Category Archives: Volunteer

2014 Muskoka Summit on the Environment

As a volunteer, as well as being on the executive of the Muskoka Watershed Council, I am the videographer/video editor. This gives me a great opportunity to ensure that truly wonderful ideas and presentations are not lost after the words are spoken and the video projector is turned off. I record, edit and post to our YouTube channel, lectures and presentations at Muskoka Watershed Council events.

Elena Bennett from McGill University presents the 2nd lecture from the 2014 Muskoka Summit on the Environment. On June 8th and 9th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (here’s the 2014 Muskoka Summit CBC broadcast), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

CBC Ideas: Muskoka Summit on the Environment
CBC Ideas: Muskoka Summit on the Environment

Understanding the relationship and implications of planning future multiple land use – bundling cottage use with agriculture for example – can help municipalities and land owners. This lecture is now available at the following link on Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube channel: Using Ecosystem Services to Design Multifunctional Landscapes. With a project still underway in La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Elena discusses how communities and scientists can get together to plan land use (bundling certain ecosystem services) while minimizing some negative environmental impacts.

The Question & Answer video is also available here.

The length of the "petals on the "flower" indicate the amount of the ecosystem service provided.
The length of the “petals on the “flower” indicate the amount of the ecosystem service provided.

Copyright © 2014 cottageinmuskoka.ca, All rights reserved.

Robert Sandford Questions & Answers

I just completed and posted another video of Robert Sandford from the University of Saskatchewan, at the 2014 Muskoka Summit on the Environment.

This is the question & answer session following his talk: Come Hell & High Water:
Scientific Truth and Economic Consequences In Hollywood Disaster Movies mentioned here.

Copyright © 2014 cottageinmuskoka.ca, All rights reserved.

Shark-Filled Tornado (Sharknado) Unlikely in Muskoka!

Don’t be put off by the “grabber” title; this is an engaging and informative presentation on hydrologic change brought about by Climate Change and well worth your time.

As a volunteer, as well as being on the executive of the Muskoka Watershed Council, I am the videographer/video editor. This gives me a great opportunity to ensure that truly wonderful ideas and presentations are not lost after the words are spoken and the video projector is turned off. I record, edit and post to our YouTube channel, lectures and presentations at Muskoka Watershed Council events.

A highly engaging presentation, this one by Robert Sandford of the University of Saskatchewan, is the 1st lecture from the 2014 Muskoka Summit on the Environment . On June 8th and 9th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (here’s the 2014 Muskoka Summit CBC broadcast), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

CBC Ideas: Muskoka Summit on the Environment
CBC Ideas: Muskoka Summit on the Environment

This lecture is now available at the following link on Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube channel: Come Hell & High Water:
Scientific Truth and Economic Consequences
In Hollywood Disaster Movies 
 In this entertaining and informative talk, Robert compares Hollywood’s ideas of environmental disasters and their consequences to the realities we all face today.

Sharknado; probably not in Muskoka
Sharknado; probably not in Muskoka.

Among Robert’s key messages: It’s time for courageous and relentless citizenship.

One Atmospheric River can hold the same amount of water as the daily output of the St. Lawrence
One Atmospheric River can hold the same amount of water as the daily output of the St. Lawrence

Copyright © 2014 cottageinmuskoka.ca, All rights reserved.

In Muskoka, the environment is the economy. For cottagers, protecting the Muskoka watershed, protects your investment.

This is the most important thing you can do today to help protect the Muskoka watershed which gives us all so much everyday!

The Muskoka Watershed Council has launched an online campaign to bring the 2014 Watershed Report Card to life! This new user-friendly digital report card will provide information on water quality; phosphorus levels in your lake, the likelihood your lake will get algal blooms, the health of your wetlands and tons more. What is not measured cannot be managed. If you love Muskoka and care about protecting its natural beauty please get involved! There are many ways you can help:

  • Leave comments on the campaign page
    • What do you think of this project?
  • Share the link with interested friends and family members
    • Know anyone who loves our scenic environment? Fwd this email!

