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At today’s NCC Board Meeting the following was reported under the Ecosystem Conservation Plan heading:

Following our application to the interdepartmental funds program for the recovery of species at risk, the NCC secured $107,300 on behalf of Gatineau Park to study Blanding’s turtle and the striped chorus frog, and an additional $21,500 to study another species at risk (the name of this species must remain confidential since it is vulnerable to illegal harvesting).

Hmmm. Seems to me that there is one species subject to illegal harvesting that doesn’t remain too anonymous due to large signs in the park advertising the fact.

Although the news conference was held back at the beginning of October, here is the text that accompanied the NCC report on to its Board:

Partnership with the Nature Conservancy Canada
The NCC announced a partnership with the Nature Conservancy Canada and the ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec (MRNF) to ensure the management and conservation of a newly acquired piece of land of 470 hectares located directly on the north-western border of Gatineau Park. This acquisition in partnership for environmental conservancy purposes is a fine example of working together to protect the environment. This land is located within one of the 12 potential ecological corridors currently being studied by the NCC along with the municipalities, Regional County Municipalities (RCM) and environmental groups. This land creates a major buffer zone adjacent to the integral conservation zone of Gatineau Park, thus contributing to conserving the Park’s environmental integrity. The NCC contributed $50,000 for this acquisition into a management fund to ensure that the biodiversity of this area is protected.

The NCC Board of Director meeting notes of today include the following under the heading Restoring Ecosystems

Determining the steps for restoring the banks of three lakes (Meech, Philippe and La Pêche) is also ongoing. As for Meech Lake, the Regional County Municipalities (RCM) and the Municipality of Chelsea are also working together, and meetings will be held with residents.

This according to the NCC Board Meeting handout:

The staff of Gatineau Park’s Visitor Centre has already welcomed 77,900 visitors during the first nine months of 2010 — a similar figure to that of 2009 for the same time period. However, for this same period, the medium-term trends reveal a 13% increase over the past four years.

A couple of people have been thinking about bringing out a tee shirt to encourage the restoration of old trail names in Gatineau Park. In talking about it, look what showed up!

It sez: Not Forgotten

• Alexanders
• Beaver
• Bi-Way
• Black Lake Slope
• Blanchet
• Booth Hill
• Bradley
• Burma
• Canyon
• Champlain
• Chicken Run
• Dunlop
• Drumstick
• Fortune Lane
• Frank’s
• George’s
• Hi-Way
• Hidden Valley
• Highland
• Huron
• Keogans
• Little Switzerland
• Log Cabin
• Merry Go Round
• Macdonald
• McCloskey
• Midget
• Mile-A-Minute
• Missing Link
• Nature
• Pipe Dream
• Pleasant Valley
• Ramparts
• Ridge
• Shamrock
• Shilly Shally
• Short
• Skyline
• Sugar Loaf
• Survey
• Upper Sparks
• Walters
• Wattsfords
• Western
• Wolf
• Yipe

From an NCC press release:

INVITATION TO ATTEND THE PUBLIC MEETING OF THE NCC BOARD OF DIRECTORS – NOVEMBER 24, 2010

Canada’s Capital Region – The National Capital Commission (NCC) invites the public and the media to attend the public meeting of its Board of Directors.

Date: Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Time: 9 am – 12:10 pm and from 1:15 pm – 3 pm

Location: NCC Headquarters, Room 324 40 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario

The opening of its Board of Directors meetings to the general public is one of the NCC’s initiatives to enhance openness and transparency at the Crown corporation. This approach is meant to improve the accountability and openness, as well as to further engage the public in NCC initiatives. The public is welcome to attend and experience first hand the exchanges between members of the Board of Directors, an important step in the decision-making process of the NCC.

Discussions at this meeting will focus on the:

• CEO’s Activity Report;
• Ombudsman Annual Report and Code of Ethics;
• Canadian Firefighters Memorial – Winning Design Concept & FLUDA Approval;
• Greenbelt Master Plan Review – vision statement;
• Web Strategy Update;
• LeBreton Flats – Bloc 1 Phase 2 – Fleet Street Mews Urban/Landscape Design;
• LeBreton Flats – Block 2 Phase 1 – Developed Design;
• 2011-2012 Schedule of Meetings; and
• Proposed amendment to By-Law 1.

Live webcast

Residents, visitors and all Canadians who are unable to attend the public meeting of the NCC Board of Directors are invited to watch the live webcast on the NCC’s website at www.canadascapital.gc.ca. Please note that there will be no webcast from 12:10 pm to 1:15 pm.

Do you support the idea of bringing back some of the old ski trail names? If so, sign the petition.

Next Wednesday, November 24th is the NCC’s next scheduled public Board Meeting. The agenda for that meeting has recently been posted at the NCC website.

Among numerous other cross country ski destinations, The Montreal Gazette encourages skiers to visit the Park.

Many of the xc ski trails in Gatineau Park once had names, not numbers. GuideGatineau is working to convince the NCC to reinstate some of those old names.

Why? Because many have roots reaching back before Gatineau Park was created and each has a story to tell.

The campaign to revive the old trail names includes:

• Collecting stories about the trails
• Producing a tee-shirt celebrating the old names
• Getting skier input
• Involving local ski clubs
• Petitions
• Extending availability of the commemorative map
• Give input to the Gatineau Park Heritage Conservation Plan

To kick things off, here’s a link to a past GuideGatineau posting about trail #17, once known as Frank’s Trail.

Do you have a story that involves the old trail names? Let me know or post it here in the comments.