Photo by Nicole Lee Photography

If land is donated to the Muskoka Conservancy, why would we need volunteers and money? People are often surprised to learn of the work and cost that the Muskoka Conservancy has to expend in acquiring and protecting wild spaces in Muskoka, even though the interests in land are donated.

We currently protect more than 1,800 acres of land and over 34,000 feet of shoreline in Mus-koka and surrounding areas, either through ownership of na-ture reserves or through holding conservation easements (in the case of conservation ease-ments, the donor continues to own the land but an agreement that restricts the use of the land is put on title). These properties include provincially significant wetland and habitat for species at risk.

When a property is offered to the Muskoka Con-servancy, a team of volunteers visits the prop-erty to determine its ecological significance and determine if the Conservancy can accept the do-nation of either the land or a conservation ease-ment.

We turn down more properties than we accept, for a number of reasons. But once a property is determined to meet our criteria, there are sev-eral steps that may be needed, depending on the circumstances. We may require:

a survey a severance, if a portion of a lot is to be do-nated a detailed application for the property to be classified as ecologically significant under the Federal Ecogift program

negotiation of the terms of a conservation easement, if that is what is being donated an appraisal of the value of the property being donated or of the reduction in value of the property by entering into a conservation ease-ment retaining a lawyer for the transfer of the land

or registering the conservation easement.

Once a property has been do-nated, or a conservation ease-ment has been registered, there are still ongoing expenses and re-sponsibilities.

For each of our nature reserves, we have a management commit-tee, usually members of the local community, who will monitor the property and help us with any needed projects, such as removal

of invasive plants or picking up garbage that has washed up or been dumped on the property. We have ongoing expenses including insurance, sign-age, tipping fees and municipal taxes.

We also need to visit each of the properties cov-ered by a conservation easement, at least once per year, to ensure that the owners are honoring the terms of the agreement.

I don’t think many people understand that each property we undertake to protect adds to our workload and our expenses. As good as nature is at looking after each property, it sometimes needs a little help.

So I want to thank all of our members, donors, volunteers, and sponsors for helping the Mus-koka Conservancy protect some of Muskoka’s wild spaces. By Allyn Abbott

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 3

SUMMER 2014

What an honour it is to begin my term as the new President of the Muskoka Conservancy! I am delighted to be working with our members, our volun-teers, and our dedicated staff on so many interesting initia-tives. Together, we are working hard to preserve Muskoka’s beautiful natural spaces and pristine waters.

The work of the Conservancy is very close to my heart. My fam-ily has been coming to Muskoka for more than a century, and I

am now privileged to live here as a year-round resident. I also bring a body of practical experi-ence in environmental science and engineering – almost 40 years in government, the pri-vate sector, and university teaching. For the last two and a half years, I have been a mem-ber of our Board of Directors, and have watched the organiza-tion grow and flourish over that time, making great strides in land acquisition, stewardship, and a variety of outreach activi-ties. Over the past year, we have also made significant ad-vances in modernizing our property monitoring system, updating our web resources, and extending our range of workshops and Nature Quest hikes.

None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our wonderful staff, volun-teers and members. This spring, we welcomed a new board member, John Burton, and said

goodbye to outgoing board members Bill Dickinson, the leader of our Technical Advisory Group, and John Finley, a for-mer President and long-time supporter of the organization. To them, we owe a great debt of thanks for their many contri-butions over the years. Allyn Abbott, our outgoing President, deserves special recognition for her tremendous dedication and commitment over six years as president. Hers are big shoes to fill, and I am grateful that I will be able to rely on her for advice in the coming year.

These are exciting times in-deed! As we look ahead to an-other productive year, I want to thank you again for being part of the Muskoka Conservancy and for helping us protect and conserve the landscapes we cherish. We couldn’t do it with-out you!

Isobel Heathcote

Do you remember the first time you jumped into the lake all by yourself? Remember the mo-ment of trepidation followed by a nano-second of anxiety (that in the child's mind can stretch to hours)? Remember the exhilara-tion of flying through the air? Remember the pride you felt when you broke through the wa-ter to the cheers and applause of the adults on the dock? Ah, the beauty of those cottage memo-ries! What an amazing time, when a cannonball jump, per-fectly executed, was the ultimate goal of the day!

