Peggy Walsh Craig, NBMCA
April 15, 2015 AGM Presentation
From Ashes to Oaks Project
December 2015
Approximately 20 volunteers turned out to help plant 140 trees along the North Bay Waterfront on May 30, 2015. The project was intended to replace 40 green ash trees with 40 trees of different species which will be unaffected by emerald ash borer. Due to a special deal with a local supplier, the project was able to acquire 100 more trees for the same price as the project funding of $8,000 for 40 trees. 140 in total were planted.
The 140 species planted were:
| Number | Common Name | Latin Name |
| 18 | Red Maple | Acer rubrum |
| 20 | Silver Maple | Acer saccharinum |
| 15 | Blue Beech | Carpinus caroliana |
| 15 | Hackberry | Celtis occidentalis |
| 4 | Ironwood | Ostrya virginana |
| 3 | White Spruce | Picea glauca |
| 4 | White Pine | Pinus strobus |
| 4 | Bur Oak | Quercus macrocarpa |
| 53 | Red Oak | Quercus rubra |
| 4 | Linden | Tilia americana |
This project could not have been accomplished without the generous support of TD Friends of the Environment!
Volunteer tree planters spruce up North Bay Waterfront
May 31, 2015 by: KA Smith, Bay Today Photos by Peggy Walsh Craig.
Volunteers plant trees May 30th at the North Bay Waterfront. Muscles are sore but souls of volunteers are content after beautifying the North Bay Waterfront. About 20 volunteers donated their Saturday to plant 140 trees along Memorial Drive.
The Nipissing Botanical Gardens in partnership with the Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council are aiming to get a healthy tree population on the popular waterfront.
Peggy Walsh Craig of Nipissing Botanical Gardens says a little pest has communities removing ash trees. “The green ash are threatened by the Emerald Ash Borer. Unfortunately when the waterfront was redeveloped, the main tree used was the green ash. In Toronto, they have spent millions of dollars removing green ash because of the Emerald Ash Borer. We haven't had a big problem with it yet, but we know it's in the area. So we're planning ahead."
The species of the new trees include red oak, linden, red maple, and ironwood. Walsh Craig informs that city crews will be planting red oaks in Lee Park in the upcoming week. The city may also be planting white pine and white spruce on the waterfront in the future.
“When we planted the last tree, we broke out into song. That’s how fun tree planting can be. It’s our gift to the community.” The oaks are expected to live the longest, usually 150 years of providing oxygen, shade, animal homes, natural beauty and healthy chemistry.
TD Friends of the Environment funded the event after the Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council applied for a grant to fund the tree program.
The North Bay Mattawa Conservation Authority provided the staff's labour as well as equipment.The City of North Bay generously contributed by digging all the holes and storing the trees until planting.
The Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council aims to protect, conserve, improve and restore the natural resources and environment of the greater Nipissing area.
Papineau Lake Conservation Area Kiosk
November 11, 2015
The North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority [NBMCA] recently completed the installation of an informative kiosk sign at the Papineau Lake Conservation Area. The lake is locally known as ‘Sturgeon Lake’.
Funding in the amount of $3,500 for the project was provided by the Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council from monies the council received from the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans as part of a court ordered settlement. The funds were to be spent on a restoration or educational type project in Papineau and/or Calvin Townships.
The information includes educational messaging as to why it is good to have buffer plantings near shorelines (riparian areas), such as improved water quality and fisheries habitat.
Examples of recommended native shrubs and trees species have been planted around the base of the kiosk for lake residents to consider in any shoreline or buffer planting they may undertake on their own properties.
For more about the NBMCA Papineau Lake Conservation Area – click HERE.
Volunteer Tree Plant – North Bay Waterfront Saturday, May 30th
The Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council and Nipissing Botanical Gardens co-hosted a tree plant at the waterfront.
Volunteers gathered at North Bay's waterfront this past weekend to beautify the parklands. A light rain and mild temperatures proved to be perfect tree planting weather and those in attendance were able to work together to plant more than 45 trees!
