Welcome to the Victoria Stewardship Council Home Page
The City of
Kawartha Lakes, formerly Victoria County, is a predominately rural, agricultural area with the centrally located Kawartha Lakes and northern portions of the City attracting many seasonal and retirement residents. The Town of Lindsay is the largest population centre, with the villages of Bobcaygeon, Bethany, Fenelon Falls, Woodville, Burnt River, Kinmount, Kirkfield, Omemee and Norland being major villages in the City. The Kawartha Lakes and the Trent-Severn Canal system are notable features of the landscape contributing to the flavour of everyday life.
Southern portions of the City consist of productive farmland, forested hills and the headwaters of cold water trout streams originating from the Oak Ridges Moraine. Excellent agricultural land, intermixed with many provincially significant wetlands, and the Kawartha Lakes system predominates in the central portion of the City. The central - northern portion of the City blends into cottage country and the southern edge of the shield, with some lakes accessible only by hiking, canoe or floatplane.
With agriculture and tourism being major industries, the local economy and quality of life depends greatly on healthy, sustainable land, water and forest resources. The City of Kawartha Lakes truly offers a wide variety of land stewardship challenges. The Victoria Land and Water Stewardship Council is a community based organization comprised of volunteer representatives from agricultural and forestry organizations, land interest groups, and representatives of resource agencies. The Council strives to achieve a spirit of collaboration amongst all who are interested in land stewardship, and initiates community based projects / programs to meet the needs of landowners and residents.
Contact Information:
Doug van Hemessen
Stewardship Coordinator
Victoria Stewardship Council
Ministry of Natural Resources
300 Water St.
Peterborough, ON K9J 8M5
Phone: Lindsay - 705.324.1478
Peterborough - 705-755-3362
Email: doug.vanhemessen@ontario.ca
Call for photos of crop damage
We need help gathering photos
The Victoria Stewardship Council, in partnership with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and with support from Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association, the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture and many other organizations and individuals is currently producing an Ontario Wildlife
Agriculture and Livestock Damage Manual, and we need photographs to illustrate the text.
An existing manual produced by the State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources can be found here:
Why are we producing a wildlife crop and livestock damage manual?
The manual is designed to: create a technical and practical tool for accurate assessment of wildlife
damage to crops and livestock; foster agreement between farm producers and agency reps, biologists
and others about the relative impacts of various wildlife species on agricultural families & operations;
facilitate agreement between producers, agency staff, non-farm public on effective actions to better
manage and prevent agriculture-wildlife damage; and to create an educational manual that increases
public awareness of wildlife damage to agricultural crops and livestock.
Some examples of photos needed:
• Crop damage (seedling to harvest) by small mammals, deer, turkey, goose, beaver
• Crop damage by birds, wire worm, corn borer, Japanese beetles
• Crop damage by water, flood, high winds, hail, storm, etc.
• Christmas, Apple tree damage by deer, groundhog
• Baled hay damage by vultures, crows, turkeys Lawn damage by skunk
• Livestock, market turkey predation
• Three or four-season shots of the same field (with damage in one or more seasons)
• Photos of scare tactics to keep birds and other wildlife away from crops
• Planter malfunction that makes crops look like they have been damaged by wildlife
• Excessive chemical application
• Crop residue, wheat, oats
• These are just suggestions- all photos welcome
Would you like more information?
Call Lezlie Goodwin at 705-748-6324 ext 270
or email lezlie_goodwin@ofah.org
Can you help? We will provide a photo credit for all images.
Please contact us, then take photos as the season progresses. This
project has a mid-October printing deadline.
CLICK HERE to find out how to get involved with an exciting stream restoration program entitled the "Community Stream Steward" initiative.