This summer I was fascinated to watch this ritual of childhood play out with my own son: his first water-wing-free catapult into the chilly waters of the wait-ing lake. The giggles, the shouts of triumph, and the "Mom watch this one!" were music to my ears. Somewhere between jump 29 and 30 the light bulb went on and Quaid broke his concen-trated pose to glance back at me with a concerned look on his face...

"Ummmm Mom? Are there any fish in this lake?"

There it was. I was faced with the predicament that every par-ent faces...should I tell him the truth and risk instilling fear in him, or should I lie and risk him finding out the truth from one of his cousins?

"Well, there are fish, buddy," I said "but with all your splashing I can tell you that they are all over on the other side of the lake!"

There...the happy parenthood compromise!

The next day, Quaid ventured

down to the dock with his Nana to go fishing. I should mention that the only thing he caught last year was my mother, when a

wayward cast caught hold of her earlobe... This year, he was de-termined to catch a real fish.

As he stood on the same dock he'd jettisoned himself from the day before, he cast his line into the water and waited...About 10 casts later, there was the telltale tug on the line. PANIC is the only way to describe the look on his face as he dropped the rod at Nana's feet and ran down the dock.

You see, somewhere in his 7-year-old brain, he hadn't equated catching a fish to having to TOUCH a fish. Now, faced with the inevitable end to this adven-ture, he was terrified!

Unfazed by this sudden turn of events, Nana finished reeling in the rock bass, freed it from its hook, and held it out for inspec-tion. My ever-cautious son tip-toed toward his grandmother and eventually worked up the

courage to 'pet' the fish.

"Ugh, it's slimy!" was all he said as a smile burst forth from his face! He started yelling it up to uncles and aunts alike:

"I caught a fish! And I TOUCHED it!" Another of life's victories added to a long list of firsts.

A week after Quaid's epic story of cannonballs and slimy fish un-folded, I watched him play his Mindcraft video game. (For those of you who don't know about this game, I have nothing but ENVY for you!) Essentially, it is a game where he can create a digital world. As I watched him building a blue space I asked him what it was.

"Oh, that's the lake. Beside it is where I'm going to build the cot-tage so that I can make my guy jump and cannonball the slimy fish."

A memory was made this year, one that will live in his mind over the decades before him. A mem-ory that will connect him to that cottage and that lake forever. A memory not unlike mine, my husband's, and even yours. It's these memories of unrushed freedom and triumph that bind us to places like Muskoka.

These memories are the reasons that Muskoka Conservancy ex-ists. They are the legacies that will live on in the human heart as much as they do in the beautiful landscapes we love. By preserv-ing our precious forests, wet-lands and shorelines, we ensure that our children's children will have slimy fish to cannonball in the generations to come.

Kristie Virgoe

Muskoka is special. Muskoka is our get-away, it's the place we can go to and rejuvenate, reflect and relax, and for many of us, Muskoka is home, and we're proud to call it home. As we sit on our dock and enjoy the natural environment, we sometimes forget about all of the other species - right below our Muskoka chairs - that also call this region home. Our shoreline regions are vastly populated with a diversity of plant, animal, insect, and bird species and incredibly, 70% of all life on the planet will depend on the shoreline region of our land-scape at some point in their lives. Muskoka's shorelines are pre-cious. As shoreline property own-ers, it is our responsibility to be good stewards of the land and protect and care for our sensitive shoreline ecosystems. Often some small and simple shoreline restoration projects are the best option for naturalizing our prop-erties and creating spaces on our shorelines for wildlife habitat. A few extra shrubs, wildflowers and ferns can go a long way to improve water quality, create habitat for birds, bees, and but-terflies (not to mention fish and sensitive reptile and amphibian species!), as well as stabilize your shoreline ecosystem to ensure your shoreline will be there for many years to come. While planting a shoreline buffer can certainly go a long way for the stewardship of your prop-erty, there are other considera-

tions. Mow less! The more native vegetation you have growing on your property, the better - it means you have to start up your lawn mower much less, and you have more time to relax out-doors. Be conscious of the prod-ucts you are using both in your home/cottage and on the prop-

