Media

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=56 BGCOLOR="#666633" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00fc8c83.jpg"> <div> Media coverage</div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#666633" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>QUICK TIPS: </B></div> <div> <B>HOW TO RESTORE AND PRESERVE YOUR SHORELINE:</B></div> <bR> <div> 1. Keep lot well-treed and avoid clearcutting.</div> <div> 2. Protect shoreline vegetation and replant areas lacking shrubs with trees native species.</div> <div> 3. Build at least 30 metres away from shore.</div> <div> 4. Avoid spilling fuels, antifreeze, paint thinner or other chemicals on land or water.</div> <div> 5.Keep a buffer strip by leaving grass uncut near the water’s edge.</div> <div> 6. Use only phosphate-free soaps, detergents and cleaners in your home.</div> <div> 7. Don’t use fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides near the water.</div> <div> 8. Pump out septic tank regularly.</div> <div> 9. Build a low-impact dock.</div> <div> 10. Keep pets/livestock away from shoreline.</div> <div> 11. Redirect driveway runoff into a settling/soaking area.</div> <div> <I><B>- From County Life.</B></I></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=424 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"How's it going, EH?"</B></div> <div> <I>Sometimes the answer to that all-Canadian question can be found in the pages of local newspapers. Here's what the reporters have said about our Woodlot Tour and our Land Trust Forum.</I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="0273c9f0.gif" border=0 width="316" height="415" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <I>EH executive member </I><I><B>Bill Beatty</B></I><I>, above, hosted a Forest Information Day in August 2003. By touring other people's woodlots and talking to experts, participants gained some new ideas about looking after their own trees.  (Photo by Erin Tennant, </I><I><B>Haliburton County Echo</B></I><I>.)</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>The following story about the Woodlot Tour was written by reporter </I><I><B>Erin Tennant</B></I><I> and published in </I><I><B>County Life</B></I><I>, a summer publication of The Haliburton County Echo and The Minden Times. It appears here with the kind permission of publisher Len Pizzey.</I></div> <bR> <div> PERHAPS YOUR BACKYARD<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Helvetica" > woodlot looks less than thriving. The native pines aren’t coping well. There are some maple trees standing among them, too, and you know these trees produce the stuff that goes into the syrup you pour over your waffles each morning. Could you harness and sell that? Or maybe your shoreline seems not to attract the wildlife it used to, and you’re wondering why.   What to do! </FONT></div> <div>    These were the issues tackled at Environment Haliburton’s information day on August 9, entitled ‘Caring for your woodlot near water: ideas and opportunities.’ The full day of seminars and field trips began just after 9 a.m. at the Dysart Community Centre where participants were welcomed by their host, Bill Beatty, as well as by Dysart Reeve Murray Fearrey, Dave Chapeskie from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Jennifer Card from the Highlands Stewardship Council and Torbin Michalsen, the county’s forestry official. </div> <div>    It was a day for landowners with woodlots or lakefront properties, or just anybody interested in forestry. </div> <div>    After a field stop at Twelve Mile Lake to see a jointly owned woodland, the party moved on to Beatty’s 50-acre Drag Lake property for a barbecue lunch, with Michalsen giving informal talks about the county’s tree-cutting bylaws. When everyone had settled into dessert, Chapeskie discussed the waterfront lot around us. </div> <div>    “You’ve got to be thinking about renewal,” he said. “These trees, like us, are only going to be here so long... White pines are an excellent option. Birch and poplar are a very short-lived species. Bill’s birches, you can see, are starting to show signs of decline. Red pines won’t thrive either because they like full light exposure.</div> <div>    “Always keep in mind the sensitivity of the land-water interface... They say on the typical lake about 90 percent of lake life is in the first 10 to 15 metres. That is where all the creatures in the lake - the fish and amphibians - are born and get their food. So to aquatic life, the shoreline is an extremely precious resource.</div> <div>    “You can take steps now to introduce vegetation that over time will create a natural screen. One of the points is to think about species that are native. There are benefits for certain species when native trees fall in... Even some shrub level vegetation strategically placed on the waterfront will add a layer of diversity.”