Wellers Bay National Wildlife Area Management Plan: chapter 2

1 Description of the protected area

The Wellers Bay National Wildlife Area (NWA) was established in 1978 along the western shore of Prince Edward County, Ontario (Figure 1). It is comprised of Bald Island, Fox Island, Baldhead Island^{Footnote 1} and the northern portion of the Baldhead Peninsula (Figure 2) totalling 41 ha, and contains rare, provincially significant dune and beach communities and panne^{Footnote 2} habitats on one of the last undeveloped sand spits and islands in Lake Ontario.

The NWA covers approximately two thirds of the 7-kilometre-long Wellers Bay Coastal Sand Spit, which is designated as a provincially significant life science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), and acts as a baymouth barrier beach across the mouth of Wellers Bay^{Footnote 3} (Figure 2). Shallow wetlands along the eastern shoreline of the NWA, adjacent to the sand spit, and along the Wellers Bay shoreline, are protected from Lake Ontario by this barrier beach, providing habitats for feeding and staging waterfowl, and stopover sites for other migratory birds.

The Wellers Bay NWA is relatively flat, comprised primarily of upland habitats ranging from open beach and sand dunes to small areas of deciduous forest, and wetlands. The sand beach and dunes, composed of fine sand, are dynamic and constantly shifting due to high erosion caused by changing water levels of Lake Ontario, wind and wave action, storm events, and the movement of ice during winter. The Lake Ontario shoreline is prone to erosion and quickly drops off into deeper water. On the Wellers Bay side, the water is shallow and the nearshore is dominated by submerged and emergent aquatic vegetation. There are some open beach and unvegetated dune areas in the central section of the Baldhead Peninsula where vegetation has been damaged or lost due to previous land uses and human activity (authorized and unauthorized). These unvegetated areas are particularly vulnerable to erosion and encroachment of invasive species.

A narrow channel north of Baldhead Island (outside of the NWA), provides water access from Lake Ontario to Wellers Bay (Figure 2). The island between this opening and Baldhead Island is provincial Crown land that is not part of the NWA.

Prior to the establishment of the NWA, the Wellers Bay Coastal Sand Spit and the adjacent waters of Wellers Bay and Lake Ontario were used by the Department of National Defence (DND) as an Air Weapons Range. DND confirms Wellers Bay as an Unexploded Explosive Ordnance (UXO) Legacy Site (DND, 2016) (Figure 2) for which there exist potential UXO risks associated with past departmental activities. A safety zone remains for an area that includes the NWA and extending into the waters of Wellers Bay and Lake Ontario, where an explosive hazard warning is posted (see Appendix 4). DND retains jurisdiction over the lakebed within the safety zone. Public access to the Wellers Bay NWA is prohibited. Erosion from wave and wind action or disturbance to dunes and beach may expose UXOs and DND continues to perform annual surface sweeps of the property. At least 30 UXOs and 3,933 kg of debris have been removed between 2006 and 2014 (DND, 2014).

Since the land transfer from DND in 1969, and official designation of the NWA in 1978 (Table 1), a number of new legislative and policy changes have influenced site management. Waterfowl were and are the primary wildlife group of concern, but other wildlife, species at risk, and rare or unique habitats are now part of the criteria for directing management on NWAs.

1.1 Regional context

The Wellers Bay NWA is located within the Municipality of Prince Edward County, near the towns of Brighton, Trenton and Consecon (Figure 1). Prince Edward County is an irregularly shaped peninsula characterized by flat limestone plains covered with a shallow layer of unconsolidated loamy soil produced by the scouring action of glaciers on sedimentary rock. The shoreline is complex with numerous embayments. It is dominated by large coastal marshes that are protected by baymouth bars (i.e., barrier beach) and sand spits (EC and OMNR, 2003). These wetlands, barrier beach and sand spits serve as a natural travel corridor and provide important stopover, feeding and staging habitat for migratory birds and wildlife as they migrate across Lake Ontario. 

One of the largest of these barrier beach wetlands on eastern Lake Ontario is the Wellers Bay Wetland Complex (363 ha) (EC and OMNR, 2003). The Wellers Bay Wetland Complex is a provincially significant wetland complex made up of four individual wetlands located along the shore of Wellers Bay, composed primarily of marsh (81%) and swamp (19%) (Snetsinger and Kristensen, 1993). The Wellers Bay Wetland Complex is regionally significant for waterfowl staging and migratory bird stopover habitat and locally significant for fish spawning and nursery habitat (Snetsinger and Kristensen, 1993). An assessment of wetland water quality, submerged aquatic vegetation and aquatic macroinvertebrates in 2011 indicated that the wetlands in Wellers Bay and marsh adjacent to the NWA are in good condition and comparable to other wetlands in eastern Lake Ontario (EC-CWS, 2011).