erty. Purchasing products that are safe to use with a septic sys-tem, that don't have added phos-phorus, and that contain natural ingredients are certainly great places to start to maintain a healthy water quality. Shoreline ecosystems are abun-dant in Muskoka and we have a responsibility to be good stew-ards of our properties and make choices that have the natural en-vironment's best interests in mind. Muskoka is a special place

and we need to work to keep it that way! As part of the Shoreline Steward-ship Program that is available through Muskoka Conservancy, we are offering personalized shoreline site visits to any land-owner who is interested. Follow-ing a shoreline property visit, an owner on Brandy Lake com-mented, "Further to your sugges-tions we have decided to leave all areas around the path natural and add some of your suggested plantings. We will develop a more natural riparian zone with the native plantings. Thanks again for your help. It helped me shift my prospective on how to work with nature instead of bat-tling the wetland that we have!" If you have questions about your property, you have a concern about the health of the shore-line, or you are interested in do-ing some planting and naturaliz-ing of your shoreline, please be in contact with Jenn Head, Stew-ardship Coordinator to arrange a time to meet. We are here to help! jhead@muskokaconservancy.org

or 705-645-7393 ext. 206.

By Jenn Head

Photo by Dave Brouillet

The Muskoka Conservancy (MC) recently partnered with the Bracebridge Rotary Club to restore part of the shoreline of Bracebridge Bay between the falls and Kelvin Grove Park on the south side. This shoreline was capped with cement as a way to pro-vide protection from flooding. The walking path along this stretch is well-used, but there was little beauty and no habitat benefits.

The project was the brainchild of the Bracebridge Rotary. When they approached the MC to see if we

were interested in partnering, it was a no-brainer for us. Both agencies sought and received funding. Construction began in June when most of the ce-ment cap was removed and replaced with large and small boulders. Planting beds were created all the way along, level with the walking path.

On the morning of July 19th, more than 50 commu-nity volunteers arrived to plant 200 potted native shrubs. Fortunately, it was a sunny day but not too hot. The space between the plants was seeded with a seed mixture of native grasses and perennials suitable for riverbank locations. Never has the ad-age “many hands mean light work” been truer, as the entire site was planted in less than 2 hours!

At the time of writing, a tour of the planting site a week after the event shows that the plants are all doing well (thanks to several rainy days!) and a haze of green over the bare ground indicates that the seed mixtures are already starting to germinate and grow. The idea is that when all takes root and grows, the beds will be secure if there are flood conditions in future springs. Time will tell on that one…let’s all hope for a kind spring in 2015!

By Jan McDonnell

Dyer Memorial Nature Reserve Hike

Saturday, August 16th

Come for a historical hike on the Dyer Memorial Nature Reserve! Learn about the history of the place, discover the monument and wildlife, walk through the forest while listening to the sto-ries behind the property.

Meet at the Dyer Memorial Na-ture Reserve, at the end of Dyer Memorial road in Huntsville. Tour starts at 10 am and finishes at 11:30 - $10 per person.

Musquash Road Nature Reserve

Saturday, September 27th

Join Filed Naturalist Bill Dickinson for a tour of the Muskoka Conser-vancy’s Musquash Road Nature Reserve. Later that day, you can participate in the Muskoka Family Star Party at the Muskoka KOA campground & Torrance Barrens Dark Sky Site, in Gravenhurst.

Meet at Torrance Community Cen-tre at 10:30 to carpool to the site. You will return at 12:30; price is $10 per person.

You must register for these hikes as the guides are coming from out of town. Please call (705) 645-7393 x200 or e-mail info@muskokaconservancy.org for more information

Photo by Nicole Lee Photography

In the late spring, Muskoka Conservancy and Westwind Forest were the successful re-cipients of an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant that allowed us to implement our Healthy Trees Program. This is a two year program that will build community awareness of some of the concerns and pressures that the forests in the Mus-koka/Parry Sound region are facing. The idea of the program is that as individual landowners we are connected to a larger forest, and we have a responsi-bility to be good stewards of the forest ecosystem. The Healthy Trees Program aims to help improve the health of our forests, and give land-

