In 2022, we acquired a new nature preserve and opened a hiking trail on it, launched two new monitoring programs, documented a wide variety of plant and wildlife species in our area, and monitored our protected properties. We were fortunate to have some of this success supported by public and private grants, but much of it is still funded by the generosity of our local community. Please consider making a donation to help us continue our work. Thank you for supporting us!
Below are some details of our 2022 conservation highlights.
Gravel Point Preserve
Our biggest conservation highlight this year was the acquisition of the Gravel Point Preserve. This 278-acre property, located just south of Hilton Beach on St. Joseph Island, is a mix of forest and wetlands that is home to an abundance of plant and wildlife species. We encourage you to take a hike on the newly-opened 1.5km hiking trail to see this nature preserve for yourself.
We'd like to once again thank everyone who made this happen. The general support and positive feedback has been tremendous.
We'd like to once again thank everyone who made this happen. The general support and positive feedback has been tremendous.
Bat Monitoring and Education Program
Last year, we noticed there were no bat observations recorded on any of our protected properties. This was understandable given their nocturnal behaviour and drastic population declines. We were sure they must be living on our nature preserves, so we put out ten stationary bat recorders in various locations to find out which species might be present. We were blown away with the number of recordings we collected! We ended up with nearly 60,000 recordings, which is tens of thousands more than we ever expected. Once we go through and verify the data, we will host a webinar to go over the results. Stay tuned.
A big thank you goes out to Evolugen and TD Friends of the Environment for providing funding for this project. We'd also like to thank the Sault Ste. Marie Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry office for lending us three additional bat recorders and to Capstone Infrastructure for donating four bat boxes.
A big thank you goes out to Evolugen and TD Friends of the Environment for providing funding for this project. We'd also like to thank the Sault Ste. Marie Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry office for lending us three additional bat recorders and to Capstone Infrastructure for donating four bat boxes.
Water Quality Monitoring Program
Our location at the heart of the Great Lakes makes us perfectly situated to promote the protection and conservation of the freshwater resources that surround us. In order to know if there are changes to local water quality, we need to have some baseline data to compare it to in the future. This year, we recruited volunteers to collect water quality data at various lakes and streams in the area. Our volunteers tested water temperature, pH, chlorine, hardness, alkalinity, conductivity and clarity with easy to use testing kits. In total, 79 water quality observations were collected from 26 different locations. We look forward to expanding this program in 2023 and will be recruiting more volunteers be a part of it.
Thank you to Lake Huron North for funding this program.
Thank you to Lake Huron North for funding this program.
iNaturalist
We use iNaturalist to keep track of plant and wildlife species that we find on our protected properties. iNaturalist provides a great platform for us to organize all of the data. The data also becomes available for other scientists and conservationists to use for their work.
This year, staff and volunteers submitted almost 2,500 observations for 745 species. We surpassed the 10,000 observation mark this year for all-time observations and have now recorded a total of 1,337 species.
This year, staff and volunteers submitted almost 2,500 observations for 745 species. We surpassed the 10,000 observation mark this year for all-time observations and have now recorded a total of 1,337 species.
Trail Cameras
Thanks to funding from Evolugen and Lake Huron North, we now have a total of 18 trail cameras out on our protected properties. Mammals are often hard to detect during in-person monitoring sessions, so trail cameras are a very valuable tool for collecting data. Every time we check to see what's been captured, there's usually something exciting to be found. Below are just a few of the many highlights from this year.
A striped skunk on the Boyer Preserve, a first documented record for any our our protected properties.
An elk on the Ripple Rock Preserve, a first documented record for the nature preserve.
A moose on the Boyer Preserve, which was photographed frequently at this location throughout the summer.
Property Monitoring
Once we acquire a nature preserve or conservation easement for protection, our work is far from over. We have an obligation to ensure that they stay in great ecological health and are free from any disturbances. Staff and volunteers conduct formal monitoring visits to each protected property a minimum of once a year.
We're happy to report that all of our monitoring obligations were completed for 2022 and no major ecological disturbances were noted. If you are interested in conducting monitoring with us in 2023, you can sign up to be a volunteer here.
We're happy to report that all of our monitoring obligations were completed for 2022 and no major ecological disturbances were noted. If you are interested in conducting monitoring with us in 2023, you can sign up to be a volunteer here.
We Need Your Help
We cannot do this without you. Your financial support gives us the resources to be able to conduct our conservation and education work every year. Please consider donating to our ongoing annual campaign.
To be eligible for a 2022 charitable tax receipt, all donations must be received (or dated/postmarked) by December 31, 2022.
To be eligible for a 2022 charitable tax receipt, all donations must be received (or dated/postmarked) by December 31, 2022.
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