Flyways - Ontario - 33-2

o n ta r i o

The ultimate goal is having an empowered and educated community of landowners and conservation project volunteers that make informed decisions about managing natural resources on their own lands.

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Empowering landowners Efforts to empower eastern Ontario landowners to undertake and manage natural resources on their own lands, is now underway thanks to a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) in support of an outreach coordinator for the next two years.

Landowner outreach is a critical component of conservation success in southern Ontario where most of the land is privately owned. Like Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), Quinte Conservation, Hastings Stewardship Council, Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority, Lennox and Addington Stewardship Council, and Prince Edward Stewardship Council have a long history of working to engage and support landowners who appreciate wetlands and want to ensure a healthy environment.

“This collaborative will enable all participants to work collectively towards improving targeted landscapes and providing much better use of available resources for one-onone representation with landowners”, says Steve Pitt of the Lennox and Addington Stewardship Council.

The Eastern Ontario Collaborative (EOC) is a communitybased habitat restoration/extension program delivered through an outreach coordinator to provide landowners with the information they need to understand how their property fits into the regional ecosystem. The coordinator connects them with the resources they need to restore and protect the natural features that contribute to ecosystem health. A key role for the EOC coordinator is facilitating community access to funding opportunities that may exist

Conservator | summer 2012

for certain conservation projects and establish long term volunteerism.

The ultimate goal of the EOC is having an empowered and educated community of landowners and conservation project volunteers that make informed decisions about managing natural resources on their own lands and implement successful habitat restoration projects independently. These projects will play a critically important role in improving the overall health of eastern Ontario communities.

“We believe strongly in extension services that include oneon-one contact with landowners and feel it is an excellent way to achieve strategic landscape initiatives,” says Andy Margetson of the Prince Edward Stewardship Council.

“Targeted landowner contact through wetlands or significant natural core areas, not only allows for two-way communication and awareness with individual landowners, it also allows targeted beneficial on-the-ground projects to happen.”

If you live in Prince Edward, Hastings, Lennox/ Addington or Frontenac counties, or Leeds & 1000 Islands/Gananoque, and would like to speak with someone regarding your property, please contact: Lesley Rudy Project Coordinator, Eastern Ontario Collaborative (613) 389-0418 or (888) 389-0418, ext.131 l_rudy@ducks.ca

above: ©DUC/Michel Blachas et Carole Piché

eastern Region

Ontario students gain work experience with DUC project With help from Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the University of Guelph, a group of fourth-year environmental sciences students enhanced their skills and gained valuable work experience through a hands-on DUC research project.

“This experience opened our eyes to the important role DUC plays in wetland conservation across Ontario,” says Emily Palmer, environmental science student at the University of Guelph. “Through effective consultations with DUC staff, a site visit to the project area and insightful teamwork, this project provided us with practical experience. No class could have taught better.”

The project team consisted of six students with varying backgrounds including: environmental science, natural resource management, environmental biology, earth and atmospheric science, and environmental economics and policies. These highly motivated students came together last fall to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of DUC’s nest box program component of our Beaver Pond Management landscapes. In the 1990s, DUC implemented its Beaver Pond Management program to enhance wetland habitat throughout central and northern Ontario. DUC added nest boxes and worked on beaver ponds at a landscape level.

Since 1990, DUC has installed a total of 7,629 nest boxes on 64 project landscapes. These boxes are monitored on an annual basis. Results are entered into a Microsoft Access

database, where it is compiled and used to help determine their waterfowl use and direct nest box program funding to the most productive landscapes.

Using this data and other information, students recently prepared a final report outlining their cost-benefit analysis and presented several recommendations based on study results. Recommendations included decommissioning projects that have negative net benefits or sites currently not serviced by a contractor, and investigating the feasibility of creating and sharing an annual monitoring report to local communities.

“These types of projects are an excellent opportunity for DUC to build strong relationships with universities and colleges,” says Christie-Lee Hazzard, lead GIS specialist with DUC in Ontario. “Our programs benefit from highly motivated students who are available to tackle special projects during peak workload periods. We will continue to work with the University of Guelph and other post secondary institutions to help complete our program and project tasks in times when we face resource and capacity challenges”.

Above: University of Guelph students embark on a two-day field trip to Hinden Longford Reserve, near Haliburton, Ont., to learn about DUC’s nest box program.

right: ©Richie Tripp - Tripp Creative Photography

Three decades of support recognized Dan McWilliams is a great ambassador for DUC and has been dedicating his time and efforts to the cause for more than 30 years.

McWilliams was instrumental in kicking off the Peterborough Fall Banquet and the Greenwing Fishing Weekend – both of which are still going strong today.

Over the years, McWilliams gave generously of his time and was a key volunteer with the Ontario Provincial Convention. He recently upgraded his DUC major gift pledge to the Benefactor Level of $100,000.

“We are very pleased to recognize Dan’s most recent commitment to the organization.

This prestigious level of giving illustrates Dan’s lifelong passion for DUC’s mission. He is a true leader for waterfowl and wetlands in the pro-

vince,” says Ron Maher, DUC senior development manager.

McWilliams is a dedicated businessman, family man and councilor for the city of Peterborough where he currently serves as deputy mayor.

“When I think about Ducks Unlimited Canada, and the respect and image it has in the world, it really means a lot to me to be involved,” says McWilliams. ”I am an outdoorsman. I hunt and I fish. So I want to give something back for all the great things I enjoy when I am outdoors.

With Ducks, I know the things I am doing really make a difference because I see the results every spring and fall [through migration]. That is a great feeling of accomplishment.”

Above: DUC president Tom Worden (left) and Jamie Fortune (right), DUC director of corporate relations, present Dan McWilliams with his Benefactor sponsor pin.

Conservator | summer 2012

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