April 3, 2015
53rd Annual North Bay Regional Science Fair
Stewardship Council Award Recipients for projects on natural resources or the environment...
* Junior Division (Grade 7-8) *
Pacey Schlueting & Jack Stockfish
St. Huberts
for their project "Forever Lasting Gas"
* Intermediate/Senior Division (Grade 9-12) *
Raza Ahmed, Widifield Secondary School
for his project "Bye Bye Dye"
Three projects will represent the area at the Canada-wide Science Fair next month in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Widdifield’s Aidan Kehoe (left) won five awards including a gold medal in the Senior Life Sciences category for his project while Lauren McLaren and Callum Abraham, also from Widdifield, won three awards, including a gold in the Senior Life Sciences category. Hanna Cutler and Liam Marshall from William Beatty won two awards, including gold in the Junior Life Sciences category.
Check out all the winners and more at www.nbrsf.com.
50 Million Tree Program Grows its Reach
First Northern Plant Kicks Off in Desbarats
Trees Ontario, the forest restoration arm of Forests Ontario, is delighted to announce the expansion of the Ontario government’s 50 Million Tree Program (50MTP) into Northern Ontario. Until recently, the program focused its efforts on regions in Southern Ontario with goals of re-greening settled landscapes and helping to fight climate change. Since the program’s inception in 2008, Trees Ontario has planted over 15 million trees with an ultimate goal of planting 50 million trees by 2025.
The expansion kicked off on May 23rd with the first northern tree plant in Desbarats, Ontario at the Archibald Homestead. Led by the Kensington Conservancy, the plant saw volunteers, including elementary students from Johnson-Tarbutt Central School in Debarats, plant 2,000 trees on the property. This event was followed by a larger planting effort over the following days that achieved a total of 10,500 trees planted overall. The plant sought to restore abandoned agricultural land at the Homestead to support conservation and restoration efforts in regions maintained by the Conservancy.
Photo Credit: Cheryl Mackay
Among the planters was Peter Gagnon, Trees Ontario’s newest Field Advisor supporting Forests Ontario’s northern Ontario programs. Gagnon indicated that the program’s extended reach may take time to develop, but that growth will ultimately benefit the province, noting, “It is exciting to be able to implement the 50 Million Tree Program across the province and promote forest stewardship on a larger scale.” READ MORE
Forests Ontario: new organization devoted to sustainable forests
Trees Ontario and Ontario Forestry Association merge to enhance capacity and programs
Toronto, ON, March 19, 2014 - Trees Ontario and the Ontario Forestry Association (OFA), two not-for-profits, have officially merged to create Forests Ontario, an organization dedicated to the renewal and stewardship of Ontario's forests.
"Forests Ontario is the voice for Ontario's forests," said Rob Keen, CEO of Forests Ontario (formerly Trees Ontario CEO). "This merge has created an organization with enhanced capacity and allowed us to expand our delivery of environmental education, events and programs. It also allows all Ontarians to invest in the future of our forests - through donations, sponsorships, volunteerism, tree planting, community awareness events and forest management."
Read more….
"TD TREE DAYS 2013"
TD Friends of the Environment
The TD Friends held their annual tree plant on Saturday, September 14, 2013, 9:00 a.m. at the start of the Chippewa Creek EcoPath (where the creek drains into Lake Nipissing. A total of 15 hardwood trees were planted by approximately 25 volunteers on both sides of the creek. The potted trees (15 gallon pots) consisted of 4 silver maple, 3 red maple, 4 sugar maple, 2 red oak and 2 burr oak.
This project is the latest in a series of planting projects that have carried out along several sections of Chippewa Creek over the past 5 plus years, right up to where the creek crosses Airport Road. The key goal is to provide for erosion control, protect the cold-water feature of the creek and enhannce the overall recreational experience for users for both the ecopath and the Kinsmen Trail.
Project funding was provided by Tree Canada and carried out in partnership with The Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council and the invaluable support of Nipissing Botanical Gardens, the North Bay - Mattawa Conservation Authority, Eagle Tree Service and the City of North Bay - Parks & Recreation Department.
