A.H. Richardson - The Father of
Conservation
A. H.
RICHARDSON
(1890-1971)
Mr.
Conservation
"Forest preservation and other environmental issues that
make news today were concerns addressed by Richardson and
his colleagues 50 years before the Green movement hit its
stride. And the foresight, common sense, and sensitivity
shown then… helped protect our natural heritage for future
generations."
Paul Masterton, Author
Herbert Richardson (1992) and
former Supervisor of Kortright Centre for
Conservation
In 1942, the
Ganaraska Watershed was selected as the initial test survey area
in Ontario and jointly sponsored by the Province of Ontario and
Government of Canada.
A.H. Richardson
was given the responsibility of organizing the initial test
survey. The results of survey work were published in "A Report
on The Ganaraska Watershed" (1944).
A.H. Richardson was
the first (and only) Chief Conservation Engineer in the Province
of Ontario. To people who knew him, AH was simply "Mr.
Conservation".
By
Order-in-Council of the Ontario Government, in 1957
A.H. Richardson was appointed the first Chairman of The
Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (MTRCA).
The official crest of the newly formed MTRCA contained the Latin
inscription "Conservatio Ab Populo" which embodied Dr.
Richardson’s philosophy and would later become the title of his
book "Conservation by the People: The History of the
Conservation Movement in Ontario to 1970".
Richardson also
played an important role in the Boy Scouts and Forestry
movement.
Dr.
Richardson was best described on May 13, 1962 in the following
citation made by Dean H.G. Dion at the Convocation Ceremonies of
McGill University:
"I have
the honour to present Arthur Herbert Richardson,
distinguished Canadian Conservationist, in order that you
may confer on him the degree of Doctor of Law, honoris causa.
Mr. Richardson has been responsible, more than any other
single man, for the development of conservation and
flood-control programmes and policies in Canada… culminating
in the establishment of 37 Conservation Authorities in
Ontario, which are a model for co-ordinating the interests
of regional local government and dealing with these
problems. Mr. Richardson’s vision and leadership in the
field of Conservation earned an international reputation
which is the greatest tribute to his success. As a biologist
with imagination, a forester with insight, an engineer with
a sense of real values, and a man with a burning concern for
the well-being of his fellow men, young and old, he
does us honour by becoming one of our distinguished
graduates."
Herbert
Richardson by Paul Masterson, 1992
Forestry
A.H. Richardson
first appeared on the scene in 1920 fresh from Harvard
University, with a master’s degree in Silviculture.
Richardson was
hired by Edmund J. Zavitz as a Forester in the Forestry Branch
of the Department of Lands and Forests (now Ministry of Natural
Resources). He quickly moved into the reforestation program in
Southern Ontario to encourage the reforestation of wasted lands.
One of his
earliest efforts for the Forestry Branch was his booklet
entitled "Forest Tree Planting" published in 1924 and
distributed as an aid to farmers and private landholders. Other
booklets followed including Forest Trees for Distribution, The
Woodlot, Windbreaks and Shelter Belts, Tree Planting Acts of
Ontario, Gathering Pine Cones and other Seeds and The Municipal
Forest – all encouraging farmers to apply the silvicultural
technique of sustained management.
In 1925, Dr.
Richardson became founder and first editor of the Forestry
Chronicle, a national publication which in following years led
to the research, development and management practices of the
science of forestry in Canada.
In 1927, Dr.
Richardson was appointed Forester in Charge of Reforestration in
Ontario.
"Never before in Canada has so much interest been taken
in the proper care and development of our
forests..."
Forestry Chronicle
Editorial – 1930’s
The Boy
Scout Movement
Dr. Richardson
was actively involved with the Boy Scout movement for over 30
years.
With the
provincial government’s resumption of reforesting waste lands in
Southern Ontario, a serious interest in forestry was promoted by
the Ontario’s Boy Scout Association.
In 1924,
Richardson launched a program to teach forest conservation and
resource conservation at the first permanent Scout Leadership
training site by the Grand River.
In his book
‘Conservation by the People’, Richardson recognized:
"For many years, the naturalists of Ontario –
both professional and amateur – have tried to instill in
the youth… a heightened regard for the complex relation
between man, animals, and the landscape that we call
nature… That their efforts have been successful is
self-evident: today’s youth can and do speak with
knowledge and discernment about ‘ecology’:
‘environmental factors’ and ‘recycling of waste’."
