Controlled burns have also been conducted in an effort to restore some of the old field areas to their original Oak savanna ecosystem, a rare grouping of Carolinian plants and animals. Cootes Paradise Marsh is connected to Hamilton Harbour via the Desjardins Canal, which was dug through the wetland between 1826 and 1837 to connect Dundas, Ontario, with shipping on the Great Lakes. It was later straightened by an excavation through the Burlington Heights in 1851 to accommodate the railway across the eastern end of the marsh.