Board of Directors 2012-2013

Ron Aubrey                 Mac Heddle

Carl Bisaillon                Richard Martel

Richard Bisaillon         Malcolm Lamothe

Joe Dippong                Jim Rook

Ron Ireland                  Peter Williams

Ron Garbutt                 Dean Wenborne

The annual meeting of your Stewardship Council was held on July 26^that the Alban Community Center

President Joe Dippong delivered his review of the major projects from last year.

• We are continuing to inform the general public of our activities through our local newspaper “The French River Today” we also send update information to our members prior to the annual meeting.
•  In our water quality sampling project we are completing our 3^rd year and final year.
•  From previous year sampling we identified sewage lagoons as a potential source of water quality issues and so began a lagoon study and project.
• We completed our second year of our tree planting project and involved our local schools this year.
• We have been successful in our request for input into dam design for the upper French river dam rebuilds. With our input water quality with respect to oxygen carrying ability was included in the design.
• We have formally been requested by the French River Municipal council to provide our input on water quality issues. We will act as an advisory group with a steadfast focus on water quality.
• We are now a ‘not for profit organization.

Our plans for 2009 and 2010 include important projects which are:

1. In our advisory role with the Municipality, we plan to pursue next steps and to request government funding to continue our Lagoon project. We feel this is the most important item on our agenda at this time
2. We plan to do some clean up of Pickerel spawning beds. We will be asking for volunteers to help with this and other projects.
3. Many residents have expressed concerns about the Pickerel fishing declines and so we plan to review with the MNR their policy for the management of Pickerel in the French River.
4. Testing of water quality will continue in targeted areas and may be expanded where appropriate.
5. We are planning a membership drive and communications project with grass roots support. We hope to have active members from all areas of the river.
6. The tree planting activities will continue in 2010 and we again plan to involve local schools.
7.  We are aggressively pursuing government funding for our various projects.

Greg Mason from the eastern Georgian Bay stewardship Council presented information on the learning’s and challenges of that group with respect to Blue Green Algae and the Sturgeon Bay area of Pointe au Baril.

Extensive studies and analysis of the water and surrounding areas have determined the levels of phosphorous are excessive and reducing phosphate input is the best way to prevent similar situations, as a result all residents are encouraged to use phosphate free soaps, laundry and dishwasher detergents. This one single action by everyone will greatly reduce nutrient loading.

In the member’s portion of the meeting, the Board of Directors for the year 2009/2010 was confirmed as:

Joe Dippong         Ron Garbutt          Rose  Heddle                  Mac Heddle            Dean Wenborne     

Norman Stoner    Terry Young          Mike Palmer              Garrie Roman      Jim Rook

Carl Bisaillon      Richard Martel

 As a volunteer organization, we need active members – please visit our web site for information on how you can join us as a member or as a volunteer to help in our efforts to maintain and improve the long term quality of our water

The French River Stewardship Council held its Second Annual Public Meeting on August 10.

Council gave its report to the 50+ people and MCTV News, who attended the meeting.

Question & answer periods were provided to address any concerns from the public.

The 2008 projects discussed were:

• Plant a free tree for the environment day with trees donated by Vale Inco.
• The French River Stewardship council’s contest at the French River High school to design a Logo for the French River Stewardship.
• The Phosphate Water sampling program on the French river.
• New spectrum water testing of 12 elements from two sites in Ranger Bay.
• The benthic sampling of the French River and public survey by Ian Wells from the Lake head University.

Discussions around the 2007 sampling results were the main interest.

It was stated that a trend of 3 – 5 years would be required before any firm conclusions could be made. The phosphate sample testing in 2007 indicated an average range of 10 – 15 parts/ billion (20 is considered unacceptable). The need for public awareness and participation was stressed. Now is the time to protect and improve the water quality of the French River. Simple things such as planting trees by the shore, leaving shore weeds intact and using phosphate free products could make a substantial difference.

The stewardship council announced it was applying to be incorporated as a charitable corporation and elections for board of directors will begin next year. This will enable the stewardship to issue tax receipts for membership fees of $25.00. All monies collected go to protecting the French River awareness programs.

Anyone wishing to join our organization or wishing to find out more about the French River Stewardship Council programs can access our web site at WWW.frenchriverwater.ca.

The French River Stewardship Council would like to thank all of its members, volunteers, Vale Inco, Guest speaker Blake Block, from the Sudbury District Health Unit and the general public for their support an encouragement in the protection of the French River Watershed.