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Happy Earth Day!
This Earth Day, take local action to address global challenges.
Learn more:
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Keith, Geoff and Mike Strang Conservationists of the Year
Ausable Bayfield Conservation announces Conservationist of the Year Award winners; Award is to be presented to Strang family later in 2021
Ausable Bayfield Conservation has announced the winners of the Conservationist of the Year Award. The winners, in 2021, are Keith, Geoff and Mike Strang of RR 3 Exeter.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) will present the award later this year.
Keith Strang, and his sons Geoff and Mike, are very interested in preserving the land which they farm. The Strangs use cover crops, crop rotation and vegetative cover to build soil health and prevent soil erosion. They have also established watercourse buffers and restored a wetland. This local farm family is innovative with conservation tillage, variable seeding, and fertilizing. These local agricultural producers are also generous with their time in speaking to their peers at events related to agriculture and soil health.
The fourth and fifth generation of the Strang family are farming near Exeter. Strang Farms works about 2,400 acres in the area. Their growth strategy is to employ “conservation farming practices with the latest crop sciences and advanced technologies.”
“We are proud to announce Keith, Geoff and Mike Strang as this year’s winners of the Conservationist of the Year Award,” said Doug Cook, Chair of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Board of Directors. “They are leaders in their industry and they put best management practices into action to the benefit of water and soil in this watershed.”
The award recipients are to receive a handcrafted award made by Bob Hutson, of Windbreak Farm (windbreakfarm.ca) Custom Woodworks near Fullarton, Ontario. The engraved dual-purpose board is a piece of art on one side and a serving tray on the other and is made from beech wood. In addition to the prize, Ausable Bayfield Conservation is donating towards a tree and plaque at a Commemorative Woods.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation has presented the Conservationist of the Year Award since 1984. Winners have included community organizations, companies, nature groups, rural landowners and residents, agricultural producers and farms, service clubs, and municipalities. Each winner is a business, organization, farm, or person residing in the watershed or having done conservation work there.
Learn more about the conservation awards here:
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Professor, PhD students shared research on ‘Canada’s Freshwater Ark,’ Old Ausable Channel in Grand Bend area
You are invited watch the video of an online webinar which took place on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 with Dr. Nick Mandrak on species-at-risk fish research in Grand Bend, Port Franks areas
People with an interest in the unique Old Ausable Channel (OAC), in the Grand Bend area, have a chance to learn more about ‘Canada’s freshwater ark.’
Dr. Nicholas Mandrak, of University of Toronto, and his PhD students, presented their Old Ausable Channel and Port Franks species-at-risk fish research.
The video is on the Ausable Bayfield Conservation YouTube video channel.
Nicholas Mandrak co-authored, along with Erling Holm and Mary Burridge, the “authoritative full-colour field guide to all species of freshwater fish found in Ontario,” called The ROM Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Ontario.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation hosted the April 13 webinar.
Dr. Mandrak has recently relocated to Grand Bend. The professor is very passionate about conservation research in the area.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) staff say the webinar on video is of interest to people who want to learn about local habitat as well as learning about ways to help contribute to the research that is happening.
Watch the video now:
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New video for 75th Anniversary of Ausable Bayfield Conservation
Join Doug Cook, Chair of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) Board of Directors, as he introduces our year of 75th anniversary (1946-2021) activities and looks back on past successes of community partnerships and looks forward to the next 25 years, when we will be able to celebrate 100 years of conservation in Ausable Bayfield watersheds.
#EarthDay, April 22, 2021, was the world première of the video.
Watch the video now:
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Today (Earth Day) is final day of Virtual Conservation Dinner online auction
Watch this television commercial about this evening's (April 22) livestream cable TV broadcast about the Conservation Dinner:
The 50-50 Raffle Draw prize has surpassed $5,700 – the largest prize ever – but 7 p.m. this evening (April 22) is the draw so get your ticket now in order to have a chance at the prize.
Purchase your 50-50 raffle draw ticket safely, online here:
The online auction ends at 9 p.m. this evening (Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, 2021) so be sure to bid on the wonderful items, or donate, now at this link:
Also, be sure to watch the last of two one-hour livestream Cable TV broadcasts, at 7 p.m. today (April 22). Watch the show at this link:
We hope, through the means of technology, that you will enjoy some small measure of the fellowship of past years during the show.
Thanks as well to all the restaurants who have supported the new Dining for Your Community program this past week, ending today.
Thanks for your support of the Conservation Dinner, online this year, of the Exeter Lions Club and Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation, in support of local community conservation projects.
Helps us reach our fundraising goal. The need is the same even if we have had to adapt how we raise funds.
Visit conservationdinner.com and abca.ca to find out more.
Happy Earth Day and thanks again.
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The office is currently closed to visitors until further notice, in response to the current pandemic, but staff continue to deliver programs and services and are available to serve you by email and phone and Zoom video conference. Programs and services, including essential services and flood forecasting and warning, continue. For updates and current notices of service disruptions and adaptations visit abca.ca
71108 Morrison Line,
RR 3 Exeter, ON
N0M 1S5
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Staff continue to serve you by email and phone during regular business hours, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but the office continues to be closed to visitors until further notice at the time of this newsletter. Staff are equipped to work remotely. For current notices of service disruptions and adaptations, and updates, visit abca.ca
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