Lower Trent Conservation

Special Projects

Lower Trent Conservation works with a many partners who share our concern for the future of our region’s environment.  LTC has worked with every sector of the community – from individual landowners and service clubs to major corporations, colleges and government ministries to achieve our collective vision of a healthy environment.

Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative

In 2003 the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative was born as a partnership of organizations agreed to work together to protect and enhance the globally rare tallgrass prairie and oak savanna remnants that still exist in the Rice Lake Plains. This initiative was largely funded by the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation and the partnership remains strong today. 

Partners include:

  • Alderville First Nation
  • Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority
  • Lower Trent Conservation
  • Nature Conservancy of Canada
  • Northumberland County
  • Northumberland Land Trust
  • Ontario Parks
  • Tallgrass Ontario 

Vision - "The partners in the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative envision a landscape of protected, restored and sustainably managed tallgrass prairie and oak savanna ecosystems amid well-stewarded forest, wetland and riparian habitats of the Rice Lake Plains region."

The Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative has worked very closely with landowners living in the Rice Lake Plains over the past several years.  Resources are available to help landowners understand more about what natural features exist on and around their property and to assist in undertaking conservation projects.  For more information please contact Caroline Zawadzka, Landowner Contact Specialist, at 613-394-3915 x 225 or caroline.zawadzka@ltc.on.ca and visit the Stewardship section of our website.

Please visit www.ricelakeplains.ca for more information on the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative.

 
Conservation Authorities Moraine Coalition

The Oak Ridges Moraine is one of Ontario'smost significant landforms. This irregular ridge stretches 160 kilometres from the Trent River in the east to the Niagara Escarpment in the west. The Moraine divides the watersheds that drain south into Lake Ontario from those that drain north into Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe or Rice Lake and east to the Trent River. The Moraine's sands and gravel deposits act like a giant rain barrel, storing rain and snowmelt. This underground water is then filtered through layers of sand and gravel (aquifers) and slowly released as cool fresh water to the rivers and streams flowing from the Moraine.  Virtually every stream west of the Trent River within Northumberland County has a source connection to the Moraine. 

The Conservation Authorities Moraine Coalition was established in 2000.  The nine Conservation Authorities with watersheds extending onto the Oak Ridges Moraine came together to advance the science and understanding of the Moraine. Our mission is to work towards government, agency and community support for the conservation and protection of the form, function and linkages of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

The watershed boundaries of the nine independent conservation authorities - Central Lake Ontario, Credit Valley, Ganaraska Region, Kawartha, Lake Simcoe Region, Lower Trent, Nottawasaga Valley, Otonabee, Toronto and Region - collectively cover the entire moraine. Together, as of 2009, the conservation authorities own more than 14,000 hectares (or five per cent - 10,000 was 5 percent) of the Moraine. This makes them responsible for the largest and most strategically located tracts of land protecting the headwaters of the 65 river systems originating on the Moraine. These lands include Alderville Woods and Burnley Creek Natural Habitat Areas which are owned and managed by Lower Trent Conservation.

2009 Conservation Authorities Moraine Coalition Accomplishments
2008 Conservation Authorities Moraine Coalition Accomplishments

For more information about the Moraine visit www.moraineforlife.org/.