Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.

LSNT Chair of Operations, Ross Atkinson, accompanied 25 students and their teachers from North Lambton Secondary School - Mr. Tichenoff’s Grade 9 PE and Mr. Wilson’s Grade 11 Hockey Fitness classes. The group hiked 3 properties - Ipperwash Dunes & Swales, The Heart of the Trails/Lambton County Heritage Forest, and finished up at Mystery Falls. Ross talked about the various properties and the students learned about dunes and swales, forested dunes, tree burls, boot brushes, native artwork, circle of life, seven grandfather teachings, what3words, fossils, and the various work our gracious volunteers have done on these trails!

LSNT Volunteers worked in the Ipperwash Dunes & Swales today and refurbished the first two boardwalks on the white trail.  This completes year one of two to refurbish and widen all of the boardwalks along the white trail.  4 done, 4 to go!

We tallied 90 volunteer hours to haul materials to the job site, dismantle the existing boardwalk, move and lay logs and planks, level the boardwalk, and put in hundreds of screws!

Thanks to Mike, Christine, Lee M, Lee T, Terry, Mark, Todd, Winston, Sandra, Sam, Ross and our hosts from Nature Conservancy of Canada Hannah and Charlotte.

A special thanks to NCC for providing lunch to our dedicated volunteers.

This morning nineteen volunteers, including folks from the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Lambton Outdoor Club and Lambton Shores Nature Trails, worked to replace and extend two boardwalks over swampy areas at the back of the white trail loop in Ipperwash Dunes & Swales. They hauled in lumber and construction materials, de-constructed the old footbridges, set new culverts and built longer and wider frames. Over 100 deck boards were set to finish the first section and, for the second section, the walkway was widened from two to three planks. All this was accomplished in just over 2 ½ hours! Add to this the early start for helpers who picked up and delivered lumber to Ipperwash for a total of 68 volunteer work hours on this project. (And we’re not including the efforts of ten volunteers who prepped the deck boards for the project last week.) 

Amazing work! Thank you to Ed, Terry, Darren, Mark, Winston, Mike, Christine, Lee M., Lee T., Ross, Denise, Sandra, Sam, Jen, Mary Lou, Kandyce, Hannah, Emma and Ethan. A special thanks to NCC for treating volunteers to a lunch prepared by MacPherson’s.

The trail has been transformed to provide easily navigable, safe passage for hikers. Today’s work was the first stage of a two-year project to refurbish and widen the boardwalks throughout Ipperwash Dunes & Swales.

A footbridge has been installed in the Ausable River Valley on the new loop trail north of MacDonald. The trail was slightly adjusted to accommodate a gentler slope to a single crevasse crossing. Thanks to Mike, Christine, Mark, Terry, Todd, Lee M, Ed and Ross for hauling in the premade footbridge, navigating it down a major hill, installing it, and adjusting the blazes for the new trail configuration.

Three fishing line recycling containers have been installed in the Port Franks area frequented by shoreline fishers - at the end of Huron St at Mud Creek, at the bottom of the stairs and the bottom of the dune at the Ausable River Cut Conservation Area. This will allow for fishing line to be disposed of properly and not strewn along the shoreline where it can pose a real threat to birds and other wildlife. We please ask that no garbage be placed in the container. Thanks to Lee Main and Ross Atkinson for building and installing these recycling containers, a positive change for the environment!

A handful of volunteers worked on the Ausable River Valley & Mystery Falls trails. Many tasks were accomplished including the building of a new boardwalk over a muddy area, painting blue and white blazes, adding a centre support to 7 of the footbridges leading to the falls, clearing and bolstering the path near the bottom of the stairs at the falls, and stabilizing the steps at the back crossing of Mystery Creek including replacing the broken handrail.  Thanks Terry, Todd, Mike, Christine, Richard, Michelle, Ed and Ross!

Seventeen volunteers committed a total of 42 hours to extend the existing boardwalk at the Ausable River Cut CA … to help hikers navigate the recently altered trail route and further protect the dune vegetation. The first step was to haul in all the necessary materials for the project, including twenty 16’ 2X4’s, over 200 deckboards and a myriad of tools, a job made easier with many hands. As is usual for LSNT projects, the work crew quickly settled into an organized pace with frame construction and layout and attachment of the deck boards. Of course, the process also included several bouts of problem-solving! The result is a gently winding extension of the existing boardwalk (constructed in 2022), up the slope of the dune into the woods. Some of our group also took the time to rake back the leaves from the accessible Storywalk path.

A big thank you to Mike, Christine, Bernard, Darren, Michelle, Tony, Gage, Lee T, Chris, Winston, Lee M, Todd, Sandra, Sam, Ed, Ross and Mary Lou.

LSNT has been honoured by the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority with their “Conservationist of the Year Award”. To be acknowledged and validated in this manner makes us very proud of the collaborative efforts of our board, dedicated volunteers, community partners and supporters. Our ongoing, positive working relationship with ABCA, coordinated by Nathan Schoelier, facilitates efforts to protect our natural areas, but also make them accessible to nature-lovers. Thank you for this very special recognition!