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1999
Conservation Work
1999
Stream Rehabilitation Work by CRAA
| Following
several years of growing success CRAA went into high gear in 1999 when several funding
sources approved CRAA's stream rehabilitation work for significant grants. An initial
grant from the OMNR from John Snobelen's Office of $10,000 initiated a very productive
year, Applications were made for over $12,500 in CFIP funding of which $8,500 was
approved. In March CRAA received a $10,000 grant from the Great Salmon Hunt and in
April $40,000 was approved from Eco-Action 2000 (Environment Canada). This very significant
funding allowed CRAA to hire six students for half the year to plant trees, contact
more land owners, complete stream rehabilitation and so much more. |
Reforesting
- What's the big deal?
Trees are
perhaps the most important element (next to water) for the protection of our salmon
and trout fishery. Sure, trees add oxygen to the air, but they do a lot more along
rivers.
- trees stabilize stream
banks from erosion (both roots and when they fall down)
- they add woody cover
for fish
- they create log jams
(for us to fish)
- leaf litter adds
food and nutrients for insects and fish
- trees prevent soil
erosion
- trees shade the river
- trees insulate the
water from hot summer days and cold winter days
- and trees are beneficial
to all wildlife.
Over the course of
1999 CRAA volunteers and employees planted close to 30,000 trees. That's right, 30,000!
We were able to reforest 90% of the open river sections between Inglewood and Norval.
Many farms which had
few or no trees were totally reforested. Now sections of river that were exposed to
sunlight with no vegetation will soon be protected by a 50 m buffer strip of forest.
At one property we observed a 6 C increase in water temperature over 800 m of the
river in Glen Williams. Once our trees have grown this heating will be eliminated,
keeping the river colder and significantly increasing trout and salmon reproduction.
Planting trees is
just the beginning. Every tree we planted received maintenance to ensure the highest
survival rate. This included mulching to keep grasses down, watering and fertilizing.
Our summer employees had to walk endless kilometers to fertilize and care for all
the trees. Watering was also difficult with a hot dry summer. One of the pictures
below shows crew leader Vince D'Ellia and crew member Matt Richards floating our water
pump and fire hose down the river spraying water onto the parched trees. Follow up
checks in September estimated a 93% survival rate at most sites.
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Red
maples planted in Glen Williams. |
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Popular
and maples planted near Terra Cotta. |
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A
willow stake growing, one of 10.000 planted in 1999. |
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CRAA
employees watering trees in dry weather. |
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