r/OttawaValleyNature

July 4, 2026

Keywords: literacy, enrichment, meaning, importance of, Nature

To understand the Natural World and our relationship with it, we must first be literate. Education (assessed by literacy levels), should receive the highest priority for human development.

Without it we cannot differentiate between fact and fiction. We cannot unravel motives and intentions ; neither benign nor nefarious with people we interact with.

Without literacy we cannot effectively form predictions on events that have happened in the past and how they will evolve into the future.

No more evident is this than forming predictions for future forests cut down today and natural landscapes irreversibly paved over tomorrow.

Literacy is not restricted to the simple function of reading. It involves the discernment and interpretation of words including the subtle symbolism characteristic of good literature.

Rural literacy has been on the decline for decades. Less than 80 km from Canada's Capital, West Quebec has some of the highest illiteracy rates in Canada. A literacy council to raise adult literacy was formed in Shawville, Quebec to help tackle this crisis.

Compelling conspiracy theories published in right-wing tabloids masquerading as liberal democracy like "Druthers" require discernment to assess authenticity, especially when an article on the adjacent page may be completely legitimate.

Aligning credibility and authenticity adjacent to propaganda and lies is an age old psychological strategy to normalize unhealthy pursuits with those that are enriching. No more evident is this than in contemporary Rave music festivals. Only the astute realized that activities which were formally viewed as excessive and promoting self- harm through drugs and excessive permissiveness are becoming increasingly normalized through a process of desentization.

Television, films and popular culture have normalized and continue to escalate profanity, vulgarity, dehumanization and degradation to attract a jaded audience already saturated on a similar dark and disturbing diet from an early age. Current generations born into this world have difficulty interpreting its evolution. It is like a fish who has always been surrounded by water. It is viewed over television or online as completely normal. Only through education can these pitfalls masquerading as normality be avoided.

Public complacency legitimize these base activities under the guise of respecting the freedom of expression. But is this not a "perversion of intent" by manipulating the Charter of Rights... not for good; but for evil? What has happened to plain human decency?

How does my commentary relate to Nature?

Nature is the opposite of all this. It is the fundamental origin before humans orchestrated the quagmire of delinquent noise we call modernity.

Literacy provides a mechanism to strip away the lies and better arrive at unveiling the truth.

This has been the weakness of our neighbors in the United States who elected a president who appealed to the lowest common denominator of intelligence. This also is reflected in our present provincial premier who appealed to the lowest common denominator in Ontario promoting a "buck a beer". Both these politicians were successful in attracting adherents and their policies profoundly destructive to the natural world.

I believe a return to our origin is necessary to help solve world problems, which each week are escalated by global climate change.

Since the late 1970s the secondary academic curriculum has gradually been dumbed down to appeal to a larger teenage audience as students began dropping out of highschool.This dumbing down was considered a necessity as literacy rates were plummeting in concert with divorce rates.

Struggling single parent families are not conducive to nurturing learning in offspring .There is a reason the emotional pair bond in humans is so intense. Without two parents raising children their success and survival outside of a social support network is doomed to failure.

Social disintegration and ecological fragmentation begin to feed on one another.

Males lacking fathers as role models have long been tasked to a future as unskilled labourers while their female counterparts now outnumber them several times over as successful university graduates. Depending on the academic field three times more women graduate in the life and health sciences. Seventy percent of Ontario college students are women compared to only 30 % men.

Literary institutions, from local libraries to University faculties are crucial to raise rural populations out of darkness to better understand how to live free of undue political influence and harmonize their behavior with the Natural World. Rural Canadians are at a district disadvantage as reading is seldom encouraged, quality education rare or non-existent and the motivation to achieve excellence absent.

Photo: library box Red Rock Road KHR Twp.

Keywords: Bonnechere Airfield, research robotics and drones, updates, news

Willful blindness on expanding facility fails to raise eyebrows from neighbors hungry for economic stimulators in a mill town facing an uncertain future.

Survey cews were busy surveying and mapping the Bonnechere Airfield yesterday, June 25, 2026 which has recently been converted to a top secret research facility. This story was covered following the completion of a massive aviation hanger earlier this spring.

Public information remains scant and security tight at the publicly funded facility which some skeptics believe masks military intelligence and surveillance undertones.

"Mission impossible" appears to be rapidly evolving into "mission possible" while the naive public remains willfully ignorant. The location is situated ideally because of its feasible travel distance from Ottawa, proximity to military intelligence at CFB ( Garrison) Petawawa, and an unquestioning and indifferent rural population.

Photos : GPS surveying adjacent to Turner's Road June 25 2026.

Bonnechere Provincial Park Winter of 2026 harvesting to enhance biodiversity, by Ontario parks.

The word " Bonnechere" means beautiful in French. After viewing the above photograph, can you argue otherwise?

Each one of us believes our perspective is the only reality. I attempted to convince you otherwise.

It seems I failed.

Signed,

The moderator of Ottawa Valley Forests and Ottawa Valley Nature

Quote by existential philosopher:

F. Nietzsche

Keywords: universal declaration for the right of trees

A small municipality near Montreal Quebec recently adopted the "Universal Declaration of the Right of Trees". Municipal Councillors of Terrasse -Vaudreil unanimously voted this month to recognize trees as living beings with their own inherent rights, worthy of protection, a right to life, unimpeded growth and regeneration.

Moreover, the wooded community of 2,000 residents introduced a $ 200 tax for ratepayers with treeless yards to combat heat islands.

The move follows desperation throughout Canada and around the world to combat climate change. Trees are considered the biggest ally because they reduce the albedo effect, absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Their shade retains moisture which regulates climate and reduces fire risk.

When I was a child two men entered our yard and commenced cutting down two trees. My mother stood watching silently as tears ran down her face. I glanced at her in confusion; unable to fathom why she had become so emotional. That was over half a century ago. Today, I react the same way.

Alas, I have experienced the sacrifice of these near sentient beings wherever I have put down stakes. Invariably within a decade every single forest surrounding my home has been violated in the quest to harvest trees, accommodate infrastructure, or in preparation for urban development. Worse still much is done through ignorance by newcomers wishing to increase a breeze hoping to reduce the number of mosquitoes, avoid raking leaves, or improve internet reception. Some people even fear trees themselves treating them as a threat or view them as competitors for parking space.

Finally, with this new legal municipal legislation trees are receiving long overdue recognition in the province of Quebec and hopefully eventually the rest of the world.

A fundamental truth is that something is only appreciated when it approaches irreversible loss.

Throughout the Ottawa Valley especially along Highway 60 between Killaloe and Algonquin Park the vast repositories of pine have been replaced by trembling Aspen, birch, red maple and other hardwoods.

The pine component will never be replaced before it is cut down again during subsequent rotations.

If we, as a species, genuinely consider all animate creation as having equal rights- similar to many indigenous cultures- we could never go on living with such indifference to trees.

The argument that a tree is no good until it's cut down is reserved for those denying the possibility of a higher purpose for humanity and those neglecting to strive for a higher meaning and explanation to life. Since the dawn of civilization the prophets, shaman, and monastics have associated the tree with life, sustenance, good fortune, and spirituality.

Now a small Quebec environmental non-government organization (ENGO) and its executive of lawyers has formed the International Observatory of Nature Rights.

It behoves the rest of the world to follow suit and recognize in writing and action that trees communicate to avert damage from insect infestations, share nutrients, expel oxygen, and carry out all the functions of a living being that is worthy of our protection.

Photo: Old-growth pine, Old Crow Reserve, Algonquin Park