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A monthly newsletter to keep you informed about the Detroit River.
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Message from the RAP Coordinator
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What a busy and exciting time to be involved with the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup! Over the last month, we've helped with cleanups in our watershed, helped to plant trees and attended other Earth Day events, and celebrated an exciting accomplishment in the remediation of the Detroit River.
In the very short time I've been with the DRCC, I've been overwhelmed by the dedication and passion of the people who have worked so diligently for so many years at restoring this wonderful river. I look forward to sharing many more successes and celebrations with you as we working together towards delisting the Detroit River as an Area of Concern.
As always, we love to hear from you. If you have any upcoming events, questions, or feedback, please email postmaster@detroitriver.ca.
Thank you,
Claire Sanders
Remedial Action Plan Coordinator
Detroit River Canadian Cleanup
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On Wednesday May 7, at 10:30 am, the DRCC, along with our counterparts in the US PAC, held a bi-national celebration of the removal of the Tainting of Fish Flavour Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI). The event took place on Fighting Island, in the middle of the Detroit River.
We are pleased to report that approximately 65 guests were able to join us to share in the celebration, which culminated with a fish fry featuring fresh, local perch prepared by the BlackJack GastroVan of Kingsville. Many partners and dignitaries were on-hand to offer their comments and congratulations. "This is definitely a milestone," Jon Gee, of Environment Canada and Co-Chair of the DRCC's Steering and Implementation Committee, said. "It signifies the tainting of fish flavour is not a problem in the Detroit River, but progress is being made to restore the river overall. Even though a lot has been accomplished there is still work to be done."
Thanks to the work of many in the community and the support of senior levels of government, the Tainting of Fish Flavour BUI has been re-designated to 'not impaired'. This is due to a careful investigation, including surveys of local anglers, which determined that the fish in the Detroit River does not taste or smell any differently than they should. The vast majority of survey participants that ate fish from the Detroit River indicated that they did so because it "tastes good".
In 1987, the Detroit River was designated a Great Lakes Area of Concern by the United States and Canada through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. In 1991, a Remedial Action Plan Report was completed by American and Canadian partners that identified environmental problems causing beneficial use impairments in the Detroit River. Launched in 1998, the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup committed to restoring beneficial uses and removing the Detroit River from the list of Areas of Concern. The DRCC is a partnership of municipal, provincial, and federal governments, industry, academics, environmental organizations, and concerned citizens that work together to improve the health of the Detroit River.
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The DRCC is pleased to partner with Windsor's Community Museum on "SOS: Saving Our Strait - Restoring Our River Together", an exhibit examining the environmental condition of the Detroit River over the years and the work that the DRCC and our partners have undertaken to improve it.
The exhibit launches with an open-house on Sunday, June 1st from 2-4pm at the Museum, located at 254 Pitt Street West, Windsor.
Images, artifacts and information related to the river and its restoration fill the Museum's upper gallery and are sure to interest and engage visitors of all ages.
River-related activities for children will be available in the Museum's Hands-On-History room.
All are welcome to attend, please RSVP to: postmaster@detroitriver.ca
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Share Your Sightings! WEP Birds is here!
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 Although it's hard to believe given our severe winter, spring bird migration is underway! For those who are interested in birds and birding - here is some exciting news! A new website has been setup to make it easy to share interesting sightings and learn more about birding in the Windsor-Essex area. Introducing Windsor-Essex-Pelee Birds or WEP Birds for short! WEP Birds is a local birding group page where group members can post sightings, ID questions, general tips, and anything else bird related - things that are unique and interesting to you about this area! The group is open to ALL experience levels from beginner to 'expert' and is absolutely free.
Joining the group is simple. Visit www.wepbirds.com and view the instructions to join and start posting today! As new topics are posted to the group, you can be alerted by email (you can select the frequency of the emails in your account) and they will also automatically post to a Twitter account @WEPBirds.
Please consider joining the online group today and start sharing your sightings, questions, tips and tricks - anything bird related from our area! If you any questions about WEP Birds, send an email to Kory Renaud at wepbirdsinfo@gmail.com and he'll get back to you. Good birding everyone! (Article shared from Essex County Field Naturalists') |
Little River Now a Little Cleaner!
