The Oak Ridges Moraine is a unique landform that generated heated battles over the future of nature conservation, sprawl, and development in the Toronto region at the turn of the twenty-first century. This book provides a careful, multi-faceted history and policy analysis of planning issues and citizen activism on the Moraine’s future in the face of rapid urban expansion.
The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles captures the hidden aspects of a story that received a great deal of attention in the local and national news, and that ultimately led to provincial legislation aimed at protecting the Moraine and Ontario’s Greenbelt. By giving voice to a range of actors – residents, activists, civil servants, scientists, developers and aggregate and other resource users, the book demonstrates how space on the urban periphery was reshaped in the Toronto region. The authors ask hard questions about who is included and excluded when the preservation of nature challenges the relentless process of urbanization.

List of Illustrations vii

Preface and Acknowledgments ix

1 Development, Sprawl, and Nature Conservation on the Oak Ridges Moraine 3

2 The Surfacing of a Landform: Historical Representations of the Oak Ridges Moraine 31

3 Nature Conservation Planning in South-Central Ontario 58

4 Residents Speak for the Moraine 91

5 Taking a Stand: Place and Nature on the Moraine 119

6 Conservation Planning in the Service of Growth 163

7 Producing Exclusive Landscape Aesthetics 198

8 Conclusion: Wrestling with Development, Sprawl, and Nature Conservation 234

Appendix: Oak Ridges Moraine Chronology 243

Notes 261

Bibliography

Index 301

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