branch. Upon closer inspection, she saw it was a school of small fish. She returned last Monâ€" day to photograph them and has been workâ€" ing hard at getting some thirdâ€"party confirâ€" mation to verify them because of her status as the only appellant in the case. "What I did was contact the city, the region, the MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources) â€" pretty much everybody and their grandmas," laughed Lanteigne. "Because I thought of all the people to spot them, why me? "So I wanted to make sure that there was someone objective who could go check and didn‘t have an OMB role in it. I didn‘t know who to contact so I just contacted everyâ€" one." But she also went back herself last Monâ€" day to see if she could find the fish again. "If there are fish present that would indicate fish habitat. That needs to be addressed at the OMB and in the development process." â€"Bill Murch Ministry of Natural Resources By Bos VRrBANAC Chronicle Staff Once she did, she decided to photograph them and record her own close encounter with the aquatic life. _ s "I came home and sent the photos to everybody," said Lanteigne. "I was told that they may be a bluntâ€"nosed minnow or a type of shiner. Local environmentalist Louisette Lanteigne holds an unidentified fish she found in the headwaters of the Clair Creek. The area in question is part of her OMB appeal concerning the development of three new subdivisions on the west side of Waterloo. SHANTTEN Di _ "But I don‘t know what the GRCA and others have to say about it. They were conâ€" tacted but nobody has replied." o Dave Schultz, a spokesperson for the Grand River Conservation Authority, said no one in their aquatic department has received a report about the possibility of fish in the area, although it could have been subâ€" mitted to their planning department. "Some of them are endangered and some are not," he said of species that are found in the watershed. "It‘s important to know which species they‘re talking about." He said if it‘s a question of whether the species is endangered that‘s something that CITY NEWS HRONLCI is dealt with by both the provincial and fedâ€" eral governments. "There‘s some overlap in between them so it‘s sort of in their hands," said Schultz. Bill Murch, a spokesperson for the Minâ€" istry of Natural Resources out of the Guelph district office, said their staff biologist also ~"The current reports say there are no fish, but the fish say otherwise." â€" Louisette Lanteigne Local environmentalist WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, May 7, 2008 + 3 "If there are fish present then that would indicate fish habitat," said Murch. "That needs to be addressed at the OMB and in the development process." hasn‘t officially received a report, but said the GRCA would be responsible for tracking down the fish breeding area as part of their management of the Grand River watershed. He said if the fish are bluntâ€"nosed minâ€" now or a type of shiner they aren‘t on the endangered list. But there mere presence could be important to the OMB appeal regarding the area. In the meantime, Lanteigne is still waitâ€" ing for an Official response. _ "I haven‘t gone to the pond since, I‘m waiting for the weather to get nicer," she said. "But when it does I‘ll go up there with my little butterfly net and see what else I can find. ‘The, current reports say there are no fish, but the fish say otherwise." SUBMITTED PHOTO