Welcome to the
Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council (MASC)
Home-Page
Please Click Here to access the Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council's 2011/12 WORKPLAN.
Please Click Here to access the Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council's 2010/11 Annual Report.
2011 TREE Planting Program:
The MASC has acquired 11,000 native trees and shrubs that shall be planted on Manitoulin Island and surrounding North Shore area in partnership with area landowners, communities and organizations.
Planting trees is good for the environment and for us all. Tree planting provides a wonderful and direct connection between the land and the numerous benefits it provides. Some of the varied benefits of planting trees include:
- fix carbon and produce clean air
- stabilize soil to reduce or prevent erosion
- absorb storm water to reduce flooding
- allow soil to slowly release stored ground-water during droughts
- filter water run-off to improve pond, stream and lake water quality
- provide important food sources for all kinds of wildlife incl. deer, rabbits numerous species of birds, etc...
- provide important shelter for nesting birds, small and large mammals,
- reduce energy costs of shelters such as homes and barns, ex. shade buildings and livestock in summer, or use of windbreaks to reduce heat loss and heating costs for buildingsduring fall and winter
- compensate for harvesting efforts
- further enhance attractiveness of natural landscapes and communities
Please click here if you would like to learn how to select the right tree(s) to meet your needs by first understanding different tree types and their respective attributes and values.
Please click here if you would like to learn about the best techniques for and caring for young trees.
Please contact the MASC for more information on tree planting and tree care.
TIP: Additional information describing tree planting, woodlot management and harvesting, along with a wide array of other resource management topics for landowners, are available by visiting the Landowner Resources Centre at:
Thank you for your interest in the Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council. We are a very enthusiastic group made up of a wide variety of outdoor, agricultural, forestry, First Nation and municipal interest groups.
Our goal is to use best practices (ex. environmental and economic tools and techniques) to improve our land and waterways for recreational and commercial uses. Despite such a diverse group, our cooperation, consensus and support lead to outstanding results when we keep our common goal in mind.
Mark Laberge,
Chair (photo to right)
Please click here to access the MASC's 2009/10 Annual Report.
During the summer of 2008, the Hon. Donna Cansfield, then Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), spent a day touring MASC project sites and meeting with community partners. The Minister is pictured above with the Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council's Ontario Stewardship Ranger (OSR) Crew at the Norton Creek rehabilitation site. The OSR crew is made possible through the generous support of MNR's Youth Programs. Each summer OSR Crews work on a variety of stewardship projects, but spend the majority of their time supporting water quality and fish habitat improvement projects with Manitoulin Sterams, one of the MASC's most active project partners.
Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council (MASC) Mission Statement:
'To educate, influence, promote and support community-based stewardship of natural resources in the Manitoulin Area and to provide community- based guidance for the good management, restoration, enhancement and utilization of healthy, sustainable, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.'
MASC Geographic Area of Interest:
The Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council's (MASC) area of interest and activities encompass Manitoulin Island, the waters and islands of Lake Huron and the North Channel (of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron) that surround it. The MASC also promtoes, supports and undertakes stewardship activities along the north shore of the North Channel in a band, running along the highway 17 corridor, extending from the town of Spanish River through to the community of Nairn.
(photo below: The view below, taken by Bob Florean, looks south over the Skippen Family Farm and the Bidwell Road to the northern end of Green Bay on Lake Manitou. This photo depicts the typical rural-agricultural landscape found across much of Manitoulin Island. Please refer to 'Who We Are' and 'Resources' Tabs in top left corner of home-page for links to additional photos depicting other landscapes and features found on Manitoulin Island, the surrounding North Shore, area lakes, etc...)
Council Goals:
- Provide a forum for discussion and investigation of issues relating to private land stewardship;
- Facilitate and promote resource stewardship awareness and education;
- Support the work of groups and organizations dedicated to land and resource stewardship;
- Encourage economic development consistent with wise stewardship. Remain a dynamic forum with evolving goals;
- Provide a community forum for information exchange on land resource issues;
- Develop community awareness of the value of natural resources;
- Create community ownership for the ideals of healthy aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems;
- Develop capacity within the community related to the maintenance of natural resource management initiative that ca be accomplished through the promotion and sponsorship of school education programs, public workshops and forums;
- Provide a forum for education on natural resource topics, with respect for landowner rights;
- Develop community awareness of the benefit of water bodies and streams to other components of the great ecosystem;
- Involve the community in projects that will improve and enhance the environment and the quality of life in the area of the undertaking;
- Working in concert with the all the affected parties where/when necessary to promote and protect the areas natural resources values;
- Support the sustainability of private land resources;
- Instill a stewardship ethic within the greater community;
- Protect, improve, enhance, create, promote and maintain high quality water resources, vital to all facets of life;
- Respond to issues related to natural resources;
- Demonstration proper ecosystem management, and provide additional resource based opportunities (e.g. habitat enhancement and rehabilitation that improves enhanced sport fishing and wildlife experiences, improved water quality, etc.);
- Access available resources that can support projects;
- Promote resource sustainability and a healthy environment for present and future generations;
- Promote and initiate programs through partnerships;
- Balance social and economic values with the natural resource based economy of the Manitoulin Area;
- Provide direct and indirect benefits to the socio-economic fabric of communities within the area of the undertaking; and,
- Facilitate the carrying out of socio-economic studies to value the natural resources of this area.
Photo below: MASC partners with the United Fish and Game Clubs of Manitoulin and Gore Bay Field and Game Club (Ont. Fed. of Anglers & Hunters Club affiliates) collaborate on artificial fish habitat (reef creation) in the North channel using trees cut from road 'right of ways')
For Additional Information or Assistance, please contact:
Bob Florean, Stewardship Coordinator (left in photo)
Manitoulin Area Stewardship Council (MASC)
email: bob.florean@ontario.ca
Office: (705) 869-5326
Cell: (705) 869-8502
Fax: (705) 869-8502
Address: 148 Fleming St., Espanola, ON. P5E 1R8
(inset photo: Ontario Stewardship Ranger (OSR) Teams representing the MASC and the Manitoulin-Anishinabek First Nation conduct numerous stewardship projects each summer. The OSR Teams are made possible through the generous support of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, community partners and landowners. The OSR Teams conduct research, restore fish and wildlife habitat, deliver education programs towards the improved ecological sustainability of area resources and related economic and social benefits.)