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Bayfield area community unveils local watershed plan at fortieth Bannockburn Fall Hike
Annual fall hike attracted 120 people despite rain; Main Bayfield Watershed Plan aims to increase forest and streamside cover and wetlands to help reduce E. coli, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids in local streams, river, and lake:
 Some rain fell but that didn’t deter 120 people who took part in the 40th Bannockburn Fall Hike on Sunday, October 6. The event began with a short ceremony by a community advisory committee, from Bayfield and area, to unveil the new plan for the Main Bayfield Watershed.
The Main Bayfield Watershed includes the main stem of the Bayfield River, from Clinton to the mouth of the river in Bayfield, as well as Trick’s Creek. Community residents worked on an advisory committee for two years to create the management plan. The community plan, released on Sunday, sets a goal to improve local water quality and quantity, and to increase forest cover, wetlands and streamside cover. The advisory committee wants to reduce Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids in local streams, the river, and the lake. Recommendations in the plan include establishing buffers and rain gardens, creating wetlands or berms, maintaining crop residue, following nutrient management plans, and planting windbreaks and trees on marginal land.
For more information on the Main Bayfield Watershed Plan launch see: http://www.abca.on.ca/news_item.php?ItemID=415
For more information on the Main Bayfield watershed Plan see: http://www.abca.on.ca/page.php?page=bayfield-main
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Making Rock Glen green again
We are asking for public’s help to ‘reGreen’ Rock Glen Conservation Area with new trees to replace ones Emerald Ash Borer has destroyed
The Emerald Ash Borer has taken a serious toll on the Ash trees at Rock Glen Conservation Area near Arkona. While dead Ash, away from trails and picnic areas, have been left for wildlife habitat, more than 100 other dead and dying Ash trees needed to be removed to protect visitors.
The Ash trees in the picnic and playground areas provided much-appreciated shade and people visiting Rock Glen have noticed a difference. Ausable Bayfield Conservation is calling on the help of the public to help replace these lost trees with new trees that can stand up to the Emerald Ash Borer. In the past two years, some new trees were planted in anticipation of the loss but the local agency is hoping area people will be part of a new blitz to ‘ReGreen Rock Glen.’
“We would like to plant at least 50 new trees in 2014,” said Ian Jean, Forestry and Stewardship Specialist.
We hope to raise $2,000 to make the tree planting possible.
“Any help you can give us to help replace trees can improve your local land and water,” Jean said, adding the donors will receive a charitable gift receipt for income tax purposes.
People can donate by visiting the Ausable Bayfield Conservation website at abca.on.ca Interested persons are invited to donate $40 to support planting one two-metre-tall tree or $80 to support planting two trees. For more information on the ‘ReGreen Rock Glen’ campaign, phone 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610 or e-mail ijean@abca.on.ca.
For more information visit: http://www.abca.on.ca/news_item.php?ItemID=413
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Owl Prowl is November 2
Owl Prowl organizers add live owls, choice of three sessions for Saturday, November 2, 2013 event east of Exeter: Bluewater Centre for Raptor Rehabilitation to bring live owls to Ausable Bayfield Conservation event; People can choose from one of three sessions starting at 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m., or 8:30 p.m.
Organizers of the popular annual Owl Prowl event east of Exeter will offer the choice of three sessions in 2013. This is the first time people will have the chance to choose from one of three starting times. This is also the first year Bluewater Centre for Raptor Rehabilitation is taking part to bring live owls to the event.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation hosts an Owl Prowl each November. This year’s event takes place on Saturday, November 2, 2013 at Morrison Dam Conservation Area Workshop, on 71108 Morrison Line, two kilometres east of Exeter and just south of Highway 83. People may choose to attend one of the following three sessions: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m, or 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., or 8:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Families with younger children are encouraged to attend the earlier sessions.
“New this year, we are very excited to have live owls, presented by the Bluewater Centre for Raptor Rehabilitation,” said Julie Stellingwerff, Conservation Education Specialist. She suggests that people taking part should come early this year as space is limited. “The Owl Prowl event is very popular,” she said. “We expect people will really want to attend this year as live owls have been added to the program, so that’s why we will offer three sessions throughout the evening.”
The Owl Prowl is billed as a night of fun and learning about nature. Staff members present facts about owls. People who take part get to join in a moonlit, guided night-hike owl ‘hoot.’ Hundreds of people have learned about owls and how they adapt at night. Some people have seen and heard Eastern Screech Owls during this unique chance to learn about these special birds.
The Owl Prowl event is free but donations are always welcome to support conservation education. People taking part are asked to dress for the weather and to leave pets at home.
Learn more about the event online at abca.on.ca. Just type ‘Owl Prowl’ into the website search bar or visit this link: http://www.abca.on.ca/page.php?page=owl-prowl
Please contact Ausable Bayfield Conservation for more information by visiting abca.on.ca or calling 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610 or by e-mailing info@abca.on.ca.
