$2.58M Great Lakes funding focuses on farm-based projects
With Lake Huron as a backdrop, Ontario’s Environment Minister announced $2.58 million to pay for 19 new projects, all focused on helping farmers protect the environment.
“This $2.5-million investment is part of a broader $10 million plus envelope, but it’s actually working hand in hand with local leaders, like Don,” says David Piccini, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks.
That’s Don Farrell he’s talking about. Farrell is a longtime board member of the Pine River Watershed Initiative Network, a grassroots, not-for-profit group created in 2000 to try and restore the health of the Pine River, near Ripley.
By planting over 250,000 trees, and installing over 10 kilometres of fencing to keep cattle out of the river, they’ve returned the waterway to health, and with $60,000 in new provincial funding, they’ll do even more.
“Whatever we get, we like to put in the ground. If it’s in the ground, it’s going to help somebody,” says Farrell.
Most of the 19 projects are focusing on keeping soil, and potential pollution from Ontario farms, from entering the province’s streams, rivers and lakes.
Projects like subsidizing the cost of planting cover crops, designed to help the environment and increase food production.
“Organic material is really important to us. It will get you through a tough year. Having a strong soil structure helps in limited rain and heavy rain,” says Brandon Coleman, a Huron County farmer who planted cover crops with the assistance of the local conservation authority.
“Cover crops really help to reduce the wind and water erosion, and if that soil stays on the field, it stays out of the creeks and waterways, and the lake,” says Hope Brock, with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority’s Healthy Watersheds Initiative.
“If that soil ends up at the bottom of the lake, it’s no good to anyone,” explains Farrell. “So, all their efforts are to preserve what they own. With the price of farmland, you can’t be letting it wash away or blow away. You need it for production."
Projects like the Pine River Watershed Initiative Network are building on work already underway through the Lake Erie Agriculture Demonstrating Sustainability (LEADS) fund. A five-year, $15.6-million commitment from the federal and provincial governments to help farmers adopt more sustainable farming practices.
“Utilizing soil management and planting trees to control any runoffs that could potentially happen, and more importantly to demonstrate how we’re all working together to ensure clean water throughout our lakeshore,” says Lisa Thompson, Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
A list of the projects funded can be found here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.