Planning for next year's project will be commencing in the spring. For more information about TD Friends of the Environment and Tree Canada.
Lake Nipissing Research Conference
12/5/2013
A Stewarship Council representative attended the Lake Nipissing Research Conference, hosted by Nipissing University, which provided an opportunity to share ongoing research in the watershed and develop a strategic research plan for the lake.
The conference grew out of, and will inform the Lake Nipissing Summit, which has been held each spring for the past three years.
The Lake Nipissing Research Conference featured a series of presentations on issues of water quality, the hydrology and environmental history of the watershed, bioindicators of change, and visualizing of scientific data. Some of the presentations includes:
Mapping Water Movement in the Lake Nipissing Watershed using Water Isotopes (Krystopher Chutko and Brittnay Rundle, Watershed Analysis Centre, Nipissing University);
Revisiting the Lake Nipissing Environment Map (Kirsten Greer, Assistant Professor, Geography and History at Nipissing University);
Phosphorus in the Wasi watershed/Callander Bay system (Sue Miller, Source Water Protection, North Bay — Mattawa Conservation Authority); and
Cyanobactria Blooms in the West Nipissing Region (Greg Ross, Associate Dean of Research at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine).
Read the full story here.
June 13, 2013
12th ANNUAL USED HOUSEHOLD BATTERY COLLECTION COMPETITION
NORTH BAY - Over 2,300 high school students from 7 area high schools took part in this year’s annual competition.
A grand total of 2997.9 kg (over 5,066 lbs) of all types of household batteries were collected over an 8-week period in April and May.
This year’s prizes went to the top 3 schools that collected the greatest weight of used batteries per student.
Prizes ranged from $400 to $300, with each participating school receiving $100.
This year’s winners are…
Greatest Total Weight/Student
F.J. McElligott Secondary School 8.1 kg/student
École Secondaire Publique Odyssée 2.4 kg/student
Nbisiing Secondary School 2.3 kg/student
The other participating schools included: St. Joseph-Scollard Hall, Northern, West Ferris and Widdifield.
The competition was co-organized by the Stewardship Council, Nipissing Environmental Watch and Greening Nipissing.
Since its inception over 44,797 kg of dead batteries have been diverted from local landfill sites.
Batteries are a key source of hazardous waste that contain heavy metals and other chemicals such as acid, cadmium, mercury,
copper, zinc, lead, manganese, nickel and lithium – all of which are very harmful to the environment.
The continuation of annual competition is currently under review due to funding and an overall decrease in school participation.
However, the organizers are confident it will continue to have a positive impact on local recycling efforts.
Individuals can drop off their household batteries and other hazardous materials year-round at the City of North Bay’s Recycling Depot.
For the complete breakdown of results by school click here.
MNR Announces new Land Stewardship & Habitat Restoration Program and Community Hatchery Program (to replace the Community Fisheries & Wildlife Involvement Program)
March 18, 2013
The Land Stewardship & Habitat Restoration Program (LSHRP) is a competitive granting program administered by the ministry and available through Transfer Payment Agreements to eligible and successful recipients. The LSHRP has $300,000 available per year and will fund to a maximum of $20,000 per project for projects contributing to the establishment, maintenance, restoration or protection of fish and wildlife habitat and of Ontario's natural ecosystems. For more info visit www.Ontario.ca/LSHRP.
Separate from the LSHRP, the ministry has formed a partnership with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) to deliver the new Community Hatchery Program (CHP) and will provide $250,000 annually over a 3-year term Agreement for the OFAH to use in delivery of the Program. More info on this program will be made available in the coming weeks.
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE "GNSC FISHING SLOT RULER"
March 1, 2013
The "Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council Fishing Slot Ruler" (version with Zone 11 AND Lake Nipissing slots) 40 cm/43cm and 60 cm slot lines have been detemined to be innacturately marked on the ruler. Most importantly, the 60 cm line is only measuring anywhere from 593 to 596 mm (i.e. 4-7 mm or approximately 1/4" short of 60 cm).