Please visit the campaign page for further details about this project. It is important to have active participation during the first week of the campaign, so please do what you can to share the care of this special place of rocks, trees, and especially water, that we all love. A small contribution can make a big difference to the protection of our environment. Tell us what you think of the campaign by leaving a comment on the campaign page: www.igg.me/at/StewardshipWorks.

 

We are very fortunate to have such a passionate network of people supporting our mission to champion watershed health in Muskoka and its associated watersheds.

 

Thank you!

Muskoka’s Lakes: The Calcium Story

Dr. Watmough explains  implications of calcium losses on lake ecosystems.
Dr. Watmough explains implications of calcium losses on lake ecosystems.

As mentioned last month in this cottageinmuskoka blog entry and this news story from the Huntsville Forester (Cottage Country Now), the decline of calcium in our lakes can affect our lakes recovery from acid rain as well as zooplankton in our lakes, which are are very sensitive to declining calcium levels.

From the Muskoka Watershed Council Lecture Series I have just finished editing and have just posted this video on the Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube page.

This is interesting information of value not only for those who own a cottage in Muskoka, but all of us who live in or visit Muskoka. In the presentation Dr. Shaun Watmough of Trent University helps us understand:

Why should we care about calcium in the environment?

How are calcium levels in lakes, vegetation and soils changing?

What is causing these changes?

What will be the impact of timber harvesting on lake calcium levels?

What are the critical uncertainties?

Declining calcium slows the recovery of acidic lakes.
Declining calcium slows the recovery of acidic lakes.

 

 

Reminder: The Great Muskoka Paddling Experience is this Saturday!

Even if you aren’t paddling in the event, it’s an … ahem… Great Experience to watch.
This Saturday, at Annie Williams Park in Bracebridge, come out and see why The Great Muskoka Paddling Experience has become an epic one in Ontario paddling and beyond.

https://vimeo.com/76351898

The Great Muskoka Paddling Experience generously supports the work of the Muskoka Watershed Council. Past cottageinmuskoka.ca post, and here are some additional links to published articles on the event:

– Muskoka Watershed Council media release: story
– Town of Bracebridge media release: story
– What’s Up Muskoka : story
– Muskoka Magazine: story  (scroll down a page).
– Bracebridge Weekender: story

Timber harvesting and the health of our lakes: The Calcium Story

©www.cottageinmuskoka.ca
©www.cottageinmuskoka.ca

Mentioned in a number of Muskoka Watershed Council lectures over the past few years, calcium decline in Muskoka Lakes and in particular, the consequences of timber harvesting on lake calcium levels have been hinted at as a potential direct cause of declining health of our lakes in Muskoka. Here’s a past primer news story from the Huntsville Forester (Cottage Country News).
This week, we have an opportunity to discover more.

Dr. Shaun Watmough, an Associate Professor in the Environmental Resource Science Program at Trent University in Peterborough will present.
Here is a synopsis of the lecture:
Decades of acid deposition have depleted soil calcium reserves and, when combined with timber harvesting, predicted losses of calcium from soil are considerable and may ultimately threaten long-term forest health and productivity and lead to negative impacts on lakes.
In this talk, Dr. Watmough will provide an overview of our current understanding of calcium biogeochemistry and describe the reasons for the widespread decline in calcium levels in lakes and the implications of calcium losses on soil fertility and forest health in addition to impacts on lake ecosystems.
With an emphasis on south central Ontario, Dr. Watmough will document a nutrient budget for a selection harvesting regime in central Ontario hardwood forests. This work is then extrapolated to regional harvesting activities and management issues are discussed.

The lecture is this Thursday, October 10, 2013 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm at Nipissing University – Muskoka Campus, 125 Wellington Street, Bracebridge, P1L 1E2. As always, admission is by donation

The link for this lecture and registration is here.

Muskoka and Global: Environmental Good News Stories.

Did you know that Gravenhurst Bay in Lake Muskoka is 4 to 5 times cleaner than it was 1970?
Did you know that everyone alive in the 70’s had toxic levels of lead in their blood?
Did you know that Muskoka has only half as many acid lakes as it once did?
Well, how about this then: if it wasn’t for the life in lakes, we would all be blind, deaf , stupid and dead.

