Welcome to York Environmental Stewardship

"Say YES to Stewardship"

York Environmental Stewardship (YES) is one of 46 Ontario Stewardship Councils and is made up of environmentally minded individuals who volunteer their time, interest, efforts, and skills to advance the responsible care of land and natural resources within the Region. Council members are dedicated to the wise use of forest, soil and aquatic resources and may represent private landowners, conservation/resource agencies and associations, environmentalists and naturalists. Local programs and needs are developed by council members with input from other organizations, agencies and local citizens. YES priorities include information and educational opportunities for landowners, environmental projects with partner organizations, and programs involving youth. The Ministry of Natural Resources provides a staff coordinator to ensure effective operation and continuity in the program.

CLICK HERE for WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE DO

YES Contact Information:

Brian Peterkin

Stewardship Coordinator

York Environmental Stewardship

50 Bloomington Road

Aurora, ON L4G 0L8 (new postal code as of July 2009)

Phone: (905) 713-7732

Fax: (905) 713-7361

Email: brian.peterkin@ontario.ca

Upcoming YES Workshops & Events

ROUGE PARK HIKES

If you love to hike, check out the guided nature hikes in the Rouge Park at www.rougepark.com

Get Involved

Does your business/organization want to help the environment in your own community by funding great summer jobs for 17 year old kids? CLICK HERE for our presentation (presentation may take a minute to open). The Ontario Stewardship Rangers Summer Job Program needs funding support from GTA partners to continue to provide great summer jobs for 17 year old youth interested in working outdoors on conservation projects. You can directly benefit by getting work done on your property or indirectly by supporting your community. Contact brian.peterkin@ontario.ca

Photo: Ontario Stewardship Rangers doing in-stream restoration work

Does your class or club want to plant some trees?CLICK HERE if your school class wants to plant trees this coming spring or fall. York Region's Adopt-a-Stream Crossing Program gives high school students a chance to get out and plant native trees and shrubs at degraded roadside crossings. Contact information is on the brochure. CLICK HERE to see a history of program successes from 2001-2009.

Photo: Students plant one of the many York Region Road Stream Crossings

Is your volunteer group looking for some FREE trees to plant? CLICK HERE to access YES VolunTrees program (may take a minute to open).

Interested in Helping Keep Bogart Creek Healthy?

The Bogart Creek Restoration Project was initiated by members of the community to improve the water quality of Bogart Creek from its source to the Holland River. YES was a founding member of the Bogart Creek Restoration Committee in 2004. Restoration work has been undertaken along sections of stream within the Town of Newmarket and a multitude of partners are now involved.

The Committee is looking for volunteers for committee work and planting. To get involved or to be added to the volunteer distribution list contact: bogart.creek@rogers.com

2010 Activities:

May 2 - Newmarket Earth Day

May 8 - Bogart Creek Spring Planting

September 18 - TD Great Canadian Clean up

October 17 - Bogart Creek Fall Planting

If you want more information about the work of the Bogart Creek Restoration Committee go to: http://www.lsrca.on.ca/programs/bogart/bogart.php

Photo: Bogart Creek Restoration Committee members celebrate annual spring planting in Newmarket

YES is a partner in the Maskinonge River Recovery Project

CLICK HERE to view the Maskinonge Remedial Strategy. Contact a.pelan@lsrca.on.ca if you want to help in the recovery of this watershed.

Photo: YES member Lorrie Mackness and Stewardship Rangers after hauling tires from the Maskinonge River

YES General Info

York Region

Known as the "Rising Star" of Ontario, York Region is home to more than one million residents within an area of 680 square miles. Although one of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada, the Region contains an abundance of natural features including forests, river valleys, kettle lakes, wetlands and wildlife. York Region has a comprehensive Greening Strategy within its Natural Heritage Plan and is dedicated to increasing the amount of forest cover in years to come to ensure a healthy environment for it's residents. York is bound by Toronto to the south, Lake Simcoe to the north, Peel Region to the west and Durham Region to the east. Nine municipalities comprise the mix of urban and rural landscapes of the area.

