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We offer a Badge of Honour to those valued supporters who have contributed to the Hanlon Creek Weir Removal Crowdfunding Campaign – Phase II. A BIG THANK YOU to all our supporters: Continue reading
GUELPH – The Ontario Rivers Alliance (ORA), Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC), Canadian Wildlife Federation, and four other partners are announcing Phase II of the Hanlon Creek Crowd Funding Campaign. We are looking to raise $10,000 by the 31stof July. The funds are required to pay for the weir modification and river rehabilitation work, scheduled to take place in September of this year. “We have a very short time-line and need your help to reach our fundraising goal”, said Alex Meeker, Ontario Provincial Biologist with TUC.
In 1982, the Bill Davis government implemented the Community Fisheries Involvement Program (CFIP) and Community Wildlife Involvement Program (CWIP) to support community members and volunteers in efforts to initiate environmental projects that benefitted fisheries and wildlife in Ontario. In the first year alone, 3000 volunteer work days were donated to 22 projects across the province. Due to the success of the program, the Mike Harris government increased the funding to these programs to $1,000,000.00, which according to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) lead to 35,000 anglers, hunters, conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts donating 200,000 hours to 600 on the ground projects in the program’s final year.
Join ORA and partners in a project to improve a coldwater Brook Trout fishery and habitat in Hanlon Creek. These Brookies will be jumping for joy when this project is done!!
The goal of the Rotary Club Dam Removal Project was to remove a very old dam and headpond from Armstrong Creek, a tributary of the rocky Saugeen River, and to rehabilitate the stream bed to better support a strong population of wild brookies. Continue reading
It is imperative that the Town of Erin examines every means possible to make its community more resilient to climate change, and most importantly, to protect its finite freshwater resources and its fishery. In fact, consideration of climate change was not even mentioned within the EA documentation, and ORA sees this as a major flaw, when it should have been included as a key consideration in the Scoring Matrix.
Springbank Dam, Thames River, London, ON
ORA and those listed below are writing in response to the recent settlement of the lawsuit over the Springbank Dam. We request serious consideration of our comments and recommendations regarding the future of the Springbank Dam, and its potential effects on public health and safety, on water quality, climate change, fisheries, and on the natural environment of the Thames River, Lake St Claire and Lake Erie, should it be returned to service.
Keynote Speaker: Mariëtte Pushkar, M.Sc., P.Geo.
Natural Channel Design Initiative
Mariëtte provided an overview of the Natural Channels Initiative, Natural Channel Design Principles, Watercourse Restoration and Dam Removals, and Regulatory Agency Roles and Challenges. She drew on her own experience and that of her colleagues at Ecosystem Recovery during the presentation.
