Winter at Our Conservation Areas

Winter can be a very exciting time at our Conservation Areas. Island Lake and Terra Cotta Conservation Areas, as well as Ken Whillans Resource Management Area are all accessible during the months of January to March. Terra Cotta is open for self serve use during daylight hours, whereas Island Lake and Ken Whillans are open for winter recreational use, with ice fishing being the primary attraction.

Ken Whillans has added portable ice hut rentals to its services this year. They will also continue to provide snacks, bait, hole auguring and a skating rink, for ice skating or hockey.

Island Lake will be continue to offer heated ice huts, rod, and snowshoe rentals. The trackset cross-country ski trails and the skating pond and trail are back again, with a warm up hut on shore. The bait and snack shop will be serving up hot snacks to weekend fisherman. As always, Island Lake will be hosting the annual Ice Fishing Derby. This derby runs the entire month of February, with over $5000 in prizes, including an 8 inch gas powered auger as an early bird prize.

The 2nd annual “Winterloo” will take place at Island Lake again this year. This fun-filled day of winter activities is organized by the Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs of Orangeville and will take place February 25, 2007 from 12 pm to 4 pm.

With the onset of winter comes the added responsibility of ice safety. The following ice safety tips are recommended to keep you safe and sound during the winter holidays.

CVC Lends a Helping Hand to Christmas Families

On Wednesday December 6th, CVC’s Conservation Café opened up in CVC’s boardroom offering baked goods and used books to eagerly awaiting staff. CVCers jumped at the opportunity to donate and purchase baked goods and books to help out the Christmas families that CVC sponsors every year through the Peel Children’s Aid Society.

Over the past year, CVC has raised over $1200 through fundraising initiatives such as the Bake and Book sale, 50/50 ticket sales, monetary donations, pop machine proceeds, and Pancake Tuesday donations. In addition, CVC staff member, Adrienne Duff, kindly donated a portion of the proceeds from her lip balm and soap sales.

CVC would like to thank its staff for their overwhelming generosity, and for continually putting smiles on the faces of many families over Christmas each year.

CVC's Strategic Plan

The environmental face of the Credit Valley Watershed has changed dramatically over the years. Mounting development pressures have replaced large areas of natural vegetation and nearby urban populations have altered the Credit River landscape. An increasing proportion of the watershed is now covered by rapidly growing urban settlements as the urban-based population spills over from the Greater Toronto Area in search of more affordable housing. In addition to urbanization, other pressures such as agriculture, aggregate extraction, contamination and water taking are affecting the natural environment.

At this time, we are challenged to protect existing environmental integrity while recognizing mounting pressures from a growing population. With this in mind we at CVC embarked on our 2006 Strategic Plan. The plan is based on exhaustive research in such areas as water management (water quality, water budget, water monitoring), natural heritage, fisheries, stewardship, land management, conservation areas and so on. It provides detailed information on the current state of the biophysical components of the environment (i.e. air, land, water, resources) and on the social, economic and political activities that impact these resources.

Besides reporting on issues, the plan illuminates progress that is being, and will be made, to combat pressures being faced in the watershed. It allows us to identify those ‘hot spots’ – areas/issues of concern that warrant attention now and to focus on the watershed with an understanding of the state of the resource at both regional and watershed levels. Most importantly, it offers an opportunity to focus on achievement of key objectives through a series of management actions. Furthermore, based on this common understanding, it allows us to: develop a plan of collaborative action; think about issues facing the watershed now; and adopt a proactive and strategic approach for the future.

In November, CVC held a workshop to engage our watershed partners and stakeholders in the long range vision for the watershed. The strategy is an ongoing work-in-progress and will guide CVC programs and projects for at least five years (possibly ten, with updates).

This Strategic Plan, and the information it contains on the State of the Resource, contributes to the growing awareness of the shape of our physical environment and the underlying causes of environmental change. It provides an overview of the resource at both regional and watershed levels and summarizes the main agents of change and how we at the CVC, who are mandated to manage all natural resources within the Credit Watershed, will respond.

Nature in the City

Daytime is an entertaining lifestyle “infotainment” show highlighting the people, events and topics in and around the Peel Region. Guests reveal the richness and diversity of their community, while professionals offer their expert advice. Daytime is “local talk” about “life matters” It airs on, weekdays at 11:00 AM.

If you live in Mississauga or Brampton you can watch the program live every third Tuesday of the month at 11 am, and rebroadcast at 5 and 11 pm the same day.