Dr. Norman Yan
To be blunt; we would all be blind, deaf , stupid and dead if it wasn’t for the life in lakes.

From the Muskoka Watershed Council Lecture Series I have just finished editing and have just posted this video on the Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube page.
Dr. Norman Yan, an extremely engaging speaker, revisits some past environmental successes, what we have learned and the steps we need to take to solve today’s environmental problems.

Phosphorous is the conrolling factor in eutrophication.

Learn how the reduction of phosphorus resulted in a clean up in Gravenhurst Bay while the International Joint Commission was still debating whether its carbon or phosphorus that spikes algal growth? This local Muskoka cleanup helped convince the world that phosphorus is the cause of cultural eutrophication. This phenomena is of increasing concern as population grows and the climate heats up; after all, we learned from this lecture, that algae really love heat.

Current photo of lake in China where people swim in an algal bloom.
Current photo of lake in China where people swim in an algal bloom.

Revisit the change to unleaded gas which got the toxic levels of lead out of our blood. Dr. Yan also discusses the many benefits of the ban on DDT, as well as the immediate benefits of the recent Ontario ban of cosmetic pesticides and herbicides. Also be sure not to miss houses disappearing from view as the Sudbury environment improves over 40 years!

Muskoka. Our environment is far more than our economy.

From the Muskoka Watershed Council Lecture Series I have just finished editing and have just posted this video on the Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube page.

All of us should be familiar with the fact that in Muskoka, our environment is our economy; over half our GDP comes from tourism and cottaging. In this lecture, Peter Sale attempts to convince us that our environment is far more than our economy.
sale

Every year some 5 billion cubic metres of water pass through Muskoka – that’s 3 1/2 times the entire volume of Lake Muskoka. Half is evaporated or transpired by Muskoka’s forests and plants, the other half – some 2.5 billion cubic metres flows into Georgian Bay. As climate change affects Muskoka – producing warmer and wetter winters, but dryer summers with more intense storms – we may be trying to find ways to hold on to that water, just a little longer; maybe the beaver has a solution for us.

wetlands 5

Peter, who describes himself as a strange, but harmless ecologist, talks about some of the many creatures in Muskoka including the beaver, the expected effects for Muskoka from climate change, an idea or two on solutions, and that there are other ways of valuing our environment other than simply to value it as a storehouse of resources to dig up and take away.

Stevenson Plumbing and Electric. “Working in the cold and dark to fix the problem.”

To have your customers recognize the lengths that you will go to, to take care of them – isn’t that the kind of testimonial we would all love to get, as thanks for what we do? An acknowledgement that our product or service accomplished exactly what was needed or desired, and performed under conditions and with such skill, that the customer couldn’t/wouldn’t take it on themselves.  Well, “Working in the cold and dark to fix the problem.” is one of Stevenson’s Plumbing and Electric client’s comment of thanks.

I love to recommend good people. And in this case, not just because they have done excellent work on huge and small jobs throughout Muskoka (I know – many, many of our cottage clients are big fans); everything from complete builds to emergency repairs and the annual closing and opening of the cottage in Muskoka. But because they contribute to our quality of life in countless other ways. I couldn’t begin to list the ways and the events that the Stevenson’s have contributed to the Muskoka community; it wouldn’t do them justice. It is quite simply countless. They invest, and are invested in our community.

This is a family owned and operated business with trucks full of good people and gizmos all over Muskoka.

Today, Stevenson Plumbing and Electric opened their doors with a BBQ to thank the community and celebrate their 20th year.

From left: Brent, Susan, Terry and Blake
The Stevenson’s. From left: Brent, Susan, Terry and Blake

In addition to the BBQ there was a “20 Year” cake and tours of their facility in Gravenhurst.

This was better than ANY aisle at Home Depot. I was amazed at what Stevenson's have at hand, and ready to deploy on that nasty problem.
This was better than ANY aisle at Home Depot. I was amazed at what was on hand, and ready to deploy on those nasty problems.