Is it Time to be proactive with land use restrictions?

We cut down a lot of trees and drained a lot of wetlands to create Ontario’s agricultural landscape. With so few natural spaces left, and as economic pressures continue to push crop producers toward maximizing every available acre, I’m increasingly convinced legislation to protect nature from ourselves is a necessity.

Aside from the environment, there are practical political and economic reasons to support hypothetical restrictions on the removal of woodlots, fencerows, tallgrass prairie and the like. If we are proactive, there is opportunity to lobby for frameworks that support our bottom lines as well as nature.

Not doing so means that one day, we face a higher chance of regulations that burden more than they reward.