Turtle release event returns in 2022
Seventh annual turtle release event, on Thursday, September 1, 2022, educates about turtles and habitat they need to survive
Huron Stewardship Council (HSC), in partnership with Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA), is bringing back the turtle release event to return turtle hatchlings to the wild.
The public is invited to the Seventh Annual Turtle Hatchling Release on Thursday, September 1, 2022 from 1 to 5 p.m. It is at Morrison Dam Conservation Area, 71108 Morrison Line, east of Exeter, Ontario.
The event is free and takes place rain or shine. Organizers say donations to support Ontario turtle conservation are encouraged.
To register for the event and to select a time please visit the Eventbrite link here:
People attending will not be able to hold the turtles. This is to protect the animals and reduce their stress. Those attending will be able to see the turtles as they are released. Participants will also be able to visit a number of educational stations with fun learning activities.
Local conservation groups hosted the turtle release as an in-person event between 2016 and 2019. Thousands of people attended in its first four years. The popular education event reached record attendance of 1,500 people in 2019. Organizers transformed the event in 2020 and 2021 to a virtual Local Turtle Week (#LocalTurtleWeek) with photos, videos, social media posts, and at-home activities.
The event returns to an in-person event in 2022.
Marcus Maddalena is Biologist and Stewardship Coordinator with the County of Huron. He said the Turtle Release Event is a great way to educate about Ontario’s freshwater turtles and the ways we can protect these important species.
People can protect turtles, he said, by helping them across the road the way they are headed, driving more slowly, protecting nests from predators, enhancing turtle habitat through local tree planting and wetland restoration programs, and supporting community turtle monitoring programs.
Turtles help to control aquatic vegetation and to clean creeks and wetlands by eating algae and dead and decaying fish and other organisms.
“We need to preserve and enhance our wetlands and plant native trees and shrubs and protect and grow the natural areas that sustain turtle species,” said Hope Brock, Healthy Watersheds Technician with Ausable Bayfield Conservation.
Ontario’s native freshwater turtles face many threats including habitat loss and road mortality (death by cars and other vehicles). Hundreds of turtles in Ontario are hit by cars each year in the spring, summer, and autumn. These could be gravid (pregnant) females looking for a place to lay eggs, or males and females looking for new ponds and mates.
People can help turtles by creating nesting habitat on their properties, stopping to help turtles cross the road in the direction they are heading (when it is safe to do so), and working with their local municipalities and communities to erect turtle crossing signs and build safe passages.
People can also arrange for transport of injured turtles to the turtle hospital. People can also act to protect, create, and enhance the natural areas that provide the habitat for turtle hatchlings to eat, drink, reproduce, and grow and become the adult turtles of tomorrow.
To learn more visit:
If you have questions about the event, you are invited to contact Marcus Maddalena, County of Huron Biologist and Stewardship Coordinator, at mmaddalena@huroncounty.ca
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Enbridge Fueling Futures grant helps make it possible to plant 2,500 trees in Ausable Bayfield watersheds
Local landowners invited to contact Ausable Bayfield Conservation about grant incentives that may help cover or reduce costs of planting trees on your property
Enbridge Inc. has provided a grant, through its Fueling Futures program, to make it possible to plant 2,500 trees in Ausable Bayfield watershed communities.
Ian Jean is Forestry and Land Stewardship Specialist with Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA). He said the Enbridge Fueling Futures grant makes it possible to support local landowners who are planting trees to protect and improve forest conditions.
“I would like to thank Enbridge for making it possible to plant trees in a part of Ontario where more trees are needed,” he said. “I would like to invite landowners in our watershed to call me or email me to find out about how grants for tree planting may help them with their tree planting projects.”
Ausable Bayfield Conservation staff work with participating local landowners. They provide technical expertise and they also help to connect interested landowners with financial incentives that help them to plant trees. Thanks to the Enbridge grant, combined with other programs, landowners can apply for funding that may, in some cases, cover up to 100 per cent of the cash costs of a tree planting project.
To learn more about Fueling Futures visit:
Enbridge Fueling Futures supports a number of initiatives that include contributions to a sustainable future by helping to improve, grow and nurture the environment. This funding supports projects such as environmental education; habitat conservation and remediation; and supporting energy transition, among other programs.
