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Free turtle webinar on May 19.

Turtle webinar on Wednesday, May 19, 2021


The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre (OTCC) is presenting a free webinar, about turtles, hosted by Ausable Bayfield Conservation.

The webinar is Wednesday, May 19, 2021 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre.

The OTCC operates as a turtle hospital that treats, rehabilitates and releases injured Ontario turtles.

The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre also conducts conservation research and delivers education and outreach programs.

All eight species of Ontario's turtles are species at risk. This means they are in danger of disappearing if we don't make some changes. 

Find out what you can do to help these amazing animals.

Register now for the webinar: Learn more: (Photo by Brian Lasenby)
Take the survey - we want to learn from you.

75th anniversary survey for you


Ausable Bayfield Conservation invites public to enjoy 75th anniversary pop quiz


Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority creates history and knowledge questions, trivia and survey for public during ABCA 75th anniversary


Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) continues to create public information materials during the celebration of its 75th anniversary year in 2021.

The conservation authority created a new video, an introduction to 75 years of local watershed management (1946-2021), featuring Doug Cook, Chair of the ABCA Board of Directors. The video was released in April and it can be viewed on the 75th anniversary web page at abca.ca and on the Ausable Bayfield YouTube channel: Staff members have also created trivia questions and answers to test your knowledge of conservation in the watershed.

This pop quiz is to be shared on social media platforms in the coming weeks. Also, local people holding trivia activities can contact ABCA at 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610 for questions and answers they can incorporate into their contests.

Ausable Bayfield Conservation has also created a public survey. Staff say the 14-question survey is a chance to test your knowledge (and learn about) local watershed management and also to provide your input into local watershed programs and services. You are invited to take the survey at this link: 


Abbie Gutteridge is Chair of Ausable Bayfield Conservation’s 75th Anniversary Planning Committee. She said the survey is a chance for ABCA to learn from local residents and for local residents to learn about conservation. 

The trivia questions are a fun way to learn about some of the work that has taken place over the past 75 years, she said. 

“I hope the video, trivia and survey – along with other activities over the course of the year – will engage people in learning more about the work that is happening, in partnership with the community, to protect life and property, water and soil, and habitat for all living things,” she said.

The former Ausable River Conservation Authority was Ontario’s first conservation authority, created on July 30, 1946. The Bayfield River watershed and smaller streams were added in 1972.

To learn more about current and upcoming 75th anniversary activities visit abca.ca.

Take the survey now:
Thanks for your support of first Virtual Conservation Dinner.

Virtual Conservation Dinner online auction activities, including 50-50 draw, raise about $40,000 for community projects


The Conservation Dinner, of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation and Exeter Lions Club, was online in 2021 for the first time. 

The Virtual Conservation Dinner committee said online auction bidding, along with funds raised from the Exeter Lions Club’s 50-50 raffle draw and donations and restaurant dinner proceeds, is set to raise a combined total of approximately $40,000, in net proceeds, for projects in the community.

The Exeter Lions Club’s 50-50 Raffle Draw was also online this year. It had a record prize of $6,300.00 and the winner’s name was drawn on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22 at 7 p.m. The winner was Jeanette Parker (winning ticket number 99396823144).

Dave Frayne is Chair of the Conservation Dinner Committee. He thanked the community for their generous bids and donations, raffle draw ticket purchases, and support of restaurants taking part in the first Dine for Your Community program. He also thanked all the businesses and donors who donated funds or items to the auction.

The Conservation Dinner partners had to find new ways to raise funds this year instead of a large in-person event.

“I would like to congratulate everyone who made the first Virtual Conservation Dinner such a success,” the Chair said. “Your generosity will make it possible to continue important projects in your community.”

The online charity auction took place over a full week from April 15 until Earth Day (April 22). The organizers hosted, for the first time, two live cable TV broadcasts, one to launch the week and one to cap it off. The shows included appearances by local political representatives, Conservation Foundation and Lions Club members, trail users, a best-selling author and Conservation Dinner donor, and young people who have benefitted from projects of the Dinner.

The committee thanked FauxPop Media Inc. for preparing the livestream shows and thanked the cable TV providers (Hay Communications; HuronTel; and Tuckersmith Communications Co-operative TCC) for broadcasting the shows.

Videos of those TV shows are posted here: The Conservation Dinner, over more than 30 years, has raised more than $1.25 million for local community conservation projects such as parks, trails, conservation areas, job opportunities and bursaries for youth, conservation education, commemorative woods, turtle habitat enhancement and monitoring projects, recreation opportunities for the young and young at heart, and more.

To learn more visit abca.ca and conservationdinner.com.

Find out more:
This is the recording of the Earth Day (April 22) live Cable TV broadcast of the last day of the #VirtualConservationDinner.
This is the recording of the first #VirtualConservationDinner Cable TV livestream broadcast that launched the April 15-22 online auction in support of local community conservation projects of the Exeter Lions Club and Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation.
Help protect our local conservation areas.

Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) enlists public’s help in helping to protect conservation areas


Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) is enlisting the public’s help in “helping to protect the trails and ecosystems” in local conservation areas “for today’s and future generations.” 

The most extensive damage is at Parkhill Conservation Area on the outskirts of Parkhill. 

“Off-road vehicles have done a great deal of damage to trails and plants,” said Brian Horner, ABCA General Manager and Secretary-Treasurer.

ABCA staff have had to close some trails through wet areas and areas where endangered plants exist.

“When off-road vehicle riders enter conservation areas and trails they cause irreparable harm,” he said. “Their actions damage at-risk plant species and their actions also hurt local people because this behaviour ends up restricting the space that is available to the public for permitted uses.”

Off-road vehicles are strictly prohibited on all property owned by, or managed by, the conservation authority.

ABCA has contracted the Municipal Enforcement Unit (MEU) to enforce the laws applying to conservation areas and trails. MEU staff have been designated as Provincial Offences Officers.

The Trespass to Property Act (engage in a prohibited activity) and the Conservation Authorities Act are two of the provincial laws commonly applied to enforce the rules.

Off-road vehicles are defined in the Off-Road Vehicles Act (R.S.O. 1990, Chapter O.4) as “a vehicle propelled or driven otherwise than by muscular power or wind.” This includes dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-side vehicles (SSVs), and snowmobiles.

The conservation authority has sent letters to neighbours of the Parkhill Conservation Area to let them know about the off-road vehicle ban at ABCA properties and to ask for their help in protecting these areas of nature preservation and enjoyment. In the letter, ABCA invites everyone to “work together to help people enjoy this amazing piece of nature in your neighbourhood.”

The off-road vehicle ban applies to properties including Parkhill Conservation Area and the former rail bed between Centre Road and Springbank Road. For the purpose of permitted use access, the only approved entrance to the main conservation area in Parkhill is on Centre Road.

People can also use the Scenic Lookout located on Highway 81, or access Parkhill Reservoir on McGuffin Hills Drive for the purpose of non-motorized watercraft. Entry to the property from Springbank Road, or the former rail bed, is prohibited.

Conservation authority staff have posted signs and blocked off alternate entrances. The enforcement company has increased patrols in this area as well as the Ausable Gorge properties. 

If you see people riding off-road vehicles in an ABCA conservation area or trail, you can report these activities toll-free to 1-888-286-2610 (there is an answering machine after business hours) or you can email info@abca.ca. You can also call MEU at 1-855-900-9119.

Find out more: To learn more about rules for local conservation areas and trails visit the ABCA website at abca.ca including the permitted and prohibited uses page:

Location

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

Hours

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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Copyright © 2021 Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA), All rights reserved.


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