Land Stewardship
From the Bruce Trail Conservancy main site: “The Bruce Trail Conservancy manages thousands of acres of Escarpment land. The Bruce Trail Conservancy’s Land Stewardship Program was put into effect to effectively care for this land, and is the largest program of its kind run by a non-government organization in Ontario’s history.”
The Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club stewards 2662 acres of land (940 acres owned by the Conservancy, 148 acres covered by easements and 1574 acres of other lands we steward on behalf of the Ontario Heritage Trust in the Beaver Valley). Each natural area is cared for by a volunteer land steward who regularly monitors the site and carries out the activities outlined in the property’s stewardship plan. Stewardship includes understanding, planning, sustaining, and restoring the land.
BEAVER VALLEY LAND STEWARDSHIP
The Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Club is seeking new Land Stewards. Our team literally keeps their eyes and boots on the lands that the BTC owns or manages that the Bruce Trail passes through. We have over sixty properties totalling almost 1000 hectares of land within the Club’s section. Each has a volunteer Land Steward assigned to ensure that all is in order on the entire property.
Twice a year, we ask that a site visit report be filed on your assigned property. This is where the fun begins … you’ll have your very own BTC property to visit and explore! Few volunteer roles actually encourage going off trail as part of your responsibilities. You’ll keep an eye out for boundary issues, invasive and rare species, non-permitted uses, and anything usually associated with owning a property.
We have many solo Land Stewards, and quite a number of pairs working together as well; many aspects of the role might suit a young family to do together. The time commitment is approximately two days per year at a minimum. Additional opportunities also exist via work parties (invasive species management, creating natural barriers, fence building, staking boundaries) that take place May through October.
If you are interested to find out more, please fill out the form below to be contacted by the Land Stewardship Director.