THE GRAND STRATEGY NEWSLETTER Volume 14, Number 3 - May/June 2009 Grand River The Grand: Conservation A Canadian Authority Heritage River Features Recreation history 1 Milestones National fish award 3 Look Who’s Taking Action Heritage award 4 10,000th tree 4 Earth Day photos 4 Guelph awards 5 Recreation land top priority What's Happening By Janet Baine new sport and a novelty GRCA Communications Specialist to watch. Argentine exchange 5 hile recreation areas in the Grand River Admission was not GRCA day camps 6 Wwatershed are plentiful today, in the past charged until after a SWP information kits 6 there were very few parks, trails and beautiful thunderstorm led to Successful gala 7 spots to enjoy the river and the reservoirs. unsafe conditions. The storm descended quick- Summer programs 7 As soon as the Grand River Conservation Commission started building Shand Dam, people ly and the boaters moved toward shore to Now Available wanted to see how the landscape was being trans- formed. get off the lake to stay Carolinian fact sheets 7 “Citizens who have an idle few hours would safe from lightening. At the same time, the pic- be well advised to visit the (Shand) site and see nickers moved in to get a better look at the boats. Grand Strategy The result was that boaters were unable to get off Calendar 8 the work which is going on,” suggested the Brantford Expositor in August, 1939. the lake. A small admission fee was instituted as Cover photo a way of restricting the number of visitors, so the A big attraction area would be safer during storms. When Brant Conservation Area After the dam opened in 1942 and Belwood When the commission constructed Luther opened in 1971, it was Lake was created, people flocked there. By the Dam on Black Creek in 1952 and the Conestogo jokingly referred to as late 1950s there was a boat launch, picnic pavil- Dam in 1958, visitors came to these sites too, but an “instant park.” As recreation was more of a fringe benefit than a soon as it opened, ion and wading pool. But the parking lot and 30,000 people arrived public beach access remained small. Families core responsibility of the commission. for a national would picnic at Belwood where they could watch Instead, it was left to the Grand Valley Campvention. the motor boats and water skiers. This was still a Conservation Authority, formed in 1948, to Conservation area opening: 1942- Belwood Lake 1952-Luther Marsh 1954- Elora Gorge 1955- Pinehurst Lake 1958-Conestogo Lake 1960- Byng Island 1964- Rockwood 1970- Laurel Creek 1971- Brant 1972-Shade’s Mills 1977- Elora Quarry 1979-Guelph Lake Belwood Lake, Luther Marsh and Conestogo Lake officially became conservation areas in 1966. many of which were passive areas, such as F.W.R. Dickson Wilderness Area Members of the Grand Valley Conservation Authority toured Elora Gorge before the south of Cambridge. Management or park was built. ownership of some conservation areas Byng Island (Dunnville) in 1960, acquire land for recreation. The new was transferred to other agencies during Rockwood in 1964, and Laurel Creek agency took advantage of its ability to tough economic times in the mid 1990s (Waterloo) in 1970. acquire environmentally significant land. such as LaFortune near Caledonia, Brant Conservation Area near It started with Elora Gorge – the first Kiwanis Park in Kitchener, Chicopee in Brantford was nicknamed an “instant conservation area in the province – Kitchener and Doon Heritage park” when it opened in 1971 to 30,000 which opened in 1954. The idea of the Crossroads. visitors and their 7,000 vehicles that Elora Gorge park had been bandied There is no entry fee for the passive arrived for the National Campers and about for decades, but initially it was conservation areas and there are no serv- Hikers Association Campvention. It took expected to be a provincial park. ices such as camping, public washrooms only 18 months to complete the park. and equipment rental are not available. First conservation area Since 1995, the conservation areas But these are favourite spots for hiking Elora resident Kay Marston lobbied have been self-supporting and generate to set up a network of conservation areas enough revenue to cover operating costs. and other activities. across the province, beginning with the They receive more than a million paid Developed rail-trails Elora Gorge. This park was constructed visits annually. With more than 2,500 In the 1990s, the GRCA’s four Rail- in 16 months and was the first in this campsites at eight conservation areas Trails were among the first in Canada network which now has more than 250 that offer camping, the GRCA is the sec- and are part of the Trans Canada Trail. conservation areas, including 12 active ond largest operator of campgrounds in These abandoned railway lines were areas operated by the GRCA. the province – second only to Ontario converted into trails for year-round Pinehurst Lake opened in 1955 and Parks. activities such as hiking, cycling and was the second of the GVCA’s conserva- The 1966 annual report for the tion areas. It was quickly followed by authority listed 23 conservation areas, cross country skiing. They cover almost 110 km and include the 18-km Cambridge to Paris Rail-Trail; the 10- km Paris to Brantford trail, the 32-km Brantford to Hamilton Trail and the 46- km Elora to Cataract Trail. These are only a small part of the network of trails in the watershed, and there are many Tourists line up in May 1943 to see the Shand Dam. other trails on GRCA land. 2 Share the resources - Share the responsibility National award for Grand fishery committee By Janet Baine dedicated volunteers with their commu- GRCA Communications specialist nity ties and grass roots knowledge. This t was a proud day in Ottawa when a is supported by the technical expertise of MILESTONES Icommittee from the Grand River the GRCA and MNR. The plan provides watershed collected a national award guidance on managing the fish resources from Gail Shea, the Minister of Fisheries and overall environmental health of the and Oceans. Grand River watershed. The Grand River Management Plan Partnerships led to success Implementation Committee received this Recreational Fisheries Award on May 4. “Not all watersheds in Canada can do The award recognizes individuals and this, because the trust and willingness to organizations for their contribution to work together is not always as well the conservation, restoration and understood. We are fortunate to have Brook trout enhancement of Canada’s recreational built these partnerships over many years. fisheries and their habitat. That is the future,” said Yerex. initiatives. “Through its volunteers, this commit- The plan was completed in 1998 and Some sections of the Grand, particu- tee has been able to generate over $4 recently celebrated 10 years of success larly the Upper Grand reach between the million worth of programs, projects and with another set of public meetings. The Shand Dam (near Fergus) and West activities over the past eight to 10 years. plan contained a list of “best bets” – Montrose and the Exceptional Waters The results of this work have been projects to enhance the fishery by section between Paris and Brantford, increased awareness and quality of the improving habitat and water quality. have received national and international fisheries available on the Grand River Over the years, dozens of projects recognition for the quality of the fishing. and many of its tributaries,” the citation have been undertaken, including stream Larry Mellors of Brantford, a long- for the award says. rehabilitation, research on aquatic time member of the committee, said the The GRCA and the Ministry of species and their habitats, improved group was honoured to receive the Natural Resources co-chair the commit- river access points and public education award. tee. The task before them seemed insur- mountable at times: to come up with Ontario’s first fisheries management plan to be completed on a watershed basis. Unlike other plans, it is not limit- ed by political boundaries. The Grand River is 300 km long, but the watershed encompasses 11,000 km of streams and watercourses and the plan covers all of this. “We took three years and held two sets of public meetings across the water- shed,” explained Warren Yerex, supervi- sor of aquatic resources. “We delivered a plan that not only met the needs of the local person interested in their own stretch of stream, but also set fish com- munity goals that the development industry, wastewater treatment plants, With the National Recreational Fishery Award at Parliament Hill are committee municipalities, the province and federal members (from left): Art Timmerman, Steve May, Andrea Doherty, Al Murray, Larry government had to work towards.” Mellors, Mark Hartley, Tom MacDougall, Felix Barbetti, Warren Yerex and Archie The strength of the plan is that it pro- McLarty. Committee members missing from the group photo: Jack Imhof, Silvia vides a balanced approach, relying on D’Amelio and Bill Murch. GRAND ACTIONS • May/June 2009 3 “This plan has been applauded and held up as a shining success by many 10,000 Trees Project organizations across Canada,” said ahead of schedule Mellors. “The GRFMP is the volunteer’s and public’s plan with tremendous tech- his spring the 10,000 Trees Project nical support from the GRCA, Ministry Tof Waterloo was recognized with a of Natural Resources and other govern- provincial award. ment and academic bodies. On April 24, the group received one In an editorial, the Brantford of 20 June Callwood Outstanding Expositor said the plan was innovative, Achievement Awards from Michael unique and way ahead of its time.