owners a resource where they can obtain information about the concerns they may have on their own properties - no mat-ter what the size. As part of this program we will be hosting community work-shops on a number of topics related to tree health including invasive species, forest wildlife, and urban forestry. Please look for these workshop dates and locations on both the Muskoka Conservancy website and through e-bulletins. We are also offering landowner consultations on tree health issues. If you have a concern on your property you are encour-aged to contact us, send us an email with a photo, or invite us to visit your property and we will give advice on the cause of the issue and also provide sug-gestions on mitigation and management of the concern. The Healthy Trees program will also bring you our Woodlands and Wildlife Forest Festival! Mark November 14th, 2014 on your calendar as a day to join us and discover the hot topics re-lated to our forests and wildlife. This day-long workshop will provide opportunities for pri-vate landowners and profes-sionals in Muskoka to connect, share challenges and solutions, and learn about new develop-ments in the forest industry. Landowners will learn about the

importance of our forest eco-system, how to protect it, and how to manage their property for improved wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Please look for invitations to register and a de-tailed agenda this coming fall season. If you have any questions about the Healthy Trees Program, or you would like to participate, please contact Jenn Head, Stewardship Coordinator at jhead@muskokaconservancy.org or by phone at 705-645-7393 ext. 206.

By Jenn Head

Photos by Nicole Lee Photography

Claire joined the Conservancy as a volunteer in fall 2013; this spring she became the Communi-cations and Events Technician. She graduated from a Masters in Foreign Languages, Economics and Communications at a univer-sity in the south of France. Claire worked in Community Develop-ment in Melbourne, Australia, before moving to Muskoka. She is delighted to be part of the team and to be part of a sustainable Muskoka.

Ally recently completed a post graduate certificate in Ecosystem Restoration from Niagara College, and the year prior to this she completed a Bachelors degree in Environmental Sustainability and International Development from Dalhousie University. She has ex-perience working in nature re-serves and national parks in South Africa and Namibia, and is passionate about conserving land for future generations. This sum-mer, Ally is involved in Property Monitoring.

Nicole moved to Muskoka two years ago. She studied Psychology & Criminology at the University of Western Ontario and has an addi-tional diploma in Social Service work. Her passions are social work and photography, especially wildlife and nature photography. You can see some of Nicole’s beautiful pictures on the Mus-koka Conservancy Facebook page.

As you might be aware, Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) same into effect on July 1, 2014. Under the new legislation, organizations are required to obtain the consent of a recipi-ent before sending commercial messages by email, cell phone texts, or social media. Registered charities like the Muskoka Conservancy are exempt from this requirement if the primary purpose of the message is to raise funds for the charity. This covers all of the communications you receive from Muskoka Conservancy about upcoming events and donation opportunities. For that reason, we were not re-quired to seek your permission to keep you on our mailing list. If at any time, you decide that you do not wish to re-ceive communications from us, please contact our office at 705-645-7393 or info@muskokaconservancy.org and re-quest that your name be removed from our list.

We have recently expanded our social media activities to Twitter and Instagram! If you like pictures, see what we’ve been up to by visiting our Instagram account by clicking here. If you would like to know what’s going on and learn about our workshops and events, check out our Twitter page here. Information about our events and work-shops is always available on our website and Facebook page, so don’t forget to check those resources out regularly!

Box 482, Bracebridge, ON, P1L 1T8 T: (705) 645-7393 F: (705) 645-7888 E: info@muskokaconservancy.org www.muskokaconservancy.org

We are pleased that our planned fundraiser for August 10th has already sold out. Sorry if you were disap-pointed about not getting tick-ets.

It should be a fun evening, with music by Jamie Sherman and then Marc Jordan and his band. Harry Hamlin will be emceeing and we have some wonderful auction items that have been donated by indi-viduals and businesses in Mus-koka. Thanks to the commit-

tee members who have organ-ized the event and the spon-sors and auction item donors who are generously supporting the Muskoka Conservancy.

This is a new fundraising event for the Muskoka Conser-vancy. Given the very positive response we’ve had, we’re planning to make this an an-nual event but to move it around Muskoka. If you’d like to be involved with organizing a future fundraising event, let us know.

Sponsors: Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited Ferncliffe Development & Design Inc.

Hilltop Interiors Muskoka Living Gretchen & Don Ross

Music Sponsor: Karen and Don Lang Beverage Sponsor: Barometer Capital Management Food Station Sponsor: Coulson Brothers Barging Service Dock Attendants Sponsor: Bosley Real Estate Media Sponsor : Muskoka Magazine & What’s Up Muskoka