Skip to content

Category: Land

Published on

Nature Conservancy of Canada, Hazel Bird Nature Reserve

On January 17, 2012, Canada's Minister of the Environment, the Honourable Peter Kent, announced the Nature Conservancy of Canada's successful acquisition of the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve - 117 hectares of land in Hamilton Township in Northumberland County, Ontario. This project was secured in part with funding from Environment Canada's Natural Areas Conservation Program.  ...continue reading "Featured Property"

Published on

History

To understand why the Rice Lake Plains area is so significant, not only at the local level, but at a truly global level, one must reflect back on the ecological history of this area. The ecosystems we have here today are a product of the last glacial movement that occurred 13,000 years ago. As the climate warmed and the glaciers retreated, the ice divided into two lobes, forming a distinct crack.  It was in this crack that giant accumulations of till, stratified silt, sand and gravel were deposited, creating a contiguous ridge of 160 km from the Niagara Escarpment to the southern shores of Rice Lake. This ridge is known as the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) and is recognized as a provincially significant physiographic feature, up to 200 meters thick and 300 meters above Lake Ontario; providing clean groundwater for over 60 streams and rivers, which in turn is used by more than 200, 000 people. ...continue reading "Natural Heritage of the Rice Lake Plains"

Published on

HARWOOD — With a passion for saving the eastern blue bird, Harwood resident Hazel Bird spent countless hours roaming the Rice Lake Plains checking the nest-boxes she built.

Now the public is welcome to walk the trail Ms. Bird once did at The Nature Conservancy of Canada's Hazel Bird Nature Reserve. Ms. Bird died in 2009 and the piece of land she once spent so much time on was acquired by the Nature Conservancy of Canada in 2011. Volunteers worked to restore and protect the property's tallgrass prairie, sand barren, oak woodland and black oak savanna habitats, which are native to the Rice Lake Plains. ...continue reading "New trail opens in Harwood’s Nature Conservancy of Canada Hazel Bird Nature Reserve"

Published on

Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation are funding projects across Ontario from the Escarpment Eco Park in the Hamilton / Burlington area to environmental workshops in Northumberland.

"The Nature Conservancy of Canada's project aims to garner awareness and support for the Greenbelt in Northumberland County by partnering with Alderville First Nation to host (more) workshops for conservationist guided public tours, school outings, and a Greenbelt Prairie Day in the Rice Lake Plains area," states a media release. ...continue reading "Greenbelt Foundation funding for Northumberland"