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Save the Date ...
Conservation Dinner 2024 Chair Chris Keller encourages you to save the date for 34th Conservation Dinner on Thursday, April 11, 2024
The Conservation Dinner Committee Chair for 2024 is Chris Keller of the Exeter Lions Club. The Chair of this gala community auction fundraiser encourages people to ‘save the date’ for this popular community event on Thursday, April 11, 2024.
“It is an honour to be a Chair of this committee and to be part of an event that has done so much for the local community over 33 years,” he said. “I encourage everyone in the area to mark their calendars for April 11, 2024 and to save the date.”
The Conservation Dinner auction event has raised more than $1.335 million for the community over 33 years. The Exeter Lions Club has been co-partner, with Ausable Bayfield Conservation Foundation and the watershed community, on the Dinner, since 1991. Net profits are split 50-50 between community conservation projects of the Conservation Foundation and community conservation projects of the Exeter Lions Club.
Find out more:
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Notice advises public to use caution near shoreline bluff areas
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) and Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) are cautioning that shoreline bluffs continue to be at a high risk of collapse. They advise the public to continue to be cautious near these shoreline areas.
Erosion hazards are always present along shoreline bluffs but the conservation authorities want to remind the public the current risk of collapse remains higher than normal. This is because there can be a delay between erosion at the toe (bottom) of the bluff and subsequent bluff failure.
Lake Huron water levels reached an all-time high in 1986 and lake levels were near that record high in 2020. Those high lake levels and associated wave action resulted in extensive toe erosion. Although the Lake Huron water level has declined since then, many portions of the bluffs were left over-steepened and may still be unstable as a result.
Learn more:
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Thank you for your time and thoughtful comments for Conservation Lands Strategy
Ausable Bayfield Conservation would like to thank the more than 200 people who took the time to provide their input into a new Conservation Lands Strategy.
We will look closely at your comments and consider them carefully. Thanks to your time and thoughtful feedback, this forward-looking document, when completed, will be a better plan because of your contribution. Watch for more details in the coming weeks.
Learn more:
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Job opportunity for Water and Planning Supervisor
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) is seeking a Water and Planning Supervisor.
This is an excellent career opportunity to learn and use a wide range of skills in a conservation authority that is active and dynamic.
Please download the PDF file for complete details.
Please provide your résumé and cover letter (via post-mail, e-mail or fax) clearly marked
Water and Planning Supervisor by Monday, December 18, 2023 by 4:30 p.m. local time.
Find out more or apply now:
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Spring Tree Order Form for 2024 is available now
The 2024 Spring Tree Program order form is now available. Here it is online:
 Trees can be bulk-ordered for windbreaks, watercourse buffers and reforestation.
Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) offers planting services for larger projects. Cost-share funding is available for eligible projects.
The Spring 2024 Tree Program form is available on the Ausable Bayfield Conservation website at abca.ca on the tree order form web page.
You may also contact us, for more information, by email at info@abca.ca or by phone at 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610.
We would like to thank everyone who planted trees in 2023 and we look forward to planting trees with you in 2024.
If you don't have property on which to plant trees, you can still help to improve local forest conditions by supporting tree planting through your donation to Carbon Footprints to Forests. |
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HURON TRACT LAND TRUST CONSERVANCY NEWS:
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Trail Association, Land Trust working with community to create new pedestrian walkway at Bayfield River Flats Natural Area
Imagine if people could walk from the village of Bayfield to the Bayfield River Flats Natural Area without having to drive and without having to cross a busy highway. That's the dream of a group of people in Bayfield and area. They want to create a new pedestrian walkway. They need your help to do it.
Watch the video now:
The Bayfield River Valley Trail Association is leading the fundraising campaign on behalf of Huron Tract Land Trust Conservancy. The Land Trust owns and permanently protects this important property for habitat and nature enjoyment and the volunteers from the Trail Association maintain this jewel of nature.
Donate now or find out more:
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Public invited to Connecting the Village to Nature evening at Bayfield Town Hall on Wednesday, December 13, 2023
The Bayfield River Valley Trail Association and the Huron Tract Land Trust Conservancy invite you to a fun celebration evening to learn about the project to build a new pedestrian walkway at the Bayfield River Flats Natural Area.
The Walkway to the Finish Line event is described as a casual evening with a chance to mingle and socialize and support a needed project in the community. 1851 Bayfield Landing is providing a cash bar at the wine-and-cheese event. There is also a silent auction table. The Land Trust says “all are welcome for a fun evening, right before the holidays, to learn more about the Walkway To Nature Project.”
