cktimes.ca Archives for Ecowrappin'
Ecowrappin'
THE EARLY YEARS
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
About this time a year ago I promised to change my attitude, outlook, viewpoint; whichever you prefer, as far as the contents of my monthly scribbling in this column. I promised to keep the subject matter more in tune with the environment and less so in the way of socio-political topics. Looking back, I see that my exact words were “they will be less cynical and more in keeping with the interests of the environment and the natural world.” Well, I failed to keep my 2011 resolution; at least to the extent promised. Unless some socio-political issue of intense public debate lifts its ugly head during 2012 --- and I am unable to keep from offering an opinion --- I will keep my offerings to ‘Ecowrappin’ over the upcoming months to experiences and opinions garnered from ample time spent in the natural, or at least, the rural environment. To this end I plan on harking back to my life and career in the wetland/wildlife habitat restoration and enhancement business. I have talked much about this in general, as well as about specific, noteworthy habitat projects in earlier columns; but there is still much that can be put to paper that, I believe anyway, will be of interest to the reader if not just the renderings of one man for the sake of posterity.As many of you have learned, my career with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) spanned almost 29 years. My first official day of employment with that great organization was April 21, 1975. I was at Head Office in Winnipeg at that time, the first day of a three week introduction to the history (to that point!), mission and day-to-day workings of DUC. That breaking-in period entailed over two weeks in south western Manitoba travelling with famous DUC alumnus like Lawrence Kelly, Rolly Wilkins and Gary Garrioch. Others I spent a few hours with during those first days were no less notable in the history of DUC; Al Burns, Ron Coley, Bill Leitch, Herb Moulding, Isabel Curwain, Cliff Schultz, Bernie Forbes, Paul Winslow and Jim Woolison. And, of course, Executive Vice-President Stewart Morrison. I vividly remember Stew saying to me; “We are here to help you”. You see, back in those days DUC was very much an organization driven at the field level. Head Office was there to serve the field; and that is exactly what they did; quite the opposite of the top-down anarchy and inefficiency that prevails in many companies today.
If I remember correctly, the total annual budget for DUC in 1975 was $6 million. This was the beginning of a period of rapid growth for the waterfowl/wetlands conservation organization. The accomplishments made on the wetland habitat front with the comparatively small national budgets of 1970’s are amazing. Looking back at the old annual reports, complete with province by province breakdowns of habitat accomplishments inclusive of colour photography, one readily recognizes the significant wetland habitat work completed with limited, but well-spent, capital. For those were the days of optimal on-the-ground expenditure and minimal administrative and regulatory approval processes. As I said, an organization driven through committed initiative in the field. The primary role of national and provincial offices was to assist the field while ensuring mission accountability, quality control and fiscal responsibility.
When I returned to Ontario in mid May of 1975, I set up shop in an outer office corner of the business of one of the DUC Board Directors, Mr. Norval Helloffs. I had a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet and a telephone. From this “hub” I ventured out in all directions into the rural enclaves of south western Ontario. Most of this countryside was new to me at the time, but over the years I came to know it very well. My job was to deliver the DUC message and mission in that day and age; a key component of that mission was finding sites where wetland habitat could be restored, enhanced or even created. Many of the historical wetlands in southern Ontario had been lost forever; but there remained a lot of degraded, whether through drainage attempts or poor land use practices, wetlands where the objectives and actions of DUC would bear fruit.
Over the next few years DUC grew rapidly and the Ontario operation followed suit. By the early 1980’s dozens of wetland habitat projects were implemented each year from the many dozens that were being worked on in any given month. This pace was maintained well into the 90’s and by the turn of the century a lot of quality aquatic habitat had been realized and protected. I may have been as green and tender as a young cattail shoot in those early years; but I rapidly was transformed into a tough old stalk. For that was the way of the early years.
I was born on the Bruce Peninsula on July 20, 1951 and raised on a farm just south of the village of Lions Head, which is located about halfway up the peninsula on the Georgian Bay shoreline. I graduated from Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Barrie in 1973 as a Resources Engineering Technologist. I was hired by Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) in April of 1975 as the first DUC employee in Ontario. Throughout almost 29 years I was involved with the implementation of more than 500 wetland projects and project complexes in southwestern and south central Ontario. Some of these habitat projects included important waterfowl and migratory bird habitat along the eastern shoreline of Lake St. Clair. Just three weeks short of completing 29 years with DUC, I accepted an early retirement opportunity effective March 31, 2004.