</div> <div>    Chapeskie then guided the party deeper into Beatty’s woodlot to see an example of a well-managed sugar bush, an operation of Beatty’s involving 500 taps and a network of tubing collecting syrup from a grove of maples. Chapeskie recommended four taps per tree, beginning about four-and-a-half feet above ground. “If the tree looks to be under stress, we recommend backing off to two taps, no matter how big the tree. You want to manage the sugar bush sustainable. Don’t create clusters of holes that create stained and decayed wood.”</div> <div>    Chapeskie pointed to a new spout - connected to drop lines collecting syrup - with a diameter of five-sixteenths of one inch, which minimizes any damage to the health of the maples. “Every time you tap a tree you do put a wound in it. Less stress is associated with the smaller ‘health spout’. It’s a really positive thing from the standpoint of the long-term health of the trees.</div> <div>    “You can tap maples for 80 to 100 years, if tapped at different points and the health and vigour of the tree is maintained.”</div> <div>    We then moved deeper still into Beatty’s woodlot to see his small planting project, begun in the mid 1980s, involving native red and white pines. Red pines, we learned, require a deep, sandy, well-drained soil. But white pines have a tremendously resilient root system. They will grow on a wide range of sites, taking full advantage of any productive potential in soil which can be fresher and with imperfect drainage.</div> <div>    Chapeskie advised that the best time to transplant trees was just before the frost leaves the ground in spring. “But if you’re stuck, fall planting often works too.” </div> <div>    Due to time restrictions, we were unable to reach Margaret Dobrzensky’s hardwood woodland property on County Road 1, near the fish hatchery. So Dobrzensky gave a short, impromptu talk about the 500 acres of forest which she inherited from her father. “My father bought the property in 1974 because it reminded him of his homeland, the Czech Republic. He wanted to improve the health of the forest,” she said of a woodland that includes ash, beech, maples and a creek that attracts wildlife. “Then forest is now ready for its second cutting... But there’s a constant need to clean the forest.”</div> <div>    Dobrzensky said some of her lumber is used as saw logs or as fuel wood. “I don’t allow really big equipment on my property and I prefer cutting in the winter because there’s less damage to the forest floor.</div> <div>    “I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing the growth of the trees,” she said.</div> <div> For more information, visit <A HREF="http://www.livingbywater.ca/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.livingbywater.ca/"><U>www.livingbywater.ca </U></A></div> <div> Landowners wanting to better manage their private woodlot can call the Ontario Woodlot Association at 1888 791 1103 or visit <A HREF="http://www.ontariowoodlot.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ontariowoodlot.com/"><U>www.ontariowoodlot.com</U></A></div> <div> Landowners seeking advice on selling standing timber, contact the LandOwner Resource Centre at 1800 387 5304 or visit <A HREF="http://www.lrconline.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.lrconline.com/"><U>http://www.lrconline.com/</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://fanweb.ca:8080/LBW/forms_folder/checklist_shoreline_public/ind_wizard/add_ind_wizard" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://fanweb.ca:8080/LBW/forms_folder/c"><U><I><B>Do the Checklist!</B></I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>The following story about the Land Trust forum was written by reporter </I><I><B>Erin Tennant</B></I><I> and published on the front page of </I><I><B>The Minden Times</B></I><I>. It appears here with the kind permission of publisher Len Pizzey.</I></div> <bR> <div> ENVIRONMENT HALIBURTON IS LIKELY<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Helvetica" > to form a land trust for the district after a well-received forum at which the not-for-profit organization discussed the range of possibilities for preserving and rehabilitating the county's natural environment.</FONT></div> <div>    Program organizer Ian Daniel opened the September 6 meeting, which was held all day at the Stanhope Firefighters' Hall. He outlined the goal of the information day, namely, to see if there would be sufficient support for a land trust and what purposes it should have.</div> <div>    "This is something we've been thinking about for the past two years," said Daniel, before introducing the first speaker, the vice-chair of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance, Dave Walker.</div> <div> Walker's role was to outline what a land trust is and how his own group operates.