All posts by Brian Robin

Achievements

OSFN Celebrates 30 Years

On Thursday January 10, 2019, Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy presented this Certificate of Recognition to Club President Gordon Toth, at the regular Indoor Meeting of the Owen Sound Field Naturalists in the Library Auditorium.

OSFN2019Certificate30Years

President Toth got a strong showing of hands when he asked the audience how many were there 30 years before, on Thursday January 5th, 1989, when President Lorraine Brown presided over the Inaugural Indoor Meeting of the Club. That first meeting featured a presentation by Doug Larson, who returned at the 20 year mark of the club, and will be here once more to help Celebrate Earth Day this Spring. During the fall months of 1988, an initial gathering, chaired by Andrew Armitage at the Library, took place to gauge the level of interest in forming a Naturalist Club. With the endorsement of those present, the creation of the club took place – planning, programming and organizing, with help and guidance from members of the already established Saugeen Field Naturalists.

OSFN President Gord Toth and Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy (photo by B. Robin)
OSFN President Gord Toth and Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy (phot by B. Robin)
Admin - Programs and Events

Young Fields Naturalists Outing Postponed To Feb 2 or 3rd

Due to extreme cold and unreasonably high winds, the snowshow, campfire, bannock, and hot chocolate outing planned for the Young Field Naturalists’ (2pm Jan.20 and postponed to Jan 27th), has been postponed to Feb. 2nd or 3rd, 2019. A day will be chosen as we approach the weekend. Same time and location.

Young Naturalist Club Program Coordinator: Elaine Van Den Kieboom, ekieboom@gbtel.ca

Admin-Support Info, Announcements

Information on Bill 66

At our Jan. 10th meeting, Julie Lamberts provided a brief summary of Bill 66.

For those wanting to learn more, Ontario Nature has a wealth of information on their website, and has asked its member groups to spread the word. Their brief version and timeline:

Dear Great Lakes West Nature Network Members,

As most of you are likely aware, Bill 66 (Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act) passed first reading on December 6th, 2018. If passed, this legislation would trump critical environmental protections for land, water and wildlife throughout Ontario. There is a serious misconception that the overriding of environmental protections that this Bill enables is confined largely to the Greater Golden Horseshoe Greenbelt and surrounding areas. This is not true. It affects all municipalities in Ontario and all of your communities.

 There are some very important deadlines that you should be aware of:

 •        January 20th: Deadline for comments on Bill 66 through the Environmental Registry for Ontario (ERO postings were previously referred to as EBR postings).

•        Bill 66 is on the order paper for second reading on February 19th when the Legislature returns.

•        After passing second reading, Bill 66 goes to committee. So the anticipated third reading and passage of the Bill is early March.

Ontario Nature has a blog post summarizing the concerns, Bill 66: What You Need to Know, which includes a link to a form letter you can sign (and modify to your liking) which will be sent to the relevent politicians. Additionally, they have a PDF flyer of Bill 66: What You Need to Know that you can print out or email to spread the word and their draft comments on Bill 66.