The Wellers Bay Coastal Sand Spit is 7 km long, extends northeast across the mouth of Wellers Bay, and includes several small islands and two connecting sand spits to the northwest and southeast. This feature is designated as the Wellers Bay Coastal Sand Spit Provincially Significant Life Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) (Figure 2), representing one of the last undeveloped coastal sand spits in Lake Ontario. This ANSI includes the Wellers Bay NWA. The islands are limestone outcroppings, and the sand spit that connects Baldhead Island to the mainland, known as the Baldhead Peninsula, is a dynamic beach dune system.

During periods of high water, gaps in the sand spit have occasionally been created, allowing the connection between Lake Ontario and Wellers Bay. The sand spit north of Baldhead Island extends to Barcovan Beach on the mainland (Figure 2). A narrow channel is dredged between Lake Ontario and Wellers Bay, maintained by the Friends of Wellers Bay non-profit association. The channel encourages water circulation in the Bay with Lake Ontario to improve water quality and keeps the sand deposition from the baymouth barrier beach from closing off boat access from the lake.

Eastern Lake Ontario and Wellers Bay are popular areas for recreational boating, sport fishing and tourism. Recreational fishing in summer and winter, boating, hunting and wildlife viewing are popular activities. The shoreline of the mainland portion of Wellers Bay is largely developed and privately owned. Land use along the shoreline of Wellers Bay includes seasonal cottages, year-round homes, marinas tour operators, campgrounds, and farms.

The Wellers Bay NWA is within the North American Bird Conservation Initiative Bird Conservation Region 13; within the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone, Manitoulin-Lake Simcoe Ecoregion (Wilken, 1986). There are a number of natural heritage sites (i.e., Presqu’ile Provincial Park, North Beach Provincial Park, Sandbanks Provincial Park, Scotch Bonnet Island NWA, and Prince Edward Point NWA) nearby. Together with Wellers Bay NWA, these sites provide a protected areas network of available habitats on the landscape for wildlife, important stopover and travel routes for other migratory birds, bats and butterflies. Particularly during spring migration, shoreline sites are especially important due to the early emergence of insects that provide a critical food source for migrant species. Presqu’ile Provincial Park and the south shore on Lake Ontario and nearshore waters of Prince Edward County are both recognized by BirdLife International as Important Bird Areas because of the large numbers of waterfowl, colonial water birds, migratory land birds and bird species at risk that use these areas (Wilson and Cheskey, 2001; Cheskey, 1999) .Prince Edward Point NWA, on the southeastern point of Prince Edward County is also designated as Monarch Butterfly Reserve.

Agriculture has been the basis for the economy and the predominant land use in Prince Edward County for several generations. The climate, which is moderated by Lake Ontario, is suitable for orchards. In recent years, both the number of vineyards and wine production has increased in Prince Edward County and with it, an increase in tourism to the area.

1.2 Historical background

The Wellers Bay area was originally hunting and fishing grounds for the Cayuga Iroquois who formed small villages with some farming. In the 17th century the area was settled by French Missionaries, and quickly developed due to the abundance of fish and furs. As settlement progressed, towns grew around harbours, landings and mill sites (Brown, 2010). The peninsula of the Prince Edward County became the focus of transportation with a road linking the Bay of Quinte with Wellers Bay. The Kente Portage Road follows a long-established Indigenous portage route between Wellers Bay and the Bay of Quinte, later used by early explorers and settlers into the area (Brown, 2010). Consecon became an important port within Wellers Bay, where ships would dock and load up with grain. Railways began to arrive in 1870, and in 1889, the Murray Canal was cut through the Prince Edward Peninsula, eliminating the long and hazardous shipping route around Prince Edward County (Brown, 2010) and the need for ports on Wellers Bay.

In 1938 and 1939, the federal DND purchased Bald Island, Fox Island, Baldhead Island and a large portion of the Baldhead Peninsula within Wellers Bay from private citizens, to be used as an Air Weapons Range. It was known as the Consecon Air Weapons Range, after the nearby town of Consecon. From 1939 until 1953, it served as a practice bombing range and as a gunnery range. Live bombs, rockets and explosive projectiles were directed at targets in the area. Not all of these ammunitions exploded on impact, and UXO, including 500-pound high explosive bombs and other munitions, remain on or near the NWA (DND, 2011). UXO were uncovered and detonated as recently as 2012 (DND, 2014). In 1969, the administration and control of the property were transferred from DND to the Canadian Wildlife Service (part of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development at that time and now part of Environment and Climate Change Canada), with the condition that the lands be used as a conservation area for waterfowl. In 1978, the Wellers Bay NWA was established for the purposes of wildlife conservation under the Canada Wildlife Act. The NWA has always been closed to the public; Access is prohibited under the Wildlife Area Regulations of the Canada Wildlife Act. Due to the potential danger from UXO, a stipulation of the transfer by DND to CWS was that no future disposal of the property could take place without consultation with DND.

