the cowichan land trust steward - summer 2007

8/14/2019 The Cowichan Land Trust Steward - Summer 2007

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In this Issue

? Message from thePresident

? VolunteerAppreciation

? Green Day? Stewardship Support? Upcoming AGM? New Eelgrass sign

COWICHAN COMMUNITY LAND TRUST SOCIETY NEWSLETTERSUMMER 2007

A Message from the President

Hard to believe it has been almost a year since I agreed to take on the role of President ofthe Cowichan Community Land Trust (CCLT). This year has seen a few changes to theCCLT Board - we have a new past-president, Jim Ayers, who thankfully is still involved incovenant work; we have lost our long-time treasurer, Charles Poole, whose health has notallowed him to take on this responsibility for us any longer; and we have gained a new andenergetic board member, Cindy Carleton.

CCLT has been working hard this past year. You may have seen CCLT mentioned in thelocal papers recently because we were honored with the Silver Award from the HabitatConservation Trust Fund for the work CCLT staff, members and the community have done tore-establish sub-tidal eelgrass meadows in Cowichan Bay. For now, that project haswrapped up. But stay tuned; the interest is out there to continue eelgrass restoration in ourlocal marine waters.

Speaking of Cowichan Bay and newspapers, earlier this month aNews Leader headline read National Marine Park in the works.According to the article, public feedback has redrawn the original

proposed reserve boundary to include Cowichan Bay and MapleBay in the National Marine Conservation Area Reserve (NMCA)proposed for the Southern Strait of Georgia. As part of theTzouhalem Project several years ago, CCLT met with Bill Henwoodof Parks Canada to ask that Sansum Narrows be included in theNMCA. The potential addition of Cowichan and Maple Bays wouldmean Sansum Narrows would receive marine conservation status,and all our hard work on eelgrass in Cowichan Bay could beafforded additional protection.

We are just beginning our next project - Stewardship Support and

we have also welcomed the Friends of Quamichan Lake as ournewest committee.

Well, my experience this year has been a full one, and I haveenjoyed it immensely. Ann and the CCLT Board are wonderfulpeople to work with. I look forward to meeting more of our membersin the coming months while helping with Stewardship Support.

Best regards,Tracy Fleming

StewardThe


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CC LT Volunteers and Members:

W EAppreciate YOU Day

Join us at Hecate Park in Cowichan Bay

Saturday, August 18th at Noon

and let us buy you lunch!

To show you how much we appreciate you we are celebrating our Volunteers and all the good

work that we can accomplish with your help. This will also give everyone a chance to see thenewly installed Eelgrass sign that recognizes the great community effort that went into making

the project such a success.

Please bring along a plate, glass and utensils and a folding chair for your

comfort and R.S.V.P . to 746-0227.

Hope to see you there!

Green Day!By Alexis Baker

As the Business Outreach Representative I will be organizing events and fundraisersthroughout the summer for the Cowichan Community Land Trust Society.

Green Day is a fundraising event that creates awareness and support for land conservationin the Cowichan Valley and can be held at your convenience.

To participate, each business or office will choose a day where employees donate money towear green on their chosen Green Day. Clients or customers will be asked if they would liketo make a donation to support the CCLT with all proceeds going to protecting the CowichanValley.

Supporting businesses will receive a window decal that shows you are a local Green Daysupporter. A link for your business is also available through our Nature Cowichan website atwww.naturecowichan.net where our Green Day business directory will promote yourbusiness and recognize your commitment to protecting the natural beauty of the CowichanValley.

I would like to acknowledge the Canada Summer Jobs Program through Human ResourcesDevelopment Canada for sponsoring me to work for a great cause this summer.


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Stewardship Support ProjectBy Amanda Dodd

Approximately 90 percent of the land base in the Cowichan Valley is privately owned and iscurrently under significant development pressure or impacted by recent developments. Thismakes land stewardship essential for the preservation and protection of natural habitat in theCowichan Valley. The Stewardship Support Project is a two-year environmental programthat will allow us to support landholders interested in conserving and protecting ecologicallysensitive areas on their land.

Land Stewards will be contacted and supported with networking opportunities and beencouraged to create or join a stewardship group around a local natural feature, like astream or natural area, and to continue their voluntary commitment to the natural areas ontheir land.

Landholders who are new to land stewardship will be encouraged to commit to a voluntaryStewardship Agreement. Many local ecologists volunteer their time and expertise to assistus in helping landholders with concerns about the natural areas on their property. LandStewards can also take advantage of our resources and can receive a site visit to their landto help with issues that affect them and the health of natural areas.

If you are interested in learning more about the Stewardship Support Project give our office acall, or you can stop by for a visit.

Check out the New Eelgrass Sign!By Ann Archibald

Our Eelgrass project recently wrapped up with a newaddition to Hecate Park. A new Eelgrass Interpretive signhas now been installed at the boat launch location inCowichan Bay where most of the eelgrass volunteersworked during our transplanting events. Hecate Park hasalso been undergoing some changes with a newer design,benches and viewing areas that our Eelgrass sign fits intovery well.

Over 6,000 eelgrass shoots have been planted in the Cowichan estuary and so far thetransplants are growing. Some of the good indications for the return of eelgrass are threenatural beds of eelgrass found near the transplanted sites. These small beds are no morethan a foot across but may show that this area is naturally recovering now that there areadjacent transplants.

Some challenges to the eelgrass habitat remain with the large amount of sediment broughtinto the estuary from the Cowichan River system. While the eelgrass plant and itsrhizomatous growth pattern is well adapted to the sediment settling that makes up estuarineconditions, it is unclear at this point whether the sediment conditions in the Cowichan estuaryis limiting to the transplants. During the early spring monitoring we found that the eelgrass


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Board Members

President: Tracy FlemingVice President: Jim Moir

Secretary: John Scull

Directors at Large

Cindy Carleton, Roger Hart

Join us at our upcoming

AGMWednesday, September 19th

7:00 pm

at the Freshwater Eco-Center1080 Wharncliffe Rd., Duncan

transplants were deeply covered by sediment but thankfully were not covered above the leafsheath, which would impact their growth.

Human activity is also a challenge around the eelgrass transplant sites. We are currentlytrying to raise funds for another transplant in the North shore area where activity is limited.Hopefully we can restore that area to the lush eelgrass meadows remembered by many.

Thanks to the CVRD staff and Area D Director, Mike Tansley, for their support. Thanks alsoto our project funders and our community volunteers.

The support of our members, volunteers, and funders is essential to our

work to keep the Cowichan Valley beautiful.

Thank you!

Cowichan Community Land Trust Society#6 55 Station St., Duncan, BC V9L 1M2

2007/08 Membership Application

Name:___________________________________________________________________________

Address:_______________________________________________________________________________

Postal Code:_____________Telephone:________________ E-Mail:_______________________________

Rates: ? $20/yr Adults and families ? $5/yr for people under 19 ??$100.00/yr for businesses

Application is hereby made for membership in the Cowichan Community Land Trust Society. If admitted, I/we state thatwe support the objectives of the Society and agree to be governed by the present and future Constitution and bylaws of the

Society.

Signature:____________________________________________________________________

the cowichan land trust steward - summer 2007

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