Credit Watershed School Projects at 2005 Peel EcoFair

On May 25th, five schools from the Credit River watershed were represented amongst the 13 schools and more than 200 students participating at the 2005 Peel EcoFair. Now in its third year the Peel EcoFair celebrates, networks, and supports environmental action projects being undertaken by youth throughout the Region of Peel.

Credit watershed participants included The Woodlands Secondary School, which presented its water quality monitoring project in the neighbouring Sawmill Creek. This is the second year students have been learning from the data they have gathered in partnership with Citizens’ Environment Watch. Fallingbrook Middle School was also on hand to share experiences visiting and planting around their adjacent Creditview Wetland. Also in Mississauga, Thomas Street Middle School showcased their Outdoor Classroom and Arboretum, which students, staff, and parents have been planting over the years to naturalize their school yard.

From Brampton, Hickory Wood Public School educated other EcoFair participants about their Peace Garden, nursery, and significant school yard naturalization project which has been ongoing for the past ten years. Creditview Public School, from Caledon, performed rhythms and rapping as “The Blue Box Band,” promoting the benefits of reducing our ecological footprint via “the 3-R’s”: reduce, reuse, recycle.

The Credit Valley Conservation Authority joins the EcoFair sponsor, the Region of Peel, in congratulating these school communities for undertaking and maintaining these exemplary stewardship projects. Each initiative enhances students’ education through hands-on and purposeful action while benefiting watershed health where they live.

For more information, visit www.peel-ecofair.ca

Reprinted from Wayne De Freitas’ article posted on Fly Fishing Ontario website (http://flyfishing-ontario.com)

Trout Unlimited and Credit Valley Conservation got together the Sunday before the Trout season opener to do the annual clean up. All present were happy to report that there was noticeably less garbage than in years past (but more jeep parts)! I must say there is a true sense of dedication with these groups of people, they take their free time and spend it planning many ways to make the water and the time we spend on it more enjoyable and clean.

Our conservation warriors hard at work.

This spring two new garbage kiosks were built and a few more are in the works. I would personally like to thank all involved in this project. These kiosks help to make private land stay open. These efforts are in place to keep the landowners happy and should be used and respected. That same weekend the above mentioned groups planted almost 3000 trees on the Humber and Credit River and surrounding areas, I am breathing better already.

These are all worthy efforts to get involved with. We all really need to give a little bit back to the areas in which we spend our time playing. Just think what a huge difference it could make if we all took one or two days to replenish the areas we fish. Get involved so we have a place to enjoy our free time. Get your kids involved; they will be the next to reap the rewards and will be informed to pass this on to the next generation.

Volunteers from the Credit River Anglers Association (CRAA) continue their rehabilitation efforts on the Credit River watershed with the planting of another 15,000 trees along the valley of both the main river and many tributaries. Funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, combined with funds from Eco Action, CFWIP and several others have permitted CRAA volunteers to work with an annual budget exceeding $500,000 per year in reforestation and rehabilitation works.

The highlight of CRAA’s planting work has been the planting of some 4,000 mature trees over the past three years. Using a mixture or nursery stock and transplanted trees to areas where smaller trees have difficulty surviving due to flooding and ice damage. CRAA’s goal is to plant the majority of the rivers riparian zone (within 50 m of the river and tributaries) to help stabilize banks, shade the river, improve terrestrial habitat for animals and link existing forested sections of river. The further planting of 35,000 smaller trees over the past three years has ensured a mixture of native trees will the lining the river valley for generations to come.

CRAA’s massive planting work carried out between 1998 and 2002 has shown remarkable results to date. Sections of river bank that were once open pasture and fields now contain trees exceeding forty feet in height (12 m) with pines, maples, ash and other species growing rapidly. In addition to tree planting, CRAA has completed many stream rehabilitation projects, including several large scale boulder and log placements in Erindale Park.

CRAA’s other recent activities include the annual operation of the Streetsville Fishway, lifting steelhead (rainbow trout) over the dam in spring and doing the same with brown trout in fall, as well as monitoring for Atlantic salmon. CRAA also operates a fish hatchery in Georgetown to raise and stock steelhead into the Credit River. Spring 2005 also saw CRAA transfer 100 adult steelhead by aerated tanks to Silver Creek to improve wild reproduction.

For more information or to volunteer please visit our website : www.craa.on.ca

For whatever reason, be it ‘dwindling’ oil supplies, the ‘threat’ of global warming, or the ‘encouragement’ of the One Tonne Challenge, we are all beginning to consider ways to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. And we want it to be easy, attractive and cost effective.