Read more:
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B. M. Ross and Associates Limited donates $5,000 and services to new pedestrian walkway
An engineering firm in Goderich is helping the Bayfield and area community to move closer to the dream of a pedestrian walkway to the Bayfield River Flats Natural Area.
B. M. Ross and Associates Limited is donating $5,000 to the walkway fundraising campaign. The firm is also helping the walkway project partners with preparation of a quotation package for contractors and will help with periodic inspections while the walkway is being constructed.
The Bayfield River Valley Trail Association (BRVTA) is leading a fundraising campaign on behalf of the Huron Tract Land Trust Conservancy (HTLTC). The Land Trust owns and permanently preserves the Bayfield River Flats Natural Area. The Bayfield River Flats is an important area for recreation and for species habitat.
The project partners hope to raise $52,000, this year, to complete the walkway.
The completion of the walkway will mean people can walk from Bayfield, to the River Flats Natural Area, without having to drive and without having to cross a busy highway.
Learn more:
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Bayfield River Flats walkway fundraising team announces Home & Company Real Estate to sponsor planned evening in support of walkway
“We are delighted to announce that Home & Company Real Estate has agreed to sponsor the Bayfield River Flats evening, in support of the pedestrian walkway project, on Wednesday, December 13, 2023 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Bayfield Town Hall,” said Roger Lewington, Past Chair of the Huron Tract Land Trust Conservancy..
“I would like to thank Brad Douglas and Tong Zhou, from Home and Company, on behalf of the Huron Tract Land Trust Conservancy and Bayfield River Valley Trail Association.”
Learn more:
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Bayfield resident creates handcrafted, upcycled tote bags for recognition of walkway donors
Helen Varekamp is a Bayfield resident and community volunteer. She was part of the community fundraising team, of the Bayfield River Valley Trail Association, that helped to mobilize community support in order to purchase the 4.75-acre River Flats property which is now preserved permanently by the land trust.
Helen has created 65 original hand-crafted tote bags which she is donating to the fundraising campaign for a new pedestrian walkway at Bayfield River Flats. The tote bags are made from up-cycled fabrics and every tote bag is unique.
“I am delighted to donate these tote bags to this project, as the Bayfield River Flats Natural Area is one of the most precious gems right in the middle of our village,” she said. “The walkway will make it easier for many of our residents to connect with Mother Nature on a daily basis.”
Donors who donate $500 or more to the walkway campaign are eligible to receive one of the tote bags while quantities last. Learn more:
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AUSABLE BAYFIELD MAITLAND VALLEY SOURCE PROTECTION REGION NEWS:
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New video shares why it's so important for public, businesses to protect drinking water sources
Philip Keightley, M.Sc., P. Eng., is commercial representative on the Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Drinking Water Source Protection Committee.
In a new video, Philip speaks about the history of source water protection and the worth of water. He also talks about why it's so important, at work and at home, to protect drinking water sources, whether those sources are from wells (groundwater, underneath our feet, drawn from aquifers) or from surface water (such as a lake intake).
Watch the video now:
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Newest video in drinking water source protection series underlines The Worth of Water to businesses, public
What would the public, or a business, do if they didn’t have a clean, safe supply of drinking water? That’s a question posed in a new video called The Worth of Water.
The video features Philip Keightley, M.Sc., P. Eng., of Bayfield. He is the Commerce representative on the Ausable Bayfield Maitland Valley Drinking Water Source Protection Committee (SPC).
The committee member wants local business owners and local residents to think about how important clean, safe drinking water is to public health and to the economy. He also gives local business owners some ideas on how they can help to protect local water sources.
“We need clean, safe water every day, in our homes and in our businesses,” he said. “We are fortunate we have a clean, safe, abundant water supply provided by our municipalities … but it’s not something we can take for granted.”
In the video, he quotes Benjamin Franklin that, “When the well runs dry, we know the worth of water.”
The worth of “reliable, clean water is not just a number on your municipal water bill … the real value of water is way beyond the numbers,” he said in the video. “It’s essential to your business and to your family, so be vigilant to ensure contaminants such as waste oil, fuels, and chemicals don’t enter our water supply.”
You may watch The Worth of Water video on the local source protection region’s videos web page or on the Ausable Bayfield YouTube channel. The new video is the twelfth video in a series, of water videos, that began in 2020.
These videos have received more than 30,000 views on Facebook and YouTube. Every single current member of the source protection committee has appeared in one of these public education videos.
Read the full article here:
To learn more, visit the Best Practices web page on the local source protection region's sourcewaterinfo.on.ca website.
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Thanks for all your stewardship in 2023 and we look forward to working with you in 2024.
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