Trees provide many benefits to humans and other living things, according to Ausable Bayfield Conservation's Forestry Specialist. Trees can help to protect and improve air quality and water quality. They capture and store carbon and they help to keep temperatures down by providing shade. Trees are green infrastructure and help to manage stormwater. Trees and forests also provide habitat for many species. They are good for ecosystem health and human health, Ian said.
If you would like to purchase trees, you can order trees through spring and fall tree order programs:
If you would like to find out about grants that may help to cover or reduce the costs of your tree planting project, you are invited to email Ian Jean at ijean@abca.ca or phone 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610, extension 238.
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Lucan’s Jada Burt monitors water quality and fish species, removes invasive plant species as 2022 Junior Conservationist
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation funds Junior Conservationist two-month summer job experience program for local young people
Column by Jada Burt, 2022 Junior Conservationist with Ausable Bayfield Conservation
I have had the privilege of being the Junior Conservationist, with Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA), for the year 2022.
The Junior Conservationist is a two-month summer job experience program.
When I first got this job I was hoping for some experience in environmental work. I wanted to get a feel for it and see if this is what I wanted to do. I had no clue what to expect but I was definitely not disappointed. As soon as I started the job I was never bored. For the past two months, I have been super busy.
My weeks usually started off by water monitoring along Lake Huron with Rosalind Chang, ABCA Healthy Watersheds Technician. Going to the beach may sound like a fun time but as soon as you hit one water sampling spot, with 105 steps, things can get kind of crazy.
After water sampling, my fieldwork varied. Some other fieldwork I did was helping study fish populations with Aquatic Biologist Kari Jean; Water Resources Coordinator Davin Heinbuck; and Assistant Water Resources Technician Christie Brown. That is the first time I was ever in fishing waders in a canoe.
I also went with Forestry and Land Stewardship Specialist Ian Jean to Hay Swamp to remove invasive species. The one thing I learned, while looking for the invasive species, is to get ready to be eaten by a lot of mosquitoes. This is especially true if you are with Ian because he attracts a lot of them but he never seems to get bitten!
I went with Wetlands Specialist Angela Van Niekerk and Healthy Watersheds Technician Hope Brock to a community in our watershed where residents are looking to have a rain garden at their home. Meeting with people in the watershed is very interesting. Before I got this job I never realized how much ABCA does for our community. (They do a lot).
One of my recent highlights is when I went to Huronview Demonstration Farm, with Aquatic Resource Technician Shevaun Verhoog and Watershed Data Specialist Elizabeth Balfour, to measure slopes in some of the fields. The interesting part of that day was we had to use rise over run. I never thought I would have to use the calculation of slope during fieldwork!
I also worked with Conservation Educators Denise Iszczuk and Nina Sampson. I enjoyed learning fascinating things about nature, along with the children, at Summer Nature Day Camps.
The funniest thing I did this summer, while working with ABCA, is when I was working with Water and Soils Resource Coordinator Ross Wilson. We were putting up water gauges along the Old Ausable Channel (OAC) near Grand Bend. The first time we put up the gauges we decided to put together the parts of the gauge in the water. While we were doing so I had to be still and a dragonfly landed on me. Then a bird flew by and dropped a worm on my shoulder. While this was happening I had to stay still because Ross was trying to affix the measurement part of the gauge to the post.
One thing you should know is I am not a bug person. Surprisingly I was calm throughout this time having those two creatures (a dragonfly and a worm) on me.
Working for ABCA this summer has definitely broken me out of my comfort zone so I can try new things today.
Overall, my favourite part of my day at work was spending time with my co-workers whether it was during fieldwork or administration work. They were always there to help. Every time I came into work, in the morning, there were always smiling faces there to welcome me.
When I first started as Junior Conservationist I could tell how close everyone is at ABCA. I was nervous I would be an outcast but my new co-workers invited me into the organization with open arms.
The Junior Conservationist program is possible thanks to Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation (ABCF) and all the people in the community who support the Foundation with their donations.
I would like to say thank you so much for this opportunity of being a Junior Conservationist. I have learned so much and cannot wait to apply this learning experience at the University of Guelph as I am going into Marine and Freshwater Biology.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation has been such a welcoming community and I cannot wait to come back and volunteer for anything that ABCA brings forward.
– Jada Burt is from Lucan and is a graduate of Medway High School in Arva. She is attending the University of Guelph to complete her BSc in Marine and Freshwater Biology.
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