The folks at Everdale, in Hillsburgh Ontario claim that it is not that hard for home-owners to reduce their green house gas emissions significantly by combining natural building techniques, renewable energy, smart conservation technology, and integrating living systems into their houses,

They have built Home Alive!TM to prove it. Through a combination of straw bale building and insulation, state-of-the-art solar and wind energy generation, and energy efficient appliances, fixtures and climate control technology Home Alive! is able to produce almost all the energy required by the modern household who live there. The house also incorporates water catchments, grey water filtration, perma-culture landscaping, and roof and climbing gardens which all play a role in energy reduction, waste recycling and food production.

Everyone is invited to come witness for them-selves all the Thinking, Drinking, and Breathing Systems in action in a 'living' example of the future of planet-friendly housing for our cold climate. Guided tours are offered to the public every Saturday from the beginning of June to the end of September.

HomeAlive!

“Households are the one domain where we can all take initiatives as individuals to make an immediate environmental difference,” says Home Alive!’s builder and owner of Harvest Homes, Ben Polley. Home Alive! was built to be a modern demonstration of environmentally-sensitive housing design, methods and materials with a focus on livability, affordability and beauty. “We want people to see how these techniques can be used in their own homes,” claims Polley.

HomeAlive is part of Everdale, an educational centre that promotes sustainable living through a variety of hands-on learning experiences. Its fifty-acre classroom encompasses a working organic training farm, and interactive demonstration models of sustainable technologies such as solar, wind energy and straw bale structures. Guided tours are offered every Saturday, June- end of September.

Everdale also offers a hands-on straw bale building workshop as well workshops on solar, wind power, grey water systems, natural building, gardening and landscaping. See www.everdale.org or call 519-855-4128.

PEN launches its new and improved website

Get Out @ Willow Park!

Do you want to expose yourself, and your family, to more of the beauty and wonder of nature? Then Willow Park Ecology Centre, one of Halton Hills’ best kept secrets is the place you are looking for! This year we will be offering a wide array of programs and activities for all ages and interests.

Artists @ Play, a drop-in program from 10am-3pm, runs every Sunday until October 15th. It’s a perfect site for “Plein Air” art, and offers a chance to meet, create, and share your work with other artists in our community. Run in co-operation with Credit Valley Artisans.

Need some ‘grown-up’ time to yourself? Pack a litterless lunch and bring your children down for our Kids @ Play, on July 7th & August 31st, from 10am-2pm. Children ages 5 & up are invited for a great day of games, hand-on activities, and making cool stuff! The cost is $15, and children must be toilet trained to participate.

Attention all gardeners! Mark your calendars for our Naturalization Workshop on Saturday, July 16th, from 10am-2pm. Our experts will teach you how to grow in the area of environmental responsibility, right in your own yard! The cost is $25, and includes morning refreshments & lunch.

Adults and children alike will enjoy what happens when the sun goes down in After Dark at Willow Park, on July 20th & August 18th, from 7:30-9:30pm. Presenter Teresa Rigg will guide you through experiencing the bats, owls, and other creatures that come out only at night. Learn about the constructed wetland, and the frogs and toads that call it home. Free-will donations are appreciated.

Hands on @ Willow Park runs every 2nd & 4th Sunday from 10am-3pm, June through September. This is an opportunity for those who are interested in protecting wild animals, plants, and their habitats, to dig in and make a difference! High School students are welcome to complete volunteer and community involvement requirements.

Join us on Saturday, October 3rd, from 11am-2pm, as we celebrate International Migratory Bird Day. View many of the birds as they migrate for the winter, learn about feeding winter birds and migration related issues. There will be activities for children, so be sure to pack a lunch and come on down. Free-will donations are appreciated.

Help celebrate the coming of winter by joining us as we put the park to bed for the winter at the Falling Leaves Festival on October 15th, from 10am-4pm. A day of family fun and community participation, come enjoy pumpkin carving, rock painting, toad house building, and much more! Rain date is October 16th.

While at Willow Park, don’t forget to bring your camera, and take lots of pictures! You may be the winner of our 3rd Annual Picture Perfect @ Willow Park. Categories include: flora, fauna, and friends of Willow Park. Entries are limited to one photo per category, and must be submitted by Friday, August 12th, 2005.

Whether you roam our trails and enjoy our many displays and activities, or just it by the river and relax to the sounds of nature, please be sure to make time in your busy calendar to come down and experience Willow Park. To learn more, you can visit us on the web at: www.willowparkecology.com, or contact us at 905-702-9055, wpec@sympatico.ca.