The Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-07-25, Page 2Page 2--Lueknow Sentinel, Wednesday, July 25, 1979
Janiorconservationists, participating in a program sponsored by the Ministry of Natural
,Resources are working with the Maitland,Valley Conservation Authority to • study the
possibility' of the Authority.. incorporating thPine River watershed. Eight girls and their ..
leafier, Ann Joyner from ' Toronto, are working on the project preparing a report of the
• watershed's, physical outlineand the opinions of the farmers, residents and cottagers who
Junior conservationists
Study
Farmers, cottagers and ' local residents
along the Pine River are being interviewed
by junior• conservationists during the sum-
mer to determine their attitude towards
incorporating the river into a conservation'.
• authority. They may also;have noticed young
ladies taking water samples, measuring
velocity and recording various facts and data
on clipboards as they work in the area of the
river.
The girls are participating; in the Junior
Conservationist. Award Program sponsored
by the Ministry of Natural Resources. There.
are five groups, two girls' groups and three
boys'. groups, with seven or eight patio=
ipants andone leader in each group.' The
groups are located ` in Timmins, near
Hamilton, near Toronto, oee in Kincardine,
and another in Lucknow.
The girls seen working along. the Pine
River are from the Lucknow group. They are
living in the former Bill Button residence for
the summer on ' concession of • Kinloss
Township at the edge of the village.
The Lucknow group's leader is Ann
Joyner of Toronto and the members in her
group are Jennifer. Giles, Toronto; Eva
Laubitz, Ottawa; Norma MacPherson, Lan-
caster, Sonja Pettingill, Norval; Connie
Silva, Kitchener; Nola Stoner Oshawa and
Lori McBride of Westmeath.
In cooperation with the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority, the girls are study -
live in the watershed, concerning corporation:. In the:picture,. upperleft, water samples •are
taken to . determine water. quality.. From the. left, : are front, Jennlfer .Giles and Sonja
Pettinglll, and back,. Eva Lanbitzind Ann Joyner, project leader. In the picture, . upper right,
the, girls are testing the 'water temperature. They inelude, from the: left, back'. Norma
MacPherson, Lori McBrido and front, Mole Stone and Connie Silva. [Sentinel Staff Photo]
ing the Pine River watershed to determine . a
physical outline of the area and the attitudes.
ofthe people in .the. area towards the
incorporation of the Pine River watershed
into a conservation authority.
The girls will be working onthe project
until August 19. They will complete a report
of the information they have collected which
will be 'submitted to the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority when they complete
their work:
The girls have discovered some problems
along the watershed. Without the control of.
a conservation authority; drains are put in on
farmland without supervision. This leadsto
flooding further down the river. More corn
crops are being planted which leaves . the
land exposed more ,of ` the , year and, some
farmers are worried about topsoil erosion.
There is also a problem with some farmers
who will decide to straighten the river where
it crosses their .propertycausing erosion
problems for his farming neighbour down-
stream.
The programis an award program so not
just anyone can qualify, Each participant
receives a. certificate upon completion- which
can be used as a -reference when they persue.
their careers after school.
The girls who must be sponsored by a 4-H
club, a naturalist club, an otitist club, the
Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters
or their school enter the program on the'
recommendation of a sponsor.
er watershed
They are. paid for their work and.must.
present a .report. o their study to the
representatives from the. Ministry of Natural
Resources at the' 'Scanlon Creek, Conserva-
tion
onservetion School near Brantford.
The leaders are university students taking.
land management courses. Ann-IJoyner who
leads. the Lucknow group is a fourth year
University of Toronto student taking her
degree in physical geography. She, hopes to
work in land management with a consulting
firm when she graduates. Sheplans to use
the information gathered by the group this
summer for her fourth year thesis next year.
The girls are aged between 16 and 18 years
and for most, -it isthe first time they have
spent a slimmer away from home.' There is
the added challenge of learningto live with
seven other girls and their leader, Only two
of the girls was raised on a farm'• so the
experience of living in a small, village' and
working in the outdoors is.new as well.
Despite all the new • experiences this
summer, all agree the opportunity is
fantastic.
They niss their social life and yearn for any
knowledge of dances, outings or entertain-
ment in the area for. teenagers. They would
also like to play on a ball team for the
summer. And to make their suminer home
more "homey", they have adopted, a puppy
named "Les" for the leader of one of the
groups in the program. Les will go home
with one of the girls in the group who plans
to make a permanent home for him.
Besides learning about living away from
home, the girls' say they '.enjoy , meeting •
people and • they havegained knowledge
from the work they are doing. Some intend
to persue careers ' in hind management,
environmental studies or as forest technic-
ians. Others say the experience will be a
• great help in the fattire .as theypersue their
education and eventually find jobs or.
careers.
The program isn't all 'work says leader,
Ann Joyner. The first week was spent in
educational workshops and the girls will
attend the conference of the Soil CQnser-
vation Society of America in Ottawa on July.
30. The program is well organized says Ann
and covers a range from local issues along a
watershed to international issues at soil
conference. .
The program has some recreational
activities planned too.. The girls will take a
canoeing trip through Algonquin Park after
attending the soil conference in Ottawa. The
trip will develop canoeing andcamping skills
as well as bush survival skills. •
And they are making their own fun too. As
they get to know one another they have
found friendships developing, Getting back
to the land through their work has developed
their native instincts and one of the girls has
evolved as their own native Indian, dubbed
"Chief Dan George".
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