| The
Awards Presentation and Silent Auction on April 19th, 2005 at the
Canadian Museum of Nature was a great success! |
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The Awards Presentation and Silent
Auction on April 19, 2005, at the Canadian Museum of Nature was
a great success. The Master of Ceremonies was Barbara Campbell from
the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada. Awards for
Excellence in Environmental Conservation were presented to individuals
and groups whose long-term commitment to conservation of wildlife
and wildlife habitat have had significant, sustainable impacts.
Approximately 1200 guests with a keen interest in wildlife conservation
enjoyed the presentation by Tony Beck, acclaimed naturalist and
wildlife photographer, an opportunity to bid on the over 80 silent
auction items, and the cold buffet.
The occasion was
saddened by the death of Moose MacMillen who had carved the chickadee
awards for several years. The Individual Award for Excellence in
Environmental Conservation was designated the Moose MacMillen Award.
Rick St. John provided the chickadees for the awards.
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(Moose
MacMillen (Individual) Award to Dave Spence
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| David Spence has a
long-standing, dedicated and successful commitment to protecting the
environment in the Ottawa area. Until West Carleton became part of
the new City of Ottawa, he was a member and Chair of the West Carleton
Township’s Environmental Advisory Committee. He is a founding
member and director of the Friends of the Carp River formed in 1997
as a citizen’s group with the goal of helping restore and improve
the health of the Carp River. The Friends are developing substantial,
achievable goals to continue rehabilitating the "ribbon of life",
their wonderfully descriptive term for the Carp River. David is an
active and very involved member of this group. |
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He is the driving force behind the Carp River's annual tree planting
(over 20,000 trees have been planted since 1997), and is extremely
busy with the Carp River Remediation Project, a long-term plan to
restore the health of the Carp River. This project was made possible
by David's successful preparation of a proposal to the Trillium
Foundation which allowed the Friends of the Carp River to hire the
consultants who created the management plan which they are now implementing.
David is also a member of the Ottawa Clean Water Program Committee,
co-founder of the Wetland Preservation Group which worked for some
years on the issue of wetland protection and preservation, particularly
west of Ottawa, Director of the Wild Bird Care Centre and a wild
bird rehabilitator for this group, Chair of the Ottawa Stewardship
Council (2003-2005), a key member of the new Carp Ridge Society,
and intimately involved with the Ottawa Regional Envirothon Competition
for high schools. Previous winners were Dwight Delahunt, Elizabeth
LeGeyt, Anne Coffey, Al Tweddle, Albert Dugal, MichPle André-St.
Cyr, Erich Haber and Luba Mycio-Mommers.
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Group
Award to Club
des ornithologues de l'Outaouais
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The Club des ornithologues de l'Outaouais
is a non-profit group formed in 1978 to promote a greater understanding
of, and appreciation for, birds, birdwatching and conservation.
This remarkably energetic group is involved in an impressive array
of activities and along the way they have racked up some well-deserved
honours for their enduring work raising awareness of birds and
conservation concerns. They produce an excellent quarterly newsletter,
l'Ornitaouais, packed full of information on both local and provincial
issues, and they maintain an informative and easy to use website
www.coo.ncf.ca/coo/region.html.
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Previous winners were the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’
Club, the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, Baxter Conservation Area,
the Ottawa Duck Club, the Land Preservation Society of the Ottawa
Valley, the Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital (GACC),
ACRE (Action Chelsea Respect for the Environment), and the Canadian
Parks and Wilderness Society (Ottawa Chapter).
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Youth Award to Ridgemont
High School B.E.A.R. Program
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The B.E.A.R from Ridgemont High School
has been an excellent example of youth leadership in assisting
in the protection of natural spaces in the Ottawa area. They have
accomplished many successful initiatives that engage its members
to bring environmental issues to light within the school community
and the larger local community. Within its school community the
BEAR provides a very important model of the power of youth. Through
its activities and leadership this group demonstrates the importance
of being an environmentally conscientious individual. The members
of this group offer other youth in the school a positive role
model to look up to. This type of leadership really benefits not
only the environment that they are working to protect, but also
the school community as a whole.
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The Bear has started and maintains
school-wide recycling programs, participated in the Envirothon
for 4 years, spearheaded EarthCare at Ridgemont and the feeder
schools (board-wide initiatives to reduce waste, water and energy
in schools), created the Greened Classes Program to promote plants
in the classroom, created and maintains over 60 square metres
of new indigenous flower gardens at the front of the school, participated
in tree planting with the Alta Vista Greenbelt Project and the
Buckthorn Pulling Project of the City of Ottawa, participated
in community and school ground clean-ups, Clean the Capital and
Pitch In, created trails at Turtle Head Trails Conservation Area,
and raised funds for environmental initiatives and donations to
Lesotho, Canadian Wildlife Federation, World Wildlife Fund and
Ducks Unlimited. Previous winners were the Girl Guides of Canada–Ottawa
Area, the Macoun Field Club, Nancy McGruer’s Grade 3 Class
at Kars Public School, the Students of Blossom Park Public School,
The students, teachers and parents of Castor Valley Elementary
School (Greely), and Michael Leveille and the Educarium Science
Students.. Honourable Mention Awards were given in 1999 to the
Environmental Club of St. Michael’s School, Fitzroy Harbour
and, The Willow Street Angels and St. Anthony’s School, and
in 2004 to the Amphibian Conservation Club.
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