Meeting With Kawartha Conservation
This morning we met with Kristie Virgoe, Director of Stewardship & Conservation Lands and Emma Collyer, Director Integrated Watershed Management. (Thank you for your time!)
After introductions, we asked questions about trees and the Kawartha watershed. We wanted to determine where our efforts could best go to use.
What We Learned
- There are conservation lands where trees could go that would help with soil, flooding, etc.
- There are many private land-owners who have land and are open to having trees planted.
- Spring planting times vary with the weather but generally are the last two weeks in April and the first two weeks in May.
- Fall plantings begin when the leaves go off the trees around the first two weeks in October.
- It’s best to use a forestry consultant to ensure the right trees are planted in the right place. This is especially true for the forest recovery program.
- Fleetwood Creek starts at as a cold water creek flowing from the Oak Ridges Moraine. Then it starts warming up. Kawartha Conservation has identified where the warming begins but they’re still trying to determine the cause. Cold water creeks are valuable to anglers for brook trout.
- Students at Fleming College take part in some plantings.
- Kawartha Conservation is happy to answer any of our questions and work with us should we need.
- There’s considerable opportunity to plant trees for a forest recovery program. As a bonus it will help with flooding and biodiversity. Plus, the trees could provide food for both animals and humans.
- Funding and volunteers are two areas that need attention.
Next Steps
Our next planting will occur in October. We’ll next need to figure out funding and volunteers as well as where to plant the trees.
This week we started on a logo. We’re hoping to use that logo in the fundraising initiatives, whatever they are!