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The Detroit River Canadian Cleanup wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Our offices will be closed from December 23, 2023 until January 3, 2023.
We had a wonderful year with many achievements to be proud of! We removed a total of 21,591 lbs of plastic pollution, debris and other littered items from the Detroit River binational shorelines and in sub-watersheds with members of the Detroit River Coalition. These efforts represent 47 cleanups with 2,349 Canadian and American volunteers! We also hosted our annual Learn to Fish the Detroit River event during the License Free Family Fishing weekend in July, hosted our virtual Detroit River Evening, released our 2021-2022 Annual Report as well as our Pathway to Delisting (2022),
The DRCC also announced that the official status of the Degradation of Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Beneficial Use Impairment changed from "requires further assessment" to "not impaired"! We congratulate all members of the DRCC and local community that have worked so diligently in attaining this milestone.
We also made more progress on restoring the Collavino wetland at the mouth of the Canard River by hosting a prescribed burn in March. We also completed construction on the Peche Island habitat project in the river - the largest habitat project on the Canadian side to date!
We wish you and your families a safe and happy Christmas, and we look forward to seeing you in 2023.
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Call for Abstracts - IAGLR 2023
The 66th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research will be held May 8–12, 2023, in downtown Toronto. Forty-six sessions have been proposed to complement the theme Adapting to Climate Change. Abstract submissions for both oral and poster presentations are accepted until Janury 27 2023.
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ERCA's 2023 Spring Tree Program | |
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ERCA is widely recognized for its forestry program. The Authority has planted more than 6 million trees in the Essex Region. Trees provide natural habitat for wildlife, protect soil from eroding, and improve water quality. Trees can improve home values, and if planted in strategic locations, can reduce heating and cooling requirements. Projects can range from 1 acre in size to much larger restoration projects. Qualifying landowners can also purchase trees each spring to plant themselves, or consider our full service program.
ERCA has a comprehensive Landowner Grant Program to assist landowners with between 75% and 90% of project costs.
Tree Planting FAQs
Below are a few informative PDFs to assist with planting seedlings, and balled and bare root trees
Spring 2023 Tree Program
The Spring 2023 Tree Program is now open. Please note that orders must be received by Friday, March 3rd, 2023. Use the Seedling and Large Stock order forms below.
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Seedlings
ERCA is able to help you reforest or plant more trees on your property through our Seedling Program. The program typically consists of of 1 and 2-year-old seedlings that are either bare roots or come in a plug of soil around their roots. Click here for the online seedling order form.
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Large Stock
If you are interested in planting larger trees on your property, then the Spring Large Stock Program may be for you. ERCA offers 175 to 200cm tall native hardwood trees and 40 to 120cm tall evergreens and potted native shrubs. Click here for the online large stock order form.
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The annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is an important opportunity to learn more about winter bird populations, and get outside and enjoy nature! The 123rd CBC takes place between December 14 and January 5 this year. Below is a map and dates/contacts of local counts in Ontario. There is also a Michigan count along the Detroit River which includes much of Windsor.
- Dec 17 Cedar Creek Paul Pratt, pratt.paul@icloud.com
- Dec 18 Blenheim, Keith Burk, keithburk2@xplornet.com
- Dec 18 Erie Islands, Sumiko Onishi, info@pibo.ca
- Dec 19 Point Pelee, Sarah Rupert, sarah.rupert@pc.gc.ca
- Dec 27 Holiday Beach, Jeremy Hatt & Kory Renaud, hattjeremy@hotmail.com, kory.renaud@gmail.com
- Dec 27 Wallaceburg, Steve Charbonneau, steve.charbonneau60@gmail.com
- Jan 01 Detroit River MI, Paul Pratt for Ontario portion
- Jan 01 St Clair NWA, Alan Woodliffe, awoodliffe@hotmail.com
- Jan 03 Bothwell, Jim Burk, jimburk@icloud.com
- Jan 05 North Shore (Lakeshore), Glenn Gervais, eaglecoach@cogeco.ca
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Applications are open for the 2023 Community Organization Investment | |
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Applications are now open for the 2023 Community Organization Investment, a five-year initiative as part of the Gordie Howe International Bridge Community Benefits Plan.
