Partners
Message from the Chair
Our experienced Coordinator, Bret Colman took leave of absence this year but fortunately, stayed on as a member of Council which buffered the loss.
Building on previous work, we extended the rehabilitation of freshwater marshes on Wolfe Island with extended support from the Canada-Ontario agreement. This work is required largely because of the invasive nature of cattail, mainly Typha latifolia but with early invasion by T. angustifolia. Although now considered to be native species, the cattails act like extremely invasive exotics. They can reduce the diversity of emergent marsh plants drastically because they produce an uninterrupted mat. This also closes waterways, blocking access to many birds, fish and reptiles. The work on Wolf Island has already relieved this blockage of access and will be monitored for continuation of these benefits.
As in the past, we have put importance on education as a major building block in stewardship. In partnership with the Friends of the Salmon River, we are developing two months of lessons on "water" for the grade 8 curriculum. A councilor who is a retired professional teacher has gained support from other practicing teachers and the school board in this project. The aim is to provide teachers with all the resources and support materials for every lesson. Practicing teachers will critique finished lessons.
Also, as part of our education outreach, we will partner in presenting more public talks by professionals to provide solid information on topics of interest in local stewardship such as black rat snakes, snapping turtles and coyotes.
Our support for stewardship of our lakes continues and will be extended. With over 459 named lakes and about 1000 in total, land stewardship in Frontenac County is, by definition, lake and lake sub watershed stewardship. Our provision of Lake Steward information kits and our support for lake association lake planning and shoreline protection projects will continue to be among our major activities.
Gray Merriam
Message from the Coordinator
The 2008/2009 year was another great year for your Frontenac Stewardship Council. This year was also a year full of change for the Frontenac Stewardship Council. As you may know the Stewardship Coordinator for Frontenac County for the last 4 years has been Bret Colman, a truly great and innovative individual. Bret has been on a one year leave of absence which he has decided to make permanent to pursue other opportunities. Bret has not left the Council completely however, and I would like to be the first to formally welcome him to the council as a volunteer member.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, your new Frontenac County Stewardship Coordinator. I started working with this great group of individuals as an intern in August 2007, and became Coordinator in April of 2008 .
We were fortunate again this past year to receive support from our friends at Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation to receive another Stewardship Intern. This Intern was hired in partnership with another organization that the Council works closely with, The Friends of the Salmon River. The intern's time was used to assist FSC and FSR as well as many other environmental organizations within Frontenac County to conduct projects, conduct public talks, help with advertising and publish brochures and other literature.
It has been a year full of educational activities and on the ground restoration projects. This past year our tree planting program involved students from local schools and helped us to restore riparian areas on Wolfe Island.
I would like thank those on the council and our partners for helping me through this first year as the Coordinator with the Frontenac Stewardship Council. I look forward to the new year of 2009/2010 and all of the possibilities it brings for your Frontenac Community Stewardship Council.
Chris Raffael
Got a Project Idea?
Frontenac Stewardship Council Application Form
The Frontenac Stewardship Council regularly receives applications from community groups seeking financial and in-kind support for habitat and educational projects. Our deadlines for applications are April 1st, August 1st, and December 1st. If you have a project, please feel free to contact Chris Raffael at 613-531-5714 or email at:
Ontario Stewardship Program:
Click here to access the Ontario Stewardship Program main page.
http://www.ontariostewardship.org/ontarioStewardship/home/osIndex.asp
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