A. H. Richardson,
Conservation by the People:
The History of the Conservation Movement in Ontario to 1970,
(1974)
Under
Richardson’s influence, a Canada-wide "Save the Forest"
campaign in 1925 saw many Scout troops carrying out tree
planting exercises directed by the Lands and Forests’ Forestry
Branch.
As testimony to
his leadership in teaching and developing the Scouts Forestry
programs, in February, 1937 Richardson was awarded the Medal of
Merit "in recognition of outstanding work for the
Scout Movement" by way of a presentation made by
the Rt. Hon. Lord Tweedsmuir, then Governor General and Chief
Scout for Canada.
From 1945 –
1951, Richardson served as President of the Ontario Scout
Council. In 1946, he was appointed to the Executive
Committee for the Canadian General Council in scouting.
Dr.
Richardson’s highest honour from scouting came with the Silver
Wolf Medal on July 1, 1958 where the Right Honourable Vincent
Massey (then Chief Scout of Canada and the first Canadian-born
Governor General in Government House) officially awarded him:
"the highest recognition of national importance for
service of the most exceptional character to Scouting".
"From a very basic forest conservation program in
1924 until 1991, it is estimated that Scouts, Guides, Cubs,
and Brownies in Ontario have planted 60 million trees on
45,000 acres of treeless land."
Paul Masterson,
Herbert Richardson, (1992)
The
Conservation Movement
During the
1920’s and 1930’s, Ontario faced massive soil erosion and major
flood problems caused by extensive deforestation and poor
land-management practices. Frank H. Kortright (Founder of the
Conservation Council of Ontario) voiced the opinion of fellow
conservationists during this time:
"Civilization has now changed wide areas of this
Province into a land of cities and towns, large farms,
huge industrial plants, mines, and paper and lumber
mills. This is a land largely denuded of its forests;
vast areas are eroded and unfit for cultivation or any
other purpose; many of its streams are dried up, or
polluted to the extent they can no longer support
aquatic life. In Ontario, we are living dangerously –
through the heedless exploitation of natural
resources."
Frank H.
Kortwright, Ontario’s Future? Conservation or Else
(Toronto: Conservation Council of Ontario, 1940)
In 1941, a
group of six organizations met to form the Guelph Conference on
the Conservation of the Natural Resources in Ontario. They
recognized resources – water, land, forests, wildlife and
recreation – must be considered at the same time and handled
through a coordinated programme of resources management.
The report
issued from the Guelph Conference entitled "Conservation and
Post-War Rehabilitation" (1942) highlighted the unhealthy state
of natural resources and recommended an integrated resource
management planning study of watersheds particularly in Southern
Ontario. It’s conclusions listed the seriousness of the
following depletions: water resources were drying up – 80% of
the streams that flowed a hundred years ago were now temporarily
dry during the year; what waters remained were largely polluted
by industrial waste and sewage waste from municipalities of all
sizes; forest covers had dangerously decreased; erosion by wind
and water was on the increase, soil had become impoverished
through loss of fertility and the impact of all of this was
damaging fish and wildlife habitat and population. To address
these concerns, the report emphasized the urgent need for an
initial conservation project to form the basis for general
application throughout the province.
In 1942, the
Interdepartmental Committee on Conservation Rehabilitation was
formed by the Ontario Government. A.H. Richardson (then a
Forest Engineer with Department or Lands and Forests) was
appointed full-time Chairman of this Committee.
First Conservation Model
in Ontario: The Ganaraska Watershed
In 1942, the
Ganaraska Watershed was selected as the initial test survey area
in Ontario as a follow-up on the recommendations of the Guelph
Conference a year earlier. The survey was jointly sponsored by
the Province of Ontario and Government of Canada.
A.H. Richardson
was given the responsibility of organizing the initial test
survey in the Ganaraska watershed. The results of survey work
were published in "A Report on The Ganaraska Watershed" (1944)
by A.H. Richardson. It’s contents had great educational value
and was prepared in such a way so as to be understood by the
general public.
In terms of
provincial and national significance, the Ganaraska Report was
viewed as "a landmark in Ontario Conservation Literature"
by Dr. J.R. Dymond of the Royal Ontario Museum.
Dr. R.C.
Wallace of Queen’s University further concluded the content of
the Ganaraska Study would be:
"of general
significance for the conservation and rehabilitation
of all our resources throughout Canada."
A. H. Richardson,
Conservation by the People: The History of
the Conservation Movement in Ontario to 1970, (1974)
The Ganaraska
report also served as model for other conservation studies in
the Province, including the Rouge watershed (which became Rouge
National Urban Park in recent years).