The Ministry of Natural Resources Enforcement Personnel have been apprised of this matter, and the Council has proceeded to inform its sellers and to remove them for sale.
With the recent changes to the regulation for Lake Nipissing regarding catch and possession limits, the Council was already contemplating producing a new slot ruler. In the event that a new ruler is produced, additional quality controls will be implemented to ensure the accuracy of the Ruler.
The Council sincerely apologizes for this oversight.
Click here to download our advisory poster. (PDF)
Ontario Invasive Species Strategic Plan
July 25, 2012
The final Ontario Invasive Species Strategic Plan was posted to the Environmental Registry on July 3, 2012.
The posting can be found by clicking HERE.
Invasive species are one of the leading threats to Ontario’s biodiversity. The Ministry of Natural Resources, together with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Transportation developed the Ontario Invasive Species Strategic Plan (OISSP) to outline the provincial interests and goals in the fight against invasive species. The strategic plan provides both a conceptual framework and detailed action plan to address the threats posed by invasive species in Ontario. The objectives of this strategic plan are to:
• Prevent new invaders from arriving and surviving in Ontario.
• Slow, and where possible, reverse the spread of existing invasive species.
• Reduce the harmful impacts of existing invasive species.
This plan highlights work that has been undertaken, identifies gaps in current programs and policies, and outlines future actions necessary to meet the objectives of the plan. In addition, the plan establishes the Ministry of Natural Resources as the lead ministry for invasive species in the provincial government.
May 17, 2012
Lake Nipissing Summit
The Lake Nipissing Summit was a conference-style event designed to create an awareness and consensus on the need for shared ownership towards the future of Lake Nipissing. Bringing together all members of the communities surrounding the lake, this event provided knowledge and background information on the lake and its current status as well as provided a voice for all participants on the major issues of Lake Nipissing. The focus was on 3 major pillars; social, environmental and economic factors, and resulted in positive discussion and dialogue about the future of Lake Nipissing.
To read more about the summit and watch for the results to be posted, click here.
April 5, 2012
50th Annual North Bay Regional Science Fair
The 2012 recipients of the Stewardship Council's awards
for projects on natural resources or the environment are:
* Junior Division (Grade 7-8) *
Jason Valliere and Brandon Sgoifo
Silver Birches Senior Public School
for their project "Bending Water With Static Electricity"
* Intermediate/Senior Division (Grade 9-12) *
Aidan Kehoe, Widifield High School
for his project "Grow With The Flow"
Aidan will be going on to represent Norh Bay
at the Canada-wide Science Fair
Check out all the winners and more at www.nbrsf.com.
June 11, 2012
2012 - 11th ANNUAL USED HOUSEHOLD BATTERY COLLECTION COMPETITION
NORTH BAY - Over 2,800 high school students from 7 area high schools took part in this year’s collection competition. A grand total of 3,518 kg (over 7,700 lbs) of all types of household batteries were collected over an 8-week period in April and May.
This year’s prizes went to the top 3 schools that collected the greatest weight of used batteries per student. Prizes ranged from $400 to $300, with each participating school receiving $100. An additional prize went to the school that generated the highest weight.
This year’s winners are…
Greatest Total Weight/Student
F.J. McElligott Secondary School = 7.4 kg/student
Nbisiing Secondary School = 4.5 kg/student
École Secondaire Publique Odyssée = 2.9 kg/student
Greatest Total Weight
St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Catholic Secondary School = 1,295.5 kg
The other participating schools included: Northern, West Ferris and Widdifield.
The competition was co-organized by the Stewardship Council, Nipissing Environmental Watch and Greening Nipissing and was once again generously funded by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
Over the past 10 years over 42,500 kg of dead batteries have been diverted from local landfill sites. Batteries are a key source of hazardous waste that contain heavy metals and other chemicals such as acid, cadmium, mercury, copper, zinc, lead, manganese, nickel and lithium – all of which are very harmful to the environment.
For more information, please contact: Vijanti Ramlogan 705- 472-0200 Ext. 2 / 705-472-7601 OR info@greaternipissing.ca