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Ecowrappin'
A day touring parts of Lambton, Chatham-Kent and Essex
Tuesday, July 22, 2003
I just finished hosting a day and a half meeting of my Ducks Unlimited Canada counterparts from other areas of Ontario. It included a day touring parts of Lambton, Chatham-Kent and Essex. Many thanks to John Haggeman of the Canada Wildlife Service, who led us around some interesting aspects of the St Clair National Wildlife Area. If you have never been out there it is very worth your while to take the drive. It is south of Mitchell's Bay along Townline Road and Balmoral Line. It is open during daylight hours.Aside from myself, there were four other DUC Habitat Specialists present. They came from Napanee, Barrie, Cambridge; and the new guy came from Bognor near Owen Sound. There are three more of us, but the two from Northern Ontario and the lady from the far east of Ontario were unable to attend.
Since we rarely get together to compare notes, it was eye opening at times. Some of the small projects that I showed them were not large enough to be of consequence in other areas. I explained to them that in an area as intensively farmed and drained as the southwest, you have to look at every prospect and try to make it happen.
Don't get me wrong, I get as excited over the large projects as anyone. It is just that around here we need to make the most of whatever we can. A whole lot of little ponds are just as good as one large one. At least that is the principle I work under.
We looked at a recently excavated 1 acre pond near Sombra. Many people want to create ponds and have wildlife close by. In an earlier article, archived on CK Times, I wrote about some of the details of our pond incentive program.
I took them to Dover and showed them the Pidgeon, Corsini, OPG marshes that were completed there two years ago. These marshes and all the others along the east side of Lake St Clair are important migratory areas for numerous bird species. They are especially important for waterfowl, as both the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways converge here.
We also went to Hillman Marsh and looked at the recently completed Shorebird Cell. I wrote about this a couple of months ago when we were planing the dedication. While it will have waterfowl values, it marks the first major DUC project that specifically targeted habitat for a non waterfowl species.
I also showed them a couple of projects that are just coming together. I hope to tell you about them soon. They are both located in Chatham-Kent.
It was great to get feed back from my counterparts. We found out that we even shared some of the same frustrations. I was impressed by the dedication and commitment that was demonstrated to helping landowners within the DUC wetland conservation vision and beyond.
Darrell Randell works for Ducks Unlimited Canada as a Conservation Programs Specialist in South West Ontario. Before that he was a Lambton County Pork Producer for 25 years. He served 2 terms on Sombra Township Council, 1994-2000, and is currently a councillor in St Clair Township. He is a past president of the Lambton County Federation of Agriculture. He was a founding member of the Rural Lambton Stewardship Network and served as chairman of that group from 1995-2003. He and Nancy have 3 grown children, each of whom they are extremely proud.
