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Nov. 24, 2010
A donation of close to $4,000 from the Ottawa Field–Naturalists’ Club for projects benefiting the Alfred Bog will be matched by South Nation Conservation which then intends to double the amount to $16,000 through outside funding sources.
The action was recommended recently by SNC’s
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L-R : Bill Radix, Ted Mosquin, SNC Board Vice-Chair Denis Pommainville, Frank Pope, Louis Prévost, and Brenda VanSleeuwen |
Communications Committee after being briefed by Senior Fish and Wildlife Technician Naomi Langlois-Anderson on the donation and on the 20-year campaign by OFNC and the Vankleek Hill & District Nature Society to preserve the entire bog, some of which had been threatened by development.
Funds from the Lafleche Environmental Fund and the provincial and federal governments were used to acquire the remaining wetland and bring it into the protected bog zone, securing it as part of the water recharge area and nature preserve.
Many rare and threatened flora and fauna species reside in the Alfred Bog, including the continentally rare Bog Elfin Butterfly, Langlois-Anderson noted. Unfortunately, threats remain to the integrity of the bog in the form of remnant drains in its interior and extensive drainage at the perimeter which continue to remove water.
In a related recommendation from Langlois-Anderson, the SNC board of directors has publicly recognized and congratulated several organizations involved in the ongoing effort to preserve the bog.
They include: The Vankleek Hill & District Nature Society, the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and Dr. Ted Mosquin who completed a Life Science Inventory of the bog.
The preservation effort dates back to 1981 when the Field Naturalists and the Nature Society combined to try to prevent the municipality from rezoning the bog to agriculture from conservation to permit peat harvesting; when the bid failed, the Field Naturalists bought 50 acres in the bog to obtain status and took the case to the Ontario Municipal Board. Eventually, the initial organizations joined forces with several others to form the Alfred Bog Committee which has acquired much of the wetland.
The campaign continues and Langlois-Anderson said SNC staff will work with other interested colleagues in determining what projects should be funded with the $16,000 to provide greatest benefit to the bog.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Naomi Langlois-Anderson, 877-984-2948, ext. 250.
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