Remembrance Day November 10, 2004
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Lake plan process gets boost from Trillium grantGreater Bobs and Crow Lake Association to receive $71,500by Martin Yates
There was great excitement among the volunteers with Greater Bobs and Crow Lakes Association (GBCLA) last week when it was learned they were among the organisations that received one of the grants recently announced by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
The grant is for $71,500 over 24 months and will be used by the Association to prepare and publish a Lake Management Plan. It represents the successful outcome of eighteen months of hard work by the Lake Planning committee, led by Peigi Wilson.
Said Peigi: We are thrilled that the OTF has approved our application! Now we have the resources to move from the planning phase of our project to a very active implementation. With the help of this grant, we will produce a Lake Plan that will be of value to residents, municipalities and stewardship organisations for decades to come.
Susan OBrien Mactaggart, President of the GBCLA, commented: The Association is extremely pleased that the Trillium Foundation has endorsed our work to produce this major lake plan. The next two years will be very demanding for our volunteers but everyone is very dedicated to the project. We hope all residents will participate in the surveys and workshops that will take place next year.
Greater Bobs and Crow Lake encompasses about 7,000 acres. They are the main reservoir lakes for the Tay River and Rideau River Watersheds, are located in three different townships, (mostly in South Frontenac), and have a great number of seasonal businesses and cottages on their shores.
In working on the lake plan, two workshops have taken place, on with the general public and one with municipalities and environmental agencies, and thanks to the Trillium grant 15 more workshops are planned, encompassing all groups who have an interest in the lake, from farmers to fishing lodges to seasonal cottagers.
The Trillium grant will be used to fund some consulting work, offset printing costs, and generally to give a boost to the volunteer effort, ensuring that the Lake Plan will be completed sooner than would have otherwise have been possible.
The next stage of the plan, already under way, will be to analyse the results of the residents survey conducted earlier this summer, and to start pulling together information and data on the condition of the lakes and their capacity to handle change. The Association expects to have a draft plan available in 2006.
We will be producing a living document, said Susan OBrien McTaggart, that will be an addition to township Official Plans and in the digital mapping we have been developing with the Frontenac Environmental Partnership.