1.3 DND UXO and legacy site management at Wellers Bay NWA

Established in 2005, DND’s Unexploded Explosive Ordnance and Legacy Sites Program aim is to reduce safety risks posed by UXO. A UXO Legacy Site is any property that was owned, leased or used by DND, but no longer resides within DND's inventory, and for which there exists a UXO risk associated with past Departmental activities (DND, 2016).

The Program identifies and catalogues such sites, assesses risks and works to reduce UXO risk through property controls, assessment surveys, UXO clearance operations and public education. At sites where the potential risk is great, public safety must be ensured by restricting access to the sites. The level of risk is determined by the probability that people will encounter UXO, combined with the probability that the encounter will lead to personal injury. The limits of existing UXO detection technology means that no UXO legacy site can ever be declared completely hazard-free (DND, 2016).

The Wellers Bay NWA is a DND Legacy Site (Figure 2). DND surveillance activities have documented unexploded bombs and munitions at or below the surface, on the NWA and adjacent water in Lake Ontario and Wellers Bay, and determined a continued, confirmed UXO risk. In March 2011, DND completed a Record of Legacy Site Risk Management Report for the Wellers Bay NWA (DND, 2011) based on CWS’ land use of prohibited access. The risks are low in frequency of occurrence but very high in potential severity. DND measures risks by hazard severity of the UXO (i.e. type of UXO) and probability of an individual’s encounter with a UXO. At Wellers Bay NWA, the probability of encounter with a UXO is currently based on prohibited public access (DND, 2011). Population growth in nearby urban centres and increased public interest in outdoor recreation, as well as a concerning misconception that the Wellers Bay NWA is not a UXO risk, has resulted in a rise in trespassing on the site, which compounds the risk and subsequent mitigation to ensure public safety.

DND and the Legacy Sites Program keeps warning signs on the NWA, and continues to place Information Notices in several newspapers and publications in the area indicating the existing danger. Warnings are published annually during the summer to advise the public of the ongoing risk (DND, 2011).

There have been many UXO clearance efforts conducted at the Wellers Bay NWA since 1954. The initial UXO clearance largely focused upon locating and destroying eight 500-lb bombs alleged to be on site and in the process other ordnance fragments were located. In 2010, munitions and practice warheads were found (DND, 2011), and in 2012 UXO washed ashore (CWS pers. comm., 2013); all had to be destroyed on site. At least 30 UXO and 3,933 kg of munition debris have been removed from the site between 2006 and 2014 (DND, 2014). Some areas remain inaccessible due to dense vegetation. Clearing those areas would drastically disturb and damage the natural vegetation. As long as human disturbance remains low (i.e., no trespassing), the vegetation potentially is a natural barrier. There is an ongoing risk that UXO may be exposed by wind and dune movement. 

An exhaustive clearance would entail severe disruption to the ecology of the NWA, including destruction of habitat and destabilization of dune systems. Even an exhaustive clearance would not completely remove the UXO hazard because of the dynamic nature of the site due to wind and water action. Because public safety is of highest priority, DND will continue to carry out sweeps for UXO and detonations, as required. Although there are attempts to minimize impacts, DND activities may continue to impact the sensitive habitats at the Wellers Bay NWA.  

As per the land transfer agreement, DND retains responsibility for managing the UXO on the NWA and oversees the UXO training of persons authorized to be on site.

1.4 Land ownership

Surface title of the Wellers Bay NWA belongs to the Crown in Right of Canada (Government of Canada) and is administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service (ECCC-CWS) as described in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Area Regulations of the Canada Wildlife Act. The Crown in Right of Canada does not hold the subsurface mineral rights for Wellers Bay NWA. All lands at the water’s edge are protected as part of the NWA. ECCC-CWS manages and maintains lands and infrastructure (e.g., signage) within the Wellers Bay NWA.

Through an agreement with the Province of Ontario, DND retains jurisdiction over the lakebed within a safety zone (Appendix 4) extending under the waters of Wellers Bay and Lake Ontario, and which were part of the former Consecon Air Weapons Range (Figure 2).

1.5 Infrastructure

There are no facilities, buildings, roads, trails or docks within the Wellers Bay NWA.

Infrastructure consists of signs. Signs are posted to identify NWA boundaries, indicate prohibited entry and the presence of UXOs. Signs require frequent maintenance due to damage from exposure to the elements and vandalism.

Three large NWA identification signs are posted on Baldhead Island and the Baldhead Peninsula (Table 2). ECCC-CWS “Entry Prohibited” signs and DND “Unexploded Explosive Ordnance Warning” signs are posted around the perimeter of the NWA (Figure 3; Table 2). DND and ECCC-CWS work cooperatively to post signs safely in the NWA at the same locations.