Achievements

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TRAIL MAINTENANCE & PROJECTS

Miscellaneous

• Installed 2 boot brushes at the Lambton County Heritage Museum
• Added phragmites sign at the Port Franks marina
• Bog Line cleanup

Huron Street Portage

• Installed the phragmites sign beside the deck at the end of Huron St @ Mud Creek.
• Finished the expansion of the Huron St deck, put in the floating dock with canoe/kayak launch and added a ramp
• Trimmed the sides of the Huron St boardwalk and deck

Ausable River Valley & Mystery Falls

• The highest and steepest part of the side trail to Mystery Falls has been widened and supported by a fallen tree that we were able to cut, carry and place parallel along the trail.
• Fixed the handrail on the first stairs on the trail to Mystery Falls.
• Fixed 4 box steps at Mystery Falls that were tilted due to erosion.
• The northern section of the Ausable River Valley trail system was blazed and cleared.
• A section north of the Ausable River Valley emergency exit has been blazed and cleared
• Added additional step at the bottom of the stairs on the Mystery Falls loop
• Installed 3 new map signs in the Ausable River Valley
• Chainsaw & trimming of the emergency exit and to the north of it in the Ausable River Valley
• Brush cleared at Mystery Falls parking lot
• Trail blazed from emergency exit to blue side trail
• Mystery Falls loop trimmed and fallen trees cut parallel to river.  
• New side trail created and bench installed overlooking Ausable River.
• New side trail cleared and blazed in the Ausable River Valley.
• Ground vegetation cleared from end of MacDonald to map sign as well as end of MacDonald to fork on proposed loop trail.
• The trees were cut down along the new loop trail north of MacDonald.  It has also been marked with tape and basic trimming done.  

Port Franks Heart of the Trails

• The tree in memory of Dean Atkinson has been purchased and planted (Autumn Blaze Red Maple) at the Port Franks Community Centre.
• Port Franks trailhead area cleaned
• Cleanup of Circle of Life gardens - raking leaves, cleaning path of debris, weed extermination
• Weed extermination along walking track behind the PF Community Centre abutting soccer field and pruning of broken branches
• Raking the path, ant control applied at each wood carving base and mulch applied to refresh the original appearance
• Updated donation amounts on the Port Franks trailhead panel.

Ausable River Cut Conservation Area

• An additional section of split rail fence was added to the side trail at the Ausable River Cut.  
• Dune grass was planted for the third year.
• Installed a post along the trail at the back of the Ausable River Cut CA to direct people up the sand dune.
• An unofficial entrance at the back of the property has been closed off with fencing and T-bars.
• Took an old snow fence out of the middle of the woods.
• A Wind Phone was installed just past the washroom on the left side.  The new trail to it was cleared.
• Garbage has been picked up
• The cedar logs to be used for the handrail and rope have been hauled in from the Bruce Peninsula.  
• Installed signs pointing people to the Wind Phone location at the Ausable River Cut Conservation Area.
• Installed a phragmites sign at the back along the river.
• Replaced a broken split rail in the Ausable River Cut Conservation Area.
• Added a new split rail fence in the Ausable River Cut CA to replace a metal post and sign that people were walking around.
• Posts were installed beside the boardwalk through the sand dune.
• Rope installed at the boardwalk through the dune.
• Added the handrail to the elevated section of the boardwalk through the dune.
• The Herbert St side trail at the Ausable River Cut has been cleared.
• Leaves blown to the side of the Ausable River Cut StoryWalk loop
• Installed the floating dock with a new configuration to address low water situations.
• Marked a new route for the main trail to avoid the large sand dune at the back.

Forest Trails

• Mulch was spread at the trailhead and the vegetation was cut for the winter.
• Forest trailhead weed extermination applied twice along path and gardens, gardens trimmed and pruned, litter picked up.
• Installed the birdhouse west of the train bridge
• Mulch added to the 6 pollinator boxes
• Added sticker to Forest Trailhead with new donation amounts
• Trimmed both sides of the Grand Trunk Trail
• Forest trailhead area cleaned and pruned
• Stained logs at Forest Community Foundation sign
• Sprayed weeds along Grand Trunk Trail
• Mulch was spread around the trees at the Forest trailhead.

L-Lake

• A leaning tree has been addressed.
• Added replacement plaque for the bench at the back of L-Lake.  
• Trimmed sides of L-Lake trail and cut trees blocking trail.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Presentations: LSNT was invited to speak to groups about what we do, who we partner with, what we have accomplished and what is available on the trails.  We presented to the Lakeshore Eco-Network, Port Franks Garden Club, Ausable-Port Franks Optimists, Lambton Outdoor Club and Partners In Learning.

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.

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 too many garbage bags of other people's garbage!

Promotion: We hosted two fundraisers this year - the "Women and Wellness for Everyone" and the "Holiday Marketplace" at the Port Franks Community Centre. These fundraisers also gave us an opportunity to engage the community and raise awareness of who we are and what we do on the local trails.  We also attended the Farmer's Market in Forest and Grand Bend.

Habit Stewardship Presentation: LSNT in partnership with the Friends of the Pinery hosted a Habitat Stewardship Program Presentation.  The guest speaker Victoria Pepe described what Habitat Stewardship is, what is being done at the Pinery, and how you can help.

• 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.