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A big THANK YOU to eager Caesar's Windsor employees (Code Green), Caroline Biribauer and Amelia Soutar of the Essex Region Conservation Authority, and members of our Public Advisory Council who worked together to cleanup a section of Little River on April 23rd!
They pulled out 3000lbs of garbage and several shopping carts! We all appreciate your time and effort to make this section of Little River cleaner, which in turn improves our entire ecosystem. Way to go 'Code Green'!
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Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
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The Detroit River in the news....here are some relevant, external links to news articles that may pique your interest. Click on the link to read on.
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Save the date for these great local events! Please ensure you contact the organizer for more information.
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DETROIT RIVER EVENING
June 18, 2014 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Windsor's Community Museum and the Waterfront Hotel
Join the Detroit River Canadian Cleanup for our 4th annual Detroit River Evening! The Detroit River Evening is an annual celebration of the important projects that were completed over the past year to restore, enhance, and protect the Detroit River and its watershed.
This year, we invite you to tour our museum exhibit, "SOS: Saving Our Strait - Restoring our River Together" at a special reception from 4-6pm at Windsor's Community Museum before the meeting at the Waterfront Hotel. We welcome Mr. Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, as our guest speaker. You can also meet and chat with local representatives that work on issues concerning the Detroit River.
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ESSEX COUNTY FIELD NATURALISTS' MEMBERS MEETING
May 14, 2014: 7:30 pm
Ojibway Nature Centre, Windsor
Bert Harris will cover topics related to climate change including: climate change trajectories, what we need to do to slow or stop climate change, your own personal carbon footprint and solutions that start at home to reduce pollution, waste and energy use. For more information: www.essexcountynature.com
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FESTIVAL OF BIRDS
Daily until May 19, 2014
Point Pelee National Park, Leamington
Point Pelee's Festival of Birds continues through May 19th with special activities each day. For more information and a schedule of events visit their website.
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GNATCHIO COMMUNITY PLANTING
May 24, 2014: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Gnatchio Trail, just south of Wyandotte, Windsor
Come out and learn about riparian buffers, and help plant native wildflowers around a retention pond. The planting area is located in east Windsor, just east off the Ganatchio Trail, just south off Wyandotte.
A light lunch will be available for all volunteers.
Boots and long pants are recommended. High school students can earn community service hours. Parking will be available near the planting area.
For more information, please contact Caroline, Outreach Coordinator, at cbiribauer@erca.org or 519-776-5209, ext. 245. For more information: Gnatchio Community Planting flyer
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OJIBWAY SHORES BIOBLITZ
June 28, 2014: 10:00 am
Ojibway Prairie, City of Windsor/LaSalle
A 24hr event starting on Saturday, June 28th at 10am and ending on Sunday June 29th. This event will take survey the Ojibway Prairie Remnants in the City of Windsor and LaSalle. A Bioblitz is an event where expert and amateur volunteers survey natural area and catalogue as many species as possible within the 24hr period. We will be leading hikes and teaching others to identify species in addition to the surveys taking place throughout the day. Everyone is invited to attend this event! Although Essex County has relatively little natural area compared with the rest of Ontario, the county is extremely biologically diverse and is home to numerous provincially rare and at-risk species. This event will promote conservation, increase public awareness, provide records of important species and generate interest in our natural areas. We hope to eventually cover all the natural areas in the county with future Bioblitz events. We are in the middle of the most diverse ecosystems in the province and we're hoping to prove it!
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 These postings are for jobs at various locations with varying deadlines. Please click on the job title to view job details. Contact the listed agency in the job ad for more information. Note: the links will expire after the deadline has passed.
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311-360 Fairview Avenue West, Essex, ON· 519-92-3722 postmaster@detroitriver.ca www.detroitriver.ca
The DRCC initiative is a partnership between government, industry, academics, as well as environmental and community organizations that work together to improve the Detroit River ecosystem through a Remedial Action Plan. Our main goal is to
remove the River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
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