Ontario Nature’s AGM

In June, Ontario Nature hosted its 77th annual general meeting (AGM) in conjunction with the Carden Nature Festival. Held at the Sir William Mackenzie Inn in Kirkfield, Ontario, the agm attracted more than 100 visitors of all ages from across the province.

This year, Ontario Nature added a new and well-received activity to its AGM: a program geared entirely to kids. The Wye Marsh naturalist team led the day-long event, which attracted 26 excited participants. These budding naturalists got up close and personal with birds of prey and reptiles during live presentations; they also enjoyed nature hikes and learned about orienteering.

The day was filled with engaging activities for all naturalists, including a paddle on Lake Dalrymple, a hike to look for reptiles and amphibians and a butterfly identification walk.

This year’s conservation awards went to Lou Probst, Jacob Rodenburg, Bob Curry, Audrey Wilson, Brigitte Angster-Beckett and the City of Orillia, as well as the Region of Waterloo. The Margaret and Carl Nunn Memorial Camp Scholarship was awarded to four recipients: William Gardiner, Phoenix Jacobs-Parkin, Grace Thornton and Cameron Gray. Winners of the Ontario Nature Youth Writing Contest (see page 36) also received their awards.

Ontario Nature would like to thank all its members and supporters who participated in the 2008 agm. We hope to see everyone again next year.

OUR CLUBS: Orono Crown Lands Trust

In the summer of 2001, Orono councillors (Orono lies east of Oshawa) held a public meeting at the local arena to debate the best use of an abandoned 256-hectare spread of plantations, fields and naturally forested valley land within the Wilmot Creek watershed. Developed as the Orono Provincial Tree Nursery in 1922, the site was decommissioned by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) in 1996. The councillors believed that a small, informal brainstorming session would gauge the community’s interest in protecting the abandoned acreage. To the councillors’ surprise, residents flocked to the meeting and demanded that the land be protected.

On October 19, 2001, mnr and the newly formed Orono Crown Lands Trust (OCLT), a registered nonprofit organization staffed by volunteers, signed a 20-year management plan.

Nearly seven years into the management plan, oclt’s 200 or so members have kept extremely busy holding up their end of the bargain. Volunteers regularly dedicate hours to maintaining the property and developing trails. Last year, volunteers planted 5,000 trees on the property in response to one of the largest infestations of dog-strangling vine the OCLT had ever seen. The organization also recognizes how important it is to educate youth so that proper stewardship can continue into future generations. oclt’s projects with the Ontario Stewardship Rangers, an MNR-sponsored youth program, include building a boardwalk and converting abandoned irrigation chambers into snake hibernacula.

Proceeds from oclt’s annual corn roast and barbecue, a popular family event in the Orono area, fund many of these maintenance projects.

Perhaps the most spectacular feature of the Orono Crown Lands is the butterfly garden named for Roy Forrester, avid naturalist and long-time educator. oclt created the garden to serve as a butterfly way station, an area that provides the resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration. In 2006, Monarch Watch, a network of students, teachers, volunteers and researchers at the University of Kansas, certified the garden as Monarch Watch Way Station 753.

OCLT will continue to devote its resources to the enhancement and protection of the Orono Crown Lands.