UPCOMING COUNCIL EVENT:

The First Annual Family Fishing Panfish Derby

Saturday, February 13
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Desert Lake Resort

No fishing license required!

Fishing, skating, fire pit, BBQ, hot beverages, and more.

FREE

Click here for more information

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

With a new year before us we also have many other new prospects.

We have a new Coordinator, Cam McCauley, who brings valuable experience in the Ministry of Natural Resources and, most recently, in-depth experience with fisheries. This knowledge is particularly suitable to the Frontenac Stewardship Council which is responsible for over 450 named lakes in this County. Increasingly the Council and the Coordinator are providing support to lake associations in several aspects of lake management planning.

The Stewardship Council has also gained the support of a newly established Frontenac Stewardship Foundation under the leadership of Dr. James Day with executive support from Dr. Gray Merriam, former FSC Coordinator Bret Colman and Gordon Rodgers, a lake management consultant. The Foundation is able to issue charitable receipts for donations that will support the work of the Stewardship Council.

The FSC has taken the lead in producing a booklet, The Naturally Rich Frontenacs, which will relate the natural riches and the human riches of Frontenac County as a background to future production of a County Stewardship Plan. The County of Frontenac has provided a share of monetary support for this venture. The Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation has awarded a full-time, twelve month Internship to help assemble material for the booklet and to create and illustrate an attractive design. Meghan Balogh, who grew up on the Shield north of Sharbot Lake, is applying her considerable talents to this work.

The Council's acclaimed series of public talks, on subjects such as living with coyotes and workshops on topics such loons attract large audiences and will be continued this year, again in cooperation with the Stewardship Councils of Lennox and Addington and of Hastings Counties.

Dr. Gray Merriam, Chair

A MESSAGE FROM THE FRONTENAC STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL COORDINATOR

Thank you for visiting our website. The fact that you are visiting our site tells me that you too have a vested interest in Frontenac County. The Frontenac Stewardship Council has been in existence for 12 plus years and our geographic area of interest encompasses Frontenac County, including Wolfe & Howe Islands. For more than 12 years the Council has seen many dedicated volunteers pitch in to maintain and enhance all that makes Frontenac County a unique place to live, play and work.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all that have volunteered their efforts. I have had the good fortune to work, live and play in many corners of this great Province but, by far, this part of Ontario has offered me the most diverse outdoor opportunities. I look forward to working with past, current and new partners across this beautiful landscape.

The Frontenac Stewardship Council is run by volunteers that currently reside in communities across Frontenac County including Wolfe and Howe Islands. I am inspired by the enthusiasm, commitment and knowledge that each of the eleven Council members possess.

The Council meets for a couple hours each month to discuss and decide how best to get the communities, groups and individuals from Frontenac County involved with stewardship initiatives for the area. Stewardship to them is all-encompassing to include: hosting environment-related awareness events (i.e. loon workshop, forest products workshop); supporting lake & watershed planning (i.e. Fourteen Island Lake, Salmon River Watershed); fish & wildlife habitat enhancement (i.e. walleye spawning shoals, tree planting, bald eagle platforms); wetland enhancement (i.e. Bayfield Bay marsh) and; much more. However, none of these initiatives are possible without the help of folks such as you.

I encourage you check back often as we will endeavour to update our website with new interesting events, projects and communication products.

Some exciting initiatives the Council is working on for 2010 include:

· A series of public speaking presentations by renowned experts about songbirds, black bears, elk, walleye, lake trout, sunfish, etc

· The development of a booklet, The Naturally Rich Frontenacs

· The enhancement of the Highgate Creek near Collins Bay

· The development of a grade 8 curriculum regarding water resources

· Species At Risk assessments

· Family fishing derbies (winter and summer)

· The development of online links to fisheries awareness publications such as a fish stocking brochure and lake history summaries

· A fisheries assessment/habitat enhancement workshop for lake association representatives

· Fisheries assessment projects

· Salmon River Watershed information signage

· …and much more.

The Frontenac Stewardship Foundation has been a couple years in the making and the Council is excited about unveiling and establishing this new entity in 2010. The Foundation's charitable status will now provide access to new additional funding opportunities with which to accomplish much more in and for Frontenac County.

For more information or to become involved or to seek support for your initiative, or to inquire about making charitable donations to the Foundation, please contact either me or any of the Council members that you may recognize from your community.

Yours in stewardship,

Cam McCauley, Coordinator

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 our coordinator:

Ontario Stewardship Program:

Click here to access the Ontario Stewardship Program main page.

http://www.ontariostewardship.org/ontarioStewardship/home/osIndex.asp

Ministry of Natural Resources Website:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/