For more information visit: http://www.abca.on.ca/news_item.php?ItemID=403
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Employment Opportunity - General Manager / Secretary-Treasurer
For consideration applications must be received by Thursday, October 31, 2013, no later than 12:00 noon local time
The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) is a very dynamic, collaborative and progressive organization which efficiently and effectively delivers services, programs and projects using a team approach. ABCA prides itself in working cooperatively with many levels of government agencies, non-government organizations, community groups and individuals to effect positive environmental changes. Internally the ABCA has a very positive and productive work environment.
The Chair and Board of Directors of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority are looking for a confident, experienced, progressive individual with a positive leadership style who can successfully lead the ABCA through many years of exciting and effective conservation activities. The General Manager must be committed to the concepts of continuous improvement for the staff and the organization, corporate excellence, and have a strategic visionary direction for the organization.
Further details are available at our website: www.abca.on.ca
For more information visit: http://www.abca.on.ca/news_item.php?ItemID=414
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Office closed October 14
Ausable Bayfield Conservation's public office, at the administration centre east of Exeter, will be closed on Monday, October 14 for Thanksgiving Day.
Service disruptions like these are posted on our website. Click on the 'Service Disruptions' icon on the home page or visit:
http://www.abca.on.ca/newsitems.php?type=disruptions |
New ghost expected at hike
Spirit Trail Super-Natural Hike on October 17 in Exeter may have visit from spirit of Canada’s first woman surgeon: Organizers say it’s rather uncanny how the spirits of Huron County’s pioneers seem to make an appearance each time they hold a hike.
The organizers of a spooky historical nature hike in Exeter say there have been recent sightings of a new pioneer ghost along the South Huron Trail.
The Friends of the South Huron Trail are holding their fourth Spirit Trail Super-Natural Hike on Thursday, October 17. These volunteers have noticed phantoms from Huron County’s past mysteriously make an appearance each time they hold their annual hike. The organizers say the spirit of Canada’s first woman doctor to perform surgery, Hensall native Jennie Robertson (née Smillie), has been making appearances leading up to the October 17 hike and may be seen again.
Dr. Jennie Smillie was born on a farm near Hensall and she worked first as a teacher before enrolling in Toronto’s Ontario Medical College for Women. When no Canadian hospitals would accept a woman intern she did her internship in Philadelphia before returning to Canada. She was 70 before she married Alex Robertson. She died at the age of 103 in 1981. (The community of Hensall and area is creating Dr. Jennie Smillie Park, including pathways, gazebo, monument, archway, and landscaping, to honour their native daughter).
Dr. Smillie is not the only spirit expected to make an appearance in Exeter on October 17. A new phantom has been spotted along the trail at night … and this new apparition likes to play music! These two new spirits are in addition to other ghosts who seem to visit the trail at this time of year.
The trail group will host the popular historical hike with a nature appreciation theme on Thursday, October 17, with guided hike at 6:30 p.m. The free moonlit hike starts at MacNaughton Park, Exeter and loops back, via Stirling Bridge, to MacNaughton Park. Hikers are asked to please meet at MacNaughton Park Pavilion. Children must be supervised.
The hike is a little spooky for the youngest children and all children must be supervised by an adult but, otherwise, The Spirit Trail is a great event for families, according to the event Chair. The walk can take an hour or more and walking and standing is required. Participants are encouraged to dress for the weather and bring flashlights.
The early-evening walk features a family-friendly hike where ancestors from local history deliver a conservation message. For information on the hike visit abca.on.ca
The rain date for the event is scheduled for Friday, October 18, 2013.
For more information visit: http://www.abca.on.ca/page.php?page=spirit-trail-hike
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Local businesses, homeowners helping to protect local water through new projects to better contain chemicals and home heating oil
Program offers grants for chemical and oil storage, septic, well and other projects near municipal wells in Ausable Bayfield and Maitland Valley areas
Local plans to protect drinking water sources aren’t in place yet but that isn’t stopping area business people and homeowners from taking positive action now to protect municipal wells from contamination. Business people near municipal wells are doing projects this year to improve their storage of chemicals in the Maitland Valley and Ausable Bayfield source protection areas. Homeowners are doing projects to improve their storage of home heating oil. This work is in addition to other projects by local people living near municipal wells. That other work includes projects to upgrade or properly decommission wells and septic systems, manure storage, and control of runoff and erosion.
This work is made possible with grants from the Province of Ontario through the Ontario Drinking Water Stewardship Program (ODWSP). The program has provided more than $900,000 directly to landowners in the Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Drinking Water Source Protection Region. That money has funded nearly 300 projects to protect drinking water sources. “Local people have been upgrading or decommissioning wells and septic systems, improving their storage of manure, and doing other projects to protect water since the drinking water stewardship program’s beginning in 2007,” said Kate Monk, Stewardship and Conservation Lands Supervisor at Ausable Bayfield Conservation. “We have been very pleased over the past year to see businesses and homeowners starting to do more projects to better store and contain chemicals and home heating oil.” These projects are already adding protection to your drinking water, she said.
Local landowners have completed more than $1 million in projects in this region, thanks to their support and the financial incentives provided through ODWSP. After promoting the program for seven years, staff members thought participation in the program might decline this year but people near municipal wells have shown a lot of interest this year in chemical storage and oil containment projects, Monk said.
