Wetland Wonderland
You know you must be doing
something right when the
local media comment on one
of your newest projects as
“winning the lottery”.
That’s how one of our local media
personalities described our purchase
and creation of a wetland in Rogers
Reservoir, a project that began in 2017
and was completed in June of this
year with a grand opening celebration
in October.
Thanks to a new program implemented
last year, we were able to fund a brand
new wetland feature and habitat in
East Gwillimbury, the first of its kind in
our watershed. The Rogers Reservoir
Wetland Restoration
Project was funded
through our new
Ecological Offsetting
Program, with a
price tag of nearly
$600,000.
The new 1.06 hectare
wetland is located
beside the Nokiidaa
Trail, a quick 10 minute walk from its
entrance at Mount Albert Sideroad
and Old Yonge Street. The location
was carefully chosen because of its
seasonally wet nature, making it a
perfect location to be transformed
into a habitat for local and migrating
wildlife. Natural features added include
enhanced and expanded forests,
meadows, a snake hibernaculum and
even a sandy shoreline for turtles to
nest. Visitors to the wetland area can
watch wildlife from the new boardwalk
and viewing platform, and if they’re
lucky, will see wood ducks, snapping
turtles, painted turtles, green frogs,
spring peepers, mayflies, water
boatman and dragonflies.
The wetland wouldn’t be complete
without creating a space for an
education component. An outdoor
classroom was built at the site, which
is within walking distance to two local
schools. In June, a kindergarten class
from a nearby school walked
to the wetland classroom and
released monarch butterflies
that they had lovingly raised
in their classroom.
To celebrate this major
milestone, an official opening
was held in late October.
We invited the public and
project partners to join us
for a Halloween-themed tree
planting. Many community members
came out, in Halloween costumes, to
participate in a variety of family-friendly
activities and to plant trees.
Through LSRCA’s permitting process, the Ecological Offsetting Program
requires the funding support of developers. Funds collected under the program
are applied to projects that will either create or restore natural heritage features
within the watershed. The program’s effectiveness lies in the fact that the
funding model requires projects that offset the impacts of development on a
2.5:1 ratio—meaning LSRCA can add or restore more natural features than were
removed during development.