South Nation

SNC and our municipal partners are enabling communities to plant more trees. We invite landowners to support reforestation efforts by ordering seedlings through our tree planting program. We offer a subsidy for native stock from the Ferguson Forest Centre in Kemptville. The North Grenville nursery grows high quality, ecologically suitable trees and shrubs, which we have been purchasing for 30 years. Place your 2014 orders early for the best selection of conifer seedlings and transplants, hardwoods, and shrubs.

SNC is joining area Conservation Authorities in the collection of stream condition information in the City of Ottawa. We will use this knowledge to identify areas for water quality and habitat improvement projects, and inform our grant allocations. The Stream Watch Program is a community collaboration initiative that relies on volunteer engagement. We train local stewards to use environmental monitoring equipment and submit data and survey results. Sampling will begin next year with focuses on stream assessment, fish communities, erosion, and invasive species removal.

Preparations for rebuilding the cheese factory destroyed by fire earlier this year may be taking priority… but that hasn’t stopped the St. Albert Co-operative from allocating another $5,000 to South Nation Conservation’s Clean Water Program (CWP).

“Going back a decade now, I’ve always been impressed with St. Albert’s dedication to the clean water cause,” said Ronda Boutz, SNC Team Lead, Communications and Outreach.

One of the best ways to get a close-up view of the local landscape is by coach. You don’t have to focus on the driving, you’re up high looking through expansive windows, and the seats are extra comfy.

That’s just part of the attraction of the annual South Nation Conservation fall bus tour coming up Sept. 24, rain or shine. The bus departs SNC offices in Finch at 8 a.m., returning at 4 p.m.

A major corporate contributor to South Nation Conservation’s Clean Water Program (CWP), for the past 15 years, Parmalat Canada has come through with another $5,000 donation to the ongoing effort.

Appropriately, the latest cheque was presented to the Clean Water Committee (CWC) during a meeting September 9 at the company’s cold storage facility in Winchester. Committee chair Jackie Pemberton, a former Parmalat employee, thanked the milk processor for its ongoing generosity now totalling $290,000.

In a decision considered a milestone by South Nation Conservation, a Casselman based Scouting group has changed its name to reflect its connection to the natural environment.

As part of a restructuring and amalgamation effort, Casselman district Scouts will now be known as Les Scouts de la 37^e du bassin versant de la Nation Sud… Scouts of the 37^th of the South Nation Watershed.

One of the surprising things to many people about the 4,000 square-km South Nation River watershed is the number of fish species calling it home.

In recent years, more than 50 species have been identified in the South Nation and its tributaries extending from the St. Lawrence Seaway at Prescott to the Ottawa River at Plantagenet.

“People are fooled because many of the streams within the watershed are shallow and murky,” said South Nation Conservation Resource Technician Ryan Robson. “But that doesn’t mean they don’t support aquatic life and they do in abundance.”

Thanks to a partnership between South Nation Conservation and the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry County Library, this summer youngsters across the region have been discovering how to protect turtles at risk, how bugs contribute to the ecosystem, and the surprising variety of the local fishery.

To date, some 165 students have benefited from the library presentations in branches from Morrisburg to Maxville. SNC summer students have presented the programs while the branches supplied craft materials.

South Nation Conservation is reminding hunters they have until September 1st to take advantage of discounted fees for hunting on SNC lands. From January 1st to August 31st the fee is $30; September 1st the fee is set at $50.

“The two-tiered fee structure better reflects the demand on staff according to the time of year,” said Chris Craig, SNC Senior Forestry Technician. “It’s in the hunters’ best interest to get the letter of permission before September 1st to save some money.”