CLICK HERE for basemap of York Region (may take a minute to open due to file size)

CLICK HERE to access York Region Explorer website for a wide variety of York Region Maps

CLICK HERE to see a powerpoint presentation about YES and Ontario Stewardship (may takes a minute to open)

CLICK HERE to view 2010 YES members list

Photo: YES members at work constructing wildlife viewing platform

CLICK HERE for YES Strategic Framework

CLICK HERE to view YES 2009 Annual Report

CLICK HERE to view YES 2010 Workplan

CLICK HERE to access YES Project Funding Application Form if you are a landowner or an organization with a good conservation project and are looking for partnership support

CLICK HERE for membership criteria and application form if you would like to be considered for volunteer membership to YES

YES News and Information

CLICK HERE for Stewardship Newsletter - Volume 1- Issue 1

CLICK HERE for Stewardship Newsletter - Volume 1 - Issue 2

CLICK HERE for Stewardship Newsletter - Volume 2 - Issue 1

CLICK HERE for Stewardship Newsletter - Volume 2 - Issue 2

CLICK HERE for Stewardship Newsletter - Volume 3 - Issue 1

CLICK HERE to access the new Butternut Landowner Resource Guide. Butternut is an endangered species protected under the Endangered Species Act and YES is involved as a partner in its recovery. CLICK HERE to see the 2009 status report for butternut recovery in York Region (takes a minute to open).

Photo: Forest technician assesses butternut tree for fatal canker disease

Have you ever wondered what kind of native tree is best to plant in York Region? Click www.ontario.ca/treeatlas for maps and information for the most common native trees to plant in York Region as well as other locations throughout Ontario

CLICK HERE to open the 2006 A Landowners Guide to Constructing and Maintaining a Rural Pond (may take a minute to open) developed by the Peterborough County Stewardship Council in partnership with Sir Sanford Fleming College (update version coming shortly).

CLICK HERE to access the Rural Landowner Stewardship
Guide which is a self help assessment tool for planning stewardship activities on your property

CLICK HERE to access the Rural by Choice Ex Summary, a 2006 survey of rural landowner stewardship interests and needs assessment tool for planning stewardship activities on your property.

How much do you love Lake Simcoe?

Check out www.ourlakesimcoe.com for a great interactive website and think about what you can do to help restore the Lake. YES and other Ontario Stewardship Councils around the Lake were partners in development of this website.

For great fishing information and other interesting things about Lake Simcoe, try http://www.lake-simcoe.ca

For other landowner stewardship information and assistance programs of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, go to http://www.lsrca.on.ca

Interested in biodivesity? Designed for kids, teachers and everyone else, click Our Incredible World for fabulous information on wildlife species, stewardship, newsletter, games, etc. This site was developed by Pinegrove Productions, an independent, family-run production company located in rural Lanark County. The Lanark County Stewardship Council is a partner in this site.

Concerned about Aquatic and Terrestrial Invasive Species? Click www.invadingspecies.com for the OFAH information. Click http://www.ontarioinvasiveplants.ca/ for the Ontario Invasive Plant Council.

Photo: You can help stop the spread of invasive species

Click Species at Risk for lots of good information regarding flora and fauna protected under Ontario's revised Endangered Species Act (2007).

Are you interested in Trumpeter Swans and the recovery efforts that Aurora's Harry Lumsden initiated in 1982? Check out Harry's 2008-09 report for some history and latest successes. Many professionals and volunteers have contributed to this successful recovery program over the years.

Photo: YES installs trumpeter swan nesting platform at MacKenzie Marsh in Aurora

CLICK HERE to access the vast library of Extension Notes for Landowners on a wide variety of resource management topics related to forestry, wetlands, wildlife and others