"While
primarily a study in land use with plans for the rehabilitation
of this particular watershed during the post-war period, the
Ganaraska Report would become the model for future
conservation studies throughout the Province of Ontario."
John C. Carter,
Ontario Conservation Authorities:
Their Heritage Resources and Museums,
Ontario History/Volume XCIV, No. 1, Spring 2002
Formation of the
Conservation
Branch
Before the
1940’s, the need for conservation was seemingly ignored by the
provincial government and not factored into ministerial
planning. Dr. Richardson recognized the urgent need for change
and strongly promoted the need for the formation of a
Conservation Branch to then Minister Dana Porter, Planning and
Development.
"Richardson was well connected politically… He sold the idea
of Conservation in Planning and Development to Dana Porter."
Paul Masterson, Author
Herbert Richardson, (1992)
Richardson and
the small group of technical staff he gathered in the
Conservation Branch gave direction and leadership to many
advances in soil conservation, recreation development, wildlife
management, stream improvements, major dam installations for
flood control and outdoor education camps.
Richardson also
recognized the inherent value of bringing the Government VIPs to
the people in events, well-planned conservation tours and field
trips which also brought the people to the politicians (from
telephone interview with Cathy Richardson, January 23, 2004).
Asked to
transfer from the Department of Lands and Forests, Richardson
became the first Chief Conservation Engineer of the newly
formed Conservation Branch in Ontario – a title he would hold
for 17 years. He was the only person to be recognized with this
official title by the Ontario Government - which was retired
shortly after Dr. Richardson's retirement in 1961.
Conservation Authorities Act
In 1944, the newly formed
Conservation Branch was pioneering into new areas. Until a
Conservation Authorities Act was passed, the Conservation Branch
could not effectively carry out its role, especially at
local/municipal levels:
"It soon became obvious that the Conservation
Authorities Branch was pioneering in new fields. There were
no terms of reference, no guide lines to follow, and until a
conservation authorities act was produced to present to the
municipalities, the branch was really not in business."
A.H. Richardson,
Conservation by the People –
The History of the Conservation Movement
in Ontario to 1970 – (1974)
To be fully
effective, Richardson also recognized in this new approach to
conservation preservation and restoration of natural resources
within river valleys would have to include an entire river basin
(and all municipalities within it) .
When he became
head of the Conservation Branch in November, 1944, Richardson
immediately began drafting the Conservation Authorities Act:
"He (Richardson) immediately began work on drafting Bill 81,
which would ultimately constitute the Conservation
Authorities Act. This act was passing during the 1946
session of the provincial legislature. It embodied three
fundamental concepts: local initiative, cost sharing by the
province and member municipalities, and watershed
jurisdiction. All municipalities in a watershed were
required to be included in a corporate body known as a
conservation authority."
John C. Carter,
Ontario Conservation Authorities:
Their Heritage Resources and Museums,
Ontario History/Volume XCIV, No. 1, p. 11, Spring 2002
Establishment of Conservation Authorities in Ontario
One of the most
important recommendations in Richardson’s report entitled The
Ganaraska Watershed in 1944 highlighted the pressing need for
the formation of conservation authorities in Ontario.
The
conservation authority movement in Ontario resulting from this
work would become world renown:
"The conservation authority movement in Ontario is world
renowned,
and professionals and parliamentarians from other provinces,
the United States, the United Kingdom, and other parts of
the world have come to study it. Unique in Canada until
1970, the program has proved so effective that is now being
emulated in two other provinces – Manitoba and Quebec."
A.H. Richardson,
Conservation by the People: The History of the
Conservation Movement in Ontario to 1970, (1974)
With the
passing of the Conservation Authorities Act in 1946, the first
conservation authorities the same year (Ausable, Etobicoke and
Ganaraska). Within five years, there were fifteen conservation
authorities in Ontario.
The
Conservation Authorities were to perform two essential services:
control of water quantity-flood control and protection of
natural resources on an ecosystem basis. One power given to
conservation authorities under the Conservation Authorities Act
(CAA) was:
"For the purposes of carrying out a scheme an Authority
shall have power… to acquire lands with the approval of the
Minister, and to use lands acquired in connection with a
scheme…"
(CAA, R.S.O. 1950,
Ch.62).
The implied
power of this Act "in connection with a scheme"
allowed
the Conservation Authorities to acquire significant conservation
lands which today form Ganaraska Forest, Rouge National Urban
Park, etc. Even more significantly, large areas of
conservation land, including the Ganaraska and Rouge, form a
major part of Ontario's Greenbelt - the world's largest
greenbelt.
