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By
Carol
Sanders
Winnipeg
Free
Press
Tuesday,
April
2,
2002
If
a
tree
falls
in
the
forest
thanks
to
a
south
Winnipeg
housing
developer's
bulldozer,
does
anybody
hear?
Yes-especially
if
it's
along
the
Seine
River
and
100-year-old
oaks
are
being
demolished
in
a
forest
where
local
residents
want
to
create
a
32-hectare
park.
"It's
outrageous,"
Jules
Legal,
president
of
Save
Our
Seine,
said
yesterday
over
the
din
of
heavy
equipment
and
crashing
timber
just
off
St.
Anne's
Road.
"We
didn't
think
this
would
happen
today,"
said
Legal,
who
contacted
Dan
Vandal,
chairman
of
the
city's
property
and
development
committee.
Legal
said
the
developer
claimed
yesterday
to
be
cutting
a
swath
through
the
forest,
which
is
crisscrossed
with
deer
trails
and
dotted
with
their
droppings,
to
allow
surveyors
easier
access
to
the
area.
Ladco
Company
Ltd.
wants
to
build
a
four-lane
access
road
on
Southglen
Boulevard
over
the
Seine
River
to
its
new
Royalwood
subdivision
east
of
the
Seine,
Legal
said.
It
owns
the
land
but
the
city
hasn't
approved
the
Southglen
link
that
would
cut
the
proposed
park
in
half,
said
Legal.
A
Ladco
spokesman
was
not
available
for
comment
yesterday.
Vandal
did
not
return
calls
either.
Ladco
was
enthused
about
the
plans
for
the
park,
said
Legal.
Last
week,
however,
the
company
informed
SOS
it
is
pushing
ahead
with
its
plan
for
an
access
road
through
the
forest
that
runs
from
Bishop
Grandin
Boulevard
along
the
Seine
to
Warde
Avenue.
Marcel
Ritchot,
another
SOS
member
on
the
scene,
said
people
howl
about
destruction
of
the
rain
forest
and
environmental
degradation
around
the
world,
but
no
one
says
boo
about
an
old
oak
forest
and
deer
habitat
being
destroyed
in
their
backyard.
"In
Winnipeg,
it's
perfectly
alright,"
Ritchot
said
sarcastically.
It
wasn't
alright
with
Jim
Gyselinck.
When
he
saw
a
bulldozer
knocking
down
trees
in
the
forest
where
he
hunted
rabbits
as
a
boy,
he
tried
to
stop
it.
The
retired
firefighter
who
lives
past
the
Perimeter
highway
said
he
didn't
know
what
to
do
when
he
saw
the
machine
knocking
down
burr
oaks
that
produce
acorns,
a
staple
of
the
deer's
diet.
"I
stood
right
in
front
of
him."
The
bulldozer
driver
kept
advancing,
so
Gyselinck
moved
out
of
the
way.
"I've
always
loved
it.
This
little
river
is
the
best
place
to
paddle
solo,"
he
said
of
the
narrow,
winding
tributary.
The
area
is
also
a
special
place
for
Manitoba's
Métis,
said
Legal.
The
Save
Our
Seine
group's
$22,000
plan
for
a
32-hectare
park
includes
trails,
benches,
canoe
launches
and
a
Métis
interpretive
centre.
Legal
made
a
presentation
to
the
city's
riverbank
management
committee
in
March,
saying
that
extending
Southglen
through
the
forest
would
be
akin
to
building
a
freeway
through
the
middle
of
Assiniboine
Park.
The
park
hasn't
received
approval
yet
either.
The
city
owns
about
44
per
cent
of
the
riverbank
land
along
the
Seine
and
it
would
probably
cost
between
$3
million
and
$4
million
to
acquire
another
16
hectares
for
the
park.
The
SOS
group
is
holding
a
public
meeting
April
24
at
Morrow
Gospel
Church,
755
St.
Anne's
Rd.,
at
7PM.
"We
can
still
stop
it,"
he
said
of
the
Southglen
"Bridge"
over
the
Seine.
The
city
has
already
made
plans
for
a
bridge
at
Warde
Avenue
to
serve
the
Royalwood
community
about
half
a
kilometre
away
from
the
Southglen
site,
and
SOS
says
that's
enough.
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