2021 SCRCA Stewardship Program Highlights

December 2021 | SCRCA Stewardship Team

 

Stewardship and Forestry

The SCRCA promotes and supports activities that will create healthy watersheds and improve local water quality and soil health. Conservation Authority staff achieve this by providing educational opportunities, technical advice, and financial assistance to local landowners interested in  establishing Best Management Practices (BMPs) and stewardship projects on their properties, such as tree planting and wetland creation. The SCRCA also offers several forestry services to promote sustainable woodlot practices including the development of woodlot management plans and certifying woodlands under the Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program (MFTIP).

 

Environmental Stewardship

Environmental stewardship projects are completed annually throughout the St. Clair Region watershed to improve and protect rural water quality and soil health. SCRCA staff actively seek grants to provide funding to support the efforts of local landowners. In 2021, $293,500 in grant funding was secured to support 42 projects, with participating landowners contributing an additional $102,000.

 

2021 Stewardship Projects

• 26 tree planting projects (30.5 hectares)
• 3 wetland projects (0.6 hectares)
• 5 erosion control projects
• 1 grassed waterway
• 5 cover crop projects (262 hectares)
• 1 creek crossing/alternative watering source project
• 1 septic system upgrade

 

 

Tree Planting

The demand was high for seedling and large-stock trees in 2021, with 79,000 seedlings and 1,433 largestock trees planted throughout the St. Clair Region watershed. A total of 65,000 tree seedlings were planted by SCRCA staff on 29 properties. Large-stock trees and the remaining 14,000 seedlings trees were provided to 83 local landowners and 4 municipalities for plantations, windbreaks, and roadside plantings, among others.

 

Tree Seed Collection

Every fall, SCRCA staff collect seeds from native trees throughout the watershed. These seeds grow into trees that will be used in future afforestation projects in the SCRCA region to ensure the trees produced are genetically adapted to our local growing conditions. In 2021, 3,700 litres of seed were collected from native tree species including white, bur, and red oak; shagbark hickory; and sugar maple. Trees sourced from the seeds collected in 2021 will be used for 2023 and 2024 afforestation projects.

 

Lambton County Woodlands Conservation By-Law

The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority has administered the Woodlands Conservation By-law on behalf of the County of Lambton since 2011. This partnership not only assists with the regulatory aspect of the bylaw but has expanded local outreach and education related to conserving woodlands.

 

National Tree Day 2021

As part of the SCRCA’s 60th Anniversary celebrations, two significant milestones were acknowledged on National Tree Day – the planting of over 4 million trees and the creation of over 100 hectares of wetland throughout the watershed. To honour this achievement, a small event was held at a local landowner’s property where Authority Chair and staff reflected on the success of our tree planting and stewardship efforts and unveiled a commemorative sign. The success of these programs is due in large part to the many funding partners who have supported the SCRCA over the past 60 years.

Interested in undertaking a stewardship project?

If you are interested in undertaking a stewardship project on your property or would simply like to learn more, fill out our Healthy Watersheds Program Survey.

We will add you to our contact list and reach out to you if funding becomes available to support the projects you are interested in implementing on your property.

You can also choose to receive occasional updates about upcoming expert-led and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing events.