Richardson’s Lookout
"Richardson’s
Lookout" on Ganaraska Road 9 is dedicated to A.H. Richardson
with an observation platform built on top of an 850 feet drumlin
overlooking Ganaraska Forest and areas east.
The panoramic
hilltop view just west of Garden Hill exemplifies the
far-reaching vision of Dr. Richardson who was present on July 8,
1964 for the official dedication.
Conclusion
Following Dr.
Richardson’s retirement in 1961, the Toronto Telegram published
the following account:
"Mr.
Conservation Retires and Lea ves…
19,718 Square Miles of Parkland… Mr. Conservation is Arthur
Herbert Richardson who retired after 41 years’ service with
the Provincial Government… Monuments to his public service
are spread throughout the province in the form of parks,
playgrounds, swimming areas, flood control and reforestation
projects, pioneer villages, and land use demonstrations...
He is the man responsible for the province’s 31 conservation
authorities which he hand a hand in forming… (while) he
humbly maintained that he just helped implement a ‘people’s
movement’ in conservation."
Toronto Telegram -
February 14, 1962
Soon after his
retirement because of his in-depth first hand knowledge, Dr.
Richardson was asked to write a book about the history of the
conservation movement in Ontario. It would be his last important
work.
The manuscript
was completed just before his passing on December 27, 1971.
According to his daughter, Cathy Richardson:
"The
completion of the book seemed to be a signal that
he had finished what he wanted to do in this life."
Herbert Richardson
by Paul Masterson , 1992
Conservation by the People by A. H. Richardson was published in
1974 posthumously. In this book’s Introduction, Dr. G. Ross Lord
(Richardson’s successor as Chairman of the MTRCA) wrote:
"It
has been said that we are passing through the present
into the future so quickly that we tend to forget the
past… The work of conservation will never end. Perhaps
most conservationists are men of whom the prophet Joel
wrote ‘Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions."
A.H. Richardson,
Conservation by the People: The History
of the Conservation Movement in Ontario to 1970, (1974)
A. H.
Richardson had a vision and conservation became his life. His
strong convictions probably came as a result of "a deeply
religious, quiet and humble man who had almost become a
Minister". (Telephone interview with Cathy Richardson in
December, 2003).
According to his
daughter, Cathy, Dr. Richardson
embraced the City of Toronto, where he was born and where he
lived, yet "he always felt the need to get back into the
reality of nature." He often felt there were too few
parks accessible to families.
"A few years after my father passed away, I was
consulting a book he wrote called "Trees We Should Know"
(by A.H. Richardson and Alexander W. Galbraith, 1946).
At the front there was an inscription to me, but of
greater interest were the words written at the back of
the book. "Toward the end of the ultimate journey only
this is necessary: The memory of love." Although my
father was a "city boy", he loved nature and was never
happier than when he was out walking, canoeing,
gardening or just relaxing in the shade of a tree. It
truly rejuvenated him. I think he intuitively recognized
that unless we learned to live in harmony with nature
and to take care of our natural resources; the lakes,
rivers, and forests would not be available for the use
and enjoyment of future generations. He wanted to
preserve the nature he loved so much for those coming
after."
Cathy Richardson -
January 27, 2004
Sayings
of
SAMUEL WOODSTOCK*:
"My son, I admonish you to cherish the little
waters, for these
replenish the mighty rivers that nourish our thirsty land."
"River valley development is the wise use of all the natural
resources of a river valley for all the people… for all time."
"I am convinced that these swamps, bogs and marshes
were ordained in the beginning in the divine order of things
to be left as natural reservoirs, and much heart-searching
and thought should be exercised before
they are discarded for some other use."
"It is well for man to rest from his labours and partake of
the fruits of this bountiful land, let us give thanks,
for they are the gift of God. Amen."
"As I contemplate the teaming thousands who will come
to our fair province in the years that lie ahead,
and realize the paucity of open spaces for their
healthful recreation, I fear that we who call ourselves
conservationists today will be grouped with those
who condemned the great Socrates, whose names
are now forgotten but are remembered
for their dullness of apprehension."
"Conservation with its abundance of good things,
is rooted in the future."
*Samuel Woodstock (S.W.) was a fictitious character and alias
used by A. H. Richardson.
These thought provoking sayings were first published in
"Our
Valley" by MTRCA during the 1950’s, and later in A.H.
Richardson’s book "Conservation by the People: The History of
The Conservation Movement in Ontario to 1970" (1974)
Researcher: M. Martin
c.2014
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