Environmental giants celebrated at 2007 Conservation Awards

Approximately 150 area residents, elected officials and conservation leaders celebrated "environmental giants" from around the Lake Simcoe watershed at the annual Lake Simcoe Conservation Awards ceremony held recently in Newmarket.

Presented by the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA), the awards recognized 25 individuals and organizations in seven different categories who made significant efforts on behalf of the environment in the Lake Simcoe watershed during 2007.

Master of Ceremonies Karl Kolanka, host of Extreme Angler TV, and a frequent angler on Lake Simcoe said, "If there's any opportunity to go fishing, Simcoe it is," and thanked the award winners for their contribution to saving his favourite fishing lake.

The George R. Richardson Conservation Award of Honour, the most prestigious award of the evening, was presented to Bob Bowles from Orillia, for his lifetime commitment to improving the environmental health of Lake Simcoe and its watershed.

Bowles, a volunteer and activist in many environmental causes, has organized environmental projects and outdoor education initiatives and writes science and nature columns in local papers.

The Conservation Award of Merit is given for demonstrated leadership in conservation through implementing or financing the most significant environmental project of the year within the Lake Simcoe watershed. This year the award went to King resident Jane Glassco, winner of a Water Conservation Award for an easement on her property on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and the City of Barrie, winner of a Water Conservation Award for its work and financial contribution to the Kidds Creek redevelopment.

Glassco was also among nine recipients of Water Conservation Awards, which acknowledge individuals or groups that complete projects that improve water quality and conditions for wildlife in the watershed. She was recognized for donating a substantial easement over her King property, a 269-acre parcel of land on the Moraine with mature forests, a kettle lake, and home to many rare plants, fish, snakes, reptiles and grasses.

Brett and Emma Delmas also received a Water Conservation Award. They planted a buffer along approximately 525 metres of stream and pond's edge in King Township on the Moraine. Mr. Delmas prepared the planting area himself.

There were also five Soil Conservation Awards presented. These recognize groups and individuals who have completed projects that improve soil, vegetation and wild life in the watershed.

The recipients included Katharina Kohnen and the Kohnen- Gluemes family, for planting in excess of 6,600 conifer seedlings on seven acres in King Township, and Caritas, a rehabilitation and addiction recovery centre in King that planted more than 10,050 conifer seedlings on 17 acres in the Moraine. Claire Sloan, of Caritas, was instrumental in pursuing this planting project.

"At the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, we are proud of these partnerships," said Virginia Hackson, chair of the authority. "We are proud of all our individual partners for the good work they are doing. Together, we are making a real difference."