In its first three years, $300,000 (CDN) has been invested in 26 local initiatives. Year after year, the project has received applications that have exceeded the annual funding envelope of $100,000 (CDN). Following consultation with community partners, the project team has increased the annual investment to $200,000 (CDN) for the remaining two years of the initiative, with each community to receive $100,000 (CDN).
The funding is available to registered non-profit or charitable organizations located in or serving Sandwich/west Windsor and Delray/Southwest Detroit communities in Canada and the US. Eligible organizations can submit funding applications ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 (CDN) for events, programming and infrastructure improvements that will benefit the neighbourhoods closest to the project.
Applications will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on January 25, 2023.
Applications will undergo a thorough review process and will only be considered for funding if eligibility requirements are met. Learn more and apply now!
Organizations looking for additional information on the Community Organization Investment process and eligibility requirements are encouraged to visit GordieHoweInterntationalBridge.com. Information sessions are also being held virtually on December 14, 2022, or in-person January 11, 2023, and January 12, 2023.
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National Bird Day - January 5 | Nature lovers, bird lovers, and bird watchers across the country annually recognize National Bird Day on January 5th. The Detroit River is located in one of the most biologically diverse parts of Canada between two major waterfowl migration flyways, the Mississippi Flyway and the Atlantic Flyway. This means waterfowl, raptors and songbirds all use the region as important stopover habitat. Bald Eagles and Osprey have returned to nest here and it's not out of the ordinary to see hundreds of thousands of hawks and other birds cross it on migration each year! | | |
Save the date for these great local events! Contact the organizers for more information. | |
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Tree Planting Workshop
Tuesday January 17th 2023, virtual, 7pm to 8:30pm.
Join ERCA’s Forester virtually for the annual Tree Planting and Care Workshop taking place Tuesday January 17th 2023 from 7pm to 8:30 pm. Attendees will learn about the many benefits of tree planting, available grants for landowners, different tree planting techniques, and much more. All attendees will be e-mailed the virtual meeting details closer to the workshop date. Registration link not yet available – check back later.
For more information, please email treeorders@erca.org.
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Making Gorgeous Pollinator Gardens using Native Plants: How to do it! with Clement Kent
January 17 2023, 7pm to 8pm (EST),virtual webinar with the North American Native Plant Society
Making a pollinator garden using native plants can be tons of fun, but there are real challenges. This talk will show lovely examples of wonderful gardens but will also highlight problems and how to overcome them. We'll look at working on a tiny budget, getting permissions in a timely way, getting young plants established during record breaking droughts, battling invasive weeds, and keeping neighbours or municipalities from destroying established gardens. There are solutions to all these problems, and we hope you and your neighbours will be inspired to do more and better rewilding using these ideas.
Clement Kent wrote "How to Make a Pollinator Garden" in 2011, and has helped create many public PGs since then, all using native plants. He co-founded Project Swallowtail, a program to help people create pollinator gardens which has over 800 participants in the GTA and elsewhere. He co-founded the Parkdale Horticultural Society and serves on the board, and is an adjunct professor of biology at York University focusing on insect genetics. As a member of the Advisory Group for the City of Toronto's Pollinator Protections Strategy, he focused on ways of building corridors of native plantings to connect larger green spaces for the benefit of pollinators.
Please check back! Link to register will be available shortly.
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ERCA Annual General Meeting and Conservation Awards
Thursday January 19 2023, 6pm to 8pm, Essex Civic Centre, 360 Fairview Avenue west, Essex, ON
Join ERCA and partners in celebration of the accomplishments of 2022 and announce this year’s Conservation Award Winners.
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Shiver on the River Ecology Family Fair
February 3 2023, 10am to 3pm, Dossin Great Lakes Museum, Belle Isle, Michigan, USA
Save the date! The annual Shiver on the River event will take place February 3rd 2023. We hope to see you there!
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Extra! Extra! Read all about it! |
The Detroit River and Great Lakes in the news. Here are some links to articles that may pique your interest. Click the link to read on.
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The Detroit River Canadian Cleanup is a partnership between government, industry, academics, as well as environmental and community organizations that work together to improve the Detroit River ecosystem through a Remedial Action Plan. Our goal is to remove the Detroit River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. |
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