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Environment
Tree Cutting along Bruce Beach Road
Submitted by beachcomber on June 24, 2010 - 4:10pmOn the 2nd of April, after hearing chain saws and a chipper being operated behind our cottage for several hours (111-2, Bruce Beach Road), Dave Ceolin, my son Vincent and I attended at 738 Lake Range Drive. We spoke with the owner, who allowed us to attend in their back yard, where we observed that clear cutting had occurred approx. 1/3rd of the way down the hill towards the Bruce Beach Road. The owner indicated that he had a Ministry of Environment permit to cut the trees on the hill and was cutting them to 'make his back yard bigger'. When asked to see the permit he admitted that he didn't have one. We indicated that we understood that a bylaw had been enacted by the municipality, preventing clear cutting and encouraged the owner to stop. Returning to Dave Ceolin's cottage, we checked the internet and located 'Bruce County Forest Conservation ByLaw, 2004, By Law NO. 4071. With this information, we called the OPP who attended and instructed the owner to cease cutting any more trees.… continue reading »
Algae Monitoring
Submitted by Ross Klopp on May 13, 2010 - 2:00amMy name is Daniel Bick. I am entering my 4th year of Ecology and Environmental studies at the University of Waterloo. I am working for Dr. Barton from the Biology Department on a project focused on observing Algae from the Point Clark Area to Inverhuron. An important part of the study will be to record the timing and distribution of shoreline algae fouling and determine if it can be correlated to weather patterns, nutrient enrichment or other factors.… continue reading »
Asian Carp Information
Submitted by Ross Klopp on March 16, 2010 - 1:00amWith the threat of Asian Carp entering Lake Michigan there have been several initiatives undertaken to control their migration.
Lake Huron e-news March 2010
Submitted by Geoff Peach on March 1, 2010 - 2:00am
At Your Service ...
Continuing on the theme of biodiversity (in celebration of
the
International
Year of Biodiversity), this issue will explore some of the services
that ecosystems provide us, and why it's important to protect these
benefits.
To begin, an ecosystem is a community of animals and plants interacting
with one another and with their physical environment. Ecosystems include
physical and chemical components, such as soils, water, and nutrients
that support the organisms living within them. These organisms may range
from large animals and plants to microscopic bacteria. Ecosystems
include
the interactions among all organisms in a given habitat. People are part
of ecosystems. Our health and well-being depends upon the services
provided by our local ecosystems and everything that makes them up
organisms, soil, water, and nutrients. Along Lake Huron, some of
our coastal ecosystems include wetlands, bluffs, dune grasslands,
alvars,
and woodlands.… continue reading »
Manure production across Canada
Submitted by Ross Klopp on February 23, 2010 - 2:00amHere's a short but fascinating federal survey of manure use across Canada, with a chart showing which watersheds use how much manure (in tonnes per hectare).
Southern Ontario has six of the country's Top Ten manure-producing regions, including the top three, so we own the podium on that. The Penetangore, Saugeen and Maitland watersheds are all up there. The survey is from Stats Can, based on 2006 Census of Agriculture data, and published in December of 2008. Access is free, so it might be of interest to the whole Bruce Beach Cottagers' Association.
A geographical profile of livestock manure production in Canada, 2006
Tom Spears… continue reading »
U.S. to work on cleaning up Great Lakes
Submitted by Ross Klopp on February 21, 2010 - 3:25amFeds outline plan to nurse Great Lakes to health.
By JOHN FLESHER,
AP Environmental Writer John Flesher, Ap Environmental Writer
– Sun Feb 21, 8:25 am ET
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – The Obama administration has developed a five-year blueprint for rescuing the Great Lakes, a sprawling ecosystem plagued by toxic contamination, shrinking wildlife habitat and invasive species.
The plan envisions spending more than $2.2 billion for long-awaited repairs after a century of damage to the lakes, which hold 20 percent of the world's fresh water. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the document, which Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, was releasing at a news conference Sunday in Washington.
Asian Carp
Submitted by Ross Klopp on February 19, 2010 - 9:40pmHere is a news item, just three hours old, about Michigan's legal efforts to keep asian carp out of the Great Lakes.
More information is available on the Internet if you use the Google search for "Asian Carp".
Our representative for the Ontario government is Minister Donna Cansfield; no federal Canadian representative has been mentioned in anything that I have read.
Please pass this news item along to anyone you think could help to keep the asian carp out of the Great Lakes. The time for action is now, and it may already be too late.
Bill Barnard (108 Bruce Beach)
Hamilton, ON
"Asian carp: Michigan report disputes cost of closing canal locks"
Bruce Beach Year Book Enclosures
Submitted by Ross Klopp on February 19, 2010 - 8:00pmIf anyone has good digital pictures of summer activities.
Activities such as:… continue reading »
- North-South Baseball Classic
- Sports Day
- Sports Day Winners
- Games Day
CBC features town, Bruce Power and Kincardine on February 11st 8 pm
Submitted by Ross Klopp on February 11, 2010 - 2:22pmIn case any of you are interested in watching, thought I would pass this along.
Bruce Power and Kincardine will share the spotlight in a CBC documentary to air in February. My Nuclear Neighbour, a one-hour Reel Time Images film will air Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. on CBC's The Nature of Things with David Suzuki.
The documentary follows the lives of two Peace River women, Lorraine Jensen and Brenda McSween, after they find out about Bruce Power Alberta's plans for a nuclear facility.
"We wanted to take a look at their point of view of a new plant literally being built in their backyard, along their fence line," director Donna Zuckerbrot said in a recent interview. "You will get the sense they're initially very fearful and you'll see how their view transforms as we go along. It shows both sides of the issue, where people have very strong opinions." … continue reading »
Lake Huron e-news February 2010
Submitted by Geoff Peach on February 3, 2010 - 6:28pm
Stepping Back
In our last issue, we introduced the term
"biodiversity", the diversity of living things in our
environment. In this issue we'll discuss biodiversity from a broad
lake-wide perspective, and how plant life in particular contributes to
the health of our lake environment.
When we observe environmental problems showing up at the beach,
like excessive algae washing ashore, or posted beaches due to high
bacteria, often these problems originate beyond the local beach area.
Some of these issues are compounded by the state of our watersheds.
The Lake Huron watershed covers roughly 134,000 square kilometres.
Since European settlement of the Lake Huron region, the watershed has
undergone significant changes, particularly south of the Bruce
Peninsula,
and along southern Georgian Bay. Forest cover, for instance, has been
reduced from an estimated pre-settlement extent of 90% to around
18%, and as low as 6% in some of Huron's river systems.
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