</div> <div>    He explained that a trust is a non-government, non-profit, community-based organization that develops programs that preserve local resources: ecologically sensitive lands, aesthetic lands, natural heritage and built heritage, agricultural areas or small green spaces in urban areas that the community wants preserving.</div> <div>    Most land trusts - different from a local conservation authority because they are not government-run - are incorporated entities with charitable status and a board of elected directors, Walker said. In most cases, the trust acquires the title of the property or place and then acts as a steward for day-to-day management. Significant funding resources are required too for operating costs, auditing fees, liability insurance, property taxes and land studies. In rural areas like Haliburton, the community would play a big role in raising money.</div> <div>    To be successful, Walker said that a landowner contact program was needed, which would involve the trust contacting property owners about what the trust could do to preserve their lands, as well as seeking the required funding from them. Also needed are plans for management and monitoring.</div> <div>    Walker pointed out the need for a land selection criteria. He said his own alliance prefers parcels of 50 acres or more; if less, then his group prefers to have some chance of acquiring adjacent lands as well. </div> <div>    "It takes a little while for a land trust to mature, to come to a common goal and strategic plan," said Walker.</div> <div>    The next speaker was Ron Reid from the Couchiching Conservancy, who addressed how trusts such as his own tend to operate. Reid talked about his experiences as executive director of the Couchiching Conservancy, which was formed in 1993, and gave some perspective as to where a Haliburton land trust could be in 10 years' time. </div> <div>    The Couchiching Conservancy operates in an area south of Muskoka as far south as Barrie. It has acquired eight properties and owns 350 acres in total, all of which was donated. It has 600 acres of conservation easements and another five properties it manages for other organizations. For each property a volunteer management team is responsible for monitoring the land, said Reid. </div> <div>    Reid's land trust, based in Orillia, has an $80,000 annual budget and "a few hundred thousand dollars in the bank." The Couchiching Conservancy has a strong local profile and has annual meetings with about 60 people in attendance, including local politicians.</div> <div>    He said the steps for getting organized involve deciding what area of preservation a Haliburton trust would want to get involved in as well as recruiting volunteers with skills in legal services, real estate, marketing and fundraising. Reid argued that identifying the areas of priority and also earning the community's trust was essential. </div> <div>    The last morning speaker at the public forum was Ian Attridge, a solicitor with the Kawartha Heritage Conservancy. Attridge, who advises trusts on stewardship and transaction techniques, made some general comments about the legal aspect of land trusts and acquiring land. He said there were a variety of options for protecting land beyond the standard regulatory controls. These included different forms of agreements (such as contracts, leases, licences and management agreements), land transfers (donations, transactions with specified restrictions, co-ownership options) and valuations (appraising the property, sorting out tax issues).</div> <div>    "We advise landowners to get independent advice," said Attridge. "We don't want to ever be accused of pressuring landowners."</div> <div>    He added that not all legal issues were beyond the understanding of nonprofessionals. "You don't need to be an accountant to understand a lot of the tax issues," he said, referring to tax incentive programs for donating land to charities. "But having a sense of these programs allows you to entice landowners."</div> <div>    In the afternoon, speakers included Paul Heaven from the Glenside Ecological Services and Peter Hynard, a registered professional forester. </div> <div>    Environment Haliburton organizer Ian Daniel told the <I>Times</I> that a poll among the 35 participants held at the end of the forum was unanimous in favour of establishing a land trust. "The poll and information session will go back to Environment Haliburton which will have to decide where to go from there," said Daniel.</div> <bR> <div> <I>     If you would like more information about land trusts, send an e-mail to Ian Daniel at </I><A HREF="mailto:info@environmenthaliburton.ca" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@environmenthaliburton.ca"><U><I>info@environmenthaliburton.ca</I></U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>