Funding for projects is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. There is now only $111,000 left in funding through this program for new projects in the region. Those projects must be completed by December 1, 2013, according to Monk. “Eligible property owners in wellhead protection areas should contact Donna Clarkson at Maitland Valley Conservation Authority if they want to do a well, septic, oil storage, or chemical storage project before the end of November,” she said.
Grants are provided to landowners who undertake projects on their property to address activities that may pose a significant threat to a municipal source of drinking water. Property owners can find out if they are eligible by looking online at assessment report maps for their community online at sourcewaterinfo.on.ca or they can phone 519-335-3557 and ask for Donna.
Many local people get their drinking water from groundwater sources, through municipal wells that draw water from under the ground, from aquifers. Those communities have wellhead protection areas around their municipal wells. Communities with wellhead protection areas in the Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Source Protection Region include Atwood, Auburn, Belgrave, Benmiller, Blyth, Brucefield, Brussels, Clifford, Clinton, Dungannon, Gowanstown, Harriston, Listowel, Lucknow, Molesworth, Palmerston, Seaforth, Whitechurch, Wingham, and Zurich. Other wellhead protection areas include the Harbour Lights, Carriage Lane, Sam, and Vandewetering well supplies near Bayfield; the McClinchey and Kelly well supplies south of Goderich; Century Heights wells, near Saltford; and the Huron Sands well, north of Port Albert.
For more information on this funding, to help you protect your local water supply, visit sourceprotectionstewardship.on.ca and sourcewaterinfo.on.ca or phone 519-335-3557 or e-mail stewardship@sourcewaterinfo.on.ca
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Restoring 74 acres of land
Ontario provides funding to restore 30 hectares of land and provide spill prevention education to local residents: Ontario Community Environment Fund is helping Ausable Bayfield Conservation work with the public and to reduce risk of spills, restore about 74 acres of local land. Local people are getting some new tools to prevent spills and 30 hectares of local land will be restored thanks to funding announced by the Province of Ontario’s Community Environment Fund.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation has received $34,200 for its work with local residents to prevent spills and work to restore about 74 acres of natural areas. “The bulk of the funding will be used for on-the-ground projects such as tree planting and restoration of wetlands in the Ausable and Parkhill Creek watersheds,” said Ian Jean, Forestry and Stewardship Specialist with Ausable Bayfield Conservation.
There will also be a program available to local schools that will include in-class environmental education as well as outdoor education centered on tree planting. “We hope to involve the local Scout and Guide groups as well in planting trees and in the Yellow Fish Road program,” said Jean. The Yellow Fish Road program is a nationwide education program. The goal of Yellow Fish Road is to raise awareness that preventing pollutants from entering our storm drains is critical to protecting and improving our watersheds, water quality, and aquatic habitat.
For more information visit: http://www.abca.on.ca/news_item.php?ItemID=412 |
Grants for Ausable River area
Landowners near Ausable River invited to ask about grants for their projects to improve species habitat, local water quality: People along the Ausable River can help protect and improve water quality in their river, and protect habitat for local species, with the help of the Government of Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program.
If your postal code begins with ‘N0M,’ then you may be eligible for grants for your projects, through this program. (If you have a different postal code, you are invited to ask if there are funds through other programs).
Landowners can contact Ausable Bayfield Conservation to find out if there are grants to help them with their projects that protect water and build habitat. Residents can find out more by calling 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610. Details are posted on the website at abca.on.ca and the e-mail contact address is info(at)abca.on.ca ... click on 'contacts' at top of this page.
The federal government recently announced $75,000 per year in funding, for the next three years, to help enact the community’s Ausable River Recovery Strategy. This total of $225,000 in funding is through the Government of Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) for Species at Risk. These funds will help landowners and residents to protect and improve the health of the Ausable River with their projects that keep topsoil and nutrients on the land and out of creeks, streams, rivers, and Lake Huron.
“Landowners can help improve the health of the Ausable River through their actions,” said Kate Monk, Supervisor of Stewardship and Conservation Lands with Ausable Bayfield Conservation. Stewardship projects include planting of native plants, wetland restoration, buffers, and other projects that limit erosion and stabilize the banks of the river and streams.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation will also be holding some public events to provide information about native plants, vegetative buffers, and wetland restoration. Contact Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) if you are interested in attending.
Keeping bacteria and chemicals out of water helps improve the quality of water for the people who live in the Ausable River watershed. It also helps protect rare species that help keep the water healthy and clean and provide us with information about the quality of our local water resources. The Ausable River watershed is one of five top priority areas in Ontario for aquatic species at risk. The Ausable River is home to twenty species at risk, including two endangered fish and six mussels.
The Government of Canada established the Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk as part of Canada’s National Strategy for the Protection of Species at Risk. The Habitat Stewardship Program is administered by Environment Canada and managed co-operatively with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Parks Canada Agency. It provides funding to successful applicants who conserve and protect species at risk and their habitats and help those who preserve biodiversity. The goal of the HSP program is to contribute to the recovery and protection of species listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern, under the Species at Risk Act.
For more information visit: http://www.abca.on.ca/news_item.php?ItemID=401 |
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