May 1st, 2025 OPEN NATURE RESERVES: Alexander Hope Smith and Sweetwater Farm CLOSED NATURE RESERVES: Adams, Cameron Ranch, Carthew Bay, Church Woods, Grant’s Woods, East Coulson Swamp, Kris Starr Sanctuary, Little Bluestem Alvar, Prairie Smoke Alvar, Ron Reid, Scout Valley, Thomas C. Agnew, Windmill Ranch If You Would Like To …
Remembering Ron Reid
We will be gathering in the heart of his beloved Carden Alvar at the Carden Recreation Centre, 258 Lake Dalrymple Rd., Sebright. Saturday, May 3 from 2 – 5ish PM. We hope you will join to celebrate Ron’s legacy. Accessibility: there is a wheelchair friendly entrance through the back of …
Leave a Legacy Month
What is your vision for your community in 50 years? You can be a part of that vision with a legacy gift. This May, during Leave a Legacy Month, consider making a lasting impact with The Couchiching Conservancy through our Heartwood Fund. Your legacy gift not only protects nature …
A Mother and Daughter for Mother Nature
As published in The Villager Magazine May 1, 2025 Trudy Coughlin has a degree in anatomy and has always loved the outdoors. In the early years of her marriage, she and her husband bought a farm in Kirkland Lake, but found they couldn’t make a living and she eventually began …
Alphabet Soup – What is the CPCAD?
After 9 years working at The Conservancy it feels like things have come full circle. I started here going door-to-door as an Engagement Organizer with Aiesha Aggarwal, our now Conservation Analyst. We were asking the community to support the 17% Pledge. The 17% Pledge supported including land trust nature reserves …
Annual General Meeting Recap
Thank you to those of you who attended the April 13 Annual General Meeting. Even with two postponed dates, about a week’s notice of the rescheduled date, and on a beautiful sunny Sunday, we still had 126 people attend. Thank you. Here are a few highlights of the meeting: Our …
Wild Routes: Minesing to Matchedash Part 1
Written by Biologist, Toby Rowland: Since I first learned about the conservation corridors envisioned by Ron Reid across the Couchiching region, I’ve wondered how wildlife could actually move through these areas. These corridors connect protected lands, such as nature reserves, provincial parks, and crown lands, with private lands that still …
How Does The Ice Storm Affect Nature?
In the wake of the intense ice storm our region recently endured, it’s clear that damage is extensive. The last time Canada experienced a similar event was 27 years ago when the 1998 Montreal Ice Storm caused devastation. Many of our communities will never look the same after this year’s …
Conservation Conversations: Maple Syrup Version
The following article was published in Orillia Matters on April 3, 2025 Thirty years ago, tired of 80 hour work weeks, Peter Lorriman moved his young family from London, Ontario to a sugar bush in Simcoe County. Peter laughs and says he now works 120 hours a week. Though he …
New Date….Annual General Meeting
April 8 2025 update: The Couchiching Conservancy’s Annual General Meeting has been rescheduled for Sunday April 13th from 2-4pm with doors opening at 1pm at Hawk Ridge Golf Club in Severn. Thank you for your patience as we waited for power and a date that worked for as many as …
People Value Connection
This article was published in The Villager Magazine April 1st, 2025 Tuesday started with snacks. In place of our regular staff meeting, The Couchiching Conservancy was doing professional development training. We’re fortunate to have hundreds of volunteers and this leadership seminar was to make sure we’re having as big an …