What is Cold Creek and Why Should I be Interested?

Cold Creek Conservation Area is an ecologically diverse and sustainable natural area. It is a model of sustainability that can be achieved by protecting and enhancing the area’s natural environment while providing outdoor education, cultural and heritage experiences and recreation. Cold Creek Conservation Area is continually improved and managed through self-sustaining revenues and community-based stewardship

The Cold Creek Conservation Area consists of 190 hectares within the Humber River watershed (a designated Canadian Heritage River). The Area is located on Concession Road 11, three kilometres north of the King Side Road midway between the communities of Bolton and Nobleton in King Township within the Regional Municipality of York. A portion of the property lies within the “Natural Linkage” policy area of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The Conservation Area is significant due to its unique natural features. Existing mixed conifer swamp forest contains black spruce which is rare in Southern Ontario and is home to a wide array of plant and animal species.

How did this come about?

Historically, the property was used for outdoor education and recreation programs and included many facilities dedicated to the outdoor sports enthusiast. The Cold Creek Conservation Area was closed to formal public use in 1990 due to financial constraints, resulting from the decision to close the shooting range, and loss of associated revenues as well as other corporate financial pressures. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) initiated the preparation of a comprehensive management plan for the Cold Creek Conservation Area in January 2002. This Management Plan includes a description and evaluation of the property based on relevant plans and policies, landscape features and functions, environmental constraints and opportunities. This Management Plan updates our knowledge of landscape features, condition of infrastructure and identifies needs and opportunities in a time of changing financial conditions. The Plan provides a framework for the TRCA to determine priorities for future initiatives including the protection of natural features, habitat regeneration and public uses.

An Advisory Committee was established to undertake the Cold Creek Conservation Area management planning process. The Cold Creek Conservation Area Management Plan is the result of over eight months of work by this committee and TRCA staff. Members of the Advisory Committee reviewed background information and assisted with the development of management zones and resource management recommendations. Residents and stakeholders were also invited to express their concerns, hopes and suggestions for the Cold Creek Conservation Area at two public forums.

Members of the Advisory Committee prepared a vision for the Cold Creek Conservation Area to guide the long term management of the property.

The Management Zones proposed in this Management Plan present an “environment first” philosophy where the Conservation Area is managed as a natural system and prevention is emphasized over remediation.

Cold Creek Conservation Area presents an excellent opportunity for the first-time implementation of the management zone strategy based on TRCA’s Terrestrial Natural Heritage Approach which emphasizes two principles:
• that rare species protection is not enough for ensuring regional health, and
• that protection of more than “significant sites” is needed to ensure regional health.

Instead of treating natural areas individually (e.g., Environmentally Significant Areas (ESAs), Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), and Classified Wetlands), the Terrestrial Natural Heritage Approach explicitly recognizes the indivisibility and interconnectedness of parts of the natural system. Therefore, the approach evaluates the form and function of the natural cover in the Cold Creek Conservation Area in the determination of the targeted natural system presented in this plan. Given the current pressures of urbanization affecting the condition of natural cover throughout the TRCA’s jurisdiction, it is paramount to approach the management of any natural area in a way that addresses that particular site in the larger regional context. Hence, it is recommended that decisions at the site level be made in context of the larger natural heritage system of which the property is located.

Trillium Grant 2006-2009

In the Spring of 2007 the Cold Creek Stewardship Collaborative was awarded $191K for restoration of buildings, the boardwalk, infrastructure and the development of recreational and environmental educational programmes as well as research projects. The grant covers a three year period and is intended to lead to the financial sustainability of Cold Creek Forest and Wildlife Area.

Download a copy of the application

Management Plan

Preparation of the Management Plan

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) initiated the preparation of a comprehensive management plan for the Cold Creek Conservation Area in January 2002. This Management Plan includes a description and evaluation of the property based on relevant plans and policies, landscape features and functions, environmental constraints and opportunities. This Management Plan updates our knowledge of landscape features, condition of infrastructure and identifies needs and opportunities in a time of changing financial conditions. The Plan provides a framework for the TRCA to determine priorities for future initiatives including the protection of natural features, habitat regeneration and public uses.

The Advisory Committee

An Advisory Committee was established to undertake the Cold Creek Conservation Area management planning process. The Cold Creek Conservation Area Management Plan is the result of over eight months of work by this committee and TRCA staff. Members of the Advisory Committee reviewed background information and assisted with the development of management zones and resource management recommendations. Residents and stakeholders were also invited to express their concerns, hopes and suggestions for the Cold Creek Conservation Area at two public forums. Members of the Advisory Committee prepared a vision for the Cold Creek Conservation Area to guide the long term management of the property.

The Plan

1- Executive Summary and Introduction – 2 MB

2 -Developing the Plan – 1 MB

3 – Background Studies – 1 MB

4 – Resource Inventory and Analysis – 4 MB

5 – Management Zones – 3MB

6- Management Recommendations – 1 MB

7- Future Management – 1 MB

8 – Appendicies – 1 MB

Natural Linkage Areas Purpose

The purpose of Natural Linkage Areas, which cover 24 per cent of the Oak Ridges Moraine, is to maintain and where possible improve or restore, the quality and integrity of critical ecological, hydrological and regional scale open space linkages between Natural Core Areas and along river valleys and stream corridors. (Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, 2001)