By Mark Schadenberg
The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) has quite a
large mandate as assigned by the provincial government.
The UTRCA is about more than Woodstock’s Pittock Lake dam reservoir,
London’s Fanshawe pond and campground, and the Wildwood Conservation park at
the northwest corner of Oxford County (bordering Perth).
I have stated this previously, but one of the most important on-line
newsletters to subscribe to is from the desk of Steve Sauder, who is the
marketing specialist for the UTRCA.
The November circulation has at least four topics pertaining directly
to Oxford County, including the announcement of Joe Coblentz as the 2013
stewardship award recipient. Read their story in the newsletter, but the
Coblentz family owns about 50 acres near Lakeside and they have been busy on a
reforestation project of a 2.7-acre wetland area. The group Trees Ontario
assisted in supplying more than 1,500 trees for the property – a mix of
hardwoods and conifers.
The UTRCA newsletter has a spotlight update on the emerald ash borer
beetle, which of course devastated two trail systems in the west end of
Woodstock, and also forced many street-lined trees to also be felled.
I attended a recent public meeting at the Goff Hall at the community
complex in Woodstock which specifically dealt with the future of Burgess Farm
park and the Lions Club / Standard Tube park. The gathering was hosted both by
the City of Woodstock and the UTRCA.
Significant local controversy arose locally about six years ago when a
proposal was on the table for nine golf holes to be landscaped through a
portion of the land adjoining the Sally Creek subdivision, which currently has just a
nine-hole golf course.
A game plan for an actual use – of the Thames River, its trails, rehabilitated forests, and an access road from Sally Creek to County Road 11 were all
discussed.
The next public meeting for the Oxford Country trails master plan is
Thursday, Nov. 28, 6 – 8 p.m. in the foyer of the Oxford admin building on
Reeve Street in Woodstock. These public meetings – I always like to say – are a
great opportunity to look at topographical maps on easels. The information is
important and the future for this specific area (Burgess / Lions, etc) and connecting
countless trails around the county is now. The Woodstock-area contact is
usually Brad Hertner.
The November publication also honours Tom Mayberry as he retired a
chunk of agricultural land and planted trees through a program sponsored by the
Oxford County stewardship folks and Ducks Unlimited. Trees can be accessed
through the 50 Million Tree Program for qualified and applied-to projects. Unique about the Mayberry planting is that it
incorporated lands near Hall’s Creek, so many breeds included some native
aquatic plants.
The UTRCA congratulates Mayberry saying, “This property is become a
diverse haven for wildlife.”
Also noted in the current newsletter was a story recapping the Cool
Running fundraiser by the Canadian Cancer Society – Oxford County unit on Nov.
2, which utilized the Pittock trails, and was a rarity in that the cross-country course
included running over the Gordon Pittock dam, which usually features zero
public access for safety and other reasons.
From the UTRCA main website it’s easy to subscribe to the newsletter.
The site itself is very comprehensive with a ton of material on
everything from camping to wildlife, preservation to flood control, the
memorial forests to upcoming activities, and in-vasive non-native species to
the important watershed report card.
LINKS:
Follow the UTRCA on Twitter: @UTRCAmarketing
Also see: www.thamesriver.on.ca
or better yet http://www.research.net/s/oxfordtrails
www.friendsofpittock.ca
(I should do a specific column on this group)
Email: Brad Hertner at hertnerb@thamesriver.on.ca
or sauders@thamesriver.on.ca
()()()()()()()()
I'm interested in selling houses, but even more interested in making Woodstock and Oxford County a great place to live.
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas
St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519) 537-1553,
cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
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