Carolinian Canada Conservation Awards 2011

2011 Award Recipients - photo: Tristan Bentley The Award Winners Individual Deanna Lindblad Dave Reid Youth Robert Bateman High School Group Waynco Bert Miller Nature Club Honourable Mention: Long Point Causeway Improvement Project Lifetime Achievement George Francis Harry Barrett
photos provided by recipients
Individual
Deanna Lindblad PORT COLBORNE	Deanna is Natural Heritage Systems Coordinator for the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. She has played a key role coordinating and developing the NPCA's Natural Areas Inventory (recently completed) and the Natural Heritage System (ongoing). She currently is seconded part-time to the Niagara Parks Commission as their Park Naturalist. Deanna has been very involved in our Niagara Conservation Action Plan and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the ecosystems, stakeholders and restoration activities within the Niagara Peninsula. She has been involved in the Imperilled Butterfly Conservation and Management Program.
Dave Reid SIMCOE	Dave Reid is a committed, forward-thinking conservation leader in Norfolk County. He has worked for the Ministry of Natural Resources for 36 years and has been involved in dozens of projects that have contributed to the Carolinian Canada landscape ranging from the reintroduction of the wild turkey in 1984 to most recently, the successful Norfolk ALUS Pilot Project. He manages a 50 acre Carolinian Canada woodlot. Through years of dedication and strong vision, Dave has involved countless farm families across Norfolk in undertaking beneficial stewardship projects from wetland drain restoration projects involving treed and grassed buffers, sand traps, and cattle fencing; to habitat creation projects involving Tallgrass Prairie, Oak Savannah, reforestation using native Carolinian Canada tree and shrub species, and wetland creation projects.
Youth
Robert Bateman High School BURLINGTON	Robert Bateman High School has earned GOLD status as an Ontario Eco School for three consecutive years. Thanks to the continued efforts of the staff and students with projects such as the Imprints Eco Conference in the fall, the introduction of the Organic Green Bins in the Food School, the staff room and the daycare, and the planting of the vegetable gardens and the tree and plants in the reflection garden, the school proved it is truly a GOLD Eco school. The Bateman Environmental Action Team (B.E.A.T.)also worked on reducing waste output and energy use. Teachers Mrs. Hickey and Mrs. Brock have shown strong leadership on environmental initiatives.
Group
Waynco CAMBRIDGE	Since 2006, Cambridge-based sand and gravel company Waynco has supported several prescribed burns and an extensive invasive species management plan which has greatly improved the quality of rare tallgrass prarie habitat on the company's property. Seed collection and planting have expanded the extent of the prairie into old fields and surrounding lands. The site is now becoming a prime example of co-operative land stewardship in the Region of Waterloo.
Bert Miller Nature Club FORT ERIE	Among the Bert Miller Nature Club's many conservation successes are the preservation of Marcy's Woods at Point Abino, volunteering on the Fowler's Toad Recovery Project, and rehabilitating the Shagbark Nature Park. The Club is currently leading an innovative and collaborative partnership that will provide high quality plant inventory data for significant Lake Erie coastal areas of Niagara and Haldimand for academic study, as well as use by Conservation Authorities, municipalities, and local landowners. The coastal inventory is led by local ecologist Albert Garofalo.
Honourable Mention Long Point Causeway Improvement Project	Begun in 2006, The Long Point Causeway Improvement Project is a community-based effort to revitalize the 3.5 kilometre-long causeway that links the Long Point Peninsula on Lake Erie with mainland southern Ontario. Community benefits include marsh rejuvenation, species at risk and other wildlife protection. It is an excellent example of a multi-stakeholder committee that includes community members, environmental organizations, hunting and fishing organizations and government agencies collaborating on a science-based approach towards a common goal to mitigate the environmental impacts of the Long Point causeway.
Lifetime Achievement
George Francis WATERLOO	George Francis is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies at University of Waterloo where he was originally appointed as its first Chairperson in 1970. Numerous students in this highly successful program have made conservation and research contributions to Long Point, the Carolinian Canada region and the wider world. Many of them are now employed in positions that involve conservation work in Carolinian Canada and their contributions will endure for many years. George Francis has also been a prime mover in the creation of Biosphere Reserves in Canada and internationally and was a leader in the establishment of the Long Point Biosphere Reserve, which he has continued to support to this day.
Harry Barrett PORT DOVER	Harry Barrett is a conservationist, historian, farmer, teacher and a practical naturalist, with a love for, and a determination to preserve the Long Point Country. He is past Founding President of both the Norfolk Field Naturalists and the Dover Mills Heritage Association. Harry is a past President of the Norfolk Historical Society and served as executive member of the Ontario Historical Society. He also served as Provincial appointee on the Long Point Region Conservation Authority and was founding Chairman of the Long Point Foundation for Conservation. Harry served as a director of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists and in 1986 was appointed to the Ontario Heritage Foundation where he chaired the Niagara Escarpment Committee and served on the Carolinian Canada Committee and the Natural Heritage Committee. He is the author of books on the local history of the Haldimand-Norfolk region of Ontario.