|
PRWIN's annual stewardship awards presented |
Huron-Kinloss news To Comment on this article Click Here |
||||
 Adrienne Mason (L), co-ordinator of the Pine River Watershed Initiative Network (PRWIN), and Jack Campbell, past-president, present the annual stewardship awards to Janice McKean and Art Wiebe of The Ark Native Plant Nursery, Anne Eadie, Harvey Brooks, and Amber Howald representing Ripley-Huron Community School | |||||
|
The Pine River Watershed Initiative Network (PRWIN) presented its annual stewardship awards at the Ripley-Huron Fall Fair Saturday afternoon. This year's recipients are Anne Eadie, Harvey Brooks, Ripley-Huron Community School and The Ark Native Plant Nursery. ANNE EADIE Eadie is extremely deserving of this award. She is a life-long member of this community, has solid farming roots, knows most families in the area, has been a well-loved teacher and currently is a very dedicated and knowledgeable local politician with a passion for fairness, well-being and a healthy environment. She is a board member of the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation and during her years as a councillor for Huron-Kinloss Township, she was this area's representative on the board for the Saugeen Valley Conservation authority and the PRWIN. From 2003-10, Eadie was a major contributor to the successful development of PRWIN.Her local knowledge, political connections for financial and ministerial support, personal passion that a healthy environment be passed along to our children, and her tireless energy to spearhead projects, work with neighbours and volunteers whenever and wherever possible, make Eadie an outstanding recipient of this award. HARVEY BROOKS He is the third generation Brooks farmer to live on the farm his grandparents built. When he moved back to the farm, he started to make some changes and in 2009 approached PRWIN to do a tree-planting project as a buffer zone. This is in front of his property and slopes down to the river. In 2010, PRWIN planted 5,000 trees and followed with a 2011 project of 3,200 trees. Brooks' project ties in with other projects in the area which hopefully will show considerable benefits in the future to soil erosion, water quality and provide a wildlife corridor for birds and animals. THE ARK NATIVE PLANT NURSERYIn 1998, Janice McKean and Dr. Art Wiebe of the Ark Native Plant Nursery, started land-restoration on their 110-acre farm near Kincardine. The land was scarred with the remains of old gravel pits and overgrazing. When they first started, they bought some trees and native plants. However, the size of their property and economics soon had them growing their own. They try to grow their plants in a manner as friendly to the planet as they currently know how. For example, they do not use peat. Instead, they experiment with their ow growing mixes made from materials on hand. They also collect seeds from our bio-region whenever possible. Passive solar methods are also used for heating the greenhouse. Over the past three years, the Ark has been supporting the efforts to restore the ecosystems of the Pine River Watershed through two separate methods. The first, propagating and growing native grasses to help control erosion and increase biodiversity in steep river banks. The second, being there to help PRWIN with environmental education programs at the Ripley school and the Kincardine high school. These programs would not have been possible without the energy and effort of McKean and Wiebe.
|
RIPLEY-HURON COMMUNITY SCHOOL Over the past two school years, Ripley-Huron Community School classes have been outdoors helping PRWIN to learn about the watershed and work on restoring some of its biodiversity. In the first year, the Grades 6-8 students travelled to the Ark Native Plant Nursery to study environmental restoration in action. The classes of Mrs. Grube and Mr. Quinn struggled through some wet weather to learn the importance of the natural environment. The field trips involved the children in propagating native grasses to help prevent bank erosion. The children were very polite guests at the Ark and on the school bus and did a great deal to help to restore "clean water and a healthy ecosytem in the Pine River Watershed. PRWIN hopes to form a yearly partnership with the Ripley school to further the outdoor and environment education programs that are offered at the school. This partnership will encourage children to take an active role in their larger community, both the natural one and the greater Ripley community. PRWIN has planted almost 175,000 trees:
Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
|
||||
|
 for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...Sunday, September 25, 2011 |
||||
