Achievements

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 TRAIL MAINTENANCE & PROJECTS

General

• Installed boot brush stands at trailheads
• Trimmed trails and repainted blazes

Lambton County Heritage Forest

• Cleaned trailhead
• Mulched and weeded Circle of Life
• Caulk and stained carvings
• Installed donation leaf
• Repaint No Horses On Path sign
• Fixed panel brackets
• Installed wooden feather
• Weeded and trimmed accessible path

Huron Street Portage

• Graded Huron St to Mud Creek
• Installed boardwalk to Mud Creek
• Add mulch to beginning of boardwalk
• Installed portage signage
• Built deck extension foundation for 2023 canoe/kayak launch

Ausable River Valley & Mystery Falls

• Cut deadfall and placed in muddy areas on trail
• Trimmed trails
• Installed 7 ground level boardwalks in muddy areas
• Installed stairs and box steps at Mystery Falls
• Parking lot sign installed
• Benches stained
• Added landing platform at top of stairs

 Ausable River Cut Conservation Area

• Put dock in/out
• Added wire fence to west side to fill gaps
• Raked the side of the accessible path
• Removed mustard seed weeds
• Installed canoe/kayak launch
• Build boardwalk through sand dune
• Planted dune grass
• Demolished cinder block building
• Installed split rail fence

 Forest Trails

• Installed whistle post plaque
• Installed Grand Trunk Trail signs
• Installed Forest Community Foundation sign
• Added gravel under benches
• Removed graffiti
• Weeded trailhead
• Re-installed donation leaves
• Added more chip dust to trailhead
• Weeded pollinator boxes
• Repainted whistle post
• Removed invasive shrub along trail
• Cleared vegetation and spread mulch 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

 Trail Maps: We collaborated again with the Grand Bend Chamber of Commerce to issue an updated map of all the hiking trails in Lambton Shores & Vicinity. The map is an insert in the Grand Bend Summer Tourist Guide and Lambton Shores Nature Trails distributed more than 1000 maps this year.

Youth Nature Challenge: We launched a new badge program, beginning December 1, 2022, to encourage our youth to use the trails during every season. Family and friends are encouraged to help our youth rise to this challenge! Young hikers can earn four seasonal badges by completing the nature challenge over the course of a full year. Each season, hikers use clues to figure out the "challenge" trail and, during the hike, find and solve the puzzle posted along the trail. Finally, they need to draw a picture in their brochure. Once hikers have completed the challenge for all seasons, they can submit their brochure to claim their badges.

Trail Badge Program: The free badge award program was launched late in 2018 and has seen an increased demand due to the number of people on the trails and some social media promotion we did.  There are now fewer than 18 remaining of the original 200 produced.

Adopt-a-Road: We conducted our annual cleanup of the 5.5 km stretch of Bog Line from Hwy 79 to the Ausable River Bridge as part of the Lambton County Adopt-a-Road program. We collected 13 garbage bags of other people's garbage!

Youth: We had SIX youth volunteers come out and help us on the trails this year.  We truly appreciate having young people participate in our efforts to maintain the trails and give back to the community. 

Promotion: We hosted a Holiday Marketplace at the Port Franks Community Centre. This fundraiser also gave us an opportunity to engage the community and raise awareness of who we are and what we do on the local trails.

Hiking Safety Seminar: LSNT hosted a Hiking Safety public seminar at the Forest Public Library. Our presenters addressed preparation and troubleshooting so that a leisurely hike doesn’t turn into a negative experience. 

• Built a volunteer pool' of 55+, an email list of 140+ and a Facebook followers list of 1,400+. Partnered with local Landowners, Municipal Council & Staff, local Community Service Groups and donors.
• Constructed and/or upgrade trails, installed trail signage & painted blazes, and re-naturalized damaged  areas.
• Built substantial trail infrastructure including ATV barriers, boardwalks, benches, floating dock and  portage for canoes & kayaks, small bridges over gullies, and stairs on steep embankments.
• Created extensive public awareness of  the critical need to protect & preserve our remaining 'Gems of Nature' through public meetings, monthly newsletters, newspaper articles, presentations to community groups, networking, brochures, badge programs, website and social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
• Maintaining ~40 km of nature trails on over 2300 acres of the some of the most environmentally sensitive lands in Lambton Shores and vicinity beyond the  confines of our treasured Pinery Provincial Park and Rock Glen Conservation Area.
• Ongoing efforts to protect the  natural diversity of Lambton Shores and vicinity. This includes projects such a tree planting and pollinator boxes.
• Implementing  changes that make trails available for those who use mobility aids. We have laid a packed chip & dust  surface on three trails, totaling more than 3 km in length. This includes one of  the few accessible trails through a Carolinian Canada forest in southwestern  Ontario. We have also built an accessible viewing platform overlooking the Ausable River Cut, in the heart of the Port Franks designated “Important Bird and Biodiversity Area”.
• Being part of the larger community "Beyond the Trails".  We are a proud member of the County of Lambton Adopt-A-Road Program; cleaning Bog Line from Northville Rd. to the county boundary. We have also partnered with the North Lambton Community Health Centre to lead hikes on area nature trails.